Class 3 of the 17th Academy's 66th Cohort
I like animals.
I especially love the cute ones.
But starting today, I had a feeling I was going to hate rabbits.
"What are you doing? Get out here and introduce yourself already. Carrot."
All because of that damn rabbit.
I was the very first one forced to do a self-introduction.
A self-introduction? Out of nowhere?
It was the moment I hated most in the world.
Haa. This is bad…
I couldn't exactly ignore the professor. So I started walking slowly toward the front of the classroom.
In that brief stretch of time, a thousand thoughts crashed through my head.
Should I pretend something urgent came up and bolt out the back door? Or just jump out the window?
……
I shelved every one of those ridiculous fantasies. Think realistically.
I kept walking while worrying myself sick over how to get through this. A normal self-introduction was out of the question. I would definitely tense up and start stuttering. I didn't want to be branded a total loser on day one.
Ah.
A way out suddenly appeared. A method that would let me introduce myself without saying a word.
…That's the only option right now. My image might take a hit, but as long as it isn't the "pathetic nerd" image, I can live with it.
I forced my racing heart to calm down and steadied my uneven breathing. Time, which had been crawling, suddenly sped up again, and before I knew it I was standing in front of the teacher's desk.
"Looking forward to a cool introduction. Carrot."
Professor Santoto crunched away on a carrot while staring at me. Until a second ago I'd resented her, but I changed my mind. She hadn't done it out of malice. She'd just called on me because I stood out. Besides, she was going to make everyone introduce themselves eventually. Being first was nerve-wracking, sure, but once it was over I'd be free of the anxiety sooner than anyone else. No waiting around fretting while my turn crept closer.
Yeah. Better this way. Better to take the beating first.
With every eye in the room locked on me, I turned around, picked up a piece of chalk from the tray, and—
"Carrot?"
—tap. tap.
I wrote my name across the board in huge letters.
Kang Hahwi
Then I set the chalk down, turned back around, and clasped my hands behind me. I'd considered shoving them in my pockets, but that felt too cocky, so I left it. My gaze stayed fixed straight ahead. I didn't meet anyone's eyes.
"Carrot…"
Boing.
Professor Santoto hopped up onto the teacher's desk. She looked back and forth between the board and me.
"Don't tell me that's the entire introduction?"
Long answers were forbidden. I'd just bite my tongue or start mumbling. So I kept it short and sharp.
"Yes."
I deliberately dropped my voice an octave. High tones made you sound approachable, or so I'd heard.
"Carrot… Nothing else you want to tell us about yourself besides the name?"
"Yes."
The professor's expression said it all: What kind of psycho is this kid?
"…Got it, carrot. Quiet type who looks the part, huh."
She didn't push any further. I'd been a little worried, but it seemed I'd cleared this hurdle somehow.
"Whoa. Dude's got crazy charisma."
"That's so cool…"
"Isn't that just being rude?"
"If an ugly guy did that it'd be rude, but he's hot so it's just cool."
Surprisingly, the students' reactions weren't bad. So this really had been the right call. Sure, I'd picked up a bit of an arrogant image, but that was fine. They hadn't seen through to the loser underneath. That alone was enough for me.
"Alright, go take your seat. Carrot."
"Yes."
To offset the cocky vibe a little, I gave the professor a polite bow, then scanned the remaining seats.
Since I'm already up front, maybe I should just sit in the front row?
That was the thought running through my head when—
"Sorry!"
"I'm so sorry I'm late!"
"Ah. Only front seats left."
"There's one in the back too?"
"That one's kinda… nah."
The latecomers flooded in and filled every front seat.
……
In the end only one desk remained: the very back seat by the window.
I sat down by the window in the back and looked forward. According to the professor, there would be no actual lessons today. Instead we'd get time to get closer to one another. The self-introductions were part of that.
"Hi! I'm Cha Minji! Looking forward to getting along!"
A bright, outgoing girl—the textbook social butterfly.
"My name is Ra Yuhui. Nice to meet you."
Fidgeting with her fingers, a shy girl introducing herself in a tiny voice.
"Just look at my name tag."
A delinquent-looking girl chewing gum and slouching with her hands in her pockets.
"Pleasure. I'm Jang Mugeon. From China."
A male student who bowed deeply and formally. His bear-like build and fierce face left an impression.
"Isabella Chambers. From Britain."
A girl who greeted everyone stiffly. Her expression was cold, but her manners were polite.
Maybe because of me going first, most of the students kept their introductions short. I guess that's why first impressions matter.
And even though the girls all had completely different personalities, they shared one thing in common: every single one of them was ridiculously pretty. Not a single average face among them. Truly a world of beautiful girls.
I can kind of understand why the men in this world don't care that much about women's looks.
