The Entrance Ceremony
The entrance ceremony finally came to an end with the cute farewell from the pink-haired, big-breasted Saintess: “Then, may the Goddess’s blessing be with all you new students! If you get hurt, come visit the church right away! Bye-bye!”
I let out a huge yawn, and a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, dressed in a sharp suit, approached the row where I was sitting.
“Everyone, attention! I’m Sara Caiman, the temporary professor in charge of Class 3. Line up and follow me!”
Sara Caiman shouted that and strode out of the auditorium ahead of us. Every time she took a step, her wine-colored ponytail swayed near her hips. Her toned physique made it clear she never skipped training.
Still the same as ever.
That confident face and bold voice—she hadn’t changed at all from the game. Sara Caiman was a former mercenary now teaching close-quarters combat at the academy. As the protagonist’s homeroom teacher, she got dragged into all sorts of incidents and played an active role.
What was Sara Caiman’s level again?
Based on my memories from the early game, I recalled her status window.
That was about right. Considering the gap in both level and realm, she was easily over a hundred times stronger than me in pure stats—and even stronger than Alissa. Yet even someone like her would struggle desperately in the latter half of the story. The road ahead really was long.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“Abel. Come here. Your tie is crooked.”
“Huh, really? Thanks, Yuni.”
The words Abel and Yuni were impossible to ignore. I turned my head and stared at them.
So they really are here.
A handsome young man with neat black hair and black eyes, and a gentle, smiling beauty with straw-colored hair and orange eyes. They were none other than the protagonist of the Abel Chronicles, Abel, and his childhood friend heroine, Yuni.
I remembered they were supposed to be assigned to the same temporary class as Luan Priulri, but I hadn’t spotted them no matter how hard I looked. It seemed they had arrived quite late.
Still, the current development hadn’t diverged from the game yet, which was a relief.
Before long, they reached the classroom.
“Sit wherever you like. The ones in front, pass out the handouts. I’ll explain once the bell rings.”
I took a seat in the back. I’d never been the type to like sitting up front anyway, and this spot was perfect for observing Abel and Yuni.
Soon the classroom was bustling. Sara didn’t seem inclined to stop the noise before the bell, so she simply sat with her legs crossed and focused on her own work.
While listening to Abel and Yuni’s conversation, I skimmed the handout.
The class placement exam is in three days, just as scheduled.
The class placement exam was a survival test. With the cooperation of the Gray Magic Tower, an illusionary island 50 kilometers wide would be created inside the auditorium. The goal was to survive on that island. The longer you lasted or the more monsters you killed to earn points, the higher your rank. Of course, it was also possible to defeat other students and steal their points. If you were strong, that would actually be more efficient.
However, since classes were formed by taking an appropriate number from the top, middle, and bottom ranks, the actual ranking didn’t mean much. For me, the only thing that mattered was ending up in the same class as Abel.
Abel ended up in the middle ranks, right?
His actual skill was good enough for the top tier, but unfortunately he met Alissa on the island and got eliminated a bit early. From what I remembered, the middle-rank class had relatively fewer students, so reaching the middle ranks should be enough to be placed with him.
Getting into the middle ranks with a level less than half of the other students would normally be impossible, but…
There are ways around it.
I didn’t need to aggressively hunt monsters. Simply surviving until the end would easily put me in the middle ranks.
I was busy laying out my plans when a voice suddenly cut in.
“What are you two talking about~nyang?”
A cat beastkin suddenly squeezed between the friendly conversation of Abel and Yuni. She had cream-colored bobbed hair and amber eyes. She wagged her tail and spoke in a strange tone.
Naturally, Abel and Yuni looked flustered.
“Uh, us?”
“Yes, you two~nyang! You were talking so much fun~nyang! Let me join too~nyang!”
“Yuni, what do you think?”
“I’m fine with it! Let’s all talk together!”
Even though a random cat was interrupting his time with the childhood friend he secretly liked, Yuni gladly accepted her.
“Wow, thank you~nyang! I’m Pernia~nyang! I came from the beastkin kingdom, Beast Road~nyang!”
“I’m Abel. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Yuni! Nice to meet you too, Pernia.”
After introducing themselves, the three of them quickly formed a cheerful group and started chatting happily.
I stared at the beastkin named Pernia.
Suspicious.
There had been no such event in the game. Whether Pernia actually existed or not was something even I couldn’t know for sure, but at the very least I had never seen any character matching her among those connected to Abel.
