I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 2

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Oh, shit. I’m back.”

“…?”

As soon as Schlus opened his eyes, he spouted a curse.

The mouths of Alexia and the examiners watching him opened and closed, not knowing what to say.

The mana reaction of the spell had disappeared.

In other words, the spell was destroyed.

And the one responsible was…

“Listen to me until the end. I’m giving up on the entra-”

“You got a perfect score!”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll give you a perfect score! Does anyone object?”

“No…objections…”

Alexia’s clear shout made the examiners look uncomfortable as they clicked their tongues, but they indicated their agreement.

Evaluating talent was separate from disliking him for being a commoner.

“…Pardon?”

On the other hand, Schlus, who was the subject, simply stood still with a dumb look on his face, as if he couldn’t understand.

“Don’t you feel it? You’re the top admitted student! If no other perfect scorer appears after this!”

“But I didn’t do any-”

“Then go out now! You need to prepare for the next exam quickly!”

“But what the heck is…”

When Alexia waved her hand, two staff members appeared behind Schlus, grabbing his arms and lifting him up.

“Shouldn’t you at least explain what’s going on?!”

“Haah…”

Seeing his dangling figure being forcibly expelled, the examiners sighed deeply.

Rather, they were the ones who needed an explanation of what was going on.

How did this commoner, who seemed to have no talent, pass the demanding special exam set by the famous headmistress…?

No, it would have been better if he had just passed. He got a perfect score.

It was an unprecedented event since the founding of the Imperial Academy.

Both a commoner passing the special exam and someone getting a perfect score on the special exam were firsts.

“Does everyone agree that the exam process was fair?”

“Yes, we agree.”

“Even I couldn’t have escaped from there.”

At Alexia’s reconfirmation, the examiners all clicked their tongues.

It was a spell personally created by Alexia, an expert in barrier magic.

Even when five examiners reviewed it before the exam, the only thing they could say was “perfect.”

The theme of the barrier magic was ‘fear’.

It trapped the test-taker in an inescapable space and then showed and played the things they feared the most.

The reason for being inescapable was that the inside of the barrier was made into a ‘mana vacuum’ state where mana did not exist at all.

This made it impossible to cast spells since there was no mana to inscribe them.

In this state where the test-taker could not escape physically or magically, they experienced hallucinations of the things they feared the most coming at them from all sides.

While not many examinees had taken this special exam, almost all of them had either wet themselves, cried on the ground, or fainted.

Therefore, Alexia had set the passing condition for the special exam quite generously.

If they could overcome their fear, or at least try to do something without panicking, she would judge them as having remarkable mental strength for a student and give them the minimum passing score for the entrance exam.

“…I wonder what he saw.”

“Yes, indeed.”

However, Schlus had simply stood still while trapped in that barrier.

With an expressionless face, as if nothing was wrong.

When he nonchalantly tilted his head and looked at his hands and feet, Alexia and the examiners checked the spell again, wondering if there was a problem with it.

Surely, the thing he feared most should have appeared before his eyes.

What on earth did he see that left him so unfazed?

But the real surprise came right after that.

It was the moment when Alexia was about to declare Schlus had passed for enduring the fear barrier and terminate the spell.

“Well then, Schlus has passed, so… Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Headmistress?”

“Huh?!”

It was the first time they had seen Alexia so flustered.

“The spell… It’s breaking!”

“What?!”

At Alexia’s following urgent words, the examiners’ expressions also turned to shock.

Breaking the spell.

It sounded simple, but it wasn’t that easy.

Spells were inscribed using external mana and operated using magic power as an energy source, like a circulating circuit.

Since they were imprinted on external mana, anyone could interfere with the spell if they were close enough.

However, controlling the spell was another matter.

Only the caster knew the key code of the spell, so for others to control it, they would first have to analyze the complex structure and work backwards to steal the key code or find a security vulnerability.

Up to this point, it was manageable.

