Why Did I Have to Enroll

Yesterday, the day they filmed the student council promotional video.

Ban Yu-won’s harsh directions, the student council president’s anxious gaze, and Mira watching it all… It was like a war. During a break in the chaotic filming, the topic of their common enemy, the faculty, came up.

“Ryu Cheol-myeong is the worst. His gaze is so sticky, you know? I’m so glad I didn’t take his Aura Combat class.”

“He’s always been notorious for being a womanizer. Many students are uncomfortable with his gaze.”

At the president’s shuddering words, the treasurer, Vega Delawaker, adjusted his monocle and nodded in agreement. Rika, the head of external activities, sitting on the desk nearby, tilted her head in confusion.

“I’ve been taking his classes since my second year, and I’ve never felt anything like that.”

“That’s because you’re… Rika.”

“Me? What? …What?”

“Has he ever caused any incidents?”

Graham nodded heavily and answered.

“The principal strictly forbids relationships between professors and students. While they don’t interfere with student-to-student relationships, they don’t tolerate professors using their status to harm or exploit students. So, at least on the surface, Professor Ryu Cheol-myeong has never had an inappropriate relationship with a student.”

“On the surface…”

Ban Yu-won braced himself for the unpleasant stories that seemed inevitable.

Vega smirked and said, “It’s just a conspiracy theory among students, so don’t worry too much. Like the story about a student who went missing during a special activity actually being taken by a professor…”

“That’s a really disgusting story…”

“No matter how powerful the principal is, it’s impossible to monitor every student on special activities. If a full professor really wanted to do something…”

“Just the fact that such suspicions arise shows that Ryu Cheol-myeong isn’t a decent person.”

Ban Yu-won recalled the unusual way Ryu Cheol-myeong looked at Luciel.

Of course, Luciel wasn’t the only one he looked at that way, but the problem was that she was part of Rebellion.

If the insidious harassment by full professors within the academy extended to external activities, then―.

“If we’re talking about people with bad reputations, Cantone shouldn’t be left out.”

“Say no more. He’s our main enemy.”

At Mira’s words, the president frowned and fluttered the membrane wings on her back.

“He’s the worst. A pure-blood supremacist, obsessed with one’s origin dimension… And since I’m not from a higher dimension, he particularly targeted me.”

“How did you become the student council president then?”

“Because I’m pretty and strong. Haha! To be president, you just need to be in good standing with the students and the principal, not the professors!”

Ban Yu-won was dumbfounded, but Rika, with a reluctant expression, confirmed her words.

“But it’s true. The president had a meeting with the principal as soon as she entered and gained solo exploration rights. I heard the Ice Princess in your year had the same case.”

“Really?”

“It’s not common. It happens once every 50 years, maybe even 100.”

“They said the golden age of the academy started because of me―.”

The president laughed heartily, praising herself.

Then, with a meaningful look, she added, “And I feel like your generation will explode brilliantly.”

“…I get how you became president. So, what about Cantone?”

The president, displeased that Ban Yu-won ignored her words, reluctantly returned to the topic.

“Just call me Senior Shati comfortably. As I said, Cantone is a pure-blood supremacist and doesn’t consider students outside the Special Class as students. He especially has a harsh view of special admission students—he thinks they don’t belong in the academy and is always looking for a chance to kick them out.”

Does that guy think the academy belongs to him?

I remember hearing that the selection of special admission students is based on the standards of the Tower of Babel, not the principal.

“He seems like a lunatic.”

“He’s the one who suggested the direction for the student council. He’s the one who gathered the Special Class and turned it into power.”

“What do you mean?”

“A club.”

Mira added coldly.

“I thought of gathering special admission students because of Cantone. He gathered the Special Class first and created ‘Noblesse.’”

“What a mess.”

“He has several small clubs under him, but you can consider them all part of Noblesse. Only Special Class students can join.”

“I heard that if a student admitted through the Special Class doesn’t join a designated Noblesse club, it’s a big deal?”

Ban Yu-won naturally thought of the music club that Ayre, Misty, and Rushe were part of.

Maybe taking them out will have a big impact later…?

“Anyway, know that these are the people we’re up against.”

The president, or rather Shati, wrapped up the conversation a bit forcefully and patted Ban Yu-won’s shoulder with a grin.

