Prologue (4/4): I Want to Become a Star of the Academy!

“This is your student ID. It serves as a pass in certain areas and proves your identity. You also need it to access the free meals in the cafeteria. Keep it safe.”

“Yes, I’ll take good care of it.”

After handing over the card, Avier spoke with a more earnest tone:

“I don’t know if Yun Jianlan told you, but since its founding, Shengxiu Academy has never had a transfer student through connections. A sudden entry into the Fifth Grade like this is unheard of.”

“Yun Jianlan didn’t tell me what price she paid to convince the Principal for your admission, but your performance will be tied to her. If you perform poorly or get expelled, it will impact your sister’s future. It will become a stain on her life.”

“So, both as her friend and your teacher, I hope you will do your absolute best to earn everyone’s recognition. It will be good for her and for you.”

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

Yuriko hadn’t expected even this seemingly unreliable teacher to speak so seriously.

‘Hwanling, what do you think my sister did to make the Principal agree?’

‘I don’t know what the current Principal thinks, but at least back when the Saint was alive, you couldn’t buy his favor even with an entire kingdom.’

‘That’s crazy. She didn’t sell herself to the Principal, did she?’

‘Can your brain stay on track for once?’

‘What are you thinking? I meant sell herself as a slave.’

‘…I’m ignoring you, meow.’

Though she was joking with Hwanling, Yuriko knew her sister had paid a heavy price.

She suddenly felt the weight on her shoulders grow.

Even if it wasn’t a kingdom, the cost surely wasn’t something Yuriko could imagine.

She was just a street gangster; she didn’t have much worldly experience.

She was just a family member who had been gone for years—Yuriko didn’t even have memories of her.

Was it worth doing all this for her?

While lost in thought, Yuriko suddenly felt a sharp pain in her hand.

Hwanling had bitten her.

‘Ow! Why’d you bite me!’

If Yuriko hadn’t been used to the pain from fighting, she’d have let out a high-pitched scream.

‘You are the one who grabbed my tail, meow!’

Yuriko noticed she was indeed clutching Hwanling’s tail.

Hwanling hated it when she touched her tail, belly, or backside.

Only her head and back were occasionally allowed.

‘Sorry, I spaced out.’

Snapping back to reality, Yuriko took a deep breath.

No matter what, as long as she could win the “Academy Star” title, it would all be worth it, right?

Yuriko looked up, meeting Avier’s eyes.

Her determination hadn’t wavered.

“Thank you for the reminder, Ms. Simon. But let me tell you—even if you hadn’t reminded me, my purpose for coming here was to become the Academy Star.”

Avier saw no falsehood in her eyes.

Yuriko spoke with total confidence, just like Yun Jianlan had many years ago.

“Yun Jianlan said something similar back then.”

“She said she wanted to be the Academy Star too?”

“Yes. Your sister was the winner of the most recent Academy Star title. Her deeds are still spoken of around the Academy.”

So that was it.

No wonder her sister wanted her to become the Academy Star—because she had been one herself and believed Yuriko could do the same.

As Avier spoke, she checked her watch and realized class was about to start.

“Ah! Only 1 minute left! We’ll talk later. I’ll take you to the classroom!”

Yuriko followed Avier out of the office, rushing toward the classroom.

Fortunately, the classroom wasn’t far.

As the bell rang, Avier and Yuriko reached the door just in time.

“Phew, made it. Can’t be late on the first day of the new term~”

Avier patted her chest and took a breath to calm herself.

“To help you integrate quickly, I need you to introduce yourself at the front. Wait here for a moment and come in when I call you.”

“Alright. I’ll wait here.”

Avier took her materials and walked into the classroom, shouting for silence.

“Quiet, everyone! I know it’s a new school year and you’re all excited, but please mind the classroom order.”

“Little Avier, what courses are we taking this year?” someone shouted from the back.

“You’ll find out soon enough. But before today’s class meeting begins, I want to introduce a new student.”

“What?!” x Everyone

The classroom immediately erupted into chaos.

