I Became a Stealth Genius at the Academy
The academy was located in an even more remote spot compared to the other academies in the empire.
If you kept walking southwest from the imperial road in the Solitaire Continent, you'd eventually reach the jungle and the desert.
Shif School sat right at the boundary between those two regions.
You had to pass through an invisible barrier, then descend deep underground for a long time before arriving at the academy.
“This damn tiny wooden door... is this how you enter school?”
After Donovan's credential theft stunt ended, Ethan Cass was clutching a backpack twice as big as his torso with both hands.
Right in front of him was a decaying wooden door jammed into the cave entrance.
“How is this supposed to be a noble institution? Seoul National University at least has a mountain.”
Ethans had no idea there was even a school inside the cave.
Other preliminary students had already opened that tiny wooden door and gone inside.
So he grunted and pushed the door open, then shoved his massive load inside.
Crash!
The door slammed shut in an instant, sending Ethan tumbling head over heels deep into the cave.
“Argh, damn it.”
Thud!
Ethan rubbed his head, then looked up.
A cheerful voice rang out right beside his ear.
“What? There's a door here too?”
A dark elf stood right next to him, staring at Ethan without blinking.
Her silver hair, bright green eyes, and sharply pointed ears twitched.
“Where did you suddenly come from?”
Ethan grabbed her helping hand and stood up.
“Thanks for the assist.”
“What? I live to help! We're all fellow students here.”
“...But...”
Ethan answered her cheerful greeting with genuine sincerity.
“Why are you speaking in casual to someone you just met?”
“...Huh?”
“I asked why you're speaking casually.”
Kim Dohan, or Ethan Cass, had never been particularly expressive in his previous life or this one.
He hadn't planned to start an argument, but he said it exactly as he always did.
Bluntly and without meaning to.
“Eh...? Ah!”
She shook her shoulders, then scratched the back of her head.
“Sorry! But you aren't a new student at Shif School either, right...?”
“I'm not a Shif student.”
The student glanced at the mountain-sized backpack Ethan was carrying.
“Hmm...”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him.
“Then... Professor?”
“No.”
“Eh... Then what are you even doing here at Shif School...?”
“I'm here to enroll.”
“Then you're a Shif student, right?”
“I'm not Shif.”
“...”
The female student fell into confusion at Ethan's words.
'I'm enrolled at Shif School and I'm not Shif? What kind of nonsense is this...'
But she turned out to be surprisingly nice.
She quickly changed the subject, guessing something was up.
“My name is Sera. Sera Barakin.”
“Got it.”
Ethan took her extended hand for a handshake, then sat down.
“...?”
Her expression slowly hardened as he stayed silent.
“Uuu...”
Her eyes grew misty.
Ethan tilted his head.
'What now? Hmm. Do I have to introduce myself?'
He had never been to the social scene in seventeen years, so he didn't know how to do a proper introduction.
Ethan casually reached out.
“My name is Ethan Val...”
“Val...?”
Ethan shut his mouth for a moment, then opened it again.
“Ethan Cass.”
That was the name I was using at this thief academy, I mean Shif School.
'Maybe it's because of my thief talent. They say students here all use aliases.'
Unlike the cowardly Shif types, I was proud of it, and besides, I had a real name, so I decided to stick with the one I used.
“Nice to meet you, Ethan! Where are you from?”
“I can't tell you that.”
Sera's lips pursed in disappointment at Ethan's wall.
“Uuu...”
“Don't misunderstand. There's a reason.”
“Oh? Hehe.”
She blinked, then smiled and continued.
“I'm from the east! My father is from the Goryeo Merchant Guild!”
“Ah, the country that eats those red, spicy vegetables.”
“Yes!”
Ethan's eyes, which had been ice-cold the whole time, finally sparkled for the first time.
'Wow. Since I reincarnated in this world, I haven't tasted any eastern food.'
People said the east had a lot of food like Korea and East Asia.
Since he had no connection, he'd never tried any, and it always left him feeling sorry.
'I need to get close to this female Shif.'
From Ethan's chronic Shif hatred, Sera's evaluation score rose a little.
“Later, I should be able to taste some of those red vegetables, Sera Barakin.”
“Oh, sorry! There's not much of it, so I don't even have enough for myself!”
“...”
Ethan was flatly rejected.
He decided to keep hating Shif.
“Why?”
“No.”
“Your expression got hard...”
“That's just how it is.”
“It doesn't feel like it...”
When Sera's sensitive eyes narrowed, new wooden doors began appearing one by one on the cave walls.
People with various clothing and appearances started entering the cave.
“Whoa, this is Shif School?”
“It looks like a collapsing temple...”
“No, that fake! The barrier leads to the school.”
Each of them was a heavyweight from a great family.
Sera patted Ethan's shoulder while the students were buzzing.
“Oh, that friend over there is wearing clothes with the imperial crest! Must be from the palace!”
“I see.”
“Ethan! That guy over there seems to be from the north! Fur coats in this weather...”
“It'll be hot.”
“...”
Sera frowned.
“...Ethan. Did I do something to make you angry?”
“No.”
“Uuu...”
“Crying doesn't work.”
“Damn it.”
Sera pouted, grabbed Ethan's bag, and started dragging him toward the inside of the cave.
“Let go of this.”
“No!”
“Typical Shif personality.”
“What do you mean by that?!”
Ethan and Sera ended up squeezed in the middle of the students, looking at the torch-lit cave.
