Seven Days Before School Starts

Even if I were being generous, my current stats looked terrible.

Strength, Stamina, and Agility — the core physical stats of the Knight Department — were all sitting at a miserable 1. Considering that even Mage Department students, who barely used their bodies, averaged around 3 in those categories, my numbers were genuinely pathetic.

No wonder.

That explained the soft frame and the skinny limbs.

And my Mage Department stats were just as useless. Magic Capacity and Magic Efficiency maxing out at 10 was a bit of a surprise, sure — but with Magic Affinity locked at a hard zero, those perfect scores were nothing but empty decoration. What good was capacity or efficiency when I couldn't even sense magic itself?

But there was no need to worry. With the cheat sitting in my Unique slot — Ultimate Physique — raising Strength, Stamina, and Agility would be trivial.

Which was exactly what I was doing right now.

"Hup, two. Hup, two."

I exhaled sharply and drew the next breath in. Legs stepping lightly forward, then stretching back. Upper body locked straight. No wobble in the posture — just balance, and run.

From the outside, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like ordinary jogging. Nothing special beyond decent form. But even something this basic was producing remarkable results.

Notification messages kept popping up in the corner of my vision without pause. Simple running was raising my stats. Anyone who knew how hard it was just to push a single physical stat up by one point would call this growth rate completely absurd.

Of course, none of them have hit 2 yet.

Even so, I was climbing far faster than I ever had when I'd been playing the game. That much I could guarantee.

And the reason for this blistering pace was simple.

Heavenly Martial Physique. An insane cheat that raised Strength, Stamina, and Agility just by moving. Thanks to it, I was farming growth simply by running loops around Atenel Island, home of Olympia Academy.

Come to think of it, this was already day three.

And I'm not even tired.

Three days since I'd been dropped into Song of Sword and Magic. Ever since the vice headmaster had threatened me with expulsion and I'd declared I'd win the Inter-Year Exchange Tournament, my routine had been the same every day: run the Olympia Academy grounds, then hit weights by the lakeside in the southern part of Atenel Island.

The amazing part was that I never got tired. Probably thanks to Indestructible Body.

"Hup, two. Hup, two."

So today, once again, I was tearing around Olympia. The campus was so vast that a few hours could vanish without me noticing, and naturally other students started watching me go by.

"…What's that guy doing?"

"No idea. He just started hauling ass out of nowhere."

"Damn. Doesn't he get tired? I saw him by the lecture halls earlier, and now he's running past the dorms too."

"Why's a mage even working out?"

"How should I know? He's a reserve student anyway. Probably thrashing around before they kick him out."

The reviews weren't exactly glowing.

Well, no reason to take it personally.

The train keeps rolling even if the dogs bark. I wasn't about to let a little trash talk knock me off the bigger goal.

If I don't want to die, I need to get my head on straight.

If I wanted to stay at the academy instead of getting expelled, I had to raise Strength, Stamina, and Agility no matter what. That was the only way I'd stand a chance in the Inter-Year Exchange Tournament. Which was why I was destroying myself in the gym like this.

"Hup, two. Hup, two… Hah. Running's done."

Morning routine complete. The scenery shifted. The gleaming buildings of Olympia Academy fell away behind me, and I arrived at the overgrown lakeside in the southern reaches of Atenel Island—

"…Huh?"

Someone had gotten there first.

The lake on Atenel Island had clear, clean water — pure enough to drink when you got thirsty mid-workout, clean enough to rinse off sweat. I'd claimed it as my private weight-training spot for exactly that reason.

"What's she doing here?"

A female student with vivid red hair tied in twin tails, shoulders bare. One look was enough to place her.

The incoming top freshman of the Mage Department. A magical prodigy who'd climbed the elite track at the Magic Tower. And a playable character.

She should be taking the entrance exam right about now.

How had she ended up all the way out here?

"Hmm."

I considered it for a moment. I'd come to enjoy a leisurely weight session in my private space, only to find an outsider had invaded. So how should I handle this?

Ignore her.

Getting tangled up with the protagonist never ended well. The original story would push her forward on its own — all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I needed to do was stay enrolled. So I'd just cleanly stay out of it.

"Hup!"

I flipped my body a full 180 degrees. My vision inverted. The world turned upside down — a handstand. From there, I just walked forward on my hands.

"Hup, two. Hup, two."

Handstand walking, while my legs pumped back and forth to work the lower body at the same time. With a physical cheat on board, crushing upper and lower body together was nothing.

