Chapter 9 : The young man who has it all

The academy has prepared dormitories for the new students and allows them to stay there a few days before the exam.

As a result, most of those who came to take the entrance exam were already living in the dorms.

The reason I’m suddenly talking about this is…

‘Where’s my room?’

When I tried to go back, I realized I had no idea where Rudion had been staying before I took over his body.

There must be a building and room assigned to him, but I took over during the entrance exam, so there’s no way for me to know where he stayed before that.

Fortunately, I have a key in my pocket, so I managed to reach the first-year male dormitory building, but I have no clue which door to enter.

Let’s think this through. There are about 100 first-year students in total, with a male-to-female ratio of 6:4, meaning there are approximately 60 male freshmen.

There are six buildings, each with 12 single rooms over two floors. Guessing the room by trial and error doesn’t seem worth trying.

Of course, I could go in one room at a time, insert the key into each empty room, and eventually find it. But that would take a lot of time, and I’d definitely end up looking like a weirdo.

Let’s use my brain. Although I may not be great at it, I do have extensive game knowledge, so maybe it’ll help.

First, considering that this character hasn’t appeared from the protagonist’s perspective, I’ll recall episodes centered around the dorms and narrow it down one by one.

Naturally, I’ll exclude the building used by the protagonist. Then, based on a couple of buildings that were explored by chance, I can exclude those as well, even if I’m not entirely certain.

There were dorm residents encountered during the dorm competition arc, none of whom had a face similar to Rudion’s. Excluding one more building leaves only two remaining.

Building 4 and Building 6.

And I’m sincerely hoping it’s not Building 6.

That building collapses around the end of the first semester. It’s not due to a terrorist attack or anything; there’s just a crazy guy in there whose experiment exploded, if I remember correctly.

Since Building 6 is located at a fair distance, it didn’t cause much damage to the other buildings, and because the explosion happened during class time, there were no casualties. In the game, it just triggered a side quest to help clear the building debris. But if that actually happens, it’s a different story.

I don’t want the building I live in to collapse. Regardless of how well the cleanup is managed afterward, I’d like a peaceful place to rest.

Well, if I’ve come this far, I suppose my fate is sealed.

I head into the soon-to-collapse Building 6 and try the key on a door where I can’t sense any presence.

As I reach a corner on the second floor, I even feel a little hopeful. Maybe this isn’t the right place.

Click.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

So, this is it.

Having my hope crushed the moment I felt it was a strange experience.

But… I wasn’t all that disappointed. As soon as Building 6 became a candidate, I kind of expected this.

Sizzle…

Well, it can’t be helped. Honestly, as long as I don’t leave anything important in the room when it’s about to collapse, it doesn’t matter that much.

Creak!

As I open the door and step inside…

Fwoosh!

Where is that strange noise coming from?

I stop before entering my room and turn toward the direction of the sound.

I see mysterious smoke seeping through the crack of the door next to mine.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

It seems the culprit of the explosion is in the room right next to mine.

I expected to stay in this building, but I never imagined it would come to this.

‘Maybe it’s actually a good thing?’

If things go well, I might even be able to prevent the dormitory from collapsing.

Of course, I’ll have to meet that person inside to know for sure.

Ignoring it for now, I enter my room.

The original Rudion, who must have arrived before the entrance exam, didn’t seem like someone who liked to tidy up; the room was a mess with belongings and bedding scattered everywhere.

I tried rummaging around, hoping to figure out what kind of person he was, but I didn’t find much.

The only thing I discovered is that he used a short sword that didn’t quite match his build.

I found a well-maintained short sword, likely one he used frequently, in the bag. Judging by the quality of the sheath, it looked like it was at least rare-grade.

A short sword… It’s a weapon that’s perfect for unconventional play styles. It’s even good for wielding a shield on the other hand. Since it’s rare-grade, it’s not a bad starting weapon, so I decided to use it for a while.

“Ah, let’s just lie down.”

After searching around and tidying up, quite some time had passed.

I tossed the short sword next to the bag and collapsed onto the bed.

“Oh, this feels nice.”

The surprising comfort and softness made me let out a sigh of appreciation, like an old man, but there wasn’t anyone around to hear it…

Hiss… Bubble…

The sound insulation here is terrible. I should keep my voice down.

Finally, I could relax, but just lying here wouldn’t be enough.

There’s a mountain of things I need to figure out.

Honestly, quite a few things come to mind, and even if only some of them turn out to be true, it’d be a huge gain.

