“Hey, kitty. I came early today because it’s the entrance ceremony.”
A hand gently rests on my head.
I accept the touch while keeping my body curled up.
If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have tolerated it, but this one was different.
She had contributed the most to improving our food situation.
The best can opener we had.
After a while, she withdrew her hand, and I slowly lifted my head to look up at her.
“Want me to pet you more?”
“I do! Pet me more!”
Not that she’d understand my meows.
But maybe my desperate brown eyes got the message across because she chuckled and started stroking my fur again.
Swoosh—swish—
The sound of her palm brushing against my fur tickled my ears.
Having such sharp hearing could be a nuisance sometimes—hearing every little sound so clearly.
“Oh my, does that feel good?”
Judging by my tail standing straight up and my body trembling, I must’ve been enjoying it immensely.
I was tempted to swat her for making such an obvious remark, but this was sacred business time.
A street-smart tiger-striped cat like me had an image to maintain.
As I blankly observed the familiar scene, my mind drifted back to the word she had mentioned earlier.
Entrance ceremony.
Ah, so it’s finally here.
The grand beginning of an open-world action RPG.
I recalled the event that marked the real start of Academy Chronicle.
Although, calling it a memory was a bit much.
It was just the same old stuff:
The top student would give a speech, the headmaster would give another speech, and then the protagonists would internally monologue about their goals.
And that was it.
The entrance ceremony was just a short event to establish the protagonists’ objectives.
By the second playthrough, you’d be mashing the skip button without hesitation.
Still, for first-time players, it was worth watching for the immersion.
For example, Orca’s goal was to claim the top spot in the Knight Department and make friends.
But was that even possible?
I had never seen anyone successfully make friends while playing as Orca.
Orca’s genre was True-Orca Musou.
Who needs communication when you can just grind stats to insane levels and demolish enemies like a one-cat army?
Only the weak needed parties!
Even outside of being the protagonist, Orca had a reputation for looking perpetually pissed off and being a lone wolf.
It took a ridiculous amount of effort to build enough favorability to recruit her as an ally.
Still, if you managed to recruit her, she was an insanely strong tank-DPS hybrid, so she was popular as a companion.
For players choosing a mage, priest, or hunter protagonist, making friends with Orca in the first semester was practically a mandatory strategy.
The other protagonist?
That one was a pure non-combat slice-of-life route, so not really relevant here.
“Alright, see you guys later~”
Ah, she’s heading off.
I watched as the exhausted, purple-haired graduate student walked toward the auditorium, then hopped down from the bench.
“Nine, where are you going?”
“To watch the humans gather.”
“Are they giving out fish or something?”
“No, so follow if you want or don’t.”
“I’m coming!”
My brown-furred shadow had officially become my sidekick.
Alright, let’s go.
Following the path the toxic-attribute graduate student had taken, I headed toward the auditorium.
————
Wow, lots of people.
The area surrounding the auditorium was packed with people, buzzing with excitement.
As expected of the continent’s most prestigious academy, the attendees were decked out in extravagant clothing.
Among them were students in their academy uniforms.
Most of them looked well-fed and well-bred.
If I could just cozy up to a few of them, I might secure a luxurious retirement.
Noble brats wouldn’t be stingy with their spending.
At the very least, they could spare a can of Churu for a cute cat like me.
“Nine, your expression looks sketchy…”
“Where else would you find a cat as pure as me?”
I ignored the brown furball’s nitpicking and surveyed my surroundings.
To get a good view of the entrance ceremony, securing the right vantage point was crucial.
The biggest highlight of the event was getting to see all five protagonists in one place.
I had to see them.
I had spent over a year obsessively playing this game.
How could I pass up the chance to see them in person?
Even if I were a measly rat instead of a cat, I’d still be here screaming, Is this real?!
“Let’s see, where can I climb up…”
Trying to watch from within the crowd wasn’t an option.
I was too small.
If I got trampled, I’d be a goner.
That meant I needed to aim for the high ground.
Not the auditorium floor, but the ceiling.
I planned to watch the entrance ceremony from above.
“Hey, stay quiet and follow me.”
“Okay.”
I began sneaking around the auditorium.
A front-door entrance was out of the question.
I had to take the back way, like a true cat.
