Second Chance

I died in an unfortunate accident.

When I opened my eyes, I was in an unfamiliar cave.

[Quest]

[You, a veteran of web novels, have entered a novel.

Enjoy your second life by freely seducing heroines!]

I frowned at the notification window that appeared before my eyes.

'What is this? A second life? Seduce?'

The notification window disappeared.

I thought I had definitely died.

But I was clearly alive.

"Ikan, snap out of it."

A cute short-haired girl spoke to me.

"Huh?"

I looked around.

The girl, dressed like an instructor, glared at me.

Next to her, a long-haired girl who looked mixed-race with blonde hair folded her arms and grumbled.

"Of all people, really."

She glanced at me and shook her head.

Even in this situation, I couldn't help but notice how her large breasts rested on her folded arms.

'But what exactly is going on here?'

[You have entered 'I Became a Veteran in a Novel Academy'.]

Huh?

It was a web novel I had read.

Initially hailed as a masterpiece, the story went off the rails midway, repeatedly going on hiatus, and eventually concluded with a reputation for having a great start but a terrible ending.

[Please correct the distorted world line caused by the idiotic novel protagonist and save the heroines.]

The notification window was quite expressive of its emotions.

'I can understand fixing a novel I liked, but what does it mean to save the heroines?

Earlier it said to seduce them.'

[Seducing the heroines is the way to save them.]

What?

[Upon success, you will receive a reward♥.]

What's with the heart?

[Some plausibility has been modified to make your intervention natural.]

No more notification windows appeared.

I decided to observe the situation for now.

We were in what looked like a dungeon cave, with one wall completely collapsed.

"Lucy! Instructor Zoe! Are you alright?!"

A man's voice faintly came from beyond the collapsed wall.

I Became a Veteran in a Novel Academy. Abbreviated as IBVNA.

The blonde girl was Lucy, one of the main heroines of IBVNA. And this one is Instructor Zoe?

'They're both much prettier than the novel's description.'

Lucy ran towards the collapsed cave wall.

"Samuel! Are you okay?"

Samuel? The protagonist?

Knocking on the wall was useless.

It was clearly too thickly collapsed.

Lucy put her hands on the collapsed wall and tried to chant a magic spell.

"Fire Sp-"

Short-haired instructor Zoe grabbed her wrist.

"Lucy, don't. It might collapse further."

She was right.

One wrong move and we could all die in an explosion.

Despair settled in Lucy's eyes.

Zoe calmly relayed the situation through the wall.

"Kids, we're all fine. How about over there?"

"We're all safe too!"

"The wall has completely collapsed. For now, don't stay in one place for too long and find a safe zone to move to.

There might be a way for us to meet."

"Alright, understood, Instructor."

It became quiet on the other side of the wall too. They seemed to have started moving.

'Right, there was content like this.'

Middle part of the novel.

There was a part where the protagonist Samuel and some students, under the leadership of S-class hunter-turned-instructor Zoe, explored a dungeon that appeared near the academy.

It was a 5-person dungeon, and including Samuel, three men along with Lucy and Zoe, these five entered, and there was a scene where the wall collapsed like this.

When the wall collapsed, Samuel saved Lucy and Zoe, and he himself got buried under a pile of rocks, where he awakens and discovers a new ability, and escapes from the rock pile on his own.

It becomes a turning point where the gradually building affection of Lucy and Zoe towards him greatly increases.

Yes.

This was definitely the content.

But something had changed.

Because of me?

"Let's move too," said Instructor Zoe.

In this novel's dungeon, there are safe zones and monster-spawning areas.

This place where the wall collapsed is a monster-spawning area, so Zoe, as an instructor, made the decision to move to find a safe zone first.

We walked down the path opposite to where the wall had collapsed.

We were going down a route that the protagonist and his group hadn't taken in the novel.

I tightly gripped the spear in my hands.

The thought that I could die again less than 10 minutes after getting a second life made me tense.

Zoe, who was leading, stopped.

After checking around a corner, she spoke to us in a low voice.

"Lucy. There are two Nightmare Spiders. You and I will each take one. Ikan?"

