The Value of Trash Lessons
Stelle tilted her head, golden eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“A way to avoid expulsion?”
“Yes. The truth is, I know someone who graduated from the academy, and they gave me all sorts of tips.”
“Really?”
It was a lie.
Hint had only been inside the game for a short time and had no such connections. But if he told Stelle—a classmate who had enrolled with him—that he already knew everything about the academy’s schedule, it would only raise suspicion. Deceiving the pure-hearted protagonist stung his conscience a little, but he could only hope she would understand that everything he did was for her sake.
“Yes. That’s why I already knew the situation in F-class and managed to receive these as second-place prizes.”
“I see. You must have a great senior.”
Fortunately, she seemed to accept it without question.
“Then did that senior also recommend any good classes?”
Hint shook his head. It wasn’t that the senior hadn’t recommended any—it meant they didn’t need to attend classes at all.
“We’re not taking classes?”
Stelle looked genuinely confused. Coming all the way to the academy only to skip classes made no sense to her. At Arpia Academy, attending lectures was one of the best ways to build your specs. Simply sitting through them granted small amounts of stats and reputation points. In the game, professors would occasionally ask questions, and choosing the correct answer from three options would trigger impressed murmurs from the crowd, along with a slight boost to reputation and intelligence.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.
‘Congratulations. You ranked first on this exam.’
Besides the midterms and finals taken by the entire student body, each class had its own tests. Scoring high on them could earn artifacts, points, or elixirs depending on the class’s difficulty. Being able to obtain artifacts that were otherwise nearly impossible to get—just by attending class and coming in first—was an incredible advantage.
And the benefits didn’t stop there. The higher the class level of the course, the greater the chance of sharing it with the main heroines. That naturally led to increased favorability and the triggering of sub-events.
‘Are you taking this class too?’
‘Stelle! We’re in the same class again!’
That was why the veterans always said that if you wanted to clear the game efficiently, you should just attend classes. But for those of us in F-class, the story was completely different. The truly efficient, high-value courses would obviously be monopolized by the upper classes. All that remained for us were subjects worse than food waste.
Since our required credits were zero, there was no reason to waste time on such garbage classes.
After listening to Hint’s explanation, Stelle fell into serious thought. It was only natural. No matter how poor the available classes were, being told not to attend any at all was a shocking suggestion. Even Hint would have found it concerning if he were in her position.
Her contemplation lasted quite a while. With nothing else to do while he waited, Hint stood up and moved to the corner of the room—which was no longer a derelict storage shed but had now taken on the proper appearance of a classroom.
In one corner was a small cafeteria area. Bread and snacks were stacked like a tower, and there was plenty of food to go with them.
‘There’s even a coffee machine.’
It felt medieval one moment and modern the next. That kind of fusion was one of the unique charms of academy stories.
“Stelle. Is there a drink you prefer?”
“Ah, I’ll have milk, please. I’m from the countryside, so other things don’t really suit my taste.”
“I’ll recommend tea next time. It tastes great with milk.”
“Milk tea… is that what it’s called? I’m looking forward to it!”
As expected. Being from the countryside, she probably didn’t know the taste of tea or coffee yet. Hint filled a cup to the brim with milk and handed it to her.
“Of course, the choice is entirely yours, Stelle. I will respect whatever decision you make.”
Hint took a sip of his coffee and set the cup down on the table. Perhaps it really was worthy of the academy’s name. The overwhelming flavor of coffee—something he was tasting for the first time in his life—made his fingertips tremble slightly.
Naturally, it would be best if Stelle followed his plan. But even if she chose to attend classes, he could simply adjust his strategy accordingly. After all, she was no longer a character he could simply control.
Stelle also took a sip of milk and set her cup down. She seemed startled by the flavor, which was completely different from the milk she used to drink in the countryside.
“It’s incredibly delicious.”
“It’s the same quality as what the S-class students receive. It must be the highest grade among premium products.”
Maybe the milk had helped her decide. Stelle, who had been deep in thought until now, finally spoke.
