What an Academy Is
How the hell did it come to this?
Ji Seong-cheol swallowed hard and fought to keep his reeling body upright, the world spinning from sheer dizziness.
When the rumors first started circulating, he had dismissed the guy as a nobody.
No one remembered seeing him at the entrance exams. For a summoner, staying that invisible was strange enough on its own.
Whispers that he had gotten in on pure nepotism began around then. The latest rumor only poured gasoline on the fire.
Apparently the man was engaged to the owner of the Dragonia Group.
Some insisted it was a different person with the same name; the arguments went back and forth. But the deeper anyone dug, the more the trail pointed straight at him.
Some of us clawed our way in through blood and sweat, while this bastard waltzed in on connections. The parachute alone was infuriating—and then he had the gall to sit in Class S like he belonged there.
He was still a nobody. So why not clean out the mudfish polluting the sacred waters of the Academy? Engaged to a famous group’s owner? So what. Dragonia’s reputation was nothing compared to the other Seven Groups.
He, on the other hand, had earned his place in Class S through pure skill. A talent destined to grow stronger and more famous. The difference between them was crystal clear.
And this class already housed true young ladies from those Seven Groups. They were simply removing the filth before it could taint those ladies.
Hell, after this the Dragonia owner would probably lose interest and dump him entirely.
That was the plan, anyway…
“Ghk…”
He forced down the bile rising in his throat. The shadows that had been pouring out with enough force to swallow every scrap of light in the room slowly contracted.
“…Haa.”
A sigh drifted from beyond the darkness, and standing there was a demon.
First came the shock of the armor that had materialized in an instant, painting his entire body black. Second was the sheer volume of mana rolling off him.
Everyone poured their mana together in a desperate attempt to resist.
But the man—no, the demon—twisted that pathetic struggle aside as if it meant nothing, staring them down with a blank expression.
A chill ran down every spine.
We’re going to die. That thought wasn’t his alone.
“Hic—hiiiik?!”
“What the hell is this?! You said he was useless!!!”
Someone broke formation and hammered their fists against the barrier behind them, but the only thing that appeared before their eyes was a cold system message.
External contact is impossible during a duel.
“…Because of you.”
Realizing there was no way out and no way in, a hollow-eyed student ignited with sudden fury—directed not at the demon in front of them, but at him.
“This is all your fault!!! Everything is because of you!!!”
“Yeah! Why the hell did you do that?! You wanted to be a hero, so you picked a one-versus-many? Aren’t you ashamed?!”
What the hell were they even talking about? Just moments ago they had been the ones egging him on, saying it was a great idea.
They weren’t lifelong friends, but they were classmates. Comrades. They had only gotten close because their interests happened to align this time. So why were they trying to run and leave him behind?
To sell him out? To survive?
Had he ever even been their friend in the first place?
A shudder ran through him. Something deep inside cracked and crumbled—a raw sense of loss. An instinctive refusal to hear another word. Above all, the terror that if he accepted what they were saying, he himself would be finished.
Regret came too late. The outcome never changed.
The countdown hit zero and the crushing mana vanished. Startled by the sudden disappearance of the pressure, they all turned toward where the demon had been.
But the darkness was no longer in front of them. It was behind—right beside the student who had first rushed to the edge of the barrier.
Thud!
“Ghk…!”
A fist slammed into his solar plexus. His body tried to lift into the air—then jerked to an unnatural stop. His foot. The demon had pinned it down.
Crunch!
“Gyaaaagh…”
Like a man beating a swaying sandbag, the demon hammered him without mercy. The student finally raised his arms to guard his face, but even that was useless.
Thud! Clang! Crack!
Block the face and the body was hit. Dodge the body and the face was smashed. Blood sprayed in real time; bile reverse-flowed and splattered. Tears and snot flew in every direction.
Yet not a single drop of filth touched the one delivering the blows. Shadows leapt from his hands like living things and flicked every droplet away.
“P-please, spare—”
“One.”
Crack!
A clean strike drove up through the jaw, pierced the skull, and left a thick trail of mana hanging in the air. The pinned foot was released; the body sailed upward. Every eye followed it.
Then they all gasped again.
Anyone could see he was unconscious. Yet the demon was already condensing mana into his leg, preparing another kick at the falling student. Someone let out a despairing moan.
BOOOOM!!
The roar left ears ringing, but those close enough clearly heard the wet snap of something breaking on impact.
Proof lay in the unconscious boy still vomiting blood on pure survival instinct. Something vital had shattered.
Lef Villain — Combat Incapacitated
The emotionless voice of the Guardian rang out, and the half-sprawled student was flung outside the barrier. Medics who had already arrived loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him away. The rest of them swallowed hard.
They had to fight.
Surrender was impossible. The only defeat condition was inability to continue combat.
Which meant that as long as the Guardian judged them still capable, this would never end.
Only then did he understand how insane the terms he had accepted truly were. And he understood something else.
Even if he died and came back, he could never beat that demon.
“Grrraaagh…!”
Still, he couldn’t just stand there and take it.
