This Is What an Academy Is (2)

During break, while everyone awkwardly introduced themselves to one another, I succeeded magnificently at being alone. Exactly as planned. Thanks to completely tanking my first impression, not a single person approached me.

The surroundings were noisy, but that much was nothing a little mana sealing my ears couldn’t fix.

This absurdly vast stretch of land was all treated as a designated zone, so both skills and mana could be freely used inside the academy. Malicious or reckless use would get you disciplined by the student council or the disciplinary committee, but something this minor was fine.

The moment I stirred my mana to block my ears, someone interfered with the flow and disrupted it. At that disgustingly familiar mana wavelength I scowled hard and lifted my bowed head.

“You out of your mind?”

“That’s my line, you know?”

The protagonist wearing a dubious expression, Ban Taewung, held out a drink to me. I glared at him once, sighed, and straightened my back. Sleep was out of the question now.

“Thanks.”

“Pay me back later with melon flavor.”

The drink he’d handed over had a grotesque picture of a burly man wringing a cow like a wet rag, with the zesty slogan Scrush! —Milk Flavor— printed on the surface. The color was strawberry-milk pink, which only made it weirder.

Pssht! Click!

The bizarre packaging set a high barrier to entry, yet once you tried it the taste was strangely good—so addictive that people who got hooked would head straight for this product first whenever they entered a convenience store. The flavor was like smooth zero-calorie cola with a sweet milk aftertaste and a savory finish.

Gulp, gulp.

Everything else was more or less the same as my previous life, so this was pretty much the only thing worth drinking in place of alcohol. Close your eyes, tell yourself this is makgeolli, and it actually felt pretty close.

“Haa…”

“What’s got you so pissy?”

Confirming I’d drunk it, Ban Taewung casually struck up conversation. Yeah, why was I like this?

Probably because nothing ever went the way I wanted. The world was garbage. Fuck. I just wanted to quit everything and rest, but that wasn’t an option. Swallowing every last one of those feelings, I shot him a sour look.

“Because of you, you bastard.”

“Ehh… Did I mess up again?”

“Not right now. You’re planning to later, though.”

“Hey, then it’s not my fault yet!”

The guy’s expression changed way too easily for a man. Good-looking face, solid build, decent talk after I’d drilled him, and rich reactions—if he’d gone into entertainment in my previous life he would’ve been a smash hit.

I’d approached him with impure motives, but the bad karma had already stretched over ten years. We bickered constantly yet still got along well enough to last this long. True to being a protagonist, his basic personality was solid, so I’d been able to accept him without much trouble.

Of course—who do you think remodeled this protagonist?

Grind.

While I was thinking useless thoughts, the sound of teeth grinding came from the other side. Ignoring the clown act happening right in front of me, I slid my gaze sideways. Heroine Number One of the protagonist’s harem, the chaebol second-generation, was staring at me and grinding her teeth.

A classic young-lady type with the beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes that appeared in 99 percent of heroines. You could call it old-fashioned, but it had shown up so often and been loved so steadily that it kept coming back.

Looking at a girl like that, strangely enough, I felt nothing. Not because I was impotent—just not my type. My type was a glamorous older sister with curves in all the right places; this one, no matter how generously you looked, was just a milk-scented demure lady. Especially the midsection looked so underdeveloped that I felt even less. Still, she was one of the few secret weapons that could shut up the noisy bastard in front of me.

Sorry, past me. I really didn’t want to use this method if I could help it… I jabbed Ban Taewung’s shoulder with a finger and jerked my chin toward the back.

“Hey. Your wife’s staring at you.”

“W-wife?!”

“…!!”

The two of them locked eyes at the same time, repeated my words as if chewing them over, then both flushed bright red and dropped their heads. The whole sequence lined up so perfectly it looked rehearsed.

“Um…”

“Uh…”

Whoosh!

They both opened their mouths at once and their words overlapped. Embarrassed all over again, they both blushed harder and hung their heads.

