'So, this is Dolphan.' I thought to myself. He was a ritchi who had been ruling the Academy since its establishment. He was known to be the richest person in the world. For some reason, I wanted to concoct conspiracy theories in my head about how he had acquired this wealth thanks to the Academy. I couldn't do that right now because I had to listen attentively to every word this man said.
"As you all know, as long as you are within these walls, you will always be safe. The Academy has sworn to remain independent from any kingdom in order to provide the best education. That is why the Academy itself is autonomous."
The elderly ritchi was saying this because people came to the Academy from all over. Among them were some demon and nalias. This made it nearly impossible for everyone to show tolerance towards one another. Even though the Ucretnight kingdom seemed to have lost only a small portion of its land three years ago, it had actually lost a significant part to one of the nalia kingdoms, Quintah. The relationship between the two kingdoms was quite tense. Therefore, if a nalia came here from Quintah, they needed to prepare themselves for bullying and various other incidents.
"Additionally, the Academy has developed a new type of wallistics this year. You will be the first to use this latest technology and we will provide it to you free of charge."
Hearing this I wanted to do flips out of joy. However, I couldn't because it would be strange to do that in front of so many people. One of my reasons for coming to the Academy was to receive free wallistics. This way, I could spend the money I had saved while working as a blacksmith apprentice on different things. Moreover, the wallistics I would be given were the latest model. Suddenly, a hole opened up in front of us. Something sprang out from the hole. More accurately, it would be correct to say that something sprang out from the hole in front of all of us. At first glance, it looked like a wallet. Of course, it wasn't a wallet. Wallistics are magical wallets that detail the information on the front and back of your identity.
"Wow! Old man serious about this. I've never seen anything like it before."
Since the noble Scarple next to me said this, it seemed the president was indeed right. While I watched what the noble girl was doing to take my own wallistics, she took her idendity out of her pocket and placed it into a compartment. She seemed to have done this before. I took out my idendity to do the same thing. The front of my idendity displayed my first name, last name, and date of birth. It was time to finally reveal the secret numbers on the back. As soon as I placed my idendity into the compartment, I waited for something three-dimensional to appear in front of me.
Nothing came out.
Instead, I saw some information that seemed to penetrate my eyes. With what I saw, this game-like world began to feel even more like a game. Here's what I saw:
Name: Nell Warden
Race: Human
Class: ???
Age: 17
"Hehe..."
I didn't know how my face looked, but I thought my smile was more frightening than the demons in this land. I was thinking, 'I must really be in a game.' There seemed to be no other possibility in my mind for this technological marvel that had penetrated my eyes. At that moment, one of my eyes turned to the noble girl on my right.
"This old man has truly surpassed himself! I can decide whenever I want whether it will be three-dimensional or not."
She was even more excited than I was. I could somewhat understand her happiness. It was like getting a better smartphone. On the other hand, I was my first time receiving wallistics. As soon as she placed her idendity onto the three-dimensional screen, I glanced at what was written there.
Name: Viola Scarple
Race: Human
Class: Fallen Duelist
Age: 18
'Her name is Viola. And she has a class.' I said to myself. For some reason, my mind was fixated on the class itself. I had thought that classes would be simpler—like warrior, archer, and mage. It seemed that it wasn't as simple as I had imagined. I decided to put the class aside and looked around. Many people, just like me, were in a state of shock, and there was a hum in the building. The president didn't seem like he would speak until the hum subsided. So instead of waiting, I began to focus on the back of my idendity. I wanted to shout, 'Finally!' I was about to see my stats and was excitedly looking at the chart forming in front of my eyes.
Then, my excitement dwindled a bit.
Strength: F-
Agility: F
Intelligence: F+
Endurance: F
Charisma: E
Magic: E-
"I'm mediocre."
I said this out loud. Of course, I would be mediocre. This was the price of spending my days in indifference. Even if I knew it wouldn't be as impressive as I hoped, I didn't expect it to be this low. Especially in the physical area, what I saw disappointed me and made me remember the moment when Hanbel mocked my muscles. At least it seemed like there were some positive aspects in charisma and magic. Being good-looking must really influence this stat. While I was happy with what I saw regarding magic, I also felt a twinge of sadness. It seemed that if I had focused on magic, I would have somehow found a way to progress in that area.
"What did you say, commoner?"
Meanwhile Viola, who was sitting next to me, was grinning. She seemed to be mocking me and trying to show that she was better than me as a noble. In another story, this plotline would likely have me showing off my "overpowered" stats and then I would want Viola to bow down before me. Unfortunately, such a thing wasn't going to happen, and for now, I would give her what she wanted.
I focused my view on the three-dimensional screen as it began to form in front of me. On this screen, I could clearly see my stats.
Of course, Viola could see them too, and she started to laugh.
"You've really weak. Let me show you my own power so you can admire me, commoner."
Just as I anticipated. She had to show me her statistics to brag about her strength, and she had given me what I wanted. I had started to think that Viola was a bit foolish. It was obvious that she was indifferent but this was truly excessive. Nobles, especially from the three greatest noble families, had many enemies and could be attacked at any moment. Yet here was Viola, smiling as she showed me her own statistics.
Strength: E
Agility: E-
Intelligence: F+
Endurance: E
Charisma: D
Magic: E-
We were only equal in terms of intelligence and magic. In other areas, she was clearly ahead of me. I had felt a bit of her strength when she told me to relax and slapped my back. While she looked at me knowingly with her pink eyes, I was probably looking back at her blankly. She was expecting me to gaze at her with admiration but I was quite irritable since she had thrown my weakness in my face. After that, thinking I wasn't interested in her stats, she stopped talking to me. This was a good thing because every time she spoke to me, I felt the thorns digging into my back increase. After a few minutes all the humming ceased and Dolphan began to speak again.
"I guess you've all looked at your stats. This year, a major breakthrough has been made in wallistics. Let us give thanks to the honorable F for this."
F...
For some reason, I would shudder every time I heard that. F is the center of belief in this world. It is well-known that Dolphan has a somewhat religious personality. F defines itself with a single letter because it loathes idols. If there's anything it hates more than idols, it's being seen as one. That's why it refuses to be anything in particular. As a result, the most hated groups in Heiben are the twisted cults that dare to name themselves after F. I don't know if it truly exists. I lived by keeping my beliefs from my previous world to myself and I will continue to do so.
Before the old ritchi continued speaking, he cleared his throat a bit. Then he carried on with his talk.
"Now, let me give you more details about this miracle. I'm sure what you hear will astonish you."