Whether it was thanks to Lecturer Kamiya’s intimidation or not, the lazy atmosphere among the students had vanished. Everyone now tackled the practical skills training with dead-serious expressions. While few managed to evade every single ball, most were able to dodge or bat away at least six or seven out of ten.
Lecturer Kamiya watched them with a look of mild boredom. Is this guy a total sadist or what?
"It’s almost our turn."
"Yeah. The task itself isn't exactly difficult, but if we take what Lecturer Kamiya said to heart, failing to evade even a single ball is a bad sign."
"You're right," Hiiragi-san added. "If we can't handle this with room to spare, we’ll never stand a chance against real monsters under the pressure of a life-or-death situation. Besides, the monsters appearing on the screen are all species the textbook lists as appearing on the surface floors of dungeons. If the speed of the rubber balls corresponds to the speed of those specific monsters..."
Yuji and Hiiragi-san’s concerns were well-founded.
The real purpose of this exercise was likely to determine if a person could survive their very first encounter with a monster. If you could slay even one monster inside a dungeon, you would gain the concept of levels and become shrouded in IPS. Once you obtained IPS, you gained various benefits, such as increased defensive power. Even if the students didn't know the technical details, they probably understood the concept through intuition and observation.
As long as you could win that first fight, steady leveling was possible—provided you didn't do anything reckless.
"Well, for now, let's just focus on clearing the task. Overthinking it might just lead to a mistake."
"True."
"I suppose so."
As the three of us stood chatting, our turn finally came.
First up was Yuji. He donned the catcher's mask and stood in the circle with a natural, shoulder-width stance, staring intently at the screen. Once the staff confirmed he was ready, the footage began to play. A monster appeared and a rubber ball was launched; Yuji easily batted away the ball aimed at his chest with his palm. From there, he accurately struck down ball after ball. He finished by batting away the ninth and tenth balls—which were fired in rapid succession—using both hands.
"Nice work."
"Good job."
"Yeah. It was surprisingly easy. You'll be fine as long as you stay calm."
Yuji replied with a grin, offering advice as he stepped out. He wiped the mask with a provided wet wipe, handed it to Hiiragi-san, and moved over to the assembly area for those who had finished.
"Stay calm, huh? Well, here I go."
"Good luck, Hiiragi-san."
"Yes. Just like Hirose-kun, I'll get a perfect clear."
Hiiragi-san gave me a confident reply and walked into the circle with a fluid, steady gait.
The moment the screen activated, a monster appeared and a ball shot toward her chest. Despite the sudden launch, Hiiragi-san didn't flinch, evading it with minimal movement. She continued to dodge the relentless barrage with surgical precision, her core never wavering. I wondered again—had she really never done martial arts?
True to her word, she achieved a perfect clear without letting a single ball touch her.
"Good job."
"So? Just like I said—a perfect clear."
"I'm impressed. Hiiragi-san, are you sure you've never done martial arts like Yuji?"
"No, I’ve never taken a single martial arts lesson."
If that was the case, were those movements purely natural? But they seemed too refined for that.
"However, when I was little, my mother encouraged me to learn Nihon Buyo."
"...I see."
"It's just a skill from my childhood. I never thought it would be useful for something like this."
So the stable weight distribution and unwavering core came from Japanese dance. Because her center of gravity was so solid, she could dodge a continuous stream of balls with ease. Of course, her kinetic vision and reflexes were likely her own natural talents.
"Well, I'll go head over to where Hirose-kun is. Good luck on your perfect clear, Kokonoe-kun."
"Yeah. I'll do my best to live up to the expectation."
"I'm counting on you."
I took the mask from Hiiragi-san. Since it was finally my turn, I headed toward the circle. For the current me, this sort of thing wasn't much of a challenge, so my steps were light.
For reference, this was my status as of this morning:
Name: Daiki Kokonoe Age: 16 Gender: Male Job: Student Title: Natural Enemy of the Slime Race Level: 59 <1> Skills: Appraisal Analysis II [A] 9/10, Psychokinesis II [A] 6/10, Spatial Storage II [P] 2/10, EP Recovery Speed Up [P] 9/10, Physical Ability Enhancement [P] 8/10, Status Camouflage [P] 9/10 HP: 595/595 <15/15> EP: 90/300 <10/10> *Values in < > are fake numbers displayed by Status Camouflage.
Thanks to my daily slime-crushing routine, my level had shot up considerably. Also, once my kill count passed ten thousand, a title had appeared in my status. Considering how many of them I’d popped, it felt earned.
The "Natural Enemy of the Slime Race" title was granted to those who had slaughtered a vast number of slimes. Its effect guaranteed a 100% critical hit rate against the slime race. It was a fantastic title that made my daily routine go even smoother, contributing greatly to my leveling efficiency.
