I got into school for nothing -17
I got into school for nothing (17)
Lesson 4. Rebellion - 5
Though it may seem obvious, the ultimate goal of Union Academy is to send students into the Tower and forge gods from among them.
One might even hastily say it's an academy for alchemizing... no, for cultivating gods.
Therefore, to possess the minimal dignity befitting a god, students were required to undertake courses related to culture, politics, and diplomacy—in short, 'Imperial Studies'—alongside highly practical classes necessary for conquering the Tower.
These included not only 'Comprehensive Practical Combat' but also courses such as 'Weaponry,' 'Magic,' 'Exploration,' and 'Special Environment Response.'
The distinguishing feature of these classes, primarily held in gymnasiums or training grounds, was that since everyone was actively moving, disputes were easily sparked.
“Hey, you pretty boy over there. Come here.”
Following the truly tumultuous first day of the semester, the second day brought Wednesday's second period: 'Basic Weaponry Skills' class.
“Can’t you hear me?”
“Hm?”
As Light frowned, lifting his head at the mana-infused voice.
A male student from Class 5, who was sharing a joint lesson with them, pointed his sword at As Light.
And it was a real sword, at that.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“Come here and explain in detail what happened yesterday, you worm.”
Not only the rudeness of pointing a sharpened real sword at someone, but also the ignorance of immediately spewing harsh words.
However, this wasn't necessarily because they genuinely lacked intelligence, but rather because they purely considered As Light to be a 'lower-ranked being' than themselves, making such an act permissible.
It's easy to forget when face-to-face with a rational individual like Professor Yumina, but beings from higher-ranked dimensions inherently harbor contempt for those from lower-ranked dimensions.
No one guards their words when speaking to pigs or chickens, do they? These students were precisely the same.
‘Instead of changing their attitude after hearing about yesterday’s events, has their animosity towards us only grown? Even so, to pick a fight like that, they’re not even pubescent teenagers anymore?’
As Ban Yuwon sighed, contemplating a more fundamental countermeasure, As Light, having grasped that he was being provoked, scoffed and replied to his opponent.
“Why should I?”
“Ha, scared, aren’t you, runt?”
“It means if you have something you wish to hear from me, come and politely ask, barbarian.”
“What?”
It was easy to be mistaken by his delicate features, but As Light’s temper was far from docile.
“You, a lowly commoner from a lower-ranked dimension, dare call me a barbarian—.”
The moment the male student crumpled his face at those words and took a step forward.
Something utterly unforgettable for Ban Yuwon occurred.
In As Light's empty grasp, a sword of light appeared.
When it was pointed at the male student.
“Guh?!”
Light.
Hero.
Champion.
World.
Guardianship.
Eternity.
Desire.
Concepts of overwhelming weight and dazzling depth, far too profound for a newly-minted adult like As Light, began to intertwine in dozens of layers and burst forth!
‘—What? He’s completely changed. These concepts... I didn’t sense them at all before!’
Yes, now that he thought about it, he'd felt this very sensation from As Light on the first day they met.
Even then, he had wielded that sword of light!
‘I thought his manner of speech was oddly archaic, but it wasn’t like that from the entrance ceremony onward. Is it because of that sword, after all?’
Ban Yuwon felt a choking pressure alongside a dreadful sense of incongruity and retreated from his side.
So what about the male student, who had to directly face that surge of power?
He could only groan, daring neither to approach nor to retreat.
He seemed to lift a step with difficulty, only to hesitate and withdraw it the next moment.
“Are you learning to walk? Why are you so slow?”
“You, this—”
As Light, cloaked in overwhelming pressure, sneered at his opponent.
Provoked, the male student gritted his teeth and took another step, then another, finally reaching As Light’s very presence.
By then, he was so overwhelmed by the pressure that his posture was hunched, making it look as though he were bowing to As Light.
“Have you come to pay respects? I’ve received them well, now be off.”
“You, you inferior worm... how dare you!”
It was at that moment.
The male student, having overcome the pressure pouring down on him, lifted his head and thrust the sword in his hand directly towards As Light!
“Hmph.”
“Guh?!”
At that moment, Ban Yuwon was speechless at the power As Light displayed.
As he extended the sword, wreathed in golden light, the trajectory of the male student's thrusting blade suddenly twisted and clung to the sword of light.
The male student crumpled to the floor, groaning as if his arm had been twisted by the sword's erratic movement, while As Light, looking down at him like trash, scoffed and raised his head.
“Professor.”
After all, everyone had been watching them for some time already.
As Light, perhaps intending to humiliate them, turned his gaze to the professor, who had been passively observing the situation, and calmly asked,
“What is the Academy’s assessment of the act of suddenly pointing a real sword at an opponent and charging them?”
“Ahem, our Academy encourages practical sparring, and—”
“But I have never once accepted a spar.”
His tone was as sharp and cutting as the sword he wielded.
As Ban Yuwon sighed internally, the professor, wearing an awkward expression, admonished As Light.
“However, you cannot deny that you were the first to release your aura.”
“Indeed. In that case, how are the insults and verbal abuse this individual directed at me earlier to be treated?”
