Academy City Life Starting from the Champion (2)

Shinohara Misaki.

She was Sido Toya’s childhood friend. And yes—the promised heroine of childhood.

Of course, she would never be chosen.

Why? In any harem rom-com, the childhood-friend attribute is a guaranteed loss. Pure romance might be different, but this wasn’t that.

I stared blankly at Misaki’s face.

She’s genuinely beautiful. Is this what they mean by a “light-novel tearing beauty”?

Since we were literally inside a novel, the term fit perfectly. But seeing her in the flesh, the sheer impact was no joke. It explained why the people around her stirred every time she appeared.

She looks prettier than most actual celebrities…

No exaggeration—she was top-idol tier. Exactly how had Toya, that idiot, impotent fool, wasted a childhood friend like this?

“Are you okay? Did those kids hit you?”

“Yeah… it seems like they did. Or maybe I hit them?”

I had definitely hit them. Judging from how I’d been sprawled on the ground at first, I’d probably taken a few blows too. Still, that wasn’t what mattered right now.

Let’s organize this.

The fact that this world was the love-comedy novel I had enjoyed back in my school days—Welcome to the Academy City—was now confirmed. Logically speaking, no normal city would have giant drones flying around with massive electronic billboards. The scenery around me was pure Japanese small-town suburbia: rows of two-story houses, bicycles parked beside low concrete walls. I’d traveled to Japan several times for fights, so I knew the look well.

The real problem was the identity of the person I had possessed.

Sido Toya. Fifteen years old. 168 centimeters tall. 98 kilograms.

I had no idea why the author had set up the protagonist this way. I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, but the writer had rushed through a ten-volume run and bailed. (There were descriptions saying he could look handsome if he dressed up, but to me he looked like someone barely skirting severe obesity.)

Maybe it was meant to be easy for the core readers to self-insert.

“…No. That’s not what’s important right now.”

The fact that I had transmigrated was hard to believe, yet the evidence was overwhelming. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠memories of Sido Toya’s life were flooding in with vivid clarity. I had never held a proper Japanese conversation without an interpreter in my previous life, yet I was understanding Misaki’s words fluently. Perhaps the moment those Kamimura High punks smashed my head and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I collapsed had been the trigger.

Then what was the trigger condition?

I hadn’t read many light novels, but I had dipped into web novels whenever I needed a break. Especially since the subscription service let you read unlimited titles for 14,900 won a month. Relieving match stress with a small hobby had been essential. So I knew the common tropes for possession stories.

In short—genre conventions.

What I had regretted right before falling asleep was my lost youth. Maybe this was the world’s way of giving me back the school days I had thrown away.

“Status window! Status! Let’s play!”

“T-Toya? What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Did your brain break?!”

I was wondering if it wouldn’t work after all when a window appeared before my eyes.

I let out a long sigh as I stared at the flickering window.

Yes, I had wished for youth again. But erasing everything I had built over the years was an entirely different matter, you insane author.

Sixteen years of blood and tears poured into forging this body. Teeth shattered, muscles torn, bones broken—the championship I had seized. Wealth, fame, power. The life in which I had grasped everything Pirate King Gol D. Roger once held was now being traded for possession into a teen novel?

Dear author. You severely underestimated Asia’s first UFC Heavyweight Champion, Silverback Ma Jimin.

I looked at Shinohara ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Misaki, who was shaking my shoulders.

Glossy brown hair tied in a flowing ponytail. An objectively beautiful face and a perfect figure that looked as if it had been lifted straight from a Greek goddess statue. The gray sailor uniform and white scarf of Kamisaki First High looked striking on her.

“Misaki.”

In the original story, she would abandon her dream of becoming a national kendo representative for the protagonist.

“Toya! This isn’t good. Your head really must be broken! We’re going to the Bureau of Health right now—hospital first! These punks can be handed over to the Bureau of Guidance! I’ll call the school—”

“It’s fine. I can go by myself. I’m perfectly fine.”

“What…?”

“We’re high school students now. We can’t keep relying on each other forever.”

“W-why are you acting like this all of a sudden…? This doesn’t sound like you at all…”

“Honestly, Misaki, I’m a little tired of doing things this way. You have your own dreams. I think a person who chases their own dream is far cooler than someone who spends every day taking care of their childhood friend.”

When I was younger, I had considered Misaki—who gave up her dream for the protagonist—the purest and greatest main heroine possible. But at twenty-eight years old, worn down by life, her choice looked incredibly stupid and foolish.

Does a man pay her bills? In the end she doesn’t even get chosen anyway.

Maybe the original Sido Toya hadn’t wanted that either. He was just the powerless, passive protagonist of a rom-com who got dragged into incidents, overly considerate for no reason. That might have been why he never chose Misaki at the end, even though he knew she was the promised heroine.