At the sight of them looking ready to stay like that for years if left alone, a sigh escaped me on its own.

Fuck my eyes.

In an instant the atmosphere around us went so pink that hearts were practically floating, and my hands and feet curled in secondhand embarrassment. If you like someone, just confess, smash lips, and share some Chex Choco—what the hell was this performance?

Never mind the insane woman who, the moment their eyes met, was already fantasizing about marriage, rabbit-like kids, and a happy old age—watching a fully grown man shuffle around and giggle like an idiot made me want to throw up. The sweet-and-sour flavor unique to a not-quite-relationship had long since crossed the limit and just gone sour. Sour.

Look at that—the kids nearby were either clamping their mouths shut or furrowing their brows like they’d just bitten into an ice cream headache.

When mutual crush deteriorated this badly it was already at the level of madness. The purest kind of madness, at that.

“Ptoo, ptoo.”

Even the saliva pooling in my mouth suddenly tasted astringent, so I spat and shook my tongue. I was the one who’d created this atmosphere, but I wanted it broken as soon as possible. So I suddenly spoke to the protagonist.

“Hey, what electives are you taking?”

“Huh? Uh, I’m thinking swordsmanship and exploration for now.”

Sunrise Academy’s classes were divided into three types: required, elective, and joint. Required classes were handled by the homeroom teacher, electives by outside professors brought in as guests, and joint classes by both at once. Think of required classes as high-school lessons with fixed schedules, electives as university courses where you pick only what you need, and joint classes as school-wide events.

“Ohhh? Swordsmanship and exploration, huh?”

At my words the blonde who’d been pricking up her ears behind us flinched and started glaring at me. What, you got a problem? Hurry up and leave, go correct your exploration application. I openly shooed her away with a wave of my hand.

Knowing her personality, she’d have taken one look at exploration, decided it was sweaty and exhausting, and chosen something else. Probably socializing or tea-party classes. To inherit the family business you needed as many connections and as much talent information as possible, and as a bonus you could sit still and drink tea and eat snacks—of course she’d prefer that side.

I’d been watching that girl trail after Ban Taewung since elementary school. Counting the years it was about four or five. Watch someone that long and you learn things whether you want to or not.

Grind!

Under my gaze the girl ground her teeth again and left the spot. I wondered if any teeth would be left at this rate. Ah, she was rich, so she could just get regenerative treatment—no problem then?

“What?”

“Nothing. There was a bug.”

At my words he went “Oh?” and glanced around, then suddenly shifted his gaze to me.

“So what are you taking, Sinwoo?”

“Monster Studies, Summoning.”

I had to grow at least enough to keep my own body safe, so I had no choice but to take things related to my job. Being a guy in his prime, even if I wanted to stay uninterested in this stuff I still ended up drifting toward it.

“Yeah? Then I’ll take Monster Studies too. You take Exploration with me, yeah?”

“Take it together my ass. Why would I?”

“Aw, come on, let’s do it togetherrrr~ You’ve been so cold lately. We never have time. If our classes overlap we’ll see each other whether we like it or not, right? If we’re lucky we even get put in the same group—perfect, yeah?”

I was cold because the girls around him were checking me, and we never had time because he was out playing with girls. Of course I didn’t blame him. If I were given the choice between hanging with a guy or hanging with girls I’d pick the latter every time.

I actually thought it was fortunate. True to being a protagonist, getting involved with this guy meant endless incidents and accidents. They happened for sure even if I had nothing to do with them.

Last vacation of elementary school, while one person was smashing his head against research in the lab, the other got swept into a kidnapping on the street and filmed an escape movie with the young lady who was with him. There was no way those days hadn’t been full of lovey-dovey moments.

As someone who’d watched in real time as the all-boys middle school he was supposed to enter turned into a private co-ed school in just three days, I had no choice but to acknowledge it. This bastard was the real deal. Drop him in the middle of nowhere and he’d still link arms with the Amazons of the jungle and stroll into the city.

