Ch.1413. Academy

# 13. Academy

Now that the ranking matches were over, I had returned to my original life, commuting to the Hunter Guild every day.

I wasn’t working as hard as when I was preparing for the entrance exam, but I wasn’t slacking off either.

I had a clear goal.

But I was still ridiculously inadequate to achieve that goal.

And that fact gave me endless motivation.

However, to others who didn’t know this, my behavior might have seemed a bit strange.

“Why are you still working so hard when the exams are over?”

Like this guy complaining next to me right now.

“You got 4th place, just 4th place.”

Since I won against Raicle and immediately forfeited, I automatically became 4th place.

Above me were Chris, Briton, and Reina, in that order.

And right below me, Raicle took 5th place.

In this situation, neglecting training would be foolish.

“That’s exactly why I’m working hard.”

“But watching the ranking matches, you seemed like you could’ve been 1st place.”

“I can’t beat Briton or Reina.”

I still wouldn’t be able to break through Briton’s shield or resist Reina’s magic.

And Chris was definitely not an opponent to be underestimated.

Even if I had been in good physical condition, it would have been impossible to improve my ranking.

“But you beat Raicle?”

“That was just luck.”

“You’re so humble now. Try being like that normally.”

“…”

Ellin suddenly changed the subject.

“Now you’ll get to meet that person you like?”

“That’s right.”

Though I had already met her.

“Can’t you tell me who it is?”

“It’s someone you know.”

“How many people do you think I know?”

Since she had already built relationships with many students at the academy, that hint alone wouldn’t be enough for her to figure it out.

“Find out yourself.”

“Tch.”

I deliberately ignored her as she pouted and begged me to tell her.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m curious. You even came back to the past for this one person. I’m curious about who you liked that much.”

“Actually, it’s you.”

She glared at me like she wanted to kill me.

As if saying, ‘Don’t talk nonsense.’

“Not funny.”

“Just pretend to believe me.”

“Say something that makes sense.”

“Fair enough…”

The idea that I would work this hard because of her was completely absurd.

‘Would people criticize this if it were written in a novel?’

It was such an implausible development that it was natural she didn’t believe it.

“Figure it out yourself, and for now, get out. I want to sleep.”

“Fine, I got it.”

She immediately got up and returned to her room.

When she left, the room became suddenly quiet.

Lying in bed in the dark, quiet room, I started feeling drowsy.

‘I miss her.’

Thinking about the girl I wanted to see even more after Ellin brought her up, I drifted off to sleep.

***

About five months had passed since October, when the entrance exam and ranking matches were held.

Today was February 28th, the day before new students who passed the entrance exam would attend the academy for the first time.

Most students moving into the dormitory had checked in today.

Of course, I was no exception.

Although our house was close to the academy and I didn’t necessarily need to stay in the dormitory, I wanted to use the high-quality facilities of the Imperial Academy.

So now, I was heading to the academy with my luggage to move into the dormitory.

That part was fine.

But my mood wasn’t particularly good right now.

“Why are you moving into the dormitory? You didn’t originally do that.”

For some reason, Ellin had also decided to move into the dormitory this year.

“I’m trying to be more diligent from now on.”

“Is it thanks to me?”

“Yes, thanks to you. Thank you.”

Strangely, she admitted it right away.

Her behavior was quite different from her usual image, which made me a bit puzzled.

“That doesn’t suit you.”

“What did you say? Do you want to die?”

“I think I’d win.”

Five months of intense training had given me the strength to beat her.

By now, both my level and skill rank were probably higher than hers.

“Are you saying you’re better than me after just half a year of training?”

“It’s talent.”

“Life is so unfair…”

The regressor trait helped a lot, but that alone wouldn’t have been enough.

“Living in dungeons all that time… and this is the result…”

“This is what effort looks like. Learn from it.”

She frowned as she spoke.

“Shut up.”

“Wait, is that a line? Do we have to wait in line?”

The magnificent Imperial Academy building seemed to welcome us with its gleaming appearance.

