Starting From Minus in Academy Life #3
After parting ways with Victorica.
I wandered all over Ludens Academy.
Ah, for reference—Ludens is the true name of this prison academy located on a blessed island with a population of one hundred thousand.
Countless dungeons lie beneath the ground, and the fields outside the academy are teeming with terrifying monsters. Yet the name of this place means “pleasant amusement”—Ludens.
In truth, Ludens Academy was created purely for entertainment.
Whose entertainment, you ask?
Primarily, it would be for the game players.
Secondarily—.
“The map in my memory matches perfectly. The geography hasn’t changed at all.”
Recalling the game’s minimap, I searched for a specific location. That place was the grand plaza situated at the very center of this vast Ludens.
In the plaza stood seven majestic marble statues, each carved in a different form—from an elderly figure to a young child.
“O God of Wisdom, please grant me sharp insight for the new semester ahead… and above all, spare me from failing and being expelled from the dormitory…”
“Almighty Chief God, please let me make good friends this year as well…”
Anyone watching the people praying before the statues would immediately understand.
These were the Seven Gods—the very beings who had built Ludens Academy and the hosts of this grand game.
According to the setting, the bored gods had gathered every mystery in existence to create an island, then established an academy to nurture young heroes capable of overcoming the trials they had prepared.
That was why, in the game, praying before each statue granted a unique buff lasting one hour.
Praying to the God of Order, for example, would increase hunting experience by ten percent for an hour.
However, I had not come here to beg for salvation from a god that was only ever mentioned in passing even within the game.
The top contributor on the strategy cafe.
Someone who had sunk twenty thousand hours into the game should at least be able to save his own life.
“Stand directly in front of the statue of the Goddess of Beauty and Love, then take three steps backward. If each of these wide tiles counts as one step…”
First, let’s make one thing clear.
Victor is hated.
“Look, it’s Victor.”
“Because of that bastard, my club got shut down last semester.”
“That was because you embezzled the club funds, wasn’t it?”
“W-well, yeah, but still! Ruben’s costume club got disbanded too! They didn’t do anything wrong…!”
Passersby whispered curses about me like this everywhere I went.
This was the kind of reaction NPCs only showed when the protagonist Luke had chosen every possible option to tank his favorability and hit rock-bottom reputation.
Judging by these lines, my reputation must be around minus thirty. At minus fifty, they’d probably start throwing stones or launching surprise attacks instead of just words.
I’d even heard that at night—actually, even in broad daylight—NPCs could attack and kill you in town once it got that bad.
Of course, I had thoroughly explored every minus favorability and minus reputation route before. There were even exclusive events that only triggered at negative reputation.
But none of that would have mattered to Victor.
He probably hadn’t even known.
This guy was nothing more than a loyal dog who simply carried out his orders.
Since he never cared about managing his own reputation, he ended up dying in every route for various reasons after soaking up endless hatred.
“The problem is that now I’m the one taking the damage because of it.”
To fool Victorica’s eyes, I needed to temporarily date a woman. Who on earth would agree to date Victor with his massive minus favorability?
I glanced at my reflection in the fountain near the statues. Even with his somewhat cold demeanor, Victor looked quite handsome—masculine and sharp-featured.
His appearance wasn’t bad. If I put in the effort, maybe it could work?
That was when I remembered it.
The single item that could be obtained near the statue of the Goddess of Beauty and Love.
“Found it.”
I lifted one of the floor tiles. Beneath it, in a neatly carved square hole, sat a small box.
“Senior, look at that. What is he doing…?”
“Shh. Before the new semester starts, there are always weirdos hanging around the park… wait, isn’t that Victor?”
“What is the Student Council’s hunting dog doing?”
People had begun whispering about me, so I quickly grabbed the palm-sized box and left the area.
Was this kind of behavior really that suspicious and attention-grabbing?
In the game, you could break into people’s houses, smash pots, and rummage through drawers without anyone saying a word.
Reality really was different.
“…I’ll have to be more careful about acquiring items that draw too much attention.”
