A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 10

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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As usual in fantasy, the ears of elves were sharp.

That applied to Selena Windforce, a half-elf, as well.

-Aren’t archers all for the elf kids anyway?

-Well, if they’re the son of a hunter or from a divine archery family, humans pick it too.

-Even bow users are in fierce competition now.

-Is she also aiming for an archer?

-A half-elf?

-Then does she only have half the talent?

The stories mentioned herself from the surroundings; whether she wanted to hear them or not, she had to listen.

As the war intensified and a small number of elves became able to enroll in the academy,
she was no exception.

Instead, the academy was a shelter for her.

It was the first place where she, who had struggled to feel a sense of belonging anywhere, could feel stability.

Of course, being a half-elf meant having a complicated background from the start, so it was sufficiently gossip-worthy for the students who loved to chatter.

In fact, archery had long been the calling of the elves.

It was because elves could use wind archery by forming a contract with sylphs through their wind spirit affinity.

This created a difference in skill that was different from the simple archery development trends of humans, such as nobles’ hobbies or commoners’ hunting professions.

However…

‘I still haven’t…’

-Selena, you still haven’t made a contract…?

-Ah… Sorry. I asked something unnecessary…

-It’s okay! Surely, the grace will reach Selena too!

Sadly, the spirit’s touch had not yet reached her.

That made her stronger instead.

Rumors could be silenced with skills.

This was Selena’s belief.

The thing she had never let go of since she was born and raised was none other than the bow.

In other words, doubts about her qualifications could be proven through her abilities.

There was no need to nitpick and blabber behind her back like humans; she just had to show them.

That she could be an archer regardless of the spirit’s blessing.

It was just the beginning.

It was at that moment when she thought that.

Another ordinary human, no, a man who should have been ordinary, took a seat.

‘Lev Denec…’

The most pitiful person among the humans she had seen so far.

-Hey, do you know what kind of family mine is?!

-The class level is so low. It only makes me yawn.

An empty wagon is loud, and the less people have, the more they boast about having a lot.

He was the epitome of that.

The typical appearance of someone Selena despised.

So she had never even paid attention to that human.

But now, the one who had been so confident in his magical abilities and had been tyrannical suddenly said he was aiming to be an archer.

Moreover, she clearly heard it.

-Because I think I can do well.

“……”

-Squeeze…

Selena clenched her fists tightly.

At his candid answer that seemed to mock all the efforts she had made so far.

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It wasn’t in “Reincarnated Hero,” but there was a player like that in some game before.

They said it was inspired by a famous novel.

Still, there was a tendency to give guns only to the mercenary NPCs belonging to their party.

As the saying goes, a gun is just a gun.

Since it’s a mechanical device, all it does is fire bullets, so it’s not suitable for applying the inherent magic power or talent of the caster.

Therefore, it’s easy to handle and recommended for newbies.

Still, as the saying implies, it also has the disadvantage of having a clear limit.

However, that player instead took advantage of it.

Since the reinforcement of bullets that can add variables to the damage is something that can be prepared in advance, they invested only in health and accuracy, compressing the stats to draw out extreme efficiency rather than magic power or strength.

Since they were going to give it to the mercenary NPCs that would be used and discarded anyway, it was an optimization build to quickly pass the early stages instead of bothersome circle or swordsmanship builds.

‘It was a popular post on the forum for a while…’

That incident sparked the community for a week on the topic of ‘is it efficient or not?’.

Anyway, the lesson I learned from that was simple.

If your stats are X, it’s definitely guns in the early game.

Let’s conquer as a newbie with the power of guns.

This was my formula and strategy.

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-Ching!

[Anonymous Feedback: Guns aren’t foundational.]

[According to the reader’s feedback, guns aren’t foundational. Therefore, it is a world view without firearms.]

“Crazy bastard?”

Did I leave such a comment?

No.

Which bastard is it?!

Of course, in a non-modern fantasy worldview, guns may seem to lack foundation.

But in that well-known game, , dwarves have gun proficiency as a racial trait and use guns, right?

I was going to put it in reluctantly with this feeling…

‘Whew… That damn author… Really.’

It’s okay.

If not, a pheasant or a chicken will do; there will still be plenty of ways to utilize my abilities.

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‘He’s making me flustered.’

The instructor, Sylvester, was a veteran who had been in charge of freshmen for 16 semesters.

Although Claris had various students enrolling from all over the continent every time, this kind of guy was quite rare.

The academy’s purpose was to maximize the role-performing ability of each position by training the students’ primary weapons and creating a party of heroes who would be active in actual combat.

Therefore, they had to select only the most outstanding talents within the continent, but for a mage to aim for an archer.

He wasn’t an elf, nor from a renowned archer family, nor the son of a hunter.

Even in the student information, it was clearly stated that the Denec family was recognized for their innate mana quantity and produced somewhat outstanding mages.

In other words, it was common sense, rather than a stereotype, that aristocratic families with magic power excelled in magic,

knight families excelled in knighthood,

and those who received revelations excelled in divine abilities.

Rejecting that common sense was equivalent to advertising “I want to be expelled” in an academy that loved to draw lines.

From a different perspective, such impulsive behavior could be considered disgracing Claris Academy’s pride.

It might even bring disadvantages to the individual’s future.

[Lev Denec: 49 Demerit Points]

‘I’m curious what someone with no backing will choose.’