“Hm? Haha, I apologize, but I didn’t witness that myself...”
At the professor’s undeniably false statement, As Light’s expression grew even more chilling.
The sword of light in his hand emitted an even more brilliant radiance—.
And at the very moment when deeper, more imposing, more violent concepts were about to burst forth from within it.
“How foolish.”
“Guh?!”
Dokgo Yeon, who had somehow appeared in front of As Light, flicked his forehead with her finger.
“Dokgo Yeon, you...!”
“You’re being swayed by a sword, yet you dare put on airs?”
“...Ah!”
At her sharp retort, As Light seemed to snap back to his senses and dropped the sword in his hand.
The sword of light melted into the air and vanished, while the male student's sword, which had been clinging to it, clattered to the floor with a metallic sound.
“Now, what just—”
“What just happened? Such an immense aura...”
The gaze of everyone present, including the professor, was now focused on them.
Ban Yuwon let out a deep sigh, pondering how best to navigate this situation.
‘As expected, As Light really is the biggest ticking time bomb...’
* * *
“You know what, I think if we keep going like this, all chances of being well-regarded at the Academy are pretty much gone.”
“You’re telling me that?!”
As Light exclaimed in astonishment at Ban Yuwon's words, spoken while eating the meat fried rice served for lunch.
But Ban Yuwon scoffed in reply.
“The problem you caused earlier was even bigger, you know? I know you were about to go head-to-head with the professor if Dokgo Yeon hadn’t stopped you. There were plenty of ways to resolve it amicably.”
“That... but, amicably? How in the world could that have been resolved amicably?”
“Ha.”
Ban Yuwon sighed, looking at As Light, who genuinely seemed not to understand.
“Instead of suppressing him so he couldn't even approach and humiliating him, you should have just had a formal spar.”
“It’s not worth wielding a sword against such a person.”
“Just spar, I mean spar. When that bastard provoked you earlier, instead of responding, you should have just asked the professor to arrange a spar.”
“How would that change anything?”
“Without needing to resort to troublesome methods, you could have decisively crushed him.”
At the cold glint in Ban Yuwon's eyes, As Light flinched.
Even though he knew Ban Yuwon was still far below him in power, no matter how quickly he was growing, As Light couldn't understand why he had been momentarily intimidated by Ban Yuwon's aura.
“I don't understand why you chose that method, despite having the power. Why argue with the professor there? You should have just pushed for a formal spar. The professor even said it himself: he encourages practical sparring.”
“That was... recalling what you showed yesterday, I also tried my best to resolve the situation without resorting to violence...”
“And as a result, you almost brought about an even more violent situation. Students are one thing, but getting entangled with professors is genuinely exhausting.”
“Ugh...”
He decided not to delve deeply into the peculiar changes caused by wielding the sword of light.
It wasn't as if As Light would easily explain it if asked.
However, if things continued like this, it would be troublesome.
Ban Yuwon looked at him with a serious expression and asked.
“As Light, I'd appreciate it if you were honest with me. Is that power truly controllable?”
“O-Of course. If I couldn't control it, I wouldn't have passed the entrance exam. Earlier, I simply... lost myself for a moment when the professor's words angered me. I dislike lies, you see.”
As Light replied, tilting his head slightly to avoid Ban Yuwon’s gaze.
His neckline was revealed between his softly curving blonde locks.
That seemingly trivial gesture was truly exquisite.
Excessively, exquisite.
“You dislike lies, you say.”
“...Yes.”
Ban Yuwon suppressed a scoff.
Ban Yuwon and As Light weren't yet close enough to confide their inner workings to each other, so pressing him further would be rude.
For today, he had no choice but to be content with this much....
“I’ll believe you can control it, then?”
“Please believe me. I won’t cause such a nuisance again today.”
“It’s fortunate that it wasn’t a nuisance, then. The sight of you being swayed by an external object was quite a spectacle.”
Dokgo Yeon, who was cheerfully spooning yogurt with a spoonful of elixir jam that Ban Yuwon had given her for dessert, heard his words and sneered in his stead.
“By the way, Ban Yuwon.”
The cross embedded in Dokgo Yeon’s eyes fixated on Ban Yuwon.
“You’re thinking of something ‘for all of us,’ aren’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“I’m trying to understand you.”
That’s why it’s terrifying!
However, now was the time to overcome Dokgo Yeon’s cross-shaped pupils, which stared intently at him, and deliver the words he had prepared.
“How about we create our own channel?”
“A channel?”
“I’m talking about a video channel uploaded to the intranet. We used it quite effectively yesterday, didn’t we?”
“Didn’t you yourself say that was a method to be used only when one lacked power?”
“Yeah, but we’ve already ridden the wave, haven’t we?”
Having finished his fried rice, Ban Yuwon tried a sip of the colorless, transparent carbonated drink that could be endlessly dispensed from the water cooler, then grimaced and pushed it away, deciding to eat yogurt like Dokgo Yeon.
Rucell, whose head was already buried in her jam-infused yogurt, nevertheless perked her ears to listen to Ban Yuwon’s words.
Cute.
