NOVEL NEXT chapter 2
Episode 1, 10 Days Before School Starts (2)
10 Days Before School Starts (2)
I shouldn’t have opened that email.
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【＜Song of Sword and Magic＞ DLC Trial Tester Selection Notification】
Hello.
Thank you for applying to participate in the ＜Song of Sword and Magic＞ DLC trial program.
Our game company has randomly selected you as a trial tester from numerous players. Congratulations.
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＜Song of Sword and Magic＞.
A game set in Olympia, an academy divided into the Department of Knights and the Department of Magic.
It was a critically acclaimed aaa title, even winning game of the year.
I, myself, was a total veteran of ＜Song of Sword and Magic＞, clocking in over 10,000 hours.
‘How could *I* pass up the chance to be a DLC tester?’
I applied without hesitation and got accepted.
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This DLC focuses on characters who haven’t been in the spotlight before.
In particular, we’ve granted ‘cheats’ to ensure smooth gameplay and an enjoyable experience.
If you agree to the above, please send a reply.
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I immediately sent back an enthusiastic affirmation.
“…and this is the mess I’m in now, you hear? Huh?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Oh, you gonna let your back break like that? Gonna stay down there?”
I had inexplicably possessed someone’s body.
In front of me, the group of guys who’d been giving me trouble earlier were all doing the face-to-the-ground punishment.
I saw one guy’s posture start to falter, so I kicked him a few times to keep him in line.
“Listen, fellas. I am not in a good mood right now. Seriously freaked out, okay? Huh?”
“W-what do you want us to… *cough!*”
“Quiet.”
*Whack!*
I kicked the impertinent one hard, then plopped down on the ground and addressed the one who seemed to be their leader.
Jackson, was that his name?
“Hey.”
“…Yes, sir!”
“Let’s pick up where we left off. What’s my name?”
“Why are you asking that… H-Herak, you are Lord Herak!”
‘Herak.’
An extra from ＜Song of Swords and Magic＞.
A useless guy in the magic department with magic insensitivity.
Of course, he’s not treated well by his fellow magic students, and the knights department students bully him.
A character who doesn’t do anything significant in the story, making people question why he was even included.
‘And doesn’t this guy die?’
I remember him dying as soon as he leaves the academy.
I’ve possessed a really shitty character.
But there’s no need to just be frustrated.
I’ve been granted a ‘cheat’ to allow for smooth progression, or in other words, I’ve received a possessor perk.
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【Ultimate Physique】
※ Adamantine Body: A backup from the world.
Makes the body incredibly durable, and automatically recovers fatigue during sleep/eating.
※ Celestial Martial Body: A destiny born for martial arts.
Every movement of the body causes stats (Strength, Stamina, Agility) to increase rapidly.
※ Magic Slayer: A blessing born of magic insensitivity.
Is largely unaffected by magic.
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‘This is pretty useful, huh?’
It’s a bit ironic that a magic department member has a physique cheat.
But, a talentless character who only had magic insensitivity originally, having a cheat of this level is enough to try for a reversal.
‘The fact that I could fight and win against those b*stards a little while ago was also thanks to this Adamantine Body, huh.’
There’s no way a magic department student can win a physical fight against the knights department students.
I’ve already tasted the honey of this cheat.
“What’s the academic schedule right now?”
“K-Kuh… It’s 10 days before the start of the semester.”
“I was a second-year, right? So, we’ll be doing the entrance exam for the new students soon?”
“N-Neeek…!”
They’re practically grinding their teeth into powder.
Even while they’re being forced into a full body dive bomb, the guys are trembling.
Like they’re actually pissed. Just a bunch of thugs picking on the weak.
“Alright, that’s it. You guys need some re-education. An extra hour for all of you.”
“Shit, what the…!”
“What? ‘Shit’? You wanna die?”
“…No, I mean, shouldn’t you be leaving? Didn’t the Vice-Chairman call for you?”
“What?”
Why would the Vice-Chairman be calling me?
I tried to think of a reason but nothing really came to mind.
The character Herak has always been pretty unimportant, even a veteran like me doesn’t know.
…No, before that.
“You son of a b*tch. Did you know all along and call me here? Just to mess with me?”
“Th-that’s…”
“This b*stard’s got a rotten brain, huh? Huh?”
I might as well give him a little fist therapy before leaving.
I know there’s a lot of rivalry between the departments, but pulling crap like this?
Thwack! Thwack thwack!
“Krahhh!”
