I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 288: Testing (1)

"Status window."

After calling Alice and the other party members, I arrived at the training ground first and muttered the command.

[ ... ]

The status window that should have appeared didn’t show up. Instead, just a flickering row of ellipsis.

“...Is it a bug?”

This wasn’t the first time. It had happened before with the "Ring of Affection and Obsession." Back then, there was a brief bug where Rina’s name flashed on the screen and then disappeared. It wasn’t a big deal, but it still stuck in my memory.

The reason for the bug in my status window?

"It’s probably the Magesu..."

I had defeated the Magesu, a monster that should have only appeared in the final chapter of the original game, much earlier than intended. While it was true that the Swordmaster and my master had done most of the work, I couldn’t say I hadn’t contributed at all.

"Hmm, this is a bit troublesome."

Of course, just because there was a glitch in the status window didn’t mean my strength had suddenly diminished. But the fact that I had planned my training around my objective stats and skills made this status error quite an inconvenience.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it right now.”

I could only hope the problem would resolve itself in time. I sighed deeply, staring at the status window for a moment longer before closing it.

What I needed to focus on now was evaluating the growth of my party members.

And Alice’s evaluation.

After the recent encounter with the Magesu, I had the feeling that my party members might be stronger than I initially thought.

As for Alice, there was no question. She was a limited-edition character, and it was essential to find out what abilities she possessed and how she fought.

"Hmm, I had planned to do this right after we arrived, but it’s taken a week."

Over the past week, I had spent time rotating between the Utopia party members.

Since I had spent an entire day glued to Ichika, the other party members naturally demanded the same attention, which led to this arrangement. It was also a way to help manage the stress of the grueling training they had all endured over the past month.

Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee had trained in the Swordmaster’s forest as well, though they had only joined me at the beginning and the end. For the most part, I had been stuck in a pit alone.

"Well, not entirely alone since Master was there too. Maybe I should check in with her before the others arrive."

I tapped on my phone to find Master’s number and started a video call.

Ring—

Before the first ring had even finished, Master answered the call.

A hologram of her face appeared, set against the backdrop of a snowy ice palace. She was wearing a fur hat, and despite answering right away, she seemed unable to meet my eyes.

It looked like she still felt a bit guilty.

"Master."

"...Yes." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"Aren’t you happy to see me?"

"...It’s not that."

"Then shouldn’t you look at me? I missed you, you know."

At my words, Master briefly glanced at me before quickly turning her head to the side. I chuckled.

"I don’t know if I should think this, but she’s kind of cute."

It was probably because it was a side of her I rarely got to see.

"You know you’ll still be teaching me, right? You’ll have to come here once a week."

"...I know."

She rolled her eyes but answered nonetheless. Then she suddenly paused, staring intently at me, before her face zoomed in close to the camera.

"Huh? Is something on my face? Getting that close won’t help you see better..."

"That... what is it?"

"Huh?"

"The wounds on your body... Did you get those in a dungeon? What kind of gate did you enter to get so many injuries?"

Ah.

I couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly.

"I forgot to cover these up."

At the moment, my neck, shoulders, and other parts of my body were covered in bite marks.

"Oh, it’s nothing like that... It’s just that there’s this challenge trending among my party members right now. The ‘One Bite Challenge.’"

"One Bite Challenge? With your party members? What’s that?"

The "One Bite Challenge" originated from Ichika’s succubus curse. It was a curse that could only be relieved through physical contact, and after almost a month of neglect, it had driven her to bite me in front of everyone. Of course, after a day of hugs and letting her bite me as much as she wanted, the curse was quickly resolved.

But the next day, Shin Se-hee had come to me with a serious expression, noticing the bruises on my neck and shoulders.

"Jin Yoo-ha... Did Ichika do that?"

"Doesn’t Shin Se-hee know about the curse?"

I had assumed she was aware of Ichika’s condition, but apparently not. I explained everything to her, making sure there were no misunderstandings.

