episode_0022

I was walking inside a quiet building where everything was covered in white.

The hallway was silent, devoid of any people. Besides me, the only things providing a bit of dynamism to this monotonous place were the chaotically arranged walls and pillars.

As I walked, looking around, the floor suddenly cracked with a snap and crumbled.

“Gah!”

A strange assailant clad in black tights from head to toe sprang out from the floor!

Startled, I fell.

—Whirring!

The chainsaw in the assailant’s hand whirred loudly.

Terrified, I crawled on the floor. The fellow approached me.

“Aah…! Don’t come!”

The tights-clad assailant grabbed me and lifted me up, then shoved the chainsaw towards my head.

The loudly rotating chain drew closer! It’s coming! No! Don’t! It hurts! Aaaaaaah!

“Aaaagh!”

I woke up in a cold sweat. But when I opened my eyes, for some reason, I was floating in the air.

“Ugh?”

—Thud!

“Aargh…!”

Opening my eyes, the dorm room floor greeted me with intense pain. It hurt so much that I lay there for a long time before finally getting up. I was clearly lying on the upper bunk, so why did I fall?

—Aaaagh…! Number 4! Sorry….

I glared at Number 2, who peeked her head out from the second bunk. It seems Number 2, startled awake from her dream, kicked me down. It’s a miracle nothing broke after falling from that height.

The pain made me briefly want to curse, but I held it in. Pretty girls don’t swear, after all.

“Ugh, but what is this?”

Something seemed to be dripping from my nose. It was dark, so I couldn’t see well.

As I struggled to hold onto the bed leg and get up, I heard a rustling sound. Under the dim shadows, a blurry figure rose from the first bunk and turned on the desk lamp.

“Oh…? What’s that noise… Ruzilin-ssi? You’re already up?”

Daphne rubbed her sleepy eyes, threw back her blanket, and stood up.

As she stretched, her curvy figure, which couldn’t be hidden even by a loose white nightgown, was clearly revealed. I’d felt it before, but my roommate seems to have bigger breasts than me.

“Hmm? This is…”

As the room brightened, only then did I realize what was flowing from my nose. Daphne belatedly turned to look at me, then screamed with a horrified expression.

“Eek! Ruzilin-ssi! Your nose! Blood! Blood!”

She rushed up, pulled out tissues, and wiped my nose, then healed me.

After being bathed in warm light a few times, the bleeding stopped quickly. When I looked down at my clothes, my pajama top and pants were completely covered in blood. I’ll have to wash them.

“Ruzilin-ssi! How did this happen? As expected, that injury from yesterday…!”

“It’s not like that. I fell off the bed.”

When I pointed to the second bunk, she looked up, then turned back to me with a puzzled expression.

“You fell from here? There’s a safety bar there too… Oh, there’s another Ruzilin-ssi. Is that the clone you mentioned yesterday?”

“Oh, that’s my clone! It’s like a puppet without consciousness. It’s good for hugging and sleeping. Number 2! Say hello!”

As Number 2 waved with a blank expression, Daphne also waved with an awkward smile.

“That’s a truly amazing unique ability… My ability is like that too, but I’ve never seen such a unique ability before.”

Just then, something came up that I needed to confirm.

“Right? Oh, that’s right, Daphne. Is there anything strange written on my arm?”

I rolled up my left sleeve and showed it to her.

Daphne scanned it with her large eyes, then tilted her head.

“Well… I don’t see anything. Is this area uncomfortable too?”

“No, it’s not like that. It must just be an insect bite!”

As expected, it seems others can’t see it.

“That’s a relief then. Still, if you feel even slightly unwell, please tell me. You absolutely must! You absolutely must go to the infirmary! And…”

She seemed worried about me and continued to fuss over me.

“Well, thanks for worrying about me. But if Daphne just heals it…”

“No? You can’t! You should receive diagnosis from a doctor and medicine from a pharmacist! I appreciate you overestimating me, but I’m still a student.”

