[BONUS]
"So tell us . . . what went into your brain and ordered meat when you know that you're a noob and that your CR is almost gone. Are you like rich and have a lot of gil, perhaps?" Zhang asked straight to the point.
I got the impression that this individual would ruin my day out of sheer spite.
I drew a deep breath.
I guess ordering that meat was really a big deal. I think I was the only noob here who did it, so they were curious, if not, jealous.
Hyden elbowed Zhang while laughing. "Sorry about this blunt guy. We're just curious if . . . you know, you have a lot of CR or . . . a lot of gil."
". . . Should I answer that?" I asked, confused. He was sorry, but his tone was commanding as if I owed him something.
One was wearing a big smile on his face but hid his real intentions, while the other one wore a deep frown and showed his fangs upfront.
What did I ever do to them anyway?
<Do you want the System to add them on the Main Quest?>
No!
Hyden's smile skewed a little, and he stifled a laugh. "No. Of course not. You're not obligated to answer. It's your private information, after all.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Just like I said . . . we're just curious and all. Too bad we could have been friends. Let's go, Zhang."
"Looks like he's really just an idiot," whispered Hyden.
"I told you," answered Zhang.
Now I knew why they approached me. They made their intentions clear. They thought that if I had gil to spend, they would become my friends, provided that I would buy them meals every day, that is.
I couldn't blame them.
When you have a society where a majority of the players, or at least a third of the players, live in a situation where they didn't know when the next meal was coming from in an unsteady world like this, they would look for patrons. They would look for people that they could call upon during times of trouble.
It was the same for everyone.
I took a deep breath and tried my hardest to block out the noise.
The time was already eight fifteen, and no sign of the teacher. But there was now someone who finally took a sit beside me.
And upon looking over at my new seatmate, my jaw dropped.
It was Lina!
She was sitting straight next to me, and her flawless face portrayed a bored expression. To begin with, her eyelids were always half closed, like she was half asleep.
If I was not mistaken, she had a rare class of a Gun Mage though she wasn't a BUG player who received special ATP privileges.
But I was more surprised because she was in the same room as me. I thought that she arrived at this school two days ago. Shouldn't she be in another room together with her batch mates?
She noticed me staring at her, for she briefly spared me a glance.
"What?" she asked. Even her voice sounded lethargic.
"Agh . . . nothing . . . it's just . . . are you in the right room? Aren't you here longer than us?" I wanted to tell her straight that she was already in this Academy for two days and, thus, shouldn't be in this room and listening to the same lectures as us.
". . ." Lina looked forward without a change of expression before she answered, "I forgot the first lecture . . . so I'm sitting in . . ."
". . . I-I see . . ."
I didn't ask more.
Apparently, we can sit into other lectures. Or was it only applied to her since others feared her and were afraid to question her actions?
I never got the chance to find out when another player went inside, and everyone stopped talking while the room fell silent like time had stopped.
I didn't feel surprised because I had a feeling that he would go here since Lina was here.
Of course, I was talking about Jin.
I looked away when he glared at me and sat from the empty chair next row to where Lina and I were sitting.
Given his feelings for Lina, which I knew that the latter didn't know, I could understand the protectiveness since I was the same with my sisters.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmMy train of thought was disrupted when the teacher finally came through the door.
It was, of course, teacher Fey.
"Teeheehee~ Sorry I'm late, guys. I overslept," she said and playfully knocked her head with her fist while sticking her tongue and winking at us.
Back on earth, from where I came from, it would be a serious problem if the teacher was late. But in this world, it was swept under the rug with just a joke.
Not that I minded since I preferred laidback and cool teachers than stricter ones.
"Alright, guys. I know most of you just enrolled yesterday, so let's know your names one by one," she said and pointed at the first person on the front row seat. "Starting with you."
Egh . . . ? I didn't know that even here, introducing yourself to your classmates was still the norm.
It was not only me who was surprised at the first activity our teacher wanted us to do. All of us here were stunned speechless.
Reading our reaction, Teacher Fey merely giggled and said with a silly smile. "This introducing yourself on the first day of school seemed to be popular back in your world, so let's do it here too. Too reminiscent of your time on earth."
". . ." So that's her reason.
I faked a laugh together with the others.
We're off to a good start. Mind the sarcasm.
The first player introduced himself, and time moved forward, and before I knew it, it would be my turn next.
My hand sweated, and there was like a hurricane wreaking havoc in my stomach like I had drank four litters of ice coffee, and I couldn't pee or poop it out.
No matter how old I get, I would never get used to these types of things that put me in the limelight.