Chapter 1: I Became the Last Place in the Academy

I bit into the bread. The dry bread robbed the moisture from my mouth, but it was okay since I had milk in my other hand.

More than that, maybe it was because there was something even drier than the bread, but this bread felt rather soft.

The world of meritocracy was more stifling than I had imagined.

Actually, I thought I could quickly become friendly with everyone if I endured for a few days, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

Just as there are pyramids in the world, there was an invisible pyramid in the academy, the place where this uniform I was wearing belonged.

Perhaps that's why, as someone who lacked skills and couldn't achieve good grades, I was crawling at the bottom, unable to fit in with the other kids, and spending my days like that.

Munch, munch.

I picked up the bread with my bare hands, making no rustling sound, and quietly bit into it, filling my mouth as I munched.

I didn't forget to take a sip of milk when my jaw hurt from the difficulty of eating.

I understand not wanting to be friends with the lowest-ranked student, but my desperate heart, feeling like they were going too far, was truly helpless.

I once sat in the cafeteria, thinking it didn't matter, but they should have given me subtle hints.

"......"

Ah, the school I used to go to didn't ostracize kids for having bad grades, but it seemed like it was different here.

They said the lowest-ranked student was contagious or something.

"There are too many tests. It's annoying."

"It can't be helped... Sigh, but if you consistently do well or improve from before, you can be assigned to a good place."

"I guess. Considering that you can often turn things around... But what does the lowest-ranked student do?"

"Well, they'll probably be transferred to the countryside, like a demotion."

The girls who came to the bathroom beyond the partition to fix their makeup giggled like that and left.

The common point between the top and bottom students was that they were at the end of a group.

Perhaps that's why, unlike the top student, the bottom student was often talked about.

The top student, the object of interest and admiration, and the bottom student, the object of contempt and avoidance, used as a negative example.

They had only one thing in common, but there were too many differences, which was quite tiring.

Still, I couldn't help but feel upset.

Even more so that I had to eat like this because of the surrounding eyes rather than being backstabbed.

I thought about going up to the rooftop, but there was already someone there.

I looked for a hidden place like a backyard, but it seemed that such a thing didn't exist in this huge academy.

Seeing everyone taking a spot as their own secret base, I had no choice but to make this place my own.

I quickly put the milk in my mouth and swallowed.

The feeling of the bread going down my esophagus with a gulp felt difficult.

After folding the milk carton as much as possible and throwing it in the trash can, I pulled out a few tissues just in case and placed them on top.

It was my own best effort to hide it invisibly.

As I washed my hands and naturally left the place, my body bumped into someone who happened to be passing by.

"...Huh?"

Black hair and golden eyes.

The protagonist of this story, Yun Hamin. A protagonist who possessed both innate talent and skill.

An existence at the top.

In contrast, I was an existence at the bottom.

"Oh, you are..."

As soon as I saw him, I ran away as if escaping.

I avoided the spot, fearing that other girls would see me with the protagonist and curse at me for no reason.

The future I knew was the destiny of this world and the protagonist's ending, not the ending of the lowest-ranked student who couldn't even help, whether they were there or not.

What's the point of knowing the future? I don't have the power to use it.

This knowledge, which is a blessing if you can use it and a curse if you can't, felt like a curse to me now.

I was worried about approaching the protagonist because I was conscious of other people's gazes, and I doubted whether he would believe me even if I did approach him.

Well, who would believe it if a kid who wasn't even close to him ran up and said, "A war will break out in the future, and it's unavoidable. Everyone will die."

I don't think I would believe it either.

It was a terrible curse, and yet a blessing that gave me time to think.

I walked along the hallway, sticking close to the wall.

The kids glanced at me once and then passed by, chatting with their friends.

At first, I couldn't adapt, but now I could accept it to some extent.

The fact that I was being ostracized.

It's hard to call them bad guys. Since the places they were assigned to differed depending on their grades, they tended to become friends with people who were similar to them.

Probably something like, "Let's have a good relationship and do well."

If that's the case, I should have a bottom-ranked group too, but being the uniquely lowest-ranked student felt like I'm being excluded even from that group.

The feeling of, "Still, I'm not as bad as you," was strongly felt.

"...Hah."

Even if I sighed, time passed.

Lunchtime ended, and I took classes.

