Chapter 2: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

"Status window..."

I uttered the words usually spoken when one's life hits rock bottom or when they're in complete despair.

But nothing happened.

Expecting something like a status window or point shop was probably too much to ask.

Given that I had suddenly undergone a gender change, you'd think I'd get at least one or two abilities.

Seriously, just fire-breathing from my body?

With a sense of hopelessness and nothing else to do, I instinctively grabbed my phone, following the modern human's instinct to cling to it.

I checked it to see if there was anything there, but the contacts list was spotless, and the call history contained only one text.

The message congratulated me on being admitted to Aegis Academy and instructed me to report to Class 1-A by 8 AM on March 1st.

And currently, it was 7:40 AM on March 1st.

...Can I avoid being late?

*

Once outside, I realized an important fact.

I didn't know the way.

Where am I, and who am I?

Where did we come from and where are we going?

As I was deep in philosophical thought, a bicycle skidded to a stop beside me with a screech.

Turning my head slightly, I saw Yoon Si-woo, the protagonist of *The Holy Sword of the Academy*, on his bike looking at me.

Now, this is what people mean when they say appearance is everything.

There were descriptions about how he was handsome enough to make a celebrity look bad by comparison, but seeing him in person, he seemed even better.

White hair and heterochromatic black-and-white eyes—how could such a chuuni-inspired character customization not look unnatural?

With that kind of face, he could dye his hair rainbow colors, and it would still look good.

No wonder the heroines flock to him like flies; it made perfect sense.

His looks were on the level of a tactical nuclear weapon, not just a bomb. If he were kind to you, it'd be impossible not to fall for him.

While I was admiring his looks, Yoon Si-woo pointed his chin behind him.

"You look like a student from our school. If you stay like that, you'll be late. Want a ride?"

At that moment, I quickly shook my head to refuse.

My instincts were screaming a severe warning.

If I get close to this guy, I'll turn into a girl in both body and heart!

There's a saying that the heart follows the body, and sticking around a guy like that might slowly make a girl grow inside me.

No way was I going to experience the heart-thumping feeling of riding on a guy's bike.

"Then I'll go ahead. You should hurry too."

Fortunately, Yoon Si-woo left on his bike with those words.

While my masculinity was safe, the threat of being late was still there.

But thanks to Yoon Si-woo, I had a rough idea of the direction to the school, so if I just ran, I should get there in time.

It was already past 8 o'clock.

Why is the school so far away...

Even though I'm supposedly a superhuman with better physical abilities than an average person and I didn't take a single break while running, the school still wasn't in sight. I might have to wake up earlier from tomorrow.

At that moment, an older lady passing by saw me and spoke with a puzzled expression.

"Student, aren't you going to school? It's already past 8 o'clock."

"Uh, I'm, uh, lost..."

"If it's the school, you need to go the opposite way."

...!

Suddenly, the passage about Yoon Si-woo being late on his first day flashed through my mind.

Remembering that now, I'm an idiot.

Thanking the lady for her directions, I walked leisurely, thinking that being a bit more late wouldn't matter at this point. I saw a large building with "AEGIS" written in big letters on a huge shield.

It wasn't far from home, but I wandered around and got lost. This is all Yoon Si-woo's fault.

Looking at the time, it was 8:55 AM. I found Class 1-A and opened the door.

The students, chatting in small groups, turned their multicolored eyes on me for a moment and then returned to their conversations when I stood silently.

1-A, the class with the protagonist Yoon Si-woo, but he hasn't arrived yet.

If he had been here, no one would have paid attention to me.

I glanced around the room and found an empty seat.

Since this was the protagonist's class, the people here didn't look ordinary.

Among them, one person stood out, a beautiful girl sitting diagonally to my left.

Even in the noisy classroom, she exuded an atmosphere as if she were in another world. She was Sylvia Astra, the main heroine of high elf lineage.

Her ability must be to turn people around her into cephalopods.

She already had a group of admirers turned into squid, captivated by her noble presence, and I was one of them.

Had I stared too openly?

Sylvia, sensing my gaze, turned her head and met my eyes.

Startled, I bowed my head and greeted her. She returned my greeting with a slight smile.

Gratitude... overwhelming gratitude...

I was so excited that my face turned red, and my hair spontaneously caught fire again.

Seeing this, Sylvia widened her eyes in surprise for a moment, then laughed softly and turned her head.

At that moment, the classroom door slid open, and silence fell over the noisy room.

With part of the class already turned into squids by Sylvia, the remaining students, still talking, turned into cuttlefish at the appearance of Yoon Si-woo, forgetting how to speak.

It was like a scene from a myth.

In a seafood market filled with squids and cuttlefish, a god and goddess appeared.

The god naturally walked over and sat next to the goddess, as if to say his place was there, while everyone watched their first encounter with bated breath.

"Haha, you got here before me. I have a terrible sense of direction."

Yoon Si-woo turned 180 degrees in his seat and spoke to a cuttlefish.

That cuttlefish was me.

Something... something was happening.

I glanced around.

'Why is that cuttlefish inserting herself there?'

'Are they acquaintances? That's kind of annoying.'

'A cuttlefish between those two? It's really irritating.'

I felt like I could hear those hallucinations.

Critical stares as if blaming me.

Mocking laughter from somewhere.

And the final blow was the goddess glancing at me with a slightly uncomfortable smile.

"Evande..."

Diagonal seat behind the academy's heroine.

At the same time, right behind the academy's male protagonist.

I could hear the sound of my school life spiraling down.