All I could do was give up on understanding. Fucking protagonist buff.

“…Haa, fine.”

“Oh? Ohhhh? Why’d you fold so easy?”

“Because I can’t stand listening to you whine, you fucker.”

I said that, but there was a high chance that no matter how much I refused and threw a fit I’d still end up in the same classes as him. The world was already moving with this guy at the center. I’d felt that even more strongly since entering the academy.

“I knew it—you’re my only real friend!”

“He says it’s fine even if I curse him out…”

Watching him start laughing “haha” with the brightest smile in the world left me speechless. All I’d ever done was grind him hard or help a little, yet he treated it like the greatest treasure.

And that’s why the girls check me.

Does that even make sense? Friends can stick close and mess around a bit. For that I get every kind of bullshit thrown at me. When someone asked if we were gay I seriously wanted to rip that bitch’s mouth open. Jealousy really is a great sin that blinds people.

I sincerely prayed the protagonist bastard wouldn’t get stabbed in the gut walking down some street and die a dog’s death. I’d raised him while holding back the urge to vomit; if he died somewhere I didn’t know it would really piss me off.

Ding-dong-ding-dong~ Ding-dong-ding-dong~

The bell signaling the end of break rang right on time. I poked the guy’s side a few times and sent him to his seat.

Rumble.

The murmuring classroom quieted and everyone took their seats. The front door opened and Hong Su-ah walked in. The content was, of course, course registration. On the paper she handed over I wrote Monster Studies, Summoning, and—because of the protagonist’s pick—Exploration as well.

We had devices, the crystallization of insane technology, so I still didn’t understand why they used paper documents like this. After filling out future hopes and a simple personality test along with the course registration and submitting it, Hong Su-ah nodded and accepted it.

“That’s all for today’s class. Starting tomorrow we begin regular lessons, so check your schedules through the app.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

And that was the end of the day. It had been really tiring. I needed to get to my room and rest. Originally this free time was meant for exploring the campus or checking out clubs you were interested in, but to me it was nothing more and nothing less than rest time.

Outside, the campus was quieter than I’d expected. Of course it was. The only reason things were this loose right now was because we were first-years. The second-years were probably already being worked hard to check their growth over the vacation. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The fact that I’d have to go through that next year made the future look a little bleak. No—I didn’t even need to wait until next year; starting tomorrow I’d be worked like crazy.

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, they’d said there was a separate research wing. When annoying things came up it would be convenient to know the path in advance so I could run away easily. I opened the academy app on my device and pulled up the map. The research wing was… next to the library?

I knew the library; I’d seen it on the way to the auditorium for the entrance ceremony. As I walked and looked around, it really sank in that I’d fallen into a world completely detached from reality.

“Damn, it’s huge.”

Running a school on the scale of a city was ridiculous to begin with. Just hiring managers alone would cost hundreds of millions. Were they even able to fill the manpower?

The path to the research wing was landscaped like a tree-lined promenade. Even though it was a fairly wide space it was clean, so there were probably separate people managing it too.

Rattle.

“Locked?”

The research wing door was firmly locked. Peeking through the window, it looked like there wasn’t a single person inside. The interior was neither too big nor too small—just right. No dust or dirt, yet it didn’t even have the unique warmth of a place people actually used.

I could get a key later, but the complete absence of people was a little strange. Thinking carefully, Professor Yoon had said there was one for now. Maybe it had been abandoned or half-neglected because they couldn’t conduct proper activities. Or maybe they’d been kicked out for failing to produce research results.

Well, this was a world where the mystery of status windows existed right out in the open. When the results of your effort were quantified in real time and you got instant feedback, few people would invest time in headache-inducing work. Unless your job was research-related, selling byproducts from beating monsters was more profitable—that was the reality of this society.

