Standing awkwardly against the wall, I pulled out my smart watch and memorized the few notes I had bothered to take during class.
Knowing my luck, the odds that I would run into someone from the main cast while standing here was 100%, but that didn't stop me from at least trying to prevent it.
After a couple of minutes, I felt a gaze on me, causing my thoughts to fly into chaos immediately.
Was it Liam? Lily? Irene? Alya? Undoubtedly, those 4 would be the worst people who could show up right in front of me, as I had bad relationships with all of them.
Slowly tilting my head upwards, I let out a sigh of relief as a boy of similar height to me, with black curly hair and amber eyes, entered my vision.
Zack.
Although he was looking at me from the opposite side of the hall, his positive aura still managed to spread all the way to me.
Since I had never met Zach before, even as the original Ren, I would just have to act according to the rumors.
What were the rumors circulating about me again? They changed every week, so I couldn't be bothered to check on them.
Seriously though, I swear some students would proactively follow me and check if I left the academy so that they create more rumors and gain popularity.
I basically had a fan club.
If I had to guess, this week's rumors probably related to me harassing or blackmailing Ruby due to the scene we caused earlier.
As Zach approached me, I already knew what the conversation was going to be about. Would this positive guy really let it go if I were "blackmailing" Ruby? Unlike the others though, he wouldn't have any qualms with me being in the top 10 building.
Well, I haven't messed around with Raven in a while, so maybe I could have some fun with this guy. I needed to pass some time while waiting for Ruby as well.
Also, her eerily calm voice still echoed in my head, so I needed a distraction.
Putting one of my shoes against the wall, I put on a smirk on my face as I stared at my smartwatch to make myself seem arrogant and cocky.
Approaching me with a genuine and concerned expression, Zach waited in front of me for a moment before asking.
"Ah, Ren, I don't think we've talked before. I'm Kevin, nice to me-"
Interrupting his introduction, I asked while staring at some random app on my smartwatch.
"What do you want?"
Surprised by my outburst, Zach stepped back and continued.
"I-i was just curious about some rumors circulating ar-"
"Get on with it, will you? Your very presence pissing me off. "
"I apologize if my presence offends you... I just wanted to as-"
Wasn't I the one in his dorm building? Why is he just standing there and taking my insults and even apologizing?
Internally laughing at his flustered face, I interrupted him once again.
"Did you not hear me the first time? What do you want?"
It was like a loop. He tried to explain what he wanted, but I interrupted him, asking what he wanted before he could finish explaining.
"There were some damaging rumors spread around ab-"
"Oh my lord, where did you learn how to speak? Stop with the bullshit and just tell me what you want?"
How long can this loop last? Would I be unable to suppress my laughter anymore and break into laughter, or would Ruby come first?
If you're wondering why I didn't mention the possibility of him actually explaining to me what he wanted, that would be genuinely impossible with me around.
There was also the slight possibility that he broke, but for that, I would need at least 30 minutes.
A crack appeared in his kind expression as he bit his lip, but he still persisted.
"Some terrible rumors have been spreading around about you, and I was wondering if th-"
"Are you illiterate? Spit it out instead of just saying, 'There have been rumors.' Genuinely, I get and understand that you had a terrible education as a commoner, but this is a new low."
"Alright, listen, some pe-"
"Listen? What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past minute?"
Seeing his smile slowly starting to break, I wanted to continue, but before I could say anything else, a voice called out from behind both of us.
"Oh, hey Zach, what's up with you?"
My expression darkened as Liam came into sight.
Seriously, I get there's a 100% chance of me meeting someone while waiting for Ruby, but 200%? That has to be a new low, like really, where does it end?
Is Lily going to show up next? No, she, Irene, and Alya are going to come barreling through the door within the next 10 minutes.
Noticing someone standing next to Zach, Liam glanced at me for a second, darkening his expression, before turning back to Zach and asking.
"Is he bothering you, Zach?"
Letting out a chuckle at Liam's words, I ignored the stares of the two and continued pretending to look at the weather app on my smartwatch.
"no, no, it's nothing serious. I just had a question about the rumors circulating around."
At this point, can you even blame me? This guy has mentioned the rumors about a hundred times without actually explaining them once.
After thinking for a second, Liam responded.
"Oh, the ones about him and Ruby?"
Take notes, Zach. Please do it for the sake of the future main party members! It took him one try rather than over 10.
Finally acknowledging my presence, Liam turned to me and said.
"You know, I'm quite curious about those as well."
Without any hesitation or knowledge about the rumors, I confidently responded.
"And what if they're true?"
Seriously, at this point, the words just flowed out of my mouth. Was I really a professional third-rate villain now?
Responding to my clear provocation and ignoring Zach's reaction, Liam replied.
