How to Survive as a Trash Extra Villain

Chapter 6

[Lina von Tullin Ivlin]

[Swordsmanship Comprehension Lv 8]

She was the bodyguard knight of Crown Prince Gilbert. After the fall of the empire, she enrolled in the academy alongside Gilbert. Later, she was called the Sword Empress and regarded as one of the strongest swordsmen of her era, alongside Gilbert.

[Elisha von Tresha Harmadun]

[Archery Comprehension Lv 8]

The eldest daughter of the Harmadun family, one of the four great ducal houses known for archery. Not only was she a genius in archery, but she was also renowned for her elf-like appearance, sociability, and noble demeanor.

[Bord von Ludin Tauforos]

[Shield Comprehension Lv 7]

The youngest son of the Tauforos family, one of the four great ducal houses known for shields. A towering, muscular warrior over two meters tall. His hearty and approachable personality made him the link between the protagonist and supporting characters.

[Mary von Airi Deminiyan]

[Magic Comprehension Lv 7]

The youngest daughter of the Deminiyan family, one of the four great ducal houses known for rainclouds. Despite her timid personality, stuttering speech, and polite demeanor toward everyone, she was a genius with extraordinary intellect.

The power balance was heavily skewed.

While the protagonist’s party had combat skills at levels 7 or 8, the average for the other cadets in the class was 3. Even though this was supposed to be a gathering place for elites, the disparity was staggering.

Still, they were better off than me. My only skill was Know-It-All. If we’re talking combat skills, I was at Lv 0.

The so-called “protagonist’s party” glanced at me as they entered the classroom. Lina was expressionless, Elisha looked at me with contempt as if I were a bug, Bord slightly furrowed his brow, and Mary outright ignored me.

If I wanted to survive the apocalypse, I had to get close to them.

“Haha, Martin, you pathetic bastard.”

I didn’t know why I had to bear the consequences of this guy’s mistakes.

Soon, the morning assembly began. The door opened, and the homeroom teacher walked in.

“All students, take your seats. Class president, lead the greeting.”

“Yes!”

A booming response. The person who stood up was Bord, one of the protagonist’s party.

“Cadets, attention! Greet the teacher!”

“Good morning, sir!”

All 45 students of Class A, Year 1, bowed in unison. Despite the mix of commoners, noble heirs, and even royalty, such disciplined greetings were possible because, fundamentally, all cadets were equal within the academy…

“Good morning. I hope you have a productive day.”

More importantly, it was because the homeroom teacher, Hectia, was the former commander of the Imperium Empire’s Royal Guard Knights, the pinnacle of knighthood.

In the original story, she remained a powerful supporting character who held her own against power inflation until the latter half. She was a major ally to the protagonist’s party but ultimately couldn’t escape the apocalypse.

Above all, she was the knight among knights, the epitome of chivalry, the embodiment of justice.

In other words… she was merciless toward evil.

Sure enough, after scanning the class, her gaze stopped right on me.

“Oh, come on…”

I didn’t know how many times I’d been on the receiving end of that look today.

“I’m sure you’ve all noticed, but Martin, who was referred to the disciplinary committee due to an unfortunate incident, has returned. It’s been almost 80 days. I won’t tell you how to welcome him.”

Hectia delivered a completely unfunny joke with a dead-serious expression.

“I hope you all take Martin as an example and diligently pursue your studies.”

Laughter erupted from all directions.

I desperately suppressed the urge to crawl into a mouse hole. Someday, somehow, I’d change this atmosphere. Sincerity always got through. Regardless of the world’s setting, the protagonist’s party had decent personalities.

“Now, three days from now is the midterm exam. You have self-study time until first period, so don’t fool around—study.”

As self-study time began, I finally felt like I could breathe. Letting out a silent sigh, my eyes met Sebastian’s, who was looking up at me from beside my desk. He was smiling.

“You’re so carefree, it’s almost enviable. Is your head just a field of flowers…?”

I lightly patted Sebastian’s head. He was practically the pillar holding up my fragile mental state.

I suddenly missed the devoted maid, Lilac.

Thud. I turned at the sound and saw a note placed on my desk. I had no idea who put it there or how.

When I opened it, it read, “Why did you come back?” I ignored the scathing insults written alongside it.

I crumpled it and tossed it into the trash.

Soon, the bell for class rang.

The first period was Magic Studies.

“Foresight, the ability to predict the magic your opponent will use, is merely a matter of memorization. The only issue is the sheer volume. I don’t enjoy watching you suffer, but unfortunately, today we’ll cover three times the usual amount of memorization.”

Following Teacher Hectia’s instructions, we reviewed pages 72 to 92 of the Magic Classification textbook.

Sighs erupted from all over the room.

The students were overwhelmed by the pages filled with various magical runes.

“Ha…”

“How many are there?”

Hectia spoke.

“Ten per page, 300 in total. For reference, this is the scope of the midterm exam in three days.”

“What?!”

“No way!”

“300?!”

Bord, the most physically inclined of the protagonist’s party, clutched his forehead.

“You have three hours until the end of first period. Memorize them thoroughly. …I’ll call on you later.”

As she said this, Hectia stared straight at me.

“I’m screwed.”

The cadets began memorizing the textbook with fiery determination.

Naturally, I was in a rush too. No, I was the most desperate. If Martin had any prior knowledge, it would’ve helped, but I was starting from scratch!

I wasn’t confident, but I steeled my resolve.

“Three hours left! I’ll show them the spicy taste of South Korea’s cramming education!”

