WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

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Chapter 50: DLC [Professor in a Heroic Fantasy] – Hotfix Ver2.3.1a (1)

“Aren’t you nervous at all?” asked the middle-aged professor who had boarded the airship with me.

We were flying straight toward the rift in the sky—toward the creature with four protruding arms. My nervous companion couldn’t help but ask, seemingly amazed by my composure.

But I didn’t answer.

I wasn’t staying silent for any particular reason.

I just wasn’t good at making small talk. When someone spends too many years in graduate school, there comes a time when they simply forget what they’re supposed to say in social situations.

That was my current situation.

Typically, when I didn’t respond, people would just lose interest and move on.

But this middle-aged professor didn’t lose interest. On the contrary, it felt as though he was revering me—almost unnervingly so.

【 Black Path Professor, Ludenbach: Astounding… Truly a remarkable level of focus… One would not risk their life solely due to a sense of duty… Then does this man truly believe he can defeat that colossal monster alone…? At such a young age? Youth is but a weakness on this continent. But if Professor Dante truly subjugates that creature alone… perhaps our Assassin Department could entrust the future of Hiaka’s assassination industry to this young professor… (abridged) 】

…Why would you let your wild imagination go that far?

Regardless, I couldn’t help but be curious. I had countless questions about this upcoming hotfix.

What was going to happen to the Bugged Space? And what was up with Eve’s Massive Bugged Space?

Is this some kind of online game? Emergency patches like this usually only happen in online multiplayer games, don’t they?

But as I pondered more about bugs and glitches, I made a realization as multiple thoughts crossed my mind all at once.

Haven’t I actually experienced a lot of bugs myself?

Looking back, that really seemed to be the case.

I had benefited from quite a few glitches already.

Firstly, I was able to perceive stigmata or curses on objects even though I lacked detection abilities. A notable instance was when I saw the Liberator’s stigma before the item had been appraised, as well as the three curses on Rebecca’s veil.

Secondly, I could see people hiding with stealth on the minimap, even though they weren’t supposed to show up—like the time I located all the cadets trying to assassinate me on the first day, including Elize.

Lastly, the detection range of the textbox and minimap exceeded 3,000 meters, which came in handy when Balmung tried to snipe me from the clock tower.

I had been taking advantage of these glitches for a while now, and for a split second, I was concerned about losing these features with the hotfix.

But if the system was about to remove these, too, it surely would’ve mentioned it in the hotfix notice.

< Time Until Hotfix: 00 min 32 sec… >

While I was lost in thought, the time had nearly arrived.

All the questions I’d harbored and the compensation promised by the Systematic Star⧉… surely, I would soon find answers to all of them.

< Logging out. >

A warm sensation spread through my body like anesthesia.

It felt like my mind was escaping this body.

The world began to blur—or perhaps it was just my optic nerves dimming.

As everything gradually faded, like a fleeting illusion of the day, a status window suddenly appeared in my darkened vision.

< ⧉ The 「Game System」 will temporarily shut down. >

< ♠ The 『Curse of Oblivion』 has been applied. Direct memories and records of certain encounters will be erased or distorted. >

Wait, what?

…was the last thought I had before losing consciousness.

* * *

The world drifted further away.

My consciousness rose to the surface.

The ground I once stood on quickly shrank into the distance below.

At some point, the continent had shrunk to a mere dot, and I found myself soaring across a corner of the universe like a comet.

That vast land of the game world vanished in an instant, and I was moving away at the speed of light, or perhaps even faster.

And yet, despite the dizzying speed, I gazed in awe at the overwhelmingly vast universe. It was quite literally astronomical.

I suddenly recalled the time I had visited the Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul.

The vast, sprawling stadium was filled to the brim with people, as Br*no M*rs’s voice echoed all around us.

If an atom were as large as that stadium, the nucleus would only be the size of a football at its center, and the electrons would be the size of ants circling the stadium’s perimeter.

