Proofreader: Me!

I shuddered under the freezing cold of a winter breeze. It was a trashy unkempt feeling, but the weather was as uncontrollable as the world’s difficulty. However, that wasn’t the main reason my mood had been utterly crushed.

‘This Informational Guide has reached its free usage! Please provide five silver a day as per the guidelines!’

Twas another day I wished I could throw this book in the trash. The money I had gained from the quests would take a dent. The one with the seniors had my money and rewards taken away by Abel as another form of punishment, while the other two quests were rated quite low.

Regardless, the student body was due for another announcement at the great hall. Classes and quests were now to be run in parallel as students navigate what it means to be a hero.

‘In other words, the tutorial is finally over.’

Today, the classes would be decided by the students themselves and as a result, there would be alot of fights to be raged today. Which is why classes for this day would be running at half length, rather than a full hour.

The hallways and paths across the academy were lifeless. Amongst it all, I walked alone. It was as if an outside force curated the miracle of waking up late on important days. My breath had also been stifled by the cold, preventing me from practising Fjleora’s mana technique.

I took the time to organise some plans in my head, further intending on capitalising on the non-interference by Alicia and Charles. However, blips of thoughts regarding the destructive feelings of Erin did cause some hiccups. Eventually, the announcement hall came into view along with a singular teacher.

“Student Luke? You’re late,” Their voice was rough, with a sense of wildness hidden behind it.

The man who stood between me and the Z-ranked brooch I wore a couple of weeks ago. Where Haruto was the bastion, Calvin was the guard dog who kept the academy safe. He also served as a barrier between survival and death within the upcoming excursion.

‘Ironic.’

The one who could be called the most trusted within the game was now the colossal wall that blocked my way. What happened to him makes his refusal to change the plans understandable, but not reasonable.

“Sorry sir, the cold kept me in bed,” I apologised.

His expression was unchanged, but the feeling that I annoyed him didn’t go unnoticed.

“Get in,” He motioned for me as the grand hall revealed itself to the freezing wind.

I nodded, walking past him. By now, I had been in the grand hall four times.

“Stand by the sidelines along with the other late students,” Calvin added before exiting the building again.

‘Oh?’

Persons such as Mark, Krulia, and other seniors were standing close. There were those who I didn’t expect to be late. What would cause students of their stature to be late?

That question, however, would go unanswered as the Hero’s voice would boom throughout the auditorium. Judging by the context of the topic, I arrived super late.

“-- Classes are to be chosen by a first come, first serve policy. This takes effect the moment this announcement ends, so be quick about it. Also, if there are any rising disputes, I recommend settling it through a duel as you are all competent students.

Besides that, make sure to balance your classes and adventures well. Otherwise, someone’ll have to be expelled – I don’t want to do that this year!”

The student body’s reaction was as expected, laughter across the board.

“Anyways, you’re all dismissed!” Abel ripped a wide grin before vanishing into thin air.

The hall stormed with the jeers of students and footsteps of exiting. Next to me though, the story was slightly different.

“Well, who do we have here?” The second saint candidate suddenly approached me.

“A late student,” I shrugged.

Krulia shook her head and wagged her finger, “Don’t be so dismissive! We have a meeting later don’t we?”

“I’d rather get to the classes and sign up, like right now, so I don’t have to do any more Hero’s bouts,” I attempted to pass by her with such an excuse.

“Hmm… don’t worry about that, I can easily get you that! Just promise to meet me after, alright?” She spoke a seemingly impossible thing while holding out her pinky finger.

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I assumed she wanted to do something like a pinky promise, which I begrudgingly reciprocated.

“Alright…” I took in a breath, “The five subjects I’m aiming for are, ‘Weapon Mastery’, ‘General Magic Studies and Mana Control’, ‘General Combat’, and ‘Ancient History.”

“Is that doable?” I asked.

Krulia frowned, “Are you sure? Those subjects are devoid of the theory necessary for the general theory exams, besides Ancient History and Magic Studies. There’s a reason why the Great Hero recommended to only take one or two combat classes as the first year.”

“I really wonder, who scored first on the written test?” I shrugged after spitting out rhetoric, not willing to say anything more.

Her eyes brightened, “Haha! You’ve got me there junior, I forgot you were such a superstar.”

‘Forgot? So she knew already?’

