Academy’s Second Seat

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{Character Illustration}

Top Seat or Head.

The highest ranking or position.

In an essence, it refers to the most outstanding person.

Below it is the second seat.

The second position in the group.

The world only remembers the first, not the second.

That doesn't mean the second place isn't meaningful.

This is not to say that a second-place person lived roughly.

The 2nd place must have been able to get 2nd place because of the crushing hard work, enough to vomit blood.

It's been a week since I transmigrated here.

When I first got transmigrated, I thought it was a dream.

I pinched my cheeks and screamed frantically to send me home, but nothing changed.

The first emotion I felt was despair.

It was difficult to adapt to this situation as I fell into a world where I knew nothing.

However, humans quickly accept the fact, as the name suggests, that humans are adaptive animals.

So I accepted it and did some investigation about myself.

After the investigation, I learned a few facts.

I have to go to the academy starting today.

Liberion Academy.

The Empire's largest academy that teaches magic, swordsmanship, and alchemy... is the setting.

I seem to have transmigrated into a game called 'The Academy's Top Wizard.'

[T/N: The raw is '아카데미 수석 마법사' wherein 수석 can mean Chief, Head, or Top. I am going for Top. Any better suggestion is welcome.]

Anyone who has played this game will know the name.

'Rudy Astria'.

It was the name of the second seat under the main character.

He was the second son of the Duke of Astria, and the first time he entered the academy, he entered with the highest rank.

However, as the title of the game suggests, the protagonist, controlled by the player, will be in the top position from the midterm exam, positioning him (Rudy) in the second seat permanently.

'Rudy Astria,' who was the second son and second seat, was given various nicknames by the users, such as 'Forever Second Seat' and 'He who inherits the bean line', but that was the intention of the production team who created this character.

The protagonist's antithesis.

He took on the completely opposite role.

The protagonist, who works hard with a commoner status and takes the lead, and 'Rudy Astria', a high-ranking nobleman who maintains the second seat with innate talent, can be seen in very different ways.

The main story of this game 'The Academy's Top Wizard' was about the main character making full use of his talents through hard work.

However, there was a problem.

Because I'm a veteran of this game, I knew all the endings, and I also knew how to see all the endings.

In all these endings, 'Rudy Astria' was indispensable.

That's because he's a villain who appears early on and plays a significant role as the story progresses.

A character who is the protagonist's rival and is crushed and destroyed by the main character.

That's Rudy Astria.

And I became 'Rudy Astria'.

●・○・●・○・●

"Sigh…."

I was on my way to the academy in a carriage.

The distance between the Duchy and the Liberion Academy was so long that I sat in the carriage for a long time.

Fortunately, the floor of the carriage was made of loose cushions, so it didn't feel uncomfortable.

I was just tired of sitting for a long time.

"Young master. The academy is slowly coming into view."

I opened the window slightly in response to the driver's words and looked out to see magnificent buildings.

The image of Liberion Academy which appeared in the first scene when I turn on the game was spread out before my eyes.

The academy reflected in the slowly rising sun was enough to make my body tremble.

It had a very cool appearance in the game, but it was different when I saw it in person.

The sheer excitement made my heart pound.

Now was the only time I could enjoy the scenery like this.

After entering the academy, I had to figure out how to survive.

There were two endings where 'Rudy Astria' died in the game's story.

In the first story, 'Rudy Astria' got attached to a villain and turned evil.

'Rudy Astria' is a villain anyway, so you might wonder what this means.

In the first story, it's a bit unreasonable to say that he's a complete villain.

For the player, the attitude of looking down on the main character, who is a commoner, will be evaluated as a 'villain,' but in fact, it was just the attitude of a high-ranking aristocrat and it is hard to say that he is a true 'villain.'

The story of his awakening as a true 'evil' comes out in the second half.

I have to change that part somehow.

In the second ending about his death, not only 'Rudy Astria' but everyone else in the academy dies too.

A bad ending that occurred due to the main character's defeat in the last fight.

It was an abrupt ending.

The biggest problem with this ending is that it is easier to happen than you think.

The name of this game.

'The Academy's Top Wizard.'

As the title suggests, if the main character misses the top position even once in all semesters except when entering the school, a bad ending will occur.

First of all, since the protagonist is a commoner, there is a reason why he can't pay tuition when he doesn't get good grades, but there was a more important fact than the reason.