As I circled to the rear of the building, I spotted academy staff bustling in and out through the back entrance.
They were working hard.
Well then, time for them to work even harder.
“I’m going in.”
I quietly positioned myself in an inconspicuous place and waited for the right moment.
If I went in openly, the staff would make a fuss, so I had to time it carefully to avoid being noticed.
One, two, three!
I pushed off the ground and slipped through the back door.
No one screamed, so it seemed I hadn’t been caught.
“Nine, where do we go now?”
“Follow me.”
I didn’t know the exact way, but a place with lots of people must be the auditorium.
I walked down the hallway.
Fortunately, the hallway had plenty of furniture where cats like us could hide.
“Didn’t something just pass by?”
“What are you talking about now? Don’t you remember the magic department cast a strong barrier spell to keep pests out of the auditorium?”
“Oh, right. I must have imagined it.”
Did they leave?
After confirming that the staff’s voices were fading into the distance, I slipped out from the space between a display case and the wall.
Ugh, dust.
I should wash up at the fountain later.
“Nine, my nose hurts…”
“Just bear with it a little longer.”
I half-heartedly acknowledged the brown-furred one’s complaints and continued tiptoeing down the hallway.
How long had we been walking?
Eventually, I saw a set of doors that were noticeably larger than the others.
That must be it.
My ears tingled, a sign that this was indeed the entrance to the auditorium.
But there were too many people.
There was no way to enter like this.
I hid among the items stacked near the entrance and surveyed my surroundings.
No opening.
I wouldn’t be able to slip in at this rate.
“Na… Nine…”
“Shh.”
If you make a sound, we’ll get caught, you fool.
Just because a staff member took away a box near our hiding spot—
Oh?
Aha.
Has my brain truly turned into that of a cat?
I mean, I am a cat.
Not a human.
How did I not think of something this simple?
Damn 30 grams!
I immediately turned my gaze to a box identical to the one the staff member had taken.
I had no idea what was inside, but it didn’t seem dangerous.
I quietly lifted the plastic-like lid and slipped inside.
“You get in too.”
The brown-furred one followed suit, curling up inside without a sound.
Honestly, this was half a gamble, but well, I’d figure something out.
Even if we got caught, it wasn’t like we’d be harmed.
I pulled the lid shut with my claws and waited in silence.
“This is suffocating…”
“Just hold on a bit longer.”
How many minutes had passed?
“Ugh, why is this so heavy?”
“It’s full of equipment, of course it’s heavy.”
A rhythmic shaking.
The motion made me a little dizzy, but it didn’t last long.
“Ugh, my back…”
“You should exercise more.”
“No, seriously, this was really heavy.”
“Stop exaggerating. It’s just spare amplifiers and magic stones.”
The voices faded into the distance.
Time to get out.
I lifted the lid and slipped out quietly.
‘Is the entrance ceremony about to start?’
Standing in front of the dormitory assigned to her, she took deep breaths.
In—out.
In—out.
‘I’m a little nervous.’
A foreign land she had never set foot in before.
Three years at an academy where she knew no one.
Even a mighty Orca would be anxious about living alone in a distant country without a single acquaintance.
“…I can do this.”
The thought alone was overwhelming, but she did not let her unease show on her face.
She was taught never to reveal personal emotions.
After all, the Linnaeus family motto was: “Linnaeus never cry.”
But, but…
“…Still, maybe I can make at least one or two friends…”
‘…Will I be able to?’
A bleak vision unfolded in Orca’s mind.
An empty space around her, students whispering while keeping their distance.
Eating alone, having no one to spar with except the instructor.
Finding a note at her seat during group projects that read:
“We’ll tell the professor you participated, so could you please not show up?”
Everything.
As the gloomy thoughts stacked up, Orca’s lips pressed into a firm line.
A daughter of the Linnaeus family could not let her lips curve downward, so she desperately held them in place.
…One step at a time.
I am a daughter of the Linnaeus family, so I will make friends.
I can do this!
Swallowing yet another resolution, Orca opened the dormitory door and stepped out.
And before long, a rumor began to spread—
“The Linnaeus family’s orca left the dormitory looking furious.”
In the end, Orca made it to her assigned seat without uttering a single word.