Chapter 10: Discussing Future Plans

The work of the teacher was over. Now it was up to the students to take this chance and prosper. They could either shed their mortal coils and rise like a butterfly. Or they would fail and die in the corner of the dungeon.

The students dispersed in groups while Jacob finally met his teammates. They wore smiles upon seeing him. As he was about to reach them, an unwanted person stepped in the middle.

“Looks like you got lucky,” Kevin sneered. His smack worthy face still held a confident grin. He stared at Jacob’s face, looking for that sign of panic, of submission, but he didn’t find it.

Instead, he saw Jacob crack a smile. In fact, Jacob shook his head and simply pushed Kevin aside with his hand. After all this while, Jacob finally understood one truth.

‘Weakness is the original sin.’

Just now, when he saw his worst bully, he didn’t have that feeling of helplessness inside him. He didn’t have that thought of enduring at the moment and taking revenge in the future. All he felt inside was a clam he had never felt before.

‘It’s the power of strength.’ Jacob clenched his fists.

The students remaining in the classroom all held their mouths open. They could not recognize if this was truly the Jacob they knew. Was he still the boy who endured beatings nearly every day after school? Was he still the one how blamed his injuries on ‘falling down’ when asked by teachers? They no longer thought so.

Kevin was also shocked. In fact, it took him a few seconds to come back to his senses. The faces of surprise around him seemed to pierce his ego. His face flushed red in anger. He turned around and pointed at Jacob’s back.

“Y-you! How dare you ignore me?!”

Jacob looked back and gave him a cold smile.

“Do you pay attention to every cat or dog you come across on the street?”

The comeback was so unexpected that Angela chuckled. Kevin’s face now looked like an overcooked lobster. The very crush he had been chasing for so long never gave him any attention, but when she looked at him, it was to laugh at him!

How could his ego tolerate that?

“You!” he roared. He thought of assaulting Jacob. But then he remembered how he was easily pushed back. He knew Sumei and Bob wouldn’t stay still even if he attacked Jacob with his men.

“You’ll regret this!”

Jacob shook his head while watching Kevin leave with his people. He knew this could become a potential problem. But he didn’t have any way to cleanly end Kevin and get away with it.

‘Never mind. I just need a few days, and I’ll get much stronger. And after graduation, I’ll be on a whole another level!’ Jacob rationalized his patience.

“That guy doesn’t seem to be up to anything good,” Sumei said. Her worried face made Jacob smile. He looked at Bob and while the big guy was still silent, he didn’t have that aura of gloom around him.

“I know. As long as he doesn’t cross the line, and waits for a while, it’ll be fine,” Jacob confidently said, taking Sumei by surprise. Bob didn’t see anything different. But as a person who knew Jacob for years, Sumei knew something had changed.

“We didn’t awaken last time. I don’t want to attend the graduation exam like this. What are your plans?” Jacob asked both of them.

He expected Sumei to answer him first, but Bob broke the silence.

“I want to beat those cows. This time, I’ll do it properly.” He looked serious.

Jacob’s lips curved up. He looked at Sumei and saw her smile like him.

“Me too,” she said. “Those goblins have it coming! How dare they ambush me?”

“Let’s conquer Four Sides of Death!” Jacob raised his palm. They kept their hands over his. “1, 2, 3, let’s goo!”

***

“Are you sure you want to do this? You know you still have a month left.” Mr. Adam looked at his favorite students and seemed troubled. “You know you can take this month to train and get stronger instead of risking your life like this.”

“Yes sir. We are very sure about this,” Sumei said while standing together with her two teammates.

You are reading story I Also Level Up at novel35.com

Mr. Adam looked at their serious faces and finally relented. He knew this could be a positive change for them and didn’t want to pour cold water on their enthusiasm.

“But this time there will be nobody to supervise you, nobody to come save you.”

“We know that, sir.”

“Fine.”

He signed some papers and took their signatures.

“If you die out there, I’ll give these letters to your family. But… take care of yourself,” his thick voice laced with concern brought smiles to their faces. They nodded to show their agreement and left for their houses.

***

“Are you serious about this?” Peter Maxwell looked at his son in disbelief. His soft sofa didn’t feel comfortable anymore. The words his ‘frail’ son just told him completely disturbed his mind.

Jacob looked at his father while feeling nervous. He knew he had to inform Peter otherwise things would go south if he later comes to know about his dungeon dive. He had already survived his supervised dungeon dive, and had obtained his system. His six points of strength and sword gave him confidence while his daily quests gave him hope.

He felt he was ready for this challenge.

“Yes, dad,” he replied confidently. ‘Will he feel proud that I’m finally standing up for myself?’ Jacob was expectant.

Smack!

But a hand thick with calluses greeted his face. He couldn’t even maintain balance and fell behind on the TV, causing it to fall behind.

“Shitty bro! Stop disturbing my movie time!” Ruby’s annoyed voice didn’t register in his senses.

Peter’s face held rage as he took his crutches resting on his sofa and stood up. Jacob hurried raised himself and backed away. He still couldn’t believe his father had hit him for the first time today.

Peter raised his hand, then put it down upon seeing fear flash on Jacob’s face. His crutches hit the ground hard as he walked away. Ruby was mildly surprised after seeing her brother get hit. But she was more concerned about her movie.

“Get lost! Let me enjoy my show!” her shrill voice finally caught Jacob’s attention.

His pretty sister no longer looked pleasing to his eyes. Just as he was about to respond to her, his face paled as he saw his father walk up the staircase towards his bedroom. He rushed behind Peter but maintained a distance. Meanwhile, Ruby picked up the fallen TV. She reconnected some wires and sat back on the sofa while enjoying her popcorn.

Jacob stood outside his door as Peter made a mess of his room while looking for something. His anime figurines he had kept aside were stepped on and his manga were all over the place. The only things Peter didn’t move were his school books. After a minute, he looked back at Jacob.

“Where’s MY armor and dagger?”

Jacob gulped at Peter’s fierce face. He shakily pointed toward the drawer in his closet. Peter took his stuff away and walked down. His wrathful voice echoed from the drawing room.

“I gave this to you to let you live! How did a weakling like you get the confidence to dive in a dungeon without supervision? That little increase in strength? That’s nothing! You’re not going anywhere until the graduation exam! Just sit at home like the otaku you are and cram for the finals. You will be writing the written exam and get a job at the Administration! That’s your future!”

Jacob stood still at the entrance to his room. His face betrayed no emotions, but his heart felt pain. His excited mind cooled down and tears dripped down from his eyes. He didn’t sob. His face didn’t wrinkle. But the tears still fell.

They didn’t fall because of the slap. They fell because of deep disappointment.

‘So, hah, ha. This is MY future?’ He thought, while entering his room and closing the door. He looked at his smashed anime figurines and his wrecked room.

‘I… I just hoped for everything to be better. I wanted to show you that I can do it. That I can become a hunter like you! That I can get stronger and avenge my mother! That I’m NOT a shitty otaku waste my sister says I am!’

Jacob shook his head. His tears had dried, but his heart had gone cold. The enclosed room did nothing to warm him. He set an alarm on his phone and went to his bed. The comforter didn’t give him any comfort. Jacob closed his eyes in a fetal position and slept even though it was only evening.

On his bedside lay his phone. Its screen was still on, showing an alarm of 11:55 pm.

You can find story with these keywords: I Also Level Up, Read I Also Level Up, I Also Level Up novel, I Also Level Up book, I Also Level Up story, I Also Level Up full, I Also Level Up Latest Chapter