He was the Eternal Spellblade—Grant Greyfax!
Looking at Licht, the man's face remained unreadable, yet his eyes still shone with a powerful brilliance.
"You're the last Cadet to arrive, Licht Valtier."
As the old man spoke, his voice seemed to cause the air to tremble, echoing loudly inside Licht's ears.
Any normal person would be intimidated when faced with the full majesty of this living legend. Licht, on the other hand, wasn't too bothered.
He knew from his playthroughs of the game that this shameless old man had a bad habit of scaring new cadets who seemed a bit too arrogant. But although the principal liked to frighten rookies, when push came to shove, he was extremely lenient when it came to punishing minor infractions—almost to a comical degree.
Licht didn't pay it much mind.
Hearing this, Licht looked around and saw the other top-ranking cadets from the entrance exam and nodded.
Each of the cadets was dressed smartly, wearing the signature badge of The Nexus Slayer Academy.
Licht looked around and, with no change in his expression, calmly responded to the principal:
"They say you should save the best for last. I believe that applies to this situation as well."
The second the words left Licht's mouth, the entire room seemed to freeze.
Even the few instructors gathered here couldn't hide their shock.
Hell, even the great Grant Greyfax couldn't help but have a minor facial twitch.
He secretly gave Licht a second look.
'I've heard a lot of stories about this brat's arrogance, but seeing it in person is really something.'
When he glanced towards the other students, he could already see the veins on their foreheads pulsing. He almost laughed out loud.
As the principal of the academy, he was all too familiar with the attitudes of young cadets at this age.
Each one was an outstanding talent in their own right—a true one-percenter. They were filled with boundless pride and optimism, and each believed they could change the world. So how could they possibly endure such blatant disdain?
Principal Greyfax was certain that if it weren't for his presence, a few of the bolder students would've already drawn their swords and gone for Licht's throat.
'At least things will be interesting this year.'
But even if he was amused, Principal Greyfax knew he still had an image to maintain.
Hiding his amusement, Mr. Greyfax still maintained the proper demeanor of the lorded Slayer Academy's principal as he spoke up:
"Cadet Valtier, we are currently discussing the entrance ceremony—not your personal beliefs about your strength."
Hearing this, Licht simply shrugged.He knew from the feeling he was getting from his body that the words he spoke weren't him purposefully trying to be an asshole. His body's subconscious was really just that arrogant!
He couldn't control it too much, so he just let his thoughts out.
After all, if given the choice between some angry looks or internal bleeding, there was only one obvious choice to make.
Fortunately, after this comment, Licht disdained to talk to his fellow cadets and kept to himself.
Seeing that Licht no longer took the opportunity to antagonize further, Greyfax moved on.
"Since everyone is here, I'll go over your specific arrangements. All top-ranking cadets will be seated in the front row, so most of the attention will naturally be on you. The cadet with the highest rank will be delivering the opening speech. You don't need to worry about that—they've already been informed and are prepared."
As Mr. Greyfax was speaking, a quick-witted cadet seemed to realize something and cautiously raised his hand:
"Pardon me, but does this mean that Licht Valtier isn't the top-ranking Slayer cadet at the academy?"
The principal was confused by the question, but replied:
"Yes. Licht Valtier isn't the top-ranking cadet. That person is not here at the moment."
Hearing this, the eyes of a few students widened in shock as they looked at Licht.
Slowly but surely, the cadets were starting to see Licht for the lunatic he truly was.
This guy had the audacity to come late and talk so much smack—yet he wasn't even the No. 1 cadet?!
Licht felt the confused and mocking gazes of the other students and simply let out a cold snort.
Although his body's actions were extremely arrogant, Licht's true mind was still extremely sober.
Others may be surprised, but how could he be the same as them?
He had known for a long time that the highest scorer wouldn't be a cheater like him. No, that role could only belong to the identity of the player character—the protagonist of the game.
Of course, this was just a simple malfunction in the system, causing the player character's scores to be the highest possible recorded in the history of the academy.
Because this was only an error, the real strength of the player character at the start of the game was not too shocking, and they had many rivals to compete with.
But unlike Licht, as the vessel for the player and protagonist of this world, you would discover that their talent was the real deal.
They grew rapidly, improving after every single battle, eventually becoming an overpowered being comparable to a force of nature—someone capable of saving the world.
Licht would never compete with them for the spotlight.
The protagonist's growth was essential to Licht being able to live a peaceful life in this hellish world.
As long as the protagonist did his job, everything should be fine.
...
A short while after the meeting with the principal...
The Entrance Ceremony was just about to begin, and people were still getting busy behind the scenes.
Now, this may be surprising to hear from someone who had literally been transported into a game, but no matter how prepared you are for anything— life can always find a way to throw you an unexpected curveball.
Licht thought he was already truly aware of that fact.
But unfortunately for him, no matter how crazy he thought his life was...
The world showed him it could always get crazier.