My Taboo Academy

"Are you interested in guns? Ever handled one before?"

Of course I had. I still remembered my old double barrel serial number.

After dealing with daggers, spears, knives, and knuckles, it felt natural to get curious about firearms.

"Guns are better than knives, honestly."

Aria answered with a slightly sulky tone.

"If a gun jams in the middle of a dive, it’s pretty much game over"

"i take it, you don’t like guns?"

"In the hunter industry they’re not really respected for ’pure skill.’ I’m not that picky, but even high-rank hunters get side-eye for using them. Just so you know."

"Then why are you holding back?"

Was she annoyed that I didn’t show interest in the same weapon she used?

Aria pouted.

"I just prefer knives."

"..."

"I’ll go with this one then."

I picked up a Glock 17.

It felt a little smaller than the one I’d held at a gun shop before, but the full grip still fit fine. The magazine held seventeen 9mm rounds.

"Excuse me, how much is this?"

"That one’s 600 coins."

"..."

I carefully put it back down.

"Too expensive. Maybe just this knuckle instead?"

"That knuckle is special material. 800 coins."

A knuckle more expensive than a gun? How does that even work?

While I was still processing that, Aria stepped closer.

"I’ll buy it for you."

"No, that’s way too much."

"You clearly like the gun. I’ll get it. Just pay me back later."

"...Haha."

I had just finished paying off one debt and was already about to take on another.

Still, having a gun would make me feel a lot safer.

"Then I’ll need an ammo belt and a spare magazine too."

"Add 200 and I’ll give you the whole set. Since your boyfriend’s pretty handsome, I’ll knock off 100 if you take everything."

"...Boyfriend?"

"You’re sure about this? 700 coins isn’t exactly pocket change for a classmate."

Aria held out her student ID with a slightly tense look.

"Go ahead and process it."

"Should I really let you do this, Aria?"

"It’s fine. Really."

Even as a professional hunter, that was still a big amount to spend on a classmate. Should I refuse?

Aria glanced at me, worried, then forced a smile.

"When I first started hunting I had nothing. No gear, no one to help me."

"Aria..."

"I promised myself back then that if I ever got the chance to help someone, I wouldn’t hesitate."

And she was keeping that promise by buying a weapon for someone who had nothing.

"You’re going to make a lot of money as a hunter, right?"

"Absolutely."

I quietly walked over to the senior handling the payment.

"Excuse me, senior. Any chance of a bigger discount?"

"No."

"Is my face only worth 100 coins? Look a little closer."

"..."

It might work. She was a female senior after all.

I stepped a bit closer and looked at her directly. Her face slowly turned red.

"...Fine. Just don’t get that close to my face."

Hmph.

A face that could get discounts just by existing.

"200 coins...?"

"Take a picture with me and I’ll knock off another 50."

"...A p-picture? Then..."

"Link arms and I’ll add 30 more."

"A-Ah...!?"

"I’ll smile like this. Another 50."

"...Ugh... okay..."

Completely flustered, she ended up letting me haggle the full Glock package down to 400 coins.

I linked arms with her, took a few selfies, and went back.

"Did my best. How was it?"

"So it actually works."

The senior was already showing the photos to her colleagues with a proud look.

"If the seniors were guys, you could’ve done the same thing, right Aria?"

"I-I can’t! Just thinking about it is embarrassing!"

I shouldn’t have said that. I already knew how she’d react.

Modesty really suited her.

"Ren, Is there anyone you like?"

"Huh?"

"You’re that good-looking. I keep wondering if you already have a girlfriend."

"I don’t."

"You could date pretty much anyone if you wanted, right?"

She probably thought that way because of how I looked.

"I don’t want to date just anyone. It has to be someone I actually like."

"Yeah... it should be someone you really like."

"What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No! I’ve never had one!"

Would she say yes if I asked her out right now? The air between us suddenly felt a little heavier.

"Do you like the gun?"

"Yeah. I think it’ll pair well with Soul Excretion."

"How is the skill even called Soul Excretion...?"

The moment the name came up, the mood completely died. Curse of the game, I guess.

"Elle’s waiting. Let’s head back."

