In front of the peaceful school grounds, students wearing school uniforms adorned with a green brooch, symbolic of being in their first year, were seen trickling through the school gate one by one.
“President, we can easily handle this sort of thing…”
“No, to truly be called a student council president, I must personally assist in duties like this.”
Among the Student Council members guiding the new cadets through the gate, she meticulously scanned each and every student.
‘…First up, Hanae Sakura, found.’
Surrounded by an entourage of men in black suits providing tight security.
‘Is it because she’s the daughter of a prominent Japanese family?’
The large bow mounted on her back was quite impressive. Though the academy encourages all cadets to use basic armaments, Hanae Sakura’s bow is unlike any ordinary one.
‘It’s so massive…’
Roughly the size of an adult male, the bow is incredibly large. Unlike standard archers who release arrows in straight paths, Hanae Sakura angles her bow skyward.
The arrows fly like howitzers, arcing high into the sky before sharply descending to the ground with overwhelming force. She’s kind-hearted and among the heroines of the game who are friendly to the protagonist at the start.
In close quarters environments like cave dungeons or low-ceilinged buildings, her arrows are nearly useless. However, in broad open fields or siege warfare from elevated positions, she transcends Tier 1 status, becoming an overpowered ranger.
That was Hanae Sakura.
‘Regrettably, her bodyguards aren’t permitted beyond the entrance…’
As soon as she crossed the gate, every new student’s attention turned toward Sakura.
‘…This will be inconvenient.’
Quickly, I hastened my steps, weaving through the crowd of students who recognized me, approaching Sakura.
‘Everyone except Sakura, go on to your respective destinations.’
Using [Eye of Hypnosis], I subliminally suggested to the others, who then wandered off as though possessed.
“You’re a new student, right? The auditorium is over there.”
After pointing out the auditorium’s direction to the startled Sakura upon her noticing the sudden disappearance of people,
“G-21, so you’re sitting at the back…”
She greeted me with thanks and dashed off. Glancing at the paper in Sakura’s hand showing her seat number, I internally relaxed, knowing that a ranger like her would never be seated at the front.
‘Not that Sakura is the type to flee from monsters in fear, she could’ve held her own even at the front.’
I observed more key characters file in.
The support magician, Seong Ah-rin, entered the auditorium while floating languidly as if she were extremely sleepy and yawning.
Then there was Ecclesia, the supporting magician, who entered with a large retinue as if accompanying her to school, who would later become the commander of the European Union as the episodes unfold from her start as the princess of the British Royal Family.
There was Na Yoo-bin, the striker destined to fall into darkness driven by a desire for vengeance over her parents’ deaths from a Gate Break, but who could become an invaluable solo attack force if saved early enough.
Yoo Eun-ha, a character originally intended to create significant conflict with Yoon Se-ah upon being adopted as her foster daughter, but now that Yoon Seong-ho has passed away, her storyline with Yoon Se-ah is no longer relevant.
‘Alright, now only the protagonist remains.’
In the game, the protagonist’s name is determined by the player; thus, the protagonist technically had no name at this time.
However, regardless of how the game begins, the protagonist is always depicted as a striking figure with white hair and golden eyes. Therefore, locating a boy matching that description would confirm his identity immediately.
Still…
‘…Perhaps he might enter just before the ceremony. After all, during the game’s start, the protagonist is admitted with mediocre grades, so there’s no need to arrive early like Seong Ah-rin, who has to take the stage for the oath.’
The protagonist’s face couldn’t be seen.
Even with many colorful hairstyles influenced by their abilities, white hair remains surprisingly rare. Typically associated with healing or ice-elemental powers, it appeared not a single male cadet with white hair was present.
‘What, really?’
Up until the start of the ceremony, no student with white hair and golden eyes showed up.
“…”
“…President, is everything alright today?”
“I’m not sure…your expression suddenly darkened at the start of the ceremony…”
“Yoon Se-ah, manage your expression with the children around.”
My sour face at this moment was likely the reason.
“…”
-Creeak
‘That’s Na Hyun-woo, the child of one of the board members…’
I immediately recognized him by the over 2-meter-long spear strapped to his back,
I recognized this from the summary of key personalities (the board members’ children) provided by Eve. It didn’t need the list though, as his foolishness was unmistakable.
‘The only insane new student in the Defender position wielding a spear is him.’
Because his foolishness was so pronounced, I even remembered his name.
‘A Striker might carry a spear, but what kind of Defender carries one?’
The life of a Defender is truly lonely.
Unless you’re someone extraordinary like Thomas Andrea who can handle S-rank Gates alone, the job is about stalling for time while wizards and rangers attack from behind and protecting strikers when they deplete their skills, essentially a somewhat pitiful position.
‘Of course, it’s also the lowest paid among the four roles.’
It’s a position essential to the team, yet its importance is overshadowed by the other roles, relegating it lower in priority.
Mainly chosen by students with primarily body-enhancing skills and no special abilities, the core task is to survive repeated beatings. They carry short hammers or massive shields to push through swarms of monsters, making their weapon of choice for entry into the Gates short-range.
A Defender carrying a spear…
Using a spear as a Defender…
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[Academy Swordmaster Gallery]
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[Me: Tank using a spear] (Views 4888)
[Ended up soloing with an epic spear due to stat failure, only body enhancement skills left ㅅㄱ]
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[Comments](99+)
[lol wtf bro good luck]
[Even Asoma pros failed to take down the first boss after rolling around like dogs for 4 hours, so what makes you think you can? lol]
…
…
(Author) [Wait, is this a bug? Why can’t I even take down the 1st mid-boss on easiest difficulty?]
[Because the monsters surrounded you and you couldn’t swing your spear, obviously…]
(Author) [Yeah, how’d you know?]
[I tried it too, got one-shotted immediately…]
[That’s why you don’t use a spear as a defender bro lol]
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Essentially, this is something so absurd that it gets mocked on community forums.
‘Ordinarily, someone like this would have been filtered out during the first test… did he enter through the special admission program, designed for transfer students to bypass exams?’
“Ah-yul, that’s the area where specially admitted students gather, right?”
“…Yeah, that’s correct.”
‘As expected.’
Seeing Na Hyun-woo talking to some slightly dim-witted looking students, they seemed like a close-knit group.
In fact, students admitted through the special program are often perceived as either transfers from other academies or those who entered through connections despite insufficient skills, a bit like a rural admissions quota.
Out of the few strong-looking individuals among them, there were around 2-4, including the girl with the eye patch and the white-haired girl with golden eyes I was looking for.
Since Raon Academy only allowed 10 special admissions, I thought that was acceptable and jotted down the notes.
Soon, the opening ceremony began…
“Aaaah! Help! Dad said it was all a simulation…”
As expected, it was the idiot with the spear who got overwhelmed by monsters without delivering a single attack.
“Everyone, are your preparations complete?”
“Yes!”
“Perfect.”
“Haa…I feel like I’ll have the toughest challenge though…”
“Don’t worry, I’ve finished recording. Ah-yul, if you call for help, I’ll assist.”
“I will definitely succeed on my own.”
With that aside…
Let the chaotic enrollment ceremony…begin!