He drew his sword. Wrapped it in mana. The others followed suit, gripping their own weapons. Someone began constructing a spell; someone else loosed an arrow dense with mana.
He charged in time with them. If he didn’t drop the enemy in front of him, he would die. Overwhelming terror made his vision shake.
A half-hearted, off-balance swing born of pure desperation had no chance of landing.
Ting~
One move. The demon simply stepped aside, struck the hand holding the sword, and the grip went slack.
At the same instant, unimaginable pain tore through his brain. Against his will the sword clattered free. Even as he squeezed his eyes shut against the agony, he looked down and saw his thumb broken with surgical precision—swollen past blue into a deep, ugly purple. A silent scream tore from his throat.
“Your center of gravity was completely empty.”
Thud!!
“…?!”
Before he could even process the pain, a fist buried itself in his solar plexus.
Sparks exploded across his vision. Fire magic? No—there was no such presence. His eyes were simply blinking madly from the sheer pain. His body flew.
Was he about to follow the same path as the previous student? Fine. Better that way. He wanted out of this terror as soon as possible.
…?
But the expected agony never came. A floating sensation, then something hard slamming into his back.
“Ow!!”
“You fucking idiot, getting in the way till the end…!!”
It was the kids who had been casting and shooting. The girl whose casting had been cancelled by his weight threw a hysterical fit, hair flying; the boy who had been gathering mana for an arrow redirected it into his foot and kicked him hard in the gut, shoving him away.
Thud
“Kh…!”
It hurt. But compared to the demon’s fists it was soft as cotton. Each of those punches had felt like it would shatter his entire body. The difference was something he now understood with his flesh. Bleak. Absolute. He could never win.
He hated his past self for the lazy thought that numbers alone might somehow be enough.
Confidence and arrogance snuffed out like a candle flame.
“Kehek! Gyaaaaaagh…!!!”
“Kyaaaah!! S-stop…!”
All that remained was fear.
He squeezed his eyes shut against the screams of the others, clamped his hands over his ears, and curled into a ball. The desperate cries never stopped.
Something broke. Each time, the mechanical voice slammed into his ears. The thick iron stench of blood clawed at his nose.
The more the screams piled up, the harder his body shook.
BOOOOM!! Bang! Bang-bang!!
Flames erupted. Explosions rolled one after another, yet no one believed the demon had died.
“….!!!!”
Listen. Another scream. A nightmare. This was a nightmare.
The final sound.
Step. Step.
Footsteps approaching him. The trembling stopped—not because he calmed down, but because his body had frozen solid. Cold sweat poured down his back without end. He held his breath so he wouldn’t be noticed, but in the middle of an open classroom the gesture was useless.
“You’re the last one.”
At those words his head lifted of its own accord. Below him, the demon’s foot. It rose slowly, packed with mana, and began to descend.
Ah. It’s over. This dream is finally ending.
Tears spilled. He closed his eyes. Yet no matter how long he waited, the pain never came.
Why?
He opened his eyes and saw the demon looking somewhere else. His own gaze followed automatically.
“…Causing a spectacular mess right on the first day, I see.”
Standing there with a hand pressed to her temple as if nursing a headache was the red-haired teacher, Hong Su-ah.
“What exactly is going on here?”
“As you can see.”
I walked over to the Guardian and casually rested a hand on its shoulder.
Please remove your hand from this unit. Failure to comply may result in a sharp lesson.
Red light flared in its eyes as the warning scrolled out. I obediently took my hand away. The machine settled as if nothing had happened.
“…Ah, yes. As you can see, this is a perfectly legitimate duel.”
“Anyone looking would say it doesn’t look like a duel at all…”
She trailed off, eyes falling on the student sitting on the floor clutching his head—completely broken by terror. Beyond the barrier, more students were being loaded onto stretchers by medics.
Her gaze flicked between them and me. She pressed a hand to her forehead again, then raised her device.
“…Guardian. Transfer adjudication authority.”
Highest teacher authority confirmed. Transferring adjudication rights.
My brow furrowed hard.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“I intend to cancel the duel.”
“…Huh?”
“I’d rather ask you. Did bullying the weak make you feel better?”
I was speechless. They had started the provocation. They had started the fight. All I had done was accept the duel. So why was I suddenly the villain?
“Anyone can see I’m the victim here. I don’t understand why you’re talking like I’m the aggressor.”
“The process may have been that way. If necessary I’ll issue disciplinary action for it. But understand that you will also suffer disadvantages if that happens.”
“That doesn’t make any sense…?”
“Because those are the rules.”
Rules. The word made my chest feel so tight I thought it would burst. The same people who had broken those rules first to attack me were now spouting this garbage. Disgusting.
Hong Su-ah shook her head at my unapologetic stance and operated her device.
A holographic classroom floated into the air—footage from every angle, capturing everything before the duel and the moment it began.
“You could have resolved this with words. Or ignored them and reported it to the committee. You chose neither. Even if the other side provided the cause, the fact remains that you chose violence and used it excessively.”
