A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

I felt incredibly refreshed after getting a fresh haircut and shaving. With my bangs, which used to cover my eyes like curtains, gone, my field of vision felt much wider. It was a bit challenging to adapt to this change.

“Is that him? The savage they were talking about?”

“Just a moment ago, he had long hair and a thick beard.”

“He looks presentable. Doesn’t he look our age?”

I realized how important appearance can be, as the number of people who casually spit out rude remarks has significantly decreased. 

It seems that rumors have also spread in that short period of time. Taking care of my hair and appearance paid off.

“Professor, we’re here.”

“Hmm? Ah, right. About the haircut…”

After returning to the administrative building, when we reported to Malboro, he glanced at my face. He sighed inexplicably, slightly perplexed.

“Well, your face is surprisingly unexpected. Younger than I thought. Judging by your features, you seem to be from the eastern regions, but your skin and eyes… hmm.”

Malboro looked at my irises and mumbled under his breath. Then, he turned his gaze to Luna and quietly opened his mouth, occasionally glancing at me. 

“Is this one a human? I trust you know what red irises signify.”

“I can confirm that.” 

“Hmm… I see. I have already informed the other professors and the dean. We will decide on his treatment soon.” 

The most important issue has started being resolved. 

It was great to have come this far, but where am I going to stay?

According to the setting, United Academy provides assigned individual dormitories. 

The dormitory buildings were separate for males and females, so I couldn’t stay in Luna or Ellie’s dormitory. It was impossible, even if we tried to force it. 

“The best way would be to enter the academy as a student…” 

“Sivar can’t speak or read. Sivar?” 

“Shibal?”

When I answered in a questioning manner, Luna gave me a look that seemed to say, “Look at that.” 

Then Malboro’s expression became even more complex. Admission to the academy was practically impossible. If I knew how to read, I would have written something, but I couldn’t even do that, so there was no answer. 

You might say that I understand language? Even if I wanted to, I had no connections in this world. I have to act as wild as possible to at least invoke sympathy. Ellie fell for that in fact.

“What were you thinking, bringing someone like this? Even the Tartar tribe would shake their heads in disbelief.” 

“There were some circumstances…” 

“Never mind. Until the arrangements are settled, he will live with one of the male professors. Whether this person will listen obediently is still uncertain. after all” 

“Don’t worry about that. He listens well.” 

“He can’t even understand language, but listens well? What does that even mean?”

Malboro looked at me with a puzzled expression in response to Luna’s argument. 

I may not be able to speak, but it doesn’t mean I can’t understand. 

“He can roughly understand through gestures and actions. Should I say he can sense intentions and emotions?”

“Well… since he has lived in the wild, I guess there must be something. In a world where there are even monsters that can speak human language, it’s not that strange”

Afterward, Malboro got up from his seat to wash me. It seemed that he planned to wash me in his room. I wondered if there was a need for that when I bathed in the forest river every day. My body wasn’t particularly dirty either.

I’ll obediently follow for the sake of the future, but still, treating me as if I’m filthy makes me feel bad.

“Ughhh…”

Until I immersed my body in the bathtub filled with warm water, that’s what I thought.

I made a pleasant sound as the warm water enveloped my entire body. It felt like my body was melting. I couldn’t even imagine using warm water in the forest.

My mind became hazy, and the sharp senses I had developed became dull. I felt like sinking into the bathtub and staying here forever.

“Is it good? By the way, your scars are quite severe. Hmmm…”

Malboro muttered quietly while looking at me. It seems that he was lost in thought after seeing the scars on my body. Come to think of it, this person has a really good personality. I remembered he was praised as the “Honey Professor” in the Soul World.

Other professors aren’t necessarily bad people, but Malboro tended to be generous with rewards. 

‘I know there’s an event associated with his son.’

I couldn’t recall it right now, because my senses were all scattered due to the warm water.

“Hey! Come out! How long are you going to stay in there? You’ve been in there for over an hour!” 

“Shibal(Screw off).” 

“Come out! You idiot! You’ll get your skin all wrinkled like that! I have work to do!”

It seemed like he was using all his strength to drag me out forcefully. Of course, my strength was stronger than his, so I didn’t even flinch. 

“Haah. Haah. How is your strength so powerful? Even your eye color… What the hell are you? They said you hunted a Manki in the blink of an eye, was it true?”

