3
Chapter 3
Estella and I parted ways since we belonged to different departments.
Even if we were in the same one, I intended to separate anyway; staying with her for too long would draw too much attention, for better or worse.
I opened the classroom door and looked around, spotting a few people already inside.
"Looking at this, it feels like I'm at some college freshman orientation."
Naturally, none of the people I'd seen in the illustrations were here.
To be honest, I had hoped, but I half-expected this result.
I simply took a random seat in the back.
Perhaps because I arrived early, people gradually began to swarm into the room.
If I had arrived any later, I might have been seen with Estella and dragged into some annoying drama.
I was just watching the students enter and letting my mind wander.
"Hey, get lost. Why is some loser sitting here?"
I guess there are half-baked idiots everywhere.
I wonder how some people can reach adulthood and still act like children.
Maybe adulthood shouldn't be determined by age, but by a maturity test issued by the state.
"Hey, ignoring me? You think you're on our level just because your Stigma manifested?"
Can you even call someone a human when they pick fights with complete strangers like this?
In truth, if I just ignored him and gave up the seat, nothing might have happened.
[When someone acts like a jerk, give it back tenfold.]
However, my internal family motto—one I just made up—would not allow that.
"Why the hell are you picking a fight? Just take an empty seat. Are you that desperate to cause trouble on the first day?"
The guy's face turned bright red, and he cursed as he grabbed my collar and yanked me up.
If his face had turned red for any reason other than anger, my danger sensors would have gone off, but he was obviously just pissed.
He was the kind of type I'd encountered a few times back in school.
As the noise in the back grew, people's attention began to shift toward us.
"This piece of shit wants to die."
The moment the spotlight hit him, his actions were predetermined by his need to save face.
And I, possessed by my new motto, also had my actions set.
"Hey. Can't you speak without cursing? Why is every single word salted with a swear? Did you sleep through language arts? Is your vocabulary that pathetic? Actually, you probably skipped school entirely. Every time the teacher called, you probably said, 'Oh, I'm feeling a bit sick today, so I'll be absent.' Not realizing the only thing actually hurting was your parents' hearts watching you."
"Seriously, back in high school, losers like you wouldn't even dare look me in the eye. Because you didn't want to die. Now everyone thinks they can climb over me."
He tried to sound nonchalant, but I could feel his rage through the shaking of his fists.
I tried to pry his hand off my collar, but he didn't budge.
As expected, my body is just that of an ordinary person without a single buff.
But I'm a consistent guy, so that doesn't change how I act.
"Wow, is that something to brag about? Do you relive your high school glory days before bed, giggling about how other kids were too scared to look you in the eye? Can't you hear a voice somewhere? 'My son, why did you grow up like this? I didn't want to raise you this way.' Can't you hear your parents' tears falling? Please, for the love of god, grow up."
Laughter erupted from the surrounding students, and the guy's face grew even redder.
"Wait, do your parents make traffic lights? Because your face is literally a signal. Red light! Don't you think it's about time you turned green?"
"You little shit!"
The guy attempted to swing a punch at me.
I reflexively closed my eyes.
But the fist never actually reached my face.
It wasn't that I'd acted without thinking.
In this world, there are people called Heroes. Simply put, they're top-tier talent in their respective fields.
And some of them are here at the Academy.
Actually, I probably would have come here anyway.
"What's going on here?"
Even though I already knew exactly what was happening, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.
This was a staggering amount of killing intent.
An aura so thick it brought everyone in the room to a complete standstill.
I'd never experienced anything like this before, but the instinctive threat to my life made me realize why novels and manga describe people trembling in the face of such bloodlust.
I turned my head toward the source of the pressure.
The other students must have felt it too, because the noisy classroom fell into a sudden, heavy silence.
Standing there was a beautiful woman with black hair.
The others might not have known who she was, but I did.
Fighting through my fear, I forced my frozen lips to move.
"Professor Kim Hye-ra, I'd love to explain the situation, but it's a bit hard when someone is clutching my collar."
My voice broke the silence and opened the floor for conversation.
As she approached, the guy's grip on my collar slackened, unable to withstand the pressure, and my feet hit the floor.
As she drew closer, the killing intent felt like it was physically piercing me, sending cold sweat down my spine.
But I had nothing to be intimidated by.
Honestly, wasn't this entirely the fault of the guy in front of me?
