"We hope to see an increase in our people's representation in the Divine Arena rankings. To achieve this, our finest mages and knights are prepared to train the most promising students of our world.
As you may know, the Poemotl Academy was established 17 years ago, and the results have been quite impressive. Recent graduates are already demonstrating remarkable progress," stated the head of the World Defenders Guild.
According to recent statistics, our chances of securing a place in the Divine Arena have significantly improved. We're also pleased to announce that the selection process for Poemotl Academy has begun, with new students set to enroll this year. Inside sources reveal that several exceptionally talented individuals have been admitted.
In other news, we received the latest updates from the Rift Front just yesterday. The enemy has managed to breach several of our key positions. This was made possible by the Lungarians, who captured a droakn and, using third-level magic, forced it through the breach to attack us..."
Seated in a compartment of the magical train, an attractive man with jet-black hair and eyes gazed intently at a small, luminous screen on the table before him. His otherwise pleasing appearance was marred by an air of arrogance. The screen resembled a high-tech device, but the man knew it was a product of magic. He still struggled to reconcile with the fact that he had been thrust into this world of magic, diverse races, and perpetual warfare.
As he watched the screen, his thoughts drifted to the perilous conditions on the front lines, recalling scenes from the game. He marveled at the bravery of those who now faced these dangers in reality. Unintentionally, his thoughts escaped his lips:
"Observing them, I can't help but marvel at their courage, despite their foolishness in overcoming such trivial obstacles."
Hearing his own words, he sank into despair.
'Damn, this trait is infuriating. Why did I have to inhabit this particular character?' he thought, summoning the game interface.
[Name: Walter
QTE (2/5)
Level: 5 (1200/2000 XP to next level)
Health: 100/100
Mana: XX/XX
Strength: 12
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 3
Special Traits:
Arrogance ⌄
Sleep Levitation ⌄
Contempt for Swords ⌄
Aversion to Physical Labor ⌄
Inability to Spend Money Wisely ⌄
Ignorant Genius (Magic Restriction) ⌄
Habit of Thinking Aloud ⌄
Physical Skills:
Fencing (Level: 0)
Magical Skills:
–
]
The more he examined his status, the more disheartened he became. Three days had passed since his arrival in this world. Initially, he had been excited at the prospect of meeting characters from the game. However, his enthusiasm quickly turned to disappointment.
He found himself inhabiting the body of a minor villain, presented as the first boss in the game. This unfortunate antagonist had lost his noble status due to his own foolishness. To make matters worse, he possessed a reprehensible personality, harboring a deep-seated contempt for commoners.
His disagreeable nature fueled an intense hatred for the brilliant students admitted to the academy for advanced training. Naturally, this was the Poemotl Academy, recently featured in the news.
According to the game's plot, the player discovers that this character gained admission to the academy through dishonest means. He had exploited his connections; the academy's headmistress was the daughter of his father's friend. His father had once saved the headmistress's father, who promised him a favor in return. As a result, this disgraced nobleman managed to secure a teaching position at the academy. Although it was challenging for the headmistress, she ultimately succeeded in arranging his appointment.
As the story progresses, the player uncovers the teacher's misdeeds. The most glaring offense is his complete failure to educate his students. Instead, he focuses on creating an exclusive community within the academy, attempting to gather students from aristocratic backgrounds.
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Simultaneously, he constantly harasses students of common birth, including one of the main heroes. This leads to a confrontation that ultimately results in the villain's dismissal by the headmistress. He disappears from the main storyline, and several arcs later, it is revealed that he was captured and executed for treason. Now, another consciousness inhabits the body of this villainous character.
From his perspective, he had simply spent too much time in front of his computer, eventually falling asleep and awakening in this world.
Although he was familiar with the game, he didn't know all its mechanics, additional storylines, and secrets inside out. Now he must navigate life in this world, unable to refuse the academy position as the outside world is far more dangerous. At the academy, he might at least have a chance to learn magic.
