Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 46: School Festival (2)

If this were the original story, I thought it would take at least a week to convince her.

So I’d prepared multiple other methods of persuasion just in case I failed... but they ended up useless.

I mean, sure, it’s a good thing. But—I don’t know. It kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Still, there was no need to ask why she didn’t say no, so I just smiled brightly and accepted the good fortune that had come my way.

“Thanks, Charlotte!”

“Um... but... are there going to be other people joining too...?”

“Hmm...”

To be honest, I haven’t decided on anyone else yet.

Originally, I would’ve tried to connect with the main characters and used those relationships to enter the tournament—but I don’t have the guts for that.

Noah, I only got involved with by chance. Charlotte was approachable because of her personality.

Besides, Noah isn’t even a combat-type character to begin with, so I can’t even ask her for help.

Even if I gave her a dedicated weapon or gear, she might perform okay... but there’s no way I can afford something like that.

And then there’s Yoon Siwoo... yeah. Something about him just makes it hard to even approach, let alone propose anything.

The other main characters aren’t ones I can ask for help either.

Hellicia—if you don’t have a perfect foundation in magic or comparable combat ability, you can’t even talk to her.

Then there’s the barbarian, heir to the great people of the North, who, according to rumors, once lifted a mountain and shaved it down with her bare hands to make workout equipment.

There’s also Han Seol-ah, who has that distinct chilly aura and is said to be the eldest daughter of one of the Twelve Great Houses—a descendant of a legendary hero.

None of them are a match for me right now, either in status or personality.

Maybe if we were in the same class, it’d be a different story—but strangely enough, all of them are crammed into Class 1.

When I played the game, I never thought too hard about why all the important characters were in the same class—it just made sense for immersion between player and character.

But now, seeing it from the perspective of an extra... it feels blatantly discriminatory.

Anyway, since people like that are way out of my reach, I thought of the most approachable person I can reach right now.

I guess saying it like that might hurt their pride a little, but... this person, unlike Charlotte, is a character basically every player knows.

“Have you heard of Scholar, by any chance?”

“Scho...lar? Oh, yes... I had my staff repaired by him a few times...!”

Charlotte closed her eyes as if recalling a memory, then pulled out a staff from a wooden coffin tucked in a corner of the supply room.

“I ordered it but never had a use for it, so it’s just been gathering dust... but he was really good...!”

“I’m going to ask him for help.”

“Huh? But that person is definitely...”

“Don’t worry, Charlotte. I’m sure I can get him to agree.”

“O...okay...”

Charlotte tilted her head slightly, as if trying to recall more info about Scholar. I projected confidence that I could convince him.

Of course, that probably wasn’t the part Charlotte was actually concerned about.

But me—I wasn’t confident.

I wasn’t confident... that I couldn’t fail.

****

Real name: Vector Scholar.

If I had to sum up his personality in one word... eccentric. freeweɓnøvel.com

And not the kind who worries about what other people think—he’s a true oddball.

He’s caused a lot of incidents, put out all sorts of bizarre failures, and among the students, he’s called a delusional inventor.

The biggest incident? He blew up an annex building to simultaneously test the reaction speed of students from the physical track and the blast radius of his homemade explosives.

He’s also failed to submit key assignments or documents multiple times because he got too absorbed in his experiments—he’s even been held back a few times. So yeah, his reputation isn’t great.

Even so, the reason players remember Scholar is just one thing.

His role in the game is none other than “Enhancement.”

In Dreaming World, most items can be enhanced.

Sometimes it’s a simple stat boost, like +1 or +2. Other times, items evolve into something entirely new.

And the only character in the Academy who can perform enhancements... is Scholar.

There are other enhancement characters outside the Academy, but until you move past the Academy arc, you’re stuck relying on him.

You literally can’t progress without having your gear enhanced by him at least once.

Even after you leave the Academy, you’ll still find yourself coming back.

Why? Because no one has higher enhancement success rates than Scholar.