For men here, appearance wasn't the priority. Personality came first, followed by wealth and ability. Of course they still looked—face and figure still mattered; nobody was completely without preferences. Women, for their part, also valued personality, ability, and wealth… but unlike the men, they apparently cared about looks too. There were supposedly women who didn't, but the rumor was those were just the realistic ones who'd lowered their standards because every guy was average-looking.
Anyway. I figured I would be the same as most men and prioritize personality. If I went by faces alone I'd end up liking every woman on the planet.
While I was lost in thought, the last turn finally arrived.
"Ah, h-hello…! M-my name is…"
A girl who stuttered badly. Her face was bright red from nerves. If I'd tried to speak for long, I would've looked exactly like that. Just imagining myself that way was pretty pathetic. But on her it wasn't pathetic at all. When a pretty girl did it, it just looked cute.
After the introductions ended, we moved into free mingling time.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and push the desks together! Carrot!"
Sixty students in the class. We split into ten groups of six and shoved desks into clusters. What was this, elementary school? For the record, only three of the sixty were male. Given how rare men with Shinbi were, the ratio made sense.
At least there's one other guy in my group. Small mercies.
Two guys, four girls. That was my group's makeup. The other male student was Jang Mugeon—the one who'd been sitting in front of me before we rearranged.
Way over on the far side, a guy covered head-to-toe in tattoos was surrounded by girls all by himself. Poor bastard. If that had been me… just imagining it made me dizzy. I shook my head and looked away.
That was when Jang Mugeon offered me a handshake.
"Kang Hahwi, right? Looking forward to working with you."
His rough face and intimidating aura almost made me flinch.
"Yeah. Same."
I took the handshake. I even managed a relatively long sentence. Talking to other guys was easy. If I wanted to, I could even chatter like a social butterfly. I wasn't a complete social reject. Still, I decided to keep conversations short. I'd already locked in the quiet-cool concept; no choice now.
While Jang Mugeon and I were exchanging greetings—
"Um… Professor?"
One of the girls in our group raised her hand. Santoto turned our way and tilted her head.
"Carrot?"
"We've gathered, but… what exactly are we supposed to talk about now?"
"Why are you asking me? You kids pick the topic yourselves."
She answered while munching another carrot. Where did she keep getting those things?
The girl who'd asked lowered her hand awkwardly, then looked around our little circle with an embarrassed smile.
"Uh, well… she said talk about whatever, so… maybe we should reintroduce ourselves first?"
Not good. Another crisis. Why did she want to drag us back through a trial we'd already finished?
I stared fixedly at the desk, cold sweat beading on my forehead, when—
"Why do it again when we already did?"
—a savior appeared. The delinquent girl who'd told everyone to just look at her name tag during introductions.
"Huh? It'd be good to introduce ourselves again so we can memorize names, right?"
"Are name tags just decoration? Just look at the name written on them and memorize that."
My hero. I snuck a glance at her name tag. The characters "Seo I-eung" stared back at me.
Kinda unique name.
In that split second she somehow noticed my gaze. Her head whipped around and she pinned me with a sharp glare.
Yikes. Terrifying. Those eyes were pure predator.
I coughed lightly and looked away as naturally as I could. Of course I didn't let any fear show on my face.
I should stay far away from her if I can help it.
She was pretty, sure, but she gave off the strong impression of someone who enjoyed bullying people. She reminded me way too much of the girls who'd tormented me in my previous life. Avoid her at all costs.
Seo I-eung looked away from me and continued talking to the other girl.
"Anyway, don't make us repeat the same annoying stuff. If we're gonna talk, pick a different topic."
"A different topic? Hmm… then how about we introduce the magic we're good at, or the magic we can use? The guys can introduce what kind of Shinbi they have."
"That doesn't sound bad."
It was bad. I hated that too. Couldn't our group just sit in silence and do our own thing?
Sadly, my tiny wish went unfulfilled. The girls started introducing the magic they were confident in.
Lightning magic. Healing magic. Barrier magic.
The first three finished their short intros, then—
"I can only use animal transformation magic."
—Seo I-eung, followed by—
"My Shinbi is physical enhancement."
—Jang Mugeon. Neither of them rambled. Small mercies. I'd been afraid they'd give detailed lectures on their abilities.
Answering briefly should be fine.
My turn approached. Every gaze in the group fixed on me. First I crossed my arms. Just staring down at the desk looked weak; better to at least strike a decent pose.
"Hahwi, what's your Shinbi?"
The girl who'd been leading the conversation asked. I answered without hesitation.
"Transformation."
"Retard? Why the sudden insult!"
"……"
"Ah… you've looked gloomy this whole time so I just tried joking around, but if it wasn't funny I'm sorry… Anyway, your Shinbi is transformation, right?"
I nodded. My Shinbi was retard—no, transformation. The ability to become a member of the angel race for a limited time.