As I listened to her say it so firmly, I heard a familiar slogan. That phrase exists in this world too.

Looking out the window, I saw a faint dawn sky. Looking at the clock, it was 6 AM. I unnecessarily lost sleep because of a nightmare.

“You didn’t wake up early just because of me, did you?”

“What are you talking about? Oh! Don’t worry about that. I usually wake up at this time anyway.”

Since I was already up, I decided to just be a model student pretty girl. While I struggled to wash up and get ready, Daphne had already finished getting fully ready.

Wow, she’s really diligent.

“Shall we go eat breakfast then? The notice says that breakfast at the dorm cafeteria is a buffet.”

“What? A buffet? Let’s goooo!”

“Wait! My shoes! I haven’t put my shoes on yet!”

I excitedly went downstairs to the first floor.

—Wait! What about me? What about me!

—Sorry, Number 2! Something came up for me to experiment with. If you’re hungry, eat the cup ramen inside!

I conveyed a few things to Number 2.

It agreed to wait inside without dissipating. Soon, two more, Number 1 and Number 5, were created. They have separate things to do.

Going downstairs and looking at the menu, it was a typical English breakfast. Sausage, toast, hash browns, bacon, baked beans! What a splendid lineup.

At the thought of encountering the beautiful achievement that the British had uniquely contributed to the culinary industry, my mouth watered.

Perhaps because it was morning, there were many students in the first-year dorm cafeteria. I looked for the food with anticipation.

However, there was nothing where the food should have been.

“Huh…? Bacon…toast…? Where?”

“It seems that’s breakfast. It’s different from the menu…”

The shelf space where the buffet trays should have been was empty, as if someone had deliberately cleared it. At one end, a lonely soup warmer pot was visible.

As I opened the pot lid, I was faced with the utterly tasteless curse created by the British.

“What is this…?”

“It says it’s porridge.”

After scooping up the gray gruel with a ladle, I sat down and picked up my spoon. It tasted even blander than rice mixed with water. It tasted like the human feed formula I used to eat in the lab.

The first morning of the semester seemed destined to start dismally.

***

Trying hard to forget the tasteless breakfast, I took my seat in the classroom chair. I glanced at the schedule; this week, being the first week of classes, would only consist of orientations.

First, the freshman orientation that had been interrupted by yesterday’s incident was held in a rented classroom.

Unusually, people introduced as second and third-year seniors simply offered a light greeting and entered, standing in rows at the front and back of the classroom. What was that? Self-display?

One person, an assistant instructor, began to ramble on about something.

“Freshmen! Yesterday’s incident was truly regrettable, wasn’t it? But why did you all come here?

Just to earn money? To get a diploma? No. You came to this school to train to fight monsters, didn’t you?”

One student raised a hand with a puzzled expression.

“Excuse me. But it doesn’t make sense for such monsters to suddenly appear. My friend also got injured because of it…”

“No, our freshman. Let’s be clear about one thing. Did someone force you to come here?”

“Huh?”

“Did someone hold a knife to your throat and threaten you to come? No, right? You came voluntarily.

If you whine and complain over something like this, how will you become a hunter later? Will you be able to fight monsters?”

The student shut his mouth. In fact, the seniors in front glared fiercely at that student.

What the heck. What kind of place is this?

“Why is that assistant instructor saying such strange things…?”

Daphne, sitting next to me, whispered to me.

I looked at the front row and saw an impressive purple-haired girl. It was Irene, who knocked down Cranos yesterday. She was someone who even talked back to the student council president, but today, she’s biting her nails with an anxious expression. What happened?

“Therefore, freshmen. We must recognize reality, and with a cold mindset! Firmly arm our minds-”

“Hey, just quickly explain what’s necessary and finish it. For an assistant instructor, you’re quite long-winded.”

The blue-haired male student sitting in front interrupted the assistant instructor. It was Lucian.

The seniors’ fierce gazes turned towards Lucian. Even under silent pressure, he maintained a relaxed demeanor.

