You Said You'd Give Me Some Time

You said you’d give me some time. Now I can finally breathe a little. I’d already crushed the low-grade demon event in its opening stage and claimed the rewards, so I was sure I’d have some breathing room for a while. Truthfully, if I followed my heart I’d be running around stirring up trouble everywhere, but that would obviously get me killed. I still need to collect the General series… and there’s magic research to do…

Unlike other characters, my only real advantage was the ability to obtain multiple hidden skills. Sure, that trait delivered overwhelming value in the late game, but right now we were in the extreme early phase. This was the period when every shortcoming felt painfully obvious.

Better check the rewards first. Instead of agonizing over problems I couldn’t solve yet, it made more sense to focus on what I could handle immediately.

Starting with the hidden skill.

That’s a solid skill.Great Adversary was a passive that came with demanding conditions but carried enough value to carry someone all the way into the extreme late game. The requirement was to completely ruin the schemes of a demon whose power was equal to or greater than your own and then defeat it. At first glance it sounded easy, but the stronger the demons became, the harder it was to disrupt their plans. Most players eventually gave up on acquiring it.

In the early stages, though, both sides were still weak, so the acquisition chance skyrocketed. I really got lucky. The demon had specialized in summoning, which gave it terrible synergy against me and my mass-slaughter build. Blocking its cannon shot and then finishing off a demon that had expended most of its strength was easier than eating cold porridge.

If Kim Baesung had preserved his power and fought me directly instead of summoning that mid-grade demon beast, I would have died for sure. Still, the end result was a massive profit, so none of that mattered anymore.

Next up were the achievement rewards.

Despite the grandiose achievement name, the modest stat increase simply meant the feat itself had been relatively minor. Achievements adjusted their rewards based on the exact circumstances even when the conditions looked identical, so it made sense. If the same situation occurred again later, the stats would update accordingly. No problem there.

That brings my hidden skills to three.

To organize everything properly, I spoke an awkward command out loud.

“Status window.”

In real life shouting something like that did nothing, but now that I was inside the game it felt strangely embarrassing.

As a result of squeezing out the absolute best performance possible as Lee Seokhyun, I now possessed stats that were actually respectable. At this level, I shouldn’t get beaten so badly in the early stages that I couldn’t even catch ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my breath.

I’ve reached the point where I won’t get hurt too badly.

I had survived through every trick in the book until now, but the academy had only just begun. We hadn’t even properly started the real curriculum yet. On top of that, I didn’t have many combat-ready skills, so calling myself strong felt like a stretch.

If I had to guess my ranking… maybe around five hundredth? Honestly, five hundredth was being generous, but sometimes you had to comfort yourself any way you could.

The status window was packed with text, yet everything boiled down to stat increases. No attack techniques, no defense techniques, and my title was still in its initial phase. The phrase “all bark and no bite” fit me perfectly. My stats looked impressive on paper, but asking how useful they were in actual combat… well, that was debatable.

With my high stamina, I was stuck desperately trying to market myself as a tank who drew aggro by spraying spider webs everywhere.

The important thing is how I frame the big picture.

Now that I had finished checking my current condition, it was time to draft plans for the future. The biggest question was whether I would go solo or join a party. Both paths had clear advantages and disadvantages, making the choice difficult.

If I hadn’t come to the academy I would have chosen solo without hesitation, but since things had turned out this way, a party didn’t seem so bad. Then again, all my recently acquired skills grew stronger when I was alone, so solo still felt more appropriate.

I’ll put this on hold for now.

After dumping the decision on future me with a mental he’ll figure it out, I quickly collapsed onto the bed. Once I started the full investigation I would definitely get exhausted, so proper rest was essential.

The day after I finished giving every statement related to the incident Kim Baesung had caused, I entered the classroom and sat down only to feel strange gazes on me.

Why is this guy here?

When I turned toward the source of the stares, Meiri was sitting right beside me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. That was supposed to be Benras’s seat. What was she doing there?

Wondering what had happened, I glanced toward Meiri’s original spot and immediately understood.

“Ahem… As expected, the second-place seat really does feel different. The view changes, doesn’t it? Meiri! I was suspicious when you first suggested switching seats, but… thank you so much!”

Benras had turned into a walking explanation machine and perfectly clarified exactly how this situation had come about.

They switched seats?

It wasn’t against the rules, but because seats were assigned by rank, most students hated changing them. Having your seat taken was basically the same as having your rank stolen. Even the lowest-ranked students were extremely sensitive about it, which showed just how much psychological weight these seats carried.

Yet Meiri had ignored all of that and planted herself next ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to me.

Is this because I punched her in the stomach?

It had only been two or three days since we entered the academy, but most of the S-class students had already gotten a good taste of my fists. Among them, Meiri had been the very first, making her the official food taster who checked for poison.

“…Meiri, why are you staring at me like that?”

“What courses did you sign up for?”

“Me? I…”

Meiri completely ignored my question and pressed her own curiosity. I answered honestly.

Magic Studies, Magical Engineering, Physical Training (Basics), several liberal arts electives, and more.

“…That’s a crazy number.”

“I have to take as many as I can handle.”

The moment she heard my completely packed schedule that ran through Saturday, Meiri’s expression grew serious. Of course I hadn’t mentioned Akasa’s special training; the fewer people who knew about that, the better.

It’s going to become a topic no matter what, so I need to stay quiet for the time being.

If people found out Akasa had taken a disciple, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could already picture the breakdown: seventy percent jealousy, twenty percent pure curiosity, ten percent indifference. I was fated to become an instant celebrity, so for now I just wanted to spend my time as inconspicuously as possible.

“Can’t you drop a few of them?”

“No.”

Why was she acting like this all of a sudden? Had I hit her head instead of her stomach? While I was still wondering, Meiri nodded, stood up, and walked straight out of the classroom.

She really does whatever she wants.

I already knew she had that kind of personality, but it seemed to have gotten worse after the stomach punch. I was starting to worry that I might have hit the wrong spot and should apologize later when another voice reached me.

“Is your body okay now?”

Yu Sohyun had spoken to me. After days of stubbornly using formal speech no matter how many times I told her to drop it, she had finally started talking to me like a normal classmate.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“But you’re taking so many courses. It looks like some of them overlap with mine.”

“Really?”

We spent the next few minutes exchanging pointless small talk until suddenly—

Screech. Bang!

The classroom’s front door flew open with a violent crash as an unexpected figure appeared.

“Lee Seokhyun! It is time to hear your answer! Are you prepared to become my disciple!”

The majestic declaration ignored every stare in the room. The moment Akasa announced me as his disciple, I could feel the entire class’s atmosphere rapidly heating up.

I had to become famous already. I wasn’t ready yet.

Hey, you said you’d give me some time.

This playthrough was truly the worst.