"...Yes."

"There's also a goblin next to the spiders. Can you handle it?"

I couldn't say I couldn't handle a goblin when they were talking about taking on Nightmare Spiders.

It's not like I could say, "If it's not too much trouble, would you mind taking care of the goblin while you're at it?"

"Yes."

I nodded.

"Let's go."

Zoe took the lead, and Lucy followed.

As we turned the corner, we immediately saw two car-sized spiders and one small goblin.

'Ah, screw it.'

I attacked the goblin with my spear.

A moment later-

"Gweek."

"I... I got it..."

After a 5-minute struggle. The goblin impaled on the end of my spear no longer moved.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

Whack!

"Ow-"

I was hit on the back of my head.

It was Lucy.

"Are you happy about killing just one goblin? Get it together."

The two large spiders beside us were already butchered.

I silently rubbed my sore head.

Instructor Zoe approached.

"Ikan. You did well. Are you okay?"

"Yes."

Zoe (21) looked at me with concern.

An S-class assassination hunter who had been called a genius since childhood, only a year older than the 20-year-old protagonist Samuel.

Short hair and a cute face.

Her figure could be guessed just from the outline under her tight clothes.

Breasts and hips not inferior to Lucy's. A slender waistline.

I tried not to steal glances at her body, which naturally drew my eyes, by turning my head away.

Lucy nagged from the side.

"We brought an F-rank thinking there might be some heavy lifting to do. Hey. Don't think about getting carried. Got it?"

Lucy, whose face was angelic when smiling, but ruthlessly vicious when upset.

Just as described in the novel.

"I got it. Don't worry."

The reason even an F-rank can survive in the academy is not because of skills, but because of the physical strength to endure tough training.

The body I started my second life in was certainly large and had solid muscles.

"Shh."

Zoe put her finger to her lips.

She seemed to have sensed something like a killing intent.

She approached the connected room with footsteps that made no sound.

Lucy and I quietly followed behind her.

In the next room, a hideously shaped skeleton monster was floating in the air.

Lucy opened her mouth.

"What could that be?"

Zoe shook her head.

"I don't know. It's a monster I've never seen before. Wait a moment. I need to see what kind of creature it is."

Right. Zoe could see something like a status window.

Even when IBVNA readers would shout "Mary Sue" every time a female character appeared, they didn't say such things about Zoe.

It was because her ability to see status windows was overpowered.

But my mouth moved first from beside her.

"Skeleton Wraith."

"What? You know what that is?"

Lucy opened her eyes in surprise.

"I'm not sure either. I vaguely remember seeing it in a bestiary at the library."

It was a lie.

[Skeleton Wraith]

[Status: Depressed]

[Wueeeeee. Eeee. Eeeek.]

A status window like this had appeared in my eyes.

Shortly after, having checked the status window, Zoe nodded.

"Ikan is right. It's a ghost with undead attributes."

"Then my elemental magic won't work..."

Lucy swallowed hard.

Zoe said,

"Ikan and I are physical attribute too, so it won't work.

I wonder if we could pass by without fighting it... The range is too wide. What should we do?"

Lucy muttered to herself.

"If Samuel were here, what would he do..."

Just then, a troll appeared from the opposite side and was approaching the Skeleton Wraith.

[Troll]

[Status: Lazy]

"Huh? A troll?"

My mouth moved before I knew it. It was that surprising to see a troll in real life that I had only seen in novels.

The Skeleton Wraith, without even looking at the troll, scratched the air with its bony hand. Then-

Gwaek.

The troll was cut into a cube shape and died.

"Damn. One hit on a troll."

I swallowed hard.

Even Lucy would struggle with a troll right now.

Zoe might barely be able to handle it, but to one-shot kill a troll like that.

"I don't think even Samuel would have been much help."

Zoe made a cold assessment.

Then-

Ding.

A skill window appeared before my eyes.

[Skill Window]

ᐉ Spearmanship [F]

ᐉ Curse (Mana Regen Disabled)

ᐉ Holy Explosion [S+] [NEW!]

ᐉ Mana Absorption [A] [NEW!]

