The Pariah of A-Class
In the pristine white hall on opening day, there were exactly three people.
Among them, the woman right next to me.
Frost was slowly creeping outward from around Aen Arbel.
They say if a woman holds a grudge, frost forms even in the fifth lunar month.
I never imagined that proverb applied to relationships between women too.
...Cold.
It was already deep into the night, well past 10 p.m.
After all the hardship I'd endured with this wretched body, this sudden ice pack treatment was anything but welcome.
And if you're gonna fight, leave me—the unrelated bystander—out of it.
Or at least make it entertaining to watch, like trading barbs or something.
Just glaring at each other in a staring contest leaves me bored out of my mind.
"You two, sort it out yourselves. I'm out."
"...Huh?"
"...Ha?"
It wasn't exactly the atmosphere where anyone expected me to speak up.
But I said it anyway, bold as brass.
Like a deflating-the-tension tactic?
It might seem insane, but surprisingly, this kind of thing works.
Aen Arbel's face lit up with a mix of bewilderment and her earlier glee.
The silver-hair over there...
Oof...
Her signature icy glare, twisted eyes, furrowed brow.
...She's pissed, plain as day.
At this point, best to bail as fast as possible.
Whatever happens next... those two can handle it themselves.
I moved away, clinging to maximum shamelessness.
My palms growing slick in real time.
Vision locked straight ahead on my escape route.
Footsteps like a rusty machine without oil.
One step. Two steps.
Forcing my way into the room I'd barely managed to enter.
A completely dark room—no moonlight through the window, no lights on.
No sounds, no signs of life.
"Huuuuh..."
I sank into the fluffy bed and let out a long sigh.
Even changing clothes felt exhausting.
But... finally, finally alone.
Just two days since reincarnating.
Yet I already felt two years older.
Is the Academy always like this, or am I the weird one...?
"No idea... no clue..."
For now... just sleep.
The center of the pristine white hall, after one man had left.
A fountain lay between the remaining two: Sellin El Soladion and Aen Arbel.
That single fountain marked the psychological—and physical—distance between them.
"Sellin~ Why do you always make those pretty eyes look so scary~?"
"Better than grinning like an idiot like you, no?"
Aen Arbel's tone was the same as when she spoke to Iheon.
Sellin El Soladion's, on the other hand, carried more emotion.
A complex mix of pity, mockery, and a hint of regret.
"...Maybe you're right."
Aen Arbel's reply was dry.
No emotion in her eyes or gestures—just parched emptiness.
That dryness seeped into her words, cutting the conversation short.
Their talks had always been like this.
Short exchanges, repeated endlessly—and today would have been no different.
If not for Shin Iheon.
If that one man hadn't been there.
"Sellin, that guy next to me. What do you think of him?"
"...What do you mean."
"You felt it too. He's definitely similar." Aen Arbel's words were a question that wasn't really a question. A leading one, with the answer predetermined. Just a way to bolster her own conviction.
"Ha... What answer do you wanna hear."
To Sellin El Soladion, it was a style of questioning she'd grown sick of long ago... very long ago. At least not in this life. One she never wanted to hear again.
"...Is he the person I think he is?"
"That's for you to figure out."
A cold response.
But undeniably correct.
"Could you... forgive that person?"
"No. Never."
"...I see."
"Tch... Let's call it here. Conversation's gone on too long."
Sellin clicked her tongue in irritation and stood.
Leaving behind Aen Arbel—who now stared back frozen, like one of her own spells.
She glanced briefly at the flowers in the flower bed far off, then departed.
"Nice weather."
A cloudless sky, cool breeze, warm sunlight.
Already March—and the 2nd.
Opening day.
About seven days since arriving in this world.
My mind had been a whirlwind.
The first two days... well, chalk it up to meeting those two weirdos.
But the remaining five? Spent poking and prodding every inch of this body.
Thanks to those efforts, its condition was pretty decent now.
Still a long way to go, but manageable.
And understandably so—the mana circuits were optimized to an impressive degree.
Personally, before feeling them myself, I'd harbored doubts about Aen Arbel.
Even as the reincarnation of a system-chosen hero... it wasn't easy to trust someone that flighty.
