chapter 3
Chapter 3: Something You Can't Have Even If You Work Like a Dog
After class, I could hear whispers all around me from people staring in my direction.
My 'creative use of abilities' must have left quite an impression.
"Is that guy actually insane?"
"Sure, he's loaded, but doing something like that openly during class—is that even okay?"
"Tsk tsk. He needs a good lesson taught to him one of these days."
They weren't even whispering—saying it out loud like that, it seemed like they wanted me to hear.
Well, honestly speaking, I'm the villain here.
I had resolved things during sacred class time through vulgar money-throwing, after all.
'So what. I don't know the first thing about magic.'
I have no shame.
From the start, there's no such thing as 'fairness' between elites who were born and raised in a fantasy world since childhood, and me, someone who only just transmigrated into this world.
I might learn some skills later down the line, but for now, the only thing I have at my disposal is the enormous pile of gold coins sitting in my inventory.
So I used it.
If I used the only means available to me, why would I have any reason not to be confident?
"De, Demian. Um……"
"Yeah?"
While I was finishing up that self-justification in my head, my seatmate Lee Si-a called out to me in a nervous voice.
"Oh. Si-a. Thanks to you, I handled the problem just fine."
"N, not at all! It's my pleasure. B, but……"
"But?"
"Could I… return 1 of the gold coins……?"
"Hm?"
"I feel like keeping 2 is too… much on my conscience……. Since you gave them to me as payment for solving the problem, I'll return 1."
"Why bother?"
Lee Si-a held out a gold coin toward me with trembling hands.
Eyes squeezed shut, fingers gripping the coin tight—the look on her face made it clear she really didn't want to give it back.
Well, it is gold. Only natural.
But I have 1,000,000,000 of those.
"I gave those to you, so you don't have to return them."
"Even so……"
"Instead, help me out whenever something like this comes up again. Consider it advance payment. That okay?"
"Ye, yes? O, of course! I'll do whatever you need!"
"Like today—if someone asks me questions, you answer them in my place."
"Yes!"
"If there's assignments or homework, you do those in my place too."
"Yes!"
"If I forget my textbook, let me look at yours."
"Yes!"
"Take notes for me too."
"Yes!"
"Make me practice exam question sets and summary sheets."
"Yes!"
"And clean my room for me too."
"Yes!"
What's going on? That last part was a joke, but she agreed so cheerfully it made me feel like the scum of the earth.
Oh. Right, I'm the villain. Guess I am scum.
"Bark like a dog and spin around 3 times."
"Woof woof──"
"What the hell. That was a joke, don't actually do it."
"Oh. W, was it? Hehe."
I feel like I might awaken to some strange taste.
Is this the life of the wealthy?
"We have to preserve human dignity."
"When I worked part-time jobs I worked like a dog and only got minimum wage……"
"Ah."
Poor thing. This hurts. How pitiful. How sad……!
The urge to pull out a fistful of gold coins from my inventory and press them into her hands suddenly reared its head.
But I barely held back, since I thought she'd actually stop being human if I did that.
Oh. Could this be the effect of a Trait?
[Spendthrift]
[Affinity Points gained through 'gifts' increased.]
[* What does it take for a relationship to deepen? Sincere conversation. A cup of black tea. A VITA-Box. Oh. Forget that last one.]
Affinity Points gained through 'gifts' increased.
That seemed to be interacting with Lee Si-a's financially struggling home situation to produce some strange effect.
A little unsettling.
Isn't this brainwashing?
"Hehe."
"……Well, it's entertaining, so I guess it's fine."
"Oh, I'm entertaining?"
"Yeah."
"I, I've never heard that before! All I ever heard was that I was a wallflower honor student……. Thank you!"
"You?"
How could someone with that face have no presence?
Anyway, finding a slave—a companion who would do my assignments for me is a positive development.
Honestly, I have no confidence I can keep up with the coursework.
I'm reasonably confident with the practical side, but I can't afford to completely neglect written grades.
I'll have Lee Si-a handle it for now and study slowly myself.
'Come to think of it, how did the original protagonist even study? They seemed to be out brawling all the time.'
In the game, written exams and classes were nothing more than brief passing elements.
They were just a way to convey that 'time had passed' within the game.
Most of the events happened during practicals or after school.
Probably, the original protagonist was a genius who could stay on top of written grades just by attending class diligently and studying from the textbook.
Thinking about it that way, I have a bit of respect for them.
If I'd known it would come to this, maybe I should have slotted in a Trait like 'Genius.'
"Well, whatever. It'll work out somehow."
Thankfully, it doesn't seem like adapting to the Academy will be too difficult.
Thanks to Lee Si-a performing her role perfectly.
Even the instructors seemed to enjoy themselves toward the end.
Among the problems the instructors gave me, there were some applied questions that were a little difficult and complex for student level, but somehow she pushed through and solved all of them anyway.
"Si-a, you're pretty smart, aren't you?"
"Hehe. I think so too. Strangely, today of all days I feel like studying is going so well? My head's really clear and all the fatigue is completely gone—I'm in really great condition today!"
"Ah."
This is also a Trait effect.
