The Academy’s Guide to Useless Students – Chapter 14

14.

He wasn’t always known as ‘Wangcho.’

Like everyone else, he had a past.

And his was quite eventful.

“Ringston, congratulations! You have a little sibling now.”

The eldest son of a shabby village in the southern continent. That was the past of Wangcho. When he lived as Ringston, his family was harmonious.

Utterly so. His parents were so lovey-dovey that it became a routine to block his ears at night.

“Congratulations, Ringston! You’ve got a little sister!”

‘Deja vu?’

In the blink of an eye, Ringston found himself with four younger siblings. With their house already cramped, space was disappearing fast. Ringston worked tirelessly to ensure there wouldn’t be a fifth. He sabotaged his parents as many times as he could.

He even pretended to drink water every dawn just to escape the torture.

But his efforts were in vain.

“Congratulations, Ringston! Another sibling!”

Damn, they say love knows no time of day.

‘Could you stop popping them out, you rotten father!’

Eventually, after enduring that dreaded display of affection, Ringston ran away from home at the age of thirteen. He set out on a journey towards the imperial capital.

“Better than that rotten household.”

If he stayed, he’d just be busy cleaning up after his siblings while time slipped away.

Ringston wanted to enjoy freedom.

He thought that if he went to the capital, he could learn anything and find a way to make a living. Young Ringston felt that way. But life was not that easy. He encountered numerous things he had never faced in the village.

“Damn, what’s so cold!”

In the village, people helped each other out.

There was kindness between neighbors.

But what about the empire?

Unnecessarily thick.

Unnecessarily tall walls clearly marked boundaries. Everyone was human, yet there existed a hierarchy, a social structure rife with individualism and selflessness.

“What, you want a credit? A little brat like you can’t learn anything good… Where are your parents? What are they doing?”

What the hell. What am I supposed to do about it?

To live, he needed money.

But children don’t get any, do they?

The only wealthy man who would smile at him was full of worthless crumpled notes.

“Yuck.”

Ringston had a skill.

It wasn’t anything extraordinary like detoxifying poison. He just had a body that couldn’t take light drugs like sleeping pills or anesthetics. Ambiguous and useless, that was his talent.

“Whoa! How did you do that?”

Just when he finally escaped from a nasty rich guy’s mansion, he encountered a girl. A girl as fresh and lovely as a flower, with no pretensions. She was of a similar age to him.

“What do you mean, how? It’s just how I’m built. Who are you?”

“Oh, I’m… uh.”

The girl fumbled with her words, looking troubled. The mansion of the rich guy was located on the outskirts of the village, so even being close by felt off. Ringston quickly realized the reason.

“Huh? Sophia. Who’s that little brat?”

“Oh, Kant! This friend has amazing skills!”

“Skills?”

“Yeah! He escaped from Baron Cloud’s clutches!”

“Huh? That perverted old man? What skill could a brat like him have?”

This Kant guy was part of a band of thieves in District 4. The so-called street captain. The low-level member of a criminal group known as ‘Black Moonlight’ had commanded a girl named ‘Sophia’ to spy on Baron Cloud, and in that midst, they crossed paths.

“You’re impressive! How about joining our gang? You won’t starve to death.”

Given that he was desperately worried about food, he had no reason to turn down Kant’s offer.

And Ringston was also somewhat intrigued by the girl named Sophia. It was the first time he had a crush. Despite the sweet and fluttering beginnings, Ringston’s growth progressed rapidly.

“Listen well, Ringston. Your role is simple. You’ll deceive the bastards who kidnap and drug children. Just fool those rich idiots.”

It was an incredibly easy task for Ringston. Just pretended to be drugged and get taken home. After that, stealing secret ledgers or raiding safes was all there was to it.

“Solved it easily again, Boss.”

“This is all thanks to ‘Ringston,’ isn’t it?”

They valued Ringston.

They recognized his worth, and his reputation began to spread throughout District 4.

In short, that was Ringston’s downfall.

“Ringston is just like Wangcho!”

“What’s a Wangcho?”

“He’s the main character in a book I’m reading. The king of beggars! Super strong and cool!”

“King of beggars? So just a beggar. Not impressive.”

“Nuh-uh! Wangcho is responsible and full of justice!”

“Sophia… I get it, so stop yelling.”

In the moments shared with Sophia.

The favor from the thieves.