However, since I had acquired several new passive skills and Spatial Storage had ranked up to II, I was constantly consuming 210 of the EP I’d gained from leveling. My available EP for active skills hadn't actually changed much.
"Ready when you are."
When I signaled the staff member, the screen flickered to life, showing a dungeon corridor. As the camera rounded a corner, a monster appeared in a close-up and a rubber ball was fired. It was a simulated ambush. I tracked the ball and simply reached out, catching it out of the air with my right hand.
The staff member’s eyes widened in surprise; they probably expected me to dodge or bat it away. Without looking away from the screen, I rolled the ball back toward him. Next, a wolf-type monster appeared on the screen, swinging its claws from the upper right to the lower left. A ball was fired. Observing the flight path, I noticed something off. The ball had a diagonal spin on it. Given that the first ball had a clean backspin for a straight trajectory, this meant...
"You weren't throwing breaking balls at anyone else!" I muttered under my breath.
I caught a shootball that broke sharply to the side. Apparently, the lecturer didn't like the fact that I’d caught the first one. Before I knew it, Lecturer Kamiya had taken over the controls next to the staff member. Go bother someone else, you sadist lecturer.
But my wish went ungranted. Kamiya, gripping the controller, was already inputting the next commands. Monsters began appearing in rapid succession, launching attacks from every angle. Curves, sliders, forks, and shootballs. Rubber balls curving in every direction were fired randomly and continuously. Using both hands, I caught every single one, weathering Kamiya’s onslaught without ever leaving the circle. I finished all ten balls with zero misses.
"Good job. Please switch with the next person."
"...Yes, sir."
Kamiya looked slightly frustrated, but even more so, he looked delighted. It was the kind of smile a child wears when they find a new toy. Crap, I’ve been marked by a real piece of work. I should have purposely missed a few, even if I promised Hiiragi-san I'd do my best.
Regretting my performance, I handed the cleaned mask to the next person and moved to join the others.
"Nice work, Daiki. That was incredible."
"Yes. I can't believe you caught all those breaking balls. Kokonoe-kun, did you play baseball?"
"No, just in gym class."
I sat down on the ground next to my friends. The artificial turf had a nice bounce to it and was surprisingly comfortable. I wondered if our school would ever upgrade from dirt to turf.
"But seriously, that sadist lecturer is a pain."
"Ah, you mean Kamiya-sensei?"
"Now that you mention it, those breaking balls only started once he moved to your station," Hiiragi-san noted. "Was he the one operating it?"
"Yeah. Our eyes met after the tenth ball, and his gaze was filled with a really annoying amount of glee."
Seriously, that look was too much. I’d almost thrown one of the balls right back at his face.
We chatted for a while as we waited for the rest of the students to finish. There weren't many people left, so it didn't take long. Thirty minutes later, all of Group B was done.
"Good work, Group B," Kamiya announced. "Next, you will swap with Group A for Trap Countermeasure Training. Please move to Lecturer Sakamaki’s location. One final word: if you couldn't handle those balls without making a mistake, be prepared to die or be maimed if you enter a dungeon as you are now. If you're not fond of that prospect, I suggest you train your bodies before you dive. Now, move out."
Hearing his parting shot, the students—save for a few—stiffened with grim expressions. There was no one in Group B who dared to laugh off his warning. Some were already deep in solemn thought. Still, prompted by the lecturer, they began to trudge toward Sakamaki. We led the pack, mostly because I wanted to get away from the creepy gaze Kamiya was aiming at my back.
"Let's go, fast."
"Yeah."
"Kokonoe-kun, why don't you wave at him? He's giving you such a passionate send-off."
"No way! Let's just go!"
Dragging Yuji and Hiiragi-san along, I hurried toward Lecturer Sakamaki. We passed Group A in the middle of the field and were the first to arrive.
"You guys are first, huh? You're quite fired up for being so young!"
"No, well... it's just that Lecturer Kamiya was being creepy..."
It was badmouthing a teacher, but it was his fault for looking at me like that. Despite his refreshing appearance, his soul was clearly twisted.
"What? Did you do something to stand out?"
"No. I just caught all the rubber balls from the pitching machine."
"Wait, you caught all of them?"
"Yes."
Lecturer Sakamaki thought about that for a moment, then gave a slow, heavy nod.
"That's probably it. Plenty of people can dodge or bat them away, but almost no one catches them. He must have taken a liking to you as a promising prospect."
...Excuse me?
"Well, hang in there. He’s not a bad guy at heart. His tastes are just... a bit unique. Or strange, I guess?"
Sakamaki looked at me with pure pity. I wished he would just tell Kamiya to stop instead.
The three of us stared with half-lidded eyes at the slightly unreliable-looking Sakamaki as he tried to laugh it off.
Is this guy going to be okay?
Anyway, if you can dodge the first strike, the casualty rate should go down, right?