Chapter 1: Academy Island, Academia (1)

It took me a whole half-day to accept that I had entered the world of Legend of Academia.
I have no idea what the reason is, but I’ve become an inhabitant of the game world.

“Lee Sihyuk.”

The voice that came out of my mouth felt awkward.
But as long as this isn’t a dream, I have to adapt.
I looked into the mirror again.
A male student with a sullen expression, delicate features, and shaggy black hair was staring blankly back at me.

Lee Sihyuk.
18 years old.
A 2nd student at Eastern Third High School.
A 4-star Null-attribute supporter from Legend of Academia, with an ability user level of D-rank.

Staring at the mirror for a moment, I closed my eyes and muttered inwardly, just in case.
‘Status window, status, stats, skills, inventory, trait window, traits, and so on; everything I could think of.’
But nothing appeared.

“Status Window!”

I tried shouting while extending my hand into the air, but similarly, nothing appeared.
‘Of course, the ability to check a student’s status belongs only to the ‘Player’.’
Since I’ve become a mere character, Lee Sihyuk, there’s no way I would have the Player’s abilities.
‘Can I use the abilities that Lee Sihyuk possesses?’
‘How?’
The moment the question arose, the method popped into my head.
As if I had known it all along, naturally.

‘Let’s see. Like this?’
I imagined something condensing above my right hand.
A lump of pure power, with no attribute assigned to it.
Just as I felt the energy from my whole body drain towards my right hand, a single gray cube popped into existence.

“This actually works?”

The Colorless Element.
The superpower that Lee Sihyuk wields.
But it’s so small.
The Lee Sihyuk in my memory used a Colorless Element nearly the size of a boulder.
But the one on my hand is, at best, the size of a small die.
It seems I can’t properly handle this superpower yet.
‘In gaming terms, does this mean my level is too low?’

“Well, it doesn’t really matter if it’s big or small.”

When used alone, the Colorless Element is a garbage ability, as good as nonexistent.
Perhaps that’s why Lee Sihyuk’s ability user level was a D-rank, which was on the rather low side.

The ability user level was the method used to classify ability users on Academia, the artificial academy island that serves as the setting for Legend of Academia.

EX-rank, possessing unmeasurable power, with only three officially existing in the entire world according to the lore.
S-rank, possessing the greatest power known to the public.
A-rank, considered the elite in Academia.

B for those classified as honor students, C for average ability users, and D for those who barely make it into the ability user category.
Below that were only E-rank, treated as ordinary students, and F-rank, who weren’t even students to begin with.

This was the universally accepted ranking within the world of LeoA, separate from the 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star rarity-based classification provided for the user’s convenience.
It was also the main culprit that caused Lee Sihyuk to be underestimated when LeoA was first released.
The ability user level was related to a character’s basic stats, and among the 4-star characters, Lee Sihyuk was the only D-rank.
Lee Sihyuk, who struggled in stages that even 3-star characters could clear with ease, was naturally treated as trash.

“The entrance ceremony is in 3 days, huh.”

I checked the date and schedule on a phone with a near-futuristic design.
The freshman orientation ended a few days ago, and there are three days left until the entrance ceremony where the story of Legend of Academia begins.

“The ‘Teacher’ will be there too, right.”

Academia is an academy city where several schools exist, and each character belongs to a specific school.
Their common goal is singular.
To develop the students’ superpowers and defeat the Irregulars, the enemies of humanity.

The player, the ‘Teacher,’ is the homeroom teacher of the Special Class.
The premise was that they would recruit students they formed a bond with in Academia into their class, solve the academy’s various problems, help students with their worries, and fight the Irregulars.
For reference, ‘forming a bond’ meant pulling them from the gacha.
However, within the actual game world, the word ‘gacha’ is never mentioned even once.
In other words, you have to meet the ‘Teacher’ in person to enter the Special Class.

The problem is that I don’t know what the Teacher looks like.
Ever since Legend of Academia was released, an illustration of the ‘Teacher’ has never been revealed.
You could infer their personality or habits through conversations with characters, but that was only an indirect method.
‘Though this kind of player ambiguity is one of the common features of collection-based RPGs.’

First, I need to find the Teacher.
The early story of LeoA is all fun and games, but as it progresses towards the latter half, a world-ending crisis approaches.
To overcome that crisis, my power—the power of Lee Sihyuk—will surely be necessary.

‘Well, that aside. Let’s go outside for now.’

It’s true that I’m confused and scared by this situation of being transported into a game, which is beyond anything I could have imagined.
But at the same time, as a player of LeoA, my heart was also pounding with excitement.
This is a chance to see the landscapes of Academia, which I only caught glimpses of in the game, in person.
And if I’m lucky, I might even be able to meet the characters of LeoA myself.

