Looks Like I'm Screwed
Looks like I'm screwed.
"……."
When that eternity of taut standoff finally broke, Chloe was the first to crack a smile and look away.
"Well, now's not the time to be measuring auras with Ana-yang. Lunch hour's almost over."
Chloe turned back to me with that signature sunny smile of hers.
"How about it, Siyul-gun? Want to grab a meal with us? I scoped out a pretty nice high-end restaurant near the Academy. Private room and everything."
At that, Anastasia's brow furrowed hard and she snapped,
"Ha. Kid just got up after collapsing and you want to drag him to some outside restaurant—"
"Sounds good?"
The reply slipped out of me before I could stop it.
I'd never once in my life set foot in a "high-end restaurant," so the words alone made my ears perk right up.
Anastasia immediately fixed me with a look that screamed Are you out of your damn mind?
Under that murderous glare I flinched, dropped my eyes, and hastily backtracked.
"……M-maybe we should just eat at the school cafeteria……?"
……Thinking about it, of course that was the right call.
I'd only been in this world for less than a day. How the hell was I supposed to know how much money I even had in my pockets? Jumping on some expensive restaurant invitation was pure idiocy.
School cafeteria would be free. Quietly eating the free meal was the safest choice that matched my station in life.
"If that's what Siyul-gun really wants, I don't mind."
Chloe shrugged in easy agreement.
I gave a small nod of my own.
"Shall we go, then?"
Chloe and Johnson started for the door of the infirmary first, and I rose from my seat to follow.
That was when Anastasia, who had been lounging crookedly in her chair, casually dusted herself off and fell into step right behind us.
I carefully gauged her mood and asked,
"N-Nuna, you're coming too……?"
"……What."
Anastasia whipped her head away and answered gruffly.
"I haven't eaten yet either. What, is it that annoying if I tag along?"
"N-no……! E-eating with Nuna is j-just too great……."
Faced with those killing eyes I hastily piled on the flattery. Anastasia let out a couple of loud coughs, then glared straight ahead and muttered,
"……Quit the useless talk and just walk faster."
And so the four of us headed for the cafeteria to eat.
The student cafeteria we arrived at was far larger and more pleasant than I had imagined.
We lined up side by side to choose our meals.
But as I blankly stared up at the menu board, I couldn't help freezing in confusion.
Huh……? It's a school meal…… and I still have to pay?
Next to every single menu name sat a vicious-looking number.
While I stood there stiff with panic, Chloe, Johnson, and Anastasia each picked what they wanted and casually tapped their smartphones against the terminal to finish paying like it was second nature.
Wh-what do I do? I don't have a single coin on me.
I frantically patted the pockets of my uniform, but not even a speck of dust came out.
In a fluster I yanked out my smartphone, wondering if Apple Pay or Three Star Pay or some other terminal payment would work—only for a voice to come from right behind me.
"What are you dithering around for? Is picking a menu that hard?"
Anastasia, already finished with her payment, had come up behind me.
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead as I begged in a voice that nearly vanished into the floor.
"……Nuna…… c-could you maybe…… b-buy me lunch……?"
"What?"
Her brows slammed together in a terrifying scowl. I shook my head on pure reflex.
"N-no! I'll just starve……!"
"Wait, you already blew through all your basic points?"
"P-points? What are those……?"
At my stupid question Anastasia let out an incredulous snort of laughter.
"You sick or something? Wait, you did collapse, so yeah you're sick. But did you crack your skull and get amnesia too? They give them to everyone when you first enroll on this island. Babel Points."
She clicked her tongue in irritation, then snagged the smartphone straight out of my hand.
Her fingers tapped the screen a few times.
"Seriously, what a high-maintenance little shit……. It's right here. Five hundred thousand points. What the hell, you've never spent any? How have you even been living?"
The phone she shoved back into my hands had the academy's exclusive app open. Next to my student ID barcode sat the number [500,000 BP].
And right below it, a huge glowing Pay button.
Ah…… so that's how you pay.
Only then did I finally breathe a silent sigh of relief and successfully finish paying for lunch.
We each took our trays and settled at a quiet corner table.
……Whoa.
This was the first meal I was sharing with friends(?).
Looking back and forth at the faces across from me, my heart started thumping oddly.
I mean, if you're eating together, that makes you friends, right?
There was the massive, reliable Johnson,
the angelically kind and pretty Chloe who had actually invited a pathetic loser like me to eat,
and…… one Russian grizzly bear.
Anyway, thinking of these heavy-hitters as my friends filled me with a pleasant delusion that maybe I was kind of a big deal myself.
Sure enough, blatant whispering started reaching my ears from every direction.
"Whoa, what the hell is that? Isn't that Chloe Mack and Johnson from the US?"
