Elize's expression hardened in an instant.
"…Are you serious?"
"I like her as much as you hate her."
That was the biggest lie I've ever told in my life. I didn't like Lirielle. I didn't even want to breathe in the same direction as her. But right now? It was the only way to make Elize hit me for real and trigger my damn skill.
Anyway, according to the timeline, Lirielle should be busy meeting high-ranking nobles right now. She definitely wasn't sparing me a single thought…
[ Skill: Irresistible Allure — Activated. ]
[ Villain's favor toward you has risen sharply! ]
[ New rewards added to Gift tab. ]
"…Huh?"
I froze at the sudden flood of messages. Why now of all times?
While I stood dumbfounded, Elize was cracking her neck, her expression sharper than a guillotine blade.
"Is that so?" she said, her tone much darker than before. "Then I don't need to feel guilty."
And the next moment—
She was right in front of me.
There was no buildup, no warning. One second she was standing over there, the next she was swinging a wooden sword at my head like she was trying to erase me from history.
'Sweet mother of—!'
I barely threw myself aside in time. The air howled as the wooden blade shot past, close enough to shear fabric off my clothes. If I hadn't known that attack was coming, I would've been a corpse already.
"Ara~? You dodged?" she said, sounding almost playful. "Guess you're not a complete weakling."
Her grin told me she wasn't stopping. She tilted her head, lined up another strike, and her eyes glittered with the joy of someone about to break a toy.
"Then maybe I should hit a little harder."
The sword blurred. This time, it came straight for my chest.
'This crazy woman—!'
She probably thinks I had some secret skill because I dodged that first swing. Nope — total fluke. I only avoided it because I knew it was coming. Otherwise? I'd already have an extra hole somewhere.
If she actually lands a hit like that again, I'm done for. No dramatics—just dead.
"...!"
No time to think. I grit my teeth and threw a bare fist.
There's no time to draw a weapon, and this is absolutely a "moment of danger." The skill should trigger. It has to.
I don't know how much it'll help, but it has to do something.
[ Moment of danger detected. ]
[ Situation classified as life-threatening. ]
[ Skill — Last Resort: elevated to EX class. ]
'…EX?'
Wait — isn't that the top tier?
No time to be shocked.
-!
-!!!
-!!!!!!!!
My fist met Elize's strike.
Then her body launched as if struck by an invisible catapult and slammed against the side of the building.
Paradoxically, people don't react as much to shocking things as they do to the minor ones.
Even as Elize was being carried away by the emergency team after being launched into the wall like a ragdoll, there was only silence. A suffocating, heavy silence.
If someone had so much as breathed a little too heavily, it probably would've echoed across the entire arena.
It felt like everyone's souls had just up and left their bodies.
"...Victory, Adrian Merrick."
The dumbfounded referee's voice trembled through the stillness.
Then, like a dam breaking—
"...What the hell was that?!"
"What did he just do?!"
A deafening uproar erupted from every corner of the stands.
—Who is Adrian Merrick?
—What's going on in Baron Merrick's dusty little territory?
—No, forget that, get every scrap of info now!
While the world scrambled in chaos, I stood alone, staring blankly at the sky.
Me.
An F in all stats.
A bottom-feeding freshman with nothing but two skills no one even knows the category of.
And yet here I was, on the first day of entering the Academy.
The literal start of my new life.
And I had just knocked out the main character with a single punch.
"...Ah, f_ck."
How am I supposed to explain this?
---
● The Caldwell Imperial Academy was one of the top institutions on the continent. The only rivals that could even be mentioned in the same breath were the Holy Land's [Great Temple] and the Tribal Union's [Fighting Furnace].
Naturally, the faculty here were monsters in their own right.
"..."
"..."
And even they couldn't hide their shock at this incident.
In the center of the long conference table, a crystal orb replayed the moment: Elize Kingsley flying backward like a cannonball after meeting my fist. Over, and over, and over again.
"This case..."
The Knight Faculty Head spoke with a voice like grinding stone.
"This student named Adrian looks like an excellent con artist."
"Now, isn't that a bit harsh, Roderick?"
The Academy President tilted his head, smiling thinly.
"It just doesn't make sense."
The man with a jagged scar crossing his cheek—Roderick Veynar—shook his head.
"Anyone with eyes could see it. Before the match, this Adrian Merrick had nothing. No combat experience. No refined technique. Not even a hint of killing intent. Yet..."
He gestured, rewinding the image to the exact moment Elize was struck.
"For that one blow—make no mistake—it was absolutely real."
"What do you mean by 'real'?" another professor asked cautiously.
Roderick's scar twisted as he smirked.
"I mean, no human in this Academy could take that punch head-on and stay standing. Not even me."
A silence heavier than before fell over the faculty room.
That statement had weight—because Roderick Veynar wasn't just anyone. He was a former Imperial Guard Commander, one of the pinnacle knights of the continent. A man who had once stood at the frontlines of battlefields where kingdoms collapsed.
If even he said it was impossible, there was no room to laugh it off as exaggeration.
