Chapter 6
Ena lay in her dormitory, staring at the ceiling.
She was lost in various thoughts.
‘.. Strange.’
It had been fun.
Today had.
‘.. I thought this academy stuff wouldn't be fun.’
She hadn't wanted to come to the academy.
After all, inheriting her parents' business was her future.
She had never been particularly attached to power.
She didn't need especially powerful physical abilities.
Nor did she need flashy magic.
‘I only came because my parents told me to..’
Ena possessed a powerful supernatural ability.
An ability called [Compression].
It was, quite literally, the ability to compress something in space.
This ability was one of those supernatural abilities mages called a dream.
Her parents couldn't simply leave such an ability alone.
They sent her to the academy.
Even after losing Ena's older sister.
‘It's more fun than I expected?’
It had only been one day.
Going to the academy had been more fun than she'd expected.
Of course, the classes themselves weren't fun.
It was simply the place itself that was fun.
“I wonder if this supernatural ability is any good.”
Ena scattered mana into the air.
A tiny amount of mana incomparable to Professor Naia's.
But it was still a considerable amount for someone her age.
“Here goes.”
Ena activated her supernatural ability, [Compression].
The mana in the air was compressed in an instant.
The mana, which had been like a snowball, was pressed down until it was the size of a bean.
It was mana so pure it could be called the essence of mana.
“Was it.. supposed to be shaped like a star?”
Ena fiddled with the tightly compressed mana.
Then she succeeded in turning it into a very small star.
“Whooosh~”
Ena threw the star toward the window.
- Bang!! Boom boom!
The star burst in the sky like fireworks.
Of course, its only color was that of blue mana.
But it looked quite pretty.
“It's not fun when I actually review the lesson..”
Something was missing.
Why had the class been fun, but what she'd learned in class wasn't?
She didn't know. She didn't even want to think about it.
“I don't know.. I should just lie down.”
Ena lay down on the bed.
Then she thought of one person.
“.. That bastard was kind of cute.”
Bin.
He had strangely stood out ever since the entrance ceremony.
He seemed a little dazed, too.
And he also looked remarkably clever somehow..
But he was a bit of a klutz.
“Did I just call him cute? Another guy?”
“.. Interesting.”
Ena gave a small laugh.
Then, still holding on to that smile, she drifted off into a dream.
And so, the next day arrived.
—-
On the second day, a completely unexpected situation unfolded in class.
“Today, we'll be conducting a large-scale expedition.”
[Expedition] during only the second lecture.
It was enough to leave the students flustered.
“An expedition..?”
Helia asked, seeming flustered.
Most of the students in the classroom felt the same.
“Yes, that's right, an expedition..”
Naia wore her usual languid expression.
But there was a subtle irritation mixed into it.
Her tone was not cheerful either.
Even in the game, Professor Naia had a habit of shortening her sentences when she was angry.
She was definitely angry now.
And.. there was only one reason this professor could be angry.
‘Why did the expedition event trigger in Week 1?’
Week 1—and on Day 2, at that—was absurdly early for an expedition.
‘This messes up the entire curriculum.’
The professor clenched her fist and muttered under her breath.
“That crazy chairman.. because of him”
Ah.
So the chairman was the culprit.
I understood immediately.
Whenever something strange happened at this academy, nine times out of ten, the chairman was behind it.
Professor Naia seemed angry about this situation.
Well, I probably would have been angry too.
An expedition with kids who knew nothing, in Week 1.
Did that make any sense?
“Has anyone here heard of expeditions?”
Professor Naia glanced around the classroom.
Everyone was fidgeting nervously.
‘.. They know at least something.’
Most students entering the academy already knew about the expedition event.
It was a famous part of the schedule, like a [school retreat] at the school I used to attend.
“I suppose you all know about it.”
Naia sighed and walked down from the podium.
“For now.. we'll be moving in groups of five.”
“You're all still too weak to conduct an expedition individually. Even three.. seems too few.”
