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Chapter 1
Pa-pa-pa-pa pa pa-pa-pa-pa Good Morning- pa-pa-pa-pa pa pa-pa-pa-pa Good Morning-
Morning has dawned once again.
It was a cheerful alarm, but it only made me frown.
"It's a strange ceiling."
To be honest, I've been staring at it for a week now, so it's starting to feel familiar.
One week. That's how long it's been since I was transported into the web novel I was reading, 'Academy Hero'.
"Status window... Status window!"
Despite my desperate cries, nothing appeared before me.
I have to admit it now.
I got played by some crazy woman and ended up transported to another world.
And I'm here in this pathetic body of mine, without a single special perk.
But wait, is there really nothing? I examined the mark engraved on the back of my left hand.
A tattoo of a black snake climbing up a tree.
Since I've never gotten a tattoo in my life, could this be my otherworldly perk?
If I remember correctly, these were called Stigmas.
There wasn't much detail provided in the novel, but Stigmas and Constellations were among the few explained concepts. A Stigma is said to be a mark that appears when one is chosen by a Constellation. This world had once been defeated by the Demonic Realm, a place overflowing with Magic Beasts, and it's said that the people of that time became Constellations by etching their constellations into the sky.
Using that power, humans reclaimed the lost continents; as of now, four out of the five continents have been recovered.
That's why the only remaining territory is called the Demonic Realm. Of course, Magic Beasts appear on other continents too, but it's more like they haven't been completely overrun.
At first, it seemed like Stigmas manifested randomly, but over time, a pattern emerged: they typically appear in one's early twenties. Or, some are born with them and they fully manifest after the age of twenty.
There are obviously exceptions, but that seemed to be the general rule.
The final Demonic Realm was beyond human conquest, possessing the unique ability to erode everything it touched. Consequently, people built an artificial island called The Ark near the realm and established the Academy—an institution that felt like a blur between a school and a military base. Stigma users are sent there to prevent the Demonic Realm from eroding further.
Though not explicitly stated, the descriptions suggested that having a Stigma provides some resistance to this erosion. Of course, if the erosion progresses to the point where it interferes with daily life despite having a Stigma, the person is graduated and sent to another continent.
I stood up and clenched and unclenched my left hand.
"But why is there nothing, even though I have a Stigma?"
I thought people instinctively knew how to use their Stigmas the moment they received them?
Did the author lie to me?
I've now placed the author and that crazy woman in a tie for second place on my list of most hated people.
"I should head out for once."
The food left in the fridge by some unknown person is starting to run out.
I got ready to leave.
I showered and went to change... but the only thing to wear is my school uniform.
Finally, I grabbed my Student ID.
A Student ID from the Academy is essentially a golden ticket, providing benefits for most services within The Ark.
It's kind of like military benefits.
"Though it's not exactly free."
If I look for other perks, I was given living expenses for a year and a place to stay with no rent.
Come to think of it, the author might be kinder than I thought. I should move the author down to third and leave that crazy woman as the sole second place.
"I finally get to own my own place here, something I couldn't do in my past life."
I put on my shoes and stepped outside.
***
"Wow, the air is so fresh."
I pulled out my phone and checked the Academy schedule.
"Orientation is tomorrow, and the entrance ceremony is a month after that."
I suppose that's how they designed it to make it feel more like an actual educational institution.
But is the gap between orientation and the entrance ceremony usually this wide? I wouldn't know since I didn't go to college.
For now, I decided to clear my head and think while taking a walk.
"What can I actually do before school starts?"
I thought back to the early-game opportunities I could seize.
After all, hunting for hidden perks is the golden rule of being transported into a story.
The Blood of Gargones, the Constellation's Trial, the Beast of the Labyrinth, and the Star of Proposal.
"Most of those require entering the Demonic Realm or having some serious combat power."
As it stands, my current body is the definition of average, so entering the Demonic Realm alone would be suicide.
I wonder if I could even get a permit to enter in the first place.
"Still, it seems the Demonic Energy Resistance from my Stigma is working."
Special measures were taken between The Ark and the Demonic Realm, so the influence of demonic energy is minimal, but it was mentioned that those without a Stigma feel a slight sense of discomfort.
Since I don't feel any such discomfort, it means my Stigma isn't a total fake.
As I dug through my memories, one thing came to mind.
The White Witch.
She's an entity that could be considered the first main boss.
You might wonder why a pathetic loser like me, who would struggle to beat a stray cat, thinks he can handle such a being.
Or at least, that's the question that comes to mind.
But this girl has a bit of a story.
The headquarters of Alchemist, a top-tier alchemy corporation, is located right here in The Ark.
She was one of the test subjects in an experiment conducted there using the corpse of a high-ranking Magic Beast.
To put it simply, that project was a complete disaster.
Everything used in the tests went berserk, leading to a mass breakout of test subjects; Alchemist claimed they successfully neutralized or captured every single one, but in reality, one subject is still missing.
Based on the 'Witch's Past' arc, she doesn't have much more combat power than an ordinary person at this point, so as long as I have a weapon, taking her down shouldn't be too hard.