More importantly, why had this guy been muttering to himself so much since earlier?
Was he giving himself mental suggestions because he lacked tact?
I decided to move to a relatively quiet corner of the plaza for now.
* * *
As you may have already noticed from the previous stories, the game D&A has a favorability system.
Depending on favorability, the available quests change, and so do the endings.
Because it was such a deep and rewarding system, I had pushed every character’s favorability to both extremes—from maximum positive to maximum negative.
One of the best early-game support items for that was exactly what I had just obtained from the box.
Rarity: Common
Effect: Increases the wearer’s Charm by +10. A pure gold ring from the kingdom of Parthas, extremely popular with women.
It was the Novice Ring of Charm. The simple effect of “Charm +10.” For reference, the maximum charm stat is 100 points.
10 out of 100 might not sound like much, but it actually makes a surprisingly big difference.
Nothing is more frustrating than a favorability quest that stays locked because you’re just one point short on charm.
I slipped the ring onto my finger. Unlike the game items that simply slotted into equipment slots, this real-world version actually had a physical size.
“……”
For some reason, the ring fit perfectly on the ring finger of Victor’s left hand.
The meaning associated with a ring on the left ring finger made me feel a bit strange, but this was no time to worry about that, so I simply wore it.
So, had my charm increased?
“I don’t feel any different.”
I had expected some dramatic change, but I felt nothing at all. It was just the sensation of wearing a tacky gold ring.
It would have been nice if there were visible numbers.
…Perhaps.
“Status window.”
Name: Victor
Title: Hunting Dog
Trait: 《Steel》
Strength: 32/100
Agility: 2/100
Stamina: 83/100
Magic Power: 0/100
Charm: 12/100 (+10)
Oh.
Familiar numbers appeared.
The design and layout were identical to the character status sheet I had seen countless times in the game.
Although becoming Victor had brought many bewildering moments, seeing hidden items actually exist in reality and numbers like this pop up felt genuinely fun—like I was still playing the game.
“But it really is pathetic.”
Agility, which affected critical hits and evasion rate, was a measly 2?
Magic Power, which governed spell potency and MP, was a flat zero.
The only decent stat was Stamina.
83 stamina was actually quite high.
Was this reflecting the fact that he had fifteen health bars when he became a mid-boss?
With stamina like this, I probably wouldn’t get tired easily.
Steel stamina and a steel mentality.
There were at least some useful aspects.
Anyway, it was confirmed that my charm had increased.
Twelve wasn’t bad at all.
“Then it’s time to try talking to some women.”
And that was when I soon realized a very important problem.
Me—Ha Seungri.
A man who had spent more than half his twenties paying off two hundred million in debt.
Zero dating experience.
The only women I had ever spoken to were part-time workers at convenience stores.
“Excuse me.”
“I’m busy, so don’t talk to me.”
“Could I ask you something…”
“Get lost.”
“…Um.”
“I have a boyfriend, you know?”
Why was I getting rejected before I even finished a sentence? This guy Victor really had zero connection to women or romance.
…Anyway, Victor was the one getting rejected.
I continued wandering the plaza, approaching women who looked relatively easy to talk to.
It was around the time I was seriously considering whether I should try seducing one of the female characters.
“Victor-kun, we meet again in a place like this?”
A rather coquettish voice reached my ears.
When I turned my head, I saw a woman with jet-black hair worn in a sleek, natural style. Her ruby-red eyes made her appearance stand out even more.
But she was beautiful.
So beautiful that all the women I had struggled to approach earlier looked like mere weeds on the roadside.
“Enio.”
Her name was Enio.
Enio Blackstar.
One of the Seven Delegates who kept the Ludens Student Council in check.
However, her true identity was the main heroine of one of the major routes—the Underworld route.
She possessed popularity that could rival Victorica’s in splitting the fanbase of D&A, and as a shadow-magic damage nuker, she was also excellent in parties.
“Call her Enio-nim, you mere student!”
Beside her, a girl with short, sharply cut red hair was growling at me.
“You must be Enio’s underling, Tisiphone.”