"Alright."

"Thanks for buying the weapon."

"Work hard and pay me back. It wasn’t free."

I holstered the Glock. Five spare magazines came with it.

I stored the rest of the ammo in my inventory so I could reload when needed.

’Now that I have it, I kind of want a compensator too.’

I couldn’t bring myself to ask for that as well.

Maybe after I paid off the debt.

’I really need to work hard at this academy life.’

When Ren and Aria got back, the atmosphere was restless.

A group of male students had already surrounded Elle.

"Your name’s Elle, right? Come with us."

"Join our squad and we’ll give you double the coins. How about it?"

"Want to duo with me? I won’t do anything weird, I promise."

"I don’t want to."

It only took a few seconds of looking away for this to happen.

"Elle!"

"R-Ren!!"

Elle’s face lit up like a puppy that just heard its owner’s voice. She ran straight over, stood right next to me, and tightly grabbed my hand.

"I’m... already in a party with Ren... sorry..."

"...D-class..."

Why was he still mumbling? If you’re giving up, just leave. Good riddance.

Every time something like this happened, I was reminded how much of an advantage height and a solid build gave a guy.

It was the same logic as "handsome people don’t need to work out." If my rank went up, a lot of other guys would probably feel pretty robbed...

Wasn’t this basically a walking harem generator?

"Were you actually saying ’No way, sir’?"

"Uh-huh... but he kept pushing, so it got really awkward."

Aria watched us with a slightly stunned expression.

"Is Elle some kind of child?"

"Yeah, she’s pretty innocent."

"You shouldn’t keep spoiling her like that. Elle, instead of ’No way, sir,’ try saying ’Stop bothering me and get lost.’ Practice it."

"..."

Would that even work on someone this pure?

While I was gone at the armory, half of Class F had already entered the dungeons.

"Remaining students, form groups of three. If you want to go solo or duo, tell the teacher in advance."

’Groups of three. So that’s a squad.’

I looked between Aria and Elle.

"Are we a team?"

"I usually prefer going alone, but I’ll go with you two. I’m worried about leaving just the two of you."

From the way Elle was fidgeting, it was obvious she planned to stick with me no matter what.

"Aria, forming a squad? Who’s the leader?"

"That would be me, instructor. Please send us to the best dungeon available."

"There’s one C-rank left for squads. Head to B-3."

So the three of us could enter a relatively high-level dungeon.

Area B-3 was part of the indoor training ground, divided into squares like a chessboard. Each square had a dungeon generated by gravitational wave devices. White waves shimmered and rippled the same way as before.

They all looked similar at a glance,

but the C-rank ones felt slightly different — more uneven, somehow.

Hard to put into words.

[「**Crimson Eye**」 activated]

[C-ranked dungeon]

[Rarity C-] [Reward C-]

[Maximum participants: 3 (squad)]

Seeing the information made it clear.

**Crimson Eye** was an incredibly useful skill.

"With the three of us we should be fine in most situations. Let’s go!"

Right then Darian Crowe appeared out of nowhere, shoved Aria aside, and took the dungeon entrance.

"Whoa!"

"...What the hell?"

"Sorry, but this one’s ours."

"There was no one here. What do you mean ’ours’?"

"All three of us suddenly needed the bathroom. Now move. We’re taking this C-class."

Darian was also in a squad.

Next to him stood a girl with a mischievous smile and a long-haired boy.

"Don’t cut in line. Starting a fight over this is pretty childish."

"A fight? Me? Even if you add up all three of your scores, you still wouldn’t reach mine."

When did he check our scores?

"Shouldn’t you be the ones stepping aside so you don’t hold back an A-class honor student?"

"What kind of logic is that?"

Elle gripped my hand tighter, looking scared.

Our leader clearly didn’t want to back down. If a fight broke out here, both sides would lose.

Darian Crowe,

He’d hated me from day one. His group didn’t seem to like me either.

It probably pissed him off that the guy who should’ve been expelled was still walking around the academy.

His cold stare said exactly that.

"Hey, D-rank. What’s with the pistol? No way a D-class could afford that. Must’ve scraped coins together while our pro hunter wasn’t looking."