After all, Shengxiu Academy had been around for hundreds of years and had never had a transfer student.

A transfer into the senior grades was completely unprecedented.

“What’s going on? Did I hear that right?”

“Is Little Avier joking? We can actually have new students here?”

“Did they transfer from Class B?”

Doubt, shock, and curiosity mixed together, making the noise impossible to suppress.

Avier called for silence several times to no avail.

Finally, a blonde girl in the front row stood up and shouted to the rest of the class:

“Everyone, please calm down. You are making things difficult for Ms. Avier.”

The moment she spoke, the entire classroom fell silent.

Looking at the finally quiet students, Avier breathed a sigh of relief, though she also felt a bit troubled.

As a teacher, having less authority than her own students was quite embarrassing!

“Ms. Avier, please continue.”

The blonde girl sat back down.

“Phew, thank you, Wyndham.”

Avier turned to Yuriko at the door.

“Yuriko, please come in.”

At the call, Yuriko walked into the classroom and stood beside Avier.

She faced the crowd, her attention immediately drawn to the blonde girl who had helped Avier.

The girl had brilliant blonde hair.

Though she wore the standard uniform, her noble aura was unmistakable.

Combined with her heroic yet beautiful features, it gave Yuriko the illusion that she was glowing.

As Yuriko entered, the class also scrutinized this historic transfer student.

“Yuriko, please introduce yourself.”

Taking the cue, Yuriko turned and wrote her name on the blackboard.

Ruri Yuriko

“Good morning, everyone. I am Ruri Yuriko. From today on, I will be your classmate. I hope we can all get along well.”

Her poised stance, her specially trained elegant tone, her beautiful face, and her impressive figure—Yuriko’s debut was a massive hit.

Most of the cheers came from the boys.

Amidst the excitement, someone asked: “Ruri, are you a local from Pilgrimage City?”

“I suppose so. I’ve lived here since my earliest memories.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Not at the moment~”

“The cat on your shoulder is so cute!”

While the atmosphere was heated, a small girl secretly pulled out a snack and took a bite while no one was looking.

However, her “stealthy” move was completely obvious to Avier.

“Tiamat, it’s class time. Please don’t eat snacks.”

The little girl immediately looked up and swallowed the snack.

“I-I wasn’t sneaking snacks…”

Despite her claim, the grease on the corners of her mouth stripped her words of all credibility.

Yuriko noticed the girl too, specifically the pair of fierce horns on her head and the large red tail swaying behind her.

A dragon girl?

‘A Red Dragon species. Her bloodline purity seems quite high.’ Hwanling said in Yuriko’s mind.

Even dragons were here. It truly was an Academy for the world’s geniuses.

“At least wipe your mouth before saying that. There are crumbs at the corner of your lips.”

The dragon girl named Tiamat covered her small mouth, as if that would erase the evidence of her crime.

The class burst into laughter, though they seemed used to this and didn’t mock her for it.

‘It seems things are going smoothly. No one is making a fuss about me being a transfer student.’

Just as she thought that, a small girl in the front row slammed her hand on her desk and stood up, pointing a finger at Yuriko.

“Hmph! I won’t accept some person from nowhere joining us! Someone like you isn’t fit to be in the same class as my sister!”

Oh boy.

She had just been thinking how smoothly things were going, and now someone was looking for trouble.

‘Pfft.’

‘What are you laughing at? I’m being bullied here!’

‘This is karma for touching my tail, meow.’

Giving Hwanling a mental eye-roll, Yuriko turned her gaze to the girl.

She was shorter than Yuriko—shorter even than Avier, probably less than 1.5 meters tall.

She had white hair in twin tails and a very slender frame.

She had such a cute face; why was she so unpleasant?

Still, compared to the crude language she heard in the gangs, this girl’s words sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.

Avier saw Yuriko being targeted and was also at a loss.

“Nomili, you’re classmates now. Don’t make things hard for Yuriko.”

But the white-haired girl wasn’t listening.

She shouted at Avier: “Why can she just walk into our class? I’ve never heard of Shengxiu Academy having a backdoor entrance. Teacher, you owe us an explanation!”

