Late to the Ceremony, Oracle's Call
Finding an empty seat wasn't hard. The one next to the girl with peach-like pink hair was mine.
"Being late on such an important day! You're a new student who clearly doesn't know their place! State your name!"
The vice principal didn't bother hiding his hostility as he bellowed. In the holographic projection, he was glaring right at me.
"It's Johan!"
"Johan! Ah-ha! So you're the human enrollee!"
At the word "human," the other students' eyes turned back to me. Murmurs rippled through the air, loud enough to hear clearly. It felt completely different from their earlier stares.
"A human? Do they even let humans into our academy?"
"I heard it's the first one in 200 years... He looks pretty average aside from that handsome face."
"A human daring to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us celestials? And late to the entrance ceremony? What the hell is this guy's deal?"
"Hehe! That's my type of face! Maybe I'll chat him up after the ceremony?"
Nine out of ten pairs of eyes sizing me up burned with enmity. The remaining one percent held curiosity and a hint of goodwill.
Guess this killer face of mine was doing its job. If I'd looked like Derek Walker, I'd have every last one of them gunning for me.
"Student Johan! I must personally thank you. Thanks to you, I get to explain one of our academy's most crucial rules. For your tardiness to the entrance ceremony, I'm assigning you 20 demerit points."
The academy has this demerit system. Rack up 100, and you're expelled—no exceptions.
Not even the kids from the highest noble houses can ignore it. It's one of the academy's ironclad laws.
Of course, teachers can't just slap on demerits willy-nilly. They have to follow the codified academy rules, or the points get voided.
It's obvious that pissing off a teacher makes demerits more likely, so unless you're in the student council elite, nobody picks fights with faculty.
Oh, and the student council doesn't get demerits. Another academy rule. Makes the whole system pointless for the top caste anyway.
"Some of you may already know, but these demerit points are something you'll need to manage very carefully from here on out. Hit 50, and it's off to the disciplinary dorm. Reach 100, and you're out the door in your uniform. A new student racking up 20 points on entrance ceremony day? That's a first since the academy opened! Let's give a big round of applause for our proud Johan!"
The vice principal's clownish words got the students clapping one by one. Some jeered mockingly, others rubbed it in with fake "congrats." It was straight out of the original story—no anger left in me.
The pink-haired girl next to me just fidgeted, glancing my way anxiously. For the record, she's one of the original heroines.
"Vice principal, sir. It's about time."
A stern old man with a wild cascade of white hair and beard rose from the back of the stage. He was the current principal—and the supporting character who'd accepted me, a human, with that line, "The academy's only human?" Edward Gates.
He tapped the floor with his massive staff, silencing the room. The students who'd joined the vice principal's bullying lost interest in me all at once. Only the girl beside me looked apologetic.
"New students from the Three Realms, welcome! The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived. The six years you'll spend here aren't short. That's why the company you keep matters so much."
The principal shook his staff, and a small light bloomed in front of him. It soon formed a spherical orb.
As the glow faded, a transparent glass-like orb floated before him. All eyes locked onto it.
This was the Aptitude Orb, an ooparts that revealed one's aptitudes—just like its name implied.
Pulling out the Aptitude Orb meant the event every enrollee had been dying for was starting.
"As you all know, this is the Aptitude Orb. It assesses talent and personality, sorting people into four aptitudes. But it's not a tool for ranking individual levels like you might think. Just consider it a way to classify your existence."
At his words, four figures—two men, two women—stood from the back of the stage in unison.
These were the academy's dorm supervisors. The academy divided into four dorms, determined by that very orb.
Honestly, it'd be cooler if they used a talking hat instead of a floating ball.
The principal continued.
"Some hearts burn with the raging flames of passion—aggressive pioneers, adventurous and fearless. The world has never once turned away a pioneer. If the orb deems you suited to stormy seas and erupting volcanoes, you'll join Supervisor Riggle's Tempest dorm."
The man on the far left stepped forward, raising his arm high. He wore a red robe and looked pretty grizzled. Riggle Flamework, supervisor of Tempest dorm.
"Some minds hold vast knowledge—cautious intellectuals who observe the world with meticulous logic and certainty. Our world's progress owes a debt to countless such scholars. If the orb classes you as one who banishes the darkness of the unknown, you'll belong to Supervisor Elza's Ibis dorm."
The woman in sky-blue robes beside him stepped up with a benevolent smile. For the record, that's Scarlett-sunbae's dorm, Ibis.
Dorm supervisor Elza Leonhardt was a bit older, but with that milf vibe—she'd be fun to tap if the chance came. Not a novel heroine, but worth buttering up.
"Some arms and legs harbor the might of giants—conquerors who smash hardships with their own bodies. Conquest is destruction and creation alike. In our world's endless cycle, they'll dedicate their lives to placing all visible realms beneath their feet. For those who thrive on vast plains, Supervisor Barnetta's Drake awaits."
The stern-looking male supervisor took a quiet step forward. Unlike the others, he did nothing else—no flair. Even from afar, you could tell he was statue-still and taciturn. It suited his ash-gray robe perfectly.
"Some eyes hold the cosmos itself—eyes of observers who contemplate and record the flow of the world. We know yesterday, a year ago, a century ago, because someone observed and chronicled it for posterity. If you're deemed such an observer, you'll spend your academy days in Supervisor Yerina's Oracle."
The last supervisor stepped forward in a brown robe, uniquely wearing a white mask that hid her face.
Pioneers: Tempest.
Scholars: Ibis.
Conquerors: Drake.
Observers: Oracle.
These were the four dorms making up the academy.
In the original story, Johan ends up in Oracle. For reference, it's infamous as the dumping ground for the dregs. The other students here are probably praying not to land there.
Excluding Oracle, the other three hold similar prestige. If anything, Ibis skews toward magic department students, Drake toward martial arts, and Tempest is balanced.
"Alright! Time to begin the sorting. When your name is called, come forward one by one and place your hand on the Aptitude Orb."
The process was simple. Red for Tempest, sky blue for Ibis, gray for Drake, brown for Oracle.
I was near the end. By the time I hit the stage, most students were already sorted.
Oracle picks wore grim faces; the rest chatted eagerly with their new dormmates, bonding already.
The academy's first caste divide was set. A massive gap yawned between Oracle winners and the rest.
As I stepped up, eyes converged again.
"Where's that human gonna end up?"
"Oracle, obviously. No way he'd make Drake."
"We should protest if he does!"
"Poor Oracle kids. Stuck in a dorm with a human, of all things."
I ignored the whispering idiots and placed my hand on the orb. A faint light seeped out, cycling through colors.
Red, then blue, gray, brown. Back to red.
"Hmm..."
The principal eyed it intently. Normally, the color locks in before one cycle ends. Mine had spun past three without settling.
A sign of the protagonist's extraordinary nature. Just like the original.
"What? Is the orb broken?"
"Don't be ridiculous. That's an ooparts created by Hibirisax alongside the academy itself. No way it's busted."
"Then why's it keep changing colors?"
"Maybe the human's defective? Heh!"
The other students buzzed over my endless shifts. The principal closed his eyes and spoke calmly.
"You can remove your hand. This is... honestly a first for me."
"Is that good?"
"Who knows? Being a first, I can't say. But it's interesting."
A kindly light gleamed in the principal's eyes. For the record, this guy's one of the novel's black幕.
"Looks like my decision to admit a human was right after all. Johan. Any dorm preference? The orb doesn't seem able to decide for you."
The vice principal bristled at the principal's words.
"Principal! What are you saying!? Dorm assignment by Aptitude Orb is an academy tradition stretching back eons!"
"Vice principal. But look at the orb. We won't get an answer today."
"Th-this must mean it rejects the human's enrollment!"
"Once enrolled in our academy, we can't expel without just cause. Since the orb won't tell us, we'll have to decide."
The principal's tone was unyielding. No mere vice principal could overrule him.
"Well, Johan. What are you? A pioneer? Scholar? Conqueror? Or observer?"
Tension gripped the watching students.
"No way he's coming to Drake, right?"
"Hey, human! Know your place and head to Oracle quietly!"
"Tch. If he picks Tempest, I'll make him regret it."
No need for gallery drama—the answer was set.
"I think I'm an observer."
Just like the original.