The Gacha Addict of the Academy

“My thoughts are drifting.”

Judging that it was beyond my reach, I put down my sword. As I lost focus, the surroundings began to come into view. I confirmed that I was still inside the training hall and looked down at my body. Before I knew it, my clothes were soaked with sweat and clinging to my skin.

“I was planning to practice a little longer today, but it ended much quicker than I thought.”

Phew.

I needed to wash up first.

“Your ability is the strongest.”

I had always heard such words as I grew up. In fact, my abilities were far stronger and more varied than others’.

It was inevitable.

Slightly, but I had the ability to manipulate situations through my magic as I wished. If I wanted, anything was possible. The magic consumption was large, but with just an intent, I could make monsters of a lower rank than me disappear without a trace. My ability was that powerful.

The sense of omnipotence, the ability to do anything, often tempted me as a child.

But I wanted to use this power for something better.

Growing up watching my parents fight as heroes for the world, I too wanted to be a hero who saves the world. So, I joined a hero training institution at a young age. Perhaps it was admiration.

A hero must be strong.

If you’re weak, you can’t be anything.

And my parents were too weak.

I started asking around about my parents, who hadn’t come back one day, but no one would tell me. The adults would just turn their heads with stiff expressions. As a child, I spent nights believing they would return someday.

But as time passed, I slowly realized. I wouldn’t be able to see my parents again.

By the time I fully grew up,

I had no time to mourn.

I learned magic and practiced swordsmanship relentlessly to become stronger. I kept pushing my abilities to their limits, always striving for more, all with the resolve to make this damn world a peaceful, happier place.

Before I knew it, I had become stronger than anyone around me.

Of course, I was still much weaker compared to the teachers or the frontline heroes. I had just become strong enough that no one in the academy could beat me.

Even so, it wasn’t enough.

So, I entered the most famous academy in the world.

I thought this might lead me to a higher place.

“Are you still at it?”

A friend I had made since coming here asked with an exhausted expression. Instead of answering, I just smiled faintly.

After a moment of looking at me, my friend suggested going to eat. Since I was hungry, I nodded and stood up.

As we talked about trivial things, we eventually arrived at the restaurant.

“So, today that guy…”

I had been looking at my friend, who was laughing, so I didn’t pay attention to where I was going.

“…?!”

“Ouch… Are you okay?”

Hearing something collide, I looked forward in surprise and saw a girl falling backward after bumping into me. Since it was my fault for not noticing, I quickly moved to catch her.

She had platinum blonde hair, like moonlight.

She was such a small girl, I wondered if she was around my age, but the height difference was huge.

She barely looked like a middle schooler from her appearance, which said it all.

When she collided with me, her eyes were tightly closed, as if expecting to fall. It was quite cute.

After a while, she opened her eyes slightly, looked around, and then looked up at me. Strangely, there were stars in her eyes.

As I stared blankly at her shimmering pupils, she moved her lips and spoke softly.

“… Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Ah… I’m glad.”

I said with a relieved expression, but her face was still stiff.

That’s when I realized that I was still holding her in my arms, and hurriedly adjusted our positions to pull my arm away. She seemed to be upset about me touching her body, so I nervously asked.

“… Did I make you feel uncomfortable?”

“…”

… Oops.

Even though I caught her, I must look like a pervert if I kept touching her. While I was scolding myself, the girl, who had loosened her expression, gently tapped me.

“… Sorry…”

Huh..?

I was surprised she apologized suddenly.

I must have been the one in the wrong.

“Huh? No, it’s okay. You could have felt uncomfortable… I should’ve been more careful, sorry.”

Since I couldn’t just let her apologize without offering something in return, I exaggeratedly said it was nothing, and that I was the one who should be sorry.

While I was saying this with a smile, I noticed the girl, who was keeping her head down in silence, and felt uneasy. Did something go wrong when she bumped into me earlier? Or was she scared because I kept holding her?

“… What happened?”

I cautiously asked, and only then did the girl lift her head and hurriedly answer.

“Uh, yeah…? Ah, no, it’s… that… what’s your name…?”

Huh… Name…?

I hadn’t expected her to ask for my name, so I was a bit flustered. But since she asked, I couldn’t not answer, so I told her my name. After thinking for a moment, the girl hurriedly said she would leave and quickly ran off.

“…”

“Hey, honestly, isn’t she a bit weird?”

“What do you mean?”

“What the hell is this guy saying now?”

“No matter how I look at it, the height difference and the mid-difference… Ugh! Why are you hitting me, you crazy bastard?!”

“Shut up, seriously.”

Does he want to get hit again?

I was even angrier because I had never once thought like that. He always thinks in such a way, no matter what.

Still… it was a little cute.

The fact that he asked for my name—could it be that he has some feelings for me?

“Again, again, this guy’s drinking kimchi soup.”

It was just a passing thought, but the way he was talking was really ridiculous.

I snapped at him in frustration.

“What, what?! Honestly, if you’re asking for my name, doesn’t that mean you’re interested?”

“Alternatively, if you didn’t know my name, doesn’t that mean you’re not interested in me?”

“This bastard, seriously!”

Today, I really hated my friend.

I kept thinking about the girl I bumped into earlier.

This was a little creepy, but I couldn’t bring myself to directly go and ask her about it.

It wasn’t because I liked her—there was something I really needed to find out.

Such eyes were rare.

Her eyes were definitely not normal.

… Anyway, that was the reason.

“… So, she came to me? Is that your type?”

Of course, what came back was my fist flying toward him.

“Do you want to die?”

“Okay, okay… Can’t even joke around anymore?”

“I was just curious.”

I really had no feelings about it.

I wasn’t the type to fall in love just because I bumped into someone once. I was popular enough to date any other girl if I wanted.

It was purely out of curiosity. Hmm.

“Well… It’s not like I don’t know. I know a bit about famous people. That girl’s name is Luna Crystal… She’s from the Rosnokiah family.”

“Rosnokiah…”

It was a global magic industry giant.

… So that was it.

Only then did I realize why there were stars in her eyes.

“Well… she seems like a half-abandoned child. Apparently, her abilities aren’t magic-based, that’s why.”

“What?”

Abandoned…?

“Because of the inheritance situation, she’s at the very bottom, and her ability isn’t related to magic at all, so it’s almost like she was abandoned.”

“How do you know all this…?”

“Well… I have my ways of knowing.”

Even though he said that, knowing corporate secrets could lead to serious consequences, right?

Aside from that, apparently, she was so shy that she spent most of her time alone, with no friends, and was somewhat isolated. There were rumors of subtle bullying, but nothing too serious.

I was a little surprised to hear there was some form of bullying.

“It’s just some rumors, nothing more. No one’s really bullying her. After all, she’s the child of a global corporation; who would dare touch her?”

“I didn’t know that…?”

“Maybe you’re the weird one.”

“…”

Was I?

“Anyway… Thanks for telling me. I’ll be going now.”

“Yeah.”

“Ah… seriously…”

I felt a bit uncomfortable, as if I had become some kind of pervert.

I regretted not just going directly to ask her. If I had done that, maybe I would have felt less uneasy.

At first, I was just curious about her eyes and wanted to learn more about her abilities, but now…

“Maybe I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

I don’t know… I just had this feeling I wanted to get closer.

I heard she didn’t have many friends, so it must be tough not having anyone close in the academy.

Something about her made it hard to just leave her alone.