Esther

Huff.

'Not again dude.'

I failed to transform my pure Mana into lightning Mana.

'It's so hard to get the hang of it.'

Even with the help of [Lightning Magic Book], I still cannot understand the basic principle of it.

'But I think it is still worth learning it.'

[Acquired skill "Mana Maintaining" (Lv.1).]

'So now I can maintain the fire on the arrow for 0.1 seconds longer.'

I kept practicing for a bit more.

And until I checked the time.

[11:30 P.M.]

'It's already this late?'

'Woah, that was fast.'

I have leveled up both my [Mana Concentrating] and [Mana Transforming] to Lv.2

----Potential-----

[Mana] (F)

Description: You are a beginner in using Mana

-Mana Concentrating (Lv.1 → Lv.2) (!)

Efficiency (+5 → +7%)

-Mana Transforming (Lv.1 → Lv.2) (!)

Efficiency (+2.5 → +4%)

-Mana Infusing (Lv.2)

Efficiency +2.5%

-Mana Maintaining (Lv.1) (New!)

Efficiency +5%

--------

I tried injecting fire Mana into my fist and found that the Mana concentration speed and Mana conversion speed were a bit faster.

'Now every evening I have to practice a little more Mana.'

'Go home...'

'Let's just go back to my room to sleep.'

'Today is the end of the first week since I have been in this world.'

'Time does fly.'

* *

(Day 8)

6.00 A.M.

Today is the opening day of the academy.

However, the actual first day at the academy will be August 28 because the academy wants to give cadets time to rest before the beginning of the school year.

And it's also an opportunity for cadets to get to know other students in class.

Going down to the schoolyard, I met all the members of class 1-A.

There are a lot of main characters here, including Volkov Katia, Esther White, Charlotte Williams, Takahashi Haruki, and one more.

That character is also a main character.

But unlike every other main character, he previously wasn't in Haruki's friendship group.

It wasn't until today that they talked and got to know each other for the first time.

His full name is Ryan Jackson, a ginger-haired guy with a bit of a sense of humor and rudeness.

In general, a quite stereotypical character who is a friend of the male character in every novel.

And speaking of which, fun fact: this game is an adaptation of the novel with the same name.

But the adaptation was so good that it overshadowed the original product.

Going back to Ryan Jackson, his family background is not big, he is roughly the same as Haruki.

Although he was not born rich, unlike Haruki who made his own fortune, Ryan's father was the one who became Baron.

The two of them also sympathize with each other quite a lot because they are both the only male main characters and have backgrounds that cannot be compared to their three friends.

I also sympathize with them because I know how bad it is to be poor.

[Account balance: 66 RC.]

Sigh.

'I hate poverty.'

'Oh, that angry noblewoman is looking at me again.'

'Should I tease her a bit, no?'

I smiled at her, then she noticed that I smiled at her.

As I observed her, her countenance was a tempest of emotions, but it was the unmistakable aura of anger that clung to them like a dark cloud.

Her once serene face was now contorted, lines etched deeply into her forehead, and her brows furrowed in a fierce scowl.

The fire in her eyes burned brightly, ablaze with intensity, radiating a rage that threatened to explode at any moment.

'Was my face looks that bad?!?'

<You have successfully provoked the entity named "Esther"!>

<Esther's Friendship -10>

<The Host has been given 30 CP.>

'Damn, that was easy enough.'

The opening ceremony started, and I sat down and continued surfing the [Status Bar] to see if there was anything new.

[CP: 20.]

'I still don't know how to use it..'

'I will skip it for now.'

'Oh, how about [Appraisal]?'

I took the mask from the ring and,

'Appraisal.'

----Equipments----

[Hidden Mask] (C) (!)

Description: Crafted by a Legendary Blacksmith!

-Gorgeous

Increases the "Charisma" stat by 5 units when equipped.

-Hidden

When you infuse Mana into the mask, the User erases a portion of your existence.

-Fear

Upon active, give all the surrounding enemies a "Fearful" effect.

Restrictions:

Can only be used on enemies with the same or 2 ranks above compared to the User's rank.

Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Fearful:

At first, enemies will be stunned for 2 seconds.

Along with that, "Defense" and "Agility" will be decreased by 20% for 15 seconds.

-??

-??

--------

'What the fuc-'

'How many hidden functions does this item have?'

'Damn that old man.'

'All his crafted items are so freaking overpowered.'

'And damn, [Fear]...'

The name is short... but it makes everyone looking at it feel frightening as hell.

'I can activate [Fear] in a lot of sticky situations.'

'Such as being trapped or cornered by enemies or I want to confront enemies stronger than me.'

'But this could be misunderstood a lot.'

[Restrictions:

Can only be used on enemies with the same or 2 ranks above compared to the User's rank.]

In the game, there indeed is a rank system but I forgot it because this is not the most important thing.

Even the academy has a different ranking system... I think its only use is at the Adventure Guild.

'What is the rank of an ‌entity?'

Hmm...

'System, what is my current rank?'

[Rank: Unranked (8.24725).]

After calculating a bit, I figured it out.

'I think it's the average rank of all stats in [Main Stat].'

'But why not [Extra Stat] or [Secondary Stat]?'

Maybe it doesn't determine their pure power.

So now I'm currently at rank [Unranked] because there is only my [Perception] that reaches the F-realm.

Ranks are F-, F, F+,... SSS-, SSS+, etc.

Realms are F, E, D, C,... SS, SSS, etc.

'2 ranks above' means that I can still use this function on rank F enemies.