“Should I get something to eat first?”

I’m starting to get hungry.
And I also want to cut this cumbersome, shaggy hair.

I left the room and went outside the building.
The place Lee Sihyuk was staying was room 403 of the student dormitory.
It was an ordinary dormitory with nothing special about it, aside from the fact that it was one person per room.

The air is refreshing and the sunlight is warm.
This is thanks to the artificial intelligence that manages Academia, maintaining a temperature suitable for studying all year round.
‘Although, there is an episode where that AI goes berserk and tries to sink this entire academy island into the Pacific Ocean.’
‘Well, that’s a story for much later, so I don’t need to worry about it right now.’
I fiddled with my phone to find the way to my destination.
Lee Sihyuk’s phone wasn’t much different functionally from the smartphone I used to use.
Phones that provided directions via augmented reality linked to contact lenses were treated as ordinary smartphones here.
‘Lee Sihyuk is probably using a pretty outdated phone, even by Academia’s standards.’

As I crossed from the residential district, where the dorms were gathered, to the commercial district, people gradually came into view.
It looked like they were doing some last-minute shopping for things they needed before the new semester.
My eyes were unknowingly drawn to the stores and products I’d never seen before, but I barely managed to hold back and headed straight for the restaurant area.
My destination is the Chinese restaurant ‘Cheonryonggak’ on the outskirts of the restaurant district.
It’s a restaurant that often appears in LeoA’s scenarios.
Its signature dish was Chinese-style fried rice, which was popular among students for its low price and generous portions.
‘Baek Soso was a regular here, I think.’

-Ding!

“Welcome! This is Cheonryonggak!”

I found a suitable seat and ordered the fried rice.
I watched the white-haired owner skillfully handle a wok in the kitchen for a moment before taking my phone out of my pocket.
I opened my contacts and messenger app, then frowned without realizing it.
It was empty.
All it had were the school teachers and an emergency contact list.
According to the lore, Lee Sihyuk is kind but shy and gloomy.
I had roughly expected it because of that, but not to this extent.
‘No wonder he barely interacted with other characters in the story.’

Next was the photo album.
It was filled with nothing but landscape photos taken against the city backdrop.
The few and far between pictures of people were just a couple of selfies showing Lee Sihyuk’s face.
When I scrolled to the very bottom of the album, the photo I was looking for finally appeared.
Five boys and girls who looked like they had just become middle school students.
It was a photo taken in front of some research institute, and a sullen-faced Lee Sihyuk could be seen in the corner.
One of the puzzle pieces needed for Lee Sihyuk’s awakening event.
By confronting his own past, the cap on his ability user level would be released, allowing him to eventually grow to B-rank—
That kind of—
Event— but—

‘We’ll definitely see each other again, okay?’

My head spun.

Just like when I thought about how to use the Colorless Element, a memory related to the photo surfaced in my mind.
‘The trauma remaining in Lee Sihyuk’s body must be synchronizing with me.’
I felt like my consciousness was about to be swept away by a flood of memories.
My body trembled.
My breathing grew ragged.

“Your food is here!”

The clack of the bowl being set down on the table jolted my mind, which had been sinking.
I snapped my head up, startled, to see the owner giving me a good-natured smile.

“Ah, yes.”
“Enjoy your meal!”

I picked up my spoon, half dazed.
The fluffy, golden grains of rice danced in my mouth.
It’s delicious.
It has a distinct smoky flavor from the wok, and it’s fried perfectly.
Mm.
Mmm…

‘I guess I should postpone looking into Lee Sihyuk’s past for now.’
It seems my mind can’t yet handle the trauma deeply embedded in this body.
I thought there wouldn’t be a big problem since Lee Sihyuk’s consciousness was replaced by mine, but it seems it can’t be resolved that simply.

‘Anyway, this fried rice is really delicious.’
For it to be this plentiful and only cost 5,500 won.
‘I should come here often from now on.’

Academia provides students with living expenses based on their ability user level.
A D-rank student can barely last a month if they live frugally.
According to the lore, Lee Sihyuk is an orphan born and raised in Academia, so he can’t expect financial support from family like other students.
That’s why he tried to raise his ability user level quickly… but since the first step ended in failure, I guess I have no choice but to be frugal for now.
The awakening event seemed possible only after finding the ‘Teacher’.

“Check, please.”

Patting my stomach, I got up from my seat and handed the card from my wallet to the kind-faced owner.
And a moment later.

“Son, the card was declined. Insufficient funds.”
“…What?”