I’m Not Becoming a Graduate Student! – Chapter 2

“Welcome to all students of Byzantium Academy!”

When Sion opened his eyes, he found himself in a massive auditorium. It was not your typical university auditorium in Korea, but one from a fantasy world, filled with chandeliers and exquisite plaster sculptures.

Sion stood right in the middle, thinking, ‘What the heck is going on? Where am I, and who am I…?’

Startled, he looked down at his body and saw himself wearing a uniform he had never seen before. The only notable thing was that the tie was a fiery red.

“Representing the Class of 653 at Byzantium Academy, we will now have the oath-taking of the top and second best students. Top student Serenne Camilea and second best student Geivolg Rodenburg, please come to the podium!”

-Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Amid the thunderous applause that made his ears ring, female and male students walked up to the stage.

‘The girl’s name must be Serenne Camilea, and the guy, Geivolg Rodenburg? What is this, a foreign country?’

Serenne had sleepy-looking eyes and impressive sky-blue hair. Geivolg was… a handsome guy with blond hair. Both of them had model-like stunning appearances.

With a steady pace, the two walked up to the podium, showing no signs of nervousness. Maybe they were used to this sort of thing, or perhaps they had practiced a lot. The first person raised his right hand in front of the elderly principal.

“Oath.”

His voice echoed throughout the auditorium, even without a microphone. Like the other students around him, Sion also raised his right hand. Thanks to his experiences in graduate school, he at least had some awareness.

“With pride, we the new entrants of Byzantium Academy accept the honor of attending the world’s best academy–”

A quite lengthy and grandiose oath followed. Thanks to that, Sion was able to take a step back and evaluate his situation objectively.

‘Sure, there are chandeliers, but… a lot of strange things are going on.’

For instance, the representatives’ words could be heard clearly without a microphone. Or how tiny fairies illuminated the dark corners between the chandeliers. Or a bunch of students carrying swords and staffs.

Especially, Sion felt something was off about his own body.

First off, he was shorter than the average man. He wasn’t fat, but he lacked muscle, giving him an overall scrawny look. Unlike in his previous life, he didn’t wear glasses or lenses, yet he could see perfectly.

‘Jang Sion is dead. Instead… I’ve possessed the body of someone else…?’

This felt like something straight out of a fantasy novel. As a student who somehow got into a technical graduate school, it was hard to accept. But all the circumstances around him and the senses he was experiencing snapped him back to ‘reality.’

*

After the entrance ceremony, Sion somehow managed to find his dorm by asking for directions. Luckily, he had caught a glimpse of some information about “mandatory dormitory for all students” at the entrance ceremony.

‘This place must be quite prestigious. A two-person room too.’

Back in the science high school he attended, it was a four-person room. It’s rare for a university dorm to offer two-person rooms, yet this academy assigned all students to two-person accommodations.

Fortunately, Sion’s roommate had not yet arrived at the dorm. He put his situation back into perspective.

‘My name is Sion. I’m not a noble, and I have no idea if I have family or not.’

Thankfully, he found a small pouch that acted like a wallet. Inside was a certificate of admission to Byzantium Academy, which revealed his name and status.

Coincidence or fate, his name was the same as in his past life—‘Sion.’ Just the fact that he was a commoner bothered him a bit, especially since it seemed like a place full of nobles.

“What kind of world is this?”

It was certain he was reincarnated. But he couldn’t quite grasp what kind of world he was in.

He hadn’t played many games or read many novels, but he had dabbled. Yet, he had never come across the name Byzantium Academy in his life.

Even the unique names of the top and second place students were foreign to him. If this was a world he recognized from some creative work, he might have picked up helpful information.

Alas, he decided to be content with just having the knowledge from his previous life. After all, modern knowledge would certainly prove valuable someday.

“First things first, money…”

In any world, money is critical. In the pouch he found, there were a few silver coins and some bronze currency.

He had no idea how valuable these were, but he could tell it certainly wasn’t enough to cover his tuition at the academy.

What if he couldn’t pay the tuition and got kicked out?

‘Still, that would be a bit…’

Better than worrying about how to eat and survive in an unknown world, he thought that the academy, which provided food and shelter, would be safer.

Now he just needed to figure out a way to earn some money.

What else was important… while he was deep in thought, suddenly—

Thud!

Someone barged in through the door.

Sion froze and stared at the mysterious intruder.

And that figure was… quite a cheerful-looking guy.

Was it unique that he had his red hair slicked back?

The moment he saw Sion, his eyes widened.

“Oh, my bad! I thought no one was here. You were already inside, huh?”

“Yeah… who are you?”

“I’m Patrick Hansen! Just call me Patrick.”

With a bright smile, he extended his hand.

Sion awkwardly laughed and shook his hand. Patrick kept talking to him while organizing his stuff.

“How did you end up at the academy?”

“Um… it just happened?”

“Is that so? For commoners like us to get into the academy, it’s usually one of two things: donating or working really hard. Oh! Don’t get me wrong. I don’t discriminate against commoners or anything.”

Is he worried that he might offend Sion by pointing this out since he was a commoner too?

He didn’t seem like a bad guy.

‘But how should I respond?’

He had no clue about how he got to the academy. He didn’t know if he was here by donation or by putting in copious amounts of effort.

Neither could he say, “I thought I was dead, but I possessed this body,” could he?

Fortunately, Patrick seemed to pick up on the awkwardness.