Malboro realized that my strength exceeded his imagination and was quite bewildered. 

Anyway, I enjoyed bathing for a long time. I didn’t know that both shaving and bathing could be so refreshing. As much as I wanted to stay here forever, I couldn’t.

 Reluctantly, I gritted my teeth and got out of the bathtub at Malboro’s persistent demands. 

“Sigh. Why do you listen to me worse than my own son?” 

“Shibal(what)?” 

“Listen to me, you brat. You at least somewhat understand me, right?” 

Malboro kept grumbling while rubbing his forehead. He must be busy as a professor, but he was definitely kind-hearted.

I didn’t really want to trouble someone who seemed like a good person, but if they have a shitty personality, that’s a different story.

Malboro then tightly wrapped my head. Perhaps it was because he had a son,  despite his rough touch, he controlled the pressure and intensity well.

Then suddenly, I noticed a soap lying on the floor. Could this be the source of the pleasant smell? 

I grabbed the soap and brought it to my nose, and Malboro hastily exclaimed from behind.

“Hey, that’s not for eating. Let it go. In the Hwan Empire, do they call it 지지(jiji)? It’s jiji.”

Does this person see me as a clueless fool? It wasn’t surprising. In response to Malboro’s gesture to let go, I released the soap. 

“Are you hungry? Since you lived in the wilderness, you must like meat.” 

“Shibal(Yes).” 

“You like it? Let’s go together with Luna later. I don’t have any money.”

Does this person do drugs? Are you saying a commoner student would have money but a professor wouldn’t? 

Malboro chuckled, as if he found his own joke funny. It seems he’ll buy me food soon. He truly was a kind person. If there’s an event related to his son later, I’ll definitely go running.

“Here, clothes. Just wear these. No, you wore them backwards. It’s not meant to be worn like that.”

 After taking a thorough bath, I carefully put on the clothes Malboro had prepared for me. It felt strange to wear clothes after just wearing a rag all this time.

I used to be used to wearing clothes in the past, but I couldn’t even find the holes now. Above all, it was frustrating. 

While I was feeling frustrated and fidgeting, Marboro chuckled and laughed.

“To live as a human, you must wear clothes. Endure the frustration.” 

“Shibal(frustrating).” 

“You have to, so endure it. Should I give you a treat every time you put on clothes?”

The frustration wasn’t that extreme. I’ve lived without wearing clothes for a long time, so I felt frustrated, but I still have common sense. 

After putting on a white t-shirt and brown pants, I even wore shoes. By the way, they were slippers.

Thanks to that, I was able to temporarily shed the appearance of a wild person, but soon it’ll come out a different way again, since I was still more accustomed to the wild. 

Swoosh! 

For example, I kicked my slipper high up. It was fun since it’s been a while.

“The kid is learning things like this already. That’s not good. It’s fortunate that he’s well-behaved.” 

What is there to learn? I used to do this when I was bored in the old days. Just in case, since there could be a person around, I played while being careful. 

Now it seems like even Marboro has given up. So I dressed properly and returned to the administrative building. As soon as I returned, familiar faces caught my eye. 

“Lu, Luna. Is that person Sivar?” 

“Yeah. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.” 

“Why is he so good-looking?” 

“You shouldn’t ask me that.”

Ellie was standing next to Luna, and beside her was Porori. Ellie looked extremely startled when she saw my face.

In the meantime, Porori had a chubby face after he went to get a rabies shot.

It’s not a raccoon, but a rabies shot. It was kind of funny yet sad.

“Shibal(does it hurt)?”

I asked if it hurt.

“Kyaang (F**k off).”

That was the only response I got. This little rat doesn’t appreciate my concern.

“Is that man the survivor they brought from the Forest of Chaos?”

A voice I had never heard before entered my ears. When I turned my head, I could see an unfamiliar face.

Neatly groomed blue hair and asymmetrically cut bangs. Bluish eyes that were chilling, reminiscent of ice.

Overall, the beautiful woman had an indifferent expression as she observed me.

Her skin was unusually pale compared to other people. It was almost similar to mine.

“His eyes… they’re red. Could it be a monster disguised as a human?”

Her way of speaking was rather straightforward , just like her appearance. However, I didn’t sense any malice.

Still, thanks to her, I realized what red eyes signify. Red eyes were a characteristic of monsters with [Frenzy]. 