“That’s just how it is. Once we’ve asserted the rules and principles of humanity, others will try to find fault with us in the exact same way. In other words, they’ll tackle our every action, with the mindset of, ‘Oh, you’re so good at following the rules, are you? I’ll be watching you!’”
“Ahem, ahem.”
He must be recalling something.
Dokgo Yeon nodded.
“When that time comes, there will be limits to the standing we can secure through brute force alone. Ah, except for you, Dokgo Yeon. I’m speaking with all of our positions in mind.”
“I understand, continue.”
“To prepare for that, I felt the need to start building our ‘image’ now. Not only to showcase our individual abilities so we won’t be looked down upon, but also to preemptively secure an emotional connection with the general public so that those who dislike us can’t launch attacks based solely on reason and logic.”
In Korea—no, on Earth—it was a very common social tactic.
Creating a fabricated good image to boost one’s public recognition and lend credibility to their words and actions.
It’s precisely what corporate magnates or national assembly members do when they intentionally use the subway or have photos taken of themselves wearing worn-out shoes, then spread them.
Though it might seem like a mere eyewash, it was actually highly effective.
“I understand.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I... I don’t quite know.”
Unlike Dokgo Yeon, who understood immediately, As Light and Rucell tilted their heads in confusion.
“To put it simply, it’s about making the Academy officials feel friendly towards us. Isn’t this kind of thing probably part of the Academy’s Imperial Studies curriculum?”
“If that were possible, these things wouldn’t have happened yesterday and today!”
“True, learning and putting it into practice are quite different things.”
But Ban Yuwon was confident.
Over the past few days, as he scoured this world’s internet (of course, beyond the intranet, an internet communication network widely used in this dimension had formed), Ban Yuwon had come to a realization: this world’s media was not as developed compared to Earth’s.
Upon reflection, this was only natural; the Union was a top-tier dimension with an excessive number of intriguing real-world elements: dungeons, the Tower, actual gods, and so on.
This meant there were no humans constantly striving to create ‘fabricated elements of interest,’ as in modern times.
‘In other words, Earth, having been stagnant for a long time without mana, could be said to be a world where only methods of captivating human interest had developed in a grotesque, abnormal way.’
And Ban Yuwon was the very epitome of such modern civilization.
It might sound strange to say, but his linguistic comprehension wasn't merely about understanding and manipulating languages well.
He also possessed an innate talent for processing language to create captivating elements.
“All you need to do is give me the right to film you. I’ll handle the rest. From now on, we’re going to establish a solid image for ourselves in this Academy—no, throughout this entire dimension. So that no one can dismiss us as being from lower-ranked dimensions.”
“How can you be so confident? Not that I’m trying to underestimate your abilities, but...”
“First, appearance.”
To As Light’s still clueless remark, Ban Yuwon replied as if he had been waiting.
“The three of you, I mean, you all have looks that won’t fall short anywhere. Of course, I’m not bad-looking myself.”
“You, you’re handsome, I think. Very...”
“No, that’s quite enough.”
Ban Yuwon scratched his cheek at Rucell’s sudden supportive ‘fire’ and continued.
“The most powerful factor for attracting human attention is appearance. I thought it might not work if the culture or dimension was different, but that wasn’t the case. So, with this alone, we’ve passed the basic conditions.”
“Second is skill, right?”
“Bingo. In the end, skill is the most important thing here. Once everyone accurately recognizes our abilities, such provocations will cease in the future. I may still be a bit lacking, but I’ll catch up quickly, so don’t worry.”
“Heh heh.”
Dokgo Yeon smiled meaningfully.
Perhaps it was because she noticed Ban Yuwon had changed quite a bit again today, even more so than yesterday.
Once he was confident that everyone was listening to him seriously, Ban Yuwon let out a light sigh and said,
“Honestly, if we keep going like this, I don’t think we’ll even be able to attend classes comfortably, so I devised this drastic measure. We’re already short on time, so we can’t afford to get tied up in pointless disputes.”
“Ban Yuwon, don’t be impatient. You’re already fast enough.”
“Thanks.”
Ban Yuwon chuckled in response, then opened his mouth again.
“Anyway, having a channel won’t hurt. First, let’s decide on a name. I actually thought of many names that would attract attention, but I need your consent, so...”
However, those words were unnecessary.
At the mention of a name, even Rucell, who had been quiet until now, suddenly looked up, and then As Light and Dokgo Yeon also began frantically spouting suggestions.
However, collectively, the channel name became ‘Rebellion.’
Everyone inwardly wondered why it had become such an overly dramatic, ‘Eighth-Grade Syndrome’ sounding name, but since everyone vehemently opposed the other names, there was no helping it.
This truly served as clear evidence of the detrimental effects of teamwork!
Ban Yuwon despaired, believing such a name wouldn't attract anyone’s attention, but the channel astonishingly secured 100 subscribers on the intranet that very day.
The channel opened on an internet video site similarly amassed an impressive 1,000 subscribers!
...Perhaps, the first video uploaded to the channel, depicting Dokgo Yeon beating As Light black and blue in a spar, might have been the more effective factor.
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