If you continue to fail to occupy the top position, you don't get to the specification to defeat the last boss.

However, for the main character to reach the end specifications, I was the biggest problem.

In order for the world to move to its original happy ending, it was necessary for the protagonist to maintain the top seat, but it was also essential for me to keep the second seat.

Only when the rivalry between the main character and 'Rudy Astria' is maintained, the main character will feel the desperate need to grow and strive to become stronger.

However, there was a problem.

I'm 'Rudy Astria' now, but I'm not really 'Rudy Astria'.

Rudy Astria, a magical genius, does not exist now.

Then I have to study on my own and keep the second seat.

I don't even consider the possibility that I have a talent for magic and will overtake the main character for the Top Spot.

Please keep the second seat... the second seat must be maintained unconditionally.

Even in an ordinary high school, it was not easy to take second place in the entire school.

However, this was Liberion Academy, an academy where only the best students from the empire come.

As far as I know, there are many geniuses in the same grade, and I wondered if I could keep the second seat.

While I was thinking about it, the carriage entered the academy.

The academy was crowded with numerous carriages and people.

Because today was the academy's entrance ceremony, parents and acquaintances of the students who came to watch the ceremony were present.

Of course, I brought only one knight.

It's not because I'm frugal, it's because I'm outside the eyes of the duke.

Rudy Astria, who was usually obsessed with inferiority compared to his eldest son, lived a ruined life in the mansion.

Still, he was gifted with magic and had excellent abilities, but even those abilities were lacking compared to his eldest son.

The problem was not that Rudy Astria was lacking, but that the eldest son of the Astria family was simply outstanding.

As a result, Rudy Astria's parents gave up on him.

There was no reason to pick a guy with a bad personality and poor skills, thus they did not come to the entrance ceremony.

Since my parents didn't come, I thought I'd bring a maid.

However, it was a burden to bring in the maid who had to be sent back after the entrance ceremony.

One knight who could protect me was enough.

"Master, we have arrived."

When the coachman spoke, the driver opened the carriage door.

I got off the carriage and looked around, and saw a lot of people paying attention to me.

I definitely came quietly with only a knight, but since it was a carriage engraved with a white lily pattern representing the Duke of Astria, everyone recognized that I am Rudy Astria.

"Oh, Master Rudy."

As soon as they recognized me, a quick-witted person approached me.

"I heard a lot of stories. A new light shines on the Duke of Astria."

I don't know who he was, but he suddenly came up to me and started flattering me.

Many other people approached me as he cut off.

"Hello. The eldest son of Viscount Corwell…"

"Aren't you, Master Rudy, who entered the top class this time… !"

They came up to me with sweet honey-like words wrapped around their tongues.

However, I was well aware of it.

Those who speak honey like this have poison in them.

Even if it were poison, it wouldn't do much damage to me.

Even though I am the second son, I am the son of a duke family at the center of the empire.

But it doesn't help to be close to them.

They're probably trying to stick a straw in me anyway.

I could make connections here, but I didn't have time to increase these useless connections.

I would be busy studying and it was hard to make personal connections for the main story.

I glanced at the knight.

"The master seems to be tired after riding the carriage for a long time. Please say hello later."

"Oh, Master?"

When the knight told them off, the aristocratic children who were appealing themselves around were embarrassed.

It looked like they were musing whether they had made any mistakes and made Young Master feel bad.

I could have just stepped down like this, but I added, thinking there was no need to publicize my criticism from the beginning.

"I'm tired, I don't have a lot of time to talk, so let's talk later."

When I said that, the faces of the noble children brightened again.

They must have thought it was because I was really tired, not because of their mistake.

"Haha. You're right. See you later."

"I'll see you at the entrance ceremony."

The aristocrats who had gathered stopped paying attention to me and started talking to each other.

"Let's go"

With my words, the knight started following me with my luggage.

●・○・●・○・●

"Hmm~?"

A very spacious dormitory room.

Someone was looking out the window with interest at this scene.

"It's a little different from what I've heard."

She tilted her head and watched the situation.

The way Rudy Astria evaded the nobles and passed by was different from how she had envisioned him.

"Is he really tired?"

She was obviously looking down from a high floor, but she spoke to herself as if she had heard the conversation there.

"Well, I'll find out later."

A pleasant arc was drawn on her lips.

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