Mira, with a stern expression, slapped her hand away.

“Shati, don’t touch my man so carelessly.”

“Scary, Mira… I was just trying to get along.”

“Ahem! Once this video is uploaded, the alliance between the student council and Rebellion will be solidified, right?”

This time, Vega changed the topic.

“Depending on the external reaction to the video, the academy might have no choice but to listen to us. The real fight starts then.”

“Right, right! Things will escalate. One side will have to kneel. …Be careful, I was joking earlier, but something might really happen during the special activity.”

“The first activity will be with Professor Yumina, so it should be fine.”

At Mira’s words, Shati perked up.

“Is it next week?”

“It’ll be fun, that’s usually the most fun. They pick a place with very low difficulty. It makes you feel like you’re some kind of absolute being.”

“Then during summer break, you’ll get a long quest and break down without a guide.”

“But I feel like this guy will just breeze through it. We saw him break through the tower.”

“That’s true.”

When the topic of special activities came up, the people who were complaining about professors started sharing stories about their own experiences, like seniors giving advice.

This feels a bit like a college atmosphere, Ban Yu-won thought with a chuckle.

“Ah, there was such a rumor.”

Rika, sitting cross-legged on the desk, scratched her thigh and spoke as if joking.

“They said if Cantone didn’t like a student, he’d harass them inside the tower. It’s such a ridiculous story about a professor interfering with the tower that everyone just laughed it off.”

“No, please.”

Ban Yu-won lamented as soon as he heard that.

That’s almost 100% true!

“It’s not too late, seniors. If you’ve heard any jokes like that, spill them all here.”

“Huh? Even if you ask, I can’t remember. I’ll tell you if I recall later.”

“I suppose―.”

---

“So back then, everyone laughed it off, but now it seems suspicious. The fact that an item that teleports us to an unknown place was dropped as a reward, and that they all used telekinesis…”

“I see. But more than that… there are a lot of female officers in the student council. Let me cover you.”

Listening to Ban Yu-won’s story, Luciel straightened up and Vega to rub her scent on him.

If only she used her brain properly, she’d be 100 times more helpful than Light, but why did she choose to become a beast?

“I think Ban just insulted me!”

“You’re imagining things. Dokgo Yeon, what do you think?”

Having given up on getting opinions from Luciel (and Light), Ban Yu-won looked at Dokgo Yeon.

Of course, his eyes were still fixed on the portkey… no, the teleportation-imbued bracelet.

Fortunately, unlike when they faced the previous treasure chest, the concept of Seal manifested by language magic was slowly depleting, keeping the bracelet’s function at bay.

“Well, just because the source of power is telekinesis, I think it’s a bit premature to be suspicious…”

Dokgo Yeon also looked at the bracelet with a dubious expression, but then she seemed to remember something and reached into her pocket.

“Let’s check the letter. If there was really external interference, it should be obvious just by reading this.”

“Oh, right.”

Dokgo Yeon, impressed by her own wisdom, broke the seal and unfolded the letter, then twisted her lips into a smile as she folded it back.

“How is it?”

“I can’t read it.”

Dokgo Yeon handed the letter to Ban Yu-won.

Ban Yu-won wanted to point out how her earlobes had turned red, but seeing her grip the hilt of her small sword with trembling hands, he dared not say anything and silently took the letter.

“Can you read it?”

“Of course. This is my specialty.”

In truth, he couldn’t read it immediately either.

It was a phenomenon not present on Earth, but higher-dimensional languages (notably magical languages) sometimes required a brief interpretation period upon first sight.

Still, as his power grew, the time needed for interpretation decreased—this particular script took only about a second to fully understand.

“According to this letter, there’s concern about a monster wave due to the sudden rampage of the Carapace Beast. It seems they wanted to inform the neighboring city and request reinforcements. The original owner of the letter was likely a soldier… We were supposed to find the letter from the soldier’s corpse and complete the mission in their stead.”

“It’s not a treasure.”

This letter was neither a treasure nor a secret.

The telekinetic pursuers had falsely accused them… and the pursuers in Room 34 might not have been them in the first place.

Light tilted his head and said, “Then what was it originally?”

“Well…”

If there were no pursuers, and the condition was simply to escape from monsters, then the trick room’s condition wouldn’t have been ‘don’t lose the letter.’

