Paradoxically, people didn't seem to react as much to shocking things compared to minor ones.

Even as Iliya was being carried away by the emergency team after getting smashed into the wall, only a heavy silence was eminent. If someone were to breathe a little too heavily, it would probably be heard by everyone due to the extreme lack of sound.

It felt like everyone's souls had left their bodies.

“Victor, Dowd Campbell.”

At the same time, the dumbfounded referee announced the results...

"...What was that?!"

“What did that guy do?!”

A deafening uproar erupted from every direction.

Who was Dowd Campbell? What the hell was going on in Baron Campbell's territory? No, this wasn't the time for this, gathering information was the priority...

Amidst the chaotic world around me, I simply stood in solitude while staring blankly at the sky.

I.

An F all-stat.

A bottom-dwelling freshman with only two unknown skills under his belt.

It was my first day at the Academy.

The literal start of my academy life... I somehow defeated the main character with one punch.

“…Ah, fuck.”

'How do I explain this?'

 

***

The Elfante Imperial Academy was one of the best educational institutions on the continent. The only places that could compete with it were, at most, the Holy Land's [Great Temple] or the Tribal Alliance's [Forge of Struggle].

And in such educational institutions, the faculty members were naturally extraordinary individuals.

“...”

“...”

However, the current situation was arguably completely outside of everyone's expectations.

Even such people couldn't hide their surprise.

In a magic crystal embedded in the center of the table, a video of Iliya Krisanax getting KO'd in one punch was being played repeatedly.

“This case.”

The Knight School's Dean said in a heavy tone.

“This student named Dowd looks like an excellent con artist.”

"...Isn't your evaluation too harsh, Conrad?"

“It just doesn't make any sense.”

The middle-aged man with a cross-shaped scar on his face shook his head and replied to the Headmistress's words.

“Anyone with some insight would have noticed this as soon as they saw him. This Dowd Campbell had nothing going for him before the start of the spar. No fighting capabilities or skills but..."

He then manipulated the video to the moment when Iliya got hit.

“For this one blow, it is unmistakably real.”

“What do you mean real?”

“I dare say no human in this Academy can withstand a direct hit from that. Not even me.”

With those words, the silence in the room unironically became even more deafening.

This was coming from an Imperial Guard, the pinnacle of all knights on the continent. Considering his background, there was no reason for him to flatter a mere student.

Especially considering that the people present in this room were faculty only composed of the best talents on the continent.

“Regardless if it's some illegal drug or some unknown magic tool, there's a high chance that something was used to temporarily generate such strong firepower. I think everyone here has had the same thoughts.”

Because...

Otherwise, the existence of this Dowd Campbell would become much more troublesome.

"And the other possibility is..."

He paused for a moment, then smiled.

As if he himself found it ridiculous to make such a statement.

"You could call him a monster, for sure. A genius. One that could be counted on one hand throughout history."

This wasn't a strange thing to say.

Simply put, not even one among ten thousand people believed that Dowd Campbell would win.

After all, his opponent was her, Iliya Krisanax. The next [Hero] candidate that even the Imperial Family had been keeping an eye on.

Unreachable combat techniques, a quantity of abilities akin to a God's, and an unyielding spirit that would never break in any situation.

Dowd Campbell had none of these talents. At least on paper, this man was truly on the level of an insect.

“...”

The problem was that such a devastating gap had been bridged with a single punch.

Done by an unknown existence with highly questionable talent.

However, if they weren't a cheater, but actual genuine talent, then...

'He'll become the eye of the storm.'

An existence that would bring about a great upheaval.

Conrad thoughtfully stroked his chin.

“However, we couldn't just acknowledge that student's victory. Margrave Kendride won't sit still.”

Conrad nodded at the Headmistress's words.

The Kendride Family was one of the oldest and most prestigious families in the Empire, famous for having a rough relationship with Duke Tristan.

As an avid supporter of Iliya Krisanax, Margrave Kendride would definitely not want to compromise Iliya's marketability.

“...”

Conrad's expression hardened.

Politics in a space that was clearly established for teaching?

If one found a talented student, one should treat them accordingly.

“But it would be a big loss for the Academy to abandon a student who clearly stands out. Anyway, whether he is a fraud or not will be revealed sooner or later. Let's wait and see.”

The Headmistress continued with a light smile, seemingly having read Conrad's thoughts.

Conrad's eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

"We've got a particularly interesting batch of freshmen this year. Some of them have such strong personalities that we'll have to manage them separately."

Although the tone of that statement was still light,

“If this student is good enough for the Headmistress to say that… then he must have a role to play. For them.”

It was undoubtedly significant.

 

***

I had been thinking of ways to work out the aftermath of knocking out the main character.

I would need to solve this problem in the future, after all.

“...”

No, it was already a problem right now.

Currently, countless people were clamoring outside my dorm for a chance to meet me. Alas, I had no way of dealing with it.

Thanks to my outstanding performance, my reputation and the attention on me had skyrocketed.

[ Shocking Sparring! Defeat Of Margrave Kendride-vouched Rising Star?! ]

[ Featured Article: Hot Topic Dowd Campbell. Who Is He Really? ]

And I discovered one unnecessary fact about the media.

There was no difference between the original world and this game world I got transported into.

A bitter smile emerged on my face as I looked through the number of tabloids giving nonsensical information about me in just one day.

There was some shit about me being the hidden child of the Imperial Knight Commander, or so they say. And that I was the strongest existence being secretly raised by the Academy, or so they say.

'Are you kidding me?'

Well, there are still some things that are salvageable in this media dumpster fire.

Having locked myself in my room for a day and collecting information about the current situation, there's bound to be something that stands out.

