Better Seen Than Heard
"Better seen than heard."
The next day, early morning in the hallway outside Class 1's main academy building classroom.
"Phew. Feels refreshing."
I strolled down the corridor with light steps, stretching contentedly. It was all thanks to passing out the moment I hit my dorm bed after rolling around all day yesterday.
Roughly from 1 PM to morning, I'd slept like the dead. Normally, oversleeping leaves you groggy, but this time my sleep cycle had aligned perfectly.
Humming a tune, I grabbed the door handle to Class 1's room.
Creak—
It was early enough that I expected it to be empty. But surprisingly, a chill air hung in the classroom, where an unexpected presence had already settled.
By the window, second seat from the front.
It was Lee Yeji, Class 1's vice-top, who'd been thoroughly thrashed with a tree branch yesterday.
With a small bandage on her cheek, she sat alone in the empty room, buried nose-deep in a thick major textbook.
"Oh..."
I hadn't expected anyone to be here this early.
After that humiliating ordeal yesterday, she was already here ahead of everyone else, diligently previewing lessons.
Personality aside, her diligence was hardcore. It really drove home the weight of being Class 1's elite vice-top.
I admired her studiousness for a moment before sauntering over and greeting her casually.
"Hey. Slave Number One. You're early."
"...Eek?!"
Crash!
Before my lazy greeting could even finish, Yeji jolted in shock. Her shoulders jumped, and the chair she was sitting on lost balance, toppling backward.
"Ow...!"
She hit the floor hard on her butt and looked up at me sprawled out.
Her pupils shook like there was an earthquake, and her pale lips trembled.
"...Why so jumpy? Think I'm gonna eat you or something?"
I asked incredulously, hands in my pockets. She propped herself on the floor and stammered,
"Y-you, y-you bastard...! Wh-why the hell are you here so early...?!"
"Why? The early bird catches the worm."
Leaning back on the chair's armrest with my chin propped up, I tossed the question at her as she scrambled to her feet.
"Anyway, Number One. What major did you pick? Magic studies?"
"...Magic studies, why? You're martial arts."
Yeji brushed off her uniform skirt, glaring at me warily.
I'd figured the Class 1 vice-top on the elite magic track would go for magic studies, but hearing it straight from her made it even more satisfying.
I nodded vigorously, very pleased.
"Perfect."
"...Wh-what's perfect?"
Ignoring her uneasy question, I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket and tapped the screen a few times.
Then I shoved it right in her face.
"I've got a friend in magic studies."
On the screen was a proof photo I'd saved from the student roster app yesterday. A girl with long white hair and eerie heterochromia—blue and pink eyes contrasting sharply.
The walking time bomb I'd run into in the bushes yesterday, the first disaster of the main story.
As Yeji peered at the photo in bewilderment, I tapped the screen and declared,
"Her name's Ha Yuseong. You take care of her."
"...Huh?"
Yeji swallowed in disbelief, her facial muscles twitching.
After putting her through hell yesterday and showing up at the crack of dawn, all I had for her was to babysit my friend? Outrage trumped fear, and she finally exploded with pent-up frustration.
"B-bullshit...! Why the hell should I do that crap...?!"
"..."
"I'm barely keeping my grades up as it is—now you want me to look after some total stranger?! Am I crazy?!"
"Hmm..."
Looks like our Number One had already forgotten yesterday.
I slipped my hand into my uniform's inner pocket and slyly pulled out that item I'd stashed in my subspace pouch last night.
A dirt-caked tree branch I'd picked up in the alley yesterday.
Swoosh—
I lightly raised the pathetic stick to her nose bridge and smiled softly.
"Number One. Let's get along, yeah?"
"..."
"You know you didn't get expelled because I kept quiet, right?"
She'd busted her ass studying to get into the academy as vice-top—no way she'd want to get kicked out empty-handed after one day.
Her pupils contracted sharply at the branch dancing before her eyes.
Terror and social ruin hit at once, shattering her elite pride.
A moment later, a mosquito-like voice squeaked from her trembling lips.
"...Y-yes..."
"Good. Then why act all tsundere?"
I smiled contentedly and tucked the branch back into my pocket.
Only then did Yeji gasp out the breath she'd been holding.
"She's a pitiful kid, so take good care of her. Do a good job, and I'll promote you from Slave One to Serf One."
"Ugh..."
Same difference? Sure, but hey, promotion. Cheers.
Bzzz—
09:00 AM - Moving to 1st Period Major Class
A short vibration from my pocket phone, and a small hologram alert popped up on the screen.
"Oh, time flew already."
Time for proper major classes to start.
The academy's massive campus buzzed with cadets heading to their respective major lecture halls.
I wove leisurely through the crowd toward the west building's martial arts major classroom.
Creak—
Opening the door revealed a starkly different vibe from regular classrooms—brutal and intense.
First off, the overwhelming space. Special desks tailored to various builds, and massive weapon racks lining both walls and the back without gaps.
Less classroom, more giant armory.
'Definitely facilities befitting Korea's top academy.'
Even after scouting around post-possession, facing game scenery in reality always brought a weird catharsis.
The room was packed with cadets as class time neared. I scanned around while walking.
'Any familiar faces.'
Seol Eunha, Yoon Seoa, Kwak Taesan—all martial arts majors, so they'd stand out.
Sure enough, midway back, I spotted a familiar face scanning around—Yoon Seoa.
"Seoa, you're early."
"Ah! Dohyun!"
She beamed brightly upon seeing me approach and greet first.
Seoa jumped up from her seat, waving enthusiastically.
"Hehehe. First major class today, so I got too excited and woke up early! Did you just get here, Dohyun?"
