Freshman Welcome Ceremony

As a heavy voice rolled out through the speakers, the restless main auditorium fell deathly silent, as if the chaos had never existed at all.

The middle-aged man in a suit standing on the podium, microphone in hand, gave a single approving nod at the perfectly disciplined attitude of the freshmen before he opened his mouth.

"We will now begin the Babel Academy entrance ceremony. Chancellor, if you would please enter."

The moment his words ended, someone stepped out from the side of the stage.

She was a woman who radiated an elegant, mature presence.

Even under the concentrated gazes of thousands, she never lost her composed smile; grace poured off her in waves.

Huh?

For someone introduced as the chancellor, she looked far too young.

Moreover, that black hair, those black eyes, those familiar features…

"An Asian…?"

The moment I muttered it without thinking, Anastasia’s voice came from right beside me.

"What? Ching Cheng Chong, you don’t know Chancellor Oh Yura? You’re both Korean."

I flinched hard and scanned the surrounding eyes for any sign that someone had overheard.

"…Um, instead of Ching Cheng Chong… c-could you call me something else…? People are staring…"

At my desperate plea, Anastasia simply snorted.

"Then what should I call you? Tiny Dick?"

…Call me by my name, you bastard.

I fired off a crisp mental retort but lacked the courage to let it leave my mouth.

I hurriedly changed the subject.

"…H-Hang on. Korean? The chancellor is Korean?"

"You seriously didn’t know? She’s a retired S-rank hunter. Super popular back in Korea, and she’s got decent worldwide recognition too. What, you don’t even use the internet?"

Under her blatant scolding I discreetly averted my eyes and gave a vague nod.

Then I looked back up at Chancellor Oh Yura on the stage and muttered,

"Hmm… she looks a bit… young, though…"

"She may look like that, but she’s forty-eight. S-rank awakeners age slowly, so they stay young-looking, you blockhead."

Aargh, what the hell am I supposed to do with that temper of hers? And for the love of god, stop pinching my cheek already!

While I swallowed bloody tears of frustration and forced the anger down, Chancellor Oh Yura on the stage parted her lips with a gentle smile.

"Ahh, welcome, freshmen. I welcome you all to Babel, the place where awakeners from every corner of the world gather."

Her soft, smooth voice filled the auditorium.

The long, tedious lecture that every principal seemed contractually obligated to deliver began to stretch on without end.

I gritted my teeth against the throbbing in my cheek and held my breath.

Anastasia in the seat next to me was equally bored; she propped her chin on one hand and kept kneading ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my cheek like dough.

After speaking for quite some time, Chancellor Oh Yura’s gaze slowly swept across the entire hall.

"…Of course, simply gathering here at Babel does not mean everyone stands on the same starting line. Most of you have already proven your talent in the entrance exam, been selected by the various department heads, and received your assignments."

Assignment.

That single word from the chancellor suddenly made me think of my own situation.

Assignment, huh… Come to think of it, I’m unaffiliated.

The student ID I had checked earlier floated into my mind.

Once the thought reached that point, a natural question rose to the surface.

Then what department did this Russian delinquent girl belong to?

I sneakily glanced sideways at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Anastasia.

Looking closer, unlike my completely bare chest, her uniform had a badge pinned to it.

"…Hey, noona, do you have an affiliation?"

At my cautious question Anastasia looked down at me with an expression that was both incredibly smug and incredibly punchable.

"Me? Of course I do."

She pulled her student ID from her pocket and thrust it right in front of my eyes.

The bold letters stamped at the bottom of the card filled my vision.

"See that? Capable bitches like me start the elite track the second we enroll, Tiny Dick."

The way she arrogantly lifted her chin almost made me snort out loud.

Everyone else got assigned too, yet she’s acting like she’s special. Ugh, so annoying. Should I just smack her upside the head?

Of course, all I could actually do was lament my pitiful, completely powerless situation.

Around the time she put her student ID away, Chancellor Oh Yura continued speaking.

"Then what about the unaffiliated students whose affiliation column is still blank? Are they simply the stragglers left behind?"

I felt shoulders flinching here and there throughout the auditorium.

I, too, fiddled with the student ID in my pocket and quietly lowered my head.

But the chancellor’s next words flowed in a direction completely different from what I had expected.

"You are not stragglers. You are simply ‘Undeclared’ students who have not yet chosen a major. Unaffiliated students will take the common required courses together with the department students while simultaneously attending introductory classes from multiple departments. If, through that process, you discover your aptitude and prove your skill, you may obtain an official affiliation through a faculty recommendation or a department head’s approval."

