Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Chapter 1
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I'd fallen into a novel. As the game character I'd been playing.
But it was a novel I'd never even heard of.
"…"
I read the note that had fallen from above once more.
Just that one damn sentence on the note was enough to piss me off.
'What the hell am I supposed to do with this? No explanations at all?'
I tore my eyes away from the note and looked at the student ID this time.
'What kind of half-assed name is that for an academy? They really phoned it in.'
It felt like a name slapped together lazily just to annoy me, and it was getting under my skin.
"……Status window…"
I muttered cautiously. Nothing happened.
"…? What the hell."
Honestly, I'd expected something to pop up in front of my eyes, like in all those other possession stories.
I mean, I'd possessed a game character, right? There had to be at least a status screen or skill window or something.
Maybe I wasn't saying it loud enough. Swallowing my embarrassment, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"…Status window!!"
…Nothing.
My face burned with shame, but I yelled even louder.
"Shit… Status window! Skill window! Inventoryyy!!!"
Still nothing appeared before my eyes.
"I-is this not it?"
I tried a different approach this time. Closing my eyes and focusing, I pictured one of the weapons from my inventory.
Sure enough, the sword I'd used back in the low levels materialized in my hand.
"Whoa…"
No need to shout it out loud—just thinking about it was enough. I felt mortified for screaming my head off looking for the status window.
I swung the sword lightly, and it moved with the natural familiarity of long practice. I could probably use skills too.
'Not that my skills are anything special with this trash build…'
I stored the summoned sword away and tried calling out a high-level weapon with better stats. Nothing.
"What the…"
I kept trying, but it wouldn't come. After experimenting with various summons, I realized only low-level weapons worked. Useless junk items and consumables were off-limits too.
"No way… An achievement reward, my ass."
They'd kidnapped me into some random novel I didn't know, and now they'd taken my weapons and items too?
"My soul's collection…"
I stood there in a daze, then glanced at the mirror. The face of the black-haired, blue-eyed girl I'd controlled in the game stared back.
I was wearing the academy uniform.
'…She's pretty cute, though.'
I turned on the phone next to my wallet. There was one text message.
It was today.
"Fuck…"
The curse slipped out naturally.
And so, knowing nothing, I left the house.
#
Turns out the room I'd woken up in was the academy dorm. I made it to the entrance ceremony without getting lost.
'Who's the protagonist?'
I scanned the surroundings. The protagonist would stand out immediately. First things first, I needed to figure out who it was.
I didn't even know the genre of this novel. Was it some academy romance where the protagonist flirts with the heroine? Or a power battle story full of fights? All I could tell from the title was that it was an academy thing.
Not knowing the genre made identifying the protagonist pointless anyway, but the iron rule of typical academy stories was that the protagonist was ridiculously overpowered. Sticking close was always the safest bet. Especially if this world was dangerous.
What if it was an apocalypse where everyone around the protagonist drops dead? Even then, staying near them had to be better for survival odds. Protagonists were OP as hell, after all.
'…Or maybe not?'
Truth was, I had no clue. But what else could a clueless newbie like me do? Whatever, I'd latch onto the protagonist for now. If it started feeling like a romance, I could bail.
I sat in a chair, scanning the crowd, when someone who looked like the principal began his speech.
"Welcome to Academy Acamedy…"
'He said it backwards.'
The principal seemed confused too, swapping "Acamedy Academy" for "Academy Acamedy." I could feel the author's malicious intent in that stupid name.
"Your noble aspirations as aspiring heroes…"
"…Dedicate yourselves to protecting the world from magic beasts with that mindset…"
I was zoning out when some key words jumped out from the principal's mouth. Heroes. Magic beasts. Looked like it wasn't a peaceful romance after all.
That settled it—my first priority was clear.
Find the protagonist and get on friendly terms.
#
The ceremony ended, and classes were announced by entrance exam rankings. That meant there'd been an exam, but how the hell did I get in? This body was my game character, and I'd only arrived today.
I checked the list. Everyone had rankings next to their names, along with their assigned classes.
Everyone else had rankings, but I was the only one marked "Special Admission."
'Guess whoever sent me here pulled some strings. Kidnapping me into a novel was no big deal for them, so this is easy.'
I shrugged it off.
#
I'd been assigned to Class A.
And Class A was made up of top scorers from the entrance exam.
'That means the protagonist's probably here!'
I grabbed a seat early and eyed every student filing into the classroom.
'Handsome guy. Protagonist candidate. Cute girl. Heroine candidate.'
I assumed the protagonist was male. Sure, they didn't have to be, but in a hero-vs-magic-beasts genre, a female lead seemed unlikely.
'Ranking-wise, that Han U-sol at number one seems likely.'
I was sorting people into protagonist and heroine candidates when the last one entered.
Striking white hair—passed. Vivid golden eyes—passed. A handsome face that made everyone before him look like squid—passed. The kind of looks that stood out from a hundred meters away.
His name tag read Han U-sol.
'Top of the entrance rankings with a face like that… Passed. He's obviously the protagonist.'
I acknowledge you as the protagonist.
It would've been a pain if the author made him average-looking and mid-tier ranked, but this guy's perfect "strict dad's perfect son" vibe was a relief.
'I'll find an opening to get friendly later.'
Conveniently, Han U-sol sat in the empty seat right behind me.
'As long as seats don't switch, I'll have plenty of chances.'
Front and back seats—the perfect distance for casual chats and bonding.
I was plotting how to strike up a conversation when our homeroom teacher entered. A woman.
'Homeroom teacher's gotta be the big-boobed, hot teacher type. National rule.'
Looks like the author knew what was up.
"Hi, I'm Silbi Bell. Nice to meet you."
Her voice was soft and gentle, matching her gentle demeanor.
After introducing herself, Silbi started roll-call intros from the front row.
The bright-faced redhead in the first seat stood. I'd slotted her as a heroine candidate for being pretty.
"I'm Yoon Na-rin. Nice to meet you! My ability is Flame."
She made a small flame dance in her hand. I'd guessed fire-type from her hair, and bingo.
After Yoon Na-rin's intro, the others followed suit, standing and showing off their abilities.
"…Nice to meet you. Mine's Electricity…"
"…Body Hardening for me…"
'…What is this? Everyone has some superpower?'
My turn was creeping closer.
'…I don't have any abilities, though. What do I do?'
I was wracking my brain when it was my turn.
"Anis Harper. Nice to meet you. My ability is…"
I focused and summoned a sword into my hand.
"Weapon Summon. I can store weapons and pull them out whenever."
I stored it away and sat back down. Good. That seemed convincing.
'Wait, that's not bullshitting—that really is my ability.'
As I sat, the protagonist behind me stood next.
"I'm Han U-sol. My ability is…"
He glanced at me, paused, then spoke.
"Weapon Creation."
"…?"
The protagonist forged a sword out of thin air.
'…What.'
…It was completely my upgrade.