And if she has already started growing, just selling her location would be quite profitable.
Since they're one of the biggest companies in the world, I might be able to get a very useful Artifact or even find a powerful backer if I'm lucky.
The only reason Alchemist hasn't found her is that she was the only success, allowing her to take human form; if they knew that, they could find her on their own.
If I really can't find her, I'll just trade the information before the Pure White Witch appears.
Now that I have a goal, my mind feels a bit clearer.
"Well, there's no guarantee I'll find her, but searching for the witch is the best option compared to doing nothing until school starts."
The downside is that I don't know where she is and only know her appearance from the few illustrations in the novel, but it's better than having no goal at all.
Plus, while wandering around, I might even cross paths with some of the original main characters.
Even for an artificial island, The Ark is quite massive.
If my memory serves me right, it was slightly smaller than my home country.
Naturally, not everyone here possesses a Stigma; many people moved here as a speculative investment, betting on the possibility of reclaiming the land.
The titles used to praise the protagonist enrolling this year are honestly cringeworthy.
Since things are destined to fall apart both here and on the other continents, and the protagonist's continent holds out the longest, the name 'The Ark' is quite fitting.
In that sense, do the residents here actually have some kind of foresight?
I continued my stroll.
It was more of an effort to familiarize myself with the geography.
I could get anywhere by pinning a location on my phone, but it's always better to memorize the area around your home.
That was when I spotted an unexpected creature.
"I wonder if someone brought a cat to this artificial island and then abandoned or lost it."
It didn't look well-groomed and had no collar, so it seemed like a typical stray.
Meow—
A white cat let out a cry.
Nothing happened.
Well, whether there was a cat or not didn't really matter.
I decided to keep going.
Meow—
It seemed I had gained an unintentional companion.
I decided to ignore it.
Next stop: the Training Ground.
***
I wasted a considerable amount of time getting lost on my way to the Training Ground, but at least I got to explore the neighborhood!
"I'm definitely using the map next time."
How did a twenty-minute walk turn into two and a half hours of wandering?
Meow—
And this little guy had been following me for the entire two and a half hours.
I opened the door to the Training Ground and stepped inside, closing it behind me.
"Stay there, kitty. I'm heading in."
The cat watched me through the glass door, so I gave it a smile before heading further inside.
I looked around the area.
I had hoped I might run into one of the main characters, but there wasn't a single familiar face; only people I'd never seen in the illustrations greeted me.
It was disappointing, but expected. Most of the main cast are said to arrive on the day of the entrance ceremony. Until then, it's likely only extras whose names are never mentioned are around.
Leaving my disappointment behind, I walked over to a kiosk.
I changed the language and proceeded with the sign-up.
First came the identity verification via phone, then various steps to claim the Academy student discount, and finally, inserting my Student ID.
My only takeaway was that no matter the world, signing up for a membership is always the same tedious chore.
But actually, this is the main event.
I opened the door to a private training room and stepped inside.
Hologram Training.
A system I couldn't have even dreamed of in my original world.
Thanks to student and new member benefits, the price was absurdly cheap, practically the price of a karaoke room at a thousand won per hour.
How on earth could hologram training be only a thousand won an hour?
Since I'd already handled the settings during sign-up, I just had to hit the start button to begin.
If I could use magic, I would've had to configure that too, which would've taken forever; in a way, not being able to use magic was a plus.
As soon as I pressed start, an array of various weapons and a timer appeared before me.
I picked up a two-handed sword.
"Ugh..."
It was heavy.
"Wow, it's a hologram but I can actually feel the weight. I guess this is the synergy of magic and science."
I set the two-handed sword back down and picked up a one-handed sword instead.
Yeah, a sword is the way to go in a fantasy world.
As the timer hit zero, the other weapons vanished into light, and a small, humanoid creature appeared before me.
If the goblins I'd seen in other novels actually existed, I imagine they'd look exactly like this.
I gripped the sword in one hand and held it vertically in front of my face.
Heh...
I'd always wanted to try that pose knights strike on webtoon covers or novel illustrations.
The goblin, watching me, lunged forward with a dagger.
I shifted my grip to two hands and blocked the incoming strike.
Shring—
My sword and the goblin's dagger collided with a grating metallic screech, the blade sliding down until it hit my crossguard.
In an instant, I pushed back with all my might, forcing the goblin to lose its balance and stumble.
Seizing the moment, I kicked the goblin's lower body; the small creature, no bigger than a child, couldn't withstand the blow and collapsed.
"Done."
I flipped the sword into a reverse grip and plunged it straight down into the fallen goblin.
The sensation traveling up the blade felt unpleasant.
"They even made the pointless details realistic."
Frowning, I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
"Still, it's a sensation I'll have to get used to."
Just as the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, this was a feeling I simply had to accept, no matter how repulsive.
[next level]
Before I could shake off the unpleasantness, a mechanical voice rang out.
"Two of them now?"
The single goblin had been replaced by two.
"Alright, bring it on."
Hehe, this is actually fun.