NOVEL NEXT Chapter 103
<103 - First Come, First Served>
There is no such concept as transferring to the Gift Academy.
It’s not because any academy in the world is inferior compared to the Gift Academy.
“Hell no!! Principal!!!! How can an outsider become a second-year student without going through the first-year curriculum at our Gift Academy!!!”
“This is an insult to our character!!! It’s an insult to us who have fought through the hellish first-year curriculum of this academy!!! Kyaaaa!!!”
The existing students, especially the second-year students, were furious.
Their grievances stemmed from the petty desire that if they had to suffer, others should too!
On the other hand, most of the second-years felt sympathy for the freshmen who were about to endure the same hardships they had faced.
“Is that really a new student?”
“Isn’t that just a veteran player who has been stuck in the first year for about five years?”
“Oh come on, this kid is barely eleven years old! How can he be stuck for five years? How old was he when he started?”
“Wait, wasn’t that a legal loli? Does it make sense?”
“What the hell is this crazy guy saying to a kid? Hey, everyone gather! Let’s stomp this guy!”
“Ack! Ack! I didn’t know! I didn’t mean it!”
The senior who mentioned “legal loli” seemed a bit pathetic.
Honestly, if I saw a first-year student come into the secret training ground setting up everything perfectly and using the automatic arrow collector conveniently, I’d definitely be suspicious.
How many of those filthy lowlifes in fantasy lie about their age?
‘How many ancient elves claiming to be 90 years old while actually being 10 in human years are there!’
Class 981, with humans showing strength, generally doesn’t include strong beings from the elven race. Therefore, there isn’t a legal loli this time around.
However, if we widen our gaze to other classes, there definitely are legal lolis within the Gift Academy.
‘But, strictly speaking, it’s been thousands of runs; wouldn’t it be hard to be treated as this age?’
…Well, as long as I don’t get caught!
Ziang and Mob were lost, wandering around unfamiliar facilities.
“Hey, newcomers. How did you get here without knowing how to use the facilities?”
“We read advice in the Room of Double-sided Strips.”
“What’s that?”
Seeing the blank expression on the second-year senior, Ziang was secretly impressed.
Oknodie had gained information that even the seniors didn’t know.
The feeling of having access to information recorded by seniors even higher than the second-years brought a strange sense of superiority.
A spoiled little brat with no age sense.
Their information was lower than that of the first years!
Feeling pride inwardly, Ziang was interrupted by the second-year senior’s grumbling.
“Just tell me what you want to do. I’ll teach you how to use it. Don’t ask me twice; I’ll only tell you once. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Ah, I understand!”
Seeing Mob, who looked extremely nervous, the second-year senior smirked.
“I won’t eat you, relax.”
“Haha…”
“So.”
“…Do other seniors eat people?!”
“You must have heard the rumors? About that obnoxious second-year who spreads those scam contracts?”
“Oh, the one who spreads the service contracts…”
“Be careful with that. If you get caught, you’ll be doing gathering activities like a slave for a whole year.”
Ziang thought to himself.
This senior is quite friendly, considering how harsh the academy’s education is.
It’s hard to believe someone with this level of kindness exists.
Of course, not every senior was kind.
“Unbelievable. First years already indulging in the secret training ground. Back in my day—”
“Shut up. We were all first years once too. Should I tell you about how your grades were totally crap?”
“Seriously? You want to mess with my cool factor?”
The disgruntled expressions of the second-years said it all.
“…Do you think the smart-looking first year will be praised by the professor if we take him to our lab?”
“Hey, are you even human? How can you say such terrible things to an innocent first-year?!”
A third-year student exuded a sinister aura as they hatched an evil plan.
“…The professor said not to touch the first years. We have to hold back. We have to hold back. We have to hold back…”
“Wow, even we are scared of that senior. Can someone drive them away?”
“No way. We’re scared too.”
Unlike the clearly motivated third-year, the fourth-year’s intentions were so unclear it drove Ziang and Mob to despair.
The campus, which used to feel like a beginner’s hunting ground, was now filled with different kinds of unsettling seniors.