“But if we don’t attend classes, it feels like we’d just be wasting our time here.”
“Ah, so that was what worried you.”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t mentioned that part yet. It was purely his own mistake. Hint inwardly scolded himself.
“There’s no need to worry. The academy has prepared many other ways to grow besides attending classes.”
Hidden pieces. Clubs. Hunting. And countless other methods. There were more than enough ways to raise your stats at the academy without sitting in lectures. Of course, whether they were more efficient than classes was debatable, but with his game knowledge, he could design the optimal route and ease most of those concerns.
This was very good news for Stelle as well. Honestly, the academy’s administration had been extremely unfriendly. They hadn’t taught F-class students anything. So having someone willing to roll up their sleeves and help like this made her deeply grateful.
There was just one thing that bothered her. Why was he doing all this?
She opened her mouth to ask exactly that—
- Ding dong dang dong.
“What kind of bell is that?”
“Oh dear. It looks like today’s academic schedule has ended.”
Arpia Academy normally wrapped up all official academic activities by six o’clock—an early hour. While there were many buildings like the library and club rooms that could be used after hours, the main academic building containing the classrooms was not one of them.
Hint rose from his seat. Since they were already in F-class, the faculty was probably watching them with unfavorable eyes. There was no reason to linger here and give them more ammunition to criticize.
When Hint stood up without a word, Stelle looked like she didn’t know what to do.
“Let’s go for now, Stelle.”
“Where to?”
“To that cabin we saw during the day.”
“Huh?! Wasn’t that just a teleportation device?”
Come to think of it, Stelle had only used it as a teleportation device and hadn’t seen the inside yet.
“Hehe. It’s a secret. You’ll probably be surprised when you see it.”
In that case, the interior of the cabin would have to remain a surprise. Thinking of the first-place prize he hadn’t used yet, they headed toward the cabin.
As they entered the West Forest, the cozy cabin greeted them. Though “cozy” might be generous—it was closer to having a gloomy, eerie atmosphere. A cabin standing alone in the middle of a dark forest with no signs of life was practically a perfect haunted location.
“Stelle, could you wait here for a moment?”
“H-here?”
“It’ll only take ten minutes.”
Sorry as he was, Hint left Stelle outside for a moment and grabbed the doorknob first. After all, proper preparation was essential for a ‘surprise.’
The moment he touched the doorknob, a translucent window appeared before his eyes.
Where would you like to go?
— Cabin (Current Location)
— Dock
— Grand Auditorium
During the day, he had used this ability to instantly travel to the grand auditorium. But right now his goal was to decorate Stelle’s room, so Hint selected the cabin.
Please select a room.
— Room 1: Guide’s Room
— Room 2: Hint’s Room
— Room 3: Stelle’s Room
Rooms 4, 5, and 6 were still vacant, so he ignored them. Hint selected Stelle’s room.
“Wow. There really is nothing here.”
Maybe because Hint had already been living in his own room, it was relatively tidy even if plain. But this place was literally just a cabin. There was nothing inside except a single fireplace.
Hint pulled the first-place prize he had received earlier from his pocket.
Grade: Rare
Effect: A complete set of high-quality furniture crafted from wood sourced deep within the Elf Forest. Provides excellent rest and recovery when used for sleeping or relaxing.
He had chosen this first-place prize knowing that Stelle would have nowhere to sleep starting tonight. Laying down this foundation now would prevent a lot of inconvenience later. In the original game, the quality of furniture you customized your room with directly affected how much fatigue you recovered after resting for a day. From a long-term perspective, it wasn’t a bad choice at all.
“Hmm? Why is the pocket…?”
Light burst from the pocket, and just like before, the room filled with luxurious furniture. But this time there was one difference from earlier in the day—the spatial pocket that had spat out the furniture remained behind. A small note popped out of it.
— Do your best, junior. This is a thank-you gift for showing me something interesting.
— Student Council President
“This is something I didn’t expect.”
Hint carefully folded the note and put it back into the pocket. A small smile formed on his lips at the unexpected gift from the student council president.