In other words, Pernia was a variable that didn’t exist in the original game.
If there was only one possible explanation for a variable appearing at this exact moment, it was obvious. But jumping to conclusions could lead to a fatal mistake, so I decided to take my time and observe her carefully.
Right then, a line I couldn’t ignore reached my ears.
“By the way, Abel. What were you talking about with the Saintess yesterday?”
“Huh? S-Saintess?”
“Yeah! She suddenly came to the inn where we’re staying yesterday afternoon. What did she say again? Something about an intruder from another world? You two didn’t do anything weird, did you?”
At Yuni’s words, I forgot I was supposed to be watching discreetly and stared at her intently.
Abel hurriedly covered her mouth.
“Ah! Y-Yuni. That’s a secret. Let’s talk about it later, okay?”
“Hmph! You don’t want to tell me? Your reaction is super weird, Abel. You’re not… dating the Saintess or anything, are you?”
“No! It’s not like that, so let’s talk later. Got it?”
“Then you have to tell me for sure! Otherwise I won’t talk to you for a while!”
While Yuni was subtly showing her jealousy toward the Saintess and pressing him, I observed Pernia’s expression.
As expected.
Just like me, her face had gone completely stiff. She quickly regained her composure and pretended to be casual, but she couldn’t escape my eyes.
Pernia was almost certainly a transmigrator.
Once I reached that conclusion, I couldn’t hold back the laughter that suddenly bubbled up.
Now that I think about it, it’s hilarious.
A woman who had lived her entire life on Earth had transmigrated into a cat beastkin and was now ending every sentence with “~nyang.” She probably thought no one would ever figure it out and was fully immersed in the role, but from my perspective it was nothing but a comedy show.
Look at her right now—she’s still going “nyang nyang” nonstop.
I kept snickering until I quickly pulled myself together and organized the situation.
First, Pernia is a transmigrator. And the church has already caught the scent.
Yesterday afternoon was only a few hours after I had transmigrated. No matter how good the church’s intelligence network was, that was far too early. Of course, it was possible I had simply transmigrated unusually late, but there was no end to that kind of speculation.
Assuming everyone had transmigrated at the same time, it made more sense that they had detected the transmigrators through something unusual—like a divine oracle—rather than normal channels.
This greatly increased the likelihood that the one who had brought me to this world was the Goddess of Light, Lephentia.
If that was really the case, I fully intended to rape Lephentia someday too. She could apologize with her pussy. There was no other option.
Still, I don’t get it.
Why would a goddess revered by all humanity give me a bizarre skill like Rape Declaration and drag me here…? I didn’t know the details, but something must have gone wrong in the middle. That was why she was even issuing oracles to hunt down transmigrators.
The situation had suddenly become even more complicated.
Ding— Ding—
I was clutching my heated forehead when the sound of the clock tower bell snapped me out of my thoughts. Sara Caiman stood up.
“Alright. I’ll now explain the class placement exam.”
The explanation wasn’t complicated. All the students had to do in three days was go to the auditorium, hunt monsters on the island, fight each other, and survive until the end. The test even ended on the same day, so there was nothing special to prepare.
“Just so you know, the results will be announced the same day. The top six ranked students will serve as temporary class representatives. Class assignments will be posted on the bulletin board the next day. Dorm rooms are also assigned according to rank, so keep that in mind. Those in the lower ranks will have to share a room with two other people.”
At her final words, sighs spread throughout the room. There were quite a few nobles, so many found it difficult to accept sharing a room with others. In contrast, most commoners looked reluctant but resigned to the fact. If they didn’t like it, they just had to get stronger.
I wonder what kind of roommate I’ll get.
I wasn’t asking for much. As long as it wasn’t a named character or a villain, I’d be fine. In the early stages, I needed to avoid getting involved in the main story as much as possible. It was smarter to focus solely on growth until I could at least pull my own weight.
“That’s all for the explanation. Any questions?”
An extra raised their hand as if they’d been waiting.
“You said the dorms change according to grades. How often does that happen?”
“Every semester. We’ll combine midterm, final, and practical scores. You’ll be notified in advance, so don’t worry. Next?”
A few more questions followed. By the time the sun was high in the sky, Sara Caiman declared the class dismissed.
“No more questions, right? Don’t forget to gather at the auditorium by 9 o’clock in three days. All artifacts can be detected, so don’t try to bring any or you’ll be disqualified. We don’t show favoritism to nobles or commoners. Class dismissed!”
Solias Academy was a place of strict meritocracy. Even a commoner could stand on equal footing with nobles if they were strong enough. It wasn’t completely free of discrimination, but at least they didn’t openly discriminate based on status. That was why, even after a thousand years, the academy still held its prestige.
Leaving behind the students who were now starting to mingle in earnest, I left the classroom. As I walked across the campus, I examined my temporary student ID.
Nothing particularly special.
Since it was only valid until classes and dorms were assigned, it was just a normal card with recognition magic enchanted on it. With this, I could use both the public training rooms and private sparring rooms prepared by the academy.
Should I head there right now?
Julie and the coachman were probably waiting anxiously, but I didn’t have a single second to waste. Even if I couldn’t train seriously yet, it was best to check things out in advance.
I turned my steps toward the training rooms.
A short while later…
“Wow, it really is impressive.”
Even though it was only for first-years, the scale of the training facility rivaled a large library. It was a shame that no one was using it on the day of the entrance ceremony, but for me that was actually perfect. I didn’t have to worry about anyone watching.
Once inside, I quickly reached the private sparring rooms. Beep. I swiped my temporary pass and the light on the door turned green, unlocking it.
“Oh, it’s pretty big.”
It hadn’t felt this way in the game, but the room looked close to fifty square meters. At this size, I probably wouldn’t need to use the public facilities at all.
I looked over the wooden training weapons that covered an entire wall, then picked up a wooden sword and swung it.
Whoosh— Whoom!
I shook my head involuntarily.
“As expected, I have no talent for swordsmanship.”
I’d wondered if things might be different now that my soul had changed bodies, but this body simply didn’t suit the sword at all. If someone asked how a complete amateur who had never swung a sword in his life could tell, I’d have no good answer. But even the original Luan Priulri had admitted long ago that he had no talent for swordsmanship, so it wasn’t wrong.
This time I took a proper stance and threw a punch.
Swish! Swish-swish!
My fist cut through the air with a surprisingly sharp sound. For something I’d swung on pure instinct without any training, it was quite good.
I clenched and unclenched my fist, savoring the lingering sensation, and nodded.
“So Luan Priulri really was the Fist Demon.”
Fist Demon. A being that was human, yet not human. One of the Apostles who served as a pillar of the Dark Cult in the Abel Chronicles, displaying earth-shaking power with his destructive fist techniques. In the game, his identity had never been revealed, even up to the moment of his death.
But by pure coincidence, I had discovered the connection between the Fist Demon and Luan Priulri. It was the scar on the exact same spot. To be precise, it was the remnant of a blessing he had received at the sanctuary as a child, which had later remained like a scar.
The reason the blessing had turned into a scar was due to Luan Priulri’s unique trait.
Extreme Demon Body. It referred to a body that transcended humanity by implanting a demonic spirit containing infinite demonic energy.
After being expelled from the academy for attempted rape, Luan Priulri had undoubtedly been kidnapped by the Dark Cult and used as a test subject for the Extreme Demon Body experiment. He must have survived against astronomical odds and become an Apostle of the Dark Cult.
When he appeared as an Apostle, his face had been ruined by demonic energy as a side effect, so no one had connected the Fist Demon to Luan Priulri.
“Or maybe not? Isis might have figured it out.”
The sharp drop in Isis Priulri’s appearances after the Fist Demon episode might have been because she had realized his identity. Given her personality, she probably felt enormous guilt over her little brother’s corruption.
I shook my head, realizing this wasn’t the time for wild speculation.
“Anyway, it’s good that my guess was right.”
If even the talent for fist techniques had come from the Extreme Demon Body, I would have been completely lost about which direction to grow in for a while.
Satisfied, I smiled, left the training room, and headed for the main gate.
Julie, who had been waiting, came running in a panic.
“Young Master! Where have you been? I was so worried!”
“I was just looking around. Anyway, let’s go home quickly. I’m hungry.”
Julie looked like she had a lot she wanted to say, but she seemed afraid of upsetting me and quietly climbed into the carriage.
After a long ride, we arrived at the mansion. That was when I encountered an unexpected situation.
“Young Master! You’ve arrived at the perfect time! A guest has come to see you.”
“A guest?”
“Yes. It is Lady Skadia Maryland. Your fiancée. She is currently waiting in the reception room.”
At the butler’s words, I couldn’t help but frown.