I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

After the entrance ceremony ended, all the new students had to check which class they were assigned to and head to their respective classrooms.

The assignment results were posted on the bulletin board outside the auditorium, and right after the ceremony ended, a swarm of new students rushed over, turning it into a bit of a chaos.

The distinctions of lower, middle, and advanced classes made academy life vary drastically based on their placement, so those whose positions were unclear had to check with a desperate heart.

Of course, those who confidently believed they belonged in the advanced class weren’t overly relaxed either.

No matter how confident one might be, it’s human nature to feel uneasy until they confirm with their own eyes, so even someone like Harold or Lilith would be getting involved in that crowd, trying to see where they had been assigned.

On the other hand, Seria, who absolutely despises such crowds, was merely watching from a distance without even considering joining.

Well… she probably already knows where she will be placed. Although she collapsed during the practical exam, everyone knew of her talent.

Moreover, the person who defeated her managed to win against all the new students, so there’s no way to pick on that. If anyone tried, they could just squash them with their skills later on.

And as for me… there’s no need to check. If I’m not placed in the advanced class, then who on earth would be?

As expected, after the crowd thinned out, I took a glance and saw that both Seria and I were assigned to the advanced class without any surprises.

Harold and Lilith, who were busy checking the bulletin board, also ended up in the advanced class. And the protagonist, Artes… well, he’s in the lower class, upper tier. Not too shabby, I guess?

Anyway, despite me barging in and causing mayhem, the results didn’t take a drastic turn. They mirrored my memory almost perfectly, showing just how fair and precise the original evaluation process was.

Now that I’ve checked, should we get going?

By now, some students might have already settled into the classroom. I felt I had wasted too much time waiting for the crowd to thin and needed to hurry.

“Rudion. Let’s go together.”

“Uh? Oh, sure.”

Just as I was about to leave, Seria tagged along beside me. What’s up with that? She stood there so long that I thought she was planning to leave alone once the place cleared out. Turns out, she was waiting for me?

“Did you really need to wait to confirm when it was obvious you’d be in the advanced class?”

“Well, just…”

She was actually curious about the results of the others. But if I said that outright, it might come off stalker-ish, so I played it off.

Still, it’s clear that she’s just like any other student our age.

I never realized she was a character who completed everything alone in the original story, but now that she has a friend, it seems she wants to hang out together.

Though whether she thinks of me as a friend is still questionable…

Anyway, this is quite a rare case of teaming up with Seria in the later part of the story. I’ll definitely work to maintain a good relationship going forward.

I should also be friendly with the main characters. Given that I’ve got all their personalities, preferences, and secret little details down, it shouldn’t be too hard.

“You know, just like when we went to find the Student Council Building before, Rudion doesn’t seem like a first-time visitor to the academy.”

“I just did a little research on my own. I’m pretty good with directions.”

That was a lie. I’m the kind of person who only knows routes by rote.

But since I have most of the geography of this world figured out, maybe I’m just pretending to be good at this.

“Well, it feels like you’re just at home here. Since of my status, I can easily sense when someone is tense or being cautious. But with you, there’s nothing of the sort.”

“Confidence is key for a man.”

“You seemed super nervous during the speech in the auditorium earlier, though.”

“Uh, well that’s…”

Hey, Seria, I did that on your behalf. What’s with the judgment?

But was she always this chatty of a character? In the original work, she did her part, solved incidents, and then disappeared, and even if she teamed up later, it was in a more serious tone, so I hardly saw her speaking much.

Seeing her lively and talking so much at the beginning feels strange and new.

…If it weren’t for me, she would probably be all alone, gracefully distancing herself from everyone.

That won’t do. You need to make friends too.

When the time comes to get close with the others, I’ll tag along with Seria and vouch for her as a nice person, even if she’s shy about it.

Thanks to the constant chatter from Seria, I arrived at the 1st Year Advanced Class Building without feeling bored at all.

