I Became the Academy’s Munchkin Sniper

“Ahhh—!”

“Everyone, get out! Get out now!”

“Someone call the professor!”

The audience was in chaos. After the ominous red barrier formed around the arena, students began fleeing from the Magic Tower. 

The air was filled with panicked screams.

“Please—!”

But Ivel and Cathlyn were arguing in the hallway connecting the waiting room and the arena.

Ahead of them, the reddish barrier blocked the way into the arena.

Ivel banged against the barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“What the heck is this—! Won’t it open?! Cathlyn, do something!”

“I-I told you, I didn’t do this! I don’t know anything about it!”

“So what? Are we just going to stand here? Help me! You’re not helping? I’ll blow your head off!”

“Fine, alright…!”

Ivel clasped her hands, gathering all her mana to cast a high-level wind spell.

She gritted her teeth.

‘Damn it! If I had known, I would have reported this earlier for foul play! I was a fool to trust Cathlyn.’

“This might work…!”

She couldn’t maintain the spell as long as Ciel, but it was her most powerful offensive spell. It might just allow her to rescue Kyle.

“No matter what you did in the past, I never actually wanted you to die—!”

She prepared to launch her attack with all her heart when—

Boom!

A preemptive strike.

Click. Click.

A pink-haired girl walked down the hallway. 

Lumina.

Normally cheerful, she now radiated an intimidating presence.

“Could you please step aside for a moment, seniors…?”

Lumina raised a smirk as she asked Ivel and Cathlyn to move. Overwhelmed by her aura, they stepped aside, and Lumina placed her hand on the massive tiger spirit beside her.

“It’s time to return the favor…”

In a voice devoid of life, she whispered to her spirit.

“Attack.”

Whoosh!

At her command, the tiger lunged forward, extending its claws, ready to tear through everything in its path as it collided with the barrier.

Boom!

The barrier still didn’t break, but Gale, her tiger spirit, clawed at it relentlessly, producing an intense gust of wind.

“Lumina—! We’ll join you!”

“I-I’ve completed my spell too!”

Whoosh! Splash!

Seeing this, Ivel and Cathlyn also cast their magic.

Ivel’s ‘Eye of the Storm’ and Cathlyn’s ‘Deep Sea Torpedo.’

The combined impact caused droplets of water to scatter in every direction, shattering like a storm. As their mana depleted, they looked up, barely able to keep going, only to find the barrier still unscathed.

“Stand down.”

Before they could attempt anything further, Professor Mason appeared. 

He approached the barrier, removed his glove, and pressed his hand against the eerie stillness of the shield.

Professor Mason’s face twisted in frustration.

“This barrier is made of demonic energy….”

“So what does that mean, Professor?!”

Ivel shouted at him, momentarily disregarding her academic standing. 

Professor Mason was her supervising professor, an authority in administration and magic.

“This… won’t come down until the will that holds it is extinguished. It’s a barrier imbued with power and demonic energy….”

No one, no matter how powerful, could break this. 

Not even Lumines, who had vanished. It would take an official response from the Holy Kingdom, and even that would take time. In the meantime, anything could happen to Kyle inside.

The academic institution would incur significant financial losses from this incident.

Several minutes had already passed.

Inside the barrier was Kyle, who was ranked last in the Magic Department, and a demon-possessed opponent. Ample time to kill him and more.

“What kind of vile creature….”

Professor Mason clicked his tongue, frustrated by how things had gone awry.

“Don’t worry. Your mentee might not survive, but the demon will face severe judgment.”

Silence.

Lumina was the first to react.

“No way… Kyle is going to die…?”

At Professor Mason’s confirmation of Kyle’s likely death, Lumina slid down the wall and sank to the floor in shock. 

Cathlyn clutched her head, muttering to herself that it wasn’t her doing.

Ivel, who had been watching it all, couldn’t understand. Artena Academy, the highest institution, had no way to handle this situation. It felt incomprehensible. 

The realization that there was nothing she could do began to gnaw at her.

‘You…’

It had been years since she’d last seen Kyle. Though the memories of him were tainted by past trauma, she thought things might improve if they could foster a better relationship.

Over the past two weeks, she had seen the sincerity in his efforts, and it had changed her perspective.

‘I can’t just stand by and do nothing.’

Ivel walked toward the barrier.

“If only the director were here, maybe he’d find a way….”

Professor Mason muttered while resting his chin in his hand. 

Ignoring him, Ivel pounded on the barrier.

Bang! Bang!

“Please—!”

Bang!

“Open up—!”

“Ivel, you… should stop…”

Cathlyn hesitated, trying to stop her, knowing the rumors about Kyle and Ivel’s family connection. She understood what this meant for her. Even though she felt it was shameless to interfere—

Crack—

“What is…?”

Just then, the barrier cracked, then shattered completely, exposing the scene inside.

Whoosh!

A wave of hot air washed down the corridor, carrying with it the scorched earth and bloodstains that covered the ground. In the center, Kyle lay unconscious. His condition was visibly severe, his body covered in burns, shredded and charred skin blistering red.

The most glaring injury was a massive claw mark across his torso. Ivel rushed to him while shouting.

“Brother—!”

For the first time in years, she used a title she hadn’t uttered in ages.

Tears wet her eyes, and she felt something falling, as if raindrops were pouring from them.

“What… What do you think you’re doing, ending up like this! Get up! Get up!”