The teaching style at Imperium Academy was similar yet different from South Korea’s.

Each period was allocated a whopping three hours. They called it a long-term curriculum based on practical application or something.

Depending on the daily curriculum, the number of periods varied. On early days, classes ended at noon; on late days, they could go until midnight.

And today, there was only one period.

“I’ll finish quickly and go home to ask Lilac to brew me some coffee!”

The morning was set to be burned white-hot with magical rune memorization. My self-preservation instincts inflated my desires to soothe my weary mind and body.

At that moment—

Know-It-All (Lv 1) stores the knowledge it perceives.

At first, I didn’t understand what it meant. But after skimming through the textbook once, I realized.

I had memorized all 300 runes used in magical circles!

“…Is this for real?”

The ability to store knowledge once perceived, never to be forgotten—an absolute memory.

A shiver ran through me at the power of Know-It-All.

I glanced around. The other students were still buried in their textbooks, and Teacher Hectia had stepped out momentarily.

I opened the textbook in my desk drawer and started skimming through it.

“I already know so little. I need to catch up.”

The textbook wasn’t soaked in milk or scribbled with insults. As expected of the protagonists, they were on a different level from a petty guy like Martin.

“To think I can memorize it just by looking once.”

I’d never felt such joy reading a textbook. In no time, I memorized the contents of several textbooks. I didn’t just catch up—I mastered the entire first-year curriculum.

The brain activity assistance of Know-It-All was beyond imagination.

“…This is getting interesting.”

Just in time, Teacher Hectia returned.

I quickly tucked the other textbooks back into the drawer.

“Finished memorizing? I said I’d call on you. Cadet Martin, stand up.”

I stood. Confidence? I had it! Of course!

“What’s this?”

A single line bent in a geometric shape.

Know-It-All (Lv 1) accesses magical knowledge. The Imperium Magic Tower School’s “Faint Flame.”

“It’s a rune symbolizing the Imperium Magic Tower School’s ‘Faint Flame.’”

“And this?”

“It’s a rune symbolizing the Hecais Great Forest Indigenous Magic School’s ‘Devouring Flame.’”

“Hmm.”

The cadets looked at me with suspicion, and Hectia wore an expression of surprise.

Inside, I was cheering wildly.

This was fun. It was like blatant cheating. All I had to do was recite the answers my mind provided, like I was playing a prank.

“You’ve studied quite a bit about fire-related runes. What’s this?”

As if determined to stump me, she pointed to a particularly bizarre and difficult-looking rune. But to Know-It-All, it was child’s play.

“It’s a rune symbolizing the Imperium Magic School’s ‘Imperial Wind.’”

“And this?”

“And that…”

I was about to answer confidently when—

“Is this right?”

I felt a mental brake.

The answer was “Great Ocean Magic Tower School’s Surging Spray.”

I knew the answer… but I felt I shouldn’t say it.

Was it because Know-It-All boosted my brain’s processing speed? I could see the situation around me.

Suspicion and jealousy were shooting at me from all directions.

Doubts about Martin’s abilities, a guy who attended 10 days and was suspended for 80.

Disbelief that a school violence perpetrator could perform like this.

Jealousy at seeing a loser succeed.

“Oh, I get it.”

Truthfully… I had hoped a little. That a kid returning after 80 days of suspension would come back completely smarter, cooler, and blend into the class with a dramatic turnaround.

No chance.

The urge to flip everything and storm out surged within me. I clenched my teeth and suppressed it. Not yet, not yet—it was still okay.

Everything required preparation. Maybe I’d rushed things.

“Not yet.”

If you lacked tact, you’d die. But with tact, you could avoid the worst.

I smirked inwardly.

“…I don’t know.”

“And this?”

“I don’t know.”

“And this.”

“I don’t know.”

“Come forward. Get down.”

I went to the front of the classroom and got into a push-up position.

“Who’s next? Any volunteers? Hmm, Cadet Elisha. Looks confident.”

As I held the position, the classroom atmosphere brightened and warmed. This filthy world.

The silver lining was that Martin’s body wasn’t half bad. If I just endured…

“…?!”

A heavy weight, like a steel beam, pressed down on me. My startled limbs trembled as I braced myself.

“What… what is this?!”

Know-It-All (Lv 1) analyzes the situation. It indicates that Homeroom Teacher Hectia’s mana is pressing down on you.

“Ugh.”

A small groan escaped.

“This is tough…!”

For the remaining five minutes until class ended, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and endure. The only consolation was that four others were in the same position as me.

“Everyone, back to your seats.”

As I stood and returned to my seat, the gleeful stares were palpable.

…Humiliating.

“That’s all for today’s class. As I mentioned, the midterm is in three days. Don’t slack off—go study. No announcements, and we won’t have a closing ceremony, so get going.”

“Yes!”

“Thank you!”

As Teacher Hectia left, the cadets packed their bags.

Groups formed among acquaintances, and the protagonist, Gilbert, gathered with his party.

“I need to get close to them…”

But I couldn’t muster the courage to approach.

“Hey, I saw Martin trembling while he was in that position.”

“What? Even for a trash extra, that’s pathetic. What’s so hard about holding a push-up?”

“Right? He’s such a weakling. And he thought he could lead the Violence Circle.”

One of the cadets who’d been in the same position started running his mouth. The guy who trembled more than me had the nerve to say that, and it stung with injustice, but—

“That school violence perpetrator. He shouldn’t have shown his face. So annoying.”

My breath caught. Humiliation washed over me. It felt like everyone was staring at me.