As you all might've already heard me say this many times before, I was in dire need of a spear-based weapon art.
So, to get it, I went on the internet.
…What?
You all expected me to have some future knowledge of the plot that would lead me to enter a cave and acquire a super cool weapon art after conversing with the ghost of its creator?
Unfortunately for you all, I already used that clichè when I acquired my armor.
And besides, guys, listen to me!
Why would I need some stupid plot knowledge in order to get what I want when I can just shop for it online?
…Or at least that's what I wanted to say.
Click—! Click—! Click—!
In the deafening silence that filled up my apartment room, the monotonous sound of continuous clicking could be heard.
The room was completely dark, with the only source of light coming from the holographic screen that was being projected out from my smart bracelet.
Sitting at the edge of my bed, I surfed the internet and visited several online shopping sites that were made for weapon arts purchases in hopes of finding a good deal.
However, I was disappointed with the options available so I continued to either repeatedly click to the next page or close the window one after another.
My otherwise beautiful face was marred by puffy dark circles under my eyes, which were a sign of my exhaustion from constantly doing nothing but clicking on the holographic screen for the past few hours.
Hmm?
What does my current appearance have anything to do with the narration of what I was doing, you ask?
Nothing really. I just like to remind you all uggos how extremely beautiful I am. Hmph.
Anyway, like that I wasted a few more hours on the internet searching for good weapon art… and going through some memes.
What?! Don't judge me!
I have a whole new world's pop culture to catch up to. And what better way to do that than reading up on some good memes?
Ahem!
Anyway, after five hours of internet surfing, I gave up and closed the holographic projection.
Even the search results were starting to get repetitive now.
"Huaaaa!" a yawn escaped my mouth as I lazily stretched my body and fell back on the bed.
"This is stupid," I admitted as I rolled my eyes. "But the clock is ticking. The event that'll start the first arc has already happened."
Yes, the event that'll start the first arc has already happened. That means, in a few weeks, the mock war will start.
The main story will start.
So many things will happen once the main story starts. I have to start getting stronger now if I wish to survive those events.
To do that, I need two things. A good weapon and a good weapon art.
The former was not a problem. With my Edit Pen, I can easily create a good weapon.
Now all that's left is the other problem— finding a good weapon art.
However, despite searching so much, I couldn't find any good weapon arts on the internet.
The best I could get was Low to Mid grade Lvl. 2 martial manuals. And the weapon arts in them weren't very special either.
It's not like money is the problem either. If I sell 2-3 watches from Lucas' collection then I can easily buy a good martial manual.
So I didn't filter the search results by the cost price either. Yet, I couldn't find anything good.
I mean, I knew something like this could happen since most well-known Martial Arts schools and sects keep their weapon arts exclusive to their disciples and don't sell them online. Only small schools and sects do that.
The only way to learn their art is to either enroll in those big sects and schools or learn from someone who has already studied there.
Both of those options were unavailable to me at the moment.
There were many characters who were disciples of those great sects in the novel, but I doubt I could get them to help me in time.
Not to mention, with my current reputation in the academy, not many people were willing to interact with me.
I also can't enroll in those sects right now because I am currently in Academy City, which is located on an island in the Southern Ocean.
I would have to wait until the end of the semester for a vacation break to do that.
Now with those options out of the way, what do I have left?
Hmm.
Ahh, I know! I can steal someone's spear art manual!
Yes, of course I'm not serious.
There's no way I could accomplish that with Athena, the academy's AI, strictly supervising the cadets all the time.
Tsk.
Arghh, I could only think of one way to get me out of this predicament.
Honestly speaking, what I was thinking of doing was not a very wise thing to do this early on in the story.
But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Hmm? What am I thinking of doing, you might ask yourself?
Well, before I tell you that, let me tell you this.
The Global Academy is peculiar in more ways than one.
For starters, this academy isn't scared to throw its cadets into the unknown by stripping them of their titles and wealth during their stay here.
The academy claims to do that in order to let its cadets become self-sufficient and resilient.
However, more than that, the academy does that in order to turn them into obedient unquestioning soldiers.
That's why it even implements a reward and punishment system to train them.
If they perform well during their training, they will be rewarded with a promotion in rank and additional benefits.
If they do not perform well, they may face demotion in rank, lose access to academy benefits, and may be required to spend additional time in training.
It's a meritocracy-based system that makes something very clear to everyone— Follow orders, do well at what you're told to do and get rewarded.
This system is effective at creating well-disciplined soldiers.
Now, let's get back to what my plan is.
During the first month of the academy, first-year cadets are able to access all services and make purchases in Academy City without incurring any charges.
Everything, I repeat, everything is free for us here during our first month.
Or at least that's what the instructors claim to be the case.
In truth, if I were to go inside a weapon shop right now and ask the shopkeeper to hand me a weapon for free, the shopkeeper would spank my ass and kick me out of his shop.
The same would happen if I were to go to any potion shops or martial art manual stores.
Anything in this city is free for the first month except the things that could help the cadets get stronger.
So, does that mean I can't buy a weapon art in this city for the first month of my stay here?
No, I can not.
Does that mean I can't ask anyone else to buy me a weapon art either? Say, a second-year cadet?
Yes, that I can do.
However, there's a teeny tiny problem.
In this city, one's wealth, social status, and outside connections are completely useless.
This means if I wish to ask an upperclassman for a favor, I would have to give them merit points in the future.
You can say I'll be taking on debt.
And, as I've said before, considering my reputation of 'trash of the Morningstar house' and 'spoiled bratty young master,' not many would be ready to help me.
So naturally, those who will agree to help may ask for a high price, knowing that I am desperate, which could result in me accumulating a significant debt of merit points.
To pay off the debt, I may even be forced to sell my hawt body!
…Okay, fine. I'll stop with my jokes.
Anyway, besides paying a high price to a second-year cadet to help me get a weapon art, I have no other choice.
But that's not the main problem. The main problem is finding a second-year that's willing to lend me a hand.
Tring—! Tring—!
Right when I was lost in my train of thought, my smart bracelet started ringing.
I frowned and brought my hand to my face to look at the screen of the bracelet.
[Kent Takeahint
Accept Decline]
It was Kent. For a second, I questioned how he got my number but then I remembered we were in a chat group.
The next obvious question would be, why was he calling me?
Well, even I didn't know the answer to that.
Since the day at Nero's place when I helped him with spellcasting, he has been talking about teaching me how to live life and all that.
I'm sure it's about that.
So without much thought, I was about to decline the call when an idea hit me!
"Wait a second," I narrowed my eyes at a sudden realization. "I can use him!"
