SRS 11

“What do you mean I can’t withdraw because I’m the top student?”

Yohan was startled. His withdrawal application had been rejected before he even submitted it. He looked at the old man in confusion. More importantly, when did he become the top student?

“Why am I the top student?”

“You were first in the final entrance test. Until the results for the first semester come out, you’re the top student of your year.”

“……”

Was I?

Yohan turned to look at Suhyeok and Kylus. The two avoided his eyes. They hadn’t told him, worried he might feel pressured by his grades, but they never imagined their consideration would backfire.

It wasn’t just them who were shocked. The other students, who had gathered around, protested at the absurd claim from the old man and the vice headmaster.

“You’re saying a top student can’t withdraw?”

“That’s unfair!”

“Then what’s the point of earning that title?”

“That’s just wrong.”

As the atmosphere grew noisy, the vice headmaster, looking tired, finally stepped in.

“The top student must be a model for others, so they are not allowed to withdraw. But there are special privileges for the top student, so there’s no need to get so agitated.”

“What kind of privileges?”

“Yohan takes the same classes as us!”

“And he’s staying in Dorm 304 like we are!”

Of course, their protests didn’t calm the situation. The students clamored for details like a flock of sparrows begging for food, making the vice headmaster frown. Through the small round lenses of his glasses perched on his nose, his gaze turned fierce. Yohan, realizing what was about to happen, hurried to stop his friends, but he was one step too late.

Tap.

The vice headmaster snapped his fingers, and all the students fell silent.

“Mmmp!”

“Ugh!”

…A curse.

Sensing the strange energy from his friends, who were frustrated but couldn’t speak, Yohan sighed.

That’s exactly why he’d tried to stop them quickly.

Arguing that much with someone whose appearance screamed like “I’m a demon” was definitely not normal.

Feeling both grateful and responsible for his reckless but well-meaning friends, Yohan bowed his head on their behalf.

“Please forgive their rudeness. They only spoke up for me out of friendship. They asked those questions because I didn’t clarify things from the start and made them worry….”

Tap.

Instead of replying to Yohan’s long explanation, the vice headmaster snapped his fingers again to lift the curse from the others.

“Pwah!”

The friends finally let out their held breaths and stepped back. After seeing how the vice headmaster had cursed students without hesitation, none of them dared to raise their voices again.

The vice headmaster looked at Yohan with darkened eyes.

“The top student may seek guidance from any professor at any time and also receives privileges related to graduation. Details about the latter will be revealed in a month, so wait until then.”

Privileges for graduation too?

Yohan grew curious, but the vice headmaster’s tone was commanding. It seemed he wouldn’t say more, so Yohan set his curiosity aside. If anyone insisted further, they might all end up taking their next ability class under a silence curse.

“Is there anyone else who wishes to submit a withdrawal application?”

The vice headmaster glanced around the now-quiet crowd. The students refused to open their mouths and only shook their heads. The vice headmaster briefly bowed his head toward them, then rose into the sky with the old man.

“The next withdrawal applications will be accepted in a month. Until then, I wish you all an enjoyable school life.”

His voice, which had echoed through the entire dorm, now resounded from above as he and the old man departed.

“Haa…”

The students, who had been nervous the whole time, finally relaxed and sat down.

“…What kind of school has a demon for a vice headmaster?”

“That’s the first real demon I’ve ever seen.”

“I didn’t even know demons actually existed. He looked more vicious than I imagined.”

“No, maybe he just looked that way because he was tired?”

The students, who were meeting the vice headmaster for the first time since admission, shared their impressions. Yohan agreed with the one who said his rough appearance came from exhaustion.

Judging from the heavy shadows under his eyes, he really looked tired.

“Yes, he really did look exhausted.”

“But does a vice headmaster even have that much work? Usually, the people below him have more.”

“I saw his bag earlier. It looked stuffed with papers.”

“What kind of work keeps him that busy?”

“…Maybe the professors caused some trouble again?”