Shin Se-hee understood, but she said there was still a problem.

"A problem?"

"Yes. Usually, when a party member starts biting like that, it’s seen as an early sign of demonic transformation. While we understand the situation now, doing something like that in front of everyone could cause issues. Some people saw us at the academy, after all."

"...What should we do, then?"

I didn’t want people to get the wrong idea and think Ichika was turning into a demon, so I asked Shin Se-hee for a solution.

Her solution was... well, a bit strange, to say the least.

"Why don’t we all just do it together? If only Ichika does it, it becomes a problem. But if we all bite you, people will just laugh it off as a silly incident, and we can say you lost a bet."

So, in the end, the plan was for all the party members to take a bite.

Since it was a group effort to cover for Ichika, I didn’t really mind and agreed.

Chomp!

And that’s how I ended up with bite marks all over my body every day. Shin Se-hee and the others even shared it on their personal SNS accounts, which became quite the buzz.

Since there was no point in lying to Master, I explained the whole situation to her.

After hearing the explanation, Master...

Wrinkled her nose.

"That damn fox... So that’s how they plan to mark you as theirs."

"...What?"

Master muttered something under her breath, but I couldn’t quite catch it.

"Never mind."

She kept glancing at my bite marks.

"Does she... want to try it?"

"Master, would you like to take a bite too?"

I asked teasingly.

"W-What!?"

"Everyone else seems to enjoy it. People’s reactions have been great. You should try it, Master. The others said it was delicious."

"A b-bite from a student!? And d-delicious!? T-That’s not something a man should say! Jin Yoo-ha!"

Master shouted, flustered like never before. Still, she looked much more animated than when she couldn’t meet my eyes earlier.

Smiling mischievously, I continued.

"So, do you want to? You can have as many bites as you want, Master."

"..."

I shifted slightly to reveal my neck, and Master’s face turned a deep shade of red.

"I miss you."

I didn’t bother asking about the Moonlight Sword technique or how her work with the demon-extermination squad was going, or how the ice sword was progressing. I knew she was already pushing herself hard enough, probably even cutting down on sleep.

"Take care of yourself. Your health is the most important thing. Oh, by the way, is the Swordmaster there with you?"

Master’s face scrunched up again.

"...That woman."

At that moment—

"Ah! My dear disciple! Were you asking for me?"

Suddenly, the Swordmaster appeared next to Master, shoving her face into view. I blinked, taken aback by her appearance.

Her chest was wrapped in bandages, she wore a thin aloha shirt, and her sunglasses were perched on her forehead.

The backdrop was a snowy winter landscape, but the Swordmaster’s attire seemed to suggest she had confused the seasons.

"...Aren’t you cold?"

"This place is heaven! Everything is provided, and there’s even a hot spring! Why didn’t you tell me about this place sooner!? I’ve spent my life pretending to be all sophisticated, swinging my sword in the mountains, but now I can finally relax! I feel like I’ve wasted 80% of my life!"

"Cover yourself properly, Swordmaster."

"Oh, why so uptight? You’re being mean to your Master."

"I have never acknowledged you as my Master."

"She really does whatever she wants."

Anyway, the reason I had been looking for the Swordmaster wasn’t for any of that.

It was because of Alice.

I needed to ask her about Alice since she was the one who knew her best. I figured it would be better to have some insight into Alice before moving forward.

"Swordmaster, can you tell me about Alice?"

"Hmm? About Malsook? Are you interested in her? Well, if it’s you, I approve! Her type is—"

"I’m planning to have her work as a member of our party. I just thought it’d be good to know if there’s anything important in advance."

I quickly interrupted before she could spout any nonsense.

The Swordmaster clicked her tongue in disappointment but responded.

"Well, to put it bluntly, she’s... quite eccentric."

What would it mean for an eccentric person like the Swordmaster to call someone else eccentric?

"Maybe that means she’s normal?"

"Well, Malsook is—"

As the Swordmaster’s explanation continued, I found myself staring in disbelief.