"First of all, how did you even get in here? Do I really need to call security tonight?"
Looking at the disgruntled Zach, Liam added.
"Zach, don't worry, we can help Scarlett tomorrow. We just have to let her know of Ren's past."
Seeing Ruby in the distance with my enhanced eyesight, I strode right past Liam and Zach, letting out a chuckle and saying.
"Please do call security. Also, don't you have better things to do than obsess over my every action? Don't tell me you're one of my fans."
As both of them looked at me with shock, Liam was the first to speak in an angry tone.
"W-what t-the hell? Are you d-delusional? You're the one who k-keeps do-"
Patting him on his trembling shoulder, probably from anger, as I passed him, I added.
"Are you stuttering? Don't worry; it's normal to be nervous in front of your idol. Unfortunately, I'm quite busy, so I can't give you a picture right now."
As I walked towards Ruby, I could hear Zach desperately trying to calm down Liam.
"Liam, don't let him get on your nerves. If you do, he wins."
Snapping back at Zach, Liam replied.
"You think I DON'T KNOW THAT? He's just so goddamn annoying; I can't"
As I walked up to Ruby with a grin on my face, she asked.
"And why exactly are you so happy?"
"I think I get why you mess with me all the time."
"Took you long enough."
Taking the lead, Ruby guided me through the lavish and extensive mansion as we saw countless priceless paintings and various sculptures put up for display.
In my dorm building, they don't even have painted walls...
As Ruby stopped in front of yet another painting, I paused and asked.
"What exactly is a plan?"
Was she trying to scout out the dorm building to see possible locations for an assassination or kidnapping?
Still staring at the painting in front of us, Ruby ignored my question and once again responded with another one.
"What exactly makes this painting worth so much."
For the first time, I glanced at the painting. Using my eyes, I could see and count every precise stroke of an artist's paintbrush, so looking at paintings usually gave me a headache.
However, this one didn't. It wasn't because its beauty was dazzling or anything; it was just that this painting had way fewer brushes than the rest of the other ones.
Staring at the painting of an apple on a white canvas, I responded.
"Honestly, I have no idea. I could paint something like this in an hour. Where do I sign up to be an artist?"
Chuckling as she walked away, Ruby replied.
"It's because of the name."
After following her for another minute, we finally reached the common area of the building, and Ruby sat down on one of the seats.
As I sat down on the armchair across from her and leaned backwards, a sense of comfort immediately enveloped me.
"ahhh, it's amazing"
This was more comfortable than my bed!
"You know, that chair is worth over 100 gold coins."
Immediately jerking back upwards, I responded.
"On second thought, it's alright."
As Ruby sipped tea and stared out the window, I could feel some glares on my back from the other residents, but I simply ignored them.
I was going to enjoy this chair for as long as possible.
After ensuring that Ruby was back in her room, I finally left the extravagant dorm building and headed back to my poor one.
For the next week, I continued training my mastery over elemental slashes and worked on mastering the second technique I had learned when I rose in dagger proficiency.
Mana Feint.
By imbuing mana into one of my daggers, as I attack, I can create a fake holographic version of my dagger to throw my opponent off.
As I swing my dagger at my enemy, another fake dagger will be formed, swinging at the opponent from another direction.
Of course, this holographic version of my dagger doesn't actually harm the opponent, but it confuses them, making them unable to dodge at times and giving me the split-second advantage I need to strike.
In fact, even the AI training bots fell for it most of the time. They attempted to dodge both the real dagger and fake dagger strikes, putting them in a vulnerable position and allowing me to make an easy follow-up attack.
Other times, the AI dummy's sword would just parry both the fake and real dagger's strikes, once again displaying the weakness of the small daggers.
As I continued to face harder and harder AI dummies, it was clear to me that I had to do something about the dagger's short reach.
I couldn't always wait for the bot to come to me. If I wanted to take the offensive, I would first have to get close enough to the dummy so that my daggers would actually hit it.
Of course, getting close to the dummy was difficult when it swung around its giant broadsword, causing me to step back to avoid the attack.
"Man, I really need a long-range weapon..."
On the other hand, I didn't have to worry about Ruby at all, as she just didn't show up to class. Well, it didn't really matter what she did; the odds of her being punished were 0 due to all her connections.
Some rumors about me having something to do with her not showing up to class did spread, but besides a few glares, it didn't really impact my daily life.
Professor Zia, especially, began glaring at me from time to time during class, but it was during free study time, so I just went on my smartwatch to ignore her.
When I woke up on the day of the exams, I grabbed a pencil and paper before heading to the room I had been assigned by email.
After the exam, I would have to get back into action as the second incident of the academy would take place through the Academy's training camp.