If I reach rank F-, I will be able to use it on rank F+ enemies.‌

'It can scale with my power.'

After the grand (boring) opening ceremony finished, many seniors were recruiting new students to join their clubs.

Several clubs were inviting freshmen such as Hunter Club, Archery Club, Music Club, Modern Dance Club, etc.

'And besides that, there are also a lot of strange clubs: Beauty Club, Royal Club, even Savior Club.'

'What is a Savior Club anyways?'

Joining the club will have certain benefits, so I plan to do that too.

Some clubs will involve some characters related to the main storyline and of course, the main characters also take part quite a lot.

But the clubs haven't opened registration yet, they've only just come to announce they're about to apply.

Now students will be able to go back to the dormitory or somewhere on campus.

I went to the academy's dormitory, which had only been lightly cleaned yesterday.

'Today, students will also receive extra private keys with the fingerprint and face identification codes and other things.'

After cleaning the room, I looked at the room and took a shower first before going to the canteen to eat and then going to the gym or something like that.

'In the cafeteria this early, there will be only me.'

Because I don't have a lot of shit to do and prepare like literally everybody in this school.

'I don't even know if I have private property or not.'

I went in and chose Vietnamese bread.

'It's kinda cheap anyways.'

I used my watch to swipe through the machine to get money.

[-1 RC.]

After that, I went out to the cafeteria and found a place to sit down and watch the sky while eating.

Suddenly Esther came and sat right next to me.

'What kind of development is this?'

She said nothing.

'This is even scarier than her cursing me.'

A long while later, the atmosphere was still so quiet.

I stood up and sat a distance away from her, but later she deliberately sat close to me.

'What the fuc...?'

'Give me a break please madam?.'

I stood up again and sat farther away than before.

After a while, I turned around and couldn't see her anywhere.

'Thankfully, I don't know if anything happened.'

I was about to take another bite of cake when I saw Esther squatting and looking straight at my face.

'???'

'Damn, I nearly scream out like a girl.'

Sigh.

I don't want to talk about anything, but if I keep going like this, I'll have a stroke.

"What have you been doing all this time?" - said Esther.

"…"

"Now you won't say anything?"

"..."

<Esther's Friendship -1>

<The Host has been given 1 CP.>

Turns out it doesn't give as much...

Tsk.

"I want to ask, why did you finish packaging so early?"

'Silence is still an easy CP farming method though.'

Sigh.

But now I have to answer or it will be really rude.

"I don't have any money. I'm poor."

<Esther's Friendship -1>

<The Host has been given 1 CP.>

'Again, but it seems like it's not as effective as before or something?'

At first, Esther's friendship was deducted by 10 points, and it gave me 30 CP, but...

It's probably because it's not as effective as if I used a face with my [Charisma] index below 3.

Ouch, that hurts.

She was surprised and said:

"Why have you changed so much? Especially your face-"

"Because of many problems."

"What problems? Lovesick?"

I couldn't believe that Esther could say that and still have a blank emotion on her beautiful face.

Sigh.

"You don't need to care about my face or my love life."

"I don't know if you're joking or not."

'We're not that close to begin with.'

Sigh.

"I don't know either, but-"

"Although I don't know why you've changed so much since middle school, to be more specific, from the moment you confessed your love to her." - She interrupted me,

Even though I don't know how it happened, hearing other people talk about that kind of memory made me feel embarrassed all over.

'Curse you, my character!'

She continued:

"By the way, do you still like her?"

"I don't,"

"Then why is your face-"

'Damn, my face again?!'

'Now I feel offended as hell.'

"Stop repeating it. I said I have my own reasons."

"But you don't want to have a relationship with me, I'm a very famous person you know."

Damn, do you have celebrity disease? I thought about it but I couldn't say that.

It's a bit too rude.

"No, if you don't like me, why should I do that?"

She was surprised.

"How did you know that?"

Damn this girl.

"That's the reason, and because I'm a commoner, orphan, non-awakener, etc."

'I have no Mana theoretically so I'm a non-awakener.'

"You're really straightforward. But how could you beat me in the accuracy test though?"

"Since middle school, I've known the truth that you sure as hell despise me. Plus, why would I tell you the reason I'm better and stronger than you."

"You lowly peasant! And now you're not even trying to be friends with me either?"

"Yep."

<Esther's Friendship -2>

<The Host has been given 2 CP.>

'Keep working, my CP farm machine.'

"Even the fact that I know about your confession to Charlotte?"

"I don't care about that, but do you want to hurt your best friend?"

"…"

"Then it's over, right? I know you don't like this, but goodbye."

Sigh.

I also forgot that I have to apologize for that confession...

"By the way... about your best friend, Charlotte... I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For bothering her."

"…"

"I don't like Charlotte anymore. That's the truth, she is just a normal person to me from now on."

After talking, I went back to the bedroom.

<Esther's Friendship +1>

<The Host has been given 5 CP.>

'???'

'So politeness has its own advantages, I can't just abuse that method anymore.'

I lay on my bed and checked my Status Bar a bit.

[Esther's Friendship: -13]

[CP: 44]

Damn, number 13... So damn unlucky...

But I have quite a lot of CP already.

'Hmm. There's supposed to be a class chat, right?'

But somehow no one added me to the group, made friends, or texted me...

Hmm... not so strange...

I just got into class and I'm already isolated... damnit... not again...

Although I already predicted the results, especially the reaction of many people yesterday and today.

'It's probably because I'm so ugly...'

'Damn, why am I so insecure? It must be because I am a teenager now... right?'