It would have been something like ‘don’t let the monsters catch you.’

Thinking about it in terms of a clear human will, it could have been…

“Maybe it was someone’s scheme to destroy that city?”

“That’s convincing. Considering what happened in Room 23, Chain Rooms often involve human disputes rather than simple monster battles.”

“Anyway, in this case, it’s safe to say there was external interference. They analyzed our tendencies, sent pursuers, and cleverly diverted us from the ‘tower’s route’ to where they intended… It’s insidious.”

Dokgo Yeon’s eyes narrowed, and her cross-shaped pupils flashed white.

She was about to draw her small sword and cut the bracelet, but Ban Yu-won reached out to stop her.

“Before that, I’d like to analyze it. Is that okay?”

“Won’t it activate accidentally?”

“That’s why I learned magic.”

Ban Yu-won added the concept of ‘Stop’ to the designated area, preventing the artifact from activating.

Then he reached out and touched the artifact.

What he was about to do was analyze the concept of ‘teleportation’ contained within the artifact.

Not the teleportation itself, but the detailed concept it held—the goal was to find out where this damned portkey intended to take them.

‘Since I already learned how to read spatial coordinates when analyzing the student ID, this shouldn’t be too difficult.’

As long as he prevented it from activating, the analysis itself wasn’t too hard.

Ban Yu-won occasionally reactivated the stop magic while analyzing the bracelet—and when he discovered the result, he wore a subtle expression.

“I think I understand why we were able to obtain the Star Trace from those guys earlier. If we had teleported, we might have faced a Constellation.”

“Like with the Observer of Ten Thousand Eyes?”

“Exactly. Maybe this Constellation is watching us right now.”

Considering they intervened in the Chain Room and swapped out the pursuers, it would have been difficult without a Constellation’s involvement.

It seemed they couldn’t interfere directly now, having used too much power…

Ban Yu-won chuckled and picked up the bracelet.

He even took out one of the talismans he had and attached it to the bracelet, using up all the talisman’s energy to Seal it.

“You’re taking it?”

“It’s still an artifact, so it’s a waste to throw it away. Now that I know what it is, I won’t fall for it again.”

―Constellation [Clock of the Toy Army] is furious at someone touching their patron.

―Constellation [Breath of Life] is impressed by your analysis and sealing of a Constellation’s power and is proposing punishment for Constellation @#$^!# to the tower.

They didn’t even notice when we were about to be in trouble, but now that it’s resolved, they’re trying to take credit.

Ban Yu-won snorted and put the bracelet into his inventory, then picked up the letter.

“Now, with Cantone’s scheme crushed and the normal route restored, I have a proposal for you.”

“Wait, let me guess before you say it.”

Dokgo Yeon fell into thought.

Meanwhile, Luciel, still enjoying her embrace with Ban Yu-won, casually made a remark.

“Come to think of it, there wasn’t a trick about not destroying the letter.”

“Aaaah! You always do this, always! You pretend to know nothing and steal the spotlight at the last moment!”

“Kyaaang!”

“What do you mean, Ban? We’ve kept it so far, why destroy it?”

While the furious Dokgo Yeon and Luciel bickered, Light, the only one who didn’t understand Ban Yu-won’s proposal, tilted his head and stared at him.

This silly but adorable guy…

“Think about it, Light. This letter is a request for external help, right? So if we pass through Room 34 with this letter, the next location will probably be that external city.”

“Yeah, and we’ll have to deal with more annoying people there, right? The ultimate goal would be to unite and stop the monster wave.”

“Exactly. So what if we destroy the letter here? By the way, the trick for this room was not to lose the letter, so destroying it doesn’t break the trick. It means we can proceed normally without retiring.”

“We won’t be able to go to the external city… because there’s no letter to deliver?”

“And then?”

And then.

Where would the group go without the letter?

Would they exit the Chain Room and enter a normal room? No, even Light, as simple as he was, didn’t think that was likely.

“Uh, um… Wouldn’t we have to go back and report that we couldn’t deliver the letter?”

“That’s it.”

Ban Yu-won smiled as he ignited a flame at his fingertip with elemental magic, ready to set the letter on fire.

“And then a monster wave will hit that city.”

Those who’ve played a lot of RPGs call this:

Skipping the (annoying) side quest and going straight to the boss fight.