“Hey, Oknodie. Any tips for using this facility? You know… safely.”
At Ziang’s question, Oknodie answered with a bright smile.
“I do! About three.”
“Three?!”
“First, don’t go near the seniors!”
“…And?”
“Don’t talk to the seniors!”
“…”
“And finally, don’t make eye contact with the seniors!”
What is this, a horror story?
Am I not still in my fifth period lecture?
Am I not wandering lost in an illusion?
Anyway, Ziang’s anxious thoughts aside, the exuberantly cheerful Oknodie focused on hitting targets without making eye contact with anyone.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come here.
Ziang and Mob, terrified, realized why there was a rule against first years leaving the dorm at midnight.
Perhaps that rule was the minimal safety measure to protect first years.
Seriously, there might be a rule saying it’s okay to mistreat first years wandering outside after 10 PM for second years onward.
“…Let’s just finish up and get back.”
“Yeah…”
Thus, the three first years silently completed their assignments.
Amidst all the assignments piling up, there was one class that remained oddly free of homework.
That was Professor Plato’s lecture [Upper Class Fitness Improvement] held at 1 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Ugh, I swam for three hours during supplementary lessons over the weekend.”
“If you add up all the water I swallowed back then, it might be more than all the water I’ve ever drunk in my whole life.”
“Gya-hah!
Really weaklings, aren’t they? Right?”Just like last time, this lecture was scheduled for the water-challenged students.
Unlike the previous class where more than half of the students needed to learn how to float, this time, most were already adept at swimming and even breathing techniques.
“Thus, today’s lecture will be more challenging!”
Even though the students were relieved to have no assignments, they felt fear instead.
No student could rejoice at being told they would be put in danger by just a single lecture without homework.
Most importantly, there was a specific reason for not being able to swim right now.
“Due to the heavy rains, the river is flooding!”
“Is today’s class canceled?”
“Is it an alternative lecture?”
“Whoa! A swimming pool!”
“We’ll conduct the lecture in the flooded river!”
“We’re going to die!!!”
“No matter how much of a first-year you are, you can’t just say yes to everything?!”
“Are you planning to kill the precious treasures of the Empire!!?”
That was definitely crossing the line. For once, everyone unanimously refused.
Even Kasia from Group C shook her head, showing her unwillingness.
The instructor accompanying her sent a look that said, “Have you lost your mind, professor?”
“This is ridiculous. You weaklings.”
Professor Plato grumbled.
“Back in the day, if I said something, students would tremble and answer confidently. Nowadays, even the principal seems to have gotten softer with age…”
It was worse back then?!
Regardless of how shocked the students were, such lectures put me in a tough spot too.
“Professor!”
“What is it, Oknodie?”
“How about we take a break today and work twice as hard over the weekend instead?”
“Work twice as hard?”
The classmates nodded vigorously.
If those Giant King Crabs come in, we’d be risking our lives trying to swim!
“Fine! If Oknodie, who always gets the best grades, says so, and the rest agree, then I have no choice but to consider the students’ opinions as a professor.”
“Yay!”
“We’re saved!”
“Thank you, Oknodie!”
“Instead… you all said it first? You promised to work twice as hard.”
Contracts with professors are like contracts with demons.
Today’s happiness is tomorrow’s misery.
With unexplained anxiety, the students began to tremble.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to just attend class now?”
“What if the monsters worse than the Giant King Crab come for the next lecture?”
“I’m so scared…”
Whether they realized their late anxiety or not, the students were kicked out of the lecture hall.
As the weekend approached, everyone pondered how they would be brutally treated during class; they battled it out to see whose imagination was the most horrifying.
Among those silly games, a certain brazen delinquent approached me confidently.
“Hey, Oknodie. Got some time to spare?”
“Until before second period, yeah.”
“Let’s do some treasure hunting together.”
Jigoku glanced around cautiously before whispering discreetly.
“Apparently, one of the seniors’ storehouses got swept away in this rain. You know that in the sea, the first person to pick up an ownerless item owns it, right?”
If the flooded academy grounds are treated as a sea, then it wouldn’t be entirely wrong.