The room fell silent for a while. The five players were unexpectedly honest, their eyes fixed on Victor, holding their breath as if fearing they might miss crucial plot details if they so much as uttered a word. It was a moment of complete stillness, and Victor reveled in the power he had over the scene.
Victor silently heaved a sigh of relief and continued to speak according to his prepared script, “First of all, I stand before you with a heavy heart, for I see before us an academy that has lost its former brilliance. The glory of our predecessors, once spanning a thousand worlds, has been overshadowed by the dark clouds of adversity. Our enemies have encroached upon our territories, attempting to extinguish the very essence of our ancient traditions and knowledge, cornering us to this no man’s land.”
He paused for a moment, letting the gravity of the situation sink into the players’ minds. “But let us not be daunted by the challenges. We will rise from the ashes and reclaim our rightful place among the countless worlds. It is our duty to restore the legacy of our forebears and make it the greatest in the universe once again.”
The last word was a cue for Lizbeth to appear, and she rapidly flew from who knew where and perched on Victor’s shoulder. The moment they saw her, the players couldn’t help but mutter to each other in a low voice that Victor could only hear thanks to his better-than-normal constitution.
“So that’s her true form. She’s so pretty!”
“Our mascot goddess has appeared.”
“After this, let’s create a fan club for her.”
“Agreed.”
Eh? There’s already a plan to make a fan club for her?! Victor’s eyebrows furrowed in surprise and confusion. However, this was not the main concern for him.
“Ahem. The fairy on my shoulder is my assistant. You may call her Miss Fairy or Miss Lizbeth. Feel free to ask her any questions about the academy or anything else you may not understand,” Victor announced with a touch of flair.
This was the academy’s backstory he made up. When the next batch of players arrived, Victor would repeat it once more. Crafting a compelling speech wasn’t easy, so it was better to use what was available to keep the setting consistent. Being aware of Earth, Lizbeth knew what to avoid mentioning to maintain the illusion of a game. Therefore, there was no need to worry about her accidentally revealing his true intention.
“Do you five have any questions?”
Seeing that it was time to gain some information, the player who registered with the nickname “Prominence” quickly asked, “Um, are there GMs monitoring us? Are you aware of anyone by the name CyberWa— Argh!”
Victor cast {Heat Wave} — an Aleph-tier spell — at its minimum output, releasing a burst of intense heat on the player in question, though not to the point of injuring him, while saying, “It seems you’re unaware of the etiquette you should have in front of the headmaster, an official Magus. This was only a warning: If you met another narrow-minded Magus out there, they might kill you. Be sure to address someone higher than you with their proper title from now on.”
This was the truth. Victor was teaching these players the unwritten rule of this world; the dignity of Magi could not be violated. Even the slightest mistake might bring the other party to an early grave. It wasn’t that he was being harsh, but it was better for him to teach them here than later, although he had to lie about being an official Magus.
Victor then replied sternly, “For your question, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Ask me some more useful questions.”
“S-Sorry,” the player stammered and retreated, clearly flustered.
“Oof, you’ve offended the headmaster…” Another player with red hair beside him, who was for some reason pretending to adjust his nonexistent glasses, inquired, “Esteemed Headmaster, how do we log out from the game?”
The truth was that the connection between a player’s real and virtual body could be interrupted by abnormal states such as coma, sleep, and death. However, Victor didn’t want this to happen; after all, the incubation of bodies in the Nexus Tower wasn’t free and required a significant amount of time. Furthermore, dealing with lifeless bodies scattered around would be nothing short of a nightmare. So, he reassured the players, “You can return to your dimension by going to a designated location and practicing meditation, as the law of the world allows a smooth transition between this world and the other. Anything else?”
“Me! Me! Sir Astralium!” Storm raised his hand, like an elementary student eager to be picked. “What about the character creation system? Can we tweak the settings for our roles? And, by the way, the gender of the character—? A-Agh! C-Can’t breathe…!”
This time, Victor only manipulated the Anemo elemental particles around the ignorant and impudent player to make him shut up and announced, “Since there are no more questions, my assistant will help you familiarize yourselves with the academy. This includes the rules of the academy on specifically what you can do and what you cannot do. You can check your Shadowlink Marks for further information and instructions.”
