Weapon Selection [2]

If I ask you to think of a deadly weapon, you wouldn't think of a sword or a spear. You would think of a gun.

Because in the modern era, guns were unrivaled. However, the world I'm in now isn't in a modern era. It's in a magic era.

A fantasy world.

And in this world of magic, guns are pretty much useless unless you possess an exceptional talent for mana manipulation.

Why? Because it takes a lot of control and proficiency over mana to imbue a bullet with it. Unless it's a runic bullet, of course.

Didn't understand? Let me explain.

Swords have a large surface area, so one can easily coat a layer of mana over them to make them stronger.

But a bullet is tiny. It would take a lot of effort to enhance just one bullet with mana, let alone a full magazine of them.

If you apply too much mana on the bullet, it'll break. If you apply too little, it will be useless in the battle. It takes a lot of precision to coat a bullet with mana evenly.

That's the reason why cadets don't usually go for guns as their main weapon because most of them don't have that kind of mastery over mana manipulation.

Yet, this boy was standing there in front of a pair of handguns like it was the most natural thing to do!

And what's more, is that I don't remember a scene like this happening in the novel!

I mean, weapon selection wasn't shown in the novel, but I'm pretty sure no character chose guns in the story….

"38 cadets chose swords, 27 chose spears, 14 chose daggers. While 8 cadets chose clubs and maces, 6 chose bows, 2 chose gauntlets, 1 chose a scythe, 1 chose a shield, and the remaining 4 cadets chose battle hammers and axes evenly during the weapon selection."

That was the line from the novel describing the weapons the cadets picked during the weapon selection.

Although one maniac did choose a shield as the main weapon, no one chose a gun! 

So what's happening here? 

Why was some random character doing something that I don't remember happening in the web-novel?!

"Umm, cadet Hugh Jass, you want to pick handguns as your main weapon?" Liz asked with a bit of hesitation.

His name was Huge Ass?! What kind of name is that?! Who was he?! 

I don't remember reading anything about a character named Huge Ass!

"Yes. I want these handguns." Hugh replied with a nod.

"Cadet Hugh, if you get left behind due to the weapon of your choosing, you can't hold the academy responsible for that."

That's right. 

If a cadet were to choose a weapon they have no talent for, then the Academy won't take any responsibility for that matter.

You'll be thrown to the battlefield by the end of your third academic year regardless of the fact that you have mastered your weapon or not.

That was one of the reasons why they let cadets choose their main weapon all by themselves.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want these handguns." 

Even after the warning from Liz, Hugh replied in assurance.

Liz couldn't help but sigh before she gave her reply.

"Fine. Since instructors and professors aren't allowed to interfere in weapon selection, I won't say anything." She said before continuing.

"But know this, guns are totally useless against Kalis. You may be able to kill lower vampires and a few mana beasts with guns as your main weapon, but that's about it." She uttered with a disappointed look.

Liz was right. 

Duds— the people who can't use mana properly— are given guns to train and fight with if they volunteer to enroll in a Military Academy.

But if a cadet, who can use mana just fine, intentionally chooses a gun, then that cadet is no better than a Dud.

Liz took out the guns from the display and handed them over to Hugh.

Hugh… no matter how hard I tried to remember, I couldn't recall that name from the novel.

And it's not like I can forget since I have a near-perfect memory. Ahem, yes, I'm flexing.

Anyway, back to the more important question— Who was he?

An extra? 

But why did he choose a gun? 

And why was an incident this strange not mentioned in the web-novel?

It seemed like I wasn't the only one thinking about it.

-"Handguns?! Is that guy stupid?"

-"He could choose a crossbow, at least."

-"Maybe he's really proficient in wielding mana!"

-"Or maybe he's just stupid."

The whole room was filled with murmurs like those. Just like me, everyone was trying to understand that guy's logic.

"Move."

Shaking me out of my thoughts was the voice of Liz.

She was standing in front of me with an irritated look. It looked like she had come to hand me the bow I picked.

I casually stepped aside and made way for her.

Liz took out the bow that I was standing in front of… and threw it at me! 

She threw a fucking bow at me!

"Aakh!"

I managed to catch it before it could fall and looked at Liz dumbfoundedly. But she just ignored me and walked to the next cadet to hand them their chosen weapon.

"What's her problem?" I muttered under my breath.

But the next moment, I remembered my reputation. 

She must've done a background check on her class. And as it so happens to be, I was in the body of a sexual assaulter.

I looked around and saw a few cadets slyly smiling at me. The one who was enjoying it the most was Amelia.

Tsk.

Why was I being targeted for the reputation that I didn't build anyway? 

Damn these third-rate novel characters.

†

After the weapon selection was done, the cadets were asked to go to the main faculty office and collect Smart Bracelets from there.