“Live your own life, Misaki.”

Leaving the stunned Shinohara Misaki behind, I headed toward school. At least the fact that we attended different schools was a relief.

***

Municipal Midorigaoka High School.

It was Sido Toya’s alma mater and the primary setting of Welcome to the Academy City.

To explain the school, I needed to briefly cover the background of the story’s world.

The Kamisato Special Zone. Literally, “the place where God’s talent blooms.” As the name implied, the entire city was a special district packed with schools and education-related businesses. An academy city created under the leadership of the Japanese government. The mayor also served as the Kamisato Superintendent of Education, and most civil servants handling city infrastructure and administration were former Ministry of Education officials or teachers.

Each of the thirty districts contained at least three schools, and there were countless specialized high schools with different purposes. Horikawa Comprehensive Arts High School focused on the arts, while Shidokan High specialized in athletics and sports. Private Seika International Foreign Language High School drew students from all over the world.

Then what was Municipal Midorigaoka High School?

An utterly ordinary high school. A typical general liberal-arts institution with a low academic cutoff. Students who studied averagely but still wanted to attend a school in the academy city often listed it as their first choice. No specialized tracks. Its location was on the outskirts of Kamisato. It was better than the completely lawless Heiwa District, but the student quality wasn’t particularly high.

Light-novel rule: the protagonist must be the most ordinary high-school student imaginable. The setting followed genre conventions perfectly. Since the main story revolved around an ordinary student getting dragged into extraordinary events, the protagonist’s school had to be ordinary too.

But “correct Sido Toya’s wrong youth”? How exactly?

While I sat at my desk lost in thought, relying on those vivid memories—

“Yo.”

“Oh, it’s you. Ozawa Kenta? For real.”

“Whoa, what’s with that reaction? Don’t you know who I am?”

My classmate Kenta walked over. He was one of the main supporting characters. In terms of role, he was the guy who stuck to the protagonist’s side, delivered snappy one-liners, and made a big fuss about everything. His senses were razor-sharp, but his mouth was even looser, making him the perfect information broker who fed the protagonist every piece of gossip in the academy city. He was also quite sociable, so a large portion of the heroine-encounter flags in every volume could be traced back to him.

“Never mind that. Do you know any good gyms around here?”

“Gym? Like a fitness center? Why the sudden interest in working out? Wait… don’t tell me Shinohara finally told you to lose some weight?”

He knew Misaki too, though they weren’t close enough for him to speak casually with her. As expected, the moment he started making a scene I clapped a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Ow! That hurts!”

“Look at this body, man. I’m headed straight for high blood pressure and complications. I need to drop the weight.”

“So you really did hear something. That’s why you’ve been so on edge since morning?”

“It’s not that.”

“Well, gyms are everywhere. But if you want decent equipment, you’ll have to head toward Shidokan.”

Ah. The sports-specialized high school.

“But do you even have money? You were whining yesterday that your allowance was gone.”

“!!!”

“Classic Toya. Charging in without thinking first.”

It stung because it was true; I had no defense. Looked like I had no choice but to start with bodyweight training. Before proper workouts, I definitely needed to shed some fat first. Squatting with this body would destroy my lower back.

“You’re seriously starting today?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… today might be pushing it. I’ll ask a friend I know. We can register together later. Hearing you talk about it makes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me feel guilty too.”

True. He wasn’t exactly fit either.

“Anyway, want to hit the cafeteria? Today’s the day they restock the Buldak Yakisoba Bread.”

“Buldak Yakisoba Bread?”

“Look at you. You’re acting super weird today. You’re the one who always raves about it. Or are you messing with me because I hung out with the other guys without you the day before yesterday?”

“Ah…!”

It came back to me. The sole specialty of the otherwise unremarkable Midorigaoka High School. If I remembered correctly, one of the heroines got involved through this bread too.

“If you’re not eating, I’ll go alone. I was going to buy you one.”

“Wait!”

I really was starting to feel hungry after burning energy since morning.

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”

“I haven’t even bought it yet?????”

Why so stingy? We’re best friends. And if you’re Korean, you can’t say no to Buldak.

…But I would soon regret that decision.

“Hey, Toya. Is that Buldak Yakisoba Bread? Perfect. The line was too long and I didn’t feel like waiting.”

“Ah, Senior Yamaguchi…”

“Who’s the pig next to you? Sido Toya? Your friend?”

The main villain of the early volumes of Welcome to the Academy City. A second-year delinquent. I had run straight into Yamaguchi Ryuji.

“Hey, who the hell are you? Why aren’t you looking away?”