April 10th, Monday.
Siloque took out a bottle of hair dye at the sink, looked at the instructions, and used a comb to apply the brown dye to his white hair.
“This eye color… The shade isn’t very deep, so if you don’t look closely, no one will notice.”
“Huaa… Good morning, Onii-chan, getting up at 5am is so early.”
Hill parted her dull golden hair, wearing a large white T-shirt as pajamas, exposing small and round shoulders, and hotpants that outlined the healthy thighs of a youthful girl.
In contrast, Siloque’s black long-sleeved pajamas looked stiff and proper.
“Should I say good night to you, Hill?”
“Mm… I just took down an Annihilation Dragon with my team… So tired…”
“…..”
“Eh? Onii-chan, what are you doing? Your head is swollen like a mushroom man.”
After wiping her face with a towel dampened with warm water, Hill finally noticed Siloque’s hair covered with a transparent hair cap.
“Dyeing my hair. This white hair is too conspicuous.”
Not to mention being pointed at on the street, yesterday on the way to the Dungeon, men kept trying to strike up a conversation.
Siloque couldn’t stand it anymore.
I have no interest in experiencing the troubles of a beautiful girl.
Nor do I want Bried to look at me with the eyes of someone seeing a rare beast during training.
It’s better to just dye it.
“No! That’s such a waste! This hair is so cool, and white hair is such a rare attribute! Onii-chan, don’t be impulsive!”
“Even if you protest by shaking me, I’m determined to dye it back to black. I don’t want to shock everyone with this hair.”
Hill shook Siloque, but Siloque remained unmoved.
“Gu… As long as you tie twin tails like me, Onii-chan would absolutely suit a COS of Kasugano Sora. I want to see it so much…”
“The games you play are pretty niche…”
Ignoring his disappointed sister as she returned to her room, Siloque, having finished dyeing his hair, changed into sportswear and went out to meet Bried.
A day had passed since he last trained with Bried.
Yesterday, after notifying Bried about his injury, she decisively didn’t let Siloque come for morning training.
“Siloque.”
“What, so serious? Are you going to confess to me?”
“No.”
Bried replied sternly:
“Next time you go to the Dungeon, bring a companion. The risks of solo exploration are not something you can handle right now. Luck won’t always be on your side.”
“I was thinking the same.”
Although yesterday, he still went solo in the Dungeon to test Skills.
“…Wait, how did you know I went solo?”
“I saw you being carried out on a stretcher. After all, you were the only one. Through this incident, you should also understand that even the weakest Goblin can put you in danger.”
“Sorry for making you worry. I get it. I won’t do it again.”
There’s no need to, anyway.
Lv has already reached the necessary level.
Siloque’s sincere attitude left Bried at a loss.
“G-Good, as long as you understand. So, why did you do something so dangerous? Solo raid, and you went to a deep area.”
“To become stronger.”
“Becoming stronger isn’t worth risking your life… If your sister hadn’t called and the Rescue Team hadn’t arrived in time, you’d have been a corpse.”
“I told my sister to make the call.”
“…She called while you were injured?”
“I agreed with Hill from the start. If time passed and I didn’t make contact, she’d call the Rescue Team. Otherwise, why do you think the Rescue Team appeared at such a perfect time?”
Bried showed a look of admiration.
“So, you weren’t acting on impulse; you actually prepared. You’re so cautious, it doesn’t seem like you…”
“Coming back safely is the only way an exploration counts as successful. It’s written in the textbooks.”
“…Looks like I misunderstood you. Unlike Cass, you value your life.”
“Cass? What happened to him?”
Bried told him about Cass challenging enemies stronger than himself.
“That guy…”
“You think that’s not okay too, right? He was almost killed by a Kangaroo Head back then.”
Siloque covered his face and sighed.
Just like in the first playthrough, reckless and impatient.
As for why Cass became reckless and impatient in the first playthrough…
Siloque looked at Bried.
“? Is there something strange on my face?”
“No, I was just thinking you look good even without makeup.”
“Oh, thank you.”
(Emotionless)
It was because he couldn’t stop Cliff and the others’ misdeeds.
In the first playthrough, Cass was beaten unconscious, woke up to find Bried taken away, and in powerless rage searched everywhere, unable to find anyone, and then…
Anyway, it’s about time to approach Cass.
Before, his Lv wasn’t enough; following Cass would only drag him down.
Now, at least he’s reached the average level.
It’s time to help him level up, and find some efficient, interesting ways to do so.
“By the way.”
Siloque thought of the heroines.
“Bried, you can’t control your own Talent right now, right? For sure, since it’s too fast.”
“Ah… Mm… When did I tell you about this Talent?”
“You did. Did you forget so soon?”
This was a lie.
Bried had indeed never told Siloque.