“I don't usually like assigning groups arbitrarily, but this time I'll have to decide them for you.”
Naia said that as she looked at the list.
Then she raised her head slightly and looked at me.
‘.. Why is she looking at me?’
—-
‘All right.. it looks like I can send them out in groups of five..’
Naia felt somewhat relieved as she looked over the list.
It was laid out by level, as if it were telling her, This is how you make groups of five!
Of course, that had been taken into account by the academy's rules.
But there were still some things to worry about.
‘I'm a little worried about the group Bin is in.. but it'll probably be fine.’
——
Naia thought for a moment, then explained how the groups would be formed.
“The groups will be divided into blocks of five: Numbers 1–5, 6–10, 11–15, and so on.”
It was a simple, straightforward method.
Even I couldn't think of a better method than this right now.
‘Well, it's a lot better than random.’
Sometimes the game assigned groups randomly, too.
That wasn't a very good method.
If things went wrong.. the five lowest-ranked students could all end up on one team, turning it into hell.
‘For now.. my group has Mizha.. Suning, Jomin, and Elisa.’
‘I don't know any of them except Mizha.’
In game terms, they were extras.
They were probably characters who hadn't even been given names.
‘Our group power is.. way too weak.’
‘.. That's because I was included in the upper-tier group..’
I sighed as I looked at my group members.
Our team was doomed.
The top, upper, middle, lower, and bottom tiers—five students—were all in one group.
But I had the combat ability of someone in the bottom tier while being placed in the upper tier.
Naturally, we couldn't produce any proper combat power.
There was another problem.
‘On top of that.. even Mizha, the top-tier student, is a marksman.’
A marksman was a utility-oriented role.
In other words, the team's pure combat power was woefully lacking.
‘For a pure expedition, there are quite a few ways I can freeload.. but if we have to fight, this is going to be too difficult.’
And I couldn't be the only one thinking that.
Mizha looked at her group members and tilted her head.
Then she stared intently at my face.
“Mr. Bin.”
“Yes?”
“What are you good at?”
Here it came.
She was asking about my specialty, right?
Swordsmanship, magic, marksmanship, or some unusual role—anything.
“Nothing.”
“Please don't joke around.”
Guhk.
Her words split my heart in two.
But what could I do?
I really wasn't good at anything.
If there were a stats window, all my stats would probably be F.
“If I'm serious when I say I'm not good at anything.. will you believe me?”
“No.”
Mizha crossed her arms and looked at me.
She simply stared at me, as if there were something she wanted.
“If you're not good at anything, how did you get into Mel Academy.. and take an upper-tier slot?”
A green light began to bloom in her eyes.
As if something were irritating her..
Dangerous.
Mizha didn't like jokes very much.
And if she thought I was playing such an absurd joke on her, she'd get angry.
But the keyword that could erase this was simple.
The expression [I'm serious].
“.. Could you not look at me like that? I'm being serious right now.”
Mizha opened her eyes wide, as if she'd come to her senses at my words.
She must have realized I was sincere from my expression, face, and tone.
“Ah, I'm sorry.”
Mizha briefly closed her eyes, then opened them.
The green light faded away in an instant.
But.. her face was still clouded with questions.
Because what she'd asked hadn't been resolved.
How could I possibly be in the upper tier?
This was the only answer I could give.
“I'm lucky.”
I gave the best answer I could.
Unexpectedly, Mizha nodded.
“I can understand.. being lucky.”
She uncrossed her arms.
But the problem hadn't been solved.
What were we supposed to do with our group?
“Suning, Jomin, and Elisa, what are you good at?”
“I'm confident in close-quarters combat.”
“I.. I can use a little magic.”
“.. I'm aiming to become a mage too.”
Oh, no.
After hearing our team composition, I smacked my forehead with a slap!
“We're screwed.”
Every group member nodded at my words.
1 tank
1 marksman
2 mages
1 burden
A garbage composition of 1 vanguard, 3 backliners, and 1 burden had been born.