Sure, sometimes it fails, but his original methods can push something from +1 to +3 in a single go—making him more important than most late-game support characters.

‘That’s about as much as most players know on the surface.’

Maybe it’s because I like weirdo characters... or maybe because I’m just weird myself... but I spent a lot of time analyzing Scholar.

And what I found was this: He doesn’t just enhance player gear—he can also create items that didn’t exist before.

Which, thinking about it, makes perfect sense.

Why would an inventor character only enhance other people’s stuff? Of course he’d prefer using his own creations.

And as I discovered his preference for crafting and using his own gear over enhancing existing items, I realized Scholar had another use.

Most—probably every other player besides me—never even tried raising his affection.

That’s because, like Charlotte, Scholar doesn’t have visible affection points.

By rotating his favorite gifts every day, analyzing his constantly changing behavior and dialogue, I figured out that Scholar does have a hidden affection system.

Now that I’m inside the game, I can’t even be sure that was just a programmed mechanic.

Anyway, once you raise Scholar’s affection, his versatility is insane.

[Micro Mana Reactor-based Nation-Erasing Fusion Attack]

[Teleportation Device Using Simplified Space Compression]

[Time Control Device for Puzzle Gimmick Bypass]

If he has the materials, time, and money—he’ll make inventions that outright challenge divine authority. A rule-breaking inventor.

If Charlotte is the character with the highest ceiling in magic, then Scholar is the one with the highest in engineering and science.

None of this was ever officially revealed—only shared in obscure community posts.

And even then, I never wrote about it myself. I mean, it’s a pain to type up... and why would I let someone skim through the info I earned after hundreds of hours of grinding?

But... all of that only applies if he has capital.

In his current state, he’s probably just tinkering with other people’s junk to kill time.

So.

I came up with a proposal that would appeal to him more than anything else.

****

“Scholar!! Why the hell does the pair of shoes I gave you have rocket propulsion systems attached?!”

“They make you run faster, isn’t that good?!”

“No! I only gave them to you because the soles were a little worn out!!”

“Bah, you really can’t recognize a masterpiece...”

“Masterpiece my ass! Put them back the way they were!”

“Tsk...”

Watching the door slam shut hard, Scholar began detaching the propulsion units from the tossed shoes one by one.

“Ungrateful punks who don’t understand the value of a great invention...”

Lately, there’d been a weird increase in people picking fights with him.

If they wanted something repaired, they could at least say what was wrong. But no—most of them just dropped the item off with no explanation, and then got mad when he fixed it however he wanted.

“...No, wait. They said the speed couldn’t be controlled. Maybe I should build a device that supports leg strength to compensate?”

But Scholar refused to give up on the rocket propulsion system, and instead doubled down, insisting on upping the output and started slapping even more crap onto the shoes.

Originally, the owner just wanted the soles glued back on because they were peeling. But that kind of basic, boring request never even registered with him in the first place.

“Yes! The solution is always more firepower...!”

Clack.

Unfortunately, his hand reached for an empty box.

He’d spent way too much lately, and now there was nothing left in his stockpile.

“......”

It wasn’t like he was on the verge of starvation or anything. But for someone with his hunger for creation and invention, the space he had now was far too small and far too lacking.

Even if you said, “Humble beginnings lead to great endings,” what he ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) had right now was so humble that it felt like it would take an eternity to get anywhere close to greatness.

“There’s gotta be a way...”

The real reason for all his spending? Mostly because he’d been slapping on extra equipment without permission or breaking the client’s stuff during “experiments.” But he didn’t think about that at all.

All that mattered to him was something cooler—something clankier—something more awesome.

Clatter.

“Oh, welcome! What kind of item can I—”

Just then, another unfortunate victim... no, customer, stepped through the door.

“Mr. Scholar. I’ve come with a proposal that’ll benefit you greatly.”

“? What are you talking about all of a sudden—”

He greeted the short guest with a bright smile, but the girl spoke before he could finish—with an offer even he couldn’t help but be intrigued by.

“...Robots. Are you interested?”

“......?”