The Villain in the Novel Lives as the Second Best at the Academy

Enrollment proceeded faster than expected.

Arta took the chairman's hand and left the slums. From that moment, everything changed. Passing through door after door after door, a completely different world unfolded.

As she walked through the cobblestone paths tinted with red sunset, straight tree-lined streets, and elegant buildings, she could tell.

That she could no longer go back.

That there was no reason to go back.

The chairman took her straight to the inside of the Academy.

"The enrollment procedure is not complicated."

The chairman said this as he handed her several documents. As if everything had been prepared in advance.

"You'll need an identity."

Hearing those words, Arta suddenly realized. Most people living in the slums didn't have an identity. They had names, but no way to prove them. They were neither nobles nor official citizens. Beings without a single document. Legally, they didn't exist.

However, this was simply resolved.

"Arta, your surname is now 'Lackren'."

With just one sentence.

She became Arta Lackren.

That name was recorded in official documents, and she was given an identity. Papers and seals that proved her existence were stamped. Just a few sheets of paper transformed her from a 'non-existent person' to an 'existent person.'

"Special admission has already been approved. However, since you've been exempted from the Academy's entrance exam, you'll need to prove your abilities after enrollment."

And at the chairman's words that she would receive a full scholarship while attending the Academy and everything would be taken care of, Arta nodded lightly.

She had no intention of expressing gratitude for being exempted from the exam. She could prove her worth.

And, as someone who had already half-conquered the imaginary world within Noctasm, exams were not important.

"I'll arrange for you to attend the entrance ceremony. Even though you've enrolled late, we should at least maintain the formalities."

That's how everything was decided.

Documents were created, lists were organized, and official procedures were carried out. Administrative processes were ultimately just formalities.

If someone with power said 'it's possible,' then it was possible, and if they said 'it's not possible,' then it wasn't.

It wasn't much different from what she had seen in the slums. There were just more sophisticated laws and rules.

She adapted quickly. She gained an identity, a name, and was assigned to a dormitory. She was given a room, and it was filled with necessary items.

No longer did she need to wander the streets or dirty her hands for a piece of food.

Thus, Arta became a student of the Academy.

And the day of the entrance ceremony approached.

On that entrance ceremony day, Arta stood quietly below the platform.

Blue sky, widely spread gardens, Academy marble columns engraved with shining patterns.

In front of the auditorium, numerous students were neatly arranged, and in the center, a flag engraved with the Academy's symbol fluttered in the wind.

The freshmen gathered from various places each had different expressions.

Tense faces, eyes full of expectation, or quietly observing surroundings while pretending to be nonchalant. All of these intermingled to form the atmosphere of the entrance ceremony venue.

She gazed at that scenery.

And, only then.

Only now.

She confronted the memory she had been deliberately avoiding, the memory from the other side.

This place was a world from a novel.

The story she knew, the novel she had read huddled under a blanket until it was soaked with sweat when she was living as a shut-in in her previous life.

The background that existed in that narrative with clear exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. Familiar names, not-so-strange events, scenes described in the original work were becoming reality before her eyes.

Arta lightly closed her fingers and opened them again. As if doing so would break this reality.

But of course, that wouldn't happen. She was here.

When she moved her body, the wind brushed her skin, and when she inhaled, she could feel the temperature and scent. She knew better than anyone that this wasn't an illusion.

That she was the villain too.

"..."

She bit her lip.

In that story, 'Arta' eventually perished.

This world was designed to flow around the protagonist from the beginning, and in that process, it was predetermined that a 'villain' who was both a supporting character and an obstacle would be defeated. That was simply the narrative of the novel.

However.

It was no longer just a novel.

She was that 'villain.'

Far away, on the platform, the chairman was continuing with a speech congratulating the enrollment.

"This Academy is the greatest hall of magic and learning in the Empire, and countless talented individuals learn and grow here."

Her fate was as good as determined.

In the original work, Arta was eventually defeated by the protagonist. She appeared as one of many 'villains,' volunteered to be an obstacle, and met a miserable end. It was an irresistible flow.

