Entering the Game with a Cheat Physique

Answer (3)

Answer (3)

“……”

Athena didn’t answer right away.

The relaxed muscles of her face tightened, and her lowered eyes fixed on me.

She’s deliberating.

The reason she gave Heracleonhardt special admission into this academy.

Whether she should reveal it or not.

“Why are you curious about that?”

The question posed is a confirmation.

Why I’m trying to grasp the chairman’s intentions.

I should just think I was lucky.

That I should be satisfied that they brought me, who would have died young outside, inside the academy.

I calmly answered that question.

“Knowing so well the nature of magic insensitivity, why would you bring me here.”

“……”

“There must be a reason to bring someone who is going to die young to the academy. Isn’t it because you hope that person will do something here?”

“……You really are sharp. Is that because you’re a magic major student?”

Athena shrugged.

She leaned comfortably back against the chair, and started to speak dryly.

“What do you think is a defining feature of our academy? The structure intentionally planned from the founding of Olympia.”

That doesn’t even need to be thought about.

The single most prominent difference between Olympia Academy and other educational institutions.

“The conflict between the Knights Department and the Magic Department.”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.”

Athena nods.

Her tawny eyes grow somber.

As if tracing back a history from long ago.

“Olympia created a competitive structure for the advancement of its students. So that both departments see each other as bitter enemies.”

“……”

“Actually, it worked out quite well. The students formed bonds within their own departments, and burned with the desire to defeat the other.”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

“If only it hadn’t overheated.”

Athena’s eyes flicker.

All the anguish she’s been agonizing over.

The worry that this academy is going down the wrong path.

“If they think a student is a disgrace to their department, they ostracize them, and they secretly torment the weaker students from other departments. The instructors don’t hesitate to cheat for victory, and they loathe any student who causes them to lose.”

—It was like the history I’d walked.

Herak Leonhardt.

After possessing this guy, I tasted the darkness of this academy.

The magic department students ignored Herak.

Because he had no talent for magic.

The magic department instructors turned a blind eye to Herak.

Because they thought he was disgracing their department’s honor.

Jackson from the knight department tormented Herak.

Because he was an outcast in the magic department.

Robert from the knight department turned a blind eye to the situations where Herak was disadvantaged in duels.

Because he was a student from the other department.

Yeah.

Olympia rigidly adheres to the competitive structure between the knight department and the magic department.

The tone is so strong that everyone gets caught up in it.

Now, even the original intention of promoting growth is nowhere to be found.

Putting the cart before the horse.

Athena was pointing that out.

“Ironically, even I’m no exception. If I hadn’t been proficient in both swordsmanship and magic, I wouldn’t have been able to rise to the position of principal.”

“Then, why did you bring me here?”

“I was hoping that you—more precisely, someone with mana insensitivity—would change this structure.”

Therefore, Athena had been searching for people with mana insensitivity.

Who to enroll at Olympia.

Who would bring change to Olympia.

After searching and searching, she finally met a man named Herak Leonhardt.

An unprecedented case of someone with mana insensitivity who had lived until adulthood.

—That’s the one, she thought.

It’s said that’s what Athena thought back then.

“…Anyway, that’s exactly what I wanted from you. Since you’re afflicted with mana insensitivity, you might bring about some kind of change.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a leap?”

“The existing students aren’t going to cut it.”

If every student aspires to be a knight or a mage, the structure won’t change.

We need a student who won’t just go along with the existing flow.

Someone who isn’t a knight or a mage, a new kind of person.

That’s what she hoped for from Herak.

“……”

A heavy wind.

To change a tradition that has been building for over a hundred years.

To change a structure where they compete and see each other as rivals.

The funny thing is, Athena’s hope actually came to fruition.

‘Battle Mage.’

A concept achieved through mana insensitivity combined with a cheat-like body.

A new way of utilizing mana, neither knight nor mage.

Since I was the one who realized it, it would seem that Athena’s wish would come true if things go on like this.

“…Actually, not long after enrolling you, I regretted it.”

Athena’s lips moved slowly.

Her usual relaxed expression was gone, and she wore a rather worried look.

