Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 32: First Crisis (4)

“···.”

This was by no means a normal situation.

Am I missing something?

Timing-wise—no. In every route I played, there was never a case that started earlier than this.

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

Ruuuuumble...

A thunderous, tearing sound echoed from the distance.

[1:22 PM]

Ding-ling-ding-ling!!

Students in the surrounding food court all looked at the alerts popping up on their phones, each reacting in their own way.

Some looked confused, others were briefly frozen in fear, and a few were visibly trembling.

But most calmly drew their own weapons.

Not the limited ones stored within the Academy—but their actual weapons. The ones they had from the start.

They didn’t run.

Most of the people here had taken down at least one magic beast before, and many of them were combat-track students. They could hold their own.

Surely, nothing dangerous will happen.

“For now, shut the cafeteria doors and prep until the professors arrive.”

“Yeah. What could possibly go wrong when they’re around?”

“I... I’m kinda scared...”

And on top of that, unlike before, the plan to pin down all the professors in one place couldn’t be carried out due to my absence.

A terrorist attack bound to fail.

But Gates don’t only appear around here.

There are still students scattered about, some of whom aren’t combat-track.

Like Noah, for instance...

“No, get a grip.”

First things first—I need to get out of the cafeteria.

Would’ve been nice if I had Charlotte’s number, but I figured I had more time, so I didn’t ask for it. That was a mistake.

Which means the place I need to go first is the library.

I had to bust through the doors and head for the library where Charlotte would be.

Noah’s words echoed in my head—she said she was heading to the Academy’s outer archive. I could only hope she hadn’t gone too far yet.

And if I was lucky, the extreme defensive barrier Charlotte deployed might be protecting her too.

As much as I want to go rescue her, this comes first.

BAM!

“Wait—! Where are you—?!”

“It’s dangerous out there!!”

“Is she insane?!”

“Why the hell is she running out?!”

There’s still time.

It hasn’t been long since the Gate manifested.

Sure, it takes a little time for it to be detected and the alerts to go out, but it doesn’t explode right away.

In-game time, you had at least ten minutes.

There were times it took even longer, but I’m not gonna bet on that.

Always assume the worst—but I hope for the best.

Under the blazing sun, I arrived at the library.

And I was starting to get a sense of what was going on.

“Are they pushing it...?”

I don’t know why, but by my judgment, they’re definitely forcing it.

There was a specific reason the designated date existed—because that’s when they were at their strongest.

A night with no moon, no light of any kind.

Like doomsday creeping closer. The battlefield after the end, straight out of some grimdark fantasy.

That’s why they liked that day best.

But now, in broad daylight, they’re suddenly launching an operation... That clearly meant they were stretching themselves thin.

For whatever reason.

When I reached the library, monsters were already creeping out—no idea where they’d come from.

“Already...!”

Luckily, I had just come from physical training, so I hadn’t put my weapon away yet. My gloves and gun were still in my back pocket.

Grrrrk!

The beasts that looked like wolves spotted me.

Still, there were bound to be people inside the library. Charlotte would be fine.

The real problem was how the hell I was going to get past these things.

Tap!

Four beasts. Each one at least twice the size of a normal dog or wolf.

Normally, I’d dodge and run, no question. But now—things were different.

“Phew...”

I could fight too.

Even a normal person like me had been getting some coaching from a professor. It would’ve been weirder if I just got flattened without a fight.

And besides...

Crunch!

The sweet scent of chocolate behind my neck as I popped one in.

[Current Intoxication: 3%]

I used stronger liquor to make this batch of chocolates.

Thanks to that, just one piece made my body feel light and filled me with strength.

Still, just in case, I had one more.

“Hehe~.”

[Intoxication has reached a certain level.]

[Your Mental Strength will not fall below the threshold.]

Yeah, I was scared—but not enough to make me want to run away.

“If you’re not coming... I’ll go first, yeah?”

My vision swayed, but I fired with the stance I’d practiced relentlessly.

BANG!!

Normally, the first bullet would be a warning shot, but in a world crawling with these things, “warning shots” don’t exist.

GRAAANG!!

The bullet tore into the beast’s body—smoke and blood mist exploded into the air.

A wolf-type beast collapsed, shot in the head.

Sure, the gun’s weak. But not useless.

Still, it didn’t die immediately.

I guess that’s what makes it a magic beast—or maybe I just didn’t aim right.

“Hehe...”

But I had eight rounds left.

Plenty to kill them all.

Growl...

They were huge. Their sheer presence made my knees twitch—but I wasn’t gonna die that easy.

BANG!!

Bullet after bullet ripped through their bodies.

GRRRRAAH!!

It was working.

But once I had four bullets left, I stopped firing.

“...Huh?”

These things... their hide is way tougher than I thought.

The way they’re just taking hits—it felt more like they were letting me waste ammo on purpose.

Growl.

Almost like proof, the first one I shot shook its head and got up off the ground.

It looked at me, like it was mocking me.

[Current Intoxication: 4%]

Still—not giving up.

I slipped the gun into my back pocket and pulled out the gloves, sliding them onto my hands.

Shff.

The firm grip of the leather wrapped tight around my palms.

My fists and legs settled into position.

“I’ve gotten way stronger, y’know? You little mutts?”

RAAAARGH!!

Grinning as I shrugged off their mockery, the first beast lunged.

[Fa Jing]

My body moved light as air, dodging its claws and slamming a kick into its gut.

BOOOOOM!!

URGH—!!!

A tremor echoed from its belly.

It wasn’t enough—but if one hit wasn’t enough, I’d just hit it over and over.