But Bried believed Siloque’s nonsense, lying as well:
“Oh, oh! Right, yes, I did say that.” A bead of embarrassed sweat rolled down her forehead.
“This Talent is hard to control, so I keep crashing into things, and once I even smashed through a monster, covering myself in blood…”
“So you don’t want to use your Talent? That won’t do. The sooner you get used to this Talent, the better. I have a suggestion: I’ll send you a location, and you can go there to fight monsters, which will help you practice your Talent.”
“You only started physical training the day before yesterday, and were heavily injured by a Goblin yesterday. Your words don’t sound convincing…”
Did it become a fact that a Goblin beat me up?
Which bastard started that rumor?
“Just a suggestion, up to you whether to do it.”
He only mentioned it in passing, best if she could do it.
As long as the refreshed blonde isn’t someone with an outrageous mind-control Skill, the stronger the better.
He didn’t expect or require Bried to comply—Siloque understood that haste makes waste.
Siloque marked a spot on the window projected by the Ring Chart.
“Sorry, I don’t seem to have your LINE… Never mind.”
“LINE, huh… Let’s add each other.”
“Eh? Is that okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Siloque felt something was off.
It was going too smoothly.
“Bried, if a stranger with dark skin and yellow hair asks to add your LINE, don’t just accept.”
“Am I that easy to fool? If someone like that tried, I’d ignore them.”
No, I hope you kick him.
The two naturally exchanged contacts.
Even Bried herself didn’t notice.
After three years of estrangement, the amount they talked in one day surpassed the past ten years.
“Back to the main topic, I can’t wait for training. This time, I’ll definitely run 10 kilometers without stopping. Bried, or do you want me to make breakfast for you again?”
“Hmph.”
Bried crossed her arms and puffed up her small, proud chest.
“This time, I ate at home until I was full…”
Guu——
Bried looked embarrassed, rubbing her orange hair and smiling.
Siloque didn’t mind, and was happy to practice cooking.
***
He made Bried a new breakfast and finished training.
Since Bried wanted to shower, and Siloque didn’t want to trigger a benefit event, he left first, walking alone toward the school.
Yesterday, he went to the Dungeon to test if he could use other second playthrough Skills.
Result—total failure.
With Beiren modifying the Ring Chart’s data, he could feel the surging inside, but the Ring Chart wouldn’t display it.
By the way, when he woke up this morning, his long-missing Student Card was somehow lying in his bag, and he could get a 20% subway discount again.
Siloque went to the Exchange to remove and store it as a crystal.
When the staff connected the Ring Chart to the terminal, nothing unusual happened.
He had been a bit uneasy after getting home, but since no Regulator came knocking this morning, it seemed he really managed to get away with it.
Thank you! Beiren!
With an open Skill slot, he went to a hidden and spacious spot on Dungeon Level 1 to experiment, etc.
The power wasn’t very strong, but he tried all the practical Skills he had in the second playthrough.
He struck countless chuunibyou poses, adjusting the volume of his shouts, startling monsters into jumping out after him…
But nothing happened.
He wasted money removing the Skill, then crushed the crystal to put back…
“Damn… If I knew, I wouldn’t have tried in the first place.”
Siloque regretfully hugged his head.
Now, the Skill’s downsides were too big to ignore.
Long startup, high mana cost, completely drains the mana bar, uncontrollable damage, and other side effects made this Skill have no advantage except for high damage.
How is this Explosive (Blazing Flame)? It’s clearly a nuclear explosion (Nuclear Explosion).
Even trying would have been better—the effect is complete invisibility, so I could just take an artifact from a monster or labyrinth!
But because he always copied strategy formulas from big shots on forums, and always built his lineup around , it became the first Skill he called out of habit.
On the plus side, the Skill let him level up quickly.
While it would take others about three weeks, he did it in a few days, which was already absurd.
For now, this Skill could only be sealed and used as a last resort.
Later, he went to the Library and looked up information but found no records related to “Prophecy of Free Skill Use.”
Is it that only I can do this in this world, or has it been hidden?
If—just if.
If I could surpass Cass, replacing him outright would be one safe strategy…
Just kidding, it’s just a thought.
Siloque accepted reality—he still wasn’t a Dragon Overlord protagonist.
It was more like triggering some bug that let him use this Skill by accident, and he hadn’t figured out how to use it yet.
After raising his Lv, he’d experiment again…
Before he realized it, he’d arrived at the Class F classroom.
Even before entering, he could hear the noise inside.
When Siloque opened the door and entered, the classroom quieted somewhat.
“?”
Siloque walked through the crowd, sensing that some people were secretly watching him.
The gazes were unfriendly and sticky.
The reason was his seat by the window in the back row.
—Siloque Trash Go Die 200R Toilet Goblin Slayer—
These words were carved on the desk, sprayed with colorful paint.
Hehehe…
Laughter could be heard in the crowd, light in sound but heavy in malice.