[Growth Totem]
[Proficiency growth of friendly NPCs adjacent to the user increased.]
[* Just being nearby makes them stronger—perfect to keep in your pocket.]
Proficiency growth of friendly NPCs increased.
Seems it works well not just for combat-related skills but for studying too. I could open a study café and make a fortune.
The main episodes haven't even started yet, but the Traits seem to be working in a positive direction across more areas than I imagined.
I smiled with satisfaction.
Right. A transmigrator's privileges should be at least this good.
'……Is having a girl do my homework for me really a privilege?'
Just as a faint twinge of guilt was about to tear through my fragile conscience, a group of male students came swarming toward me.
Thanks to these kind friends who suddenly came looking for a fight, I was able to forget my guilty conscience.
"Ha. Hey. Demian Darmore. Let me give you a piece of advice."
"Yeah?"
But, who are these guys?
"Advice? For me?"
"Right. Who else is there besides you."
"And you are?"
"I'm Vein Stretches. I'm from the distinguished Stretches Family, which has produced 10 S-rank heroes."
Ah. So this is Vein.
Vein Stretches.
Nickname: Young Noble.
A 'meddlesome' villain who shows up fairly often in the game.
He's not a bad guy, but he has quite an annoying personality.
"So you're Vein. And?"
"I'll be frank. This Lucid Academy doesn't suit you. Go to the administrative office right now and withdraw from the Academy."
"Withdraw? Why?"
"Because this is an Academy for training heroes. It's not a place for a nobody like you to manipulate with vulgar money-throwing."
"So?"
"Withdraw."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Withdraw?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"……Are you trying to play games with me right now?"
"You caught me."
"Raaaaaaaaagh──!"
Ah, this is what you call 'the art of public service speech.'
It's great for driving off troublemakers.
"How dare you humiliate me?!"
"……Pft, pfft."
"Why are you laughing?"
"Hu, humiliate……. What's with the way you talk……. It's not like you're medieval royalty or anything…… Isn't it embarrassing to talk like that……? Pfft……"
"……"
"Pfft."
Whether there was a student with a similar sense of humor to mine, 1 of the male students who had been trailing behind Vein involuntarily burst out laughing.
Vein shot a glare at the laughing student, and the student startled and immediately put on a stern, serious, solemn expression.
These guys are really something.
Come to think of it, maybe they're not aspiring heroes but aspiring comedians?
"……Phew. I got a little heated. Such is the way of tasteless nouveau riche types."
"You're the one who lost your composure, so why are you taking it out on me? What a strange guy."
"……Regardless, this is something I'm saying out of genuine concern for you. Studying at the Academy doesn't just mean writing letters on paper. It means crossing countless life-or-death lines in the field, and overcoming trials where lives hang in the balance."
"So, you're saying to withdraw if I value my life?"
"Yes. Now we're starting to communicate."
"Hmm~."
He's probably not saying this out of genuine concern for me.
He just finds me—an irregularly enrolled student—distasteful, but openly humiliating me would hurt his 'dignity,' so he's putting a convenient excuse on it to insult me.
Actually, by that standard, this is remarkably polite behavior.
It's Demian who's at fault for the irregular enrollment, after all.
And he's also completely right that my combat abilities aren't sufficient for survival.
I made sure of that myself by loading up on all sorts of Penalties.
Since I have plenty of money, I could just drop out and enjoy a fantasy life throwing money around outside the Academy.
"──No."
"Why? Don't you value your life?"
But even so, I didn't want to simply nod my head.
"Because I'm stronger than you?"
"What?"
The strength of a gamer isn't the strength of raw stats, is it.
I know how to clear this game.
This is my first attempt at this build, but I still remember the overall story and the variables.
So if I tuck tail and run just because things seem scary, that disqualifies me as a veteran player.
Whether I've transmigrated into a villain, or whether I'm loaded down with Penalties, that fact doesn't change.
At least within this 'Lucid Academy,'
I am the strongest.
Even if that strength isn't pure combat power.
"……I think I misheard."
"Pretty sure you heard right. I said I'm stronger than you, so I have no reason to withdraw from the Academy."
"Unbelievable."
"If you're going to withdraw for being weak, then you should withdraw first."
"Phew. A money-grubbing nobody who hasn't learned a single thing of magic or martial arts──"
"Oh. Is it because you won't have anywhere to get a job after withdrawing from the Academy? Fair enough, a livelihood is important."
I pulled a gold coin out of my inventory and tossed it to Vein.
"Here. This should be more than enough to get by on."
"……"
"Shall I give you 1 more? Good sir of the noble Stretches Family?"
"……Raaaaaaaaagh! A duel! I'm challenging you to a duel! Demian Darmore! I challenge you to a duel!"
"Oh! Violence! A fine means of conversation!"
Right. Since I've gone to the trouble of transmigrating into a game, there should at least be events like this.
I smirked and accepted the duel.
"Demian Darmore accepts the duel with Vein Stretches."
[Quest triggered!]
[Win the duel against hero candidate 'Vein Stretches'!]
[Reward: Random Skill]
[* A lesson! Is this a lesson being taught? This is clearly a cliché! Hmm. But which side is the one getting taught?]
Oh?