“I’m the youngest, Megaira, you idiot! Don’t mix me up with my sister! And who are you calling an underling? You’re the one who’s Arclight’s dog!”
“You certainly are louder than your older sisters. Tisiphone and Allecto both have quiet personalities. That was how I told you apart.”
“…W-what?!”
“Megaira, that’s enough. Victor-kun is no longer associated with Arclight. It was an interesting story. Victor-kun, I heard you broke off the engagement?”
So the rumor had already spread that far.
Enio approached me, the heels of her black shoes clicking sharply.
Then she reached out and lightly traced her finger along my side.
“At first I couldn’t believe it even after hearing it. To think you would reject Victorica. I wonder what her face looked like? Did she get angry?”
Enio’s voice carried a slight thrill.
Since Enio absolutely loathed Victorica, it was only natural she would take pleasure in her misfortune.
“More importantly, Victor-kun, I heard there’s already another woman. Who is she? Is she pretty? Prettier than that fairy princess Victorica? That must be why you broke off the engagement, right?”
Enio, who had been chattering away, suddenly widened her eyes when she noticed the ring on my left ring finger.
“Is that a couple’s ring? It’s a pure gold Parthas ring, isn’t it? Those are quite hard to obtain. How did you get it?”
“…That is none of your concern. Why are you so interested in me?”
“I’ve taken a personal interest in you, Victor-kun. Until yesterday it didn’t matter, but today you seem a little different. I wonder why?”
Enio was interested in me? For some reason, that made me uneasy.
“Could it be because of what you boldly declared in front of all the Delegates yesterday? You called it the Student Council Law. From my perspective, it was rather cool. The part about everyone being equal, I mean.”
I tried to recall if there had ever been an event where Enio became interested in Victor.
No, there hadn’t.
Then what was this?
Was it because of the ring?
That might be it.
“In that sense, Victor-kun, why don’t you come to me instead?”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘in that sense’?”
When I asked back, Enio took a smooth step away from me.
“Exactly what it sounds like. Or perhaps it was a bit difficult for the rigid Victor-kun to understand? In other words, I’m telling you to change your master. If you become my hunting dog, you’ll find it much more pleasant in many ways than staying with that stiff girl Victorica.”
“Pleasant?”
“I can make you feel good. I can do plenty for you. Victor-kun, you’ve never even held hands with Victorica, right? Is that true?”
Enio’s soft laughter tickled my ears. For a moment, I imagined holding hands with Enio.
“How about it, Victor? I think quite highly of your potential.”
If Enio was smart enough to be second place among the Golden Generation’s second-years, she might actually agree to be my temporary girlfriend.
The part about making me feel good also caught my attention.
There was no such line in the game.
D&A was supposed to be a wholesome all-ages game.
For all the above reasons, my answer came quickly.
“It is a good offer.”
“Right? Then let’s make a contract…”
“However, I must decline.”
I had only just escaped from Victorica. Why would I willingly hand my leash over to Enio?
It was no different from running from a tiger only to jump into a lion’s den.
“Also, my name is Victor, not Victor. Please address people by their proper names.”
I had only just realized it.
This Victor didn’t particularly like being called Victor.
Did he dislike being called by a nickname when he had a proper name?
He hadn’t minded when Victorica called him that, but hearing it from Enio gave me goosebumps and felt strangely unpleasant.
“This bastard just refused Enio-nim’s proposal—what kind of tone is that—”
“Shh, Megaira.”
“But Enio-nim, he’s clearly disrespecting you—”
“I told you to be quiet.”
Sssss—.
A chill suddenly swept through the plaza. Even Megaira—who could never keep her mouth shut once she joined a party and was popular for it—clamped her lips shut at the icy aura.
After a brief silence, someone let out a soft laugh. It was Enio.
“It was a joke, just a joke. But I truly am interested in the current Victor-kun. That part wasn’t a joke. And before long, you will have no choice but to ask me for help, whether you like it or not.”
Clink.
Enio pulled something from the neat pocket of her uniform and held it out to me.
It was a small piece of metal.
“What is this?”