Welcome to the Entrance Exam

I muttered under my breath, standing far away from the bustling academy gates crowded with people. I knew I had to go in there eventually, but the sheer number of people combined with the mental damage I'd already taken made me hesitate. Besides, there were things I needed to do first.

In the game, everything was already set by the time the entrance exam began. But since the exam only started once you passed through the gates, it looked like they were handling it right here.

Name and appearance. Character creation was one of the most important parts of any game. But that was just in games.

"Keep it as is."

"Yeah."

Honestly, getting dragged into something like this and then seriously picking a new name and look would be ridiculous. Besides, name and appearance were just elements for the player's satisfaction. They had zero impact on actual gameplay. My own name and my own face were perfectly fine. Why bother changing them?

In Romance Academy, completing character creation would grant basic items suited to your class and gender. They were pitifully weak, only useful at the very beginning, but still better than nothing.

I reached out and grabbed the pair of white gloves floating before my eyes.

"Well... that's about what I expected."

Setting aside the annoyingly minor boost of just one percent accuracy to tarot readings, the general skill Cleanliness was at least decent. And since it didn't take up a skill slot, there was no downside.

The moment I slipped on the white gloves that fit my hands perfectly, a new status window appeared before me.

It was just your average general skill. Harmless, but its performance was so mediocre compared to other general skills that most players only used it early on before ditching it. Honestly, even if your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole body became perfectly clean in the game, how would the player even know? Still, wearing the white gloves made my overall look a bit more presentable.

This must be the default outfit for a fortune teller.

A deep red dress shirt, a white tie with decorative accents, and a black suit that tied it all together. Add the white gloves, and I actually looked somewhat professional.

"Nothing else to do here."

Although there was still plenty of time left on the status window's limit, I had no idea how to use that time effectively right now. The entrance exam in Romance Academy was basically a tutorial—the absolute fundamentals that explained how to play the game. Naturally, activities outside the academy and various events only unlocked after clearing the entrance exam, so there wasn't much I could do anyway.

…When I looked around, only peaceful everyday life filled my vision. Children walking hand-in-hand with their parents, merchants enthusiastically hawking their wares, people lingering at the academy gates, passersby laughing and crying over who-knows-what. Even the sensation of breathing and walking felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completely real.

No matter how you looked at it, this was reality. Even with that status window floating in front of me, if I'd been sitting down I might have believed I'd been reincarnated into a fantasy world.

"……."

Once I started thinking like that, all sorts of worries came flooding in. Graduation was coming up soon and I still needed to finish my credits. There was the police recruitment exam in the second half of the year. I had to hold a memorial service for my parents in a few weeks. I needed to keep the detective agency investigating that fraud fortune teller bastard. And I probably needed to send living expenses to my sister who claimed game developers only ate ramen.

…Ji-soo. Did you really do this?

Namgung Ji-soo. She was always nagging, full of complaints, did whatever she wanted, and had run away from home more than once, giving me plenty of headaches. But she was still my only remaining blood relative. She had secretly worked part-time jobs to buy me birthday presents. Whenever I was stressed out from college, she always tried her best to make me laugh.

My little sister.

Sure, she often tried to hit me and we'd had plenty of real fights. But I believed in her. At the very least, Ji-soo wasn't the kind of crazy girl who would suddenly throw her older brother into a game like this.

…She wouldn't be.

"I'll deal with you when I get back."

I didn't know why she'd thrown me in here, but I was the only user who had cleared Romance Academy twenty-five times. I believed I could reach the ending and grab her by the collar.

"And forgive me for cursing you out sometimes."

After all, you really are the one who put me here.

With a bitter smile, I took a step toward the academy gates. It was time to clear the tutorial.

*

"Quiet! Quiiiiiiiiet!!!"

BANG!!

The muscular man shouted after confirming that the last qualified participant for the entrance exam had crossed the gate. As he stomped his foot powerfully, the iron bars of the Romance Academy gate began to slowly close.

"Only those taking the entrance exam, come this way! No one else is allowed in!!"

"Son! You have to pass! I believe in you!!"

"Honey! I'll wait until you contact me!"

"Don't worry! I'll definitely pass and come back!"

"Mom! Waaaaah!!"

"…What a load of bullshit."

It was ridiculous watching people sobbing and hugging or acting all lovey-dovey with iron bars between them like they'd never see each other again. Well, that was just me being numb to it. Given the game's basic setting, it made sense for them to be so overly invested.

After all, this was a floating city. Anyone who wasn't a student would be sent back down to the ground. The reservation slots to come up to this aerial city were completely full, so the next time they could meet might be months away. It was like how many recruits at army training camp would cry or get depressed over not seeing their families for just a month.

From my perspective, since there was no one who would come see me or whom I'd go see, it was all meaningless setting.

…Wait, what was I doing before I came here?

It's not like I just popped into existence out of thin air. Was there some kind of backstory? Or was this possession? Did the original owner of this body exist?

Lost in thought, I followed the several hundred people ahead of me along the garden path. Soon, the muscular man who had closed the gate earlier stopped leading the group and turned around.

"Greetings to all of you who have earned the honor of participating in the Romance Academy entrance exam. I am Charles Teddybear, the admissions officer of this prestigious institution."

"N-no way, it's really Teddybear…!"

"Amazing… to actually see a war hero in person!"

"As expected of Romance Academy!"

How does someone end up with the name Teddybear?

The people who had been startled by his fierce face and massive muscles now let out gasps of admiration. Charles Teddybear. The name didn't suit his appearance at all… but he had changed it himself. It was a touching story of fatherly love—he had changed both his and his sick daughter's surname because she loved teddy bears. But since that was only revealed in the latter half of the game, every time I saw it I couldn't focus because the name was so mismatched.