This place was supposed to be where you could find opportunities that didn’t exist elsewhere, yet coming all the way here just to bury yourself in brain-melting research was weird too. Probably just a space built for show, to look like they were giving people a chance.

Even better.

That meant I could monopolize the place by myself, right? Absolute jackpot. Finished with my check, I immediately turned my steps toward the dorms. It felt like I might finally get a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while.

The next day, as notified in advance, we gathered not in the classroom but at the First Arena. An arena the size of three World Cup stadiums stuck together staged the spectacle of roughly three thousand first-years gathered in one place.

First period was a joint class—meaning the entire first year took it together. At the center of the arena seven teachers stood in a line, and in the middle Hong Su-ah, in charge of Class S, stepped up onto the platform as representative to begin the lesson.

“We will now begin ability practice. Today’s goal continues until you can handle the abilities you possess as if they were your own hands and feet. The method is entirely free; the sooner you finish, the freer you may use the remaining time.”

At the words “free time” the kids in the arena brightened. But it didn’t take long for that mood to plummet into the abyss.

“However. If you leave this arena, it will be considered that you are abandoning all future classes and you will be expelled immediately. Failing to put in effort even after class has started is likewise grounds for expulsion. If you cannot do it, make yourselves able. Monsters and criminals will not wait for your incompetence.”

Sparta. The word rose unbidden. But as history proved, if you could just survive to the end you would become the finest warrior. There was a reason Sunrise Academy was called the world’s greatest academy. Graduate and a job is guaranteed? The opposite. They raised you so thoroughly that you could be thrown onto the front lines at any time, which was why you could get hired right away.

What the world needed was not greenhouse flowers or pretty decorations, but warriors and weapons that could be used anytime, anywhere.

“All of today’s classes will be conducted here. If you need something, ask the teaching staff. If you need a zone, they will raise a barrier and create a personal field; if you want a spar, they will prepare a sparring ground. Water trucks, meal trucks, and toilets are all set up inside the arena, so don’t even think about tricks—just diligently attend class.”

“Yeeees…”

Drawn-out voices overlapped. Completely sealing every escape route in advance didn’t look like something they’d only done once or twice… Well, since it happened once a year without fail, the academy side had probably made a separate manual for this sort of thing.

I’m on the summoning side, so…

I already knew from prior information roughly how summoning worked. I was the party involved, so of course I’d researched it. Most summoner skills were flashy, so there was a lot of performance video material left; gathering data itself had been easy.

Wonder if they’ll prepare animals for summoning too.

What summoning required was a firm image and understanding. For example, to summon a specific structure you had to instantly synthesize every piece of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠information—its weight, the materials used in its construction, the method of casting—into one whole. If that axis was even slightly off, the summoned object would come out warped or as a defective product that couldn’t display its proper effect.

Unlike other jobs, because of its magic-like peculiarity, summoner was also the job for which the saying “knowledge is power” fit best.

I checked my status window for the first time in a while. No special chant or shout needed. Just wanting it in my mind made it appear in my field of vision whenever I wished.

No matter how many times I looked, the way it leaned more toward the sub-job than the main one was a pleasant sight. Still, for a starting point this level wasn’t bad. Considering that the only skills I’d gained upon awakening were Book of Summoning and Taming, this was truly remarkable progress. Back then my stats hadn’t been this high either. After gazing for a moment at the product of effort that wasn’t quite effort, I immediately approached Hong Su-ah.

“What is it?”

She spotted me and spoke before I could even open my mouth. It might have felt a bit cold, but I actually preferred it this way. Skipping greetings and empty formalities and going straight to the point—total favorite. Was this the eye-level education I’d only heard about? The academic standards of the academy were truly terrifying.

“If needed, can animals be prepared as well?”

“A contract?”

“No. For information gathering. I plan to challenge as far as I can with Taming first, but if that’s not enough I’m also prepared to kill and dissect them.”

“I see…”

Summoners were broadly defined into two types. One was “summoning” that paid a price to an existing entity, formed a contract, and called it to one’s side based on that contract. The other was “summoning” that created a familiar from scratch through mana and called it forth.

