Chapter 2: Academy City Elysium

A completely new world unfolded before my eyes.

“Huh?”

I was no longer standing in a filming set lined with cameras.

Buildings with a modern feel and a clear blue sky with the sun shining brightly.

The shops visible between the high-rise buildings had strangely familiar names and appearances.

And the cars passing by on the road were all unknown models.

What is this place… the filming? That staff member?

I struggled to comprehend what I was seeing.

My mind rejected any assumptions or information. The reality of the wind blowing and the faint scents permeating my nose was disconcerting.

My consciousness turned white, and my body wouldn’t move.

I didn’t know how long I stood there, dazed.

Chattering voices pierced my ears.

─ If I fail the Placement Exam today, my mom said she’ll cut my allowance!

─ You kept bragging about being confident in memorization, but you didn’t even cram, did you?

─ Ugh, I don’t know! What am I going to do…!

Their cheerful energy roused my dormant consciousness.

“Ha.”

I closed my eyes tightly and exhaled.

I bit my tongue crack! and felt the pain and the taste of blood in my mouth.

First of all, this isn’t a dream… is it?

The vivid sensation confirmed that I was alive.

I realized that the current situation was real.

Then, I started to gather information by moving my eyes left and right.

Passersby with naturally colorful hair and eyes.

I even saw some people with animal ears and tails.

And no one spared them a second glance, as if it were a perfectly normal sight.

The majority of the pedestrians were wearing the same uniform and heading in the same direction.

That uniform….

Of course, I recognized it.

Abyss City, the game where my character ‘Rohan’ was supposed to be released.

The Orion Academy Uniform worn in Academy City, the main setting of the game, was exactly like that.

Beastkin are a common race in Abyss City too.

A world that even had Elves, though rare.

With a sense of understanding, I looked down at my hands and body.

“…”

All I had in my hand was the student ID card I received as a gift.

And for some reason, I was also wearing the Orion Academy uniform.

My smartphone, which was in my pocket, had disappeared, and was replaced by a model I’d never seen before.

Anyway,

Based on the circumstantial and direct evidence around me, I arrived at a conclusion.

There was no doubt.

No matter how many times I thought about it, it was hard to believe, but…

It’s not like I’m a main character in a novel or anything….

I was certain that I had fallen into the game, Abyss City.

Just like the characters in the web novels I enjoyed.

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This world had an inherent familiarity due to my experience playing the game, and it also had a unique bright atmosphere.

But there was also an unfamiliar side that felt real.

I’m still dazed.

Somehow putting those things aside.

I wondered what to do from now on, but thankfully, there was a guidepost for me.

Just as I began to accept the fact that I was in the game and was about to move, a translucent window appeared before me.

Was I the only one who could see this? No one else paid attention to this mysterious object floating in the air.

Orion Academy Placement Exam….

I pondered the translucent window.

I listed the information that came to mind.

This is something I couldn’t experience in the game, right?

The starting point of Abyss City was after the class assignments and surrounding characters were finalized.

I could only vaguely remember the Placement Exam being mentioned in a side story.

Meaning, I only knew of its existence and didn’t know the exam content.

This is going to be interesting.

It was full of unknowns, but my deliberation didn’t last long.

As suggested by the quest, my destination was decided: Orion Academy.

There wasn’t any grand reason.

I was simply interested and curious.

Even if the characters I cherished existed, I wished to see them with my own eyes.

Plus, wasn’t I curious about the nature of the 100P reward?

And what moved me most intensely was…

There’s no obligation to accept the quest.

The lack of a penalty for failure made me feel free.

It felt like they wouldn’t care if I took the Placement Exam or ran out of Academy City.

That was the most appealing part.

I pulled out the unfamiliar smartphone from my pocket, checked the date – February 26th – and the early hour, then joined the cadets heading towards Orion Academy.

Mesmerized by the twitching ears and wagging tails of the Beastkin I saw, I followed them and soon saw the main gate of Orion Academy, which I had only seen on a monitor.

Wow, it’s really magnificent in person.

A “No Vehicles Allowed” sign at the entrance flashed, asserting its presence.

The cadets were bustling on one side, forming a line.

“New cadets! Please have your student IDs ready!”

“We’ll check your student IDs here and give you your Placement Exam numbers!”

“The written exam starts at 10:00!”

Thanks to the people walking around shouting, I understood the situation.

I naturally and brazenly joined the end of the line.

“Next.”

As the line of cadets gradually dwindled, I moved forward step by step.

Now, when I tilted my head, I could see them showing their student IDs and receiving number slips.

Ah!

Suddenly, I remembered something.