I mean, how could anyone call that face "Instructor Teddybear" with a straight face? Still, he was not to be underestimated. True to his war hero setting, Teddybear was a formidable opponent that even combat-class players struggled to defeat.

For a fortune teller, it'd be even worse.

"Can you see that building behind me? You there—do you know what that building is?"

"…Yes, sir. It is the examination hall for the prestigious Romance Academy's entrance exam."

"Correct. While small compared to the main building, it still boasts world-class facilities."

That thing was small? Ignoring all the "prestigious Romance Academy" nonsense, the examination hall was easily the size of a decent sports stadium.

In the game it was just a building, but seeing it in person like this is overwhelming.

By setting, Romance Academy referred to the entire floating city, known as the world's premier educational institution. In other words, both inside and outside the gates were part of Romance Academy. However, outside the gates was where families of students, major sponsors, and specially selected individuals could stay, while only Romance Academy personnel could enter inside the gates.

The floating city's size was supposedly several times that of Yeouido.

I never wanted to know any of this, but my little sister would occasionally dump all sorts of TMI about Romance Academy on me, so I remembered it from then. In a floating city several times the size of Yeouido, a building of that scale would indeed be considered small.

After some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time passed and the participants' murmuring gradually died down, Teddybear continued speaking.

"The entrance exam begins the moment you set foot inside the examination hall. You will each receive an appropriate test based on the class listed in the personal statement you submitted, so prepare yourselves!"

"""Yes!"""

As male and female participants answered in unison, I was the only one lost in thought. Most classes at Romance Academy were shared by multiple students. Whether it was 'Combat Mage' or 'Nouveau Riche,' they weren't unique to the protagonist, so naturally the entrance exams were conducted in groups of the same class.

There are exceptions, though.

However, special classes like 'Imperial Family' or 'Traitor' could only be possessed by specific individuals. If the player chose one, they would receive a dedicated exam. But would Fortune Teller count as one of those 'special classes'?

"No way."

Special classes had a certain unique flair just from their names. How many classes like 'Imperial Family' or 'Saintess' could there be? On the other hand, if you said 'Fortune Teller,' you'd probably trip over them just walking outside the gates.

My concern was whether there would be any other fortune tellers among those taking the exam. If I was the only one, I wouldn't be able to get any help or advice. I had no idea what kind of test this fortune teller class would even have.

"Before we enter, I will now select those who will take the dedicated exams."

"I wonder how many there will be?"

"The prince and princess are guaranteed, of course. There are other candidates too…"

"The saint is here too, right?"

"This year's class is definitely stacked."

"Quiet!! Those whose names I call, please step forward. 'Imperial Family,' His Highness Prince Kim Seong-il. 'Imperial Family,' Her Highness Princess Kim Eun-ha. 'Great Wealthy,' Liu Yen. 'Mage,' Lucas Arthur. 'Psychic,' Lane Arthur. 'Hero,' Abel Legion. 'Saint,' Raphael Martina. 'Fortune Teller,' Namgung Min. That is all!"

"……Hm?"

This was the twenty-fifth time hearing it, but at the very end of the still-cringeworthy roll call, there was one strange class that didn't fit with the others at all.

"The eight individuals selected for dedicated exams, please step to the side."

"Wait, wasn't there something weird at the very end?"

"After the saint? Huh?"

It wasn't just me. As the crowd grew louder, seven men and women stepped forward. The two precious children of the Unified Korean Empire's imperial family. The great wealthy person who had earned a fortune through unparalleled luck. The siblings from Europe's oldest magic noble family. The blond American tasked with saving the world. The boy said to have received God's blessing from the Catholic Church.

These were the special class holders who appeared in every playthrough, exactly as I remembered them. Honestly, most people who bought Romance Academy probably quit right here. The way those flower petals would flutter across the screen as each character stepped forward, accompanied by those cringy descriptions—many users wisely closed the game. I had seriously considered asking for a refund myself.

"'Fortune Teller' Namgung Min, have you not come forward yet?"

"……I'm here."

…I couldn't keep avoiding reality forever.

As I pushed through the crowd and stepped out, countless eyes from the spectators and from those who had already come forward focused on me. That's right. I hadn't come to this damn flower-petal-filled otome game as the protagonist for nothing. In a way, this was the expected outcome.

The story of a protagonist with a seemingly worthless class who gets selected into an elite group, faces contempt, but eventually earns recognition. It would probably be popular as a novel too.

So I had to steel my resolve. These people were the main characters of this game, and to see the ending, I absolutely had to get involved with them.

Remember this. Being looked down on is easy, but earning recognition from that point is never easy.

"Hello. I am the fortune teller, Namgung Min."

"………."

"…………."

"……Hah."

No one responded to my polite greeting. They were the upper crust of society, people who had been interacting with each other since receiving their classes as children. For someone like me to intrude among them must have been incredibly uncomfortable.

But I couldn't let that intimidate me. I had to act composed. Speak gently and not show any sign of being flustered. This was something I used to be good at, Namgung Min. Draw on those old memories.

"If any of you have concerns or worries—"

A fortune teller had to be a mysterious being. Not frivolous, not talkative, careful in behavior, and somewhat reclusive. But that was only for being a 'fortune teller.' It wasn't the whole story of how I had to live as a 'student.'

I couldn't maintain that mysterious concept forever while attending Romance Academy. I was an ordinary person who would huff and puff when things got difficult and make an ugly face when I failed at something. Above all, if I tried to keep up that atmosphere and then made a verbal slip, it would all be over.

So what should I aim for?

"—please feel free to tell me anytime."

A friendly yet skilled student who knew his place but clearly maintained appropriate boundaries. That's the kind of fortune teller I needed to become.

"I look forward to working with all of you."

And I would become exactly that.