"Yawn..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Reader-nim, are you sleepy?]
"Of course I am..."
Not being sleepy would be the weird part, right?
I'd pulled an all-nighter staking out Yoo Siu's house in the most boring way possible.
No matter that I'd switched to a young body—tired was still tired.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[...I'm a little disappointed. I figured something incident-y would happen since you're the protagonist.]
"I already told you, protagonists don't have incidents popping up all the time."
If something happened every single day for a whole year, their body wouldn't hold up.
Protagonists don't get dragged into events constantly.
Fortunately, Writer-nim seemed convinced and wasn't too disappointed.
"Yawn..."
"Oh, hi there."
"?!"
I waited a beat until Yoo Siu stepped outside, then timed my greeting perfectly.
What? Why's he so startled?
...Did he catch me? Nah, no way.
He's just surprised to run into a classmate beauty by chance.
"What a coincidence. You live around here?"
"Uh, y-yeah... Pretty much."
"You look exhausted. That's no good—you need to get proper sleep."
I flashed him a bright smile.
Perfect. That ought to boost my affinity a bit.
Man, though—why are Yoo Siu's dark circles so bad?
Didn't sleep? Why not?
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Reader-nim! Reader-nim! Walk to school with Siu!]
No helping it, then.
"Since we're both here, want to head to the Academy together?"
"T-together...?"
"Yeah, together."
Yoo Siu nodded, and Writer-nim cheered.
She seemed thrilled at the chance to keep watching the protagonist of her own story.
Her anger from before? Totally gone.
She might've even forgotten it.
"Hee hee. Looking forward to Academy life today, too."
Keep smiling.
They say you can't spit on a smiling face—maybe it'll soften his impression of me a little.
Arte didn't notice how tense Yoo Siu's face was.
Her fatigue had narrowed her field of vision.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Alright, you lot. You suffered through sitting at desks yesterday. No theory today, so relax."
"Ooooooh!"
The students buzzed with excitement at Claire's words.
They must really hate theory that much.
I mean, I hate studying just as much.
Nothing special there.
"So, Writer-nim. What's on the agenda today?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Uh... We did weapon picks and spars, so today: mana measurement!]
"Mana measurement, huh. Isn't that something for orientation...?"
I mean, come on.
Usually, mana checks or trait scans happen right at the start, during orientation.
You put your hand on the crystal orb—Whoa! This guy's got massive mana! He's a promising talent!
Or Whoaaa, S-rank trait! Incredible!
The order's all off here.
Thinking back, we jumped straight to spars without even doing measurements.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Ehehe... Well! It was planned for orientation, but the monster attack wrecked the device. The replacement just arrived— that's the setup.]
"Hmm..."
Her trailing off told me everything.
Forgot again, huh?
She got so fixated on dropping monsters that she skimmed the setup, then regretted skipping material.
Eh, it's a plausible excuse. I'll let it slide.
Can't nag her constantly or she'll sulk when it matters.
Gotta overlook stuff sometimes.
"Today we'll do mana measurements. It was supposed to be orientation day, but as you all know, there was that issue."
The students murmured excitedly.
Bets on who's strongest, taunts like "You're no match for me"—pointless chatter.
"After measurements, we'll handle club sign-ups, so keep that in mind."
...Clubs?
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Y'know, clubs like that. Ones that find hidden opportunities others miss! Legal ways to leave the Academy!]
"Ah, those."
The spots returnee protagonists always hunt down.
The ones game-transported kids seek out, too.
Clubs that let you sneak out for spirit herbs and such.
Claire finished listing the day's schedule and headed to the staff room. A short break followed.
I slipped away to chat with Writer-nim away from prying eyes.
Something important to discuss.
Hard to focus with all the student noise.
...Yeah, this spot's good.
I settled in a dim corner behind the school, where no one would pass.
"Finding fun outside the Academy will be tough, Writer-nim."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Mm, true. They say Academy stories turn ghost-boring once you leave campus...]
Yeah. The curse of Academy novels.
Step outside, and they lose all spark.
Short excursions aside, of course.
Sure, some buck the trend...
But I've seen plenty drop readers the second they ditch campus mid-to-late story.