“…The Guardian approved it.”
“Unfortunately, when a supervising instructor is present and judges the situation appropriate, they can claim higher adjudication authority than the Guardian and exercise priority.”
“…This is straight-up abuse of power.”
Hong Su-ah only snorted softly. Her eyes said, If you don’t like it, become a teacher yourself. Unbelievable.
“I’m not saying the students’ actions were wrong. To borrow your words… yes, it was a perfectly justified payback. What you did was not revenge or retaliation—it was the exercise of a natural right.”
Then why? The question rose to my lips, but I didn’t voice it. Hong Su-ah smiled faintly, as if pleased, and nodded.
“I’ve been talking in circles, but the truth is simple: duels inside classrooms are forbidden by school regulations.”
“…?”
“If this duel’s result is finalized, the data goes straight to the Academy’s management AI. Then you get disciplined for fighting in a classroom, and those idiots who ganged up on one person and still got wrecked get disciplined too.”
So the reason I would be punished wasn’t the near-murder—it was simply for starting a brawl in the classroom?
“Once you’re disciplined, you’ll naturally end up dealing with the student council. Educating and rehabilitating problem students is one of their jobs.”
“…Haa.”
All the wind left my sails.
I had done this to clear away a nuisance, only for it to drag an even bigger nuisance my way. Completely backwards. No way. Absolutely not.
I released my mana. The shadows coating my body dissolved and scattered at once.
The original goal was already achieved. No one would dare mess with me openly after this. Plenty of eyes were still watching from outside.
“Tsk.”
Some were Class S students; others had just come to gawk at the fight. I shot them a sharp glare, then looked away.
“…Do it. Cancel the duel.”
“Are you certain you want it nullified? You were so passionate about your ‘just rights’ a moment ago.”
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
“Is that so… Very well.”
Hong Su-ah operated her device.
Higher authority execution confirmed.
Duel cancelled.
Clunk! Clang!
With those words the mechanical angel left the classroom.
It had been dragged out for nothing—did it feel nothing at all? If it were me, I’d hold a grudge against whoever put me through that dog-training exercise.
“They may look human, but those things are automata, not homunculi—mechanical dolls. They were built for Academy security, so they don’t think the way a student does.”
Apparently my thoughts had shown on my face again; Hong Su-ah tossed the explanation out as she passed. I let out a long sigh.
“…What exactly did you think I was thinking?”
“Something useless like a riot or human-rights protest, no?”
She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. This teacher, I swear.
I gave her a thoroughly unimpressed look. She cleared her throat, looking faintly embarrassed, and turned away. Her red hair hid most of it, but the tips of her ears seemed a little pink.
Wait. That was supposed to be a joke? She really had zero social skills.
Looking only at the result, she had done me a kindness that wasn’t quite a kindness. Was this what people called a tsundere?
The moment the thought crossed my mind, goosebumps raced down my back.
…Yeah, no. Calling this a tsundere was a bridge too far. I refused to accept it.
“…Enough idle thoughts. Let’s begin class.”
My sour expression made her ears flush even redder; she snapped into professional mode and headed for the podium. I walked past the guy still crouched on the floor and growled low.
“Watch yourself. Seriously.”
Next time there wouldn’t even be leftovers. He must have felt the killing intent in my voice; relief at still being alive warred with dread for the rest of his school life, twisting his face into a tearful mess as he nodded frantically.
Whatever else, the sincerity came through loud and clear.
Broken bastards really only learn after a good thrashing.
I shot a glance at Ban Taewung and his little group, who were giving me wry smiles that said I’d gone too far, then dropped into the back-corner seat that might as well have my name on it by now.
“Before we start, I’ll take attendance. …Students, either go to the infirmary or sit down. Decide quickly.”
“Y-yes, ma’am!!!”
The boy staggered not outside, but toward his own desk.
Even after something like this, the Academy—this insane world—kept moving as if nothing had happened.
I sighed at the absurdity and looked out the window. Were all academies like this?
It was as if they couldn’t function without incidents. Poke them and they exploded into full-blown disasters. Add the synergy of a trouble-magnet protagonist and the story wrote itself.
…Maybe if I just burned the whole place down once, people would finally calm down a little?
No one answered my idle question. I hadn’t been serious anyway. I was just that pissed off.
I propped my chin on my hand and watched the clouds drift by the same way they always did. Slowly, my mind settled.
I didn’t know much else, but if I ever got a junior in the same boat, there was one thing I could tell him for sure.
An academy, you know.
Is a real fucking shithole. Don’t come. Just don’t. Staying away is the best choice. You can grow stronger outside too, right?
I’m stuck here because of that damn protagonist, but I hope you never end up like me.
Ah, wait—outside is just as much of a shithole. Anywhere people live is the same.
…Yeah. Home is best. Step outside the blanket and it’s pure suffering. Whoever coined that phrase was a genius.
I’d do the same if I could. You get it, right? You don’t?
Then lie the fuck down, you bastard.
With that pointless thought, I quietly closed my eyes.