This was called self-satisfaction.
Naturally, the readers dropped the novel in disgust of that sudden development. But what should I have done? At the time I thought that would be the best development. Of course, it would have been better if I had just ran away, leaving it unfinished as usual, but then I had a sudden compulsion to complete it somehow.
If you do stupid things, one day you will end up paying for them.
Because of that crazy development, I now had to eat the shit I produced myself. So whether I liked it or not, that chaotic situation in which gates suddenly opened in this world, sending this world to ruin was approaching with every moment.
It was a slice-of-life story for one half and the other was some weird Gate diving story.
I now had three options.
I could wait for the ending to come in a safe place, ignoring the fact that I had knowledge about these Gates.
I could train until I got to a state where I could fight before the Gates opened and jump right into the situation.
And lastly.
I could eliminate the situation of the Gates opening by using the “Rewriting” Function.
For the second option I didn’t really have to join Temple, but the third option absolutely required me to be part of the main story to get achievement points.
As I had already experienced several life or death situations in the prologue part, I had no confidence whatsoever in fighting or seeing someone die right in front of me, so I had no other choice but to somehow prepare for the Gate situation.
If it were up to me I’d choose to hide somewhere and just watch the fire slowly burning out without concerning myself with it.
Even though it was cowardly, my life was more precious.
However, Sarkegaar, Loyar and Eleris had pushed me away from that. As my excuses were blocked one by one, I had no other choice but to give up.
Anyway, if this reality really is the shit I made, I had to take some responsibility. It’s impossible for me to take full responsibility, but if I were able to do something about a given situation, I should absolutely do that.
I didn’t know if it were possible to stop the Gates from opening. It was probably impossible.
If that didn’t work, then I had to become stronger through achievement points and decimate the monsters coming out of the Gate.
So, anyway, part because of my own self-righteousness, I somehow had to do something about this future only I knew about
“Phew….”
I arrived at the first page of the main story.
Temple.
I had to either become the strongest on the continent, or somehow get rid of that Gate situation. Or I might end up with useless talents, that were neither this nor that.
I wasn’t even good at the things I liked, so should I try harder on things I didn’t like then?
Cold sweat ran down my face.
* * *
Temple was divided into three main sections: the elementary, secondary, and higher education facilities. 6 years of elementary school, three years of middle school and 6 years of highschool. There was also a graduate school for further education.
Of course, there were numerous subsidiary facilities and special purpose halls scattered here and there. In other words, there were stadiums and other special facilities, including concert halls.
As the campus was just too large to traverse by foot, Temple also had a separate tram line that only operated inside of it. Of course, it was free.
Entering Temple for the first time, I was able to get inside with my pre-issued student ID including my admission permit.
The vast campus of Temple accentuated by the blue sky spread out in front of me. It didn’t really just feel like my imagination came to life.
“Huh.”
It was much grander, much bigger and neater than I imagined, so I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. There was no way after all that I could picture this with just those limited written descriptions I gave.
Among countless students wearing various uniforms coming and going, I stood blankly at the entrance, not knowing whether I should call this feeling I felt, being astonished or being moved.
There were many different school forms in Temple, so I created this set-up of there being diverse uniforms, but seeing that variety right in front of me felt strange.
The statues and street lamps placed beside the huge park-like streets, as well as the various educational facilities, seemed more like independent works of art rather than school decorations.
The tram was also just running quietly along the tracks built on this huge campus.
It was a mix between the Classical and the Modern, and in a way, it was a kind of disorder only I was aware of.
Now wasn’t the time for that though. I could admire it later.
The place I should be heading to is the Royal Class’ dormitory near the higher education facilities.
As there were more than 100000 students, the dormitory facilities were bound to be enormous.
The Royal Class of the Department of Higher Education had about 20 students per grade, and the high school segment had six grades, so there were 120 students in the Department of Higher Education in total.
That was a fairly small number. This also showed that only very few people actually had talents.
So the class I would be entering had on average of 10 students in each class. 20 students would be divided into class A and B. Although I got added in later, so there would probably be 21 students this time.
I got off the Temple-owned tram at the place written in the guide.
As soon as I got off, I saw a ramp lined with columns leading to the dormitory building.
It felt incomprehensible to me how this 7-story dormitory only housed around 120 people.
It was unbelievably huge. Although I wrote ‘They receive great preferential treatment!’, however, seeing this with my own eyes I began questioning if this was really okay. I didn’t think that even a high-ranking lord could live in a place like this, you know?
I was both bitter and happy because of the many things I wrote into my novel.
I walked between those columns. As their shadows flitted past me at a regular pace I started feeling more and more nervous without realizing it. I felt like I was about to enter a place I wasn’t supposed to enter.