Professor Philia’s training was dumb and brute-force—but it helped polish my technique.

And I was finally getting a sense of how to use my Trait, [Drunken Fist].

“Shut it.”

As it tried to bite down, I rammed an uppercut into its jaw.

CRACK!

[Your understanding of Drunken Fist has increased.]

[The usage cap for # Nоvеlight # Basic Martial Arts has been raised.]

Its massive wolf-jaws hung open in shock, unable to regain focus.

I quickly shoved a bullet into that thing’s open mouth.

BANG!!

I could hear the bullet tearing through its organs, and the beast coughed up blood as it collapsed.

“...Got blood on me.”

The blood that sprayed out hit my face and clothes.

And this was white clothing—it wouldn’t come out easy.

Still, it felt like I finally released some of the stress that had been building up lately.

Getting my ass beat by Professor Philia every day left my whole body sore, you know?

“Ah~ this feels good.”

I think I kinda get now why people are obsessed with martial arts.

The beasts looked a bit shaken, but that was probably just my imagination.

There’s no way a magic beast would be scared just because one of its buddies died.

“You little shits not coming?”

I hurled myself toward the ones that had started backing away.

[Current Intoxication: 5%]

[The first stage of Limit Release has been unlocked.]

[Drunken Fist activation level has increased.]

Three gaping jaws came at me as if to match my charge.

Just as those massive teeth and throats loomed into view—

[Assisted Evasion]

My body slipped through the gap beneath them, and I slammed upward into one beast’s exposed underside, launching it into the sky.

There’s no way a normal human’s strength could pull that off—but thanks to the stat boost from the mask and Drunken Fist, it was possible.

Grrrk!

The other two beasts turned around to devour me, but creatures are creatures—they still have bodily functions.

“Hehe.”

I shoved the barrel of my gun right up where they do their business.

BANG!!

GRAAAAGH!!

KRRRAAAAH!!!

The bullet tore straight through its ass and out its mouth.

“Ahaha!!”

Sure, it looked brutal... but so what?

They’re monsters that kill people. Killing them brutally in return—who cares?

One beast crashed to the ground.

Only one bullet left.

Grooooan...

The last one stared at me silently, watching as its two comrades were turned into bloody pulp.

I smiled at it.

“Ahh... I like this~ wouldn’t mind doing it now and then, huh?”

ROAAAAAR!!!

A violent bloodlust erupted across its face.

It charged at me in a straight line.

[Current Intoxication: 6%]

[Your physical abilities have slightly increased.]

“Still, I’m outta time and I’ve got a headache—so let’s wrap this up early, alright?”

Its giant jaws and flailing limbs scrambled to kill me—or no, to survive.

But I clamped both hands around its body and shut its mouth tight.

“Hey, buddy? Your mouth’s really big, huh?”

My neck and head dipped in and out of its throat.

“Bang~!”

BANG!

With nothing it could do, I shoved a bullet into its guts and shook off the blood that soaked me.

“Puhah!”

And just like that—four wolf-type beast corpses surrounded me.

Leaving them behind, I pushed open the library doors and stepped inside.

Creeeaak...

Inside the library, people stared at me—some trembling, some tense and wary—but I ignored them and headed for the supply room where Charlotte would be.

“Eep!”

“Ah—it’s okay, Charlotte...!”

She’d flinched at the sight of the blood on me, but once she realized it was me, she stopped shaking.

“T-The blood on your body...?”

“Oh, this? It’s not mine!”

“O-Okay...”

“Anyway, about what we talked about before—how did that go?”

“Ah, that... I couldn’t finish all of it... Even if I use it now, not all of it will work...”

“That’s fine, Charlotte! Even what you have is more than enough for me!”

“U-Uuu...”

Seeing her shrink into herself, I pulled a few chocolates from my pocket and handed them to her.

“What’s this...?”

“Chocolates that make you feel better when you eat them!!”

Wait, what the hell am I saying right now?

“Ah... Thank youuu...”

Watching her quietly gather up the chocolates, a thought crossed my mind.

Come to think of it—those have booze in them.

Like, really strong booze.

“...Ah, sorry. Actually, you probably shouldn’t have those.”

“H-Huh?”

She looked up at me with such a pitiful expression—but I’d completely forgotten in my drunken high. I quickly apologized and took the chocolates back.

“They’re a bit messy and bloody... I’ll bring you something else next time.”

“O-Okay...”

She looked so obviously sad that it hurt to watch... but!

“Uh—more importantly, can you activate the barrier now?”

“Ah, yes!!”

Charlotte nodded enthusiastically.

“Then, could you do it right now?”

“...But, um, the range is a lot smaller than I thought...”

“How small are we talking?”

“U-Um... If I center it on the main building, maybe about 3 km...?”

“Does that include the outer archive building?”

“Umm... Just barely...? Not sure. It might reach...?”

Well, that’s something.

One more thing to think positively about.

“Then—I’ll activate it now!!”

A blue light spread out across the floor, filling the inside of the supply room.

“This is...”

I hadn’t noticed when I came in, but every scrap of paper covering the walls, ceiling, and floor had magic circles drawn all over them.

And now, all those diagrams began to glow bright blue, and a massive barrier started forming, centered on this spot.

Ruuuumble...

The blue light spread outward, growing larger and larger until it stretched impossibly far.

The majestic scene left me speechless for a moment.

“...Charlotte.”

“Y-Yes?”

“That’s amazing.”

“U-Uwaa...! Thank you!”

Before I knew it, the barrier had already stretched beyond the library windows, expanding far into the distance.

But this was only the beginning of what was to come.

I thanked Charlotte, then turned and ran toward my next destination.