“I felt like I sacrificed you to my greed. Indeed, it seemed like you couldn’t get along with the other students and were falling into a state of depression.”

“Probably so.”

“—That’s why I hesitated earlier. To tell you this wish honestly. But…”

Athena’s eyes gained intensity.

She looked at me with firm eyes.

“This request is embarrassing as a chairwoman, but I hope you’ll grant it. …Will you cooperate with me to change this academy?”

“……”

“You’re the only one who can do it. This layered structure of conflict won’t change. A new kind of person has to appear.”

She must have heard the rumors about me.

Barely back at the Academy and they’re already basing things on my battle mage.

Athena had high expectations for me.

‘What should I do?’

Should I give in to this wish?

Truth be told, it’s not really my problem.

Being not even a native of this world, the conflict between the two departments was still foreign to me, yet—

“Alright.”

…I recall the scene from my dream just now.

Taegeuk High.

That place where I stood on the platform also fostered growth in its students through conflict.

If Olympia was divided into knights and mages, Taegeuk High had merely switched it to men and women.

And I knew that ending well enough.

Just how dangerous the results of forcing growth through competition could be.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Athena smiled softly, seemingly relieved.

She, who was much stronger and had lived much longer than me, bowed her head to me.

Thanking me.

“Let’s call it a day for today. You just woke up, so you must be tired after talking for so long. Go rest now.”

“Thank you.”

I don’t refuse her consideration and lie back on the bed.

While Athena is getting ready to leave, let’s check the backlog of notifications.

────────────────

【Herak Leonhardt】

Gender : Male

Age : 21

Status : Olympia Academy 2nd year

※ Status

Strength : 3.12

Stamina : 3.28

Agility : 3.07

Mana Capacity: 10

Mana Efficiency: 10

Mana Sensitivity: 0

※ Unique

【Ultimate Physique】 NEW!

【Twelve Constellation Fist】

【Howling】

【Mana Circulation】

────────────────

First thing that caught my eye was the stat increase.

My physical stats had somehow gone over 3.

Considering I started at 1, that’s a giant leap.

The final boss fight of Act 1 must have helped a lot.

‘At this point, I have enough power to prepare for Act 2.’

With the body cheat bonus, it’s safe to say it’s far higher than 3.

Plus, I’m not gonna slack off on training during summer break before Act 2, so it’ll increase even more.

Next thing I noticed was 【Mana Circulation】.

────────────────

【Mana Circulation】

Ability obtained from consuming 【Lion’s Slumber】.

Enhances mana circulation within the body.

Efficiency is improved to more than double its usual level.

Even if a person with Mana Insensitivity acquires this, the effect is strong enough for circulation.

However, it is not at the level where one can use aura or magic.

────────────────

‘Good.’

No further comments are needed.

I overcame the penalty caused by Mana Insensitivity.

It still says I cannot aspire to be a knight or a mage, but I created a ‘Battle Mage’ anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

Last thing to check is this.

────────────────

【Ultimate Physique】

※ Berserker : A disposition that grows stronger when cornered.

The lower your HP, the more your combat power explodes.

────────────────

A newly acquired cheat, ‘Berserker.’

A reward I got after clearing the Act 1 boss fight.

When I think about why I got it, it kind of makes sense.

‘It was a bloodbath.’

The Nemean Lion was strong.

If this was a game, my HP would have been driven to the brink.

I overcame that brutal fight, so learning Berserker is reasonable.

Conclusion.

Herak Leonhardt has grown a lot, truly.

If I keep this up, I can clear Act 2 and reach the happy ending.

“Hah.”

Satisfaction oozes out.

My lips curve up naturally, and just as I let out a sigh, Athena, who was about to leave, opened her mouth.

“Oh right. I almost forgot to tell you.”

“Yes?”

I tilt my head, puzzled.

Athena’s gaze on me was unsettling.

Like something interesting was about to happen.

Like she couldn’t stand waiting to see it unfold.

“You’ll be taking on a class in the second semester.”

“…What did you say?”

“Start thinking about the curriculum. Well then, I’m off.”

Chuckling, Athena left the sickroom.

Alone in the bed, I mumbled to myself in a daze.

“…Be a teaching instructor?”

Wasn’t I… a student?