But the moment I circulated the mana...
"Heon! Whatcha thinking~!"
"Eh, nothing much."
"Hmmm~? Really~?"
"By the way, you're in my class, huh."
"Yup!"
Personally, a relief.
For some reason, this Shin Iheon guy had zero friends.
How do you have zero phone numbers saved?
No friends was one thing, but no family either—no parents, siblings, nothing.
Until today, I'd assumed it was just personal choice, not registering numbers.
No connections at all didn't feel realistic.
But today.
Feeling all those stares on this body, I realized it wasn't that.
Even now, the unpleasant glares and whispers were blatant.
Pathetic.
Bullying even at the Academy... impressive dedication.
I had no idea why, but whatever—I didn't care.
Humans are a species addicted to superiority like a drug.
They crave others beneath them, so they drag down anyone above.
I knew that all too well, and it was familiar territory.
Besides, these were all students—their bullying was kinda cute.
Once they hit society, it'll come back tenfold. Hope they regret it then.
Speaking of, lunch time soon.
"Arbel. Hungry?"
"Hmm~ Not really?"
"Sandwich?"
"Yay!"
Spending the last few days together, I'd noticed: Arbel was obsessed with sandwiches.
She's picky with other food, but sandwiches? Like she was possessed.
Gotta ask why someday.
Once we're closer.
"A-Class..."
A-Class: the highest tier among the Academy's classes, for top students.
Sellin El Soladion—the hero's reincarnation—was naturally placed there, as expected.
A-Class was always the Academy's pinnacle.
And among the elite few at that pinnacle:
Shin Iheon.
He was an utterly alien presence.
At the top, yet despised by all.
A man soaring through the skies on subpar skills, for undisclosed reasons.
Thus, he belonged nowhere.
Too weak for those sharing the heights.
Too exalted for his peers.
The Academy's vast society had isolated him as its sole outcast.
But... that man had suddenly transformed completely.
Back to how he was long ago, when we'd partied together.
The one who'd stood at our forefront.
The one who'd abandoned us.
Now lingering by my side in a new form.
"...How long will he last."
Dozens of reincarnations.
The Academy's peak, piled high with grudges from them all.
How long could he survive in that?
If possible, I hoped he wouldn't die easily.
After a casual sandwich with Arbel,
I checked my phone's class assignment notification right away.
And the class was:
"A-Class..."
"What's up?"
No big reason.
"Just... surprised."
"Surprised? By what?"
Class assignments felt so novel to me now.
That was the surprise.
"Just curious what A-Class is like."
"Huh? You were in A-Class last year too!"
Ah.
"...Things could be different this year."
"Oh! True!"
By the way, how does the Academy assign classes?
Not a lottery, surely...
Probably by skill ranking or something.
But honestly, doubtful.
If it were pure skill, how'd this body end up with Arbel?
"Arbel."
"Yeees~?"
"You said you were in A-Class last year too?"
"Yup!"
"Then why'd you suddenly get friendly with me?"
A question sparked by hearing about my class last year.
"Hmm... Dunno~?"
One hand propping her elbow, the other poking her cheek—deep thought pose.
"And didn't you say you first saw me in the Training Room?"
"Yup!"
Same class, but... does that add up?
"...Then how'd you know I was in A-Class?"
"Huh? You're like, Academy famous!"
...Why?
"What? You didn't know!?"
No... how would I?
"You were super popular in A-Class! Everyone always gossiped about you—'parachute' this, 'parachute' that!"
Ah.
So class assignments are by skill.
And this body...
I get why it was ostracized now.
"Yeah... thanks for the info."
Everyone else grinding away, and this guy parachutes into top class without effort...
Hard to see that positively.
Doesn't justify bullying, but I get the reason.
...This body's original owner was more hopeless than I thought.
Personally, I like shortcuts.
No need to take the hard road if easy's available.
Just not at others' expense.
The countless scandals and grievances this hopeless Shin Iheon had brewed.
"Arbel, the evaluation match in a week—everyone in our grade participates, right?"
"Yup!"
In exactly one week, I'd flip at least half of them on their heads.