That implication told a lot about the conversation we were going to have in several hours.

“Of course I am, but how do you plan to get me those–”

A bronze tablet was thrown in my direction, cutting me off. “And this is?”

“A priority pass, you will be given the class no matter what, even at the expense of another. Which is why, you should be thankful!” Krulia bent over, poking her finger me.

In a way she was telling me I owed her a favour. To someone like Krulia who hides her true colours, my body shirked at the thought of what she might use it for.

“Thank you, and see you later,” I bowed politely and left.

From behind I heard a scoff, “Hmph.”

Ignoring the senior’s play, I headed through the now scattered crowd. There was a concern that plagued me though – What would the transfer student that Alicia and Charles are worried about, choose?

‘Wouldn’t at least every student have one combat class? Right… It is necessary to have at least one of those, and I’ve chosen all of them.’

All in all, everything worked itself out. What was left, was to choose my classes.

“Which one first?” I mumbled to myself.

-x-

Even with my mini-map, becoming lost within the labyrinth of this academy wasn’t hard. Winding hallways, and long paths accompanied by masses of students only served the purpose of making life harder. Unfortunately, that helped the developers of the game, since it made raising flags and causing events more probable and easier.

Still, what was annoying, would be annoying even with a reason.

I arched my back, stretching as the familiar class of Edward’s came into view. It was funny, seeing as how I was just here a couple of days ago.

Ancient history was hardly a fought-for class due to its highly theoretical aspects, as well as its well-renowned snooze fest of a lecture. I had decided to come here for one reason, even with the priority pass I figured the amount of entrees would decrease as the day went on.

‘Aren’t I a genius?’

I opened the welcoming double door, witnessing spots of heads populating the seats. From memory the faces were the same as the game, but… the addition of Uriel wouldn’t be any less surprising.

From where I stood Uriel was barely visible, she was quietly waving and pointing to the chair beside her. With a more observant eye, I spotted Erin’s bob of hair that blended in with the dark seats.

Throwing away my thoughts, I headed for their desks situated at the front right of the room. On the way, there were many other students curiously peeking at me. They were of the more nerdy type, judging by their subdued glances. It was a strangely relaxing feeling, considering the glares I received back in the first week for hanging out with widely known personas.

Uriel leaned toward me, exclaiming in a small voice, “Luke, hurry and sit, the class is about to start!”

Feeling the warmth of the specially made chairs, my body naturally loosened up.

“Hello everybody, I would introduce what the class is… but seeing as I recognise everyone so far, I don’t see why we would delay our first lesson any further.”

Professor Edward dashed for an enchanted marker, immediately drawing in the air with an excited expression.

“Please don’t mind my enthusiasm, this is the biggest class we’ve had in years!” He announced with a proud expression. “Ahem. The first topic of this semester will be the history of the beastmen following their collapse a few hundred years ago.”

The class would continue with an upbeat tone, contrasting with my fight against the dream world. Information about that topic was considered general knowledge by most intermediate players of the game, as the beastman invasion would force a lot of players to invest time into learning about their lore to avoid certain interactions; get around some, or take advantage of it.

In summary, it could just be said that the beastmen suffered greatly during the Great War and made a few mistakes in picking enemies.

“Uwaa…” I held my hand to my mouth.

No matter what was taught, I was bound to ace the subject in the end.

-x-

“I didn’t expect that to happen at all!” Erin pointed and laughed at me.

“Luke, unfortunately, she’s right, I almost died…” Uriel held her stomach, leaning on a wall.

I refrained from speaking fearing they would only spout some more nonsense. Who would expect that knowing all the answers would have… have had that effect? If anything I was exasperated. My energy had been sapped and I hadn’t even attended any combat classes yet either.

Those kids, praised me as if I was a pariah… that all was because of one demon. Professor Edward, he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I had been napping as I had previously on the first week, answered all the questions that came my way after being forced awake, and then… then…

“Their eyes… and the look of reverence!” Erin’s grin only widened.

If this had been anyone else, it wouldn’t have been something to laugh at. If I had been like Mark, drowning in ambition and arrogance, they would be spitting in the dirt instead.

One of my classmates passed by, picking up my hands and spouting out thanks. “Senior Luke! Thank you for saving us from that tyrant!”

“Pfft.. hahah!” Uriel couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

“I… I give up.”

Another long day was in store.