“You’re dismissed!” Before the other players could ask any more questions, Victor snapped his fingers, and a powerful gust of wind surged forth, forcefully pushing open the double doors and propelling the players outside. With another elegant flick of his hand, the heavy doors swiftly closed behind them, leaving them standing in the corridor.
“So strict on their first day, eh? Being overly harsh will get you nowhere,” Lizbeth quipped.
“I have a reason for this,” Victor defended, “While these players may have little to no contact with the locals, especially Magi, until much later, it’s crucial to instill some basic understanding and common sense in them. To them, this world may be just a game, but for me, it’s a reality. Who knows? Their lack of etiquette may very well be the trigger for a big problem in the future.”
In case more Magi joined this academy as NPCs… or mentors, these players should know at least the most basic form of manners. It would incite unwanted troubles otherwise. Victor could already imagine how such incidents played out in his mind.
Victor slumped to the chair as he let out a long sigh. Undertaking all these tasks was not only mentally exhausting for Victor but also draining on his mana reserves. Although he had used only about 20 percent of his inverted mana reserve, he still felt the exhaustion.
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Imposing Headmaster]
[Congratulations on fulfilling the condition (make the players understand the rules of this world) for this achievement.]
[The award (20 academy points) has been granted.]
Hrm? There’s a hidden achievement?! Victor stared at the screen for quite a long time, befuddled.
“That’s true.” Lizbeth let out a satisfied smile, a contrast to her usual mischievous one, and muttered, “You do have a qualification to become the headmaster. It seems that I didn’t choose the wrong person for the job.”
“What’s that?” Victor perked up, unable to hear her comment clearly because of focusing too much on the sudden achievement.
“It’s nothing. Why don’t you check the new mission while a magic projection of myself is currently guiding the players around the academy?”
“Mm, you’re right.” He turned his attention to the task at hand and projected the mission page.
—— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——
Mission: What’s Around the Academy?
To develop the academy, you must make sure that the surrounding area supports further growth. One such criterion is to discover exploitable natural resources.
Type: Main mission
Total Natural Resources Found: 0/3
Reward: 150 academy points
————————
Mission: Farming Simulator 1.0
Self-sustaining is not achieved through external factors but internal factors. You can do this yourself, or you can instruct the players to create a one-hectare field and seed it with life.
Type: Side mission
Reward: 10 progression value points
…
Victor had completed all the recent missions, and with the arrival of the first batch of players, a new array of tasks had been unlocked. Now, the number of side missions, in particular, had exceeded ten. Each had varying objectives but one common theme: to develop the academy, thus the progression value reward. These missions included tasks like “constructing a protective wall around the academy,” “building a dormitory for the acolytes,” “establishing a road network,” and other seemingly straightforward endeavors. While they might have been relatively simple for Victor, they posed quite a difficulty for ordinary players to achieve.
In total, the accumulation of progression value points from these missions would exceed one hundred. To upgrade the academy, Victor realized he would need to complete all these tasks. Conversely, an even better solution presented itself, which was even written in the mission description — why not delegate these missions to the players?
“Liz, assign all these missions to the players,” Victor instructed. “Do prioritize the easier ones like ‘Farming Simulator 1.0.’”
“Sure thing!” She nodded but then posed a question, “Er, what should we pay them with?”
Indeed. Even his former academy had to compensate its acolytes for doing their tasks and odd jobs. But currently, Victor was severely lacking in hard currency to make a sustainable economy. Even if he had the capital, the players might not necessarily be able to utilize it effectively due to the complexities of supply and demand. He needed an alternative form of expendable currency.
“Let’s give them ‘merit points’ as a reward for now. Oh, how generous I am!” Victor’s mouth formed a curved line that almost split his head in half.
“Should I bring a mirror so you can see how evil you look right now?” Lizbeth quipped.
“What? I’m only expressing my generosity.” Something then flashed inside Victor’s head. “Speaking of rewards…” He realized he hadn’t checked the previous mission’s reward yet, so he descended into the basement floor where the Nexus Beacon was located.
Similar to drawing arcane lootboxes, the interspatial ring materialized itself and floated into his hand. The ring was a bit larger than his thumb, but as soon as Victor slipped it onto his right middle finger, it magically adjusted its size to fit perfectly.
Interspatial ring (1 m3)
A magic ring that’s holding a pocket dimension within its confines. With a simple touch or thought, the user can access the hidden space, allowing them to store items depending on the storage size.