High-ranking mages could easily do this using deciphering or calculation magic.

But the problem was that Schlus was inside the mana vacuum barrier.

He couldn’t get any magical help with reverse-engineering the spell.

“Eek! Eeek…”

Crack… Crack…

Despite Alexia’s all-out attempts to stop it, the control of the spell eventually passed to Schlus, and it broke.

That was why Alexia and the examiners were speechless for a moment, stunned.

Back to the present.

Alexia and the examiners had gathered in a circle, facing each other.

The excuse about preparing for the next exam was just that – an excuse.

There were no other students hoping for a double major this year besides Schlus.

They just needed time to quickly expel Schlus and discuss the situation.

“Maybe he’s just good at calculations. When I saw him earlier, he seemed totally unfit to be a combat mage.”

This was the opinion of Sergey von Freust, the professor of combat magic.

“Hmm! That may be true! But with that level of mental strength! I think he can overcome anything!”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“If he doesn’t adapt to combat magic! Professor Sergey can just give him an F based on his judgment! Then he’ll drop the double major on his own!”

“Well, I suppose so. This is the first time I’ve seen a special exam passer, too… I never thought I’d have this kind of discussion.”

“Oh! Speaking of which, did Professor Ludwig not see him? He was here before I arrived – a special exam passer!”

“…Yes, I did.”

Ludwig narrowed his brows at Alexia’s loud voice, as if it bothered him, and replied.

The examiners’ eyes then focused on him.

He had been at the Imperial Academy the longest, serving for over 20 years.

“Gawain von Schultzenburg.”

“Ah! The magic knight!”

“So he was a special exam passer, too!”

They all nodded in understanding at the name Ludwig murmured softly.

Gawain von Schultzenburg.

The head of the Schultzenburg family, which was originally just a mercenary household until the emperor made them his most favored knight family.

He was also the strongest mage and knight to be remembered in imperial history.

His martial arts were said to be unmatched, and his magic brought innovations that would be remembered academically and in combat.

“…A passer, you say? Not a perfect scorer?”

“Yes.”

At Ludwig’s terse reply, the atmosphere froze.

If even Gawain couldn’t ultimately break the spell,

Then what the hell was this commoner?

“I don’t know if he’ll be able to enroll alive after the exam results are announced.”

Professor Sergey shook his head and sighed.

The noble families would probably make a fuss again.

It was already unusual for a commoner to be admitted, let alone as the top student.

Dozens of informants would be hired to dig into Schlus’s background.

Some families might even try to assassinate him.

“It’s been so long! Something fun is finally happening! Don’t you all agree?”

However, for some reason, Alexia’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, not even trying to hide it.

For her, ordinary human life was so boring that she could hardly stand it.

Seeing this, the examiners-

“I agree.”

“It’s going to be quite a mess.”

They laughed and agreed with Alexia’s opinion.

It was now a foregone conclusion that winds of change would blow through the Imperial Academy.

The main point of interest now was where those winds would lead.

***

[Quest Completed]

[Reward: 3 Store Coins]

Those were the words that appeared on his retina as soon as he dismantled the spell.

Store coins.

What kind of store was it talking about?

[Store]

[You can purchase items using Store Coins.]

[Activates when all stats reach 10 or higher.]

10 or higher…

For stats like strength and agility, he could probably raise them through sheer effort if he tried hard enough.

But how could he increase things like mana responsiveness or intensity?

It didn’t seem possible without obtaining some special items.

As the author, he knew the locations of all the items, but… The problem was that they were all stuck in dangerous areas.

If he went now, he would instantly die.

…There was no solution.

Didn’t possessioncore stories usually give the store as a basic system?

[Author’s Note: I still included growth since it felt necessary. 10 is around the average, so you should reach it soon enough, right?]

“This f**k-”

These note-like comments attached to every single element really got on his nerves.

What did the author mean, ’10 is around the average’?