"...What are you trying to say?"

"It’s funny watching weaklings play king among other weaklings. Fitting that you comfort each other like that."

"Don’t insult my friends."

Aria’s hand went to her sword hilt.

"Friends? You can only call someone a friend when you’re on the same level. My score is 2,500. Atali’s 1,700. Kelvin’s 2,000. You need to be at least that high before you get to use the word ’friend.’"

"Judging people by rank when making friends is just pathetic."

"Aria, they say hanging around D-ranks makes you start thinking like one. Looks like it’s true. How about trying a 3D dungeon that matches your actual level?"

"You little..."

I wanted to tell her to stop engaging with every single provocation, but it was already too late.

Instead of arguing with Darian, I activated Crimson Eye and scanned the area.

The skill let me read a dungeon’s information just from the waves.

I had a feeling there might be a better, hidden option nearby.

[C(B)-Rank Dungeon]

[Grim orc’s Fortress] [Rarity C] [Reward B+] [Anomaly B]

[This dungeon has an above-average anomaly level and will increase in rank if certain conditions are met.]

[Reward Multiplier x3]

[Maximum participants: 3 (squad)]

’Found it.’

An untouched dungeon no one else had entered yet.

There was no reason to keep fighting over the one Darian was so obsessed with.

"I can’t take this anymore! I challenge you to a duel..."

"Hold on!"

I stepped between Aria and Darian.

Aria looked startled. Darian’s glare sharpened on me.

"What is it, D-rank?"

"Calm down, Aria. They all urgently needed the bathroom, remember?"

"That’s the dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard."

"Darian. You can have that dungeon."

Honestly, I wanted them to leave for it as soon as possible.

"Being D-rank, you catch on quick. People who’ve hit rock bottom know how to adapt, huh?"

"I was a little scared, to be honest. I’m relieved you’ll take care of it."

"...Hahaha! Afraid of a C-class dungeon? Aria, what were you planning to do with a coward like this?"

"..."

"We have other plans. We’re going into a 3D dungeon. Good luck, Darian."

"I don’t need your encouragement. We’ll check the rankings later and see who earned more."

Darian’s group laughed as they disappeared into the dungeon. Aria was left behind, face flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"He insulted both you and Elle! You’re just going to let him walk away without a duel, Ren? Are you really that passive?"

"Calm down. We came here to make money, remember?"

"But we just lost the dungeon we were going to enter. What now?"

"Two options. One is to take a 3D dungeon with the mindset of a defeated party..."

Aria’s eyes got even sharper.

She looked ready to turn around and leave.

"I hope the second option sounds better."

"The second option is an unknown semi-B-class dungeon that even Darian didn’t notice."

"...What?"

I explained my insight skill to both of them.

It let me read basic dungeon information before entering.

I had already spotted another promising one while Aria was arguing with Darian.

Once she understood, her anger started to cool.

"You should’ve said that earlier."

"It was better that I didn’t. If you got angry and stormed off, Darian would’ve entered that C-class feeling even more satisfied."

"I didn’t storm off!"

"Let’s go. If you’re that fired up, you can deal with him later."

"But that skill is incredible... I didn’t know something like that existed."

"Me too... Ren is amazing."

Both Elle and Aria looked genuinely impressed.

It had to be a rare skill even among hunters.

A mythical-class ability given by the goddess of Lustbound.

In terms of value it stood alongside Lucky Pervert, which could manipulate reality,and Soul Excretion, which forced the expulsion of a soul.

Winning the small information wars inside the academy was almost too easy with it.

"The only problem is that once we enter, if the conditions are met the rank can jump to B-class. If Aria can’t handle that, we’ll have to pull out."

Clearing this dungeon depended almost entirely on her strength.

I made that clear.

"You okay with that, Aria?"

But maybe because of Darian, she was burning with motivation.

"Are you kidding? This is exactly the kind of place where you push forward even if you can’t eat! Just follow me!"

"Alright. Let’s go in."

"Let’s go together, Ren."

[Participating in the dungeon]

[Participants: Aria Reed, Ren Asahi, Elle Isis]

And so it begins...

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