I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error

Chapter 33

“Come in.”

Hearing the voice, I opened the door.

The first thing that caught my eye was the glow of the sunset streaming in through the large windows.

Numerous bookshelves and fresh plants filled the spacious room.

There were two tables, one on the left and one on the right.

Sitting at the right table was Professor Ruber.

On the left sat a black-haired man smiling from behind his glasses.

An unforgettable figure, recognizable at a glance.

‘So he was here after all.’

The top graduate of Yggdrasil and Ruber’s teaching assistant.

‘Rahan.’

He was one of the most dangerous villains of them all.

‘I’ll have to be careful not to affect anything.’

Even the slightest interference risked breaking the proper storyline.

I lowered my head slightly in a natural greeting, then turned toward Ruber.

I spoke with a relaxed tone.

“You called for me, Professor?”

“Mr. Dedenkman, this is the first time I’ve summoned you to my office.”

That was true.

There was no reason for a poor student like me to be called here.

At first, I had no idea why he summoned me and was bewildered.

But as I walked through the faculty building, I came to understand.

It was a scene I had seen before in the game.

‘I don’t know what he saw in me to decide this.’

Ruber was a key figure who held the threads of the story.

I had to answer with a clear mind.

This was an important moment that could alter the storyline.

Ruber placed his clasped hands on the table and spoke.

“You haven’t been the subject of gossip lately.”

“Well, if I caused any more trouble, I might have been completely expelled from my family.”

I didn’t look particularly remorseful.

It was acting in line with Villed’s setting.

“How is your work at the livestock shed?”

“It’s disgustingly hard, but manageable.”

“I see.”

Ruber stared into my eyes for a few seconds before replying.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Do you have any intention of becoming a Schuler?”

……As expected.

It was going more or less as I had anticipated.

“You mean under your tutelage, Professor?”

“Of course.”

‘Schuler’ meant a professor’s direct disciple.

A professor could keep one student directly under them.

It was an honorable position that even top students struggled to obtain.

‘But why me, of all people?’

There were plenty of cadets stronger than me.

But Ruber was someone who looked not just at the present, but at the future.

He must have judged that I had great potential.

The causality wasn’t hard to deduce.

‘So Nixie or Arowell must have mentioned me.’

It wouldn’t have been Arowell, who was too passive.

Nixie, who couldn’t tolerate injustice, must have spoken up.

My performance in the cave assignment a month ago.

The fact that I, who had no attribute, had awakened one.

‘So that’s why I ended up as Ren’s sparring partner.’

I finally understood why I had suddenly been matched against Ren.

It was to have the students with the highest growth potential face each other.

‘Ren may have won, but the fact that he chose me instead of Ren means…’

Ruber had noticed that I had deliberately lost to Ren.

He couldn’t be underestimated.

He hadn’t risen to the rank of chief professor for nothing.

‘I really need to improve my acting skills.’

Even now, his gaze seemed to pierce right through my heart.

That gaze was sharp.

If it had been the me from the original world, I might have shrunk back.

But the brazen thug-like tendencies were etched into this body.

I could endure that stare.

“I’ll replace your work at the livestock shed with assisting me instead.”

“You mean working like the teaching assistant? I’d prefer not to drown in paperwork, though.”

When I glanced left, Rahan smiled faintly.

He too had been Ruber’s Schuler during his student days.

Because of the honor, grants, and various benefits, students put in tremendous effort to become a Schuler.

But the true purpose of the Schuler system, encouraged by the principal, was…

‘To forge blades that could stand against disaster.’

The principal and professors had already realized that a great disaster would occur in the future.

They were preparing countermeasures against an imminent threat.

‘They must have judged that passing everything perfectly to one student was more effective than letting hundreds grow moderately.’

Most of the key students in the story, like the Princess or Keirin, were Schuler.

If I became Ruber’s Schuler, I would achieve great growth and overcome many trials with that strength.

……But that role wasn’t mine.

“I appreciate the offer, but…”

When I answered, I noticed Ruber’s eyebrows lift slightly.

“There is a student more suitable than me.”

“And who would that be?”

When Ruber asked, I answered without hesitation.

“Duke Ren.”

A brief silence followed.

Ruber clasped his hands together and narrowed his eyes.

“Weren’t you on bad terms with him? Why recommend him?”

“Being on bad terms is one thing, but I am simply stating the truth.”

I added another reason Ruber could accept.

“I know because I’ve sparred with him. Ren has power, but he doesn’t yet know how to wield it properly. He’s like an unpolished gem. With professional training from you, Professor Ruber, he would be able to demonstrate immense potential.”

“So that is your answer.”

Ruber turned his gaze back to the stack of papers and replied.

“Very well, you may leave.”

“Thank you.”

I gave a light bow and left the professor’s office.

A sigh of relief escaped me.

‘The storyline almost went astray.’

Now Ren would become Ruber’s Schuler.

Under Ruber’s guidance, he would achieve considerable growth and go on to defeat the villains one by one.

The story would flow as it was meant to.

Though, there was one thing that bothered me.

‘Rahan’s gaze toward me was strange.’

Maybe it was just my imagination, since his character was sly from the start.

Still, he wasn’t just anyone—he was a villain belonging to one of the highest-risk groups.

Other than maintaining indifference as I had just done, there was nothing more I could do.

If I spoke to him, I might draw even more attention.

‘He has no reason to take an interest in me, so it’s probably nothing.’

I thought to myself as I walked down the corridor, where the sunset was fading away.

A new episode that would begin today.

I recalled its contents briefly in my mind.

‘The hardships ahead are all too clear.’

In the game, the event was described in the simplest terms.