I listened to Jackson’s screams a few more times before leaving.
The Vice-Chairman of Olympia Academy holds quite a unique position.
Olympia is a battlefield where the Knight and Magic Departments are constantly at war with each other.
It’s not just the students, the instructors are the same.
New instructors, veteran instructors, they’re always at each other’s throats so whoever’s in charge needs something.
‘Justification.’
The authority to resolve conflicts between departments.
The Vice-Chairman replaces that with impartiality.
They’re neither a knight nor a mage, but an objective individual directly appointed by the Chairman.
And the first thing that Vice-Chairman said to me was this:
“…Did something happen? Why are you looking like that?”
“I was rolling around a bit. With some things that look like dust.”
Since they’re human-shaped dust, it’s not wrong to say that.
The vice-principal slightly furrowed his brow at my words.
But he quickly brushed it off, moving on to the main point.
“The reason I called you here is simple.”
“Yes. I’m listening.”
“I want you to finish this semester and withdraw from the academy.”
……What?
*
“Originally, the headmistress should have spoken to you directly, but unfortunately, she’s on a business trip, so I’m taking her place.”
Olympia’s headmistress.
I already knew she was absent from the academy at this point.
But I didn’t expect it to be a bomb like this.
“I did try to keep you enrolled somehow, but there were so many objections. It was hard to suppress them.”
“……Hah.”
Objections, huh.
Let’s think this through.
A talentless student with magic insensitivity.
Who would specifically push for the expulsion of Herac, the magic department’s underachiever?
“The instructors?”
“…….”
“The magic department instructors are uncomfortable with me. The reason is probably because they think I’m lowering their standards.”
“……That’s right.”
The vice-principal’s eyes widen slightly.
“Since the other students were probably displeased with me as well, there wouldn’t have been any objections, and the knight department wouldn’t have had any reason to oppose it either.”
“That’s right. Ultimately, the movement to expel you couldn’t be stopped. I believe you know the reason why.”
Herac is magic-insensitive.
Meaning, a student in the magic department who can’t use magic.
Of course, his evaluation scores were probably drastically lowered.
It’s understandable why the instructors would dislike him.
“Your practical scores were not considered in your evaluation, taking into account the headmistress’s wishes. But even if your written exams were looked at generously, they’re only in the mid to upper range, and you haven’t achieved any other notable results. There’s insufficient grounds to dismiss the opinion of your expulsion. As vice-principal, it’s not my place to say this, but it’s unavoidable.”
“……”
The chairman’s doing.
Could it be that Heraque b*stard, did the chairman handpick him as a new student?
First, let’s store that information in my head.
“…Is that it?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, is that all there is to the justification for me to voluntarily withdraw?”
“…Pretty much. After all my most impartial considerations, that’s what’s left.”
“Then that’s enough.”
I take a breath.
The moment I heard the vice-chairman’s words, I made up my mind on one thing.
I absolutely must not withdraw.
‘Heraque dies in every scenario that involves leaving the academy.’
Whether the academy collapses, or he goes out for experiential learning outside the academy.
The moment there’s a log of Heraque being outside the academy, “deceased” pops up on the end credits.
I don’t know the reason.
It’s just that this guy has that kind of fate.
‘Therefore, I must shatter these expulsion opinions.’
If Heraque mustn’t leave the academy, then he just has to continue being enrolled.
And to keep being enrolled, I have to reverse the magic department instructors’ underestimations of him.
And the method for that was very simple.
“I will prove it. That I have the capabilities to continue studying in the magic department.”
“…Are you serious? What can you possibly do?”
“The ‘Inter-Grade Exchange’ is about to be held.”
Inter-Grade Exchange.
A combat practice for fostering camaraderie between the knight department and the magic department.
Of course, that’s just a superficial goal, and the reality is it’s a ranking of the departments.
‘If I perform well in a match that has so much pride on the line, they won’t be able to ignore me.’
I just have to make it so the instructors, who are prideful of the magic department, have no choice but to acknowledge me.
“I will win there. Then, the vice-chairman will also have enough justification to dismiss my expulsion opinions, right?”
“That’s true… but how will *you*?”
How do I do it?
There’s no need to even think about it.
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【Ultimate Physique】
※ Adamantine Body : World’s Backup.
Solidifies the body, automatically recovers fatigue during sleep/meals.
※ Celestial Martial Body : Destiny born for the Martial (武).
Stats (Strength, Stamina, Agility) grow steeply with every body movement.
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Just go out as a mage (physical).