Chapter 11
Several days had passed since the orientation.
Classes were proceeding normally, and through the past few days of lectures, I was able to grasp how the Academy operated.
The life of Sirius Academy cadets was far more grueling than I had expected.
First of all, the morning training began at 5 a.m.
Participation was said to be voluntary but in truth, it was practically mandatory.
That was because if there was no noticeable growth shown in the monthly evaluation tests, a penalty would be imposed.
After about three hours of intense training, morning classes began.
During the morning classes, we took general education subjects.
These weren’t all that different from what I had studied in my previous life.
The problem was that the cadets woke up at dawn, trained strenuously, and then had a full meal afterward.
There was no way any of us could focus on the lecture in that state.
In reality, the morning class functioned more as a nap time or rest period in preparation for the afternoon classes.
Since general education subjects didn’t hold much importance in the Academy to begin with, even the instructors turned a blind eye to the drowsy atmosphere.
After such a sweet nap—no, morning lecture—the afternoon classes began.
In truth, it was the afternoon classes that could be called the real lessons.
These alternated between major theory classes and practical training. “Major classes,” in this context, referred to essential subjects that heroes were required to know.
Over the past few days, we’d undergone a physical fitness test to assess each cadet’s stats, along with a few basic theoretical lectures.
The physical test wasn’t a problem since my body retained its previous memories, but the theory classes were utterly hellish.
I mean, how was someone who had only ever played the game supposed to know the formula for measuring mana concentration in dungeons or the anatomical structure of monsters?
The issue was that even in the inherited memories, there was no trace of such knowledge.
The original owner of this body must not have had much interest in studying.
I was dozing off while waiting for the next major class to begin when I sensed someone’s presence beside me.
“Are you already getting ready to sleep?”
When I raised my head, I saw Helena sighing as she looked down at me.
Naturally, she sat next to me and opened her major textbook.
“You do know you have to care about your major grades if you want to graduate, right?”
Here comes the nagging queen.
I turned my head away and buried it into my desk, pretending not to hear her.
Since a few days ago, Helena had been hovering around me more often—sometimes striking up conversation, sometimes waking me up when I nodded off during class, constantly pestering me.
And, of course, the added bonus of her nagging...
I could roughly guess why she was acting like this.
It was because of what had happened in the infirmary a few days ago.
After seeing me then, she must have felt a kind of kinship, a sense of similarity.
That was probably why, despite being a character who was supposed to stay isolated according to the in-game storyline, she was now approaching me.
Well, having a main story character taking the initiative to get close to me was nice and all—but right now, it was annoying.
Because I needed to sleep.
Before long, Instructor Kang Jae-seok entered, and class began.
Today’s lecture was Monster Ecology.
Avoiding Helena’s gaze, I closed my eyes, using the instructor’s voice as a lullaby.
Helena said I needed to pay attention to major classes if I wanted to graduate, but honestly, that didn’t concern me in the slightest.
Graduation, grades—none of that held any meaning for me.
At most, I just needed to study enough to avoid being held back, and even that was the bare minimum.
Any lacking theory could be made up for with practice.
Then I felt something poke my side.
Poke. Poke poke.
Here we go again.
When I glanced over, Helena was jabbing my side with her pen, wearing an irritated look.
“Just leave me alone…”
“If I do that, will you actually listen to the lecture?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll keep doing it.”
“Sigh…”
Why are you even worrying about my grades?
If I left her be, she’d probably keep poking, so I decided to take action.
I raised my hand high and called out to the instructor.
“Instructor, Helena keeps poking my side, so I can’t focus on class.”
“When did I ever!”
Helena’s eyes widened in shock as she shouted back.
Immediately, all the cadets and the instructor turned their attention toward us.
Realizing how loud she had just been, Helena quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
Her face turned as red as a ripe persimmon.
“You—! You kept sleeping, so I just woke you up!”
“I never fell asleep, though?”
“Then do you think I poked you for no reason?”
“Didn’t you?”
“Y-You...!”
And then, unable to endure the scene any longer, the instructor’s furious voice rang out.
“So, in the end, neither of you were paying attention in class.”
“Is that how it sounds?”
“Cadet Yoo Sung-woo, didn’t you sleep through the entire lecture?”
I couldn’t deny that—it wasn’t wrong.
“Since you claim you weren’t asleep, I’ll give you a chance to prove it. Everyone, close your books.”
Close the books?
I could already guess what that meant.
Judging by the sighs echoing around the room, the other cadets had realized it too.
“Since Cadet Yoo Sung-woo insists he wasn’t sleeping, I’ll let him prove it. We’re having a quiz.”
Groans of protest erupted from every direction.
At the same time, I felt the collective glare of resentment and hatred from the other cadets stabbing into me.
Guess making friends was off the table now.
Even Helena was glaring at me with a sour expression.
I had sinned beyond forgiveness.
Ignoring our expressions, the instructor pulled out a stack of papers as if he had already prepared them in advance and began distributing them.
“There are ten questions in total. Anyone who gets fewer than three correct will stay for remedial class. I trust there isn’t a single idiot here who can’t even get three right.”
Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s eyes turned toward me.
I wanted to ask why he was looking at me like that—but honestly, even I didn’t have much faith in myself.
With my lack of theoretical knowledge, there was no way I could answer a pop quiz like this.
Still, submitting a blank sheet would feel rude, so maybe I should at least write a heartfelt letter to the instructor.
With that thought in mind, I looked down at the test paper.
[Describe the strategy for subjugating a high-grade hazardous species, the Basilisk.]
[Explain in detail about the Demons.]
Uh… what?
Why were there problems I actually knew?
Questions asking about the weaknesses and strategies for subjugating monsters, or requiring descriptions of Demons.