I thought it would be rather burdensome if I continued to feel this way everyday. Let’s forget about the Bronzegate Underground Sewers, but Eleris’ scroll shop was much more comfortable compared to this.
Upon going through the entrance of the dormitory located at the end of the colonnade, I could see a high dome-shaped ceiling, looking up, and a marble staircase leading to the upper floors.
The lobby was communal and was connected to the 1st and 2nd floor through the staircase on the left and right. I knew this because I set it up like that..
The 1st floor was for the 1st years, the 2nd floor was for the 2nd years, etc.
Therefore, as their grade goes up, students become more and more annoyed. Of course, I wrote that there was something similar to an elevator. It worked with floating magic or something like that. The thing in the middle of the dome seemed to be that elevator.
Looking at the structure of the building, the rooms for Class A were on the left and those for Class B were on the right. All the students belonging to Class A regardless of grade lived on the left side. The same went for Class B and the right side.
I roughly knew what was going to happen from this point on.
“You’re a freshman, aren’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
A senior student, wearing the same uniform as me, approached me with a file folder.
A person wearing a female uniform….
“I’m Ceres Van Owen, a 5th grader and the president of the Royal Class Student Council. Hello?”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
Yes, that’s how it was. Although the Department of Higher Education had an overall student body president and vice president, each school had their own separate student body president and vice president.
Therefore, the Royal Class had its own student council president and vice president.
The number of students the student council had to manage was enormous, so they had a lot of authority. To begin with, there were more than 50000 students who were part of the Department of Higher Education.
However, the authority of the Royal Class Student Council, which had less than one-hundredth of the High School section’s total number of students, was also quite high. This was the Royal Class after all, one of the the two pillars of Temple, and not some regular school.
Of course, due to the relatively smaller number of members, the Royal Class Student Council had no other choice but to help out with certain things.
Like guiding new students.
No matter how well received they were from outsiders, there was no denying that there was a shortage of manpower within the Royal Class.
I handed my Student ID to the senior student who introduced herself as the student council president and she looked through her files looking for my name.
“Reinhardt, no last name…. Class 1-A. You are assigned room A-11. Let’s get along from now on.”
“Ah, yes.”
She reached out her hand and I grabbed it. Students of the 5th grade of High School were already adults since they were 21 years old.
The student council president in front of me would be in her last year next year and would probably be busy, so we probably wouldn’t have many contact points. However, leaving a good impression was never wrong.
Regardless of her actual skills, the Royal Class Student Council President was the most powerful person in this dormitory after the faculty. She had a lot of real power. Then she spoke to me with a smile.
“Perhaps after everyone arrives, they’ll make you gather in the central lobby to give a brief reception and some warnings. It’s okay to take a short rest after you unpack everything, but don’t fall asleep too deeply if you decide to. Understood?”
“Yes.”
I dragged my suitcase behind me and headed for the hallway on the left. The sunlight trickling through the window intertwined with the shadows formed a complicated net on the floor. I never imagined I’d see a scene like this in my whole life.
As soon as I passed the main lobby, a lobby dedicated to Class 1-A appeared before me. Although it was smaller than the other one, it was still a formidable hall equipped with sofas, tables and reading tables where one could sit down at and relax.
That was where the kids of Class B got together, ate snacks, chatted and conspired, although that refered to the lobby on the opposite side.
Starting from this hall there were corridors leading to the dormitory, the magic lab, the reading room, the indoor gym and many more additional facilities including a restaurant. It kind of served as a hub. The main hub would probably be the main lobby.
There were some facilities added as one rose in grade, but they were mostly similar in layout.
Now that I came to a place I could properly recognize in this world I felt more comfortable, but in the end, I was still missing the details so there was still some awkwardness left in me.
It was a complicated feeling that was difficult to describe.
I entered the hallway leading to the dormitory and headed for room A-11. Just by tagging my student ID, the door opened immediately. That wasn’t new to me. Everything was just powered with magic.
This room was quite large for a single person. There was a neatly arranged bed, a large wardrobe and windows. There was even an indoor shower facility. The inside of the room wasn’t as fancy as the outside, but was designed with a clean, modern feel to it. Rather, this was much more convenient. If it were too flashy it would just hurt my eyes.
Currently only the basics were present in this room, but if a student requested for it other things would be added. Whether it was training equipment for physical training or a magic research lab. As long as it was within Temple’s power anything could be added to this room.
This was the best environment in which one could completely focus on developing one’s talents without having to worry about other things.
When I opened the closet, I found many uniforms custom made to fit me hanging in it. This was a service ordinary students at Temple could only dream of.
I took my things out of the suitcase and put them into the closet one by one. I didn’t even bring that many things because I could get anything I needed just by asking for them.
The thing I should always carry with me is the ring of the Dreadfiend clan and the Flame of Tuesday in case for unforeseen emergencies.
