Chapter 30 : Raising the Protagonist

The hierarchy within the academy is quite pronounced.

It is generally divided into three levels: lower class, intermediate class, and upper class. However, since the academy follows a four-year system, if you look at it overall, it is split into twelve different groups.

Excluding the first-year students who haven’t received proper training, who would be at the bottom when you list the others?

• 2nd-year lower class
• 3rd-year lower class
• 4th-year lower class

In the end, it comes down to this.

If we talk about actual ability, it’s unlikely that someone who has received a lot of training would completely lose to younger students.

For example, the average of the 4th-year lower class could probably stand up to a 2nd-year intermediate class.

But, well… it’s kind of ridiculous for a 4th-year student to be compared to a 2nd-year student.

Yeah, ridiculous. The lower class is such a group.

A graveyard for the untalented. The leftovers of the academy. They were often referred to like this.

But it’s not entirely strange for them to be called that, since the distribution of students in the academy isn’t pyramid-shaped.

The distribution looks more like a rhombus, with few upper-class and lower-class students, and most of them in the intermediate class.

If we look at the proportions: 10% upper class, 65% intermediate class, and 25% lower class.

Because of this, a sense of longing toward the upper class and disdain for the lower class has formed.

Then, what about the treatment of the lowest group, the 1st-year lower class students?

Hmm… surprisingly, it’s pretty good.

Since so many gems are discovered here, there are plenty of eyes watching the growth of the students. You could say it’s like a “new user protection period.” But once you hit the 2nd-year lower class, you’re on your own.

In actual games, if you can’t escape the lower class and are promoted to 2nd year, the difficulty of the game increases vertically.

Even if you perfectly clear the main story, there’s a high chance of getting a bad ending.

Your reputation plummets, and the number of quests available to you is halved.

Then, after you manage to scrape through the halved quests, the rewards are halved again…

And on top of that, all sorts of disruptive events occur at random times, making time management a nightmare. It couldn’t even be described simply as “difficult.”

It was so brutal that there was an achievement for escaping the lower class after advancing to 2nd year, and the achievement rate was less than 0.01%.

I managed to achieve it, but thinking about how many times I tried, I never want to go through that again.

If you can’t escape the lower class in 1st year? It’s better for your mental health to just erase the save and start over.

…Why am I talking about this suddenly?

“Artes.”

“Who… Ah, you’re that… Rudion?”

“Isn’t it training time for you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“I finished all the lectures and just came out.”

“Right. Don’t you do any personal training or something?”

“Training? I’ve never done it. I don’t plan to.”

The protagonist seems like he’s about to end up like this.

Meeting Artes was purely by chance.

After Lilith’s training ended, normally, I would have been caught by Seria and dragged around until evening.

But, thanks to Alkine, who witnessed her skills and pulled me aside for a brief talk, I was left alone for the first time in a while, enjoying some free time.

However, since I didn’t really have anything to do, I decided to head back to the dorm for a nap. On my way back, I spotted a familiar face sitting on a bench, gazing blankly at the sky.

Artes.

True to the protagonist’s characteristics, he was a tall, handsome man.

With fiery red hair and golden eyes, his presence was striking even though he was simply slouched on a bench.

He… there’s no need for a long explanation. He’s just a hero.

It’s not because he’s the protagonist, or because of his good looks. It’s because he will eventually unlock the hero trait and actually become a true hero.

I had forgotten about him since we hadn’t crossed paths for a month, but seeing him now, I was so happy to run into him that I decided to approach him.

‘Why is he so skinny?’

Contrary to what I expected—thinking by now he would have built up some muscle—his physique hadn’t changed much from when I saw him during the entrance exam. In fact, he looked even skinnier, as if he hadn’t been eating properly.

I was puzzled by his appearance, so I decided to speak to him, only to receive a shocking response.

“Training? Never done it. I don’t plan to.”

…I think something has gone horribly wrong without me realizing it.

Usually, if you just follow the story, by the time you’re taking the midterms, you’d have the specs to join the intermediate class.

Could it be that Reina’s absence has caused the growth episodes to disappear?

I knew that my appearance had slightly messed up the protagonist’s growth path, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.

