I was gravely mistaken.
And it wasn’t until Friday that I finally realized it.
“……”
Back on Earth, I wasn’t exactly a kid anymore. I’d been through plenty of all-nighters and deadline crunches with work and school. I’d managed to push through them somehow, again and again.
So after becoming Adel, I figured a little overexertion wouldn’t hurt. I mean, come on…I was a hardcore player with thousands of hours in the original game, Empire of Kohonbach.
In a way, that was like holding a cheat code in my hands.
But then—
…There’s no coffee.
It hit me just now that the cheat code I could use in reality… doesn’t exist in this world!
This is critical. I’m supposed to get through this schedule with no caffeine?
Impossible.
That word had been echoing in my mind nonstop.
Even today, I spent the entire morning class nodding off. Running on just four hours of sleep wasn’t nearly enough to stay functional through the day.
One or two days would’ve been fine, but this schedule? It had already been five days.
At this rate, I was going to collapse. Black out. My body would betray me and fall into deep sleep whether I wanted to or not.
And there’s no state more vulnerable than sleeping. If someone caught me like that, I’d probably end up sliced in half like a cake.
I imagined it vividly.
Camilla barging into the Herein Dorm and using her authority as my “sister” to waltz in uninvited.
– Oh my~ Sleeping so peacefully, aren’t we? My darling brother… Stay like that… and DIE!!!
Crunch.
“H-Hah!!”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Sir Adel?”
“…It’s nothing. Just… a bad dream or something…”
“???”
And that’s how I ended up confessing my situation to the person in front of me. Of course, I left Camilla out of it. I just said I was tired from a packed schedule lately.
Sally, the cleaning maid.
The two of us were sitting back-to-back.
On the same toilet.
“Hmmm, I see now. Your eyes have looked extra sharp lately, Sir Adel. I never would’ve guessed it was from sleep deprivation.”
“Isn’t there anything I can do about it?”
“Ummm~ well…”
She paused to think, then casually stole a piece of my bread.
“To be honest, being a maid doesn’t come with any special secrets. I guess I just soak in warm water after work.”
“That won’t work. It still takes up time.”
“Wow, so diligent. Is that what it takes to be an early admission student~?”
“Think what you want. But seriously, is that all there is?”
“Hmmmmm…”
She placed her finger on her temple and started thinking. Seizing the moment, I snatched the bread back, but she just took it again right after.
“Wait, is that little bit of bread so precious to you?! Maids can’t use the student store, you know!”
“Tell me something actually useful and I’ll let you take a big bite.”
“…Ooh! That reminds me!”
Snap.
She snapped her fingers.
“A new place on campus started selling this black drink. I hear it’s good for fatigue recovery! It’s trending lately!”
“…Black drink?”
“Yeah! Didn’t taste great, but it smelled really good! Kinda sweet…”
…Wait a second?
Suddenly, I remembered scenes from the game where something like coffee had shown up. Could it be… it wasn’t nonexistent after all?
“Coffee?!”
“Ohh? Yeah, I think that was the name!”
“Thank you. You just saved my life. Sally!! You can have the whole thing!!”
“Wha—? Mmph?! Whuuuuh?!”
I stuffed the bread into Sally’s mouth and bolted out of the restroom.
Coffee. Coffee!
Extra shots, loaded with syrup and sugar. Wake up the brain by force!!
Sure, overdoing it might wreck my health, but I didn’t care about that right now.
***
The campus café.
To Adel, who grew up on Earth, it was a familiar sight.
But to the other students, a café was basically the cutting edge of culture.
– Oh my, is that…
– What’s he doing here? Does he even know what this place is for?
– Who is that guy?
– That’s Adel Bliss. The one who can’t use magic.
– Huh? Didn’t you hear? That’s not true anymore.
– …What?!
So naturally, murmurs began to spread. It was only to be expected.
Of course, by now, that kind of thing was nothing new for Adel. Wherever he went, it was as if whispers naturally followed him with students murmuring like background noise.
Without paying them any mind, he walked confidently up to the counter.
In truth, he was just in a rush to get some coffee in him as soon as possible, but that urgency only fueled the gossip around him.
– Does he even know what coffee is? The Bliss family has fallen so far that they probably never even tasted it.
– True. Think he even knows how to order it?
– He might just say, ‘Milk please~’ Haha.
Sneering eyes locked onto him. In any world, those who consider themselves “on trend” have a peculiar sense of pride.
And when it came to something as refined and cultured as coffee? That pride multiplied.
Sweet Tane.
Adel glanced at the café sign and let out a short laugh, then spoke right in the center of all those watching eyes.
“Can I place an order?”
“Yes, I can help you!”
“An ice… no, espresso with just ice, triple shot. And a ristretto so just the front part of the extraction. If the beans are City Roast… then leave them as is, the least roasted batch.”
“Uh… s-sorry, could you repeat that…?”
His tone was far too natural. Too experienced.
– …Ice with no water?!
– Wh-What kind of order was that?! I didn’t understand a word!
– He’s just pretending. No way those are real drinks.
But their assumptions were wrong.
Instead, a large man stepped out from the back to replace the flustered cashier.
“You seem to know your coffee, sir. If you could repeat the order once more, I the manager will prepare it for you myself.”