Once Victor placed his magic mark on the ring, he accessed the storage inside. Immediately after, an intense headache assaulted his head.
“Agh! Damn, why did someone put a tricky enchantment here?” Victor rubbed his head.
However, along with the headache came a magic transmission containing a piece of information flooding into his mind:
“In my long journey to seek the truth as a Magus, I’ve traveled across numerous worlds and dimensions… Among them, I found Earth — an outlier among many — and versed myself in its cultures. It was then that— Are you interested in what happened next? Hmm?
“To my successor, I hid a lot of easter eggs in the System that will give you hints. Be sure to find them all, teehee.
“Anyways, I have one piece of advice for you. Players are creatures that can be trusted more than the people of your own world. If used wisely, they can think outside the box and give insight even to the publisher — you.
“Also, I made it slightly easier for you to control them… But of course, without a proper understanding of their hearts and minds, you will be hard-pressed to manage them. So, be sure to do your job properly.
“If you’re asking, ‘Who am I? Where am I?’ know that I am hidden deep beneath this academy. Search for me, and you shall find it. Toodle-oo.”
If Victor had to guess, the culprit must be the previous headmaster. Sheesh. The previous headmaster sure has a mischievous streak, much like a certain someone.
It wasn’t just this, but also with the mysterious egg. Victor glanced at the fairy sitting on his shoulder, whose expression was saying, “Anything wrong?” and with a demeanor that was as innocent as ever, and concluded something. Whatever, I should check the content of the interspatial ring.
To his surprise, the ring wasn’t empty!
Among the items stored in the ring, Victor discovered a meditation technique book, along with several miscellaneous magic items. Could this be the starting pack that the System — or perhaps the previous headmaster — had given him?
You had to know that each basic meditation technique was priced at least dozens of AP. While Victor could teach the players the one he’d obtained from the Arcane Radiance College, he was bound by a magic oath not to freely distribute such knowledge. At least, not until he became an Elemental Adept Magus and joined their ranks or received permission to do so.
Victor had been thinking of what kind of meditation technique he should purchase from the System to teach the players all this time. So, receiving this meditation technique as a free endorsement was a heaven-sent blessing.
The room fell silent for a while. The five players were unexpectedly honest, their eyes fixed on Victor, holding their breath as if fearing they might miss crucial plot details if they so much as uttered a word. It was a moment of complete stillness, and Victor reveled in the power he had over the scene.
Victor silently heaved a sigh of relief and continued to speak according to his prepared script, “First of all, I stand before you with a heavy heart, for I see before us an academy that has lost its former brilliance. The glory of our predecessors, once spanning a thousand worlds, has been overshadowed by the dark clouds of adversity. Our enemies have encroached upon our territories, attempting to extinguish the very essence of our ancient traditions and knowledge, cornering us to this no man’s land.”
He paused for a moment, letting the gravity of the situation sink into the players’ minds. “But let us not be daunted by the challenges. We will rise from the ashes and reclaim our rightful place among the countless worlds. It is our duty to restore the legacy of our forebears and make it the greatest in the universe once again.”
The last word was a cue for Lizbeth to appear, and she rapidly flew from who knew where and perched on Victor’s shoulder. The moment they saw her, the players couldn’t help but mutter to each other in a low voice that Victor could only hear thanks to his better-than-normal constitution.
“So that’s her true form. She’s so pretty!”
“Our mascot goddess has appeared.”
“After this, let’s create a fan club for her.”
“Agreed.”
Eh? There’s already a plan to make a fan club for her?! Victor’s eyebrows furrowed in surprise and confusion. However, this was not the main concern for him.
“Ahem. The fairy on my shoulder is my assistant. You may call her Miss Fairy or Miss Lizbeth. Feel free to ask her any questions about the academy or anything else you may not understand,” Victor announced with a touch of flair.
This was the academy’s backstory he made up. When the next batch of players arrived, Victor would repeat it once more. Crafting a compelling speech wasn’t easy, so it was better to use what was available to keep the setting consistent. Being aware of Earth, Lizbeth knew what to avoid mentioning to maintain the illusion of a game. Therefore, there was no need to worry about her accidentally revealing his true intention.
“Do you five have any questions?”
Seeing that it was time to gain some information, the player who registered with the nickname “Prominence” quickly asked, “Um, are there GMs monitoring us? Are you aware of anyone by the name CyberWa— Argh!”
