LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 30
The academy’s population has a stark hierarchy!
Basically, there are three levels: lower class, middle class, and upper class. But since the academy is a 4-year program, it can be divided into 12 sections overall.
Excluding the first-year students who didn’t receive proper training, who are the ones that get pushed to the back?
– 2nd-year lower class
– 3rd-year lower class
– 4th-year lower class
And this is how it goes.
In terms of actual skill, they shouldn’t be completely overshadowed by the lower-grade juniors given the education they’ve received. For example, a 4th-year lower class could probably hold their own against an average 2nd-year middle class student.
But you know… it’s a bit silly for a 4th-year to be comparing themselves to a 2nd-year.
Yeah, they’re a funny bunch. The lower classes are just that.
Graveyards for the talentless. The academy’s leftovers. They get called that for a reason.
It’s not surprising, considering the distribution of students in the academy isn’t pyramid-shaped.
Instead, it’s a diamond shape with fewer upper and lower classes, while most students fall into the middle class.
If we were to break it down by ratios, it’d look like: upper class 10%, middle class 65%, lower class 25%.
Because of that, an atmosphere has formed where the upper class is idolized and the lower class is looked down upon.
So, what’s the treatment like for the lowest-ranking first-year lower class?
Well… surprisingly, it’s pretty decent.
With so many gems found here, there are many eyes watching for growth.
Think of it as a new user protection period. Once you hit the 2nd-year lower class, there’s no mercy.
If you advance to the 2nd year without escaping the lower class, the game difficulty spikes exponentially.
Even sating the main storyline perfectly often results in a high chance of a bad ending.
Your reputation drops significantly, cutting your available quests in half.
And when you scrape together the half of quests you can find, the rewards end up halving too…
On top of that, all kinds of hindrance events pop up at any moment, making time management impossible, so it can’t just be described as “difficult”.
It gets so nasty that there’s an achievement for escaping the lower class after promoting to 2nd year, which has a less than 0.01% success rate.
I achieved it once, but thinking about how many tries it took makes it a condition I never want to experience again.
Didn’t escape from the lower class in 1st year? Better wipe your save and start fresh for your mental health.
…Why am I suddenly talking about this, you ask?
“Artes.”
“Who… oh, you’re that… Rudion?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be training right now?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“I’ve listened to all the lectures and just came out.”
“Exactly. Don’t you do any personal training?”
“Training? Never done it. Have no intention to.”
I feel like the protagonist is on the verge of becoming just that.
Meeting Artes was truly by chance.
After Lilith’s training ended. Normally, I would’ve been dragged around until dinner by Seria, but thanks to Alkiné witnessing her skills and wanting to chat for a bit, I got to enjoy some rare free time.
But since I had nothing specific to do, I was heading back to the dorm to catch some sleep when I spotted a familiar face staring blankly at the sky while sitting on a bench.
Artes.
He really is the typical protagonist charming with his tall stature and looks.
With fiery red hair and golden eyes, he stood out, even just lounging on the bench.
He’s… essentially a hero without needing a lengthy intro.
Not just because he’s the protagonist or handsome, but because he’ll later unlock hero characteristics that make him a true hero.
It’s been a month without running into him, and seeing him again made me feel happy, but…
‘Why does he look so skinny?’
I expected him to have bulked up by now, but his physique was pretty much the same as when I saw him during the entrance exam. No, he even looked like he’d lost weight, possibly from not eating well.
I felt compelled to ask about it, and the answer shocked me.
“Training? Never done it. Have no intention to.”
…It seems something was going very wrong without me realizing.
Normally, just following the storyline should get you to a respectable enough level to enter the middle class by the midterms.
Could it be that with Reina gone, the growth experience episodes vanished?
I was aware that his growth path had slightly twisted due to his appearance, but I didn’t think it had twisted this much.
I thought he’d grow on his own if I just left him alone.
And I can understand why, since he possesses the absurdly overpowered characteristic “The One Who Advances.”
The One Who Advances. It has a simple yet strong effect that fixes the growth requirements for all attributes.
In other words, the required levels that should normally increase like 100, 300, or 500 stay fixed at 100.
It’s a trait that’s quite the contrast to my own, where my attributes are fixed instead of the growth requirements.
…Suddenly feeling a sense of deprivation. Is this how Lilith felt when she saw Seria’s magic? I guess I’ll have to treat him to more than just one meal.
Anyway, seeing that he maintained his state with such a characteristic, it was certain that the growth experience episodes had vanished.
“Why are you suddenly acting friendly? Why would an upper class like you have any business with someone like me?”
This damn protagonist. Not even aware that I’m worried about him and just grumbling away.
But somehow, it doesn’t feel unpleasant. Does he have some kind of friendly aura?
Maybe it’s just my internal familiarity with the character Artes, but even considering that, he feels like a friend I’ve known for a long time.
Is this the secret to chatting with any NPCs in the game?
Well, whatever. Given the situation, I only have one option now.
I have to train him myself.
“Hey, Artes. Got time right now?”
“I don’t really have anything to do.”
Well, that’s why he’s lounging around staring at the sky.
“You’re going to do special training until dinner.”
“What the… I’m not really into that training stuff…”
“I’ll treat you to a meal after we finish, so just follow me.”
“…Well, in that case.”
I guess since he’s getting a meal, he’s eager to follow. Seems like he inherited the gamer instinct to hit ‘accept’ if there’s a reward involved.
Huff… I just left him alone to grow and ended up with this mess, but starting from now, I can fix it.
Of course, it’s annoying. This happened right after I let Lilith off.
But since it seems my meddling caused this, I feel a bit guilty, and since the hero can’t be absent later in the plot, I have no choice.
Besides, he is the protagonist, and with his overpowering characteristics, if I can help him advance to the middle class by the next midterm, he should be fine on his own afterward.
For now, I just need to show him the taste of growing abilities.
Ting!
As I was walking with those thoughts, my messenger inside my bag started ringing.
I had originally turned off the alarm, but after Seria complained about why I wasn’t reading messages, I decided to keep it on.
Since hardly anyone else sends me messages apart from Seria.
And, once again, it was a message from Seria.
[Seria: I just finished talking to Alkiné.]
[Seria: Where are you?]
It hadn’t been long, but she seemed to have wrapped things up quicker than expected.
Since I hadn’t wandered too far from where we disbanded, I decided to meet up back there.
“Rudion. Who’s that next to you?”
“Gasp, it’s the princess!”
And thus, the first meeting between Seria and Artes was set.
Originally, they’d have met by mid-semester during a certain incident, but… I don’t think anything disastrous will happen from this encounter, so it’s no big deal.
I answered Seria’s question.
“He’s Artes, a lower-class student. I’m going to help him out a bit.”
“A lower-class? Why would you help someone like that?”
Don’t say that, Seria… even if he’s a lower-class now, he’s going to take down the Demon Lord later!
However, if I said that, it would be a spoiler, so I just vaguely replied.
“Well, I think he could grow quickly with just a little effort?”
“Rudion, you’re not the type to care about others, are you?”
“That’s true…”
“Hmmm…”
When I hesitated, Seria looked over Artes with half-open eyes and murmured softly.
“…Well, this time I’ll let it slide since he’s a guy.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing! Can I tag along to watch too?”
“Even if I say no, you’d still come, right?”
“Of course!”
Fine. Princess, do as you please. Not that we’ll be doing much anyway.
Thus, Artes’s training commenced.
That training consisted of… 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10 km run.
From now on, I plan on using meals as bait to make him do this every day.
“What kind of training is this? You’re just making me work out alone!”
Seria complained in disbelief, but it couldn’t be helped.
This is the only training method I know!