Chapter 9
When 4 p.m. came around, the swordsmanship class ended.
After watching the students spar for about three hours—and even dueling a few of them himself—Luke looked quite satisfied.
“This year’s going to be fun, I think.”
With that, Luke dismissed the students.
I was about to leave the gym like everyone else when Luke suddenly called me back.
“You use quite the unusual swordsmanship. It’s extremely defensive in nature. Could I ask who taught you that style?”
“I didn’t learn it from anyone. I taught myself.”
“Taught yourself…?”
“Yes.”
Honestly, I had no way of knowing whether that was true or not. I didn’t know what this body had done or where it had been before I possessed it.
Still, saying I’d learned it on my own seemed better.
If I said I’d learned it from someone, I’d have to make up stories about a master who didn’t exist.
“For something you claim to have self-taught, your swordsmanship looked quite refined. Did you at least reference another style?”
“I took inspiration from a swordsmanship mentioned in some old records.”
“Old records?”
“Yes. Apparently, it was a sword style once used by a noble family that no longer exists.”
I made something up on the spot, and Luke looked at me with a somewhat doubtful expression.
“A family that existed long ago… Well, that makes sense. I’ve never seen a sword style like that before, after all.”
He nodded slightly, murmuring to himself.
“You’ve self-taught yourself quite an interesting swordsmanship. I don’t know about the others, but teaching you should be fun.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
I answered with a smile, and Luke smiled back.
Then, as if remembering something, he glanced toward the gym’s entrance.
“Anyway, Sara still hasn’t come back.”
“Oh, now that you mention it…”
“Jason hasn’t returned either, so he’s probably busy trying to calm her down.”
Luke gave a wry laugh and sighed.
“Sara’s as consistent as ever. Still, since she lost to you, maybe this will change her a bit. It was her first complete defeat in an otherwise undefeated life.”
“…She’s never lost before?”
“At least not to anyone of comparable skill. That’s why your existence will mean a lot to her from now on.”
“To be honest, I’m not sure if having Lady Sara’s attention is a good thing.”
“Yeah, it probably isn’t. Knowing her personality, you might find yourself quite bothered for a while.”
Luke chuckled lightly.
“But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t suffer any disadvantage because of today’s duel.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Still… today’s match between you and Sara—word’s going to spread fast. Even if she doesn’t bother you, others might.”
“I suppose so.”
“You defeated the daughter of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family. Beating someone from that family with a sword carries a lot of weight.”
“You’re right.”
Honestly, when the duel started, I never imagined I’d beat Sara—but somehow, I did.
And I was sure this victory would bring a huge aftereffect.
This wasn’t a game anymore—it was reality.
I needed to think and act more realistically.
‘Still, maybe it’s not all bad…?’
What was the term—noise marketing?
If I promoted my name like this early on, as I’d mentioned in my future article, it might actually help later.
Of course, I had to be aware that it could also backfire.
“Anyway, you should head in. You’ve done well today.”
While I was lost in thought, Luke spoke up again.
“And if we ever get the chance, I’d like to spar with you myself. I’d really like to see that swordsmanship of yours up close.”
“I’d be glad to, whenever the opportunity arises.”
I answered with a faint smile.
---
“It’s not easy… really not easy.”
After leaving the gym, I sighed and walked through the academy grounds.
‘Stuff like this is way too much for a shut-in like me.’
No matter what anyone said, talking to people face-to-face was still exhausting.
Especially in a society full of nobles—choosing my words so I didn’t offend them was even harder.
Fortunately, I had a bit of real-world social experience, and I also knew how the people in this game world spoke.
Thanks to those two things, I could at least improvise well enough to hold a conversation.
“…Guess I’ll have to get used to it.”
It felt like I was going to be living in this world for a long time, so adapting quickly seemed like the smart choice.
Well, that aside—
‘The dorm curfew was around midnight, right?’
Considering that classes usually ended at 4 p.m., that gave me about eight hours of free time every day.
And on weekends, I had the entire day to myself.
From now on, making the most of that time would be important.
‘Not like there’s much to enjoy in this world anyway. I should just focus on getting stronger.’
Getting stronger.
The first step toward that was weapon enhancement.
As the saying went—strike while the iron’s hot. I planned to start tonight.
‘I’ll grab dinner first, then head out to gather weapon enhancement materials.’
I could’ve gone right away, but it seemed better to fill my stomach first.
So, I decided to leave the academy after dinner.
‘Dinner starts at 5:30, so I’ve got some time left.’
That gave me about an hour to spare.
Wondering what to do, I decided to just look around the academy.
If I really had to live in this world until graduation, I’d be seeing this place for at least three more years.
Getting familiar with the scenery early on didn’t sound like a bad idea.