Victor cast {Heat Wave} — an Aleph-tier spell — at its minimum output, releasing a burst of intense heat on the player in question, though not to the point of injuring him, while saying, “It seems you’re unaware of the etiquette you should have in front of the headmaster, an official Magus. This was only a warning: If you met another narrow-minded Magus out there, they might kill you. Be sure to address someone higher than you with their proper title from now on.”
This was the truth. Victor was teaching these players the unwritten rule of this world; the dignity of Magi could not be violated. Even the slightest mistake might bring the other party to an early grave. It wasn’t that he was being harsh, but it was better for him to teach them here than later, although he had to lie about being an official Magus.
Victor then replied sternly, “For your question, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Ask me some more useful questions.”
“S-Sorry,” the player stammered and retreated, clearly flustered.
“Oof, you’ve offended the headmaster…” Another player with red hair beside him, who was for some reason pretending to adjust his nonexistent glasses, inquired, “Esteemed Headmaster, how do we log out from the game?”
The truth was that the connection between a player’s real and virtual body could be interrupted by abnormal states such as coma, sleep, and death. However, Victor didn’t want this to happen; after all, the incubation of bodies in the Nexus Tower wasn’t free and required a significant amount of time. Furthermore, dealing with lifeless bodies scattered around would be nothing short of a nightmare. So, he reassured the players, “You can return to your dimension by going to a designated location and practicing meditation, as the law of the world allows a smooth transition between this world and the other. Anything else?”
“Me! Me! Sir Astralium!” Storm raised his hand, like an elementary student eager to be picked. “What about the character creation system? Can we tweak the settings for our roles? And, by the way, the gender of the character—? A-Agh! C-Can’t breathe…!”
This time, Victor only manipulated the Anemo elemental particles around the ignorant and impudent player to make him shut up and announced, “Since there are no more questions, my assistant will help you familiarize yourselves with the academy. This includes the rules of the academy on specifically what you can do and what you cannot do. You can check your Shadowlink Marks for further information and instructions.”
“You’re dismissed!” Before the other players could ask any more questions, Victor snapped his fingers, and a powerful gust of wind surged forth, forcefully pushing open the double doors and propelling the players outside. With another elegant flick of his hand, the heavy doors swiftly closed behind them, leaving them standing in the corridor.
“So strict on their first day, eh? Being overly harsh will get you nowhere,” Lizbeth quipped.
“I have a reason for this,” Victor defended, “While these players may have little to no contact with the locals, especially Magi, until much later, it’s crucial to instill some basic understanding and common sense in them. To them, this world may be just a game, but for me, it’s a reality. Who knows? Their lack of etiquette may very well be the trigger for a big problem in the future.”
In case more Magi joined this academy as NPCs… or mentors, these players should know at least the most basic form of manners. It would incite unwanted troubles otherwise. Victor could already imagine how such incidents played out in his mind.
Victor slumped to the chair as he let out a long sigh. Undertaking all these tasks was not only mentally exhausting for Victor but also draining on his mana reserves. Although he had used only about 20 percent of his inverted mana reserve, he still felt the exhaustion.
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Imposing Headmaster]
[Congratulations on fulfilling the condition (make the players understand the rules of this world) for this achievement.]
[The award (20 academy points) has been granted.]
Hrm? There’s a hidden achievement?! Victor stared at the screen for quite a long time, befuddled.
“That’s true.” Lizbeth let out a satisfied smile, a contrast to her usual mischievous one, and muttered, “You do have a qualification to become the headmaster. It seems that I didn’t choose the wrong person for the job.”
“What’s that?” Victor perked up, unable to hear her comment clearly because of focusing too much on the sudden achievement.
“It’s nothing. Why don’t you check the new mission while a magic projection of myself is currently guiding the players around the academy?”
“Mm, you’re right.” He turned his attention to the task at hand and projected the mission page.
—— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——
Mission: What’s Around the Academy?
To develop the academy, you must make sure that the surrounding area supports further growth. One such criterion is to discover exploitable natural resources.
Type: Main mission
Total Natural Resources Found: 0/3
Reward: 150 academy points
————————
Mission: Farming Simulator 1.0
Self-sustaining is not achieved through external factors but internal factors. You can do this yourself, or you can instruct the players to create a one-hectare field and seed it with life.
