So This Is What an Academy Is
Confirming we were finally drawing near the hall, I checked the buttons on my cuffs again. As if on cue, a mirror slid into place right in front of me so I could inspect my appearance.
Do limos these days come with features like this? No—more likely the woman sitting across from me was simply that competent a servant, and had prepared everything in advance.
Whether I wanted to or not, my reflection stared back at me.
Black hair and black eyes—a combination that somehow felt more fantastical than fantasy itself. When mana stirred with emotion, a faint crimson that was normally hidden beneath the black would layer over it and glow softly. The tips of my hair carried a similar reddish tint, but it was faint enough that you wouldn’t notice unless I stood under bright sunlight. Only my eyes, steeped so deeply in mana’s influence, took on the color of blood that had blackened just before death.
My usually messy bangs, which I left half-covering my perpetually foul-tempered eyes, had been styled and swept halfway to the side and back, fixed in place by shadows. What should have been done with wax I had replaced with temporary control of my mana, simply because cleaning up afterward was too much of a hassle.
“Haa…”
“Is something not to your liking, sir?”
“…No. Just annoying.”
Honestly, I hadn’t wanted to come to a place this noisy at all. But if I admitted anything was wrong, the servant in front of me would stop the car on the spot and keep changing my clothes until I found something I liked. She’d already done exactly that at the hospital.
Of course, not a single one of those suits had pleased me. I’d specifically asked for something as plain and understated as possible, yet every single piece that came out looked like it belonged on royalty or a prince—lavish embroidery and jewels everywhere. Clearly my orders had gone in one ear and out the other.
Like master, like servant. She didn’t listen either.
If the designs had simply been overdone and ugly, I could have cursed them out. But the fit was perfect, the designs were flashy, and somehow they suited me just well enough to make me even more irritated.
The source was, of course, Made in Lord—or rather, the clothing brand owned by Lee Se-rin’s conglomerate. Its full name was Lord’s Lair, which literally meant “the sovereign’s den.” In other words, she had founded the company as a glorified wardrobe for her own bedroom.
Naturally, the clothes had to match that level, and the results had been a resounding success. Satisfied, Se-rin had dumped the products onto the market for the simplest of reasons: the outfits Awakened wore all looked the same, and she found it boring to look at.
That was how the company began handling gear for Awakened as well, rising to the ranks of a first-class enterprise. It even carried the certification mark of a Transcendent. Design, performance—nothing half-hearted could even dream of competing.
In this world, Awakened were both saviors who protected society and the leading commodities of the modern mana industry. Either way, they had to stand out. The current trend favored flashy yet professional costumes that emphasized uniqueness over the skintight hero suits of old movies. Only then could you stay memorable—and survive—in this market.
Lord’s Lair was one of the companies Se-rin had casually carved out after absorbing others late in the game, but because it had started by filling Awakened needs so quickly, it had integrated into society faster than most. In less than a decade, a custom-made costume from Lord’s Lair had become something of a bucket-list achievement for Awakened.
And yet the one actually wearing it—me—found it nothing but uncomfortable.
I knew full well how spoiled that sounded. In games, player skill mattered, but the gear a character wore contributed to victory too. That was only true in games, though. I was different.
Was it because relying on something like this felt like depending on others, and my instincts rejected it? Honestly, wrapping myself in shadows filled with my own mana seemed far safer.
That thought must have shown clearly on my face, because the servant who had been quietly holding her tongue finally spoke.
“For your reference, the young lady said: ‘Even that precious mana of yours couldn’t stop it, so just wear it quietly.’”
“…Ah. Is that so.”
Sudden circumstances. Insufficient mana. Plenty of excuses, but the result had been what it was, so I shut my mouth. I’d thought I’d landed a hit, only to get smacked in the back of the head later. How did she never lose even once? Seriously…
So this is how she’s going to play it?
Even in the dream, and throughout every conversation since, I had been sending signals. If she didn’t like me getting dragged into trouble, she should just handle it herself. My intention had been for her to keep me out of annoying messes. Apparently she had decided instead to focus on making sure I didn’t get hurt while rolling around in them.
The moment I put on Lord’s Lair clothing, the answer had already been clear. It was no different from hearing her say to my face that as long as I didn’t get injured, she would enjoy watching me get tossed around as much as she liked.
Fine. Whatever. This world being insane wasn’t new. But why did my tastes have to match hers too?
A plain suit like the ones security wore would have been fine, but then came the excuses: it wouldn’t look dignified, it would make the young lady look bad if the Association looked down on her. Bit by bit they dragged me further from what I actually wanted.
