SRS 12

“Haa, haa, haa….”

“Mm. Did the bell ring?”

The thing that saved most of the students, who were sprawled on the floor from exhaustion, wasn’t the professor’s mercy but the sound of the bell that rang through the classroom, marking the end of class.

Professor Hegel, who had just been about to summon the eighth creature, waved his staff. The chairs and desks reappeared, and the collapsed wall and shattered windows were instantly restored. He performed all that magic without blinking once, then put away his staff.

“We’ll continue with the remaining three summons next time.”

…So he wasn’t giving up.

The students had fought nonstop for two hours. Each time they finally managed to defeat one creature, Hegel praised them and summoned another. When they struggled through that one and begged for mercy, he still summoned the next without even a second’s break.

He’d already seen enough of their abilities, yet he still planned to continue the fight next time. The eyes of the friends lying on the floor now were filled murderous intent.

So this is how murder happens.

When Yohan saw his once-good friends suddenly acquire the eyes of aspiring criminals, he realized the problem with the extreme educational methods of the Fantasiademia.

He never wanted to understand the context in which the idea that education and environment are important came from.

“Then I’ll see you all next class.”

Leaving 70% of the new students on the floor, the professor walked out of the room with a serene face. Yohan, along with the few still capable of standing, helped carry the drained students to the dorm entrance. Suhyeok and Kylus helped him. In situations like this, those who relied purely on physical strength or techniques, instead of resources like divine power, mana, or magic, tended to last a bit longer.

Of course, Yohan was the exception, his command over divine power back in his world had been unmatched.

“Yohan… haa, haa… if I die here…”

“Don’t worry, Lisa. No one dies from running out of divine power, no priest ever has.”

Calmly comforting his panting friend, Yohan sent the irritated Lisa back to the east tower with her roommate, then returned to the classroom. Some students who still had energy left were helping, but plenty were still unconscious.

“Yohan, are you a monster? You used more divine power than any of us, so why are you still fine…?”

Yohan sent that delirious priest friend to the tower as well.

“Damn it! I should’ve turned in my withdrawal form first!”

After listening to the complaint of a mage whose mana depletion left his skin dry like a corpse, Yohan repeated the trip five times until the floor of the classroom was finally clear.

Feeling satisfied, Yohan automatically looked for Mikael when Suhyeok suggested they go back. They’d been together until the end of class, but the white-haired young man was nowhere to be seen. He must have slipped out right after Professor Hegel left.

“Are you looking for Mikael?”

“Yes.”

“If he’s not here, he’s probably in the dorm. He likes being on his own, remember?”

“Maybe.”

Well, even if he wasn’t, he’d be somewhere.

Since new students were restricted in where they could go, Yohan slowly turned back toward the dorm.

But contrary to his and Suhyeok’s assumption, Mikael wasn’t there either.

Thinking maybe he’d gone out for a short walk around the garden, Yohan joined Suhyeok and Kylus to decide the shower order with the rock-paper-scissors Suhyeok had taught them.

Suhyeok won first place, and Yohan’s turn came last.

While waiting, Yohan started tidying his things.

After nearly ten days in the Nameless Realm, he didn’t have much to organize. All he had were the priest’s robes and shoes he’d been wearing when he fell here, plus the school-issued uniform and three sets of casual clothes.

“Hmm.”

After folding his clothes, he went on to clean the room. When he was done, he scratched his cheek as he looked at his side of the room. Compared to Kylus and Suhyeok’s spaces, his bed, closet, and drawers looked far too empty.

Priests were supposed to be free of greed, but this felt a little too bare.

It’d be nice to have a few books at least.

Students at Fantasiademia weren’t allowed to leave the school grounds except for classes. That rule had been stated clearly in the enrollment papers, so no one really complained, but it did become inconvenient when they needed something.

There were no shops or bookstores inside the school either.

Meals were served regularly, but there had to be students who wanted snacks too….

“Yes, I can see why graduating here’s supposed to be hard.”

At the same time, he started to understand why parts of the academy resembled a temple, or at least borrowed its architectural style.

After a few years of living like this, it probably wouldn’t be much different from a monastery.

Thinking that maybe it wasn’t the worst kind of life for self-discipline, Yohan went into the bathroom after Kylus finished washing up. Being last, he took his time soaking in the water. When he came out, he blinked at Mikael’s still-empty bed.