This put Avier in a tough spot.

Her resistance to pressure was clearly low. Being challenged by a student made her flustered.

“This… this was a decision by the Academy…”

“Has the Academy become so corrupt that they’ll let just anyone in!”

“Now, Nomili, please calm down…”

Watching Avier struggle to explain, Yuriko knew she couldn’t rely on her.

It was time to step in herself.

Even though she was being targeted, to maintain her good-girl image, she couldn’t strike back.

She had to use gentle words, like a Tai Chi master, to deflect the attack.

Yuriko took a step forward, shielding Avier from the pressure.

“Your name is Kipling, right?”

Seeing Yuriko approach, the white-haired girl instinctively shrank back before plucking up her courage to stand her ground.

“What? You coming closer to start a fight? Don’t think I’m scared of you just because your chest is big!”

Big chest… Yuriko looked down at her own ample bosom, then at the girl’s chest—which was as flat as a practice field.

For a moment, she had the urge to laugh.

No, she couldn’t laugh. That would break her character.

Yuriko shook her head and subtly puffed out her chest.

“Of course not, Kipling. I completely understand your feelings.”

“Everyone here was selected through layers of competition to enter Shengxiu Academy. You passed every year’s tests to reach the Fifth Grade. You have worked so hard that it’s only right for you to question me.”

“However, Ms. Simon is innocent. Please don’t take your frustration out on her. If you, or anyone else here, is dissatisfied with me and feels I don’t belong in this classroom, I will prove Ruri Yuriko’s value through my actions. So, I hope you can save your questions for after class. What do you say?”

The classroom fell silent. Everyone listened carefully to her words.

After she finished, one student spoke up: “Who is Ms. Simon?”

Yuriko: “…”

‘Are you serious, dude? I spoke for that long and your only question is who Ms. Simon is? You don’t even know your own teacher’s name?’

Avier pounded the podium in frustration, shouting: “It’s me! After all this time, at least remember your teacher’s surname!”

“Wait, Little Avier’s name is Simon? I had no idea.”

“It’s because you all call me Little Avier! Call me Teacher!”

The class erupted in laughter, effectively dismissing Avier’s protest.

Yuriko pitied Avier for a second before turning back to the white-haired girl.

“It seems no one else has an objection. So, Nomili, will you grant my selfish request?”

Nomili wanted to say more, but the blonde girl beside her—the one who had helped Avier earlier—softly called her name.

“Nomili, sit down.”

“Ugh, Sister!”

Nomili wanted to argue, but Wyndham just shook her head.

Finally, Nomili sat down, huffing. “Don’t think I’ve accepted you!”

Having solved the problem, Yuriko stepped back to the podium.

‘Sigh, I never thought I’d have to use my brain one day. Using my fists is so much easier. A brat like that would behave after a good beating.’

‘Good job.’

Hwanling patted Yuriko’s head with a paw.

With the introductions over, Avier looked at the seating chart.

“Yuriko, you can sit in the empty seat next to Kalmira.”

“Alright.”

Yuriko walked down and sat in the empty spot next to Kalmira.

As soon as she sat down, Kalmira secretly waved at her.

“We meet again~”

Looking at the gentle Kalmira, Yuriko felt her mood improve significantly.

She smiled back.

“Yes. We meet again.”

After she settled in, someone poked her shoulder from behind.

A voice as clear as a bell followed: “Ruri, you were amazing. I can’t believe how calm you stayed~”

Yuriko turned.

Behind her was a blue-haired girl, a bit taller than Avier.

“Actually, I was very nervous. It was my first time speaking in front of so many people.”

It wasn’t technically her first time—she had given speeches in front of rival gangs before—but since the context was different, the nervousness was real.

“Hehe~ really?”

A mischievous glint appeared in the blue-haired girl’s eyes.

As if casually, she said, “Oh my, I was so scared when Nomili was picking on you. I was worried you’d get angry and beat her senseless with your spiked bat~”

The smile on Yuriko’s face froze.