‘Might as well memorize the layout. I should know where everything is.’
Lysquare Academy was enormous.
It was practically a castle in itself…
‘Actually, now that I think about it—it is a castle.’
There were castle walls, and everything within them—the vast land, buildings, courtyards—all belonged to the academy.
It was as large as a small town.
To avoid getting lost later, it would be best to memorize the routes now.
‘The library should be over there… That building’s for faculty housing, and that one with the glass roof is the greenhouse for herb cultivation…’
The layout was vast and complicated, but I’d spent years exploring this place in the game.
Of course, walking around without a minimap still felt confusing and awkward, but thanks to years of experience, I could roughly remember the paths and navigate without much trouble.
‘Should I check out the spire too? The view there was really nice.’
I strolled through the academy, taking in the scenery.
Then, something caught my eye.
‘That place… was the training grounds, right?’
It was where students aspiring to become swordsmen, archers, or spearmen spent most of their time training.
I was originally headed toward the spire, but curiosity made me turn toward the training grounds instead.
‘Yep, looks just like I remember.’
Numerous sandbags and training dummies lined the area, along with various practice weapons neatly arranged.
‘…Only muscleheads here, huh.’
Countless students were training diligently—muscular bodies glistening with sweat as they exercised or swung their weapons.
‘I’ll probably end up coming here often.’
After all, I was aiming to become a knight too.
Even though the body I’d possessed had good physical stats overall, neglecting training would make that all meaningless.
If I wanted to return to my original world, then while I was stuck in this one, I needed to give it my all.
‘Nothing particularly interesting though.’
The training grounds looked exactly like they did in the game—students working up a sweat, various equipment scattered around… all identical.
I was just about to leave quietly when something caught my attention.
“Huh? What’s that…”
At the far corner of the vast gym stood a long, barred enclosure.
Inside the bars sat a device that seemed to operate through magic.
“This is definitely…”
Just from looking at it, it reminded me of a batting cage from my original world—
a place where people hit baseballs for stress relief or fun.
Except here, instead of baseballs…
‘It shoots magic arrows.’
Those magic arrows were designed to be harmless—getting hit was supposed to sting just a little, nothing more.
I’d only ever seen it in the game, never experienced it myself.
“Hm.”
This facility was used to train reflexes and agility—in other words, to improve one’s ability to dodge projectile attacks.
But suddenly, I wanted to try something different with it.
“Let’s see…”
I opened the barred door and stepped inside.
The magic arrow launcher stood about fifteen meters away.
At first, I wasn’t sure how to activate it, but then—
[Training Magic Arrow Launcher. Would you like to begin?]
Words appeared before me, projected like a hologram.
I was startled for a moment, but then I smiled faintly.
It reminded me again that this was a world where magic was commonplace.
“Yes.”
[Please select a difficulty level from 1 to 10.]
[Please set the number of magic arrows.]
“Hmm… Level 1. Ten arrows.”
[Confirmed. Launching in 10 seconds.]
[10, 9, 8…]
I drew Mistcatcher from its sheath.
‘Let’s see if this works.’
There was something I’d been curious about—
Could my defensive swordsmanship block projectiles?
In the game, it was possible.
Now, I wanted to see if it worked in reality too.
[…3, 2, 1. Begin.]
The holographic text vanished, and a glowing blue magic arrow shot from the device.
I could see the red dot marking its trajectory.
Instinctively, I brought Mistcatcher to that spot and blocked the arrow.
Clang—!
“…It works?”
The magic arrow’s speed was impressive, but my reaction time was faster.
As soon as another red dot appeared, my body moved reflexively, the blade following my instincts.
‘Yeah… this’ll definitely be good training.’
I still wasn’t completely synchronized with this new body.
To be precise, my thoughts couldn’t yet keep up with my body’s reflexes.
But if I trained with this machine, I could probably adapt better—think faster in battle.
Clang—!
I easily blocked the second arrow.
Then, without even thinking, my body began to automatically intercept each incoming arrow one after another.
[Level 1, 10 arrows, complete.]
When the hologram text appeared announcing the end of the session, I smiled in satisfaction.
I felt good—energized.
Blocking those arrows while making full use of my swordsmanship had been surprisingly fun…
‘It actually feels like I’m really growing.’
There wasn’t a stat window like in the game to confirm my progress, but still—
I could feel it.
That I was getting used to this body.
That I was becoming more accustomed to real combat.
Something like that.
“…Level 2. Fifteen arrows.”
[Confirmed.]
Whatever the case, I had found enjoyment in the process of growth through this arrow-blocking exercise.
And for a gamer, feeling that sense of growth—that thrill of progress—was one of the most important things.
So this magic arrow training?
For someone like me, a former game veteran, there was absolutely no reason not to go all in.