In the world of Soul Academy, there are three main ways to raise the charm stat.
Like other stats, you can either improve your character's base performance, push through with gear, or use consumables to handle it.
Typically, when a large charm stat is required in Soul Academy, players resort to items or doping. Since charm is practically useless for dungeon raids, most players don’t bother with it.
Of course, if you're playing with a specific concept in mind, you can solve everything by charming other characters with a charm-focused build, but that’s a rare exception.
The method I plan to use is the same as in the game.
How much charm could I possibly raise in just a week?
Thanks to the Mesugaki skill, I seem to have a basic charm stat guaranteed, so I’ll handle the rest with items and doping.
"So, you want me to get these items?"
'Yes, that's right.' "Exactly, you sly info broker. I see you've developed some intuition from doing your little errands, huh?"
"Haha, of course."
Alsatin briefly skimmed through the list I handed over and frowned slightly.
"Uh, is this really correct?"
'Why, are you concerned?' "Interested in me, are you, info broker?"
"I apologize. It's just that these don’t seem like items you’d normally be interested in, my lady."
Well, it’s understandable.
Everything I listed has to do with appearance.
Clothing from a famous shop in the capital.
Cosmetics and perfumes.
And several accessories I plan to use.
Considering my usual focus on combat strength, it's only natural Alsatin found this strange.
'It’s correct, Alsatin.' "Info broker, just follow my orders quietly. Don’t get cocky. Got it, loser?"
"Yes, I understand."
'How long will it take to get these?' "How long will it take to get them?"
"Is there a deadline you’d like? I’ll try to meet it as best as I can."
'One week.' "One week. Can you do it?"
"It won’t be a problem."
Alsatin nodded without hesitation at my request.
That's what I like to hear.
I had to make some compromises because this needs to be handled quickly.
If you’d said no, I would have been disappointed.
'Then...' "Then do your best to handle this swiftly, info broker."
Seeing these things in person made my head spin a little.
In the game, no matter what item I equipped, it was the character on the screen that wore it, so it never felt like an issue. But now it’s different.
If I’ve prepared an outfit, it means I’m the one who has to wear it.
In other words, I'm the one who’ll have to put on this bunny girl costume Alsatin brought.
It seemed fine when I thought about it in my head.
After all, I’ve gotten used to wearing the academy uniform lately.
I thought I could handle going a little further.
Besides, I’d only need to wear it when meeting the forest’s ruler.
In my mind, the simulation seemed fine.
I figured it would only be a momentary embarrassment to endure.
But seeing it in person, holding it up to my body, felt completely different.
This... this isn’t clothes!
It barely covers anything—it's failing at the most basic function of clothing!
You might say as long as the important parts are covered, it’s fine, right?
Try being in a position where you have to wear a bunny girl costume!
You’ll see if you still think that!
Reluctantly, I stored the costume in my inventory, but to be honest, I had no desire to wear it.
If it weren’t for the annoying quest from that perverted nuisance god, I would have just burned it.
But the fear of the word “humiliation” blocking my escape route was too strong.
The unknown punishment awaiting me was just too terrifying.
Think about it. When the nuisance god powered up the Mesugaki skill just to mess with me, he called Faybi a "lewd saint."
That nuisance is dead serious about his punishments.
Do you think he’d give me a light penalty for failing this quest?
Not a chance.
Looking back, maybe the bunny girl costume was a bit too much.
It raises the charm stat the most, but there are other outfits that could do the job too.
But I was paranoid when I made the decision.
What if my charm stat isn’t high enough and the ruler of Saitil Forest refuses to meet me?
If I wore something else and ended up building embarrassing memories and still got punished, it would be too frustrating!
Ah, it’s too late for regrets now.
There’s no turning back.
Fine. I’ll just close my eyes and put on the bunny girl costume.
That’s all I need to do.
In front of Frey, Joy, and Faybi... wearing a bunny girl outfit...
Arghhh!
You damn perverted nuisance god!
You really are cunning!
You knew I’d end up preparing this bunny girl outfit once you backed me into a corner, didn’t you?!
Right?!
You planned this from the start, knowing I’d accumulate embarrassing moments no matter which path I chose!
Don’t use your divine powers for stuff like this, you damn pervert!
"Students!"
As I was cursing the nuisance god, I was pulled back to reality by a voice from the front.
"That forest ahead is where we’ll be conducting our field trip—Saitil Forest!"
It’s meant to give students, who haven’t experienced real danger in the safety of the academy, a taste of actual peril.