The moment the elegant-sounding phrase “Undeclared major” left the chancellor’s mouth—

"Pretty words."

Anastasia snickered.

"In reality it’s just a bunch of trash who didn’t catch a professor’s eye."

"…I was actually feeling pretty moved just now."

"Yeah? Then keep feeling moved. Reality’s not gonna change either way."

The cold hard truth stabbed deep.

The chancellor on the stage, as if completely unaware of such circumstances, continued speaking with the same benevolent smile.

"You may freely use the library, training grounds, cafeteria, and all other academy buildings and campus facilities. Babel is no different from a vast school where you can unfold your infinite potential. So learn to your heart’s content, interact with one another, and enjoy your own unique campus life."

…Huh?

Listening to Chancellor Oh Yura’s words, my eyes began to sting without my noticing.

Professors… choosing a major… campus…?

My chest swelled with grandeur.

Before the possession, while I spent every day hauling cement sacks on construction sites, “university” had been a lifelong dream I could never reach.

Sitting on the grass eating lunch boxes with classmates, going on MT trips—that dazzling youth!

Holy shit, this is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠straight-up college!

I clenched both fists tight.

The blood-soaked, monster-carving, cutthroat otherworld academy suddenly looked like the stage for a pink-tinted campus romance of youth.

I casually turned my head and looked at Anastasia sitting slouched beside me.

Yeah. When you think about it, this noona… her personality’s just a little rough and she has zero filter, but she’s basically a classmate who’ll take classes and eat meals with me, right? This is that “campus life” I’ve only ever heard about…!

As the happiness circuit spun out of control and brain filters kicked in, even this Russian delinquent girl who pinched my cheeks and called me Ching Cheng Chong started looking like “a tsundere classmate who’s a bit prickly but actually looks out for you.”

I couldn’t hold back the stupid grin that kept leaking out.

At that, Anastasia scrunched her brows and snapped,

"What the hell are you grinning so creepily for? You fall for me or something?"

"…No."

What? Tsundere? Looks-out-for-you classmate?

She’s just a foul-mouthed, foul-tempered Russian gangster bitch, nothing more.

For the sake of my dazzling campus life, I should cut this one off fast and find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some normal friends.

Preferably same-gender friends I can actually talk to.

While I made that firm resolve inside, Chancellor Oh Yura on the stage continued pouring out her impassioned speech without pause.

"…As the shields that will protect humanity, you must possess the pride and sense of duty befitting that role…"

Grand talk about shields of humanity and the like drifted past my ears like a lullaby.

I tilted my head as far back as it would go and tried my hardest to keep listening to the chancellor.

But whether it was the aftershock of possession or the principal-level lecture itself, the sleepiness flooding in was impossible to fight.

Just as I was half-zoning out and bobbing my head in a drowsy headbang—

"…Then, shall we end this boring entrance ceremony here?"

At those words I snapped my eyes open and jerked my head up.

Finally, it’s over!

I cheered inside and rolled my stiff neck.

Chancellor Oh Yura on the stage opened her mouth again with an utterly elegant smile.

"Well then, let us proceed with what we could call the main event of the entrance ceremony… a simple test."

A test? What kind of test during an entrance ceremony?

While I sat there blankly, still failing to grasp the situation, the sound of knuckles cracking loudly came from right beside me.

"Hell yeah. Finally starting. I thought I was gonna die of boredom."

Anastasia roughly stretched and stood up.

She glanced down at me with eyes that had turned several degrees more murderous than before and spat,

"Tiny Dick, stay out of my sight. If I see you, I’ll kill you."

"Yes…? W-What do you mean by—"

I didn’t even get the chance to ask what kind of insane nonsense that was.

On the stage, Chancellor Oh Yura lightly flicked her fingers.

In that instant, a bizarre light exploded from the entire floor of the auditorium.

Fwaaaaash—!!!

Huh?! This is…!

An intense flash that painted everything white.

It was the exact same flash that had gone off when I was possessed into this goddamn game.

Accompanied by a nauseating sensation as if space itself were twisting, both my feet floated into the air and then sank again.

When I finally managed to regain focus and open my eyes, the first thing that hit my nose was a rush of cool air.

What filled my vision was a dome-shaped hall so enormous its end couldn’t be seen.

Walls on every side made it look exactly like a gigantic underground arena.

"Where the hell is this?!"

My panicked voice echoed emptily through the vast hall.

Soon Chancellor Oh Yura’s gentle voice rang out from midair.

"…? K-Kill…?"

…Campus life? Normal same-gender friends?

Bullshit. This was a blood-soaked game academy… like hell something like that would exist here…