"Damn. It's coming."

Lucy stepped back.

The Skeleton Wraith had noticed our presence and started slowly drifting towards us.

"Get behind me, kids."

Zoe stood in front of us.

I checked the newly appeared skills in the skill window.

Holy Explosion?

"Instructor! They're coming from the other side too!"

Lucy, who had stepped back, shouted.

A Skeleton Wraith had suddenly appeared from where we had killed the spiders and was approaching us.

I didn't want to die torn apart like the troll.

How long had it been since I died?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

My hand moved instinctively.

Snap.

I snapped my fingers.

[Holy Explosion]

Yellow light dust showered onto one of the Skeleton Wraiths.

And then.

Crack.

The skeleton shattered and fell to the ground as bone dust.

It worked!

I quickly aimed at the other Skeleton Wraith and used the skill.

Snap.

[Holy Explosion]

Crack.

Silence fell in the dungeon.

I... I killed the Skeleton Wraiths.

Lucy and Zoe were looking at me.

"H-How. Ikan, did you do that?"

Lucy couldn't hide her excitement beside me.

Zoe came up to me.

She stared into my eyes for a moment and then smiled.

"Ikan. You've awakened!"

She seemed to have used her status window skill.

"It seems so."

"Hold on. Let me see. Oh, you've got a Holy Explosion skill. It's S+ rank with holy attribute damage, so that's why it was a one-hit kill."

Lucy smiled at me.

"Oh? You might be of some use now?"

"Wait."

Zoe frowned.

"Your maximum mana is 2?"

I wanted to check my mana, and immediately a status window appeared.

[Mana: 0 / 2]

"I just used it twice, so it became 0, so I guess it uses 1 each time."

I scratched my head.

"Then we can just wait for the mana to recharge and go, right? I can see a safe zone after we deal with just one more Skeleton Wraith over there."

Lucy spoke as if it was no big deal.

Zoe shook her head.

"No, no. Ikan, your mana doesn't regenerate."

"Ah. Right. That's why this guy said he does spear work. Aoh."

Lucy held her head.

[Skill Window]

ᐉ Spearmanship [F]

ᐉ Curse (Mana Regen Disabled)

ᐉ Holy Explosion [S+] [NEW!]

ᐉ Mana Absorption [A] [NEW!]

That's right. My mana doesn't regenerate.

"Wait a moment. It looks like you've awakened a Mana Absorption skill along with Holy Explosion."

Zoe looked at me intently.

Lucy raised her head abruptly.

Zoe took my hand and placed it on her shoulder.

"Ikan, want to try absorbing my mana? Let's just kill that one over there and go to the safe zone to rest a bit. Lucy is quite tired, and so am I."

"Okay."

I closed my eyes and then opened them.

[Mana Absorption]

"Huh?"

[Mana: 0 / 2]

I narrowed my eyes.

"Why isn't it working?"

"Let me take a look."

Zoe looked into my eyes.

I checked the Mana Absorption skill in the skill window again.

A detailed description of the skill appeared.

[Mana Absorption - Can absorb mana through sexual intercourse with the target. Absorbs mana when ejaculating semen into the partner's body.]

Zoe startled and stepped back.

A look of despair fell over her face.

"Ah. No."

"What? What is it?"

Lucy wore a worried expression beside us.

Zoe shared the information as calmly as she could.

"It's a skill that requires sexual intercourse with the target to absorb mana."

"What?"

Lucy looked at me with contempt.

"What should we do?"

I rubbed my forehead.

Lucy frowned.

"Instructor. Let's just go back to where the wall collapsed earlier."

"Think rationally, Lucy. That's not a safe zone. Stronger monsters will come out soon when night falls.

Skeleton Wraiths might appear out of nowhere like just now."

"But if we dawdle here, the ones he just killed will respawn, right?"

A dilemma.

We had to defeat that one remaining Skeleton Wraith over there and move to the safe zone before the ones we just killed respawned.

30 minutes until respawn.

Instructor Zoe looked at me with determined eyes.

She grabbed my wrist.

"Ikan. Come here for a moment."