[ The Kendride Family, Headed By Margrave Kendride, Officially Requests An Explanation From The Elfante Academy—]

[ Experts Claim The Match Was Rigged—]

The reaction to the sudden rise in fame wasn't as good, just as I had expected.

Iliya was a supernova who had accumulated a mountain of achievements, even before entering the academy. It wasn't strange if she had a solid fan base.

Naturally, people would find it difficult to applaud Extra A for popping out of nowhere and taking the star down in a single blow.

'Well, that can't be helped.'

I didn't care what others said about me. My goal was to survive and see the ending through.

The future me would definitely have to do something about the butterfly effect created by beating the main character from the first day of admission.

I needed to get stronger and survive whilst taking appropriate measures on the situation.

Rather than that.

< Gift-Related Character Alert >

▼ Eleanor Elinalise La Tristan[ Trust Level 1 ] >>> [ Trust Level 2][ Rewards Available! ][ Related Event Occurs in D-1 ]

▼ Baron Armut[ Curiosity Level 2 ][ Rewards Available! ]

▼ Viscount Lupen[ Curiosity Level 1 ][ Rewards Available! ]

▼ Viscount Gront[ Interest Level 3 ]

.

.

.

Right.

I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I looked at the people listed in the gift-related character window.

Perhaps the amount of names was influenced by [Fatal Charm], but blasting Iliya away was a spectacle in itself.

I then organized each of their information.

Likeability seemed to go up in the following order; Curiosity → Interest → Trust. It felt like there were higher favorabilites, but this was my current reach.

Then, there are up to five levels in each stage.

The highest one was, of course, Eleanor at Trust Level 2.

'It's a bit weird.'

The important villains in the story must have seen me, but I couldn't find any of their names. There were only those near-extra characters.

There could be several reasons.

For example, some were just egotistical and did not care about others. Some were just born crazy and with a different perspective on life.

The problem was that.

Why was the final boss, who should have the least interest in me, the one with the highest likeability?!

She was already at Trust Level 2 compared to others who were just in between curiosity ~ interest.

'As for why?'

“...”

I had no idea.

Eleanor's related event would take place tomorrow. Well, there was no reason to refuse a reward coming my way.

I was able to overpower the main character with one of the two skills I received as a reward, so I couldn't wait to see what came next.

System Message

[Received Gift Reward from Eleanor. ]

[ Attribute: Tristan Style Swordsmanship has been acquired]

< Mastery Info >

[ Attribute: Tristan Style Swordsmanship ] [ Grade: Basic ]

[ ■ Can exert a certain level of power regardless of weapon. ]

[ Raise your attribute level to gain more benefits! ]

“...This again.”

It was great.

As expected of a reward from the final boss. After giving out a skill that could directly shoot its class to EX, it was now giving me a high-performance attribute.

The Tristan Duchy was one of the greatest master swordsmen households in the entire Empire. It can be said that the power of the skill was already guaranteed.

“...”

However, the problem was that most of the things related to that family were related to Devils.

It may be swordsmanship for now, but things became stranger the more one dug into the Tristan Family.

Learning skills derived from them might cause problems in one way or another later.

Well, that was true, but...

'Ah, I don't fucking know.'

Since I got it, I might as well use it.

In the first place, I wasn't in a position to be choosy. There was also no question about its capabilities.

I'd leave the cleanup to the future me.

With that mentality, I accepted the rest of the rewards.

System Message

[Received Gift Reward from Baron Armut. ]

[ Acquired 100 points!]

[Received Gift Reward from Viscount Lupen. ]

[ Acquired 50 points! ]

.

.

.

Somehow, the rest of the gift rewards were replaced with something called points.

'What's this?'

System Notification

[ Points can be used in the Point Shop. ]

Ah, I see.

'So you're saying that extra villains just give out lump-sum rewards?'

Naturally, I was familiar with this system. It provided various consumable items and buffs to make the gameplay smoother, as far as I remembered.

System Notification

[ Current Points: 3500 ]

But wasn't this too much?

3,500 points was a figure that could only be obtained after a long grind in the original game.

No matter how effective the Fatal Charm skill was, how much could it possibly boost my favorability towards villains?

“...Well, what's good is good.”

Thinking so, I scrolled the window all the way down.

Gathering this much was still a great achievement. It meant I'd have more resources available for tomorrow's event.

However, just as I was about to close the window, something strange caught my eye.

There was something grayed out at the bottom of the window.

< Gift-Related Character Alert >

▼ Iliya Krisanax[ Curiosity Level 4 ][ Rewards Currently Unavailable! ]

“...”

'Why is she here?'

"Hmm."

I thoughtfully stroked my nonexistent beard.

I was pretty sure that gift-related characters were only for those considered as villains who favored me.

“…Hmm.”

'No, like legit, why is she here?'

She didn't have any connection to either condition, did she?

At this time, my brainstorming was cut short by a sudden knock on the door.

“Ah, is this Mr. Dowd Campbell's room?”

“...”

It was a familiar voice.

“This is Iliya Krisanax. May I come in?"

“...”

Scowling, I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

It seemed that she wasn't a good person, after all.

I had no idea why she came here out of the blue, but I could only hope that she'd leave if I didn't make any sound.

“I've already asked the teacher, so I know whose dorm this is. If you don't answer, I'll break myself in."

'This fucking bitch...!'

“...I pray for that teacher to freeze to death, whoever they are.”

“Oh, so you were inside.”

Despite my blunt response, only a cheerful voice returned from the other end.

"Could you open the door? There's something I want to tell you."

"...Talk about what?"

"Well, maybe we could get to know each other a little bit?"

"..."

I felt a headache coming on.

I gripped my head with a sigh of despair.

Dowd Campbell. Day 2 of Admission to the Academy.

My fate began to intertwine with the main character.

'I'm going crazy.'