The suit I was wearing now was the least uncomfortable and least flashy one I had managed to pick after endless selection. Suits themselves sat at the opposite end of comfort, so no matter how much mobility they built in, they still felt stifling.
What I hated wasn’t just the clothes. It was the whole package—being forced into makeup and shoved into this bothersome place. All of it together.
“…By the way, how long are you planning to follow me?”
“I have been ordered by the young lady to remain at the outer master’s side for the entire day.”
“Who the hell is the ‘outer master’? I’ll rip that mouth of yours open. Correct it. Now.”
She was cursing like it was the most natural thing in the world. I was a living embodiment of gender equality. Once I decided something, I followed through. Did people really think moral concepts still existed in a world that had already collapsed once? Man or woman, child or elder—point a gun at their head and pull the trigger, and everyone went out the same way.
Where the hell had she even learned outdated terms like “outer master”? A dictionary? Was this the standard in this world? I truly could not figure out the era’s sensibilities.
“Oh my. Did you not know?”
At my thoroughly furrowed brow she blinked as if genuinely surprised, then made a slightly troubled face and operated the device installed in the car, turning the screen toward me.
“…What the hell is this?”
Just looking at the dizzying string of headlines made me lose the courage to read any further.
“The young lady said she wanted to show off that the outer master belongs to her.”
“This fucking—”
After everything I’d been through with that woman, it absolutely was not some emotional reason. I would admit her possessiveness was severe, but that was more like attachment to her belongings. She would never handle things this way. If anything, she would have controlled the information before articles like this ever circulated, precisely because she hated sharing the spotlight on me.
The excuse that “this way will be more fun” fit her far better. But if that wasn’t it? Then there was only one answer. I would bet anything this was pure spite. Just because she had bitten my lip in a dream and seen my flustered face, she was throwing this entire circus.
“Ha…!”
I was so dumbfounded I could barely speak. No wonder there had been a ridiculous crowd of people and reporters in front of the hospital. I had assumed some lunatic had caused an accident and gone into hiding. Turns out the lunatic was me.
All because Se-rin had waved around an “engagement certificate” with my name and a thumbprint stamped right on it. I had nearly choked asking when she had even taken my print, only to realize later that forging something like that was as easy for her as breathing. No need to cut off a thumb or track someone down—just copy their appearance and transform.
The photos in the articles were properly mosaicked, of course, but obtaining the original leaked versions wouldn’t be hard. Her wiki was being updated in real time, and the fiancé section already included my name. A photo of me standing outside with her yesterday was already posted. Information about me was spreading far too quickly.
…She was leaking it on purpose. Once the spotlight focused like this, people would dig even harder for anything they could find on me. I wouldn’t even need to go far—walking into the party hall would prove it. Among those who stood out even a little, finding anyone who wasn’t from a major family or corporation would be the harder task.
Besides the children of various company owners, people targeting Se-rin and the Dragonia Group she ruled would swarm me like bees that had found honey. They would cling to the bitter end for even the smallest scrap of benefit. My SAN value was already dropping just imagining it.
I had already tasted to the point of nausea in my previous life how ugly humans could become for profit. That was why the future ahead felt so bleak I could only despair.
“My… my peace…”
I wanted to clutch my head, but the servant who had somehow moved right beside me stopped me, saying it would ruin the carefully arranged style. As a substitute she handed me a meticulously made doll of Se-rin, so I poured mana into it and tore the thing to shreds without mercy.
In the blink of an eye it was restored. When I looked sideways with dead eyes, the servant was already pulling another identical doll from her sleeve as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
So she had cleaned up the remains and swapped in a new one in that tiny window? That was possible? I hadn’t even sensed a scrap of mana. I didn’t bother voicing the question. The answer would be the same either way.
I kept a poker face so she wouldn’t read my thoughts, but she must have seen through it anyway. Smiling softly, she bowed her head.
“Yes. I can do anything. I am, after all, the proud maid of the young lady.”
Her posture was so textbook-perfect that if you drew it and put it in a manual, it would become the ideal image of a servant. Still not satisfied, I seized the neck of the Se-rin doll, crushed it, and flung it out the window into empty air.
As if she had expected even that, she recovered it at a speed that left no afterimage, tucked it into her arms, and finished repairing it. I clicked my tongue.
This woman wasn’t normal either. If the system registered this as combat and let me use the skill Combat Focus, would I finally see something? If I still couldn’t, I would have to start suspecting she was stopping time itself. In this insane world, that didn’t even sound impossible.
