[HOW DARE YOU, UNGRATEFUL HOST! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M USELESS?!]
Hearing the voice of an unfamiliar girl and seeing a hologram in front of him, Van jumped up from his bed, confused.
'Is this just a hallucination? Impossible. My [MENTAL] stat is extremely high. Normal people are only in the 100–500 range,' Van thought.
[YOU DARE IGNORE ME?! YOU LITTLE UNGRATEFUL BRAT!!!]
Van rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Is this the [System]?"
[YES! MASTER IS CORRECT!]
'Then why haven't you been active all this time?'
[... I THOUGHT I DIDN'T NEED TO BE, SINCE YOU'RE ALREADY STRONG ENOUGH.]
'STRONG ENOUGH! YOU DUMB*SS! I ALMOST DIED FIGHTING SARGAN! AND YOU THINK I'M STRONG ENOUGH?!'
[SORRY! THE INCIDENT WITH SARGAN WAS UNFORESEEN, BUT MASTER SURVIVED, DIDN'T YOU?]
Hearing the [System]'s baseless excuse, Van unconsciously wanted to curse it again.
'So, why are you suddenly active now?'
[BECAUSE I STILL HAVE MY PRIDE AS A SYSTEM! HOW COULD I STAY SILENT WHEN YOU INSULT ME LIKE THAT?!]
'Pride, my foot. You're clearly useless.'
[DON'T SAY THAT! DO YOU KNOW WHY MASTER IS THIS STRONG NOW?! BECAUSE OF ME!]
'Not because of you. I trained every day for years to become this strong.'
[…]
Seeing the [System] fall silent, Van smirked inwardly.
[B-BUT STILL—]
'No buts. You're useless.'
[DING! MASTER RECEIVED 50 STAT POINTS.]
'Nice, but still nothing compared to my ten years of effort.'
[DING! MASTER RECEIVED 100 STAT POINTS AND 10,000 MANA.]
[THAT'S ALL! I CAN'T GIVE YOU MORE.]
'Alright, you're decent enough, [System],' Van said, finally offering praise.
After distributing the stat points, Van asked the [System], "So, what exactly can you do?"
[I CAN DISPLAY OTHER PEOPLE'S \[STATUS] AND GIVE MISSIONS WITH REWARDS, THOUGH THE REWARDS ARE USUALLY STAT POINTS OR MANA.]
'That's it? You're seriously useless.'
[I CAN ALSO TALK TO YOU, MASTER.]
'I need power, not a talking buddy.'
[…]
- - - - -
Three days had passed since Van's [System] became active. During those days, student admissions and administrative processes were completed.
Today was the first official day of the Academy. All students, both first-years and seniors, were walking toward the Academy hall.
Van and Arthur were also making their way there, walking alongside other noble students. The only reason they were walking together was because they'd met at the entrance to the residential area.
Of course, Van and the other nobles drew everyone's attention. After all, a group of nobles always stood out.
"Tch, filthy commoners. Why are they even allowed in the Academy? Only nobles should be here," one of the noble students sneered.
"Relax, Faunz. Once they graduate, they'll end up working for us anyway. The stronger they are, the more useful they'll be," another noble replied.
Though the nobles didn't speak too loudly, their voices were still clear enough for the non-noble students to hear. Hearing such demeaning words, many of them clenched their fists in anger.
"Look at them. These white-tie rats are getting mad just because we stated the truth."
After several more insults, Van and the other nobles finally reached the Academy hall.
The Academy hall was a massive auditorium capable of seating thousands of students.
When they arrived, they saw that nearly all the seats were taken. Still, the nobles ignored this and walked straight to the front row.
Seeing some students already seated in the front row, one of the nobles said to them, "You commoners, go find seats elsewhere. These seats are ours."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" one of the seated students asked.
His friend beside him tapped his shoulder and subtly pointed at the golden tie on the noble's uniform.
Seeing the golden tie, the student froze for a moment—but his expression soon turned resolute.
"We got here first. You go find another seat," the student said firmly.
The noble's face twisted in annoyance at that response.
"You little sh*t rat," he snarled and swung his fire-clad hand toward the student.
The student hadn't expected an open attack, especially in a public setting. He had no time to react.
"That's enough."
*POOF
A vine shot out and wrapped around the noble's hand.
"What the—?" the noble muttered as he realized his arm had been restrained mid-attack.
Everyone in the hall turned to look at the source of the voice—and saw ten people walking toward the scene. Seven were male, and three were female, all dressed in black robes with the Academy's insignia (a shield with two crossed swords) on their backs.
'[Academy Committee],' Van thought as he recognized the group.
The [Academy Committee] consisted of elite students selected directly by the Headmaster to represent the student body. Their duty was to uphold justice and maintain order on campus.
Any student could join the Committee, whether noble or commoner—so long as they were talented and, most importantly, 'normal.'
The male student in front, holding the vine in his hand, spoke coldly, "This isn't a place where you can act however you please, noble."
The noble whose hand had been bound could only click his tongue. The flames around his hand slowly faded, and the vine retreated into the Committee member's hand.
"If you're done, leave," the Committee member said.
The nobles could only grit their teeth and split up to find seats elsewhere. They had no power to go against the [Academy Committee]. In the Academy, they were just ordinary students—while the Committee were the true nobility.
Van and Arthur also left the group to find their own seats.
"Why didn't you step in, Master?" Arthur asked with a slight smirk.
'Why are you even asking? You already know the answer,' Van thought.
"It's not my concern whether they fight or die," Van said flatly.
"The future fiancé of Lady Vivian is quite cold," Arthur teased.
Van instinctively tripped as he walked and glared sharply at Arthur.
"Just kidding," Arthur chuckled. "By the way, Master, are you interested in joining the [Academy Committee]?"
"It's impossible for me to look after the safety of others. If they're weak, they'll just get trampled. It's not my job to protect them," Van replied.
"I agree with you, Master," Arthur said. "But they are strong. I'm interested in fighting them."
'You damn battle maniac,' Van thought as he stared at Arthur.
"Do whatever you want. Let's sit down," Van said after spotting two empty seats.
Unfortunately for the students seated near them, they started trembling in fear, nervously eyeing Van as he sat nearby.
Coincidentally, a girl was seated beside Arthur. He smiled at her and said, "Hello there, pretty girl."
However, the girl shivered in terror and quickly moved away when she saw Arthur's smile.
"What's wrong with her? I just smiled at her," Arthur muttered sadly.
'You might think it was just a smile, but your terrifying reputation makes people see you as a monster,' Van thought.