The Gacha Addict of the Academy

It might sound sudden, but I feel most comfortable being alone.

Sure, part of it might be because I’m a girl now, but the bigger issue is that I’m terrible at dealing with people. I know this better than anyone. And if I get involved with the kids here, the chances of being dragged into all kinds of incidents are alarmingly high.

Thankfully, I know when most of these events are going to happen—or at least I have a decent idea. As long as I avoid the unknown ones, I should be fine. After all, any world-ending, unprecedented disasters will be handled by the protagonist and their heroines.

So, what’s the conclusion?

I just need to avoid getting involved with anyone.

The moment I resolved to keep my distance, a problem arose.

Despite my determination, I messed up right from the start yesterday. Tempted by the chance to roll the gacha, I asked some guy for his name without thinking.

And then, without even telling him mine, I bolted from the scene.

If that doesn’t make me memorable, I don’t know what does.

Like now.

“Huh? Aren’t you the girl from yesterday?”

A guy with striking red hair streaked with white walked over to me. Of course, it was the same guy I’d bumped into yesterday, the one whose name I asked before running away.

“I didn’t stop you since you seemed to be in a rush yesterday, but… are you really okay?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make things awkward. It’s just… I didn’t see you there.”

Wait.

Hold on a second.

What the hell? Is this guy mocking me because I’m short?!

“What, do you two know each other?”

The guy next to him, who seemed to be his friend, asked Kang Juhyuk.

Juhyuk just laughed awkwardly and waved it off, saying we’d only bumped into each other yesterday. That was a relief. Getting tangled up with the protagonist could mean getting dragged into the future disasters I wanted to avoid.

I decided to brush him off as politely as possible. “I’m really fine, so don’t wor–?!”

Tell Kang Juhyuk your name, or respond when he asks for it. – x2

The moment that prompt appeared in my mind, my thoughts went haywire.

Two free gacha pulls? There’s no way I can resist that.

How could anyone resist?!

“I-I’m Luna Crystal…”

“Huh? Oh… oh, I see. Nice to meet you, Luna.”

“Yeah… I realized I asked for your name yesterday but never told you mine. Sorry about that…”

Perfect. That sounded natural.

Wait.

No, no, no!

“….”

Crap.

You idiot!

I was trying to avoid him, and I just gave him my name! What the hell am I doing?!

Tempted by the promise of two free gacha pulls, I may have just ruined my life.

Right now, it’s only the beginning of the semester—still early in the story. But if I get involved with him now, my peaceful life will be over.

I’ve never fought anyone in my life. If I get dragged into a mess like that, it’ll be a disaster.

Sure, attending this academy means fights are inevitable, but it’s better to avoid unnecessary ones whenever possible.

“Got it. Then I guess we should properly introduce ourselves. I’m Kang Juhyuk.”

No, thanks. I don’t need that.

I plan to talk to him this one time and then avoid him like the plague. I wasn’t bold enough to outright ignore the hand he extended, so I hesitantly shook it.

After shaking hands, I felt so embarrassed that I quickly pulled my hand back and buried my face in my arms on the desk.

Why do I feel so weird? I didn’t even do anything, so why shake hands in the first place?

Peeking out through the gaps between my arms, I looked over at Juhyuk.

He’d gone back to his seat, which was much farther away now.

But why does it feel like he keeps glancing at me and smiling?

It’s just my imagination… right?

Now that I think about it, what was the first class again?

Oh, right—it was the Ability Check.

Most people just called it an “Ability,” or “Abil” for short. It’s essentially a unique power that everyone in this world possesses. Abilities are often inherited through strong bloodlines, but occasionally, individuals with intense willpower manifest abilities based on their own values and beliefs. According to researchers, when a person’s mana—an inherent energy—resonates strongly with their will, it triggers the emergence of an ability.

Of course, I didn’t really understand the specifics.

This isn’t my area of expertise, and I’ve only been here for a short while, so how could I know all that?

“Welcome, you little fledglings.”

Fledglings? Seriously?

