Freshman Dante
A single candle provided the only light in the dim inn room. By now, the place felt as familiar as my own bedroom. I was wiping away the sweat I'd shed earlier.
"Master."
"What? Suddenly."
"You were so cool just now."
"Thanks for the praise."
I roughly wiped off the sweat with a towel and flopped onto the bed. It was just a few third-rate mercenaries, but I felt unexpectedly drained. My stamina was fine, but since this was my first real fight, it had to be mental fatigue.
"Master. But weren't you trying to avoid trouble on purpose?"
Lilia, who had plopped down beside me and was staring intently, asked casually. She must have been thinking about how I'd dodged direct conflict with Carlos earlier.
"Well, yeah, I was planning to keep things quiet until enrollment."
There was no upside to drawing attention right now. I had the top scholarship at the academy, and my family was just waiting for me to screw up anyway.
"But that's that. Just because I want to stay low-key doesn't mean I'll sit back if someone invades my turf."
"Aha."
As always, I made it clear: I wasn't some saint. Not a hero or a priest, so no need to play the good guy—or the villain, for that matter. I just refused to be ignored. That's why I was building this power in the first place.
"I liked it, though. That side of you, Master."
"Yeah?"
I let Lilia's words go in one ear and out the other as I lay back on the bed. Today had been way more exhausting than expected. The exam was one thing, but dealing with those mercenaries too... In some ways, it was the most tiring day since possessing this body.
Still, I made it this far somehow.
Two more days until the academy. No incidents in the meantime—I'd focus on training with Lilia.
My goal is graduation, no matter what. Just survive until then. That's it.
The next two days passed uneventfully, just as I'd hoped.
"That's because you holed up in the room training non-stop."
"That's how it's done. I started later than everyone else."
"Even with your late start, you're already 3rd Circle in less than a week. Even Bellhalm took a year."
Lilia grumbled beside me, but I had no regrets about staying indoors. Sure, breaking the curse gave me top-tier talents, but that was just a solid foundation. Without effort, it wouldn't bloom. Relying solely on talent could leave me half-baked—and dead midway through the story.
Speaking of which, the stares haven't let up.
Wasn't this the academy entrance ceremony? Shouldn't everyone be facing forward? I was killing time chatting with Lilia myself, but seriously, what did they get out of gawking at my face?
"This concludes the entrance ceremony. Finally, congratulations to all on your enrollment."
As I stood there spacing out, the chairman's closing words rang out. With that, the once-silent students erupted into chatter.
"Ugh, this is exhausting."
I wanted nothing more than to head to the dorms, but no such luck. I'd love to slip into a quieter lecture hall, but...
Unfortunately, class assignments hadn't been announced yet.
"You said you just wanted to avoid Class B, right, Master?"
"Yeah. Class B probably means no downtime."
I was desperately praying to dodge 1st-year Class B—the protagonist's class—when countless pure-white birds took flight in the sky.
They soared individually before each heading toward a student. The one that landed before me transformed into a sheet of paper in an instant.
"Fancy magic. Inefficient, though."
Ignoring Lilia's jab, I slowly unfolded the paper. Please, anything but Class B...
Dante Vergilius
Affiliation: Magic Department.
You have been assigned to 1st-year Class B.
Please proceed to your class without delay.
"Ah, fuck."
The curse slipped out before I could stop it. Out of five classes, how the hell did I land here? As top scholar, shouldn't I be in Class A by default?
"Why does my bad feeling always hit the mark?"
I chewed on the budding headache and trudged toward Class B. No choice now—adapt fast and ace the grades. Or so I vowed, steeling myself...
Ah, seriously... This can't be real.
...until I pushed open the door to 1st-year Class B's lecture hall. That resolve shattered instantly.
Familiar faces reflected in my eyes one by one. Magic Department's vice-top, Belloa. Holy Church's saintess, Yuria. The protagonist Luel, whose setting was female in the game—and apparently was here too. And worst of all, my ex-fiancée, Celine.
It felt like someone had rigged the deck just to screw me over. How was this lineup more malicious than the game?
"You there, the one standing. Take a seat."
"Ah."
How long had I been frozen at the back like an idiot? By now, Class B's homeroom professor, Lukan... wait, no—Barhen?
The lineup was already worlds off from the game, and now the professor was Barhen too? My head spun.
"Maybe being top scholar means you don't hear me. Sit."
"Y-yes, sir."
I nodded reluctantly and sank into an empty seat.
"Master, you look upset."
"I know. Don't talk to me."
I silenced Lilia and scanned the room. Fine, whatever with the others—but why was the saintess here? She should be in Class A with the prince.
Chaos. Total chaos.
Nothing was going as planned, and my face naturally soured.
"Dante Vergilius."
"...Yes?"
Barhen's sudden call snapped my head up. He was still glaring.
"Finally looking this way, eh? Figured top scholar meant you knew it all and could zone out?"
What the hell? This psycho was picking on me for nothing.
"Do you know what I just said?"
His tone implied he'd caught me daydreaming. Had I already pissed off the homeroom prof?
I glanced at the blackboard. Barhen's handwriting filled it.
Talent: Insight interprets the blackboard content.
"Weren't you talking about the mana density between summoner and summon from your paper, Professor Barhen?"
"Not bad. Thought it was beyond your pea brain."
"Haha, no way. The paper was so straightforward."
"Tch. ...I'll let it slide this time."
So he was wary of my changed self. Being born into a useless family like this was a pain at times like these.
At least one thing's clear.
The main story hadn't even started, and everything was already a mess. And freshman Dante had pissed off his homeroom prof on day one.
Ah, maybe I should just drop out. Forget graduation.
I seriously considered it.
When Dante first entered the class, every single member of 1st-year Class B thought the exact same thing.
"""Wow, he's insanely handsome."""
Muscles honed like a Combat Department student's, innate height and proportions. Gray hair and pale skin that harmonized perfectly. Features so unreal they could have been sculpted by a legendary artist.
Dante overwhelmed them with looks and presence alone.
And amid that overwhelming aura, only one girl couldn't smile.
...Dante Vergilius. Why are you...?
Celine doubted her own eyes. It was unmistakably the man she'd once promised her future to, but she couldn't believe it.
No one can change that much...
Scrawny at barely over 150 cm, overweight at least 70 kg—a cursed build. Tiny eyes, flat nose, ugly features. And zero talent for sword or magic.
That was the Dante she remembered.
But now, standing before not just her but everyone, he was the polar opposite.
"Ah... He's, so hand, some."
She couldn't even attach his name—her former fiancé's—to the end. Celine simply lost herself in the incomprehensible reality.
If you'd... been like this from the start, I never would have broken it off.
Unreal looks, unreal talent. The most talked-about 1st-year at the academy.
"This has to be a lie. Dante..."
Unlike her memories, seeing Dante with everything made Celine smile bitterly inside.