She cried out, summoning cold water to cool his body.

“Kyle—! Kyle—! Just hang on a little longer, please…!”

Lumina, who had run over, summoned a support spirit to aid in healing him.

Quickly! Quickly! Act now!

Finally, a priest and medics arrived, rushing Kyle to the infirmary as the long first day of the Mentee Magic Duel came to a close.

——-

“Another demon… appeared.”

Meanwhile, Ciel had just arrived at the Mage Tower. The arena was filled with the residual aura of dark energy. 

Having encountered demons several times now, she instantly recognized the sinister presence.

Stepping into the arena, she took in the scene from the spectator area. 

The demonic incident was over. A boy lay unconscious, with a white-haired and a pink-haired girl sobbing beside him.

Had the Master already come and gone?

If so, she’d arrived a bit too late.

Ciel swallowed her disappointment and looked at the boy. There was something familiar about him.

“Kyle…?”

It looked as though the one who had delivered the Master’s message to her had been caught up in the demon incident.

‘He survived a demon attack…’

He had managed to survive the academy entrance exam and now this. His luck was remarkable.

Ciel was about to turn away when a thought crossed her mind.

‘Survived another encounter with a demon…?’

During the entrance exam, there was a monster, but he was there. 

He was present at the initiation ceremony, was on her team during the monster combat training, and now, with the third demonic appearance… He was involved again.

“This is strange….”

Though she felt suspicious, there weren’t enough clues to confirm anything. 

For Ciel, who rarely thought of anyone besides the Master, Kyle was beginning to make an impression—Master occupied 99% of her thoughts, but Kyle was now at 1%.

“…”

After watching him closely, Ciel turned away. If it happened again, she would make a definite decision.

Meanwhile, Ivel headed to the training room.

‘The wand Master gave me… I like it….’

The precious wand tucked safely at her side.

She couldn’t wait to try it out.

————

“Where am I…?”

As I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. 

Retracing my memories, I recalled getting hit by Luin. Right—I had asked Luin to give me one final hit.

He had obliged, and with the unexpected amount of blood loss, I’d passed out.

“Luin, that idiot….”

What would he have done if something had gone wrong? I trusted that my danger sense wasn’t triggered, but still. I’d survived, so maybe that was enough.

It seemed that Luin had perished as in the original storyline.

I tried to sit up, but pain flared through my entire body.

“Ugh—!”

I lay back down immediately. Come to think of it, I did get pretty banged up. I’d probably need a few days of recovery.

It looked like I had quite a few bandages on, and I wondered how much time had passed since the Mentee Magic Duel.

And what about my campsite? Has it been left alone for a whole day?

‘At least recently, Ivel has been bringing me meals, so that should be fine….’

Food wasn’t a concern. The real issue would be dust and bugs if no one had been there to clean… There was nothing I could do about that. I’d just have to do it all at once later.

“I left some jerky on the rack to dry, so that’s okay, and the fish in the bucket should still be alive… Right?”

Just as I was organizing my thoughts, the door opened, and a woman in a doctor’s coat entered. 

She had violet hair swept to one side. Upon seeing me awake, she looked surprised and spoke.

“Oh, are you alright? You’re awake. We did everything we could to treat you.”

“How many days has it been?”

“Don’t worry. Just one day has passed.”

‘Phew! That’s a relief.’

One day meant I hadn’t lost too much time. With the semester’s end approaching, I needed to prepare for final exams.

‘If I start now, I won’t be behind. I’ve been keeping up with my studies regularly, so I’m eager to get back.’

“If I can move around a bit, is there any reason I couldn’t resume academic activities?”

“Well, it depends on your condition… But you’re quite resilient—oh! Sorry! I mean, your recovery is quick, so you could be discharged tomorrow. But there’s no rush; you can stay until you feel completely better.”

As expected, the Iron Man trait. 

The one that’s always been quietly present finally shines. 

I guess it’s the sort of thing only a sniper could manage.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good. Now get plenty of rest!” 

The infirmary nurse left the room, and I resolved to focus on recovery.

Just as I started to drift back into my thoughts, footsteps approached, getting closer.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud—

‘Why is someone running down the hospital hallway?’

“Y-you—! Are you okay?!”

“Kyle! I was so worried! Are you in pain anywhere??”

Ivel and Lumina burst through the door, followed by Lien, who walked in quietly behind them.

I expected this from Lumina and Ivel since we’re close, but… Lien? 

Did she just want to check if her debtor was still alive, in case she’d never get her money back?

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”

I gave them a somewhat awkward greeting.

“What happened in there? What was going on?” Lumina asked right away.

“Well, here’s what happened…”

And so, we spent the day chattering away, going over the events in detail. 

I explained to the academy investigators about Luin, even throwing in a little lie about an unknown man intervening.

One odd thing, though, was that Ivel’s eyes looked unusually swollen. When I brought it up, she quickly retorted:

“Wh-what are you saying?! It’s just from lack of sleep! Do you know how much sleep I lost worrying about you? What would I have done if something happened to my mentee?! I absolutely wasn’t crying! Got it? Now answer me. Answer meee!”

She was so desperate that I just went along with her explanation.

——–

Translator’s Note: Holiday Greetings!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope this season fills your days with joy, laughter, and plenty of relaxation.

Hope you are enjoying the novel so far! Happy reading!

Thanks for all the support and love.