Lucian simply crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, then brazenly raised his right hand and snorted. A yellow sparkling magic circle appeared.

“You son of a…”

“Ahaha. You’re right. I’ll proceed quickly…!”

As one of the seniors behind him was about to step forward, the assistant instructor, who had been gauging the mood of both sides, stepped in. The assistant instructor stopped his useless chatter and rushed through the orientation at lightning speed.

After the orientation ended, we moved to the next location.

“Is this the atmosphere in all Awakener academies? It’s strange…”

“Well, from what I know, I’ve heard there are no places like this…”

Of course not. Aegis and Vesperia Prime, which are the settings for Part 1 of the game, are just typical light novel academy atmospheres.

There are no people spouting strange “mental armament” nonsense or groups of seniors standing around like thugs.

Still, it’s a relief someone stepped up and cut off that nonsense.

I didn’t like Lucian. He was a typical “cool” light novel protagonist concept character.

But let’s make an exception for today.

“So, you just install this app and register for classes, right?”

When I went into the link, I saw an application named , with a blue star-shaped school logo drawn on it.

“Yes. Besides basic classes, it apparently has a dedicated in-school messenger and various other additional features. Oh?”

Daphne showed me her smartphone screen.

“I’ve been invited to a messenger group chatroom. This must be what they talked about at the orientation.”

“You’re right.”

When I checked, I was also invited to the group chatroom. Managing people with group chats is similar everywhere, after all.

An announcement appeared in the bustling chatroom filled with students.

—Alright, first-year freshmen, listen up. This is being disseminated by your second/third-year seniors.

—

1. For the sake of school order, you juniors must unconditionally respond ‘yes’ to your seniors’ words.

2. For the sake of camaraderie, you freshmen must unconditionally participate in events called by your seniors.

3. For the establishment of discipline, first-year freshmen are prohibited from walking with their hands in their pockets.

4. You have come here as prospective hunters. Female juniors are prohibited from wearing makeup.

5. Do not carry weapons and walk around without senior permission.

……

“These are…rules?”

All sorts of absurd things were written as rules!

“Ruzilin-ssi…? What in the world is this…”

“Hahahaha…”

I learned that when I’m too dumbfounded, laughter bursts out. The content of the first announcement I encountered at the academy was truly fantastical.

A school built in Neo-Gothic style, a place where colorful pretty girls with Western names attend, and I never expected to see such ridiculous things. Could this really be a K-University?

—Wow, fantastic. Hahahaha…

—Aaaagh!

—Is this a military base?

The exclamations and screams of the other Violets echoed in my head.

With a heavy heart, I listened to the orientation all morning and afternoon.

“Greetings, my comrades! As I introduced myself at the entrance ceremony, I am Victor Hamilton, a former A-rank hunter, and I will be teaching this first-year lecture!… I successfully cleared 15 gates… and what I sacrificed for this was… therefore, our mindset must be ironclad like a fortress…”

For an hour, he just boasted about himself, the instructor of who shouted about the triumph of will.

“Students these days lack discipline. What do they intend to do with such weak minds? Huh? Am I wrong? With such frail minds, they ask for this, say that’s impossible… that’s dangerous… The problem this academy city faces right now is… that there are shadowy organizations at work! Those guys are corrupting this society!”

An ardent activist who delivered a long speech about ideology and society. For reference, this person is the professor for .

“Alright, students. You see the screen here, right? Submit the assignment written here, watch the video, and write a reflection. Done.”

The professor of who left within 5 minutes of entering. It was as if he had “I don’t want to do this” written all over his face. Still, it was better because he finished quickly.

The subsequent classes were generally similar.

“Today, your professor has been dispatched, so class is postponed until next week! Please check the Norstarpick announcement!”

“Uhm… and… well… the important thing is… ah…”

“The instructor is disappointed in you freshmen.”

As I came out after finishing the orientation, I screamed in despair.

“No! This isn’t the academy I imagined!!!”