"..."
I woke up the next day, I skipped dinner unintentionally.
The pale morning light was already filtering through the thin curtains of my dorm room window.
My stomach was growling, as if telling me to eat already. I was also still wearing the clothes I have yesterday.
"At least I don’t smell."
I mumbled as I stood up and smelled myself. It was a surprise considering I was basically covered with dust and sweat before sleeping from my sparring with Zion.
Anyway, I looked at the time—it was still 8 AM.
The digital clock on my bedside table glowed brightly, giving me a clear view of the remaining schedule for the morning.
I have an hour and a half more before the class starts.
First thing first; I took off my clothes and headed straight to the bathroom.
I unbuttoned my dusty shirt, slipped out of my trousers, and left them in the laundry hamper before stepping across the cold tile floor.
Once inside, I took a long bath—cleaned myself thoroughly. There are basic hygiene products inside, even towels. I came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist, then using another one to dry myself.
The hot water washed away the lingering stiffness in my muscles, rinsing away the dried concrete dust from the training dome until my skin felt completely fresh.
I saw myself on the mirror on my way out of the bathroom, and damn... I really look good and my body’s sexy. I flexed on the mirror for a few seconds before fully leaving the bathroom.
I wiped the condensation off the glass, striking a brief posture to inspect the sharp tone of my shoulders and chest before shaking my head with a light chuckle.
After that, I opened the cabinet and wore the uniform provided by the academy. The base color was white with black and gold designs, there’s an embroidery of golden lion on the right sleeve of it.
The fabric felt surprisingly light yet durable, tailored to perfection to allow fluid movement during potential combat situations.
"Hmm, it fits me well."
I mumbled, looking myself with the outfit. It compliments my hair.
I adjusted the high collar in front of the full-length mirror, smoothing down the edges of the jacket as I admired the neat, dignified appearance it gave me.
Anyway, I still have an hour still the classes starts. And so, I quickly cooked an egg and toasted some bread, I also cooked some sausage and brew myself a coffee. I took a quick breakfast as I checked my messages.
The small kitchen counter in the dorm room had basic appliances ready for use, allowing me to whip up a simple, hot meal within ten minutes.
I took a quick bite of the crispy toast while tapping on my phone screen, reviewing the notification bar that was packed with alerts.
I have some missed calls and messages from Cindy and Ahri.
There were three missed calls from Cindy sent late last night and a couple of long text messages from Ahri asking if I had settled into the dormitory properly without any trouble.
It seems like not replying to them for hours made them worry about my safety. So I apologized to them through text, telling them that I fell asleep as soon as I got back to my room so I wasn’t able to reply to them.
I quickly typed out a short, reassuring message explaining how exhausted I was after the weapon selection and the spar, promising to drop by again soon.
After that, I cleaned up the dishes that I used.
I’m going to wash them later.
I didn’t want to waste any precious morning minutes scrubbing plates when the official start of my first academic day was rapidly approaching.
And with that—I started heading to the classroom.
I checked my pocket to ensure my silver metallic ID card was securely inside before grabbing my belongings from the main desk.
All I have with me is my shoulder bag, inside was a notebook and a pen, then my phone. I took [Frost] as well, holstering it on my waist. Bringing weapon is allowed inside the academy, using them for something foolish is not and will result to expulsion and more punishments.
Anyway, I have nothing else to carry with me—so I left the dorm after that.
CLICK-
I pulled the heavy door shut, hearing the lock click into place before stepping into the quiet, carpeted corridor of Tower 3.
*****
I walked straight to the classroom.
The morning breeze was crisp as I crossed the wide central plaza, watching groups of uniformed students from various year levels head toward their respective halls.
I arrived exactly at the start of the class, around [9:30 AM]. I opened the door and entered inside.
The heavy wooden double doors of Class 1-F swung open smoothly as I stepped across the threshold, bringing my presence into the room.
"..."
All my classmates are already inside, but the professor is still missing. I nodded my head and started heading to the seat I picked yesterday. I saw Zion beside it, looking at me with a smile on his face.
The other students were sitting at their double desks, murmuring quietly among themselves while waiting for the homeroom instructor to arrive.
"...?"
Though, as I was walking to my seat—I felt a lot of eyes on me. I secretly looked around, and I noticed that my classmates are all looking at me.
Their hushed conversations died down slightly as I passed by, several pairs of eyes tracking my every step as I moved down the center aisle.
’Ah, it’s probably because of yesterday, when I got picked by a bound artifact.’
I immediately realized. I decided to ignore them and just went to my seat.
"Good morning!"
Zion greeted me with a smile on his face as soon as I sat down. He pulled back his desk chair slightly, turning his body toward me with his usual bright, energetic posture.
"Good morning."
I greeted him back, smiling as well.
I rested my shoulder bag on the hook beside my desk, sitting down comfortably on the chair next to his.
"I tried waking you up earlier so that we can go here together, but I received no reply when I knocked on your door."
He said. He leaned his elbow on his desk, pointing a thumb back toward the hallway of our dorm floor.
"Ah, I was probably still asleep at that time... I was pretty tired yesterday."
I told him, slightly embarassed.
After this we started having casual conversations about our day yesterday. Zion started telling me what he saw yesterday in the academy when Cindy and I decided to go back the dorm.
He spoke enthusiastically about his evening walk through the commercial grounds, describing the various training facilities, weapon repair shops, and dining places he had stumbled upon.
I just told him I fell asleep as soon as I got back.
I recounted my short walk back with Cindy and my immediate collapse onto the mattress the second I set foot inside Room 404.
And then, before the time hits [10:00 AM]—CREAAAK!
The door of the classroom opened.
The heavy wooden door opened wide, cutting off the low hum of student conversations across the entire room in an instant.
TAP—
And then enter a man that looks like a bear with his massive and muscular build, the presence coming out of him was at the level of Professor Ulfar. He has short brown hair and beard, same color with his eyes.
Each step he took echoed heavily against the stone floor, his enormous frame easily dominating the front entryway of the room.
He was wearing a simple, but very fitted formal clothes. His muscles were bulging.
The white dress shirt he wore looked as though it was straining against the sheer breadth of his chest and arms, making his physical stature look intimidating.
"..."
The room went quiet immediately.
Every single student sat up straight in their chairs, instinctively holding their breath as the suffocating aura of a high-level hero filled the air.
The man walked straight to the table in front of the room, and looking at us—
He rested his massive, calloused hands on the wooden podium, his sharp brown eyes scanning every desk in the room with absolute authority.
"I will introduce myself later, all of you stand up and head to the training yard."
He ordered that.
His deep, booming voice vibrated through the floorboards, leaving zero room for hesitation or questioning from anyone present.
"I am your PE professor, we’re having a combined session with [B-CLASS] on our first day."
Then he declared.
The announcement hung heavily in the quiet air, instantly causing a wave of subtle shifts in the expressions of the students around me.
"...!"
The other students, including Zion, were surprised.
A joint practical class between the lowest-ranked section and a middle-tier class on the very first morning was completely unheard of.
Zion blinked in astonishment, looking over at me with a raised eyebrow as if trying to gauge if he had misheard the instructor’s words.
’Ohh, I will get to see some new characters now.’
Not me though, this was in the game story as well.
I kept my composure, leaning back slightly in my seat as I remembered this exact sequence of events from the game’s early story routes.
It was designed as an intentional wake-up call by the academy administration—forcing the lower-ranked classes to face the massive gap in real combat capabilities against their higher-ranked peers right from day one.