I faced ordinary subjects like Korean, math, and history, but before I knew it, I also had to face unique classes like hand-to-hand combat, weapon skills, and magicology.

I had once thought about wanting to go back to my school days, but if I had to live as an outcast with a changed appearance, I don't think I would have wanted that.

Feeling bored, I glanced at the window next to me.

I could see beyond the window first, but my faintly reflected appearance also caught my eye.

Ivory-colored hair and amethyst-colored eyes.

I stared at it for a long time and then turned my head, feeling like another sigh was about to escape.

"So, this land has a history of numerous battles..."

Some of them had already started to fall asleep.

I turned my gaze slightly, leaving those kids behind.

I took a quick look at the protagonist, Yun Hamin.

He was the person in the novel I had read who was destined to face tragedy.

Whether it was the author's taste or not, he was a tragic protagonist whose seemingly happy days were tainted and left alone.

When I thought about him losing what he wanted to protect, losing his love and friends, and returning alone, my heart already felt heavy.

Let's recall the tragedies he would gain from his surroundings one by one.

And let's find ways to protect them one by one.

Then, at the very end, wouldn't we be able to prevent the tragedy that would strike even though it seemed like he would be happy?

I opened a white notebook and was about to write on it with a pen when I noticed the heroine, Orca, glancing back at me.

"...Oh."

I think I'm screwed?

***

As soon as class ended, there was a shadow of someone running towards me.

It was none other than Orca who slammed her hand on the desk I was sitting at and spoke as if declaring something.

"Excuse me for a moment, may I have a word?"

"...Ah, yes."

I nodded and stood up from my chair, following her as she started walking first.

I knew I had to keep my distance from Yun Hamin, but it seemed like she was bothered by the fact that I had been staring at him too much from behind during class.

Since Orca called me, she must have been annoyed and called me outside.

Thinking that, I followed her.

The place we arrived at was none other than the end of the hallway, halfway up the stairs leading to the rooftop, where people rarely came during breaks.

I understand wanting to talk in a secluded place, but it was too secluded, so I couldn't help but feel scared.

Orca Ramiris.

The runner-up who would have taken the top spot in the academy if the protagonist hadn't been there.

"Kanna."

I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the atmosphere that announced that she was a daughter from a very high-ranking family with blonde hair and blue eyes.

She stared at me with slightly sharp eyes.

Then, she made a somewhat displeased expression and said.

"...Why aren't you concentrating? You're the lowest-ranked student."

"Eh, uh...? Yes?"

For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard and widened my eyes.

But soon, I realized that her serious expression was looking at me.

"If you're the lowest-ranked student and you're not concentrating in class, what are you going to do? Even if everyone only cares about their own ranking, please don't do things that lower the average of the class."

"...But other kids are sleeping too..."

"......"

"Yes."

It felt like, "The lowest-ranked student is talking back?" so I closed my mouth and nodded.

Orca, who seemed dissatisfied but got an answer from me, turned her head and left as if she was satisfied.

I was left standing blankly on the stairs with a dumb expression.

I thought she had come to scold me for staring at Yun Hamin for too long, but I felt a little strange that she had come to say something because she didn't like that the lowest-ranked student wasn't concentrating in class and was being the lowest-ranked student.

What is it?

In the meantime, I had been studying hard as a reconnaissance operation to find out how capable I was, or rather, this body, Kanna.

And before long, I realized my limits and gave up halfway.

I just thought that helping the protagonist or people nearby was the most likely thing to succeed.

Could it be that something changed because I suddenly stopped studying...?

"Oh... I'm really screwed."

I muttered like that while standing blankly.

My plan was to proceed without disturbing the flow of the story as much as possible, and then, at the most important point, or at the very beginning, to latch onto the protagonist or heroine and get help.

But my plan was bullshit, and I had to watch a scene where something seemed to have gone wrong due to my actions.

This isn't a game or a novel.

For me now, and for them, this place was reality.

It's not a world where branching choices come out separately, but a world where you can react to everything.

But how would I know the usual behavior of the lowest-ranked student, which isn't even well described in the novel?

Because I didn't know that, I felt like I was failing before I could even carry out what I had planned.

The sound of branches splitting must be my hallucination.

But what should I do?

Should I study again?

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