Of course, we'll have to leave eventually. Can't drag the plot out in the Academy forever.
Still, this early in the story? Already eyeing the outside?
Writer-nim must be running dry on ideas, scrambling for new material.
Worried she'd quit writing altogether, I tossed her a lifeline plot.
"Hunt for treasures hidden inside the Academy. Sound fun, Writer-nim?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Academy treasures...?]
"Hee hee... A secret room hidden by the Academy's founder. Special artifacts stashed inside... Sounds fun, right?"
Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment idea.
We can venture out later. For now, super early story—keep it campus-bound with this vibe.
"A dangerous artifact hidden by the founder risks being smuggled out by someone. Students stop it... Solid framework, no?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Ooooh! That'll last ages! You're a genius, Reader-nim!]
"Aw, you're overselling it."
Still, praise felt nice—a grin slipped out.
All that webnovel time wasn't wasted.
Yeah, Academy stories thrive on internal drama.
Nail the big picture, and details flow naturally.
Let's solidify the foundation first.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Some shadowy force after a world-flipping artifact... Oooh, perfect! Evil faction locked in!]
"An artifact that could upend the world. Sounds fun. Hee hee..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Mm, what powers for the artifact?]
"No rush. Take it slow—real slow."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Great! Ahh, so exciting. How to make it fun...!]
"Me too. Wonder how Yoo Siu-kun will act from here..."
Mid-chat with Writer-nim, grinning away, it hit me—this was a cliché itself.
Why not try it? Felt like the moment.
Alright, let's do it.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[...? Reader-nim? What're you doing?]
"Hold on."
I shushed Writer-nim in a tiny voice.
She questioned it but went along—kinda sweet.
"Hey, you there. Come on out."
I delivered the line I'd prepped.
Yep. Scenes like this need lines like that. Cool, right?
Dagger from my pocket—aimed at the target tree...
"If you won't come out... Guess I'll make you."
Launch.
The dagger flew from my hand and thunked into a tree trunk.
A tree way off from where I'd aimed.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Reader-nim, that was a gloriously wide miss...]
"..."
Well...
Misses happen...
Someone who's never properly held a kitchen knife isn't gonna nail a dagger throw.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Whoa, you aimed that way but it went there? Kinda talented, in a way?]
"H-heh... Shut it. Must've been my imagination."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[You like scenes like this, huh... Got it memorized. Would be great if your fave tropes pop up someday!]
My face burned.
Shouldn't have bothered.
But I couldn't resist!
Lurking in a dim spot with a dagger.
Especially mid-conversation.
Total cliché: eavesdropper spying on vital talk.
Had to try it once.
"Let's head back. Class is starting."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Reader-nim's tastes: infiltration or spy stuff. Noted...]
Quiet!
A guy can like that stuff!
...Oh right, forgot the dagger.
Whatever. It's standard issue.
I'll grab another later.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Eek, eep. Hoo. Eek..."
Long after Arte had left.
From behind the tree where the dagger stuck, a blonde girl with neatly braided bangs crawled out.
Yes—Amelia.
"H-huff... M-my heart hurts. Thought I was dead."
Terrified her breathing would give her away, she hadn't dared proper breaths. Now she gulped air raggedly.
Her legs, drained of tension, wouldn't move for a while.
Amelia sighed.
"Just wanted to check who she was talking to... How'd it turn into this..."
Yeah.
The insolent girl who'd tossed her in the spar had headed to a quiet spot.
Just a tiny bit—couldn't resist curiosity and followed.
"Secret room? World-flipping artifact?!"
Never heard such nonsense.
The Academy founder hid an artifact like that?
She wanted to dismiss it as chuuni delusions from some middle-school-syndrome girl.
But the dagger piercing her shaking vision...
Aimed elsewhere, yet flying straight at her like a show...
It screamed that what she'd heard was real.
"Yoo Siu. Yoo Siu, right."
She'd definitely mentioned it before leaving.
Looking forward to how Yoo Siu would act.
Had interest from the monster cleanup drawn eyes to him?
Or was he in cahoots with Arte Isis—accomplices?
Needed to meet Yoo Siu.
"Ugh... Gotta pee... Legs, move already...!"
But first—the bathroom.