Strongest Extra In The Academy

The hours had passed unnoticed.

Kaidren leaned further into the plush embrace of the white couch, his sharp gaze still fixed on the blue screen glowing faintly in his palm. News after news had blurred into one another—reports of monsters, rising heroes, new glyphscroll technology, and the high-stakes Kessen between Apex clans. Each headline was a thread, weaving itself into the growing fabric of this world's chaos and opportunity. He had filed most of them away in his mind, categorizing facts and estimating future worth. Especially the Kessen. That one mattered.

Now, at last, he noticed the shift.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the apartment, the harsh brightness of day had mellowed into warm, golden light. The sun's rays spilled over the skyline of City Z, stretching the shadows of tall buildings across the streets like crawling vines. Dust motes danced lazily in the amber light.

Kaidren finally blinked, pulled back from the screen and its endless stream of information. His hand dropped the blue phone onto the nearby glass coffee table with a soft clink, the device coming to rest beside the closed silver laptop and the black TV remote. A soft hum of television filled the room. The comedy show that had been playing earlier had given way to what seemed like a slow-burning drama. Someone on screen sobbed. Another character slammed a door. Typical.

Kaidren stretched with a quiet grunt, his limbs sprawled loosely across the couch. The soft fabric embraced his weight like a cocoon. A wave of drowsiness washed over him—dull, heavy, and oddly pleasant. For a moment, he just lay there, half-lidded eyes watching the fading sunlight drift lazily across the room's clean white walls.

"Too much reading," he muttered to himself, voice low and dry. "Or maybe just... peace."

He didn't mind the sensation. After all the rapid data absorption, the silence was a balm. Still, something nagged at the edge of his mind. Something left unchecked.

His gaze slid back to the table. The blue phone sat there quietly, face up. Waiting.

Kaidren sighed through his nose. Right—he had yet to find the app that stored his esper abilities. Now that his curiosity about the outside world had been moderately satisfied, it was time to turn his attention inward. He needed to know what power this body held.

He sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, then reached for the phone again.

The screen lit up instantly. No passcode. No fingerprint. It simply obeyed. The device was undeniably his, or at least recognized him as its rightful user. A little eerie, honestly.

"If I were the system," he murmured, scrolling through rows of colorful icons, "where would I hide the status sheet of a stolen identity?"

Most of the apps were unrecognizable—some bearing unfamiliar characters, others marked with sleek logos he could vaguely guess the purpose of. Messaging platforms, shopping apps, streaming services... none of them mattered.

He tapped through folders methodically, swiping left, then right, letting his instinct guide him. His eyes scanned each app with the mechanical efficiency of someone accustomed to pattern recognition.

Then, finally, he saw it.

An icon with a quill. But unlike the silver-white quill from the laptop, this one was deep blue—its feathery strokes drawn in elegant motion, as if caught mid-scribble.

Kaidren blinked.

"Blue quill..." he said aloud, then turned the phone around in his hand.

Blue case.

His gaze flicked toward the coffee table where the silver laptop rested. White quill. Silver device.

He tilted his head, connecting dots that didn't matter.

"Huh. So color-coded... useless detail," he muttered, shaking his head slightly. "I'm thinking too much again."

Still, a small part of him found comfort in the consistency. Systems had patterns. Patterns could be predicted, exploited. Controlled.

Without further hesitation, Kaidren tapped the blue quill app.

What followed was a blinding, unexpected flash.

A surge of blue light burst from the screen like a camera flash pressed directly against his retinas. Kaidren instinctively jerked his head to the left, flinching as his right hand yanked the phone away from his face. For a brief second, his world went white.

"What the hell...?"

He blinked rapidly, vision slowly recovering. His face remained expressionless, but his voice—flat as it was—carried a note of genuine annoyance.

"Was that supposed to happen?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the phone as if it had personally wronged him. "...Great, now I'm going blind too."

But even as he grumbled, something shifted.

Not around him—but within.

It was subtle. Barely noticeable. Like a breeze stirring stale air in a sealed room. His limbs felt lighter. His senses—sharper. The heaviness in his body had receded slightly, replaced by a strange, refined sensation, like the faint hum of untapped energy now quietly pulsing in his veins.

He paused, flexing his fingers.

"What... was that?"

A spark of realization flickered through him. The flash wasn't just visual. Something else had been activated—something dormant. But Kaidren, in typical fashion, dismissed it.

"Adrenaline," he told himself flatly. "Probably just... adrenaline."

He knew it wasn't. Not really. But there was no need to overanalyze. Not yet.

He brought the phone closer to his face again, this time more cautiously. The screen had stabilized, now displaying a sleek, minimalist interface. A header labeled Esper Identification File sat at the top, glowing faintly.

Kaidren exhaled, long and quiet. The unknown was opening before him again—but not from the outside world. This time, it was his own capabilities he would uncover.

Just as he had planned.

And yet, as his finger hovered over the interface, he hesitated. Not from fear, but from awareness.

The moment he opened this file, it would mark the first step not just toward understanding who he was in this world—but what he could become.

Power, potential, danger... it all started here.

Outside, the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon. The city beyond the windows began to shimmer with artificial lights—white, gold, and neon blue.

Kaidren's eyes reflected none of them.

Only that flicker of intent.

Then—he pressed forward.

The moment Kaidren tapped the file, the screen momentarily flickered before stabilizing. What appeared before his eyes wasn't flashy or dramatic. It was simple—a black background, white monospaced text, clean and utilitarian, like a shopping list written by a machine that knew exactly what it was doing.