"Of course," Roderick added with a dry chuckle, "there's always the simpler explanation: drugs, or some hidden artifact. Most of you are thinking the same thing."
Because otherwise...
If otherwise, then the mere existence of Adrian Merrick would be far more troublesome than any of them cared to admit.
"Though," Roderick leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing, "there's one more possibility."
He paused just long enough for the tension to choke the room.
"...Let's say he's a peerless genius. A terrifying monster that only a handful on this continent could ever compare to."
This wasn't a strange thing to say.
Simply put, not even one in ten thousand believed Adrian Merrick would win.
After all, his opponent was her—Elize Kingsley.
The next [Hero] candidate, marked by the Imperial Family as a prodigy worth grooming.
The so-called Hero was supposed to be a figure who could push back the darkness: combat prowess beyond reach, intellect sharp as the Gods themselves, and an unyielding spirit that never bent.
Adrian Merrick had… absolutely none of that.
On paper, he was the equivalent of a worm wriggling out of a cracked tavern mug.
"..."
The problem was that the yawning gulf between them had collapsed in a single moment.
With one punch.
A blow so absurdly clean that even the faculty had trouble breathing after watching the recording.
If this wasn't cheating… if this was real talent...
Then—
'He'll become the eye of the storm.'
An existence destined to tear apart the calm order of the Academy, and maybe even the Empire itself.
---
Roderick Veynar, Head of the Knight Faculty, rubbed his scarred chin grimly.
"However… we cannot simply acknowledge that student's victory. Marquis Kendride will not remain silent."
Across the table, President Lirielle tapped her fingers lightly, her expression unreadable.
The Kendride family, one of the oldest and proudest lineages in the Empire, had always nursed bitter grudges against her own Caldwell line.
And since Marquis Kendride was Elize Kingsley's most fervent political backer, he would never allow her prestige to be tarnished this early.
"..."
Roderick's jaw tightened.
Politics. Even here, in what was supposed to be a sanctuary of education.
If a true talent had appeared, the Academy should nurture him. That was the obvious path. Yet...
"But," Lirielle finally spoke, her voice calm and elegant, though carrying the weight of inevitability.
"It would be a loss for the Academy to throw away a student who clearly shines. Whether he is a fraud or not, the truth will reveal itself soon enough."
Her pink eyes gleamed faintly as she leaned back in her chair, the color deceptively soft yet sharper than any blade.
"For now… we wait."
Roderick's brows knit.
"…Wait, what do you mean?"
Lirielle's lips curved into a faint, dangerous smile.
"This year's freshmen are not ordinary. Some will shake the world itself if left unchecked. A few are dangerous enough to require… careful handling."
The silence in the room thickened.
If President Lirielle herself believed Adrian Merrick was one of those students, then his existence was far more dangerous than anyone wished to admit.
---
●
Meanwhile, I was busy panicking.
No, seriously. How the hell was I supposed to survive the fallout of sucker-punching the Hero candidate in front of the whole Academy?
"..."
Actually, forget the future. The problem was happening now.
There was a mob outside my dormitory, nobles and students alike clawing to get a glimpse of me, as though I'd turned into some rare zoo animal.
Thanks to that single punch, my reputation had skyrocketed like a cursed firework.
And just like a firework, I was about to explode.
Honestly?
I'd rather take another swing from Elize than deal with this.
---
[ Shocking Sparring Defeat Of Marquis Kendride–Vouched Rising Star?! ]
[ Featured Article: Hot Topic Adrian Merrick. Who Is He? ]
I discovered one unavoidable truth about the media today: nothing's changed from the world I came from.
Within just one day, the tabloids had already vomited every ridiculous theory about me.
Apparently, I'm the hidden child of the Imperial Knight Commander, Kadra.
Kalli. The academy's secret powerhouse. The kind of person who could probably bench-press a mountain.
…Yeah, right.
Still, not all of it was complete garbage.
After locking myself in my dorm for hours, I found a few headlines that actually stood out:
[ The Kendride Family, Headed By Marquis Kendride, Officially Requests An Explanation From Caldwell Academy ]
[ Experts Claim The Match Was Rigged ]
Tch. As expected, the media was losing their minds, but not exactly in my favor.
Elize Kingsley had been a "supernova" of accomplishments even before entering the academy. Of course she had a rabid fanbase.
So naturally, nobody was cheering for me—some no-name extra who appeared out of nowhere and one-punched their top student into a wall.
'Well, that can't be helped.'
I don't care what they say. My only goal right now is survival.
Future me will need to clean up this butterfly effect. Beating the "hero" on the first day wasn't in any guidebook. I need to get stronger, survive, and prepare for whatever comes next.
Because trust me… it's coming.
---
< Gift–related Character Notification >
▼ Lirielle Elissandre La Caldwell [ Trust Level 1 ] >>> [ Trust Level 2 ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
[ D–1 until related events occur ]
▼ Baron Armut [ Curiosity Level 2 ]
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▼ Viscount Lupen [ Curiosity Level 1 ]
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▼ Viscount Gront [ Interest Level 3 ]
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