The academy's Smart Bracelets functioned as portable storage devices like Dimensional Rings, so they were pretty expensive.

In addition, they possessed several other notable features. These included the ability to function as a larger version of a smartwatch and the capacity to project their screens in holographic form. They also came with a built-in artificial intelligence assistant. 

Yeah, super futuristic, right?

Unfortunately, first-year cadets can't use the AI assistant until the end of the first semester.

But I could still use their Dimensional Storage.

To use it, you just need to fuel it with mana and it could suck any inanimate object in it. Pretty neat, aren't they?

I just received one of these babies and was on my way to my new apartment.

Yes, we were assigned our new homes in the inner districts too.

Mine was luckily pretty close to the academy, around a 5-minute walk away.

"Ayy! Lucas, brother!"

But on my way to my apartment building, I heard someone calling my name from behind.

Turning back, I saw a chubby plain-looking boy around the same age as me walking toward my direction.

I knew who he was. 

There was no mention of him in the novel, but I knew him from Lucas' memories.

He was a fellow 'young master' of a noble family that served the Morningstar house. He was also the childhood friend of Lucas, Jake Stark. 

"What's up, bro? Which class are you assigned to?" asked Jake after walking up to me.

"1-A-1. You?" I asked.

"1-C-8. Haha, so you are in the same class as that girl?" Jake asked with an amused face.

"That girl?" I acted dense.

"Yeah, your sweetheart. Grace Godwill!" Jake said with a grin, obviously teasing me.

"I don't care about her anymore," I replied before walking away.

However, it seemed like Jake had no intention of letting me walk away. He followed me behind with quick steps.

"Really? Why? Does getting disowned enlighten you in some way? Hahaha!" He chuckled loudly.

This boy was clearly testing my patience.

Yes, that's the kind of friend he was—the one who feeds off his friend's misery.

"How's Aunt Matilda?" I asked while changing the topic.

"Mom? Yeah… I guess she's fine. Why?" Jake answered, clearly taken aback by my sudden interest.

"Oh, it's just a silly rumor, but I heard that your parents are getting a divorce because your father had an affair or something like that."

A smile slowly crept up on my face as I said that.

"Wh-What? No, what a nonsense rumor." Jake tried to deny it but his face told me the truth I needed to know.

"Thank god. I knew uncle Jermaine could never do such a thing, right?" I said. This time I had an amused look on my face. "Surely he wouldn't jeopardize the Stark family's reputation."

"Y-Yes. Of course…" Jake couldn't help but avert his gaze from me.

"Then why such rumors? Remember the saying, where there's smoke there's fire?" It was my turn to pick on him now.

"Dude! I said everything is fine!" Jake snapped at me with a furious expression, seemingly unable to endure my accusations.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, buddy!" I slightly raised my hand before continuing. "If it gets hard, you know where to find me." 

At that statement, Jake snapped again.

"I said there's nothing wrong with my parents' marriage! Dude, shut the fuck up! What kind of friend are you?!" He said before pushing me aside and storming off.

The smile on my face only grew wider as I saw his fading figure. His back was trembling. I think he was crying.

Poor kid. It must be really tough at home. He shouldn't have picked on me today with such weak mental resilience.

After shaking my head, I started walking again, and in a few minutes, I arrived in front of my new apartment building.

Without much thought, I walked inside and took an elevator to the 6th floor.

The room I was assigned was 189.

So I started searching for room number 189 as soon as I reached the 6th floor.

After walking to the end of the floor, I found the room numbered 189.

There was a fingerprint scanner located below the number plate which spelled my name "Lucas Morningstar."

The room was already assigned to me, so my fingerprint must've already been uploaded to the lock system.

I put my finger on the scanner, and after a short scan, the scanner beeped once.

Beep–

With that beep, the door opened.

But before I could step in, the door beside my apartment room opened up. It was my neighbor's.

It's adequate to at least greet your neighbor if you see them, so I waited for the person living beside me to step out of the room.

However, as soon as the person stepped out, I instantly wished that I shouldn't have waited to greet them.

It was Grace… She was here before me. And she was assigned the apartment next to me….

I thought about ignoring her and going inside my apartment.

And it's not like our relationship was friendly. I had no obligation to greet her. 

But since she was my neighbor and all, and we were going to spend a lot of time living next to each other, I decided to greet her nonetheless.

"Hello, Grace," I said with the sweetest smile I could muster. "How are you?"

…But the bitch, on the other hand, just ignored me and walked away.

"...What did I expect?" Facepalming, I went inside my new apartment after successfully embarrassing myself.

Hmm, come to think of it, is she going to the meeting of 'Young Elites' right now? 

"The plot is moving forward."