So, in truth, atoms were mostly made up of emptiness.

And since the world was made of atoms, the entire universe was essentially empty too.

The world I was launched from was like the torso of an ant in the grand scheme of things, or perhaps even smaller. I was witnessing that truth firsthand.

The whole universe was hollow.

And in this vast darkness, there was one very strange thing that stood out...

For some reason, in this empty universe, there was a window up above us.

Technically, the universe shouldn’t have an “up.”

But right here, right now, the universe felt like a basement with a window to the upper floors.

After experiencing this strange phenomenon, I ended up escaping this “basement.”

And when I came to, I was standing all alone in a pure white world.

“…”

I raised my hand.

I still had a body—Dante’s body.

I turned my head and looked around.

Calling it a “pure white world” felt accurate.

Was this what the Arctic looked like under the midnight sun?

Everything was white, from the ground to the sky, far into the distance.

Yet, it wasn’t some abstract space of complete whiteness. The ground had proper white tiles arranged in a grid—like some kind of pavement.

In other words, this was a desert.

A desert made not of sand, but white pavement stones.

< ⧉ Entering the Location: [Offline]. >

——

Character: Dante Hiakapo

Difficulty: Hell

Seed: 3340 1414 5592 **** ****

Progress: Main Story

Overall Combat Power: 157,440

So this… was [Offline].

I’d wondered if I might wake up back in reality, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

< Time Remaining Until Ver. 2.3.1a Patch Complete… [50 minutes] >

The status window clearly displayed the remaining patch time.

So I had to remain here for roughly an hour.

Now what?

I was in a completely unfamiliar space, in an unfamiliar situation.

The scenery didn’t seem like it would change no matter where I’d go.

The scenery didn’t seem like it would change, no matter how far I walked. There wasn’t even a sun overhead—just a glowing sky, radiantly bright and cloudless. I couldn’t gauge how far up the sky stretched.

Should I just walk around?

I began wandering aimlessly, if only to kill time. But even after a long while, nothing changed.

Generally, in places like this, there’d be a tree far off in the distance. Maybe an oasis, or a mysterious temple, or something. That was the stereotype I had of these kinds of empty, white spaces.

But here, there was absolutely nothing.

Not a structure, not a shimmer. Just vast, tiled emptiness.

I felt truly alone.

It was a strange feeling. Ever since I’d been pulled into the game world, I’d almost never been alone. The only time I got to myself was when I was asleep. Outside of bedtime, my responsibilities as a professor were relentless. 

And on top of that, there were always incidents happening, forcing me to travel and interact with people.

It’s all the same, no matter where I go. Is there even a point to walking?

Eventually, I just sat down on the ground. And then, sprawled flat on my back, staring up at the sky. 

Thank goodness the patch only takes 50 minutes.

If this lasted three days or longer, it would have been unbearable.

I closed my eyes, deciding to nap or at least rest a little...

“Awawawa…”

A childlike voice rang out from somewhere.

I sat up immediately, scanning the horizon, and found something—or rather, someone—quite peculiar.

It was a kid, wearing a gray dinosaur costume, his round face peeking out from the neck opening.

An incredibly cute boy.

“You are...?” I asked.

The child cautiously raised a hand and waved.

“H-Hi…!”

“Hello.”

“The weather is… very n-n-nice…”

His speech was stiff and mechanical. Then, the boy pulled a piece of paper from his waist and glanced at it.

“The weather… is very nice…!” he repeated, more confidently this time.

I stared at him in silence.

What was up with this kid?

“Who are you?” I asked again.

Judging by his height and face, he looked to be about five to seven years old. He stuttered again, trying to form a response. 

“I-I’m… I’m…”

You are?

“…Who am I?”

…Now that’s a philosophical question.

“Oh, right! I’m Dino!”

“Dino.”

“Yeah…!”

Dino peeked at his paper again before taking a few steps closer to me.