In the former case, fine adjustments of numbers and such weren’t needed at the conception stage; as long as a deal was struck with the contract target, simply pouring in mana afterward was enough for success. It was closer to narrowing the pathway created at the time of contract and teleporting the entity. Because even a little self-awareness was required in the designated target, it couldn’t be used on inorganic matter, and the higher the cost of the designated target, the more violently mana was consumed. In a sense it was the usage that most matched the word “summoning.”

Conversely, the latter case meant everything from start to finish rested in your own hands. That was why overwhelming information about the entity was needed at the conception stage. Once you succeeded in creating it, from that moment the familiar was treated as a summoned beast and became part of the skill, so it could be summoned quickly with little mana. The downside was simply that the information-gathering period until success was ridiculously long.

Unlike the former, which could change contract targets to match the situation, the latter became bound to the skill the moment it was made, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so without evolution it was hard to change the entity and the range of choices could narrow.

Both had merits, but personally I preferred the latter. With the former, if some incident caused trouble with the entity and the contract broke, that was the end. You had the hassle of finding a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠new contract target, and even if you found one you might lack the mana for the contract to form. Of course building bonds supposedly let you display power beyond original capability or reduce mana cost on summoning through systemic support, but even including that it was annoying.

The latter was different. Being treated as a skill meant the downside of having to raise it from Lv 1, but from the initial stage you could customize it in the direction you wanted, and depending on the case you could even achieve unique evolutions. Above all, because it was a skill there was no need to worry about potty training or meal costs. The biggest reason was that it could never betray me, and even if it died, as long as I had mana I could revive it with only a level-down penalty.

That was the point I valued most. Contracts, the higher you went, the more unnecessarily strong the self became, and if things went wrong they might take the risk of forcibly breaking the contract and running off on their own. The danger exposed by that fell entirely on the summoner. In that regard, something that absolutely obeyed my commands, could be used as a discard piece when necessary, and could be replenished anytime was an enormous merit in this insane world where dying at any moment wouldn’t be strange.

“Illusions won’t be possible. Do you have a preferred entity?”

Whether she’d accurately grasped my intent or not, Hong Su-ah immediately threw out a proposal, and I was sincerely impressed. Ah, why hadn’t there been an educator like you in my previous life?

“What’s the fastest one you can prepare?”

“Hmm…”

Trailing off, Hong Su-ah looked around once and nodded. What was she looking at? The moment I glanced away, her figure vanished. The spot where she’d been standing until just now was cracked as if it had been bombed.

BOOM!!

The delayed noise and wind made my bangs whip wildly. I raised an arm to block the flying gravel and dust.

“Cough, cough!”

I waved my hand to scatter what remained in the air. Then I saw Hong Su-ah descending lightly from the sky. Whoa, fuck. What the hell did I just see?

A person flew. Without any preparatory motion she just stomped and soared into the sky. And I couldn’t even see it. Was this real life or a comic? Ah, right—this was another world. I didn’t know whether the original was a novel, game, or comic, but I was seriously starting to worry that when power inflation hit later the Earth might literally get cut in half.

Thanks to the insane superpower called skills, environmental pollution was less than in my previous life, but now it was going to hurt physically! Earth, I’m so fucking sorry!!

Tap.

A light landing that contrasted with the departure. In her hands five unconscious crows were strung together like dried fish, twitching. She held the spoils out to me proudly like a child showing off her catch and exhaled a little snort through her nose.

“Will this do?”

“…Yes, more than enough. If I need more later I’ll ask separately.”

“Strive to achieve good results.”

With that, Hong Su-ah handed me the dried fish—no, the crows—and left.

…First I should find something to improve these guys’ moods.

I bought a few loaves of bread from the snack stand and walked to a quiet spot away from the protagonist’s group. Already exhausted before even starting. I’m tired. So tired.