The young man didn’t show up even after Yohan and his friends ate dinner and returned.

It was already eight in the evening.

By then, even Kylus started to mention Mikael, concerned that their roommate hadn’t come back.

Then someone knocked on the dorm door.

“Yes?”

Suhyeok quickly went to check and came back holding an envelope.

“A letter?”

The three of them gathered on Suhyeok’s bed and examined the unexpected mail. There were no names written anywhere, neither sender nor recipient. After a moment of hesitation, they opened it, only for the paper to flutter out on its own and float in the air.

〈Fantasiademia Dormitory Rules and Guidelines〉

“Ah.”

Only then did Yohan and his friends realize what the paper was. They began reading through the rules written on the sheet, which contained unrolling on its own.

1. You must be awake for the 10 p.m. roll call. You may sleep afterward, but if the entire room’s occupants are asleep and fail to open the door, the room will be marked as absent and given demerits.

2. Do not visit dorms in other towers. You’re advised to stay in your own room, but visiting rooms within the same tower is allowed. However, do not enter other towers under any circumstance. The towers will treat intruders as enemies and expel them. The supervisor bears no responsibility for injuries caused during such incidents.

3. Cooking inside the dorm is prohibited. You’re free to hunt monsters in Fantasiademia and make snacks from them, but do not cook inside the dorm. The supervisor will not be responsible for any explosions, monster resurrections, or attacks caused by cooking. If the dorm is damaged due to your negligence, you’ll bear all repair costs. Therefore, please exercise good judgment.

4. No going out after 11 p.m. Leaving the dorm after roll call is forbidden. Fantasiademia becomes extremely dangerous after 11, so do not wander around. The school won’t be held responsible for any harm suffered by students who ignore this warning. Violators will receive demerits.

5. No fighting inside the dorm. If you have a grudge against someone, go settle it in the Rose Garden. Don’t fight inside the tower.

6. No using sorcery inside the dorm. Especially forbidden are necromantic acts such as spirit summoning or Ouija-type rituals. The spirits summoned in Fantasiademia are not normal, take heed.

7. Professors are not allowed inside the dorm. Do not let professors enter. If one tries to exercise authority, call the dorm supervisor immediately. In the history of this academy…

Atter reading the twelve clauses one by one, including the prohibition of sleeping for more than four hours straight, Yohan tilted his head in confusion.

He didn’t know about anything else, but the rule against professors entering the building was really bizarre. What school would have such a rule?

It sounded absurd, but when he read the explanation below, it made some sense. Since the establishment of Fantasiademia, there had been over 12000 incidents of professors breaking into dorms and causing trouble. What else could they do but ban them?

So the professors really are the problem.

What he and his friends had jokingly guessed earlier turned out to be true, confirmed by the dorm rule sheet itself. Having lost all remaining trust in the faculty, Yohan looked at the final note: If even one person in the room is absent during roll call, the entire room will receive demerits.

He checked the clock again.

8:20 p.m.

Only 1 hour and 50 minutes left until roll call.

“…If he’s not back by nine, we’ll have to go look for him.”

“Yes. Otherwise, we’ll all get demerits.”

“But Mikael’s a repeater. He should know about roll call times.”

“But it’s Mikael. You never know what he’ll do.”

“……”

How did Mikael end up earning such little faith from Suhyeok?

Yohan pictured his troublesome, mysterious friend and sat down on the bed.

“Let’s wait until nine. If he’s still not back, we’ll go find him. We might as well set a rule among ourselves too, everyone should be back by at least 9 or 9:30.”

The other two agreed. So Yohan waited. But Yohan frowned when he saw the clock struck nine and Mikael still hadn’t returned.

“Hmm….”

“Let’s go.”

Before Yohan could move, Suhyeok stood up.

“We’ve to stop the demerits. If we get more than 15, we’ll be assigned to clean the Griffin Hall for a whole month. I… can’t do that.”

Suhyeok’s serious expression made Kylus gravely nod. Yohan felt a little awkward.

He disliked the idea of cleaning Griffin Hall too, but it didn’t seem like something to take so seriously.

However, he kept that thought to himself. After waiting another ten minutes just in case, Yohan finally left the dorm with his two friends to look for Mikael.