"Explain yourself."
Her cold voice drifted through the air.
It wasn't loud, but the classroom was so quiet that there wasn't a single person who didn't hear her.
"Yes, I'll explain what happened. First off, I was sitting right here."
I said this as I pulled out the chair and sat down.
"Since there was some time left before orientation began, I was just looking around to see who else was here. Then, this student started swearing at me and told me to get out of the seat."
I pointed toward the frozen thug.
"As you can see, there's nothing on this desk to indicate it belongs to anyone in particular. Classrooms are assigned by department, but seating is open, and the desk is empty. So, I saw no reason to move and told him to just find another empty seat instead of picking a fight."
I didn't know much from the original story, but I wasn't completely in the dark.
I just needed to tell the truth.
Once I finished, she turned her gaze toward the paralyzed thug.
"Is this true? I'd appreciate an honest answer. I don't care for lies."
Even I, standing beside him, felt a chill run down my spine. I couldn't even imagine how the guy standing directly in front of her felt.
And the words that came out of his mouth were...
"N-no, it's not."
He lied.
I really don't get people like him.
She looked at the other students.
"Whose story is the truth?"
She asked, even though she'd likely witnessed the whole thing.
The atmosphere lightened slightly.
She had withdrawn some of the killing intent she'd released.
Perhaps because the tension had eased?
The expression of the idiot in front of me improved.
It was as if he were certain of what the other students would say.
Contrary to his expectations, however, the others raised their hands, confirming my story.
He probably assumed they'd take his side, as they always had in the past. Being a former school bully who had now manifested a Stigma, his ego must have been through the roof.
But this wasn't his high school anymore.
No one here knew him or cared if he was "scary."
Furthermore, the aura of intimidation he tried to build through his looks and behavior had been completely dismantled when I made him a laughingstock. He no longer seemed like someone to be feared.
Besides, everyone here had manifested a Stigma. At the Academy, a Stigma isn't something special—it's the norm. Yet, everyone believes they are unique.
In a place where everyone is dreaming of their own success story, no one welcomes someone who tries to push others down just to stand on top.
His face crumbled.
The killing intent that had been spread out vanished and concentrated on a single point.
He began to tremble like a leaf.
Consumed by fear, his legs gave out, and he collapsed.
And then, his pants slowly became damp.
"Ugh... how gross."
Whispers broke out among the students.
He spoke in a trembling voice.
"Wait... I'll... I'll clean it..."
Suddenly, the lights went out.
Confused shouts echoed from every corner of the room.
When the lights flickered back on,
the spot where he had been was completely empty.
"The atmosphere has become far too heavy. Especially for the first day of orientation."
She spoke with a bright, thin smile.
She didn't seem to realize that her smile only terrified the other students more.
Of course, I was scared shitless too.
"Professor, the fact that you're smiling in this situation is terrifying."
Hearing my words, she paused her stride for a moment.
"Ahem, is that so? Then perhaps an icebreaker... Let's see, who is someone who lives by leaching off others?"
It was such an obvious icebreaker that even Luna—who was probably lounging at home right now, wondering how to open the pet food I'd hidden—would have seen through it.
"The Professor?"
Sorry. I just couldn't help myself.
Maybe because of the previous incident, some students seemed even more frightened, while a few others chuckled.
"Wrong! That was a trick question. Though I do do that sometimes. Now, anyone else want to guess?"
I should correct myself; everyone seemed more terrified now. Her expressionless face made it even worse.
She continued to ramble about various things to thaw the frozen atmosphere.
Fortunately, her efforts paid off, and things eventually settled enough to proceed with the orientation.
And so, the orientation began.
The professor played a video.
I recalled reading that orientation was originally handled by individual professors, but because so many of them were unstable, it was replaced by a recorded message from the Chancellor.
The reason I remember such useless information is...
"First, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our proud freshmen. As students of this Academy, you will receive the education and training necessary to protect the world from various calamities and monsters. Every part of our curriculum has a purpose, so do not neglect even the tasks that seem trivial. If you give your absolute best, those experiences will accumulate and become the source of your strength and power. In the coming..."
When I first saw that the first chapter was 25,000 characters long, I wondered why the hell it was so bloated, only to realize that 20,000 of those characters were just the Chancellor's speech.
And now, here I am, actually listening to it.