"Hup, two. Hup, two."

Alright. How many laps should I do? Circling the lakeside a hundred times or so sounded about right—

"…Ah, seriously! What the hell! You're in the way!"

The protagonist, who'd had her back to me, whipped around and snapped at me, sharp as a whip.

What was her problem?

"Hey, you. I have no idea what you're doing, but can you cut out the weird stuff? I can't concentrate."

Her bright red twin tails swayed as she fired the complaint straight at me. Irina — protagonist and top of the Mage Department — was laying into me without restraint.

"What did I do?"

"What did you do?! You're walking around on your hands like a lunatic! How am I supposed to not notice that?!"

"Hmm… Is it that bad?"

Well, when you get deep into a workout, things like that can happen.

"This isn't even your land. What does it matter to you who comes here or what they do?"

"I'm in the middle of my entrance exam. This is a delicate moment. If I don't take the top spot, are you going to take responsibility?"

"Not my problem. Also, why are you talking down to me? I'm a second-year."

"…Excuse me?"

Hmph. The most grudging scrap of formal speech imaginable. Irina snorted and turned her attention back to the ball in her hands.

Ah. That thing.

The Mage Department entrance exam at Olympia Academy. First, they presented the applicants with various Magic Balls. Each one was locked with magic, and you had to undo the lock through precise magical control, then extract the small bead inside without damaging it. The difficulty ranged from easy to brutal, and in the original story Irina had picked the hardest one.

Which left me with one question.

"You chose the hardest one yourself, so why are you freaking out? Just quietly get it done."

"I already finished figuring it out! I know exactly how the gears mesh and how to unlock it!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"…The magic control isn't easy, okay? One tiny mistake and I'm getting hurt for sure. I was just taking a break here."

Fair enough.

Talented freshmen could force the Magic Ball's shell open and yank the bead out. So Olympia had built in a countermeasure: the moment you tried to smash the lock by brute force, the ball discharged a surge of electricity. And with the hardest balls, even an honest mistake was enough to trigger the current. That was why Irina was handling hers with such painstaking care.

"I just want to unlock it and finish the exam already… Ugh, and then you start doing circus tricks on your hands right next to me."

"You're being a real pain… Anyway, so if you just take the time, you can solve it?"

"Yeah."

No helping it, then.

I didn't want Irina eating into my weight time, and I especially didn't want extra attention from getting tangled up with the protagonist more than necessary. Better to wrap this up fast and send her on her way.

If she hadn't already figured out the solution, I wouldn't have helped. But she says she's got the answer.

Might as well lend a hand and cut down on the wasted time.

"Hey. Give me that."

"What? Are you insane? If you mess with a freshman's entrance exam—"

"It's not like that. Just hand it over."

She reluctantly held out the Magic Ball, and I closed my hand around it. The feel of it told me everything — touch it the wrong way and a nasty jolt of current would come flying out. But in front of my Ultimate Physique, that barely meant a thing.

Crack!

"…Eh?"

A dumb little sound. Irina's eyes went round as saucers, her green pupils fixed on the fragments left in my hand. Because I had just crushed the Magic Ball's shell.

Then — BZZZZT!!! — a vicious surge of electricity spat sparks right in front of me.

"…A-a-are you crazy?! Don't you know what happens if you break that?! The current comes out!"

"Yeah. It did."

"No, not 'it did'—! Wait… why are you fine?"

She'd been worked up alone, and now the question came out half-dazed. I shrugged by way of answer.

The blessing Heracle had gained from his Magic Insensitivity. Magic stuffed into a little ball couldn't put a scratch on me. That current just now? Tickled.

I plucked the bead from the rubble and tossed it to Irina. She caught it, still looking completely blank.

"W-what even… How does a person do something this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠insane…??? Does this make any sense…???"

Irina kept muttering to herself in shock. Incomprehensible. By her common sense, what had just happened was impossible to accept. A man who smashed a Magic Ball bare-handed. Who got hit with the current and called it ticklish!

In the end, curiosity beat out caution in her heart.

"H-hey. You — how did you even— wait, you're already all the way over there?! And you're in that pose again?!"

Hm?

Somewhere a dog was barking. Hard to hear properly while walking on my hands.

Well, it probably wasn't important. I tuned her out and kept circling the lakeside — until Irina, staring after me with a look of pure disbelief, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠finally gave up and left.