Chapter 3: Tutorial

The academy’s dormitory rooms were for two people.

Inside, there was a bunk bed, and name tags were attached to the frame next to each bunk.

My name tag was on the bottom bunk.

I peeled off the name tag and moved it to the top bunk.

Kang Suho frowned.

“You crazy bastard. What are you doing?”

“I’m taking the top bunk.”

“I don’t care if it’s the top or bottom, but at least ask first.”

“True best friends just understand each other without needing to speak.”

“Bullshit.”

By some coincidence, I ended up sharing a room with Kang Suho.

I was quite lucky.

In this academy, where gays were secretly lurking, sharing a room with an unknown male student presented too many uncertainties.

I felt safer sharing a room with a pro-Japanese stalking criminal than with a gay person.

At least stalkers like women.

There was no worry of contracting monkeypox in my sleep.

“Don’t stalk too much.”

“I’m not a stalker! I’m just, a fan?! Because of you, Miss Marie misunderstood me!”

Ignoring Kang Suho, who was trying to pin the blame on an innocent me, I climbed onto the bed.

As expected, the view from a high place is good.

Especially with the ceiling close by, it felt stable.

I lay spread-eagled, looking at the ceiling, and the soft mattress enveloped my entire body comfortably.

‘This is nice.’

‘It seems much better than the bed I used in my original world.’

A yawn escaped my lips.

“Haaahm… This mattress is really soft.”

“Because it’s Avalon Academy.”

“Each one of these probably costs millions of won, you know? I heard every single item used in the facilities is top-grade.”

“If they have that much money, they should just give us private rooms.”

“That’s true.”

I heard they use double rooms to foster cooperation and camaraderie among students… but honestly, I’m not sure how effective it is.

Didn’t it just provoke the gays who were constantly eyeing their classmates’ ‘backdoors’?

Thinking that, I was relieved that Suho was my roommate.

Imagining a gay person as my roommate sent shivers down my spine.

“Suho, let’s be friends forever.”

“…I like women.”

“You motherfucker. I like women too.”

“Whatever.”

‘What’s in his head that he could mistake an innocent ordinary person for gay?’

‘Suho, you’re expelled from my ‘best friend’ list.’

“Pro-Japanese anti-national racist otaku Ilbe stalker bastard…”

“How much longer is that slander going to get?”

“Otaku and stalker aren’t slander.”

“I’m not a stalker!”

“The victim’s tears are the evidence.”

“Ah… damn it. How am I supposed to face Miss Marie tomorrow…”

Kang Suho suddenly started tearing at his hair and screaming.

It was a sight of someone striving to become a hair-loss disabled person in a world where the disabled are favored.

Since I couldn’t just stand by and watch my friend go bald, I comforted Kang Suho with the gentlest smile I could muster.

“Hey, it’s fine.”

“Even if that hadn’t happened, you probably wouldn’t have been able to say a word to her your whole life, anyway.”

“Isn’t it a good thing that Marie at least knows your name now?”

“Damn it… It hurts, so don’t hit me with facts…”

Wasting time chatting with Kang Suho, who kept whining, I decided to use this time more productively.

That is, web surfing.

Swimming through the sea of information and scraping off foam could be said to be the most productive thing in the world.

I turned on my smartphone and searched for ‘Avalon Academy’ online.

[Avalon Academy Gallery (m)]

“As expected, the minor gallery is where you find information.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s just me talking to myself, so don’t mind me and just keep bawling.”

“You bad bastard…”

The community was noisy with discussions about one particular eccentric.

[There’s a crazy new student this year]

[They just blurted out ‘negro’ to Vice Principal Valignano, I seriously almost died trying not to laughㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[For real???]

[Ah, I should’ve gone to see the entrance ceremony too]

It seemed there was a racist new student who caused a big stir at the entrance ceremony.

It was truly a terrible and horrifying incident.

Unable to contain my fear, I eventually left a comment.

[I heard that new student’s name is Kang Suho]

Immediately, several replies appeared.

└[Oh, I heard that too, they say he’s the Lee Sin Saintess’s stalkerㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

└[The Lee Sin Saintess is cute though]

‘How can the new student representative’s nickname be Lee Sin Saintess?’

‘Then is the Saintess Stalker Kang Suho a Lee Sin fanboy?’

‘Now that I think about it, it does seem to fit a little.’

‘No wonder he was tearing at his hair.’

‘There was a reason he admired baldness.’

“Suho, you’re famous on the internet now.”

“…What?”

“Not the Lee Sin Saintess… but you’ve been branded as Marie Thierry’s stalker?”

“What?!”

Kang Suho, who hastily pulled out his smartphone to search his own name, once again suddenly fell into despair.

Now, there was no need to even tear at his hair.

Hair exposed to excessive stress was falling out in handfuls.

Kang Suho spoke in a desolate tone, as if he had given up on something.

“I should just kill myself…”

“Then can I have that Switch over there?”

“You bad guy…! Comfort me!”

“What comfort does a man need?”

“Don’t act like a gay person.”

“Damn it, are you a T?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I guess there’s nothing to be done…”

‘This is why emotional Fs are no good.’