Clearly larger than the other buildings, the amenities for various training sessions were heavily provided here.

There may be questions about whether it’s fair to provide these to only the advanced class when it could create a gap with those below, but the truth is, if you don’t have at least the physical capabilities and skills of the advanced class, you wouldn’t even be able to keep up with the basics.

There are machines that shoot magic bullets at high speeds that hurt like crazy if they hit or magical devices that release a foul smell to the point that you might faint if you don’t quickly unravel the magic circuits…

The advanced students often fail and suffer due to those things, so what would be the point of supplying them to those below?

Of course, they had some similar setups too. Just the plain old magic-shooting machines were enough for lower-tier classes.

But there, they had to focus more on building their basics and refinement, so direct lectures were more common than training. That’s likely why their stats would improve better.

Personal practice would come after they got those fundamentals down; it wasn’t efficient enough to prioritize it too soon.

Sure, there are some who rose up just through physical capabilities and talent regardless of basics and refinement…

‘Seria aside, but I’m a bit worried about Lilith.’

Based on the duel results, the two of them display quite a lack of refinement.

Seria just kept pushing forward believing in her magical power, which would be fine since it would work out for her in the long run.

But Lilith is different. A Holy Power user and yet fighting like a martial artist in the original, I could forgive her for that, but her understanding of the basics was just plain lacking.

‘Originally, during mid-term in the first semester, she had come far behind the others….’

Back then, she at least recognized her late entry and the deficiencies, showing a focus on her basics.

But now, being in the same batch as the others… something feels off.

Beneath that docile appearance lies a fiery delinquent personality.

Given her tendency to just crash around, if I leave her alone, she’d definitely get a beating from those magic bursts, ending up with bruises all over and smelling awful when coming to class.

I guess I should interfere before that happens. As I mused about it, I found myself at the classroom door.

Was everyone already gathered inside? I could hear murmurs from within.

“I guess we’re the last ones.”

“Yeah, we’re a bit late. Let’s go in.”

As I opened the door, the murmurs suddenly hushed.

Did they mistake us for professors? Too bad. We’re just students.

When they confirmed that, I thought they would start chatting again, but the atmosphere felt strange.

“What were you two doing that made you late?”

“See? They really do have something going on.”

“Shut up. You’re making me look bad too.”

“It looks that way because of you.”

“Stop it!”

Why are they whispering about us? Do they have something to say?

“Hehe, seems like everyone’s having an interesting conversation.”

Seria, with her keen ears, probably caught what they said.

But since she didn’t react much, it couldn’t be anything significant.

Ignoring them, I quickly scanned the classroom and noticed a decent spot towards the back.

Nice. I made a beeline for it…

“Hey! Rudion! Come sit here!”

I was redirected to a front-row seat right next to Lilith, who had been sitting there the whole time.

Seria followed suit and took the seat beside me.

Ugh… if it weren’t for this front row, it might’ve been better.

Lilith, who made me sit next to her, started a conversation.

“Rudion. About yesterday… I’m sorry?”

Looks like she’s embarrassed about the mess from yesterday. If even the usually casual one gets flustered enough to apologize, it must’ve been something.

With her bright silver hair and an innocent appearance, it’s quite a shock. After all, it’s still Lilith.

Sigh. Yeah, the newbie was clueless about it, so I guess I’ll just forgive her.

“It’s fine. I’m not too worried about it.”

“That’s good to hear, but…”

Lilith seemed to have more to say, hesitating but never quite finding the right words.

Seria then leaned in and asked me a question, forcing me to turn my head towards her.

“Um, Rudion, are you quite close with Lilith?”

“Close? Well, you saw her trying to beat me up yesterday, right?”

“So, you listen to pretty girls whenever they talk….”

“What?”

“Ah, nothing! Just talking to myself.”

Her expression clearly said otherwise.

Did I do something wrong? I can’t figure it out.

---