Proofreader: Future Me

Clap! Clap!

“Well done! Now we can get on to the main event, sparring!”

A collective groan escaped all of us here, except Vyke and Fen who seemed excited.

“I don’t understand the purpose of this. Should we not be improving our abilities?” Once again it was Luna speaking for the rest of them.

“Hoho! You’re all gonna be comrades from today onwards, so you all must get to know each other!”

“I- understand.”

Even if she suffered, I needed to get acquainted with everyone in the class. Or else a generic wasteland ending would occur.

“I’ll choose your partners, so stand in a line for me.”

Another feature of this guy’s OP skill set was the ability to see others’ status boards.

Just like me.

“Alright, let's do this.

Fen Castelle and Luna Rend Alexander

Vyke Houstan and Uriel.

Rodney and Erin Villaine.

Serina Rosemary and Ash Walker

Lisana and Mark Cresent.”

‘What about me?’ I wondered, looking at the man’s joyful expression.

I felt an ominous wind blow past.

“And finally…”

Not me, not me, not me.

The insane professor pointed his finger towards me, “You against myself.”

Fuck.

I saw the gazes of the others, they sent me prayers of condolences through their eyes. Fen looked disappointed though, as if he wanted to fight him instead.

If anything you take him on, please.

“Alright everyone, spread out, we’ll go by the order I set out!”

He seemed to match up with students who complimented each other well in combat. For example, Fen with Luna, was a mage and warrior who would work amazingly together. If I were to make a guess, it was to have us all work in pairs for future classes.

I once again swore at the reality that he probably couldn’t get a proper read on me. I wouldn’t be in such a situation if it weren’t for that.

At the beginning of the first match, they were evenly matched. It seemed Fen even tried to attempt slicing through magic just like Haruto but failed miserably taking a fireball to the face.

I simply spaced out, as this was also routine despite the initial side track. The characters would randomly be pitted against one another by the game’s design. Albeit, in real life, it was done with a clear motive.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

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“Now! It’s our turn!” He grinned and tapped his katana against my back.

I was dreading this very moment. What do I do with the power of an average teenager, against an almost god-like being?

“To make it fair, all you have to do is make me move by a step. That's right, a single step.” I don’t think he knew my name.

I felt a worried stare from Uriel who was kind at heart, whereas the others looked on in intrigue — especially Erin, who had been helped in the almighty push.

Honestly, I had no hope of even achieving what he asked. That was unless I abused the omnipotent enhancement.

“Now, begin.”

I acted without delay, not leaving a moment for rest.

“Uuap!” I let out a rush of air as I sprang into action.

I ran forward and front flipped into a drop kick form. It was the only way to produce enough force to cause even the slightest of movement.

He shot an amused look at me as if mocking an ant fighting against an elephant.

In my descent, I tucked in both legs letting my knees make first contact. Yet instead of hitting an unmoving brick wall…

“Oomph! That was a decent hit, but- huh?” The professor let out a surprised murmur.

He paused realising that he slid backward, rather than having taken a step.

“Now, that’s an interesting ability you have there. I wondered how you somehow survived the shockwave.”

I agreed with that sentiment. It made me wonder how the original Luke was so impotent, that he failed even with such an ability. He never showed up in the game so he must’ve dropped out or died in a random event.

“Lemme guess, the power to control forces?” He accurately guessed what I had done, but missed the mark.

The faces of the others immediately turned dark. I had to rectify it immediately.

“Sir, the most I can say is that…” I paused, “You’re not exactly right.”

I knew that a power like that was frowned upon due to the Demon King’s actions, so I kept it elusive. I can’t have my reputation drop below the standard threshold that quickly.

“Interesting… What was your name?”

“Luke, sir.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He rubbed his chin as if trying to remember something similar.

“Alright!” Clearly, he gave up, “That’s about it for today! I’ll see you all in our next class.”

To my benefit, everything was theory so I wouldn’t have to pay attention. I hated how much effort I spent learning the game’s intricate workings, only to achieve the second-best ending.

The only troubling issue would arrive in tomorrow’s mana control class.

How one begins to even use mana was a question I needed answered.

Furthermore, according to the game’s general route, a flag would be raised right about now. However, if used correctly, the first encounter between Ash and Luna can be to my advantage.

“Yo Luke, what you did was pretty cool! You should have a go at it with me,” Fen tapped my back in amusement.

I saw him leave Charles, leaving me aghast. This meant I had a level of value that even the prince recognised.

“How about, no?”

“Ehhh… come on man! I promise you it’ll be fun!” His pestering gradually got worse.

The truth is he would destroy me, as would everyone else here. Basic human martial arts wasn’t enough to compete with superhumans. I needed to level up my proficiency with swordsmanship and learn the essence of magic within a week.

The first step to dual-wielding is getting a high affinity with the swordsmanship teacher, which is currently unavailable.

“Hah… I’ll think about it later.”

“Think about what?” Erin approached me as we headed to general magic theory.

“Nothing much, just what to expect in the future.”

“Such an answer is boring… you’re planning something aren’t you?”

“Who doesn’t plan ahead? C'mon princess, ever heard of stating the obvious?” I couldn’t deal with her natural curiosity right now even if I’d stan her to death.

“I’ll figure out what’s going on in your head- eventually,” Seemed she got the memo as she left to enter class.

“Alright.”

I faced toward our magic theory class, realising there were still two more periods afterwards.

It was time to take some serious action.

‘Hah…’

I said it yesterday, but now it seems so… cringe.

Destroying the romance, or so I said.