…Fuck. Nothing was going my way.
For now the confidential fact that I had led Project Exile wouldn’t leak, but it was only a matter of time. Because the woman who had detonated this whole mess had declared that a massive event allowing people to truly feel the results of Project Exile would soon occur. When that happened, the developer would naturally come under the spotlight. My research had been conducted under the research company Entity that Se-rin had created, so the connection would be easy to find.
The more that came to light, the deeper I sank into the swamp. I was completely fucked. What the hell was I supposed to do?
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t find a way out. Dead end. Fine. I would just accept it. Treat it like a natural disaster. Otherwise my hair would start falling out.
Getting worked up and burning mental energy over every little thing solved nothing. Just go with the flow.
Of course, I would ignore every bastard who tried to talk to me today. If I radiated a “come near me and die” aura, most of them would chicken out… right?
“…Ah.”
Then again, that probably wouldn’t work half as well on Ban Taewung’s group or anyone stronger than me right now. While I was dealing with them one by one, some thick-skinned idiot who couldn’t read the room might slip in thinking, “Maybe I can get a piece too~.”
In the end, the best answer that kept circling back was simply not going to the party at all. But I couldn’t do that either—not with a watchdog right beside me. If I seriously tried to run, she would grab me and force me into the hall.
“…So this outfit and the car are for showing off too?”
“Yes. We carefully selected specially ordered pieces so that the difference between our company’s products and others would be immediately obvious. As for the limousine, the family crest is displayed so blatantly that anyone whose eyes aren’t knotholes will notice. This, too, is part of the young lady’s plan.”
Clap clap clap.
She closed her eyes and began applauding her absent master. I was speechless. Crazy bitch.
“Would you like another one?”
Thud.
She calmly held out another doll that looked just like her master. That was the moment my tightly stretched will finally snapped.
I lost. I fucking lost. I collapsed onto the limousine sofa that wrapped around me with an almost unpleasantly plush embrace.
“…Haa, fuck…”
I didn’t even have the energy left to get angry. From the moment I got involved with these people, expecting a peaceful rest had been a mistake.
People really couldn’t be trusted. Once I had more leeway on the combat side, I should just create a one-man company run entirely by my summons. If I made familiars specialized in negotiation and management, the whole thing would run itself. Since I created them, they wouldn’t change their minds later or stab me in the back. My own reliable power.
I was staring out the window, pondering how I could rest well enough to brag about it later, when the limousine stopped.
“We have arrived.”
As if it were the most natural thing, she stepped out and opened the door before I could even stand. I glanced at her. The fact that we hadn’t been stopped at any checkpoint meant the academy had already been informed. I was too tired to argue further. Quietly I rose and stepped outside.
Whoosh—
A cool breeze washed over me as if rinsing out the frustration in my chest. A vast expanse of water large enough to be mistaken for the sea. Even though it was spring, the sun had already set. With a lake this size nearby it should have been cold, yet the air stayed pleasantly mild.
At first I thought the clothes were that impressive, but looking closer I could see magic tools disguised as lights along the water’s edge.
A barrier.
Even if this was for showing off, holding an event in such an open place less than a day after a terrorist attack had seemed reckless. Apparently a second barrier, separate from the academy’s usual protection, had been layered around the hall.
I turned my head toward the venue, where soft classical music was already drifting out. Quite a few people had already gathered; the moment I stepped out, eyes turned toward me. Ignoring them, I entered with the servant trailing behind.
“Bigger than I expected.”
“The interior is under a top-grade spatial expansion spell. I suspect that during construction they treated the entire building itself as a magic tool…”
“Linked to the outer barrier, then.”
Despite the crowd, the air was neither hot nor humid—perfectly temperate, the kind of climate control used in museums and other high-traffic places.
“As expected of you, sir.”
“…Just wait over there in the corner.”
Hearing praise with a blank face brought me zero joy. I wanted to get away from this woman as soon as possible, so I waved her off. She slowly bowed in acknowledgment.
“Please call if you need anything. I will come running at any time.”
That won’t be necessary. Ignoring her farewell, I took a glass from a nearby waiter. I had hoped it was a cocktail, but it turned out to be non-alcoholic champagne.
“Tsk.”
Not real alcohol, but close enough for now. I would have preferred to down a high-proof bottle and extinguish the fire in my gut, but since that was impossible I would make do. My mana already made it hard to get drunk—would it kill them to let me drink a little?