After all, the academy’s purpose is to train individuals to face the dungeons that threaten the world.
They can’t let the students relax within the safety of the walls forever.
But what happens if someone tries to avoid fighting and just hides during the field trip?
There’s a system to prevent that.
If a student doesn’t bring back at least 15 pieces of loot from the monsters in the forest, their grade will be penalized.
To advance to the next year, you need far higher grades than the average, so for most people, failing means being held back.
In other words, if you don’t want to repeat the year, you have to fight.
Of course, there are rewards too, not just penalties.
Your grade is boosted based on the number of items you bring back at the end of the trip.
I think you get the maximum bonus if you collect 100 pieces of loot.
The top five teams also receive material rewards on top of grade bonuses.
So, our goal is simple.
‘Our goal is...’ "Our goal is simple. First place. There’s no way I’m letting those losers rank higher than us."
To take first place in the field trip.
And, of course, to meet the ruler of the forest and gain their recognition.
"I thought you’d say that."
When I declared this, Frey nodded knowingly.
"Let’s do our best."
Joy clenched her fists with determination, ready to aim for the top.
"I’ll try my best."
Faybi smiled and nodded.
Looking at my party, I couldn’t help but feel proud.
This isn’t the kind of party you’d normally assemble at this stage of the academy.
If you managed to recruit just one of these characters, people would say you’d done well. If you had two, they’d call you a veteran. But having all three?
If I posted this in the community, people would accuse me of cheating.
I feel like all the hardships I’ve been through are finally paying off, and it makes me smile.
Frey raised her hand.
"Do you have a strategy?"
'Yes, I do.' "Of course, curious loser swordswoman."
"Tell me."
'We’re going to hunt people.' "We’re going to hunt those loser nobodies."
"Huh?"
Faybi looked at me in shock.
What? Did I say something strange?
"What exactly do you mean by ‘hunting people’?"
'It’s exactly what it sounds like.' "Holy loser saint, are you becoming as dense as Joy? It’s exactly what I said. We’re going to take the loot those losers collected. They should be grateful for contributing to our success."
The most efficient way to gather loot during the field trip is to steal what other students have hunted.
There’s a limit to how much loot you can get by killing monsters one by one.
In the game, you could reach first place that way, but unfortunately, I’m not just a player behind a monitor anymore.
I have no choice but to play the villain.
"But is that allowed? Isn’t that breaking the rules?"
"Faybi, that’s fine."
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It was Joy who answered Faybi’s question, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Pillaging is encouraged during the field trip."
"...What?"
"It’s something my brother told me."
It’s simple.
The number of monsters in the forest is limited.
Even though Saitil Forest is large, it’s not like a dungeon where monsters spawn endlessly.
At first, you’ll run into them frequently, but after two days, it won’t be like that anymore.
So, what do you do when you need more loot?
You could waste time searching for the few remaining monsters, but that’s extremely inefficient.
Instead of spending half a day for just two or three pieces of loot, it’s much easier and faster to target other students who are already carrying loads of it.
"But still..."
"Faybi, think about it. Did the professor mention any rules saying we couldn’t steal from other students?"
"They said we couldn’t endanger their lives."
"Exactly. As long as we don’t endanger their lives, it’s fine."
If the academy wanted to prevent looting, they would have said so explicitly.
But they didn’t. By staying silent, they’re basically allowing it.
Back when this was just a game, looting was the standard for veteran players.
"But... but still..."
Sweet-natured Faybi clearly felt guilty about taking others’ belongings, but reality doesn’t care about her feelings.
Just like the bunny girl outfit sitting in my inventory doesn’t care about mine.
'Don’t worry. We won’t start looting on the first day.' "Relax, loser saint. We won’t be robbing anyone on the first day."
There’s no point in attacking students before the hunting even begins.
The best time to strike is the first night.
When everyone’s exhausted after fighting monsters all day and has fallen asleep, that’s when we’ll make our move.
Once a team gets looted, they become more cautious, which makes them harder to rob later on.
"We’ll just be taking what others worked hard to get, won’t we?!"
'Yes, and?' "So what?"
Faybi, you seem to be under a misunderstanding. This isn’t a bad thing at all.
The academy is practically encouraging us to do this, so what else can we do?
I’m not the villain here!
I’m just a victim of the system the academy set up!
If you ask any second or third-year students, they’ll tell you looting is the way to go. So why are you giving me such a hard time about it?!