Speaking of learning magic, the reality was that this character's special traits severely limited most avenues for development. Looking at the special traits, he began to expand on each one:
Arrogance ⌃
Due to his noble origins, Walter harbors an intense disdain for commoners.
Sleep Levitation ⌃
Unbeknownst to Walter, he occasionally levitates in his sleep when overwhelmed by problems.
Contempt for Swords ⌃
Walter's words: "Swords are for mere mortals; true power lies in magic, whose magnificence remains beyond the comprehension of ordinary people."
Aversion to Physical Labor ⌃
Walter's words: "For a noble being such as myself to stoop to physical labor is simply inconceivable!"
Inability to Spend Money Wisely ⌃
Since childhood, Walter has had a habit of purchasing unnecessary trinkets. He still remembers his mother's words: "My darling, never forget that true treasures don't always sparkle like diamonds. Sometimes they're like simple pebbles, lying inconspicuously in the middle of the road."
Ignorant Genius (Magic Restriction) ⌃
Walter is a genius in first-level magic, but anything beyond that level is incomprehensible to him. He believes these advanced books are poorly written rather than acknowledging his own limitations.
Habit of Thinking Aloud ⌃
Walter sometimes suspects that others can read his thoughts.
'How could one person possess so many negative traits?' The current Walter's thoughts grew increasingly despondent. Although he knew the main plot points and some secrets, the game world had become reality, and it was natural that no one would strictly adhere to the original storyline. What was even more distressing was that, unlike the heroes, this character clearly lacked talent... except for his aptitude in first-level magic. But what could he accomplish with a mere first-level fireball?
Sighing deeply, he turned his attention to the peculiar label: QTE (2/5). This was a mechanic from the game that activated during certain special moments. Now, however, he could activate it at any time.
The only drawback was the limited number of points available, based on his superficial investigations. He had discovered several things about this ability.
Firstly, when he thought about launching QTE, it would activate. This manifested as a slowing of his surroundings, during which he could still think normally. However, his body was also affected by the slowdown.
If he ultimately decided to cancel the QTE after activation without setting a goal, he would lose one point, which took four hours to regenerate. He had also experimented with activating QTE without a goal and maintaining it for an extended period. He discovered that everything remained slowed until he either set a goal or chose to deactivate it. This could prove advantageous in emergency situations.
He had also tested how it worked in practice.
It was necessary to define a goal and set conditions to be achieved upon completion. The more conditions set, the more points required to activate QTE. For example, he tried making tea with the simple condition "make tea," which only consumed the point used for activation.
However, if he changed the condition to making "the perfect tea for himself," the point cost increased dramatically. This applied to other scenarios as well.
It was clear that he desperately needed more points, but he still hadn't figured out how to increase the upper limit of QTE points.
This was currently his best asset and could serve as his foundation. However, there was another issue that troubled him. Looking at his mana quantity, it wasn't displayed. He could definitively disprove the absence of mana, as he could clearly feel its presence.
'I'll only be able to investigate this when I reach the academy...' He needed to ensure there were no problems with his mana. Why couldn't he test his mana by using magic?
The problem stemmed from Walter's attempts to study high-level magic. Due to his traits, he had ignored first-level magic, assuming that all the books he encountered were poorly written. He failed to realize that he was a genius only in first-level magic and incapable of mastering anything beyond that.
Now, he had no chance to learn first-level magic as he was already en route to the academy. Books on second-level magic were clearly beyond his capabilities; like the previous owner of this body, he had attempted to understand second-level magic but found it incomprehensible.
He was now faced with the task of joining the academy, established 17 years ago, as a professor. He needed to understand what was wrong with his mana as quickly as possible. Besides magic, he had no other apparent means of becoming stronger.
If both swordsmanship and magic proved to be closed paths for him, his only option would be to find a place to hide and avoid drawing attention in order to survive.