However, I couldn’t appreciate the grand scenery.

My eyes were drawn to a line of people even larger than the huge building.

“Do we have to wait in that line too?”

Seeing that line composed of all students from middle school to high school, I felt my breath catch.

“If we did, we wouldn’t have come this late.”

From her words, it seemed fortunately we didn’t have to wait in line.

The reason was probably because we were in A-Class.

“We don’t have to wait because we’re A-Class.”

“I already knew that.”

“Really now…”

“But how do we get in?”

Surely we weren’t just going to cut in line thoughtlessly.

“Follow me.”

Since I didn’t know anything, I obediently followed her.

“Excuse me.”

She was talking with an official who was managing this long line.

After a brief conversation, Ellin mentioned that we were A-Class students.

“May I ask your names?”

The official asked for our names.

We showed our Imperial Academy student IDs that we had received in advance.

He examined our IDs and then pointed to a line that was empty unlike the others.

“Ellin Veros and Albert Veros, please go through there.”

We followed the official’s instructions and entered through that line.

Other students watched us enviously as we went in.

“Both siblings are in A-Class?”

“Is that the guy who beat Raicle?”

“Wow… handsome too. Life really is unfair.”

The stares and whispers were quite burdensome.

Ellin seemed to feel the same way, as her face scrunched up.

“But compared to her brother, she’s kind of…”

“What?”

“Her looks. I mean, she’s not ugly, but relatively speaking.”

She heard those words and angrily stared at the person who said them.

With a furious expression, Ellin said:

“How good-looking are you to criticize someone else’s face? You look like a monkey.”

At her harsh words, he lowered his head in embarrassment.

I burst out laughing beside her.

“What are you laughing at?”

She took out her anger on me for just standing there laughing.

“Calling him a monkey was a bit harsh.”

“He started it.”

“That’s true.”

Though she was hearing such comments now, by this time next year, no one would dare criticize her appearance.

“Just be patient. Next year, no one will say such things.”

“How would you know…”

She seemed to realize mid-sentence.

“Really?”

Her face suddenly brightened as she turned to me.

“Really.”

“How much?”

“Among the women I’ve known, you’ll be second best.”

Hearing my words, she excitedly went back to the guy who had gossiped about her.

“See you next year.”

Then she ran back to where I was.

“Is it okay to speak informally to him?”

She was speaking informally to someone whose age she didn’t know since he wasn’t wearing a uniform.

“You shouldn’t respect someone who’s done wrong.”

“He must be older than you.”

“He’s a second-year high school student.”

“Older than me too.”

Still, since he was waiting in that crowded line, he probably wasn’t in A-Class.

“And guys like that deserve to be scolded.”

“Is that so?…”

“Yes. If you don’t have skill, at least have good character.”

She expressed her anger as she continued:

“I hate people who act arrogant because of their family background.”

“Your character isn’t that great either.”

She replied with a shameless face:

“But I have skill, so it’s fine.”

“Uh… is that how it works?”

“Yes.”

That’s definitely her way of thinking.

Of course, I somewhat agree too.

“Is this it?”

I pointed to the large building in front of us.

This building was probably the men’s dormitory.

“Go in there and ask someone, they’ll tell you.”

“Alright, see you.”

“Don’t wake up late tomorrow and embarrass yourself by being tardy.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

With that conversation finished, I entered the building while Ellin went into another nearby building.

I followed Ellin’s advice and went inside.

“Student, this way.”

An official called out to me.

The official handed me a paper with my room number, location, and the dormitory rules.

My room was number 3405.

The number was quite large, probably because there were so many students.

I took the elevator to find my room.

When I reached the 17th floor, there was an unexpected person waiting for the elevator.

He was about to enter the elevator but stopped when he saw me.

“Hello?”

“Hello.”

“You know my name, right?”

“Chris Gabriel.”

Chris Gabriel.

My closest friend, closer to me than anyone else.

The appearance of my best friend was incredibly welcome.