“Huaaam…”

[Dear Reader, are you sleepy?]

“Well, of course…”

It would be strange  if I wasn’t sleepy, right?

I stayed up all night, boringly watching the front of Yu Siwoo’s house.

No matter how young my body has become, I’m still tired.

[…I’m a bit disappointed. Since you’re the protagonist, I thought some incident would happen.]

“I told you that just because I’m the protagonist doesn’t mean something’s always happening.”

 If there was an incident every year, my body wouldn’t last.

I’m not always involved in incidents just because I’m the protagonist.

Thankfully, it seems the Author understands and isn’t too disappointed.

“Huaaam…”

“Ah, hello.”

“?!”

I waited for Yu Siwoo to come out and timed my greeting.

What’s wrong, why is he so surprised?

…Was I found out? Nah, it couldn’t be.

He must have been confused by running into such a pretty girl first thing in the morning.

“What a coincidence. I guess you must live around here?”

“Y-Yeah… That’s right.”

“You look tired, you shouldn’t be. You need to get plenty of sleep.”

I smiled at him.

Good, that should have raised his affection for me.

By the way, why does Yu Siwoo have such dark circles?

Did he not sleep well? Why?

[Reader! Reader! Let’s walk to the academy with Siwoo!]

The Author started cheering excitedly.
I have no choice.

“Since we’ve run into each other, why don’t we walk to the academy together?”

“T-Together…?”

“Yes, together.”

Yu Siwoo nodded, and the Author cheered.

They seem happy to be able to keep watching the protagonist they’re writing about.

They’ve completely forgotten their anger now.

“Hehe, I’m also looking forward to the academy life.”

I should keep smiling.

Maybe acting friendly will help improve his sullen expression a bit.

Due to her tired, narrowed vision, Arte didn’t notice Yu Siwoo’s stiff expression.

***

“Okay, everyone. You worked hard sitting at your desks yesterday. We won’t do any theory today, so don’t worry.”

“Oooooh…!”

The students started getting excited at Professor Claire’s words.

They must really dislike theory lessons.

Well, I hated studying too when I was their age.

I’m no different, am I?

“So, Author. What do you have planned for today?”

[Umm… We’ve already done weapon selection and duels, so I wanted to do a mana measurement today!]

“Mana measurement? But isn’t that something usually done at the entrance ceremony…?”

Yeah, that’s right.

Mana measurements and special trait confirmations are usually done at the very beginning, at the entrance ceremony.

They put their hand on the crystal and go, “Woooah! This guy has an incredible amount of mana! He’s a promising student!”
Or “Woooah, an S-rank trait! Amazing!”

We’ve done things out of order.

Now that I think about it, we did the duels before measuring it.

[Ehehe… Well! The plan was to do it at the entrance ceremony, but the device was broken during the monster attack, and the replacement just arrived now.]

“Hmm…”

The way they’re being evasive tells me they probably just forgot.

They got too focused on the monster attack and forgot about that detail.

Well, it’s a plausible enough setup, so I’ll let it slide.

 If I nitpick the Author too much and they get annoyed when it matters, that could be bad.

I should let some things go once in a while.

“Today, we’ll be measuring your mana. It was supposed to happen at the entrance ceremony, but as you all know, there was an issue.”

The students started murmuring.

Talking about betting on who would be stronger, you can’t beat me; it’s immature stuff like that.

“And after the mana measurements, we’ll also have club sign-ups, so keep that in mind.”

…Clubs?

[You know, those clubs that go looking for events that others can’t find! Legal ways for academy students to leave campus!]

“Ah, I see.”

They mean those clubs the protagonists are always joining to leave the academy.

Places where they can bring back things from outside.

After Professor Claire finished going over today’s schedule and returned to the staff room, there was a short break.

I used that time to slip away from the students so I could talk to the Author in private without distractions.

It seemed like an important conversation.

It’s hard to focus with all the students chattering.

…Hmm, this spot should work.

I found a secluded area behind the academy where people don’t seem to pass through much.

“It’s going to be hard to find entertainment outside the academy walls, Author.”

[Yeah, you’re right. There’s that saying that academy novels get incredibly boring after they leave for the first time…]

Right. It’s the curse of academy-based novels.

They get incredibly boring once they leave the academy grounds.

Well, brief excursions are excluded.

Of course, there are exceptions, but…

I’ve seen a novel or two where the readers dropped off when they left the academy setting in the middle or later parts.

Of course, they’ll have to leave the academy eventually.
You can’t just have the whole novel take place there.

But for the Author to be looking outside the academy for material this early in the beginning…

The Author seems to be running out of ideas and looking for new material.

To prevent the Author from getting writer’s block, I tossed out a decent plot idea.