"Holy shit, Russia's Anastasia Volkova is there too? How are the top prospects from the major powers eating together? Weren't their countries on total shit terms?"
Under the shocked reactions pouring in from all sides, I inwardly preened and casually rolled my shoulders back.
"But who's that guy stuck in the middle?"
"Dunno, looks Asian? If he's hanging with monsters like that he has to be at least some secret weapon China's been hiding."
"Ooh……. Face is kinda my type though……."
……Chinese, huh.
Just like that I had become an honorary Chinese citizen. My shoulders slumped again.
That was when Johnson, who had been quietly eating across from me, suddenly spoke up.
"Mm. Chopstick Boy. Mind if I try some of what you're eating?"
"Ah, sure……."
The menu I had chosen was, surprisingly, kimchi jjigae.
I never dreamed a Westerner-packed academy cafeteria would sell Korean food, so I had ordered it like I was under a spell.
I nodded and gently pushed the earthenware pot toward Johnson.
With completely natural chopstick skill he pinched up a big clump of kimchi and carried it to his mouth.
I glanced at his tray and blinked in surprise—sushi and udon sat there.
I carefully asked,
"Um…… you're really good with chopsticks……?"
"Mm. I like Asian food. Sushi, rice noodles, that sort of thing. This kimchi sits pretty well with me too. Thanks, Chopstick Boy."
Johnson gave a satisfied nod.
Listening from the side, Chloe cut in with that same sunny smile, looking faintly troubled.
"Johnson. Calling Siyul-gun 'Chopstick Boy' all the time…… doesn't it feel a little discriminatory?"
"Mm? I already apologized and got permission for that."
Johnson answered with complete confidence. I swallowed my internal reaction with a baffled expression.
……Yeah, he apologized. But when exactly did I give permission?
No matter how hard I rewound my memories, I couldn't find it.
Just how did he manage to twist whatever I said into "permission"?
This guy's miraculous brain structure was starting to genuinely interest me.
Still, if I thought it through carefully, there didn't seem to be even one percent of actual malicious racial discrimination in it.
That flashy chopstick work just now only proved it further.
He simply liked Asian food and chopsticks, so when he saw my scrawny anchovy frame he had decided— in his own pure way—to slap a friendly(?) nickname on me.
And the real discrimination was actually……
I turned my gaze to the platinum-blonde woman sitting next to me, who was poking at her food with the tip of her fork and picking at it half-heartedly.
Sensing my stare, Anastasia's brow creased sharply as she glared back.
"……What? Spit it out."
"……No, nothing. Just wondering if the food isn't to your taste……."
I answered as if it were nothing. Across the table Chloe smiled and answered in her place.
"Ana-yang probably doesn't care for this kind of student cafeteria food. She's only ever eaten fancy dishes made by top-tier personal chefs her whole life, after all."
At the loaded jab Anastasia snorted and shot back,
"Bullshit. Like you're any different, you bourgeois bitch."
She was right.
Chloe's tray also barely looked touched, only the edges of the food disturbed.
I looked at that tragic sight and let out a deep internal sigh.
……These full-bellied rich girls. Leaving perfectly good food like that.
Back in the orphanage that kind of luxury had been unimaginable.
Even during lunch periods when I had no friends and had to watch everyone else's faces, I still had to stuff myself as full as possible in some corner of the cafeteria just to survive until dinner. That had been my entire life.
What a waste……. If you're going to leave it, just give it to me.
While I sucked on my spoon and grumbled inwardly, the memory of the entrance ceremony suddenly surfaced and I carefully opened my mouth.
"……Um, about that thing at the entrance ceremony. Who won that?"
Clatter—
The moment the question left my lips, the fork slipped from Anastasia's hand.
Meanwhile a thick little-devil smile slowly spread across Chloe's lips opposite me.
Just from that polar difference in reaction I pretty much knew who had won.
"Ahh~ you mean the freshman welcome tournament? The fight between Ana-yang and me? That one~"
Chloe was about to start explaining in her gentle voice when—
BANG—!!
"……! I-if I'd been able to use my ability you would've just fucking died, you know that?!"
Anastasia slammed the table hard enough to nearly smash it and roared.
I had never seen the usually arrogant her lose her cool this badly.
Before I could even process the shock, Chloe answered with perfect composure.
"Oh my. That almost sounds like you're claiming I used my ability. I didn't use mine either, you know?"
"Shut up……! The matchup was just fucking terrible. All you did was run around being slippery and hit-and-run like a coward……!"
"Ana-yang~ just accept the loss cleanly. Making excuses only makes you look uglier, you know?"
At that maddening provocation Anastasia's eyes went completely feral.
