Chapter 77

It was a system message I hadn’t expected at all.

Not that it was completely unfamiliar.

‘A random event? Why now, of all times?’

In games where you explore the field, there were always random events or sudden monster spawns.

Black Salvatore was no different.

The problem was, I had never seen a random event trigger during this chapter before.

‘Sure, it’s all probability, but still!’

Between the rampaging Dog-Headed Judge and this? Why do I have such awful luck?!

‘And a status effect on top of that? That’s one of the bad ones!’

[Status Effect “Loss of Control” has been triggered! (Duration: 7 days)]

[The severity of this effect scales with the number of fanatics you’ve closely encountered.]

[Fanatics encountered: “Three”
(“Usher Tatum (Named),”
District 321 Cell Leader “Dekara,”
Connector “Andras”)]

[Effect strength has tripled!]

‘Are you kidding me?!’

Not only was it one of the worst possible random status effects, but its severity was jacked up to the max.

Game Category [Post][Casual Chat]
[Status Effects – Full Breakdown]

.

.

No.14 “Loss of Control”

◆ One of the rarer status effects. But if you get hit with it, it’s extremely annoying.

◆ In-game, it causes fluctuations in your divine power. Skill activation chance drops by 25% (can go higher depending on severity), and skill power is generally reduced by 32%.

◆ In high-precision moments, skills may overcharge and explode unpredictably. In short, it’s a sh*t status effect.

◆ If this hits you, just skip any paranormal raids for a while.

◆ The more “Named” fanatics you meet, the more likely this triggers. So avoid guys like Usher at all costs. And if you’ve been cursed by Tosher… just suffer, lol. (Not my problem ¯_(ツ)_/¯)

‘I… I take it back. I regret ever typing “not my problem”…’

Thanks to the status effect, my whole body felt weirdly restricted—like something was weighing me down.

But there was no time to groan.

“Candidate Nemesia?”

“…Yesh.”

No choice. I raised the lamp high.

The black scarecrow—our practice target—reset itself after each child’s turn.

As I moved, it shifted, reacting to my movement.

‘Faster than I thought.’

I approached and brought the lamp closer to the scarecrow.

At the moment my divine power surged—

BOOM!

CRASH!

“Kyaaah! Nemesia!”

When I came to, I was in a familiar pair of arms.

Shards of shattered glass littered the floor around me.

“You alright?”

Daddy had come running from the doorway. Behind him, the professor and several kids stood frozen with concern etched on their faces.

I just furrowed my brows.

‘Of course it had to start with a power surge.’

This status effect was basically like having constipation. When you want it to come out, it won’t. But when it does… it’s like a poor soul who took too much laxative and regrets everything.

“…Ahem. As I said, this tool requires delicate divine control.”

Professor Ahn frowned disapprovingly, then turned to me—still dangling in Daddy’s arms—and delivered his judgment.

“Candidate Nemesia. Tool destruction and failure to follow class procedure will result in a major deduction.”

The room fell silent. Everyone stared at me in disbelief.

Flora, in particular, looked like her eyeballs were about to pop out. She seemed so shocked she might jump in as my defense lawyer any second.

Okay, sure. I did show off a bit at the last exam and at the Central Committee…

“Shouldn’t you ask if she’s hurt first?”

Daddy’s voice was sharp and cold. I patted his hand in secret.

“I did a bad ting…”

With great effort, I calmed him down and sent him back to the hallway.

After that, I got a stern talking-to and rotated through the rest of the tools like the other kids.

‘…As expected.’

The pure-white Oathwood Staff remained still in my hands.

Beep— Beep—

“Warning, Candidate Nemesia. Please inject more divine power.”

“…I did tho.”

The Knot of Revelation pendant stayed dormant, then flickered red.

A sign that my divine power was insufficient.

Thunk!

And as if that wasn’t enough, the final tool—Thread of Sanctity—slipped from my hands in a tangled mess and dropped to the floor.

Once again, silence.

“…I specifically said to inject your power slowly.”

Professor Ahn sighed heavily. The look in his eyes had long gone cold.

“It appears Candidate Nemesia will only be collecting demerits today.”

He said it like he’d given up on me, but I wasn’t even surprised.

‘It’s not like I can do anything about it right now.’

It was a status effect. What am I supposed to do?

And honestly… this might actually work in my favor.

I fought the urge to laugh and instead stuck out my bottom lip like I was about to cry.

“Owkay…! Nemesia’s just gonna watch fwom da back now…!”

Then I scampered off to the back row.

Now that things had gone sideways, I figured I might as well use the time to observe the others’ stats and skills.

As expected, Flora and Emmet followed right after and showed excellent control, earning high praise.

“Amazing! Truly impressive!”

And there was one more.

Another person Professor Ahn complimented.

The black-haired girl I’d been keeping an eye on.

I gave her a glance before turning back to my seat.

Soon after, Flora came rushing back from her turn, flustered and clearly worried for me.

“I-it’s okay, Nemesia! Failing this… won’t kill you or anything!”

Yeah, Flora. I know it won’t kill me.

‘…But your voice is so loud, I might just die of embarrassment.’

All eyes were already on me, and now they were practically glued to my back.

Flora wasn’t the only one who tried to console me. Emmet crept over and whispered just loud enough for only me to hear.

“Um, Nemesia… if you want… I can help you later? After class. Just us two.”

I didn’t even look at him.

‘Spy-flirting: rejected… rejected and deleted…’

And with that, the practice session wrapped up.

Maybe because it was post-exam, but most of the kids managed to complete it just fine.

Meaning… I was the only one who completely tanked it.

I chuckled dryly to myself.

‘Wow. I aced the first exam just to throw it all away here!’

A normal person would probably rage-quit or throw a fit right about now. But like I said:

‘This is actually great!’

With all the attention from my performance at the Central Committee, anyone in the know would’ve been on high alert around me.

But now? A beautifully staged oops, she’s just average moment.

‘Less attention, more freedom. Hoohoo, it’s a win-win.’

But one issue still remained.

The status effect’s duration was 7 days.

And in 3 days… we had another exam.

‘And I’m pretty sure this one heavily relies on divine power?’

…Yeah. I’m completely screwed.

* * *

Meanwhile, from the back of the room, Derek had been watching everything unfold—and let out a soft murmur of admiration.

‘That was some impressive acting.’

As expected, his little girl was a prodigy. Even at faking failure.

And internally, Derek was barely containing the smug dad energy ready to burst out of him.
 

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Translator: Japchae