Saying that to someone whose stats didn’t even reach the average?

If he returned to reality, he would find the author first and kill them.

“But still…”

He looked around.

Outside the Imperial Academy.

In other words, the city center of Freya, the capital of the Freya Empire, was laid out before his eyes.

A setting he had casually written as the largest city on the continent with a population of 3 million was now a reality.

“Damn, it’s impressive.”

It was true that being possessed out of nowhere sucked.

But if he said he wasn’t amazed by this situation, that would be a lie.

It was a fantasy every author had dreamed of, if only in their imagination.

If the writing wasn’t going well, was this telling him to create his own ending with his own hands?

If he returned to reality, he would have to thank the author first.

And then kill them. The bastard.

“Welcome. For one person?”

“Yes, one draft beer, please.”

“Understood! The price is-”

“30 terions, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

As he walked down the street, he stepped into a random pub and sat down.

The price of draft beer was indeed 30 terions, as he clearly remembered.

30 terions was equivalent to 3,000 won in Korean currency – a convenient conversion rate he had set for easy calculation.

“What the…?”

He searched his pockets and found only 8 coins.

All 10-terion coins.

His entire net worth was 8,000 won…?

“Here you are, sir.”

“……”

The beer arrived, but he couldn’t just not pay.

In the end, he had to painfully hand over those 30 terions.

“Ugh…”

As he drank the beer and organized his thoughts.

First, his name was Schlus Hainkel.

From his name and clothing, he was a commoner.

“Hmm…”

Looking at the mirror on the pub wall… He didn’t seem ugly, fortunately.

He couldn’t be called muscular, but his body was covered in small muscles and calluses, suggesting he was used to labor.

Good, so far.

The problem was that he knew absolutely nothing beyond that.

He didn’t know where Schlus was from.

Who his family was. Or if he even had one.

He had no idea what this guy did.

‘Profile.’

He tried murmuring it inwardly, just in case, but-

“…Damn it.”

Nothing happened.

There was a stat window, but no profile window.

The system was really shittily made.

He would have to run around and ask people to find out Schlus Hainkel’s identity.

“Ah.”

It occurred to him as he drank his beer.

The special exam of the entrance test.

Why had he forgotten about that?

It was the exam that Erika, one of the named characters in the story, had impressively passed – an extremely difficult test he had set.

The name of that barrier was the Fear Barrier, which was supposed to show and play the things the test-taker feared most.

But for me, nothing appeared or was heard.

My vision just went completely black, and all sound was cut off.

There’s no way the barrier was flawed, so why was that?

I’m scared of so many things.

If even a swarm of cockroaches had appeared, I would have cried and snotted all over myself.

But Alexia and the examiners wouldn’t think that way.

They would think I either didn’t fear anything or had superhuman mental strength.

“Hah. I’m screwed.”

By chance, I was admitted to the Imperial Academy as the top student and would be treated as a superhuman.

When in fact, most of my stats didn’t even reach the average – I was the shittiest of the shitty.

If I hadn’t possessed this body, I would have smoothly failed.

Come to think of it, I wonder where Siegfried Hertlocker, the original protagonist of this novel, is and what he’s doing now.

[T/N: tf is that name bro]

“Oh shit.”

I just remembered.

In the original story, the protagonist Hertlocker was admitted to the Imperial Academy as the lowest-ranking student.

But with Schlus, who was supposed to fail, getting a perfect score instead…

It means Hertlocker failed.

I’m really screwed.

Seriously, completely screwed.

When I say ‘screwed,’ I don’t mean that with the protagonist gone, the story can’t progress in this academy novel.

Hertlocker is not the kind of guy who would drop out of the story line just for failing admission.

In fact, he’ll have an even bigger impact on the story than in the original.

Siegfried Hertlocker, the protagonist of this novel, is a spy from an enemy nation at war with the empire.

In other words, he’s a terrorist sent to kill all the students and faculty at the Imperial Academy.

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