As for archer weapons, there were longbows, recurve bows, short bows, and crossbows, but elves and typical archer families preferred everything except crossbows and short bows.

At that moment, Vice Instructor Bella asked Sylvester quietly, only for him to hear.

Perhaps because they had been close for a long time, Bella’s tone no longer contained that of an instructor.

“Senior, it’s been a really long time since we had a non-family archer. When was the last time?”

“It would have been about ten years ago.”

“Do you want to bet on what he’ll choose?”

“Now isn’t the time for betting…”

“Are you scared?”

“2 weeks’ worth of meal allowance, on the crossbow.”

“Eh! I was also going to say crossbow?”

It was natural for Sylvester to be able to assert this.

First of all, even if he chose an unpopular weapon, he wouldn’t have to be directly compared.

Also, since crossbows were more straightforward to operate than bows, he could use them even if he lacked proficiency.

This was a development that occurred once every semester.

However, at least they weren’t from a mage family.

Those who had no particular talent were driven into a corner and chose the crossbow or the sons of hunters hoped for luck and chose the crossbow.

The crossbow ending.

The grave of the talentless.

Indeed, even Lev Denec would be well aware of that.

That those who chose the crossbow weren’t meant to become great.

-Tap.

As Lev selected his weapon, Bella tapped her forehead.

“Oh my, dear God.”

In the end, what he held in his hand was a crossbow.

Sylvester also turned his head.

“After speaking so confidently, is this how it turns out?”

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I also knew choosing a crossbow, which made it challenging to incorporate the character’s abilities, had a clear limit.

However, to survive the first week in this academy without being kicked out,

I had to choose the item with the highest chance of survival.

In that sense, the reason for choosing the crossbow was very simple.

I examined it using the game system, and the status window told me to do so.

Among the weapons with only the prefix “practice,” this oak crossbow was the only one.

Perhaps because hardly anyone chose it, it seemed they just put a ready-made one as a formality.

So, from here, I would gain a slight advantage.

For now, it was better for me to have as much raw damage as possible.

Moreover, this guy with only one point of strength wouldn’t even have the power to pull and hold a bowstring.

Forget about accuracy; it would be difficult to even practice.

But with a crossbow, once the string was loaded onto the fixed frame, it could be fired through a mechanical mechanism.

Therefore, it was perfect for me, an empty can with no talent, as it didn’t require much of the user’s ability.

In conclusion, choosing a gun would be the best, but since there were no guns, I simply chose the next best thing.

‘It’s fine since it’s just a temporary weapon anyway.’

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“Return to your seats.”

“Yes.”

Our protagonist Edwin applied for the vanguard with two-handed swords.

“…”

He hesitated as if he had something to say about yesterday’s incident but eventually sat down.

After that, it was a quick process.

Everyone agonized in their own way, seriously aimed for their position, and selected their primary weapon.

Melissa chose a wand and applied for the middle guard.

Aria chose a priest’s staff and applied for the middle guard.

Selena chose a bow and applied for the rearguard.

“As expected.”

Everything was exactly as in the novel.

“Ah, um.”

And finally, Vice Instructor Bella began explaining the future schedule.

“With this, the positioning is all finished. Take a good rest over the weekend, and the actual class assignment evaluation will take place next Monday.”

“The test will be conducted in parties. Form groups of 5 with students who share the same intentions or think they need each other, and submit the groups by Monday before the test.”

With that, the positioning came to an end.

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In the empty lecture hall, after the instructors had left, Claris’ students gathered in groups of three or five.

They were noisy, discussing the party formation.

-Hey, you’re going to be with us, right?

-Of course. Just trust me.

-Next, the healer~

-What a demon bait~

Party formation was, of course, important.

But it had nothing to do with me.

I was labeled as the bottom student in the entrance exam, a ruffian, and trash, and now I even applied for an archer.

There would be no crazy bastard who would invite me to their party.

Is this the feeling of passing around the group assignment bomb?

I feel sorry in advance for the kids who will meet me, but the instructors will assign the remaining members anyway.

And I have no intention of causing trouble there and giving them a reason to expel me from the academy; just doing my job well.

-What is everyone doing today?

-We should rest today since we finished early.

-Agreed.

-I’m going to the fitness center.

-You’re a tough one…

Since there was no afternoon schedule at all, everyone was wondering what to do during the free period.

Of course, I, who was on the verge of expulsion, had to build up at least a minimum level of proficiency with the crossbow from today until the weekend.

What can I do? It’s Lev Denec’s body that was allotted to me.

‘Fitness center, here I come.’

In “Reincarnated Hero,” training grounds or forests were set up to provide additional experience.

Therefore, for me, to whom this game system applies, it was better to go to the training room unconditionally rather than training roughly anywhere.

With that determination, I was about to leave the classroom.

Aria was standing at the entrance as if waiting for someone.

“……”

And after staring at me, who had just come out for a while with a blunt expression,

“Ria, what are you doing here? Let’s go.”

“Ah, yes.”

She disappeared with Melissa.

“…What was that?”

Feeling uncomfortable, I turned around to leave through the front door,

“?”

And there stood the half-elf, Selena, at the threshold.

As expected of an elf, her sharp eyes created an impression that made it difficult to get close to her quickly.

-…

She also stared at me coldly and soon disappeared.

“No, seriously, what is it…”

Is this what it means to be an existence that makes you feel bad just by existing…?

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