Academy’s Drunk Fighter

“We’re screwed.”
I never imagined that out of the hundreds of participants, the randomly assigned one million points would land… on Charlotte.

No, I mean—I’ve played Dreaming World thousands of times, and whether I’m just that unlucky or it’s always been this way, I’ve never gotten one million points.
Since I never experienced it, I made the stupid mistake of not even including the possibility.
“Wh-what do we do…?”

Normally, getting a million points would be a huge advantage.
But in a tournament where points are the basis of competition, a number that stands out this much draws everyone’s attention.
And when your location is marked on the map too?

In other words, she’s a walking treasure chest.
“This is… a problem. Discarding her is an opti—”
“Waaah…”
Scholar calmly floated the option of “discarding” her, but Charlotte’s face immediately went pale.

“No, that’s not an option.”
“At this rate, we’re going to draw too much attention. Your entire plan will fall apart from the very start.”
“We can’t win this tournament without Charlotte.”
Even if this genius inventor creates something amazing in here, Yoon Siwoo’s party is too powerful.
To reduce risk and keep things stable, Charlotte’s help is absolutely essential.

“There is a way.”
“There’s a way?”
In fact, there’s one method.
That is—distributing Charlotte’s million points to someone else.

It sounds simple, but it’s really not.
Unlike your average academy story, people here aren’t idiots.
If it were just a moderate number, maybe. But a full million? There aren’t many fools willing to accept that and not realize how much danger it puts them in.

There’s one exception, though.
There was one person.
A character whose raw physical strength was said to be the strongest among the first-years—or maybe even the entire academy.
She doesn’t quite match Professor Philia yet—Philia’s just on another level—but later in the story, she catches up.

Probably because of that, she’s the kind of character who only speaks in short sentences and has a very… simple brain structure.
[11:13]
I looked up at the clock in the sky—it was ticking past 11, toward noon.

“Alright, alright… there’s someone we need to find.”
“Huh? Who…?”
“Charlotte, hand me all your points.”
“Ah… okay!”
Even though this is a point-based tournament, with Yoon Siwoo’s party in the game, most teams will end up getting wiped out.
What actually matters is who survives to the end.

So I discard this giant million-point bomb as simply as possible.
[Esha Hernia: 1,000,150]
[Charlotte Aina: 0]
“For now, stay in the Safe Zone! I’ll… handle this score.”
“...Understood.”

Like during the entrance exam, I stuck a bottle in my mouth and began searching for someone.
The factory zone is huge and complicated, so finding someone isn’t easy, but this person’s appearance makes them stand out.
[Current Intoxication: 5%]

Plus, since Charlotte and Scholar appeared nearby, that person has to be in this area too.
I push through pipes and chunks of metal, combing the factory ruins, searching and searching.
And finally, I stop in my tracks.

Tap.
“Phew… found him!”
From the entrance ceremony on, he’s always stood out—the guy with the massive build.

His upper body was bare, covered in thick, intricate tattoos.
He’s a main character, but not one I particularly like, so I never remembered his name. Still, I do know for sure—he’s not the brightest.
If he just accepts these points without question, that’d be perfect.

But there’s still one more problem.
“…Of course. He’s not alone.”
That character is currently part of Yoon Siwoo’s party.

Which means Siwoo and his companions are guaranteed to be nearby.
For whatever reason, I can’t force-transfer the points like slipping something into his pocket, so I have to wait until that guy is alone and convince him to take the points.
And soon, the opportunity comes.

Even a superhuman can’t survive five days without supplies, so naturally, teams split up to gather materials from the Safe Zone.
One person was left behind.
I slowly approached him.

“You. Who are you.”
“...Whoa.”
But as soon as I blinked, the guy vanished—just like that—and a voice came from behind me.
It had to be him.