Before long, the vast cave inside had filled up with students from all parts of the empire.
On the opposite side of the crowded area stood several buildings that looked like half-collapsed temples.
They were so massive they looked like Angkor Wat with the upper parts jammed into the cave ceiling.
“That place looks familiar.”
“Have you been here before?”
“No, first time.”
Soon the space in front of the building flickered.
A middle-aged man with a scarred face stepped forward from the air, as if breaking through the barrier.
“That's the principal who had his credentials stolen earlier.”
“Who?”
“The scarred uncle over there.”
The principal was talking to a woman.
Students who had come from the wooden doors in different regions.
He was probably checking their personal details.
“This time some decent guys showed up.”
A young woman in uniform followed him out.
“Several imperial origin students are mixed in.”
“Bloodlines don't matter. What's important is how quickly you learn the techniques.”
He was talking to a tall woman with a bright red ponytail.
The gathered students whispered about the two new men and women.
“Whoa, that woman standing next to him is Lena Croix, the third seat of the Central Guild!”
“To think the principal himself showed up. What a proud day.”
“He's a former Shif Master! One of the few who can argue with the Grand Duke. Even the Crown Prince couldn't mess with him.”
The wide cave gradually became lively with the excited voices of the students.
“It seems like only a few of them will survive until graduation.”
The middle-aged man pulled the daggers at his waist and walked forward with a steady step.
“Attention!”
His voice echoed powerfully through the hall.
“Welcome to Shif School.”
Ethan swallowed hard with a nervous expression.
*
Shif School was named after the legendary founding hero and first Shif Master of the Solitaire Empire, Valois Solitaire.
'So the Shif types who roamed around freely like this...
Ethan had been beaten up by a gang of self-proclaimed Shif right after arriving in this world, so he couldn't understand why his Shif opinion was so bad.
“That's why you hate Shif?”
“Is there a reason people hate people?”
“I just told you the reason!”
Sera's long ears perked up.
“Why did you even enroll at Shif School if you hate Shif?”
“I can't tell you that.”
“Curious...”
Sera hopped across the stream to follow Ethan.
“I just somehow hated Shif since before.”
<Solitaire Empire History>
The webtoon name of the transmigrated fantasy world I came to. (It's definitely supposed to be medieval, but there are monorails running around.)
Even though Shif's evaluation here wasn't that harsh.
Still, the name thief wasn't pleasant, same as in my previous life.
“But the empire has plenty of great Shif guys.”
“What can I do? Just say I don't like it.”
Somehow, though, I had talent for thievery.
“The first gate of the entrance exam is trap passing!”
Donovan scanned the preliminary students following him.
“From now on, anyone who disappears from my sight will not be able to attend the entrance ceremony!”
Then, without making a sound, he quickly retreated into the inner area.
“Damn it, why is this cave so huge!?”
“I heard the 2nd seat of the Round Table, an archmage, folded space to create room for building Shif School.”
“That's amazing.”
Donovan's retreat turned out to be faster than expected.
“Whoa, he's so fast!”
Students started running.
“You have to overcome this trap-filled dangerous zone before you can become a Shif student!”
Mask-wearing people ran along the walls and ceiling on both sides, yelling words that sounded like cheers or insults.
“The guy in uniform in the back! Stepped on a trap, disqualified!”
“The second pink-haired guy in the front! You already got shot with a wooden arrow! Turn around and go back through the door you came in!”
“The elf girl behind! You're a demon race! Why did you enter?! I'm taking you to the empire for arrest!”
By the time one or two preliminary students disappeared around them...
“Hah... hah...”
Only a few, including Sera Barakin, were still running next to Ethan.
And a huge trap appeared ahead.
“A pressure plate?”
Creak. The preliminary students stopped in front of the minefield.
In the distance, Donovan kept shouting.
“If you can bypass it, you'll be a Shif student!”
Soon explosions went off all around.
“Kyah!”
“Don't go that way, it activates immediately... aaah!”
“Hot, hot!”
They tried to carefully avoid the traps, but because they were highly sensitive, the students couldn't move forward.
Screams erupted.
“No, this is a permanent ice plate with northern everlasting snow!”
“Dwarf bombs are mixed in too! Look at those square tiles! Even if it's a fake, it could seriously hurt you!”
“Why are they giving such a harsh test to preliminary students who haven't even enrolled?!”
“You're not transparent and how are you supposed to pass this?!”
Sera whispered quietly beside him.
“The path to Shif School is full of traps, so passing this itself is the exam.”
Of course, when Ethan looked at it calmly, there were ways to pass, and the traps were at a level even civilians could handle.
But honestly, it didn't matter to him.
“Huh?”
Is this area full of traps and dangerous?
Tap tap tap.
“Not really?”
“Ethan! There's a trap tile over there!! ...Eh?”
Creak.
Ethan deliberately stepped on the trap plate and jumped over.
One step.
Two steps.
The trap didn't activate at all.
Students around him froze, letting go of their hands.
“What the hell... how...?”
“Hah...”
“Wow...”
They just stared blankly at Ethan as he walked through.
Click.
When a brick was pressed, a poison arrow finally fell.
“Hey, future Shif. You can cross now.”
The mouths of the students behind fell wide open.
They stopped moving and just stared blankly at Ethan, who had crossed the trap perfectly.
Sera blinked in a daze.
Slowly, their mouths opened.