Sometimes, you could see a few red-eyed monsters, and if their frenzy was unleashed, their eyes would shine with a red glow, becoming even more menacing.

Around the time I had come to that realization, someone other than Malboro approached her, chiding her.

“Aren’t you saying it too openly? They say he can understand words to some extent.”

She had an elegant appearance that resembled someone of East Asian descent like me. She had short black hair and black eyes. Lastly, she had a dot under her left eye, exuding a subtle charm. 

Her unique attire and her origins from the Hwan Empire were evident.

The Hwan Empire was a region inspired by an East Asian fantasy setting, similar to martial arts s but not entirely the same. It is also known as a nature-friendly and mystical country.

In reality, they demonstrated various abilities, such as deflecting lightning or changing the direction of the wind.

“I merely spoke as I saw it. Since he has lived in the wilderness, it’s not surprising for him to be ferocious.”

“Serah, that’s the problem. Can’t you express it a little more subtly?”

“You’re trying too hard. It’s your Hwan Empire that unnecessarily goes around in circles when talking.”

As seen from their bickering in such a situation, it was evident that they had a distant yet close relationship. Both of them were well-known characters. 

The name of the beautiful woman with a cold impression was, as you might have guessed, Serah. And the name of the typical East Asian beauty was Yeonhwa.

Although I didn’t know their full names, It was a luxury to even remember their names when I can’t even remember most details right now.

‘But I think there’s one more person… Isn’t there?’

I couldn’t remember well. One of the professors who played a significant role in the Soul World at a critical juncture. It was when I was looking at Serah and Yeonhwa, who were engaged in a verbal fight, blinking my eyes.

tap-

Suddenly, I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder. I didn’t even sense their presence.

Perhaps because I had already relaxed due to the noisy civilization that had reached here unlike in the wild.

I was taken aback and reacted according to the ‘instinct’ honed in the wilderness.

– Aaaaah!

I let out a beast-like roar and immediately turned around. At the same time, I swung my hand as if a wild beast was swiping its claws.

The person behind me seemed surprised and quickly withdrew their hand. But before that, my hand had already caught onto their clothes like a hook.

The person also seemed to be desperately trying to escape, but their hand was already caught in my grip. Without hesitation, I pulled them towards me.

Bang!

“Ah!”

In less than a second, the person who approached me from behind was rolling on the ground. Their clothes made a ripping sound as they were torn apart.

Since I’ve already suppressed the threat, all that was left was to follow up with an attack. Due to the strong instincts that remained were ingrained in the wild, it was far ahead of my reason. 

If things had continued as they were, I would have stomped him out with my feet. However, there were “people” around me.

“Capture him! Don’t let it escape!” 

“What’s with this strength…!” 

“Bring him down quickly!”

In that brief moment, the professors each grabbed hold of my arms and waist, subduing me. Even in this desperate situation, they handled it appropriately. 

It was evident that even they struggled to contain my strength, as they exerted all their might. But this alone was sufficient. 

The person who had fallen to the ground was now safe, pulled away by Luna. 

Thud!

With the professors’ desperate restraint, I belatedly landed a kick on the ground. It possessed such immense destructive power that the ground trembled slightly. 

Despite being in an unstable position, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the ground. 

If I had hit properly, it would have been a fatal blow. Just before the reason returned, my leg already went out of control, and I couldn’t retrieve it in time. 

It was because my instincts are too strong, there was nothing I could do about it. 

“Ugh…” 

“Are you, are you okay?” 

“Uh… I’m fine. But, um…”

I glared at the person who had been creeped behind me, growling like a beast. I couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed, but I saw a pair of slit eyes and silver-gray hair. The man exuded an atmosphere that seemed to embody the word ‘suspicious’. 

He pointed at me with trembling fingers.

“W-What was that just now? That beast-like sound…”

“…”

As soon as I saw the person who had approached me from behind, I immediately let my guard down. I released all the tension that had built up. 

However, the professors who had caught hold of me didn’t let go. They seemed visibly tense.

“What’s going on? Who is this person?”

The man gave off a suspicious vibe even at a glance.

“Well… first of all, he’s a person.”

“His eyes are as red as a monster’s. Did you see this student just now?”

“…Isn’t it the professor’s fault for approaching him without a sign?”

“I was just saying hello…”

Contrary to his appearance, he was someone known among Soul World users as a “pushover” or a “saint.”