These were questions that I, someone who had played Become a Hero for countless hours, knew all too well.
Looks like the instructor tried to be clever, huh?
Normally, class content revolved around topics like anatomy or behavioral traits, so he must have designed the quiz to be unsolvable unless we had paid attention—probably to scold us afterward.
A smart attempt, but with these kinds of questions, I had the upper hand.
Thanks for that.
I grabbed my pencil and calmly began writing down everything I knew about the questions.
Twenty minutes later, the instructor’s “That’s enough” echoed through the room.
Groans of frustration followed from the cadets.
“I’m screwed... I didn’t know a single one.”
“There wasn’t enough time. I couldn’t even write five answers.”
“Guess I’ll be staying for remedial class...”
Then, the instructor spoke again.
“Exchange your answer sheets with your partner. I’ll project the correct answers, and you’ll grade each other’s papers.”
When I turned to my side, Helena was smiling in a teasing way, motioning with her hand.
“Give it here. I’ll grade it for you. Not that it’ll matter—it’s probably a zero anyway.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You’re saying you, who’s been sleeping for the past three days, actually filled this out?”
“Go ahead and check.”
I was pretty confident in my answers.
I had completely ignored the questions I didn’t know and focused only on the ones I did.
Thanks to that, I’d managed to answer three out of ten—the exact cutoff.
I was certain none of them were wrong.
That was the pride of a veteran Become a Hero player.
Helena accepted Yoo Sung-woo’s answer sheet with a smug look.
It’s probably blank or full of random doodles.
The questions had been difficult enough that even she barely had time to finish her own.
On top of that, every question was descriptive, leaving no chance to guess or circle answers.
Each one required detailed responses under strict time limits.
But Yoo Sung-woo’s answer sheet was different from what she had imagined.
Instead of being blank, it was completely filled—dense with writing.
Did he write a letter of apology to the instructor or something?
Helena didn’t even consider that it might actually be filled with real answers.
Based on what she’d seen of him so far, his theory grades were a disaster waiting to happen.
Planning to tease him thoroughly, Helena began reading his answers.
And as her eyes moved down the page, her expression gradually changed.
What is this...?
[Basilisk Strategy
The Basilisk is a large subspecies of dragon that inhabits swamps. Despite its snake-like appearance, it is classified as a draconic creature. (Omitted) Its primary attacks are poison-based breath and petrifying magic eyes. It has a total of five attack patterns. The probability of the first—an overhead strike using its head—is 20.13%. (Omitted) By memorizing these patterns, the Basilisk can be easily subdued. Simple, right?]
It was an unnecessarily detailed and analytical answer.
He had even calculated the probability of each attack appearing and described specific countermeasures for every situation.
The response was so long that it spilled into the space for the next question.
This was far more thorough than even the instructor’s model answer.
It read like something written by someone who had fought countless battles against Basilisks.
How in the world does he know all this?
The same went for the other questions he had answered.
He had only written for about three of them, but all three were described with near-perfect precision.
The instructor’s voice came once more.
“Once you’re done grading, check your score. Anyone who got fewer than three correct, step forward.”
Helena, still dumbfounded, handed Yoo Sung-woo’s paper back to him.
“How is it? All correct, right?”
“How do you even know things like this?”
Helena stared at Yoo Sung-woo with a complicated look.
Instructor Kang Jae-seok spoke up.
“Cadet Yoo Sung-woo, why aren’t you stepping forward?”
“Because I got more than three right.”
“Hm?”
The instructor looked suspiciously toward Helena.
His expression asked whether she had graded properly. Helena nodded.
She hadn’t said a word since grading—clearly still shocked that I’d gotten the questions right.
“Bring me Cadet Yoo Sung-woo’s answer sheet.”
“Yes, sir.”
Since I had nothing to hide, I walked over and handed him my paper.
The instructor’s eyebrow twitched as he examined it.
“You got exactly three correct out of ten. The ones you answered are perfect—in fact, they’re even better than my official solutions. I suppose you studied in advance?”
“Well, a little.”
“I see. Then, Cadet Yoo Sung-woo, you’ll also attend remedial class.”
“Huh?”
Wait, what? I turned it in exactly at the cutoff—why!?
I looked at him with eyes full of injustice.
“You still need to be punished for disrupting the class.”
“What? That doesn’t even—”
I protested, but Instructor Kang merely gestured with his chin toward the front.
Following his gaze, I saw the other cadets glaring daggers at me.
“...Yes, sir. I’ll stay.”
After that, the class continued as normal, and not long after, the afternoon session ended.
“Everyone, take your seats. I have an announcement.”
The students, who had been buzzing with excitement at the end of class, returned to their seats.
“Starting today, club recruitment begins. Anyone interested may apply.”
Clubs.
Private groups among cadets officially approved by the Academy.
In other words—student clubs.
Given the massive size of Sirius Academy, there was a wide variety of them: combat-oriented clubs like the Swordsmanship Club or Muscle Club, as well as cultural clubs like the Travel Club and Gourmet Exploration Club.
Through these club activities, cadets interacted with a wider range of people and expanded their relationships.
These bonds would continue even after they became adults.
“I strongly recommend that you all join a club. It’s not only good for building connections, but also a chance to meet your seniors.”
There weren’t many opportunities for cadets to mingle across different years.
In short, clubs were one of the few places where one could meet upperclassmen.
After saying so, the instructor ended the homeroom session and left the room.
So, club recruitment had finally begun.
Which also meant that the Student Council’s officer recruitment had started as well.
At last, the Academy’s main storyline was about to truly begin.
The first act’s boss—
the Corrupted Student Council President.
I had to stop the appearance of the Red Witch.
But first... I had to sit through remedial class.