Not a luxurious life, but a daily routine where he could indeed fill his stomach.

Ringston was thankful for all of it.

It was finally the moment he discovered the thread of happiness. He began to change. Gradually polishing his negativity and sharp temper, and under Sophia’s encouragement, he cultivated an interest in books to stock up on provisions.

Although it was painfully boring, he even succeeded in reading through about ten pages of a book.

Yes, it contained the line that happiness and unhappiness were proportional.

Then could this be true for him as well?

“Damn… what is this?”

“Hey? You, little brat named Ringston. Didn’t it ever cross your mind that the more ears you have listening, the more people will target your skills?”

He was complacent. Ringston’s methods had limited options. The plan failed, and Ringston found himself stuck.

“Quit squirming. You were specially prepared for this. You little brat must not have realized. Things like ‘skills’ or ‘uniqueness’ are incredibly rare. They’re even identified as symptoms before awakening in the empire.”

He had no idea.

No one told him.

Such knowledge was common among the noble families of the empire.

Well-bred people knew about it. Ringston had no such people around him to enlighten him.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to awaken early and earn a living as an adventurer?”

Contrary to that advice, the rich man’s expression wasn’t kind.

It was snake-like, cunning, dripping with malice.

“Sorry, but give up on your life this time around. You will be my ‘research’ subject for half your life.”

“Crazy bastard.”

“Bastard? How can I be called that when I’m such a kind soul? Look, I’ve got something prepared just for you.”

Creak. Creak.

The rich guy rolled in a wheelchair.

Sitting on the chair was a bloodied girl barely clinging to life.

“S-Sophia…? Why are you…?”

“I thought I should get you a present in return for the rich guys you’ve deceived.”

Absurd.

Because of me, Sophia ended up like this.

“What did you do to Sophia…?”

“Nothing much. Just made her life into one where she can only sit and soil herself.”

“……”

Ringston’s memories were interrupted at that moment. When he came to, the underground lab where he was captured was a wreck, and the rich man had been torn apart beyond recognition. Naturally, Sophia, caught in the uproar, was the same. Ringston had murdered his comrade.

He killed the one he loved. After that, he lived tenaciously.

To ensure the stories the girl loved wouldn’t end, he decided to become the king of beggars. In the blink of an eye, he swallowed the thieves’ gang and ascended to the top. Still surrounded by the same kind of beggarly rich scum. He was too busy clearing them out.

“My name is Wangcho.”

Yes. The protagonist of the story beloved by the girl he loved.

The king of beggars.

That is who he was. Some may call him the villain in a society rife with evil. Some may say he was a bug that needed to be exterminated.

But what is the reality?!

He was the very behemoth that the empire could not handle. In truth, he was the judge clearing the rotten trash that crept into the empire.

He was a man destined to become the god of the new world.

Wangcho’s true ambitions had only just begun. The long-planned project he plotted for years would soon bring calamity.

‘I shall become the god of the new world.’

Tap, tap.

“Even so, you still wish to call me a villain!?”

Wangcho shouted.

Directly aiming at the inspection unit youth approaching him. Blood splattered from his lips, and his blurry vision gradually refocused.

What he initially dismissed as a scrawny rookie turned out to be an incredible powerhouse. Wangcho could barely parry the youth’s sword, nearly losing consciousness from the force.

“So, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“W-What?!”

“Purging criminals makes you a judge? Isn’t that simply self-satisfaction?”

The ignorant little rat from the inspection unit.

How dare he speak to me like that!

I am the god of the new world.
I am the law and the definition of justice!

“Shut it! My judgment made the absurdity of those rich bastards clear, and the crime rate in the empire dropped!”

“Well, you’re just a murderer.”

“Shut up… If there’s someone else to judge this rotten society, fine. But this is a job only I can do!”

Yet Wangcho’s sledgehammer had long since shattered. It was all he could do to barely keep his consciousness intact. The gap in strength between him and the youth was a clear, wide chasm.

“Wangcho. Your evil deeds end here.”

<Scrunch━━>

With those last words, Wangcho’s ambitions tumbled down.

Even in his last moments, Wangcho cursed him. Pouring out endless curses.

The youth, even his name unknown to Wangcho,
Repeatedly echoed in his mind as he closed his eyes.

“Well then, it’s just as expected, a fruitful harvest.”

Watching the downfall of Wangcho, Yuto couldn’t keep the glint of interest from his eyes.