‘They just want comfort and empathy all day and have no zeal to proactively resolve situations.’

‘This is why they end up becoming stalkers who secretly memorize idol Namuwiki pages.’

“Think positively.”

“Your reputation can’t get any worse than this, right?”

“That’s incredibly comforting.”

“Anyway, Marie Thierry doesn’t even know your face.”

“If she did, she might have sued you immediately, so in that sense, it’s fortunate.”

“At least you won’t get extra punishment for being ugly.”

“Damn it.”

And so, with Kang Suho’s curses, the first day at the academy concluded.

****

Students gathered in the spacious training ground.

Overall, the scene brought to mind a comprehensive sports stadium.

There was a track, exercise equipment, a shooting range, and wooden benches perfect for sitting.

“We will now begin the basic ability test.”

“Students, please come forward as your names are called.”

‘Basic ability test.’

‘It’s a tutorial event to check each person’s combat abilities, such as magic, swordsmanship, archery, or item-based power.’

‘Of course, I know nothing about any of them.’

‘If they don’t like it, they can expel me.’

The professor called out a student’s name.

“Borjigin Horoljaya (Боржигин Horoljayaа).”

‘Borjigin Horo… what?’

‘How can someone’s name be ‘horojashik’ (bastard)?’

‘Is she a total bastard?’

The first to step forward was the Mongolian girl whose name sounded like ‘horojashik’.

She was a Mongoloid with striking black, stiff bobbed hair and firm eyes, but actually, what stood out most wasn’t that.

A wheelchair.

She was in a wheelchair.

Surprisingly, she was paralyzed!

“They say Mongolians are one with their horses, but she’s one with her wheelchair, huh?”

“You seriously just breathe racism, don’t you?”

“Why is this racism, damn it?”

‘This isn’t racism.’

‘If I had intended to make a racist remark, I would have asked if her mother was a horse.’

‘She might have been born a centaur and had the lower half of her body removed.’

“Borjigin Horoljaya of the Archer class.”

“Will you be using your personal bow and arrows?”

“Yes!”

“Then we will begin the measurement.”

Borjigin took out a horn bow, similar in shape to a traditional Korean bow.

She nocked an arrow, drew the string, held her breath, and released.

The arrow, shot like a ray of light, flew sharply and embedded itself in the target.

The position where the arrow struck could be confirmed via the scoreboard next to it.

Dead center.

It was a bullseye.

It was a clean and precise shot.

An exclamation of admiration spontaneously escaped me.

“Ooh. That’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Dohan, you know how to praise someone?”

“What do you take me for?”

“You crazy racist psychopath bastard.”

“Accurate!”

‘Perhaps only a friend truly knows a friend.’

I was touched by Kang Suho’s accurate assessment.

I, too, opened my mouth to reciprocate Kang Suho’s friendship.

One word was enough to describe Kang Suho.

“Stalker.”

“Damn it.”

Kang Suho, perhaps touched as well, started muttering to himself, shedding tears.

Muttering incomprehensible words to himself while crying, he looked exactly like a ghost from a B-grade horror movie.

The surrounding students looked at Kang Suho as if he were crazy.

I also joined the trend and participated in treating Kang Suho like a madman.

Whether Kang Suho despaired or not, the basic ability test proceeded without interruption.

Black people, blind people, gay people, Muslims, lesbians, black people, stalkers, Chinese people, one-armed people… It was, once again, a world with truly idiotic settings.

There really were a lot of idiots.

And so, my turn approached.

“Next, student Kim Dohan of the Melee Combat class.”

“Yes.”

“Will you be using your personal weapon?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Then you may use the training weapons provided in the training ground.”

“Yes.”

‘I’ve never been in a fight, so what weapon?’

‘It’d be a miracle if I don’t accidentally injure myself swinging a sword.’

Carefully examining the weapons, I picked up what seemed to be the safest, a staff, and swung it around.

‘Is this what they call a hachishakubou (eight-foot staff)?’

“I’ll use this.”

“A staff…? You’re using an unusual weapon.”

“Please swing it as strongly as you can towards the measuring device here.”

‘A bat is definitely better than a dagger.’

Recalling the feeling of swinging a baseball bat in my youth, I gripped the eight-foot staff.

It probably wasn’t meant to be used this way, but it seemed better than swinging it awkwardly downwards.

And then, the moment I took a full swing—

—BEEEEEEEEEP!!!

An emergency alarm, loud enough to tear ears, blared, and the ground shook.

The professor urgently raised his voice, controlling the students.

“Gate alarm! Everyone, prepare for combat!”

The professor, who was evaluating the basic ability test, pretended to be flustered and rushed, but I knew.

‘This isn’t a mere happening.’

‘It’s a ‘practical test’ prepared in advance by the academy, and also…’

“Suho.”

“Crazy! What do we do? Is this okay?”

“You have to trust me completely.”

“What?”

“When monsters appear, run like crazy towards the east gate.”

‘It’s a ‘practical tutorial’ where a user who has learned the controls gets used to the gameplay.’

‘And I knew the strategy for this tutorial.’