I thought that, even if left alone, he’d figure out how to grow on his own.

After all, he has the absurdly overpowered trait “The One Who Moves Forward.”

“The One Who Moves Forward.” This simple but powerful trait fixes the growth requirements for all stats. Instead of the usual increasing requirements like 100, 300, 500… they’re fixed at 100.

It’s a far cry from my own trait, where not only the requirements but the stats themselves are fixed.

…I feel kind of deprived now. Was this how Lilith felt when she saw Seria’s magic? I guess I owe him more than one meal.

Anyway, given that he has such a trait, it’s clear that the growth episodes have disappeared.

“Why are you suddenly acting all friendly? You’re in the upper class, what could someone like me have to do with you?”

That damn protagonist. He doesn’t even realize I’m worrying about him and is just grumbling.

But strangely, I didn’t feel offended. It was like he was giving off a friendly aura.

Maybe it’s just because I personally feel a sense of closeness to Artes, but even considering that, he felt like someone I had known for a long time.

Is this the secret to being able to talk to any NPC in games?

Well, that’s not important now… at this point, I only have one thing left to do.

I have to train him myself. What else can I do?

“Hey. Artes. Do you have time from now on?”

“I don’t have anything else to do, really.”

Right. So that’s why he was just lying there staring at the sky.

“Until dinner, you’re getting special training.”

“What’s that… I’m not really into special training or anything…”

“I’ll buy you dinner. Just follow me.” I said, and when we’re done, I’ll treat you.

“…Well, if that’s the case…”

As expected, it seemed like he was starting to feel the pinch, so as soon as I said I’d buy him food, he immediately followed me.

It was as if he inherited the typical gamer mentality—accepting any offer as long as there’s a reward.

Phew… I thought he’d grow on his own, so I left him to it, but now I’m dealing with this. But it’s not too late to correct it from here on.

Of course, it’s a hassle. This happened right after I sent Lilith back, so it felt like a lot to handle.

Still, I felt a bit guilty because I probably caused this situation by intervening, and without the hero in the later developments, things would get messy. I guess it can’t be helped.

Since he’s the protagonist, and with those absurdly overpowered traits, all I need to do is help him make it to the intermediate class in the upcoming midterms, and from there, he’ll be fine on his own.

For now, I’ll focus on showing him the benefits of stat growth.

Ding!

As I was walking, deep in thought, my messenger went off. I had turned off the alarm, but after Seria complained about me not reading her messages, I decided to keep it on.

After all, besides Seria, I rarely get messages.

This one, of course, was from Seria.

[Seria: I’ve finished talking with Alkine.]

[Seria: Where are you?]

It hadn’t been long, so it seemed like the conversation wrapped up faster than I expected.

Since I wasn’t far from where we originally parted ways, I decided to meet her there again.

“Rudion. Who’s that person next to you?”

“Huh, that’s the Princess.”

And so, Seria and Artes met for the first time.

Originally, they would have run into each other around mid-semester during an event, but… it’s not a big deal running into each other now.

I answered Seria’s question.

“That’s Artes. He’s in the lower class, and I’m planning to help him out for a while.”

“Lower class? Why are you helping someone like that?”

Seria, please don’t say it like that… He’s in the lower class now, but eventually, he’s going to be the one to defeat the Demon King.

But if I said that, it would be a spoiler, so I just gave a vague response.

“Umm, I think with a little effort, he can grow quickly.”

“Rudion, you’re not the type to care about others.”

“Well, that’s true…”

“Hmm…”

When I trailed off, Seria half-opened her eyes, looked over Artes, and muttered quietly.

“…Well, since he’s a guy this time, I’ll let it slide.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Can I come along and watch too?”

“Even if I said no, you’d follow me, right?”

“Of course.”

Fine. Princess, do as you please. It’s not like we’re going to do anything too important.

And so, Artes’ training began.

The training consisted of… 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10 km run.

From now on, I’ll use food as bait and make him do this every day.

“What kind of training is this? You’re just making him exercise on his own.”

Seria questioned it, sounding incredulous, but there was nothing I could do.

This was the only training method I knew.