Sudden Treasure Hunt

I reached Level 6, and the number of jobs I could change into increased.

“Treasure Hunter, huh? That sounds like it’ll be useful for future exploration.”

When I tried changing jobs just to see what would happen, a huge yawn escaped me.

“Fwaaah. I don’t know what time it is now, but I should probably get some sleep. I’ve got to wake up early tomorrow too.”

I flopped down onto the floor made from Gisu wood.

Once morning came, sunlight would stream in through the window, serving as my alarm clock.

“A lot really happened today. Classes start tomorrow, so even more things are bound to happen…

As long as I’ve got the Jack-of-All-Trades skill, I’ll manage somehow…”

I murmured that to myself, closed my eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly.

I suddenly woke up.

I didn’t know how long I had slept, but it felt like a deep sleep.

Outside the window, it was still dark.

In fact, not even moonlight was shining in—it was pitch-black.

“Huh? It’s still night? Then I’ll just sleep a bit more.”

Thinking that, I closed my eyes again.

After some time, I woke up once more, but it was still night all around.

Maybe I had slept too much—my head felt foggy.

Something was clearly wrong.

“That’s strange. It should’ve been morning a long time ago, shouldn’t it?”

My eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so I crawled up and headed toward the window.

Beyond it was pure blackness—not even stars or scenery were visible.

“What the heck is going on here…?”

When I reached my hand outside, my palm touched something rough.

When I pushed harder, my hand burst through with a rip!, and brilliant light poured in.

I stared in shock at the scraps of paper left in my hand.

“What the hell!? Black-painted parchment is pasted over the window!? No wonder no sunlight was getting in! Who did something like this!?”

But I didn’t have the luxury of tracking down the culprit.

The sun was already high in the sky—it was obvious at a glance that I was late.

“D-daaamn it! I’m laaaaaaate!!”

Without eating breakfast, I dashed out of the house and sprinted at full speed through the forest.

Not a single person remained in the residential area—everyone had already gone to school.

I wove through the makeshift huts and headed for the castle that served as the school building.

Just as I passed through the main gate and was about to enter the front entrance, something caught the corner of my eye.

I stopped and looked up at the towering castle before me.

Numerous flags bearing the crest of the Royal Pioneer Academy were planted along the walls, fluttering in the wind.

It should have been a completely ordinary sight…

And yet, for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

I didn’t have time to loiter here, but the unease wouldn’t go away, so I stared intently at each flag.

Then, one of the flags near the center changed color.

The academy’s flag was blue—but mixed in among them was a single black one, like a pirate flag.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Don’t tell me… is this the Treasure Hunter skill, Treasure Discovery, activating…!?”

Treasure Discovery was a skill that allowed its user to detect hidden treasure nearby.

Its detection range depended on level and stats, but even the most skilled Treasure Hunters were said to only detect things within about five meters.

“But that flag is at least fifty meters away…!? Can it really detect something that far…!?”

I was skeptical, but I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to confirm the truth behind that flag.

Resigned to turning a late arrival into a massive one, I changed jobs to Ninja.

Using the tiniest handholds in the castle wall, I climbed up smoothly.

When I reached the flag, I grabbed the pole, placed my foot on a slight protrusion, and stretched upward.

When I took the suspicious flag in hand, the texture alone felt completely different.

Still in that position, I switched jobs to Appraiser and activated the Appraisal skill.

My heart nearly leapt out of my mouth.

“Whoa!? Why is something this incredible in a place like this!?”

Dragon hides were among the rarest of all monster materials.

Defeating a dragon alone was extremely difficult, and even skinning one was said to be a tremendous ordeal.

“This… has to be some kind of mistake, right…?”

For the time being, I removed the Flying Dragon Leather from the pole and slung it over my shoulder.

After switching back to Ninja, I released my grip, leapt down, twisted midair like a cat, and landed cleanly.

Meanwhile, the students of the Royal Pioneer Academy were gathered in the castle courtyard under the supervision of Vice Principal Yesman.

“Yes! With that, the morning class—the on-campus orientation—has concluded, zansu! And since today is the very first day of the term, our sponsors have kindly provided boxed lunches for you all! Enjoy lunch right here in the courtyard and recharge yourselves for the afternoon classes, zansu!”

At the mention of free lunches, the students erupted with excitement.

As Vice Principal Yesman handed out the lunches, he spoke in an exaggerated tone.

“Oh dear, oh dear! We even had enough lunches prepared for the Special Training Class! And yet Leopin-kun went and arrived late! What a shame, zansu! In that case, I suppose I’ll just help myself!”

Yesman smirked inwardly.

‘—The Oversleeping Operation was a complete success, zansu…! Last night, once that Leopin fellow had fallen fast asleep, I pasted black parchment over his window, zansu…! By now, he must have overslept terribly and be rushing to school in a panic, zansu…! I’ll make sure the sponsors witness his extreme tardiness and humiliate him thoroughly, zansu…!’

“Now then—oh! I nearly forgot to inform you all of something important!”

Addressing the students who had begun eating wherever they liked in the courtyard, Yesman proclaimed loudly.

“We must decide this academy’s student council president, zansu! And the method will not be an election or a duel… but a Rare Item Hunt, zansu! Somewhere within the school grounds, I have hidden a Flying Dragon Leather provided by one of our sponsors!”

At the words Flying Dragon Leather, the students stirred excitedly.

“The student who obtains it and brings it to me shall become the student council president, zansu! Moreover, that Flying Dragon Leather will be given to them as a gift! Every student council president of a pioneer academy possesses equipment made from dragon hide, zansu! Craft it however you like and make it the proof of your presidency, zansu!”

The students were in an uproar.

Some classes even tried to go searching without bothering to finish their lunches.

“Fufufu…! No matter how much you rush, you won’t find it right now, zansu! That’s because the Flying Dragon Leather is hidden in an outrageous location and disguised with magic, zansu! The disguise magic will only start to weaken little by little after about a week, zansu! Finding it before then is practically impossible, zansu! If someone does manage to find it within a week, I’d hand over not just the presidency—but even this vice principal’s seat—”

“S-sorry I’m laaaaaate!!”

Leopin came sliding into the courtyard mid-shout.

When Yesman noticed what was casually slung over Leopin’s shoulder—

“G-gyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!?”