"Nah, I woke early too. Around 7?"
"Eek... that early? Gotta train at dawn to wield a sword like yours, huh...!"
My parrying was just 7000 hours sunk into the game.
"Practice and you'll improve fast. I had no talent at first either."
"Ah...! You're such a hard worker, Dohyun!"
Seoa clutched her fists in admiration, leaning forward eagerly. Her round eyes sparkled right in my face.
'If only she knew that "work" was VR button-mashing.'
Her blind admiration pricked my conscience a bit, but her puppy-like tail-wagging enthusiasm was adorable.
Seeing her unguarded head, my hand moved on instinct.
Pat pat.
"Ah."
I casually patted her hair, and Seoa's shoulders stiffened.
"D-Dohyun...?"
She stared at me with wide eyes, cheeks faintly flushed, voice laced with fluster.
"...Sorry. Habit."
Having raised a dog as a kid left me with the bad habit of petting cute things.
As I withdrew my hand to play it off,
Creak—
The front door slid open smoothly with a light friction sound.
"Alright, quiet down? Your eagerly awaited professor has finally arrived."
A playful, signature sly voice.
Despite the casual tone, the room's noise vanished instantly like a lie. Dozens of eyes snapped to the door.
"Ahem~ Freshmen are great! They shut up the second the prof arrives—unlike those rude third-years."
The man stepping to the podium looked anything but "martial arts major" rough. Impeccable three-piece suit, hair slicked back with wax exuding leisure.
'Haven't seen this guy in a while.'
Kang Dongsu, the professor you always meet first on the martial arts route in the academy. Sly fox personality, but his unique teaching style made him popular in-game.
He stood at the lectern, casually scanning the room.
Latecomers scrambling to seats caught his eye too.
"Hm~ Looks like everyone's here for this period."
Thud!
He lightly folded the roll call book in one hand and set it down. The crisp snap echoed in the quiet room.
"Anyway, boring orientation or dull theory lectures? You didn't come to martial arts for that kiddie stuff, right~?"
He grinned slyly, eyes crinkling.
Tension and anticipation mixed in the air among the cadets.
Seoa beside me had shaken off her embarrassment, swallowing hard as she focused on the podium.
"Seoa."
"Y-yes?! Dohyun? What's up...?"
She flinched at the sudden call and turned.
I stared at the podium and said flatly,
"Recommend closing your eyes for a sec."
"My... eyes?"
She tilted her head in confusion. I just smiled faintly, no further explanation.
Kang Dongsu adjusted his tie leisurely and continued.
"Better seen than heard. Theory matters, but I think experiencing real combat beats it a hundredfold."
Snap!
His fingers flicked the air lightly.
Vrrr—!
"Wh-what?!"
"Th-the floor's weird!"
"Magic circle...!?"
A heavy resonance shook the room, blue light erupting from the floor.
The ordinary tiles revealed an intricate hidden massive magic circle, its geometric patterns unfolding.
"L-large-scale area teleport magic...?!"
Seoa gaped down in shock.
Other cadets panicked, jumping up or murmuring.
"Eyes shut tight if you don't wanna puke—motion sickness hits hard!"
At Kang Dongsu's cheerful shout, the blue light exploded upward, filling the room.
Flash!
Vision whited out in intense light.
'Staring at a large-scale teleport circle's activation blinds you with awful nausea.'
At least an hour of puking guaranteed.
I'd shut my eyes tight early, bracing for the floating sensation.
"Urk..."
"Ah, ugh... my head..."
Soon, the wind in my ears died, replaced by pained groans everywhere.
"Wh-where...?"
Seoa, who'd dodged the nausea thanks to me, cautiously opened her eyes and muttered.
I answered calmly.
"Seoul outskirts, for now."
The barren landscape before me was all too familiar.
Gray rocks and dry dust everywhere—a desolate plain outside the academy, low-grade dungeon spawn zone in the city outskirts.
Normally, E to C-grade gates sporadically.
But this? Nothing sporadic about it.
Vrrr—!
Kang Dongsu had clearly arranged it. Dozens of dark dungeon gates spewed ominous mana, yawning open in unison.
'Here we go.'
This was Kang Dongsu's teaching method.
In one word: learn by getting beat and rolling.
"Wh-where is this...?"
"Crazy, why so many dungeon gates?"
"Drops us here without teaching anything...?"
Cadets staggered up amid teleport lag, paling at the gates everywhere.
At the chaos's center, perfectly suited Kang Dongsu spread his arms like a stage actor, grinning wide.
"Alright! Skip the intro—straight to action? Today's goal: light dungeon clears."
"..."
"Form teams as you like, pick your dungeon!"
His bombshell sparked pandemonium again.
"Wh-what do we do...? Dungeon raid...! Didn't expect real combat right away...!"
Seoa clutched my sleeve, face ashen, asking urgently.
I patted her trembling form reassuringly.
"Calm down. Find Seol Eunha and Kwak Taesan first. They got dragged from our class—must be around here somewhere."
"Ah, y-yes...!"
Regaining some composure, Seoa nodded vigorously, scanning around.
Meanwhile, I leisurely eyed the dozens of dungeon gates scattered about.
Terrifying hellmouths to the panicked cadets.
But to me, with 7000 hours in this world, totally different.
'Tutorial dungeons you'd hunt quests over the semester—all conveniently open here together.'
Meaning all those early-game opportunities and artifacts inside were ripe for the picking, defenseless.
I'd always speedrun-maxed dungeons pre-possession.
Gazing at the ominous gates, my lips curled involuntarily.
'Let's cherry-pick the sweet ones and devour 'em all nice and solo.'