02. Should I Not Pursue Encounters at the Entrance Ceremony? (1)

Time passed, and the day of the entrance ceremony arrived.

Walking from my studio apartment, about a 10-minute distance, I entered the academy’s main gate, and my eyes were filled with flower sculptures installed everywhere to welcome the new students.

It’s good to take my time and appreciate them since the Awakened who are active as artists usually put their heart and soul into making them, but I had someone to meet first, so I hurried my steps.

[Arvadellin Academy], South Korea’s only Awakened academy, holds a grand entrance ceremony every year on March 1st, gathering the Awakened of that year.

Although the number of students per class is small, about 500, the various subsidiary events held to unite their strength to respond to crises and protect citizens are also one of the major attractions.

Usually, Awakened awaken around the age of 19-20, but the timing of awakening varies from person to person, so they wait until the March entrance after undergoing a pre-education period of up to 3 months before entering the academy.

If you’ve just become an Awakened, especially if you’ve awakened early and completed the boring pre-education, the entrance ceremony is the event you’ve been waiting for more than anyone else.

How did I know even these detailed settings? It’s probably because the author wrote that part with more effort than any other part of the novel.

Every year, the entrance ceremony has one keyword, and that keyword returns as a theme that penetrates the events that will occur that year.

The novel ends after the original protagonist becomes a third-year student, so I don’t know much about the fourth year, but I clearly remember the keyword of the first year.

That is…

“Finally met, Goryushin.”

‘Meeting’.

* * *

Goryushin.

The protagonist of the novel academy duplicationist of the.

The large tattoo engraved on his back, recognizable even from afar, is clearly visible even though he raised his collar to hide it as much as possible.

At the time of entering the academy, his Essence Awakening is still in a transitional period, so he will probably think of himself as simply a physical ability Awakened.

However, his real ability is ‘Duplicationist’s Life and Death Decision’.

Once a day, regardless of any restrictions, he can designate another person to execute a 1-on-1 duel, and at this time, he has a fraudulent effect that resets all abnormal conditions and negative effects before the duel.

In addition, as the name suggests, if he wins the duel, he can ‘duplicate’ and take some of the opponent’s abilities, so he was often envied in the story as an OP who even ignores the Essence rule that one person can only have one ability.

That long tattoo from his back to his neck is the source of his ability, and although it cannot be completely removed, if I do some work on it now, there will be enough parts that will make the future progress easier.

“Hi, I’m Lee Jihu. You look like a freshman too, wanna go to the 1st stadium together?”

I approach Goryushin with a friendly smile.

He was constantly looking at his smartphone and pacing back and forth as if waiting for someone, but when he heard my words, he looked up and stared at me intently.

“Ah, sorry if I bothered you. I just thought you were alone, so I tried talking to you.”

“Ah, no. I… I’ve hardly ever talked to anyone other than my childhood friend, so my reaction was a bit slow. My childhood friend will be arriving soon, so if you’re okay with it, would you like to go together as three?”

He’s too nice, as expected.

If a stranger suddenly speaks to him in informal language, he might be embarrassed or even angry, but he accepts my words without any sign of that and even readily agrees to go together.

Just let me be possessed by a supporting character…

I always felt that he was kind even when I only read the novel, but meeting him in person makes me really sorry to hypnotize him in this situation.

But I have no choice.

Currently, the only way to escape this world that has been presented is to ‘follow the predetermined ending’ and ‘have continuous sex with the heroine’, but if I continue to use hypnosis for sex, even if I’m not caught at first, I’ll eventually end up in conflict later on.

For now, I’ll just put a few suggestions as a temporary measure, and I’ll have to slowly think about a way to prevent the protagonist from paying attention to me during the delayed time.

I gave him a rough answer that I understood, took out my cell phone from my pocket, and turned on the hypnosis app so that the screen was visible to me.

“Sorry. This was the best choice.”

Kkuuk-.

When I pressed the left button on the app screen, the energy absorber started to vibrate.

The influenced energy floating around the cell phone trembled, and then a wave was shot out with a pink effect.

Ryushin’s eyes gradually blurred and he became dazed, and soon a light came on on the second button as a sign that he was hypnotized.

There was no one nearby except him and me, but I didn’t know when someone might appear, so I said the suggestion I had thought of as quickly as possible.

[Goryushin. You will gradually have doubts about the tattoo on your back.]

I make him have doubts from deep within his heart about the Stigmata, which will become the source of his power in the future.

[Even if there is a reasonable explanation from those around you, the doubt will grow more and more, and eventually you will have a great aversion to the tattoo and will not be able to accept it.]

The small doubt that has sprouted will gradually create ripples in his calm mind, and in the end, he will feel as if the tattoo is a parasite on his body and will do anything to remove it.

Of course, the Stigmata is a tattoo engraved deep in the soul, so even if it is erased, it will reappear within a few days, and fundamentally, the Stigmata constantly performs mental purification, so it is clear that this suggestion will never be realized until the end.