“If it’s awkward to say, you don’t have to share.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Everyone has things they don’t want to talk about. Anyway, I’m the fourth of five siblings in the Hansen baron family. You can probably figure out why I’m here, right? Haha.”

Patrick said this with a cheerful laugh.

Being the fourth of five siblings was a vague position. It meant he would likely not get inheritance rights or a proper estate.

There were plenty of reasons to come to the academy.

“Anyway, nice to meet you. Once I finish unpacking, let’s go grab something to eat together.”

“…Alright. Nice to meet you too. Do you need help unpacking?”

“Oh! That would be great. Classes start tomorrow, and I’m a little nervous.”

“Tomorrow…? Y-Yeah. Classes start, right? Sure.”

“?”

Sion spent some time helping Patrick unpack.

The more they talked, the more he realized Patrick wasn’t a bad sort. He treated Sion equally, not discriminating against him for being a commoner.

Because of that, Sion momentarily felt like he was back in school.

*

That day, Sion had a meal with Patrick and spent time wandering around the academy.

Then came the next day.

Morning broke on the first day of classes at the academy.

“But where are we headed?”

“Of course, we’re going to class.”

“…What class do we even have?”

As Sion and Patrick walked together, Sion asked, and Patrick raised an eyebrow.

He realized what the look meant as they continued walking.

That was the exact face Patrick made when he was speechless.

“The schedule for first-year students is fixed. Didn’t you get a copy of it?”

“I lost it… sorry. Let’s check together.”

“Here, take a look.”

The schedule Patrick showed him for first-year students was tighter than expected.

In terms of the current university system, it felt like it surpassed 20 credits.

Meaning, he had to attend a solid 20 hours of classes each week.

“I thought that was a bit harsh. I mean, we’re freshmen…”

“Right? Isn’t it a bit excessive?”

“Huh?”

“…Huh?”

Patrick looked at Sion as if he were a monster.

Sion blinked at him.

‘Twenty credits shouldn’t be that intense, right…?’

To Sion, 20 credits seemed reasonable. In fact, it was on the lower side.

He was someone who always filled his schedule with as many elective classes as possible, including those he didn’t even need for his major.

“Seriously? You think that’s low?”

“Oh, we’ve arrived. This must be it.”

Room 103 of the Byzantium Academy lecture hall.

It was a stair-stepped lecture room capable of accommodating around 100 people.

Already, about twenty students were seated.

‘Looks just like a university classroom. The schedule’s similar, and it feels closer to a university than high school, huh?’

Aside from the fact that all students lived in dorms, it was indeed similar to a university.

Dead even in death, Sion chuckled bitterly as he walked toward the empty front row.

Thud!

He plopped down, settling in and preparing for the lecture.

It would’ve been great if he had a laptop, but of course, such advanced gadgets didn’t exist here.

He was just grateful to have a notebook and a pen.

But the seat next to him was still empty.

“Patrick? What are you doing? Sit down already.”

“Uh… You want me to sit there?”

Patrick looked around, bewildered.

Very few students occupied the front row.

Most were seated in the rear or middle rows.

Sion tilted his head in confusion at Patrick’s question.

“Why? Isn’t the front row better for classes?”

“W-Well, yeah… that’s true…”

“Alright, has everyone arrived yet?”

Tap, tap—

The front door of the lecture hall opened, and a woman walked in.

She looked sharp, but surprisingly, she appeared quite young.

Sion thought she looked more like a teaching assistant than an actual professor.

“Patrick.”

“…Alright, alright.”

Finally, Patrick, who had been awkwardly standing, settled down next to Sion.

“Today’s class is an orientation, so it’ll end shortly, but just because it’s orientation doesn’t mean there won’t be students missing, so I will take attendance. Gagarin?”

“Yes!”

Attendance was called.

So she really was the professor.

‘She doesn’t seem that much older than the students…’

Sion observed her, noticing the mint-colored, bright and flashy hair.

But just like a rose has thorns, her gaze was exceptionally sharp.

If she didn’t frown and smiled instead, she would be even prettier…

“Sion?”

“……”

“Has Sion Student not arrived?”

“Hey, Sion, they’re calling for you.”

“Oh.”

Sion snapped back to reality as Patrick poked him in the ribs, finally paying attention.

“Sorry! I’m Sion.”

“…Tsk, pay attention in class.”

“Sorry…”

Feeling a sting in his shoulder at the professor’s reprimand, Sion thought for a moment he was already in trouble on the very first day.

Attendance was finally concluded.

“I will now begin the orientation for Basics of Magic. My name is Ronda Magret, and I will teach you about the foundations of magic this semester.”

It was the typical content found in university orientation sessions.

Yet there was one notable difference.

“Before we start the lecture, there’s something I want to show you.”

Tap, tap.

Professor Ronda Magret stepped down from the podium and approached the front of Sion.

Was she about to do something? All the students gazed at her in focus as she stood before Sion.

“Magic is like this.”

Whoa!

A yellow pigeon suddenly flew from her hand without warning.

It began to soar throughout the classroom, illuminating the space brightly.

‘…What is this?’

Sion was taken aback by the sudden display of magic.

But even more surprising was the translucent spear that appeared before his eyes.

[Magic Name:???]


[Attribute:???]


[Rank: 4th Circle]


[Description:???]

[You have witnessed magic of a higher circle than yours.]


[All information except the rank of the magic is restricted.]

A translucent spear appeared right before Sion’s eyes.

As every student chased after the magic bird made of light, his gaze was glued to the void.

‘What the heck is this?!’

Something extraordinary was happening to Sion.