Type: Side mission
Reward: 10 progression value points
…
Victor had completed all the recent missions, and with the arrival of the first batch of players, a new array of tasks had been unlocked. Now, the number of side missions, in particular, had exceeded ten. Each had varying objectives but one common theme: to develop the academy, thus the progression value reward. These missions included tasks like “constructing a protective wall around the academy,” “building a dormitory for the acolytes,” “establishing a road network,” and other seemingly straightforward endeavors. While they might have been relatively simple for Victor, they posed quite a difficulty for ordinary players to achieve.
In total, the accumulation of progression value points from these missions would exceed one hundred. To upgrade the academy, Victor realized he would need to complete all these tasks. Conversely, an even better solution presented itself, which was even written in the mission description — why not delegate these missions to the players?
“Liz, assign all these missions to the players,” Victor instructed. “Do prioritize the easier ones like ‘Farming Simulator 1.0.’”
“Sure thing!” She nodded but then posed a question, “Er, what should we pay them with?”
Indeed. Even his former academy had to compensate its acolytes for doing their tasks and odd jobs. But currently, Victor was severely lacking in hard currency to make a sustainable economy. Even if he had the capital, the players might not necessarily be able to utilize it effectively due to the complexities of supply and demand. He needed an alternative form of expendable currency.
“Let’s give them ‘merit points’ as a reward for now. Oh, how generous I am!” Victor’s mouth formed a curved line that almost split his head in half.
“Should I bring a mirror so you can see how evil you look right now?” Lizbeth quipped.
“What? I’m only expressing my generosity.” Something then flashed inside Victor’s head. “Speaking of rewards…” He realized he hadn’t checked the previous mission’s reward yet, so he descended into the basement floor where the Nexus Beacon was located.
Similar to drawing arcane lootboxes, the interspatial ring materialized itself and floated into his hand. The ring was a bit larger than his thumb, but as soon as Victor slipped it onto his right middle finger, it magically adjusted its size to fit perfectly.
Interspatial ring (1 m3)
A magic ring that’s holding a pocket dimension within its confines. With a simple touch or thought, the user can access the hidden space, allowing them to store items depending on the storage size.
Once Victor placed his magic mark on the ring, he accessed the storage inside. Immediately after, an intense headache assaulted his head.
“Agh! Damn, why did someone put a tricky enchantment here?” Victor rubbed his head.
However, along with the headache came a magic transmission containing a piece of information flooding into his mind:
“In my long journey to seek the truth as a Magus, I’ve traveled across numerous worlds and dimensions… Among them, I found Earth — an outlier among many — and versed myself in its cultures. It was then that— Are you interested in what happened next? Hmm?
“To my successor, I hid a lot of easter eggs in the System that will give you hints. Be sure to find them all, teehee.
“Anyways, I have one piece of advice for you. Players are creatures that can be trusted more than the people of your own world. If used wisely, they can think outside the box and give insight even to the publisher — you.
“Also, I made it slightly easier for you to control them… But of course, without a proper understanding of their hearts and minds, you will be hard-pressed to manage them. So, be sure to do your job properly.
“If you’re asking, ‘Who am I? Where am I?’ know that I am hidden deep beneath this academy. Search for me, and you shall find it. Toodle-oo.”
If Victor had to guess, the culprit must be the previous headmaster. Sheesh. The previous headmaster sure has a mischievous streak, much like a certain someone.
It wasn’t just this, but also with the mysterious egg. Victor glanced at the fairy sitting on his shoulder, whose expression was saying, “Anything wrong?” and with a demeanor that was as innocent as ever, and concluded something. Whatever, I should check the content of the interspatial ring.
To his surprise, the ring wasn’t empty!
Among the items stored in the ring, Victor discovered a meditation technique book, along with several miscellaneous magic items. Could this be the starting pack that the System — or perhaps the previous headmaster — had given him?
You had to know that each basic meditation technique was priced at least dozens of AP. While Victor could teach the players the one he’d obtained from the Arcane Radiance College, he was bound by a magic oath not to freely distribute such knowledge. At least, not until he became an Elemental Adept Magus and joined their ranks or received permission to do so.
Victor had been thinking of what kind of meditation technique he should purchase from the System to teach the players all this time. So, receiving this meditation technique as a free endorsement was a heaven-sent blessing.