Technically, he wasn’t wrong, but nobody seemed thrilled to hear it. The students clearly didn’t appreciate being called fledglings. After all, who wouldn’t feel at least a little irritated by being addressed like that out of nowhere?

Even someone as mild-mannered as me couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

…I am mild-mannered, right?

“Whoa, whoa, I can see the murderous intent in your eyes. Planning to slit my throat the first chance you get?”

“After that comment, I think more people feel that way,” one student joked, laughing as others joined in, though many were still glaring at the man in front of us.

Satisfied that he had caught everyone’s attention, the man slammed his hand on the podium and continued.

“Since you’re all new here and probably clueless about a lot of things, let’s start with an orientation for my class.”

With a snap of his fingers, a blinding flash lit up the room, followed by a deafening thunderclap.

“You seem pretty startled. Anyone want to guess who I am?”

No need to guess.

Everyone answered, “Ability Professor.”

“Correct. I’m Professor Lee Cheongyeong, your instructor for all things related to abilities,” he said as his name appeared on the blackboard behind him.

“For those of you with sharp eyes, you’ve probably figured out my ability: elemental manipulation. You might think my trigger is snapping my fingers, right?”

Nobody answered.

After all, concealing your trigger is a fundamental rule of survival.

“While abilities are activated through triggers, it’s risky to let others figure out what yours is. I recommend coming up with ways to hide your trigger. As for me… that’s a secret.”

Elemental Manipulation.

I wasn’t entirely sure how his ability worked, but one thing was clear—it was incredibly powerful. While creatures with strong mana resist manipulation, the ability to control surrounding elements alone offers incredible versatility.

In the original story, elemental manipulation was even used to recreate nuclear fusion and explosions.

“So, let’s start today by learning about your own abilities,” he said with a sly grin.

Unfortunately for me, outside of my ability, I had no skills in magic or swordsmanship. I seemed to have the potential to use magic, but since I hadn’t learned anything, it wasn’t an option.

Magic isn’t something you can use just because you feel like it—it’s a field of study.

For now, the focus was on abilities, so I didn’t have an immediate issue. However, I’d also heard that first-year students are required to learn various disciplines, including magic and swordsmanship, to assess their aptitudes.

It was already clear to me that I’d flunk both.

I needed to study.

“Well, this is just a practical test. Nothing major,” the professor said. “We already have your abilities documented, so we know what they are.”

Then why bother with the test?

The students all gave him questioning looks. Amused, he snapped his fingers again, and a glowing line appeared on the ground.

“We’ll start by evaluating how well you can use your abilities. Remember, this is about your ability, so no magic allowed.”

“What exactly are we supposed to do?” a student asked.

The speaker was a tall woman with long, flowing blue hair. She hadn’t spoken to me, but I knew who she was.

Her name was Reina Spellrud.

Technically, her full name was longer, but the academy prohibited the use of family names beyond first names to maintain an illusion of equality.

She was an elf with long ears and a simple yet powerful ability: temperature control. Despite her disdain for both magic and abilities, she was known for physically enhancing her body and charging into battle—a trait that made her slightly eccentric.

She specialized in ice magic, as far as I remembered.

Reina was one of my favorite characters in the novel, not least because her ice abilities complemented the protagonist’s fire-based ones so well.

“It’s basically a physical fitness test. Think of it as a warm-up,” the professor said, stepping to the starting line and gesturing for a nearby student to count him off.

“Three, two, one… go!”

The moment the student said “go,” the professor shot forward like a bullet, landing effortlessly at the finish line.

“Uh… two seconds and one millisecond,” the student stammered.

He had covered 50 meters in just over two seconds.

“This is what ability utilization looks like,” the professor said, suddenly appearing beside us with a mischievous grin.

His ability wasn’t specialized for speed, so how had he done it?

“You all know my ability is elemental manipulation. But with practice and creativity, I can achieve feats like this. Sure, it’s complicated, but not impossible.”

The professor grinned as he addressed us again. “This is Silvaros Academy. Learn to maximize your abilities.”

“Welcome to hell,” he added with a smirk.

Honestly, it sounded a bit… edgy.