Back To The Academy (10)

After entering the tenth-floor portal, Matthew didn't waste any time and quickly cleared the floor.

It had a quite high-level boss as the only opponent, but it wasn't that difficult for Matthew, who had to deal with a much more powerful boss just before.

So, he left the tower and went back home. Time in the tower passed 10 times faster than in the current world, so the measly 4 days he spent there were 40 days outside.

And by now, the academy had already made all the renovations that it needed.

They added an experience farming buildings using a dungeon as a monster spawner for the students to farm.

The store of the academy had changed, and now, students could even buy skills, talents, and weapons, similar to the tower's store, except that here, you used real money instead of Star Coins.

So, of course, each item was ridiculously expensive, with the cheapest things costing a few million dollars.

Along with all of that, the classes returned, so now, Matthew would continue his school life except that, now it had a huge tower a few thousand meters away from it...

"Back to school..." Matthew muttered to himself as his eyes laid down on the academy's huge gate, where hundreds of students walked in.

"The second main quest was quickly dealt with... it's a pity that I didn't participate in it, after all, I was in the tower during that time." he sighed, starting to walk towards his classroom.

The second main quest wasn't something that difficult, it teletransported all the current players on Earth to a different space and they needed to fight against thousands of monsters while protecting a statue for a certain amount of time.

So, yeah, most of Matthew's organization was still on Earth, so it was easily cleared by them, although it was hidden the fact that it was them who cleared it.

Despite that, Matthew got the news that the rewards were pretty good, and the Death Hand's Society got the opportunity to invade yet another country.

So, their growth was even more terrifying than Matthew's.

'Not to mention... that everyone in the society doesn't have a sponsor and is fully dedicated to me.' he smiled inwardly.

'I guess that is the benefit of having a Goddess as a Sugar Mommy... ahem.'

"Oh... I'm here," his thoughts dissipated as he saw that same nametag in front of the door of his classroom.

[Class 1-A]

He entered the classroom and to his surprise, everyone was already there, seated at their places while Lilian was already teaching something...

"Oh...? Look who decided to grace us with his presence...! It's quite nostalgic, isn't it?" Lilian's lips curled into a deep smile.

"Student Matthew..."

"Pffft─!"

"Hahahahagha!"

"It's always like this... pfff!"

Hearing her words, the students immediately started laughing.

Well, who could blame them?

They had been fighting monsters for four straight days, so seeing such a nostalgic yet funny moment directly lightened up the atmosphere.

"Haaah..." Matthew sighed faintly, shaking his head.

'It's good to be back...'

Smiling faintly, Matthew walked back to his usual seat, letting the laughter and chatter of the students flow around him

He didn't mind the jokes, since it had been a while since he'd been around his classmates—even if most of them didn't really like him.

It just felt... strangely peaceful. When he was in the tower, he was filled with thoughts of killing Stacy and Stella, but when he came out...

Those thoughts... naturally dissipated.

It felt like something had been released from him, and like before, he just wanted to live a peaceful life.

However... that wouldn't be easy.

Especially since he'll need to deal with the constellations on his own.

"Alright, settle down, everyone," Lilian said with a small grin, clearly enjoying the moment. "Now, before we dive back into today's topic, I'd like to remind everyone that in a few weeks, there's going to occur the annual academy war..."

"The annual academy war...?" the students started murmuring to themselves as they heard Lilian's words.

In simpler terms, it was a competition between academies to decide who deserved the number one spot, which Matthew's academy had won previously.

"For those who don't know, the academy's war is a yearly competition among the top academies to determine who deserves the number one spot," Lilian explained.

"Previously, our academy had won 1st place because of our current student council president who had won five matches in a row against the 3rd year students while only being a 2nd year student, but now, we have plenty of talented individuals, so of course, we're going to try and win first place again!"

"And because of this competition, the academy will be choosing ten students from each year to fight against the students of the other academies. Currently, the students will be chosen by their rank per year, which means, that if you want to battle for the academy, you should be in the top 10 of your year."

"Are there any questions?" Lilian asked, looking around the classroom.

"Teacher!" Stacy, who was next to Matthew raised her hand.

"Yes, student Stacy?"

"But, how exactly can we change our rank in such a short span of time? The ranks only change after some midterm exam or something like that!"

"That's a great question!" Lilian's smile widened before she continued,

"Now, the school will integrate a battle system where the lower ranks can challenge the higher ranks and directly steal their place! But, of course, a higher rank cannot challenge a lower rank and accumulate points to get into a higher ranking."

At her words, the room started to buzz with excitement, after all, some students had gotten a lot stronger after entering the tower.

And they wouldn't miss such a good chance to get up in the school's ranking!

"Now, wait up!" Lilian held up her hand to quiet them.

"Now, listen carefully—students in the top ten have the right to refuse challenges from anyone ranked below them. However, if a lower-ranked student proves themselves through other battles, they can force a top-ten member to fight. So, if you want to be in the top ten, you better get serious!"

"Any other questions?" She looked around again.

And this time, no one raised his hand or called for her.

"Alright then!" Lilian turned back to the board. "Let's get back to our lesson. Today's topic is the new monsters that have recently appeared and how to handle them."

The lesson wasn't something special, but it was mainly about the new monsters that had recently appeared, how to deal with them, and their weakness.

Along with a few new types of dungeons that had been just recently discovered, and those researchers, claimed that they must have come with the tower.

Then, Lilian tapped the board with the chalk for emphasis.

"And then, we have the new dungeons—more are being discovered each week. Some dungeons are unstable and change every time you enter, while others have unique rules, like restricting certain abilities or banning weapons altogether. So... make sure to research a dungeon before you go in!" she warned the students.

'A shape-shifting dungeon...' Matthew's interest had been piqued.

'That would be pretty annoying... but if there's a dungeon that prohibits the power given by their sponsor... that could be a great way to kill high rankers...' he smiled inwardly, grabbing his phone to check if there was any dungeon like that.

Ding!

Suddenly, a loud ding echoed through the room.

"Phones away during class!" Lilian's head whipped around toward the noise with a stern expression.

Everyone froze.

They all shifted toward the location of the sounds and saw Matthew casually browsing through his phone, totally ignoring Lilian's warning.

"Ahh... it was urgent, really," Matthew explained.

"Mhm?" Lilian glared at him before asking, "What was so urgent for you to use your phone during my class?"

"My girlfriend texted me."

"..........."

A long silence filled the classroom.

"GET OUT OF MY CLASS!"

Before it was interrupted by Lilian's angry voice.