"You will pioneer a new future here. You will test your limits and encounter opportunities to change the world."

Future.

Arta unwittingly swallowed a laugh.

She already knew what that future would be.

She would eventually collapse and meet a tragic end.

The Academy was a stage where heroes were born, and she was merely a supporting character on that stage. Moreover, with the added role of a 'villain.'

"...Ridiculous."

However.

Arta could be certain of one thing.

That she wouldn't collapse so easily.

Even if this story flows as predetermined, no one knows how far that flow will continue.

It's already twisted from the point of my enrollment.

Muttering that, Arta slowly raised her head.

The speech was ending. Students sent orderly applause with their own impressions. That sound filled the large space.

After the applause ended, one student walked up to the platform.

Black hair flowed past her shoulders, and deep, dark green eyes shone with a solid light.

Her gait was precise without a single waver, seemingly proving that her time living as a noble wasn't just a mere coincidence.

The student who recorded by far the best scores in the entrance exam, she heard the children in the adjacent seats whispering.

Escher von Solferion.

As she stood and took a breath, the murmuring students and professors quietly observing the ceremony naturally fell silent.

Except for the occasional male cadets who breathed out sighs, captivated by her beauty.

Though it was just one student stepping forward, the air seemed to sink heavily.

She looked down at the platform with a calm gaze, raised her hand, and slowly opened her mouth.

"Pledge."

It was a clear and neat voice.

"I honor the privilege of entering the learning place bestowed by the Empire and will not neglect my studies,"

It was unwavering language. Not a simple ceremonial sentence, but an oath that held meaning in itself.

"I will not misuse the knowledge and power I will build here,"

At that moment, her gaze briefly lingered on Arta.

Green eyes met purple eyes.

Arta received that gaze without making any particular expression.

"I solemnly pledge to take pride in becoming a member of Veritas and to fulfill my responsibilities as a cadet."

"Imperial Year 208, March X, Veritas Freshman Representative, Escher von Solferion."

When she finished speaking, the auditorium was momentarily enveloped in silence.

But soon—

Thunderous applause erupted.

Students, professors, even Academy officials. Everyone was looking at her and bursting into admiration in unison.

Arta watched this atmosphere from a stepped-back position.

Escher von Solferion.

Her name wasn't familiar somehow. To the extent that she had to search her memories thoroughly.

Applause continued to echo. The atmosphere of the entrance ceremony venue was naturally tilted toward her. All gazes, all expectations, poured out with her name.

Escher von Solferion.

Arta quietly looked at her.

And suddenly, a strange emotion seeped in.

The reason why her name wasn't familiar.

It was because she didn't remain a 'shining being' until the end in the original work.

In Arta's memory, the top student didn't ultimately remain there. Similar to Arta who became a villain, she fell to another tragedy.

Escher von Solferion.

She would eventually collapse.

The position as the top student, the honor as a member of the imperial family, living among talent, responsibility, and expectations, she would be unable to bear that weight and would consume herself.

Even before the Academy ended, she would cross that precarious line.

Thus, in the original work, she too had become a villain.

Arta narrowed her eyes and stared at her.

One who has just stood at the starting point.

She who still knows nothing, just standing tall.

Knowing that she will eventually collapse, because she cannot deny that fate.

So, she felt a little pity.

That feeling lasted just a moment, a brief moment.

But that gaze was too blatant to pass by, and it was caught more easily than expected.

Escher von Solferion turned her gaze.

Precisely, toward Arta who was looking at her.

That look changed sharply at once.

Among the people, even in the midst of applause, it was clearly felt.

She was glaring at Arta.

Their gazes met.

In that moment, another emotion flashed within.

Suspicion.

Displeasure.

And, a strange wariness.

Escher wouldn't know Arta at all.

Yet her attitude suggested that she felt not just simple curiosity, but as if she sensed someone seeing through her.

Her brow slightly narrowed. Clearly revealing that her gaze was not just a passing glance.

Arta withdrew her gaze without any particular reaction.

But Escher continued to look at her for a while.

As if asking what it meant.

...Perhaps this is where the bad relationship began.