But it’s enough if I can buy that short time.

While the protagonist is confused, I will capture Lee Hayul and get a reward to cast a stronger and more elaborate hypnosis.

I was worried that the hypnosis might be released while I was giving the suggestion because the hypnosis was still weak overall, but it seems that it has risen to the level where hypnosis works as long as I don’t say something that overturns common sense or doesn’t match my beliefs while transferring the ability to my cell phone.

I released the second button I was pressing to end the suggestion.

After the wave was shot, Ryushin blinked a few times as if he had come to his senses, and spoke to me in a calm tone as I continued to watch him from the side.

“Ahaha, am I not feeling well these days? My head is dizzy, so I couldn’t hear your answer. Could you tell me again if you don’t mind?”

“Yeah, sure. By the way, it looks like a girl is coming over there… Is she your childhood friend?”

A girl with a rather sharp impression is running from beyond the promenade where delicate flowers and lush trees harmonize.

“Hey Goryushin! Why did you come so early! I told you to wait in front of the house!”

Fiery red long hair, upturned eyes, and a straight height that exceeds 170 even at a glance.

If she wasn’t an Awakened, wouldn’t she have been a good fit for a model?

“I woke up early, so I just came and waited. By the way, this is a new friend I made today. His name is Lee Jihu. And this is Lee Hayul.”

“Hi, I’m Lee Jihu. Let’s get along well in the future.”

You have to respond coolly to a cool personality.

I give a short greeting and extend my hand to shake hands.

But she didn’t like my greeting, and she glanced at my face as if it was bothering her, then turned her head.

Well, she was originally described as being prickly, so I could have fully expected that reaction.

“…I’ll allow you to follow. But, if you’re thinking of taking advantage of Ryushin just because he seems like a nice person, just don’t get in my sight.”

“Ahaha, don’t do that so much. It’s good to make new friends before you even enter school~.”

Ignoring Ryushin’s awkward words to her, Lee Hayul grabbed Ryushin’s hand, turned her body around, and started walking towards the stadium where the entrance ceremony would be held.

Don’t get in my sight – sheesh. She’s super cold from the first meeting…

Ryushin doesn’t seem to have noticed, but judging from Lee Hayul’s reaction, her feelings for him have been more than friendship for a long time.

Thinking that I had gained quite interesting new information, I slowly followed behind them towards the stadium so that I wouldn’t be caught by her.

* * *

The entrance ceremony starts at 1 PM in the 1st stadium.

Although the 2nd and 3rd stadiums, which are smaller than the 1st stadium, have enough space to accommodate a sufficient number of people, the reason for choosing the 1st stadium is simple.

Because it’s cool!

I dare say it’s the most perfect 5 letters.

Well, if I had to add more, there are also heart-throbbing words like breeding press, iramachio, but…

I wouldn’t want to think of breeding press as the reason for choosing the stadium, so I’m satisfied enough with the expression that it’s cool.

Anyway, after arriving at the 1st stadium following them, I couldn’t help but realize once again that I had fallen into this world.

“I didn’t know it would be this big…”

Basically, it follows the framework of an amphitheater, but a wide oval field is spread out so that students can train freely without being restricted by space.

In addition, the materials used for the building seemed very solid, as if they were metals that did not exist in reality, and magic stones engraved with protective magic and other things in the middle were beautifully decorating the outer walls in harmony with the delicate decorations.

During the preliminary visit a few days ago, most of the academy’s roads were open as promenades, but I couldn’t even approach the main facilities, but now that I’m facing the stadium like this, I feel something overwhelming.

When I read the novel, I wasn’t curious about the appearance of the stadium no matter how vividly it was described, but now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I’m already looking forward to what the other buildings of the academy will look like.

After finding my seat after seeing the guidance text that came from the academy in advance, I tried to turn my head this way and that during the waiting time to find where Seo Juha was, but her figure was not visible at all due to the crowd filling the inside of the stadium.

• Ah, ah. Microphone test. Can you hear me?

Just in time, it seemed like the entrance ceremony had started, so I decided to concentrate on the event for now, thinking that I could find her later in the 1st grade classroom.

• Okay, I can hear you well. Now, we will begin the 72nd [Arvadellin Academy] entrance ceremony!

A woman’s beautiful voice that is transmitted as if it is ringing in my ears.

At the same time, the figure of a silver-haired person walking out from the entrance of the auditorium in the distance is faintly visible.

• First of all, I would like to thank the parents who participated in the event! Recently, the attendance rate has been so low that I was feeling a little sad… Should I visit each student’s home before they enter school to encourage them to participate together?

…The identity of this crazy woman who spits out words as she pleases in this important place is ‘Sanya Dominas’, the principal of this academy, who is called the ‘Ruler of Sound Waves’.

And before the end of this semester,

I aim to fuck her.