Mizha pressed a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
“Will we be able to move forward?”
Having too few vanguards meant we had to be that much more vigilant.
Because our flexibility was severely reduced.
But I wasn't worried about this expedition.
This expedition.. it didn't matter how many awful compositions came up.
“Well, we'll have to try it first.”
Mizha puffed out her cheeks slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with my words.
I understood, though.
Trying it and seeing what happened wasn't a marksman's preferred approach.
“You have a point.”
Still, there was no other way.
There was a reason Professor Naia hated going on an expedition in the first week.
Because right now, they had no data on the students at all..
They didn't know what results might come out.
Nor what accidents might happen.
All they could do was run into it and see.
But.
Actually, I wasn't worried.
Because before running into it, I was going to fasten a safety belt.
Mizha didn't notice my confidence.
She continued to worry deeply.
And what came out of it was her asking me another question.
“Mr. Bin.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Do you think you'll be lucky this time?”
Mizha spoke seriously as she looked at me.
To her, this was probably important.
If I was lucky.
She thought that alone might be enough to fulfill the upper-tier role.
After all, I was actually in the upper tier because of that.
“Pfft.”
I laughed because it was so absurd.
It was a very Mizha-like way of thinking.
She seriously thought luck was everything.
But..
I wasn't dry or serious like her.
“No, I'm fucking nervous.”
“That's the worst news I've heard so far.”
Mizha said that and grimaced.
If someone who had gotten this far on luck alone said he had a bad feeling,
naturally, it wouldn't exactly be cheerful news.
But.
Actually.. luck didn't matter much for this expedition.
“So, I'm going to latch onto another team.”
“.. What?”
Mizha looked at me as if she didn't quite understand.
The other group members felt the same.
I smiled and walked toward another group inside the classroom.
It was an absurdly strong group with Kanghan and Ena in it.
“Hello, everyone.”
“.. What is it?”
Kanghan looked at me with an expression that suggested he didn't like something.
Ena didn't look too happy either.
Why?
This group with Kanghan and Ena.
Composition-wise, this group had no problems whatsoever.
That was impossible.
It had ‘Kanghan,’ the top-tier asset in the vanguard.
Ena was only an upper-tier student.. but her actual strength rivaled the top tier.
You could plug anyone into a group like this and it would run smoothly.
That's right.
It would run smoothly even with a burden like me thrown in.
“Want to go together with our group?”
I grinned and asked their group that.
Kanghan and Ena's eyes lit up instantly.
Seeing what I was doing,
Mizha rushed toward me in horror.
“Are you crazy? What strange thing are you doing? An alliance between groups.. there's no way that's allowed.”
“Even if it were allowed, there's no way this group would do us a favor.”
I snickered.
Kanghan and Ena wouldn't do us a favor?
No.
“... Fine! Come along with us!!”
Ena flew toward me with sparkling eyes,
and Kanghan was nodding slightly too.
“That's a good proposal.”
“.. Huh?”
Mizha was bewildered by this unexpected situation.
But I knew.
“How about it? It's settled, right?”
The reason was actually incredibly simple.
Kanghan and Ena hated each other intensely.
Rather than having to rub shoulders with each other in a group of five right now,
they would feel much more comfortable moving around with plenty of space, even if it cost them some points.
They weren't the type to worry about points anyway.
As expected.
You have to know how to ride the right line in life.
“This.. is actually happening?”
Mizha stared at me, dumbfounded.
Right. You didn't think this would work, did you?
“I think I feel a little better about this now.”
I laughed brightly.
When you play games, you often get screwed over by bad luck.
Like suddenly getting five ranged damage dealers.
Or pulling a garbage character from a gacha.
But if you simply let yourself lose there, you're not a professional freeloading player.
'If you're unlucky, just make your own luck.'
When I'd freeloaded my way through compositions that garbage,
people had gone wild and given me views.
“.. How did this happen?”
Mizha let out a hollow laugh, looking dejected.