After unpacking my belongings, I lay down on the bed.
I didn’t know how much earlier I arrived, but I was the only one that got off at the Royal Class Dorm station.
Once all the students arrived, I had to face both the students of Class A and Class B when the student council summoned us. They said it would just be a simple reception, so more like a greeting and not a party.
There I would get to see all the characters I had written.
However, there was something that’s been bothering me.
My room.
Room A-11.
Temple was a place that liked to rank people. Of course, the room number wasn’t just randomly given out. Room A-11 meant that the admission office saw my “talent” as the lowest among the First-Year Class-A talents.
Yes, me becoming part of Class-A was a miracle in itself. I had no talent at all after all, although my aptitudes were infinite.
I was put into Temple’s Royal Class, which was divided into Class A and B, and there I was, the lowest ranking one in Class A.
What the hell?
I could already imagine what kinds of disputes I will fall into.
Oh, you’re that ‘infinite aptitude’ guy I’ve heard about? But aren’t you actually all squishy?
Hey, hey, aren’t you just weak?
You’re in Class A? How the hell did that happen?
I thought I’d probably get to hear stuff like that.
Haah.
I would have rather gone to Class B.
Sigh, would I be beaten up by students higher ranking than me?
I didn’t want to be first or last. It’s just that this strange situation itself was like dogshit.
And I didn’t know if things would go well or not.
It seemed that no one fell in rank because of me at least.
Obviously, Class A and Class B were set to have 10 people in them, but here I was, number 11. So that meant that I came in as a member outside of the original quota.
Wouldn’t it be fine if some hot headed idiot got dropped out? Wasn’t there someone like that, who would get kicked to make place for me?
No, wait, they might have ended up going down the list and pushing someone important out. Thank god, it was the way it was.
I could see various people getting off the mana train in the distance from my window. It seemed like they were arriving one by one.
If my guess was true.
There obviously would be things happening that deviated significantly from the first part right at the start.
I wondered what would happen.
I took out the notebook and writing instrument I had prepared.
Let’s get my thoughts in order. It would probably be hard for me to remember every single one and there might also be the possibility that there are some characters who had no presence so I didn’t know them at all. There were some characters who only appeared in my setting notes and were otherwise like air. I set up all 20 students’ personal details, but not all of them played a major part, because if all 20 of them played an important role my writing would have become a mess.
Of course, my writing went to shit after the whole Gate opening thing in the middle.
Anyway.
Class A and B.
I should organize the personal data of all the students that come to my mind.
One, two, three.
“…..”
Because there were more than seven people, I couldn’t seem to remember properly.
My memory was just great….
I worked my brain hard to figure out all the names of all the unused characters and organized them. Fortunately, although I couldn’t remember all their names, I still knew what kind of people they were.
* * *
It was late afternoon or early evening.
[All students of the Royal Class, please gather in the lobby. All students of the Royal Class, please gather in the lobby.]
Finally, a broadcast calling for all the students of the Royal Class appeared. I came out of my room which was on the far left and was able to see the backs of my classmates walking around as they listened to the broadcast.
Elite or whatever.
I now had to act as a freshman in high school.
As much as I thought, that I had to hurry up, my steps became heavier and heavier. I was already exhausted.
The students of Class A and B gathered in the lobby on the first floor. The student council members stood on the high stairs that led up.
And there were people on each floor leaning over the railings looking down on us. The 6th graders who were on the top floor, didn’t even come out to look.
But why did all the senior students decide to look at the new students coming this time?
“Come on, both Class A and Class B, line up in your room order, starting with number 1”
Everyone lined up at the student council president’s words. They didn’t have any discipline though. Well, they were kids after all. I was at the back of Class A.
Normally the senior students shouldn’t come to see the new students, which was a rare event every year.
However, here they were looking at all of us. I already found something that was different right at the start.
“Well, shall we start with A-1?”
“I’m Bertus de Gardias!”
Just hearing that name gave me goosebumps. Bertus de Gardias, I heard the voice of the man who almost caused my death serveral times.
It was such a lively and bright voice for someone so evil.
He didn’t exude any form of authority and seemed like a hard worker.
It was strange.
Originally, Bertus entered Temple while hiding his identity, but now he was openly introducing himself with his last name. So the entirety of the Royal Class was aware of the fact that he was the Prince.
So, originally, the other students shouldn’t have been interested in the new students, but after hearing the news that the Prince entered the school, they became eager to come watch.
The introductions continued. I simply said my name.
Of course, no one paid any attention to me.
“Now then, shall we start the introductions of Class B? Now, B-1, could you introduce yourself to your friends?”
Only
It immediately became clear to me why the direction of this event’s progress was different from the original one..
“I am Charlotte de Gardias.”
Someone who shouldn’t have been here.
Charlotte was in Temple’s Royal Class.