If it were any other school, people might assume the students caused the trouble. But at Fantasiademia, every professor they’d met, just three so far, had been strange. Statistically speaking, it was a place where 100% of the staff were out of their minds. It seemed more likely that the professors were the ones who’d done something wrong. The students looked at each other and chuckled.

“Hey, come on, there’s no way the professors would….”

Even the student who tried to deny the speculation couldn’t finish the sentence. The group exchanged awkward glances, then sighed all at once.

“What kind of school did I even enroll in….”

Yohan bitterly agreed with their muttering.

They felt sympathy for their shared misery after falling for the bait of ‘resurrection’ and entering this stray school.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

A bell rang from the ceiling, signaling the start of the fourth class, Basic Ability Training. Mikael came in just in time and sat behind Yohan. Sitting by the aisle, Yohan turned away from his conversation with Suhyeok when Mikael appeared.

“Where have you been?”

“Are you curious?”

“Yes.”

“What if I tell you and it gets you in trouble?”

“……?”

“I’m kidding.”

Mikael, amused by his own joke, slumped over his desk. Whatever he’d been doing, he looked exhausted, so Yohan decided not to bother him further. The bell for class had barely finished ringing when the professor entered, and Yohan stood up.

As the students bowed together, the Ability professor gestured for them to sit and tapped the green chalkboard with his hand. The chalk began to move on its own, writing letters across the surface.

〈Basic Ability Professor, Hegel Gildestern〉

The students were amazed by the self-moving chalk, while those who knew magic were astonished by the neat handwriting.

It was a sophisticated control.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Hegel Gildestern, and I’ll be teaching you about basic abilities. You may call me Professor Hegel or Professor Gildestern. If you major in magic, you’ll be able to forge a deeper connection with me.”

I don’t really want to have a deeper connection…

Every professor Yohan had met at Fantasiademia so far was someone he didn’t want to get involved with. Pushing the thought aside, he scrutinized Professor Hegel. From the magic he’d used to introduce himself, Yohan could tell he was a mage.

Half-dragon, elf, someone dressed like a suspicious warrior, and now a mage.

The professors of Fantasiademia were certainly a diverse bunch in both race and ability.

Well, maybe that’s why they can teach students who came from all sorts of dimensions.

“The purpose of Basic Ability Training is to make sure you won’t panic even if you encounter an ability user after resurrection. You’ll learn to recognize and understand abilities that exist across different dimensions.”

In short, it was a class to study abilities from all worlds. It sounded necessary, and Yohan was impressed. Finally, in the day’s last class, he was about to learn something that actually seemed useful.

“During the final entrance test, you probably learned a bit about each other’s abilities.”

“Yes, sir!”

The students answered confidently.

“But you don’t know everyone’s, do you? So we’ll have a short test.”

“…What?”

Their confident voices faltered when Hegel drew his staff.

“The test is simple. You’ll face ten summoned creatures, one after another. Work together, learn about each other’s abilities, and survive. Let’s begin.”

Whoosh!

The moment he swung his staff, all the desks and chairs in the classroom vanished. Mikael, asleep, toppled to the floor with a loud sound. Other students who had been leaning on their desks weren’t spared either. Professor Hegel summoned the first creature.

The first opponent was a giant centipede.

“It’s a venomous centipede I contracted from the Demon Realm. Depending on your species, there’s about a 40% chance of death if you’re bitten, so be careful. The head and tail are its weak points, so fight with caution.”

After the summoning, the professor stepped back, and watched the students as if his work was done.

“……”

Faced with a centipede large enough to fill the classroom floor, the students paled and swallowed their screams.

“I, I hate bugs…!”

One student shouted in frustration’ and that seemed to attract the attention of the centipede, who rushed to attack him.

“Get out of the way!”

“Salcum, over here!”

The classroom was a mess with students screaming, students running away from the centipede, and students trying to fight it off so mehow.

Boom!

The wall cracked, and the windows shattered.

Yohan groaned as he treated students who had been bitten by the centipede, causing a commotion for a moment.

So the vice headmaster came to collect withdrawal forms, knowing this was what the Ability class would be like….

He really was a demon.

Yohan decided not to let his guard down, no matter how tired the professors seemed.