I fiddled with the student ID in my hand.

This… will it be alright?

Come to think of it, this student ID was a gift.

It looked exactly the same as the other cadets’ IDs and had someone’s stamp on it, but wouldn’t they ask if it was a forgery?

“Hmm.”

As the tension subtly grew, my throat started to get dry.

There was nothing else in my pocket but a strange smartphone.

So, there was a vague expectation that this student ID would be genuine.

However, realistically, there was also the ominous possibility that it would be deemed fake.

If there was a commotion because of a forged student ID, should I run away?

As I was briefly looking around to secure an escape route in case things went south, my turn came.

“Student ID, please.”

“…Here you go.”

The person sitting at the table didn’t look like a cadet.

I assumed they were an Orion Academy staff.

“Hmm?”

The staff member, who had been working with an indifferent expression, changed their expression and examined the student ID closely.

Was there a problem after all?

The short wait for an answer was suffocating. It felt like a rough hand was gripping my throat.

“Ah! I’m sorry. I heard there was a Cadet from the Southern Region among this year’s new students, but I didn’t realize it was true.”

“…”

The staff repeatedly apologized, saying they didn’t mean anything bad by it and were just surprised, then pointed to a paper.

“Please sign your name here.”

They were interested in the region listed on my student ID.

I understood immediately.

It’s understandable if it’s the same Southern Region I remember from the game.

I felt like a sigh of relief would burst out if I opened my mouth, so I silently picked up the pen.

I wrote ‘Rohan,’ just as it was on the student ID, then straightened up.

“Here’s your student ID, and please take your number slip.”

The number assigned to me was 99.

With this somewhat awkward number, I followed the other cadets moving en masse.

But why the Southern Region?

Along with my curiosity about my character.

I felt a burst of excitement seeing faces I knew from the game inside the examination hall.

But that quickly turned to disappointment as it was filled with characters I hadn’t raised and had left neglected.

“Tsk.”

I sat at the desk marked with the number 99, twirling the pen placed there, and looked around.

Unlike me, who didn’t even have a bag, the cadets began taking out books and murmuring, doing their final reviews.

The written exam. Could I do well?

A common cliché in web novels.

Like me, people who got isekai’d into games or novels often aced theoretical exams with their pre-acquired knowledge.

I wondered how I would fare.

Well, if I fail, I fail.

I didn’t dwell on it too deeply. I was satisfied because the new experience was enjoyable.

I was just happy about this dream-like situation of being isekai’d into a game.

I spent my time peacefully, marveling at the airships and the Academy City scenery visible outside the window, completely unaware of what subjects would be on the written exam.

At some point, the front door opened with a creaking sound.

Click. Click. Click.

A strict-looking woman entered, carrying a thick envelope.

The fact that she had a pistol on her hip made the academy feel real and also blew my mind.

“There are no empty seats. Put away all your belongings except for your pens, and turn off your smartphones.”

Some of the cadets who were putting away their books with murmurs let out sighs of lamentation, as if they were short on time.

“The written exam is 120 minutes long. Cadets who finish the exam before the time limit may leave and proceed to the Practical Exam. However, once you leave, you cannot re-enter until the exam is over.”

The examiner continued her explanation, emphasizing that point.

Without moving from the podium, she began to nudge the stack of exam papers with one finger.

The exam papers fluttered through the air, landing one by one on the desks where the cadets were seated.

The cadets’ eyes widened at the examiner’s incredible control of her power.

““Ooh!””

“Silence. You must not open the exam papers until I announce the start of the exam. If you do, it will be considered cheating.”

In the silence brought on by the sharp warning.

Only the quiet voices of cadets murmuring to remember what they had memorized could be heard.

The examiner, who was looking at her wristwatch at the podium, raised her head.

“Begin.”

At her frosty voice, the cadets who returned to their senses unfolded their exam papers all at once with a rustling sound.

I also gripped my pen with determination and unfolded the first page of the exam paper.

…Laws!?

I really didn’t expect this.

The moment I saw the question that was beyond my expectations, I felt dizzy.

I flipped through the exam paper to check the other subjects.

There were questions related to Monsters and equipment, and I saw some familiar names.

However,

Just because a few familiar words appeared didn’t mean I could find the answers.

What is the Mana conductivity formula?

It’s quite common in web novels for isekai protagonists to easily top written exams.

But the Orion Academy written exam wasn’t something I could solve using information I had learned from the game.

It felt like reality hitting me over the head.

…

I picked up my pen, confidently filled in a single line of answers, then…

I submitted my exam paper first and headed straight to the practical exam site.