“Uhm… hello?”
“Weak. State your purpose.”
“I—I came to bring you something good!!”
I felt the thick hand resting on my head start pressing hard enough to crush me, so I raised both hands and shouted in panic.
“Something good? Meat?”
“No, no—not that. You’re on the same team as Yoon Siwoo, right?”
“Team?”
“Uh, I mean—your companion…!”

Right, this guy’s from a barbarian background. I remembered I had to phrase things differently.
“Yes.”
“Ah, then… you know about how we need points for this tournament, right…?”
“Points… yes.”
Thank god, he can talk.

Though I get the feeling he doesn’t see me as another person but more like prey—but still, I believed I could talk my way through this.
“So, like… we have a lot of points, so we wanted to give you some. Will you take them?”
“…Why give them?”
What?

I didn’t think he’d ask that.
“Uh… because it’s a good thing? You know, just sharing makes things better for everyone!”
“You and I are enemies.”
“…”
“Enemies do not give gifts without reason.”
“Ha…ha…”
I tried luring him with cheerful, simple words, but it wasn’t working.

This wasn’t a rational decision based on logic or benefit—he was instinctively measuring how much this would help or harm others.
“It doesn’t really matter though, right?”
“There must be a reason. Speak.”
“A reason, huh…”
Is there no way?

Of course, it’s still before noon, so he can’t attack me—if he does, he’ll be disqualified.
But if I push things too far, I won’t be in any condition to continue either.
“If you won’t speak…”

I feel his grip tightening.
The back of my head hurts.
Should I use Foot Burst to escape?

“Ah. Okay… I-I’ll talk!!”
“Do not stop.”
I really didn’t want to say this…
But there was only one way out of this situation.
“I want to be friends with Yoon Siwoo…! So, haha…”

“Only four people can win.”
He was probably pointing out that even if we stuck together, only four people could receive rewards as tournament winners.
“That’s okay! I just… want to be on good terms, that’s all…”

“Hmm…”
Wait, he’s actually thinking about it?
You’re not that kind of character.

Or is there something I don’t know going on here?
“…Understood.”
“Th-that’s great!!”

I was honestly nervous he might ask why I was giving them to him instead of to Yoon Siwoo directly—but I successfully handed over the points.
[Grok: 1,000,250]
[Esha Hernia: 150]
So his name’s Grok, huh?
Doesn’t really stick in my mouth. Still doesn’t register.

Anyway, I handed off all the points to this Grok guy, except for a small reserve just in case, and immediately got the hell out of there.
“Well theeen~ I’ll be off now!!!”
“Take care.”
That was seriously terrifying.

“Phew… I need to get back to the Safe Zone fast.”
*
“Grok! I asked you to scout the area—why are you still here?”
“A rabbit appeared.”
“…A rabbit?”
“It gave me a gift.”
“…What are you—wait, your score.”

Hearing Grok’s answer, Yoon Siwoo tilted his head in confusion—then saw Grok’s score had suddenly shot past a million.
“…Who the hell…?”
He couldn’t make sense of it.

Even if it’s a score that puts a target on your back, to give it up that easily?
“The rabbit said… they wanted to be friends with you.”
“…Who the hell is that?”

A rabbit?
Grok usually referred to people as animals, and Yoon Siwoo had learned enough to tell that to him, “human” was just a rough category.
He’d called Hellicia a “skilled cat.”
Hyun Seol-ah a “frozen squirrel.”
And himself, a tiger.

But no one in his class had ever been described as a rabbit before.
“I don’t know their name.”
“Do you know /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ what they looked like?”
“Small.”
“Well… obviously.”
To someone nearly 3 meters tall, there weren’t many people he wouldn’t call small.

“White hair.”
“White… hair?”
And just like that, the image of Esha popped into Yoon Siwoo’s mind.
There should be plenty of white-haired students at the Academy.

And yet…
“I’m heading out.”
“Hey, let’s find a base together.”
Shaking off the thought, Yoon Siwoo followed Grok as they began focusing on securing a location.

“No way… no, but still… could it be?”
It looked like it’d take a little while longer before he could shake the thought completely.