“Oh, in that case…”
“To think we already have a customer who truly appreciates the beauty of coffee. Please wait just a moment!”
A smooth exchange.
“Please come again, Sir Adel!”
“Sure—.”
Adel, once the subject of ridicule, walked out with a smile and a coffee in hand.
– N-No way!
– Triple shot?! That bitterness would melt your tongue!
But even those thoughts were shattered by the sight outside the window:
Adel happily smiling and sipping his coffee like it was the best thing in the world.
A complete victory.
It was the moment another rumor about Adel Bliss took root.
“……”
In a quiet corner of the café—
Someone had been quietly watching the not-so-quiet commotion.
“May I take your order?”
“I’ll have the same thing he ordered.”
“It might be a bit strong for a beginner.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“…I see. You’re from the Knight Department, aren’t you… Understood.”
The manager of Sweet Tane nodded in recognition at the name on the customer’s tag, then began brewing the coffee again.
[Awen Damir]
Wearing a nametag with that name, she took a sip of the coffee.
“…Bitter.”
***
Caffeine might just be the single most important contributor to the advancement of human civilization.
Fueled by the energy surging through my body, I was fully immersed in training.
Late at night. In the gym.
Even the students from the Knight Department had already gone home.
They’d told me not to overdo it, but since tomorrow’s the weekend, I figured it was within reason.
Besides, there was no way I’d be able to sleep anyway. This was my first time having caffeine, after all.
And more importantly… how am I supposed to hold back with this?
◆ Health+1
◆ Stamina+1
My Health and Stamina stats had finally started to rise, little by little.
At this rate, I might be able to reach 10, the average adult level, before long.
That might not sound like much, but for someone like me, who could barely climb stairs without gasping for air, it was something to be thankful for.
And seeing the stats actually go up just made me even more motivated.
Feels like my body’s starting to show the changes too.
Still, no matter how rewarding it felt, the fact remained. Training was hard.
Thud!
“Guh—! Haa… haah… haaah…”
I felt like I was going to die. My entire body was soaked in sweat. With only faint light illuminating the gym this late at night, it felt almost like the world itself had closed its eyes.
“…Get up, legs. Come on, listen to me.”
The training-grade magical device strapped to my ankles.
I was moving forward one step at a time, practically crawling, trying to adjust to the newly increased weight.
“Damn it… urgh—blegh.”
My mouth was dry from the caffeine and I started to gag.
Maybe I increased the weight too much. But pushing myself is the easiest way to raise my stamina stat…
“…Why are you pushing yourself like that?”
Someone spoke to me then.
“……”
Who is it? I can’t see clearly in the dark.
But at this point in time, there’s still a long way to go before any major events from the original game happen.
And anyone allowed to enter the gym at this hour shouldn’t be dangerous.
So is it that girl from the Knight Department I usually run with?
“Irina? I thought you went back earlier.”
“At this rate, you’re going to ruin your body.”
“Hmm. You think so?”
I briefly looked down at myself.
Sure enough, to someone else, this would look downright obsessive.
Training like I’m about to die, even late on a Friday night.
“I saw you drinking coffee earlier.”
“What. Don’t act like you know me. You were there too?”
“I ordered the same thing you did and tried it… it was insanely bitter.”
“If you drink it often, the sharpness actually feels nice.”
“That’s not all. After drinking it, my heart started pounding way too hard. I felt hot… my vision kept flashing. My whole body felt tense, like I was about to throw up. I still feel that way.”
Classic caffeine sensitivity. Should I tell her it’s better not to drink it?
While I hesitated, she continued.
“But you… even after drinking something like that, you’re still training? And you’re not even in the Knight Department. You’re going to die like this.”
“…Well, I’ve got something more important to deal with right now.”
“You have an older sister, right? Is it something related to her?”
“……”
I stayed silent. She was right, but I couldn’t exactly say yes.
“Even when you look like you’re about to collapse, even when it looks like you’re dying, you still don’t give up. Is that because of her?”
“…Uh… well.”
“I heard you can’t use magic. I only found out recently.”
“What? I said that on the first day.”
“You seem to be getting bullied too. Why don’t you tell your sister about it?”
“……”
Because I don’t want to die.
Not exactly something I could say out loud.
“……I see. You don’t want to be a burden, huh? And you don’t want anyone to find out you can’t use magic either.”
“Uh, no. I mean—wait, what’s up with you? Normally, you’d be scolding me by now…”
“That’s amazing. If it were me, I couldn’t even imagine doing it. Forcing yourself to drink that stuff and still trying so hard.”
“No, that’s just you being overly sensi—”
“……Sorry for watching in secret. I feel like I’m gonna cry, so I’ll just go now.”
Before I could say anything, she said that and disappeared.
“……What was that?”
Maybe she’s just feeling sentimental. It is Friday night.
I figured it didn’t matter and kept training.
◆ Stamina+1
“Woohoo~! Stamina stat up!”
I kept muttering nonsense like that.
And then, the next day.
While I was waiting for weekend leave approval, I ran into Irina.
“What? What are you talking about? I didn’t leave the dorm yesterday.”
“Huh?”
“You’re saying I said I felt like crying? Me? Ugh. What are you even talking about? Gross.”
“……Huh??”
……Then who was that yesterday?
I rubbed my arms, chilled to the bone.
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