Glass in hand, I claimed a quiet corner of the hall and surveyed the room. From the outside it had looked like an opera house, but the interior was pure ballroom.
I had known from the start that the academy’s scale meant most conveniences could be handled on-site without leaving the grounds. I just hadn’t expected a dedicated hall for large-scale parties. In a world where nobles and great families were treated as a given, maybe it was only natural.
My plan was to kill time in the corner until someone finished the official business, then leave immediately.
Tap tap.
Someone tapped my shoulder. I had known someone was approaching and deliberately ignored them, but they were persistent. Furrowing my brow hard, I glanced back—and found an unexpected face.
“Ah, I knew it. Junior Jang Sinwoo. I’m so relieved you’re safe.”
Onohara Erika. Heroine number three.
She wore a black off-shoulder dress that fully exposed her shoulders, half her long hair swept up and pinned. As the heiress of a major group, the look was both natural and perfectly suited to her.
“…What is it?”
“I wanted to greet you. You helped us in the crisis, and you even blocked that final surprise attack. You left without a word, so I wanted to make sure I thanked you properly the next time we met.”
So that was how Se-rin’s appearance and my “kidnapping” had been revised. It would have been nicer if the surprise attack itself had been erased. Leaving a debt wasn’t the worst thing, but ideally I preferred not to get involved at all.
“Allow me to offer my sincere thanks here. Thank you so much for helping us. I swear on my name that I will repay this debt.”
Placing a hand over her chest and bowing her head demurely, Onohara Erika wore a faint smile. Being this earnest even here… she should save the good-heroine appeal for Ban Taewung, not me.
The problem was that this wasn’t calculated performance—it was genuine kindness from her nature. I could have just shut my mouth and moved on, but telling her that would only get me a firm “I couldn’t possibly do that” in return.
“I’ll gratefully accept your words alone.”
With people like this, pushing them away was less effective than simply nodding and letting time handle the rest. Using the aristocratic etiquette that had been beaten into me while being dragged around by Se-rin since childhood, I returned the bow. She looked slightly surprised, as if she hadn’t expected it.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. It’s just… this is the first time I’ve been rejected so politely. It feels a little fresh?”
She tilted her head, resting a hand lightly against her cheek in mild embarrassment. I narrowed my eyes. Why end that with a question mark?
“…I shouldn’t keep you any longer, so I’ll take my leave. Ah—and congratulations on your engagement.”
She tossed the last line as if she had just remembered it and walked away. I could only narrow my eyes as if I had bitten into something bitter.
Unnecessary meddling. If only I could have said that to her face. From her perspective she had been considerate, but from mine it was anything but welcome. The moment she finished speaking to me normally, the gazes that had been watching from the sidelines poured in like they had been waiting for the signal.
She had probably assumed I was nervous because I wasn’t used to places like this. When I returned perfect etiquette as if it were natural, she had been thrown off. Bringing up the engagement at the end was likely something she had genuinely forgotten, only to connect it later as the reason my manners were so polished—thanks to the information Se-rin had detonated.
I understood. I really did… but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just casually fed me shit while smiling.
Was this what they called natural airheadedness?
“Perhaps it only feels that way because the doctor’s disposition is twisted?”
A whisper from behind made me almost nod before I shot a dead-eyed glare. The servant was standing there as if it were the most natural place in the world.
“…is what the young lady said.”
Under my stare she lifted the Se-rin plushie to her face and began waving its arms. It looked like a blatant excuse, but it was exactly the kind of thing that woman would do, so I couldn’t even open my mouth.
“…What are you doing?”
“Accompanying you. My current duty is to attend the outer master.”
“No, that’s fucking—ha. Forget it.”
These goddamn women. Ignore them. Just ignore them. No—better yet, why should I move according to their whims?
I packed killing intent into my furrowed brow. No need to raise mana. The skill Charisma could maximize its effect with mana, but even without it I could still amplify my presence.
I poured every ounce of “I am not in a good mood” and “if you get caught I’ll kill you” into my expression. The gazes that had been turning my way hastily retreated.
Fuck. I should have done this from the start.
“How boring, the young lady says.”
“Shut up. Before I say screw it all and go hide in a field-type dungeon for real—”
“Understood.”
Only then did she tuck the plushie into her arms and fall quiet. I let out a deep sigh, trying to cool my temper.
“Oh, Sinwoo!”
“…Ah, fuck, seriously.”
I couldn’t even rest for a second. Looking at Ban Taewung, Luicia Valentia, and Riri approaching from the other side, I simply closed my eyes.
Can this just end already? Someone please call the host. Please…