NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22
When I opened the classroom door, all the students inside turned their attention toward me. However, their gazes held no warmth, and most of them displayed clear feelings of disdain and disgust.
“Hey… isn’t that Jin, the infamous failure? Why is he in the S Class?”
“I heard he got crushed in the mock battle, didn’t he?”
“He probably used his family’s influence.”
“Yeah… after all, he’s from a Ducal family.”
“We all got here based on our abilities, you know…”
“I wish he’d just disappear.”
“All the rumors about him are bad, and he’s just going to ruin the class atmosphere.”
“He’s not even worth addressing.”
The hostile murmurs filled the room, and I couldn’t help but feel a heavy atmosphere weighing down on me.
As expected, I received a barrage of criticism. While I couldn’t claim that their words didn’t affect me at all, I hoped that by ignoring them as childish chatter, the rumors would eventually die down. That was my wish, at least.
I took a seat in the ultimate position for someone in my situation – right at the back, in isolation. While scanning the classroom, I began my search for the main characters.
Of course, I should start with the protagonist. There he was.
I glanced at the red-haired, red-eyed beauty and the golden-haired, golden-eyed beauty, who were engrossed in conversation with a stunning black-haired, black-eyed young man. To be honest, I wanted to shout at them to stop their lovey-dovey display in the classroom. Who knows, it might help me make some friends.
That infuriatingly handsome guy is the protagonist of this story – Eugene Drake.
He’s the second son of a baron’s family. His parents are impressive in their own right; his father is the captain of the knights, and his mother is the chief mage. Moreover, his older brother is known as a genius swordsman who can stand shoulder to shoulder with my brother in terms of strength
Well, honestly, his brother is no match for me, and I could easily defeat someone like Eugene. But the protagonist should be stronger than his brother by now. Although he might be weaker than his parents, having that level of power at the age of 15 would still make him a prodigy.
His initial stats were about ten times better than mine. Well, part of that is because I’m just too weak
And the two people he’s flirting with are Princess Sofia, who spoke as the representative of the new students earlier, and Aria Military, the younger sister of a count and one of the main heroines in this story.
But this is strange… Aria makes sense since she’s his childhood friend in this setup, so her high favorability is understandable in this situation. However, if I remember correctly, Princess Sofia should have no prior interactions with him before their duel…Furthermore, if I recall correctly, just before the story began, Princess Sofia was kidnapped and almost assaulted. So, at that time, she should have had a strong aversion to men…
Could it be that the story has changed…? But why?
I haven’t done anything significant enough to cause such changes… So, could the protagonist, Eugene, be the cause?
I observe Eugene attentively. His gaze is fixed on the two of them, wearing an expression of shyness and bewilderment, which is remarkably similar to the expression he had in the mid-game of the original story.
…His aura feels just like in the game.
However, this is not good…
I’ve noticed something while observing Eugene.
“Why does he have so much mana…”
He has close to, if not equal, the amount of mana that I originally had, which is roughly half of what I have now.
In the game, Jin was initially weaker than the protagonist in terms of mana, but he possessed a vast amount of mana. However, unlike the game, this hasn’t changed much.
And then, I came to a realization.
“…He’s also a reincarnated individual, just like me,” I thought.
“Then, let’s save the introductions for later… First, it’s time for the ranking battle.”
The scene shifted to the training grounds, the same place where we took the entrance exam, and we were listening to our homeroom teacher, the military girl, explain.
“I assume you all know about the ranking battle, but it’s a special event reserved for the S class. We will determine the rankings from 1st to 25th. You can choose your opponents freely. Now, go ahead and decide.”
With those words, the military girl began to prepare the barriers and other necessary arrangements. As the students looked for opponents, they seemed to avoid the weakest-looking fighters. Surprisingly, nobody approached me, who was supposed to be the weakest (according to the game).
“Heh… I’m as unpopular as ever,” I mused.
Everyone must be too scared to challenge me, thinking about what might happen if they defeated a member of the Duke’s family. They have the courage to talk behind my back, though.
By the way, in the game, I used to intimidate opponents who were somewhat strong but had lower family ranks than mine, intentionally losing to them, and securing my position as 7th in the rankings. Honestly, I can’t bring myself to do that, so I’m contemplating whether to just lose normally.
However, as I was pondering this, a student started approaching me. It was none other than the main character I wanted to avoid at all costs, Eugene.
Hey hey hey hey, don’t come near me, you fool! This absolutely cannot be me, right!?
It was the princess standing near me, right!?
I was getting anxious internally but didn’t show it on the outside. I tried to observe Eugene, who was approaching me, but our eyes met perfectly.
…That was just a mistake on my part, right? Please say that’s the case.
But my hope was in vain and mercilessly shattered.
“Jin Divine Sword-sama, would you be willing to have a match with me in the ranking battle?”
Well, it’s over for Jin. Thanks for playing.
Sigh… I’ve had enough of this guy…