I thought of the most systematic and useful function.

‘Inventory.’

[This function is currently locked.]

[Unlock condition: Contribute 40% or more to clear a total of 5 rifts (0/5)]

Wow, crazy. It’s a good thing I’ll be joining the student council.

The quickest and easiest way to access rifts at the academy was through the student council, and I’m practically already in it, right?

It was truly fortunate that I didn’t bother hiding my strength or anything like that.

Of course, achieving a dominant 40% contribution rate among the elite members of the student council wouldn’t be easy, and it would also draw a lot of attention. But it wasn’t something I was willing to give up on just to avoid standing out.

For a while, I’ll need to prioritize my activities in the student council. After all, this body without any stat growth is a waste of time to train, so it actually works out well.

I tested a few other things, but there wasn’t much else to gain.

It seemed like there were no user-friendly systems like friends, parties, or guilds, nor any functional systems like navigation or warping.

Only the affection system responded…

[You cannot check this yourself.]

It reacted, but nothing came up, so it was meaningless. I mean, if I can’t check it, who does?

Whatever. It’s not an important system anyway, so I’ll just ignore it.

‘Have I checked everything by now?’

Other things will have to be tested when the situation arises—like healing when injured or attempting in-game glitches.

I wasn’t keen on injuring myself, and any glitches I could try now would be pointless given the effort required.

So, inventory remains the only gain so far.

Though it’s still locked… it’s enough for now.

Quick-swapping with inventory is my specialty. Unlocking it would be like regaining half of my power. Even if that doesn’t happen, not having to carry a heavy bag or dangle distracting pockets during combat would be a huge advantage.

Of course, I might be disappointed if it doesn’t perform as expected, but I doubted that the system would limit only the inventory when dodging and parrying work just fine.

Fatigue crept in, so I closed all the system windows hovering in front of me and buried my face in the pillow.

“Time to rest.”

Here, where there’s no internet or phone, resting means nothing more than taking a nap.

There’s a messenger service within the academy, but I don’t have any friends to chat with right now.

Though my body felt fine, I must have been mentally tired, as I fell asleep the moment I closed my eyes.

A little while later, I woke up to the sound of something boiling and burning in the next room.

It was five in the morning, and with no signs of movement, it didn’t seem like someone had stayed up all night. They must have left something on the stove and gone to sleep. Their lack of safety awareness is serious.

It’s a wonder the building didn’t collapse by the end of the first semester with people like that living here.

Stretching, I got up. This fantasy body didn’t have the usual morning stiffness. I didn’t even feel like sleeping any longer, even though it was still early.

So, I decided to start getting ready to go out. After a quick wash, I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my face.

It still felt strange, but I guess this is me now.

I’ve already accepted it; I just need time to get used to it.

It’s honestly surprising that Rudion wasn’t mentioned in the original story, considering how well-designed his character is.

If Seria’s hair shone a radiant platinum blonde, this guy’s was a luxurious, slightly shadowed gold. His half-dead black eyes added a decadent charm to his beautiful face—he looked like someone who’d wear designer clothes and smoke cigarettes. Not that I have money or smoke.

With all that, he would stand out even as a main character, but on top of that, he’s tall and has a solid build… he has it all.

Lost in thought, I found that I was already fully prepared to go out.

I grabbed the short sword I’d taken out last night and strapped it to my waist.

Since I’m officially becoming a student at the academy today, I can carry my personal weapon around, unlike during the entrance exam.

Some students flaunt expensive weapons like kids boasting about their designer jackets in school, but in a place where equipment is considered part of one’s skill, it’s generally accepted.

It was almost six. If I went out now, I’d surely run into someone, but I didn’t want to sit in my room for an hour doing nothing.

It’d be weird to avoid her after being entangled yesterday.

With that thought, I stepped outside and headed to the auditorium for the entrance ceremony.

The auditorium was bustling with assistants finalizing the preparations for the ceremony. Amidst the busyness, only one person stood calmly, observing the scene.

“Rudion! You’re early?”

I guess it’s different for royalty. Normally, a new student would feel awkward and either leave or try to help, but she was just observing like someone on an inspection.

The poor assistants couldn’t say anything to her, either.

Not that I planned to help, so I stood next to Seria and watched with her.

They probably hated it, but nobody dared to say anything with Seria there. The Seria Guard effect was certainly effective.

Soon, the auditorium was filled with freshmen, and the ceremony, prepared with the assistants’ sweat, began.