Body (Unlocked) — Tier 1 Esper

(Unlocked — Tier 1) [Super Speed]: Mastery Level: Grandmaster (100% mastery)

Unparalleled. Move at incredible velocities.

(Unlocked — Tier 1) [Enhanced Reflexes]: Mastery Level: Grandmaster (100% mastery)

Unparalleled. React with lightning-fast reflexes.

(Unlocked — Tier 1) [Inertial Control]: Mastery Level: Grandmaster (100% mastery)

Manipulate inertia for enhanced movement.

(Unlocked — Tier 1) [Super Strength]: Mastery Level: Grandmaster (100% mastery)

Possess incredible physical strength.

(Unlocked — Tier 1) [Enhanced Durability]: Mastery Level: Grandmaster (100% mastery)

Withstand extreme physical stress.

(Unlocked — Tier 1) [Regeneration]: Mastery Level: Grandmaster (100% mastery)

Heal from injuries rapidly.

(Locked) — Must Reach Tier 2 or Higher

(19 Abilities Still Locked)

System Note:

Hello, Customer. Since you have a total of ¥1,204,089 in your bank account, and after careful thinking and consideration of the money at hand and the limits of this world, me and my colleagues have agreed to grant you 25 additional abilities. Each ability will be fully mastered to its highest potential. You must unlock them gradually by advancing to higher Esper ranks. In simple terms, reach a Nexarion Rank or higher to access more abilities.

Kaidren's brows twitched. He rose abruptly from the soft white couch like a man jerked awake by a gunshot, the suddenness of his movement disrupting the stillness of the golden-lit apartment. The blue phone remained gripped in his right hand, the sharp glow of the screen catching in his eyes.

Despite the jolt of surprise, his expression remained unchanged—emotionally muted, features neutral, as if molded from quiet stone.

Still, his mind raced.

Am I seeing this correctly?

He stared again. Six unlocked body-related abilities, each one boasting the same terrifying annotation—Grandmaster (100% mastery).

Super Speed. Enhanced Reflexes. Inertial Control. Super Strength. Enhanced Durability. Regeneration.

Every ability was not just present—but mastered. Fully. Perfectly. The level of refinement most Espers could only dream of after years of training, Kaidren had from the start.

He sat back down, slowly this time, hand dragging through the black strands of his hair. The realization was starting to settle in—not fully, but enough to weigh on him like a sudden pressure in his chest.

This… doesn't make sense.

From what he remembered, even the main cast—the most powerful characters in the storyline of Espers of the World—only had around ten or eleven abilities. That was already the stuff of legends, their feats lauded in cinematic cutscenes and story arcs that declared them kings, queens, and children of fate.

For most regular players back on Earth, five to six abilities was the average. Mastery was rare. Luck, even rarer.

And yet, here he was, with six fully mastered Tier 1 body-type abilities… and a promise of nineteen more—locked behind Esper ranks he hadn't even begun to scale.

What kind of monster am I supposed to be?

He ran a thumb along the side of the phone absently, the screen's glow reflecting faintly off his neutral features. It wasn't the number of abilities alone that disturbed him. It was the mastery. That was the real anomaly.

Abilities could be unlocked with time, with training, with effort. But mastery? That was something else. That was earned—and often at great cost. Some of the strongest villains in the storyline had only mastered two or three of their abilities, and even that put them leagues ahead of others.

Kaidren narrowed his eyes.

¥1,204,089. That ridiculous amount from his bank account on earth—it had been traded for something far greater than weapons or equipment. It had bought power in its purest, most unrefined form. A foundation so solid it bordered on absurdity.

He knew he wasn't supposed to feel anything. Not awe. Not glee. But still… the smallest hint of wonder flickered at the edge of his thoughts, like the whisper of wind before a storm.

With this… my future might actually be within reach.

Kaidren leaned back against the couch, the cushions sinking slightly beneath his weight. He tilted his head back, eyes tracing the ceiling as though the answer might be etched there.

If I play this smart…

There was no need for unnecessary confrontation. He didn't want to draw attention. Not now. Not with what he held.

But he also understood one thing very clearly—if he had to fight, he wouldn't just survive.

He would dominate.

And still, his neutral expression didn't shift. His thoughts were cold, calculated. He had no intention of flaunting what he had. Only when necessary, he reminded himself.

Only when peace requires teeth.

His fingers flexed, and the phone dipped slightly in his grip. Kaidren stared at the dark screen again, now dimming due to inactivity.

"I'm probably stronger than almost every Tier 1 to 3 esper right now…"

The words left his lips in a tone so flat it almost felt like sarcasm. But it wasn't. It was the truth. A quiet, dangerous truth wrapped in an emotionless voice.

He suddenly lifted both arms into the air and stretched, as though trying to shake off the weight of that knowledge. The old couch groaned beneath him.

Then, in a rare twist of character, he let out a small exhale and muttered under his breath:

"This calls for a celebration."

His eyes glinted—just for a second—and the corners of his lips tugged up, forming the faintest of amused smirks.

"Two packs of those hot chili cheese noodles… No. Make that three."

With the decision made, Kaidren tossed the phone gently onto the coffee table beside the closed silver laptop, leaned back into the couch, and sighed.

Outside the window, the skies of City Z were stained a deep orange, with the last remnants of daylight settling into the alleys and rooftops below. The world moved on—oblivious to the power now quietly simmering inside the lone esper seated in that silent apartment.

And Kaidren?

He was already thinking of boiling water.