“U-Uhm. Anyway, welcome to this place…! What’s your name, mister?”

“Dante Hiakapo.”

“I see…! That’s a really cool name…! Uh, from now on, while you’re here in [Offline], I’ll ex-ex-explain the patch notes…! And, uh, also…”

He quickly glanced at his notes again. 

“…Aboutthecompensationfortheemergencypatch… and, uh… theadjustmentstobemadeinresponsetothedamagecausedbythebug…”

He rapidly mumbled through the sentence, tripping over the words as he read them too fast. Then finally, he stuffed the note behind his back and declared, 

“…Is what I’ll be explaining about!”

Really... what’s up with this kid?

But then, I made a realization. 

This boy was probably an apostle of 「Systematic Star⧉」.

Among the 33 stars, 「Systematic Star⧉」 governed the game’s system itself—a guide and helper for the players.

“Very well. Let’s hear it,” I said.

“Okay…! So… f-f-for the emergency patch… the compensation includes…”

“Stop.”

“Uh, huh…?”

“You clearly haven’t memorized your lines very well. Why don’t you just read it off your notes directly?” I suggested.

However, the boy looked devastated.

“B-But… I practiced so much for this…”

I reached toward the paper, thinking I’d just read it myself. But Dino quickly turned away and hid it behind his back again. 

“Give it to me. I’ll read it myself.”

“Nooo…!”

“Why not?”

“If… If I give this to you… I’ll be completely useless…!”

I hesitated.

I’d feel bad if I made him feel useless. So in the end, I relented.

Soon enough, Dino perked up again and immediately began reading at full speed.

The contents were roughly as follows:

* Hotfix Patch and Adjustment Notes:

1. Adjusted the timing error of Jinxsite’s summoning.

2. Fixed the bug where 3 of Jinxsite’s arms had 90-series curses.

I nearly screamed aloud.

Three 90-series curses?!

If that was true, Zone 0 had been incredibly close to complete annihilation. 

* Compensation:

1. Star Shard ×50.

2. Additional helper regarding Bugged Spaces.

3. [Resurrection Coupons] ×3 (valid for 1 day)

The rewards, on the other hand, were quite generous.

50 Star Shards was a massive win.

“You need to use the Resurrection Coupons right now…!” Dino exclaimed, waving three shimmering blue coupons in the air. 

There had been many casualties over the past few days. 

And I had to choose three of them, huh.

Thankfully, whether by design or sheer luck, no one close to me had died.

In the end, I named three individuals I believed were suitable to redeem the coupons.

< [Resurrection Coupons] have been used. >

“But what’s the second part of the compensation about?” I asked.

“Oh…! That one means… up until now, you weren’t informed about what kind of glitch was affecting the Bugged Spaces…” Dino explained. “But from now on, Lord Systematic Star⧉ will send a helper to share the information we uncover!”

That was excellent news.

Just a few days ago, I had fought Jinxsite alongside a few others, without the slightest clue what kind of glitch was corrupting that demon. One wrong move and we could’ve all been wiped out... especially since it had three arms with 90-series curses.

“…T-That concludes the patch notes explanation!” Dino finished with a proud little bow. 

“You did well,” I said. 

“Thank you…! D-Do you have any questions?”

“Questions?”

That was unexpected. He was open to questions?

“Will you answer everything I ask?” I narrowed my eyes slightly. 

“Uhm… not everything,” Dino admitted. “But… if it’s something I can explain, then I’ll try to answer… to some extent…”

His eyes darted nervously from side to side.

“…B-But I can’t share too much…”

“How much can you tell me?”

Dino visibly panicked, waving his arms and shaking his head rapidly.

So, he couldn’t answer that either.

Still... I had plenty of questions. 

Things I had buried deep in my mind because I thought I’d never get the chance to ask or get answers. 

But now, maybe, just maybe, I could pry open the truth.

I looked him straight in the eye. 

“…What happened to the real me?”

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