“What about searching for treasure within the academy? Doesn’t that sound fun, Author?”

[Treasure hunt within the academy…?]

“Uhuhuh…a secret room hidden by the academy’s founder, a special artifact hidden inside… Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Doesn’t that sound like a good plot?

Not bad for something I came up with quickly, I think.

It’s better than leaving the academy right from the start.

We can go with a treasure hunt storyline while at the academy.

“A dangerous artifact hidden by the founder that risks being stolen from the academy by someone, and the students have to stop it… Wouldn’t that work as a broad outline?”

[Ooooh! That does sound fun! It could provide material for a while. As expected of  the Reader! You’re a genius!]

“Aw, you’re giving me too much credit.”

Still, the compliment made me smile a little.

Seems the time I spent reading web novels wasn’t completely wasted.

Academy novels need to have the events happen within the academy itself.

 If you establish a solid core premise, the details will come naturally.

Let’s start by building a solid foundation.

[A force trying to obtain an artifact that could literally upend the world  if brought outside…! Oh, I like it! That can be the evil force we’re up against!]

“An artifact that could flip the world? Sounds exciting. Hehehe…”

[Hmm, what kind of ability should the artifact have?]

“There is no need to rush it. Take it slow–real slow–and the right idea will come.”

[Okay! Ah, I’m looking forward to this. I wonder how it will unfold to be exciting!]

“I’m looking forward to seeing how Yu Siwoo will act going forward…”

As I was chatting and laughing with the Author, I suddenly thought–why not try out that cliche scene?

I’ve wanted to do it for a while.

Alright, let me shoot my shot.

[…? Reader? What are you doing?]

“Just a moment.”

I shushed the Author in a small voice.

They sounded puzzled but did as I said, which I appreciated.

“You there, come on out.”

I spoke the line I had prepared.

Isn’t this the kind of line you have to use for scenes like this? Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

I drew the dagger I had hidden and aimed it at a tree I had targeted… Taking aim.

“If you don’t come out… Then I’ll have to make you.”

And throw.

The dagger left my hand and lodged itself in the trunk of a tree.

Completely missing the direction I was aiming at.

[Reader, you missed spectacularly…]

“…”

Well, I missed my target by a bit…

It’s not like someone who has never properly held a knife could throw a dagger perfectly, right?

[Wow, to be able to throw it in a completely different direction from where you were aiming, that’s kind of a talent in itself, isn’t it?]

“Hah, haha… Be quiet. It seems I was mistaken.”

[So you like scenes like that, huh… Well, I’ll keep it in mind. It would be nice  if a scene  the Reader enjoys ends up in the novel someday!]

My face felt hot.

I shouldn’t have done that.

No, but I couldn’t help myself.

 If you’re in a secluded area holding a dagger,

And on top of that, having a conversation with someone,

Isn’t that the classic cliche of someone eavesdropping on an important conversation?

I just wanted to try it out.

“Let’s head back. Class is about to start.”

[The Reader’s preferences are eavesdropping or spying scenes. Noted…]

Be quiet!

A guy can enjoy that kind of thing too, you know!

…Oh right, I didn’t retrieve the dagger.

Oh well, it’s just a standard academy model anyway.

I’ll ask for another one later.

***

A few minutes after Arte had left the area,

A blonde girl with bangs braided peeked out from the tree the dagger was stuck in.

Yes, it was Amelia.

“Huff… huff… My, my heart hurts. I thought I was going to die.”

Having held her breath so her sounds wouldn’t be heard, she gasped heavily to catch her breath.

Her legs, tense from the excessive strain, didn’t seem like they would move for a while.

Amelia let out a sigh.

“I just wanted to confirm who that student was, so why did this happen…”

Right.

That rude girl who ditched the duel had gone to a secluded area,

So out of curiosity, just a tiny bit of curiosity,

She had followed after her.

“A secret room? An artifact that could upend the world? What is that about?!”

She had never heard of such things before.

Is the academy’s founder hiding away an artifact like that?

She didn’t want to believe it.

She had wanted to dismiss it as the delusions of a girl with chuunibyou, but the dagger she saw in her vision,

That dagger flew right at her despite being in a completely different direction than she was facing.

Seemed to be telling her that what she heard was the truth.

“Yu Siwoo, I think that’s what he was called.”

She recalled her saying that name before leaving her spot.

She was looking forward to how Yu Siwoo would act.

Was she taking some kind of interest in the one who resolved the monster incident?

Or perhaps Yu Siwoo was also an accomplice of Arte Iris, and they knew each other?

She felt a need to meet Yu Siwoo herself.

“Uu, uuh. I need to use the bathroom…! Legs, please move…!”

But first, the bathroom.