"You fucking bitch, want me to actually rip that mouth open?!"
"Oh my~ go ahead and try if you can~"
Sparks crackled in the air between them.
The atmosphere was vicious enough that a second round—no, a death match—looked ready to erupt right in the middle of the cafeteria.
Across from me, though, Johnson simply slurped his udon noodles with a face that said this had nothing to do with him whatsoever.
Truly a consistent guy.
In the end, unable to bear the countless eyes in the cafeteria locking onto our table, I carefully stepped in.
"U-um…… please stop……. People are watching……."
At my timid restraint Anastasia huffed and puffed before reluctantly dropping back into her seat.
Then, as if taking out her frustration, she pinched my cheek right next to her and yanked.
"Guhhh……."
My cheek stung like crazy, but I just sat there and let her do it.
I was terrified that if I said anything else this Russian-bear gangster would start another full-blown rampage.
Leaving my stretched-out cheek as it was, I asked in a muffled voice,
"Then for this welcome tournament? Chloe-ssi took first place?"
"Nope. Right after fighting Ana-yang I got taken out by Ayane-yang."
Chloe shrugged lightly with a rueful smile.
"Ayane-yang specializes in stealth and assassination. I was already worn out from dealing with Ana-yang, so my reaction was a little late. Ah, so first place is probably Yuria-yang?"
"Yuria-yang?"
"Yeah. This time the evaluation was a scoring system based on kill count. Yuria-yang is a mage, so she's ridiculously specialized for free-for-alls like that. She probably swept the early game and then retired quickly."
My eyes lit up at that.
"A mage……? Whoa, so real magic actually exists?"
At my dumb question Chloe tilted her head a little in puzzlement, then kindly explained.
"Hm……? Well, yeah? Among abilities there are ones that let you control elements like fire, water, or wind. Mages create formulas so they can use those powers efficiently and share them with each other. Things like 'Fireball' that get made that way are what everyone just calls magic."
Ah, so that's how it is.
In the end "magic" wasn't some separate thing—it was just one type of ability.
Which meant someone like me with zero elemental abilities would never get to use magic in my life.
……Wait a second.
If magic equals ability, that means "mana" is basically the base fuel for activating every single ability, right?
I thought you only needed a mana pool if you went the mage route like in common fantasy games!
So of course even my trash-tier ability had been sucking my pathetic little mana dry every time it activated.
…Damn this complete lack of a tutorial. Fucking newbie issues.
"……Anyway, even someone as strong as Chloe-ssi ended up retiring. This academy really has a lot of powerful people……."
I muttered in awe. A terrifying glare immediately stabbed into me from the side.
"Hey. Why are you leaving me out? I'm also one of those 'as strong as' people."
"N-Nuna too……! Nuna is insanely amazing too……!"
Watching us, Chloe burst into clear laughter and quietly whispered,
"Well, it's true a lot of strong classmates enrolled this year. But you know, Siyul-gun. Me, Ana-yang, Johnson…… none of us really need to obsess over academy grades."
"Huh? What do you mean……."
"We're, how should I put it, special cases. Our affiliations after graduation are already decided."
Chloe rested her chin on her hand and continued in that soft voice.
"Except for ordinary students who still haven't joined a guild, or the ones who signed pre-contracts with big guilds that say things like 'you have to finish in the top X percent of the final ranking for the contract to go through'…… people like us who already have solid backing don't really need academy points. The only real use is maybe earning a few points? And even that, at our level……."
Chloe let the sentence trail off with a light smile.
The leisure of golden-spoon parachutes dripped from every word.
"That's why, like I said earlier, we fought the welcome tournament without using our abilities. Rather than thrashing around for basically meaningless points, hiding our power and protecting information for the future is way more important."
……In other words, that meant they had pulverized the entire freshman class using nothing but raw physical ability.
……These insane munchkin monsters…….
I carefully managed my freezing expression and gave an awkward nod.
"……I-I see. So points aren't necessary……."
I turned the word "points" over in my mouth and suddenly thought of my own situation.
"Ah… then when can we check the scores from this freshman welcome tournament?"
"Hm? Oh, the results should already be out. Check the academy app."
At Chloe's words I pulled out my smartphone.
I went back into the academy app I had left open for the cafeteria payment and carefully tapped the "Academic Records" tab.
In the short moment the screen loaded, a little happiness circuit started spinning in my head.
Let's see. Anyway, I stubbornly survived almost until the end of the exam, right?
On top of that I had even managed a mutual kill—a love shot—against Johnson himself and cleanly taken one person out.
That should come out pretty good, right? Yeah, after all that hellish struggle the reward better be solid!
A moment later the academic details appeared on the screen.
I swallowed dryly and checked my first report card.
……Huh?