A “2-night 3-day training camp event,” just like that.

But experiencing it firsthand, I knew there was no way it could be so easy.

‘It’s going to be hell.’

I shuddered and slowly opened the eyes I had been squeezing shut.

It was the moment when the grim scene I had been avoiding until now spread before my eyes.

“Cadets, before departure, please form groups of three!”

“The galpail will be arriving soon!”

Teaching assistants raised their voices one after another through loudspeakers.

On the field in front of the temple, six hundred cadets had already gathered in a swarm.

They didn’t stand idly around, but ran about busily.

I could see them pairing up with friends they got along with.

‘Since it’s already two months after enrollment, they must have at least one or two close friends.’

I looked around me.

No one tried to make eye contact.

It was blatant.

The cadets avoided me while glancing nervously.

‘Relax, I’m not going to ask you to be in the same group with me.’

After walking like that for a while.

It didn’t take long to spot someone in the same situation as me.

It was Lapin, who stood blankly by herself, gazing idly around.

No one met her eyes or spoke to her.

‘If your rank is low or you don’t have friends, that’s what happens.’

Yeah, just like me.

I stood in front of Lapin.

When she lifted her head, I naturally opened my mouth.

“Follow me.”

“Mm.”

There was no need to even say we’d form a group.

Lapin nodded and stood next to me.

“……”

She stared at me blankly.

It looked like she was waiting for a chance to speak.

Since I could roughly guess her intention, I spoke first.

“You said last time you couldn’t take the lamb.”

“Ah……”

Bullseye.

Lapin slumped her shoulders and lowered her head.

Why the disappointed look?

Don’t tell me she actually intended to take it.

The livestock animals belonged to the school.

You couldn’t just treat them as you pleased.

“If you want, you could at least take the sea otter.”

When I reluctantly replied, Lapin’s eyes sparkled.

“Really?”

When I silently nodded, she began humming softly, looking pleased.

‘She’s really happy about it.’

Of course, I wasn’t letting her take it just for her sake.

I had already included the sea otter in my calculations.

‘Since it lived in the wild, its senses must be sharp.’

Lapin, Karin, and I were all underachievers who couldn’t possibly survive the training camp.

But if the sea otter helped, there would be a definite way to survive.

The sea otter was the means for that.

Lapin tilted her head as she looked around.

“Villed. They said to make groups of three. We’re only two.”

She said it at just the right time.

“Go get another member and wait on that bench. You head to the pond and bring the sea otter.”

“Mm, okay.”

Her face was nearly expressionless.

But when she was about to run excitedly toward the livestock shed, I grabbed her arm.

“I’m not done talking yet. Lend me your ear.”

I whispered to Lapin.

She nodded, saying, “Mm, mm.”

“So I just have to say it like that?”

“Yeah.”

“Since you let me take the sea otter, I’ll do as you say.”

She waved her palm at me and ran toward the shed.

‘Now then, let’s look around.’

I stepped into the crowd of students.

For some reason, I hadn’t seen Karin around earlier.

At that moment, I heard murmurs from somewhere.

The whispers were familiar, but this time they were different.

The target of mockery wasn’t me.

“This isn’t a place for commoners.”

“Does she think she’s a noble?”

I realized a bit late.

The students had split into two groups.

On the right, where I was, were the nobles.

On the left, the commoners.

They had been divided ever since most of the groups had been formed.

‘There was something like this in the game too.’

I could already guess who they were ridiculing.

Following the contemptuous stares of the students, I confirmed the identity.

Sky-blue hair and a heavy bag weighing down her balance.

It was Karin, the one I had been looking for.

‘The reason she’s among the nobles isn’t……’

Not because she thought she was a noble.

She was probably looking for me.

‘All she’s doing is finding group members, and they have to scorn her for that?’

This flow wasn’t all that strange.

In the game, noble characters had lines where they subtly divided and looked down on commoners.

Up until the middle of the episode, nobles scorned commoners, and commoners resented nobles.

Water and oil that couldn’t mix.

Karin didn’t belong to either side.

“What business do you have here?”

One of the noble students blocked Karin’s way.

He wore a hypocritical smile.

“……”

Was she bothered by the gazes around her?

Karin stopped walking, looking a little flustered, unable to give an answer.

“Seems you lost your way. If you have no business here, head over there.”

With a kindly face, he pointed toward the commoner group.

“Did you not understand? I’m saying this isn’t a place for commoners.”

“No, I……”

Apparently, the nobles’ contempt had struck a nerve.

But flustered, Karin only fumbled her words.

So I answered instead.

“Do you have business with my group member?”

“V, Villed?”

Just by my voice, he recognized me.

The noble student whipped his head toward me.

His confident expression crumbled instantly.

“A, ahem. I see. Like a tiger with its fangs pulled out. Grouping with commoners, really.”

He forced a smile belatedly.

With so many watching eyes, he was trying hard to pretend he wasn’t afraid of me.

‘Typical nobles with sky-high pride.’

Fundamentally, they feared Villed, but the Princess protected them.

It was like mocking a lion from behind a safe fence.

Pathetic.

“Are you trying to go against the Princess, who so freely mingles with commoners?”

When I replied, he floundered as he continued speaking.

“P-Princess Her Highness…… only does so to show her merciful benevolence even to commoners……”

I looked down quietly at the student, who kept babbling.

When our eyes met, I answered calmly.

“You talk too much.”

“……”

Unconsciously, he averted his gaze.

Looking down, I saw his legs trembling slightly.

Even a lion in a fence was still frightening, it seemed.

“Let’s go.”

There was no more reason to deal with him.

I turned my gaze toward Karin and spoke.

Karin nodded repeatedly and followed me.