Chapter 18
The dormitory's interior was even more astonishing than it had looked from outside. The furnishings in the vast lounge you saw upon entering were all outrageously expensive items I'd never even dreamed of laying eyes on.
If I break even one of those... I might end up a slave for life...
I need to be careful in here at all times.
Each student got their own private room, so I wandered around searching for the one with my name on it. The first floor was all shared lounge space, the second and third floors housed the girls' rooms, and the fourth and fifth were for the boys. I said goodbye to Scarlett after a quick greeting.
My room, which I finally found after quite a trek, was at the very end of the fifth floor.
This is gonna be a pain to get to and from.
To enter for the first time, you verified your identity with your student ID, then infused mana into the door handle—an artifact. After that, just a light flow of mana while touching it unlocked the door. Of course, no one else's mana would work, no matter how much they poured in.
In a world with magic, you can use mana like a key, huh.
Pretty convenient. No need to carry around some clunky key, either.
I opened the door to reveal a clean, spacious room.
...Is this bigger than my old one-room apartment?
Even for a private dorm room, having one larger than my previous home felt a bit hollow. Deeper inside, there was a neat desk and a wide bed. I propped Blacky against the bed and tossed my uniform tie haphazardly onto it.
Something sat on the desk, so I approached. There was a glossy black bracelet and a document with basic info on the S-Class students.
I skimmed the papers, then carefully slipped on the bracelet, handling it like it might shatter.
This bracelet was standard issue for all academy freshmen. It also served as an identifier by class, based on its color.
As expected of academy gear—it's a top-tier artifact.
A really good one, too. Just wearing it boosted resistance to various elements. Plus, it had sub-space magic, like an inventory from a game. Though there was a limit to what it could hold—200kg max, I think.
Perfect, since lugging my sword around had been a hassle.
As a test, I held Blacky—the one propped by the bed—against the bracelet and infused a bit of mana. The sword vanished.
"Whoa."
Now to retrieve it. Imagining the sword inside the bracelet, I reached out my hand, and it materialized above my palm.
From what I remember in Returner, you could do something like this.
I stored the sword again, then reached out once more. Picturing the Divine Dark Sword without its sheath, I infused mana. Just as I'd hoped, the hilt of a blade with its razor-sharp edge bared appeared in my grip. The sheath stayed in the sub-space.
I returned the sword to the bracelet's sub-space and flopped onto the bed.
Tomorrow I have to pick up Dina and the S-Class kids. Better get some early sleep.
It was sure to be a long day. Pondering how to handle it if Dina tried to kill me, I drifted off.
Should I just bolt as fast as possible? Or beg for mercy right away, head-butting the ground? If I kneel and grovel, maybe she'll spare me...
*
Morning.
"......"
We walked in silence, just Dina and me.
She's pissed, huh. Should I drop to my knees and beg now?
Other than my initial "Hello" when we first crossed paths in the first-floor lounge on the way to fetch S-Class, not a single word had passed between us. From Dina's personality in Returner, if she were truly angry, she'd have confronted me immediately or ignored me outright.
"......................Um."
I tried breaking the awkward air, figuring I'd play it off like nothing was wrong.
"Is something the matter?" came her icy reply.
"Uh... no, nothing..."
My attempt at conversation only killed the mood further. With her acting all prim like that—a total munchkin guy trapped in a woman's shell...
At least she was wearing a mask. A blessing, really. She was canonically more beautiful than an elf. I was curious about her unmasked face, sure, but fear outweighed it.
I stole a glance at Dina and pulled up her status window.
Insane.
Even for a munchkin novel like Returner, mana at 43? And this was pre-awakening Dina. How ridiculously strong would she get later...?
Yeah, no cockiness. Gotta play it safe.
Seemed like I could only see info tied to what I already knew. Nation-Toppling Beauty[S] just meant she was drop-dead gorgeous. The standout was... Heaven-Defying[EX].
A power that defied the natural order and challenged the heavens. Probably linked to her 'darkness.' It made her stronger but tormented her too.
My eyes drifted to her mask next.
So that mask is an artifact, huh.
If its effects blocked even the status window, the system wasn't omnipotent. It had been unfriendly from the start—no trait details or anything.
But one question nagged...
Why the mask?
Jo Han-gyeol, who'd possessed Dina's body, hadn't cared about her backstory and wouldn't have worn something to block info like that. Nothing in what I'd done so far pointed to me as the cause, either.
I rolled my eyes toward her. She didn't spare me a glance, just walked quietly. Her waist-length hair, wavy toward the ends, swayed prettily with each step.
Thanks to my Heightened Senses trait, the peachy sweet scent wafting from her hair with every swish assaulted my nose, muddling my thoughts further. Staring into those purple eyes above the black mask that covered her lower face, I almost felt myself getting sucked in.
I could see exactly why crowds flocked to her in Returner.
Her skin was translucently pale white, her hair even whiter. Every graceful movement stirred some inexplicable protective instinct, drawing me closer. Was it because she was so petite? From my taller vantage, she looked like a fluffy white cotton ball bouncing along, nothing like her usual image.
Don't know why the mask, but it's a relief for me.
In Returner, more than a few characters fell for her at first sight. I'd cursed them as love-at-first-sight suckers while reading, but now? I got it a hundred times over.
Still, I'd resist the temptation. No way I'd fall knowing a guy was inside. Some might say "if it tastes good, who cares" or even prefer it, but not me.
Once her arc kicked off, she'd start enchanting everyone—but I wouldn't be one of them.
I was steeling myself inwardly when Dina, who'd been walking silently, spoke up.
"Um."
"Yeah?"
She turned her head slightly away and mumbled,
"Staring like that the whole time... it's a bit embarrassing..."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, I'd been gazing at her nonstop.
"S-sorry, got lost in thought."
"Ah, y-yeah..."
She edged away a little, putting some distance between us. It felt like she was avoiding me.
Is she actually mad at me?
Or maybe she didn't see the point in charming trash like me. That'd be a win for me.
Still, I need to keep a good relationship with Dina...
Getting into A-Class was all about sticking near her and Stia to survive. If she harbored ill feelings and ditched me at a crucial moment, I'd be screwed.
Best to nip any negativity in the bud.
I closed the gap she'd opened and tried again.
"D-did I make you uncomfortable?"
She flinched and widened the distance once more.
"N-no... just, a bit..."
This wasn't good. Bad feelings piling up here could get me killed by her, not even an enemy.
I narrowed the gap more than before.
"Sorry, I should've been more careful."
"Ah, u-uwah!"
She shuddered violently.
Thwack!
"Guh!"
A darkness-wreathed fist slammed into my solar plexus. Breath caught in my throat as pain exploded through my body.
Am I dying like this?!
Hit right in the core, I doubled over instinctively and dropped to my knees right there.
I don't wanna die!