Chapter 64

However, even Class 2 upperclassmen were only supporting roles compared to the man who just joined the line.

A beautiful man dressed up in ready-made clothes with hair neatly pulled back stood there, smiling.

He was Fermi Ardino of Class 1.

Once more people noticed he was there, the sound of talking diminished.

Sharelle also whispered with a serious look.

“It’s understandable that we are here, but isn’t it strange that people from Class 2, not to mention Fermi, are attending?”

“They’re not here because of Shirone. What do you think the upperclassmen who just arrived have in common?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, hard to get close to?”

“Exactly. Those guys… They’re probably members of groups that work in the shadows. Similar to Black Magician. Though they are on a whole ‘nother level compared to them.”

“Ah, that’s right. I heard the research group that Shirone joined is quite notorious. However, I really didn’t expect Fermi to come. I don’t know about the others, but I know he’s really popular. He’s even kind.”

“I find that even worse. I feel like he’s always up to something. Anyways, let’s just ignore them. There’s no such thing as upperclassmen or lowerclassmen in the Advanced class.”

The 30 students in the Advanced Class were all equal competitors.

Each year, 10 Advanced Class students would graduate, and classes were organized according to exam scores. Therefore, the current classmates were those who did not make the top 10 in last year’s graduation exam.

The reason why they couldn’t just be regarded as failed-to-pass students was because they were at the top of the pyramid. The higher one went up the pyramid, the smaller the difference in skill. If you were a Class 1 student, there was little to no difference in terms of skill to categorize who was more superior or inferior.

In addition to basic skills, there were numerous variables such as their condition on that particular day, the existence or nonexistence of strategy, compatibility, concentration, choice, etc. That was what determined who got to graduate.

The students were absolutely shocked that the Rank 1 of the magic academy had come to watch a Class 5 presentation.

As word of Fermi’s appearance started to spread, by the time the presentation was about to start, there were more students than there were seats.

Finally, the door to the lecture hall opened and the students rushed in.

The first row was for the instructors, while the students filled up the seats in the order they came in.

Amy had arrived early, so she got to sit close to the stage next to Sharelle.

“What in the world are they going to show us for it to be this big of a deal.”

No matter how hard she thought about it, it was strange for it to cause this ruckus.

Not only were there outstanding talents from the Advanced class, but also the number one…

‘This isn’t a simple presentation.’

In the midst of the tense atmosphere, Amy waited for Shirone to come out.

The lights in the hall went out.

A single spotlight descended into the dark room

The spotlight moved across the stage holding everyone’s attention. It captured the boy standing in the center, then returned.

“Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming to watch the presentation presented by the Supernatural Psychic Science Research Group. I am Nade, the president of the research group. Today, we would like to demonstrate the subject of the soul. Let’s begin the presentation.”

The spotlight went out and the sound of applause died down.

The stage brightened like the beginning of dawn, and the scenery of a gloomy mountain began to show itself against the curtain behind the stage.

“The children have prepared a lot.”

Alpheas smiled contentedly.

There was only one reason why he visited. He was too curious to miss out on this event.

On the other hand, Siena was not too impressed.

It was a nice strategy to use a hologram device, but if the substance of the presentation itself was poor in quality, everything was in vain.

Nade spoke at the edge of the stage.

“520 years ago at this exact location, before the Alpheas Magic Academy was established, there was a small Hwajeonmin Village. It was a period when people who lost their country to a devastating war of conquest wandered aimlessly. Today, we would like to tell you the story of a woman who came here to this Hwajeonmin Village to escape the war.”

TL/N: Hwajeonmin Village is a village which practices slash-and-burn technique for agriculture.

As the stage brightened, Yiruki, who was dressed up as a soldier, appeared while dragging one of his legs.

“Geeeuurggghh, H-Hungry.”

The eyes of the students who were listening very seriously a second ago widened. They soon burst into laughter.

“PUHAHA! What is that?!”

“What does he mean ‘Geeeuurggghh?’ What kind of play is this?!”

Nade continued the narration.

“It was the same for most of the soldiers who wished to escape the war. However, they were not alive. They were hungry ghosts who wandered the world, possessed by evil spirits. They entered the Hwajeonmin Village after smelling raw flesh.”

After the explanation, Nade, who changed his clothes off-stage, appeared as the main male character while Yiruki attracted the audiences’ attention from the side.

“Oh, my dear Ollia! Why is someone from a noble lineage like you suffering in these mountains? If I could, I would sell my soul to restore your glory, but it’s a pity I can’t do that.”

The vocalization was quite worth listening to, but the students who came here thinking it would be a presentation were really puzzled to find out it was a play.

Moreover, when Shirone, dressed as a woman from the other side, came out on stage, everyone was stunned.

“Noah, Noah!”

“WAHAHAHAHA!”

All the students could not hold back their laughter.

Shirone really looked like a woman. He had tied his waist tightly to emphasize his waistline, and it looked like he was stuffing something to accentuate his chest.

“A-Amy.”

Sharelle slowly looked at Amy with a complicated mind to find Amy also had an absurd expression.

Nade and Shirone communicated the situation through conversations.

It was just a simple story.

Noah and Ollia, who were both of noble lineage, promised to marry each other when they were kids, but the war left their families in ruin. That was why they eventually came to Hwajeonmin Village to continue their love.

“I missed you Ollia, my love, my everything. I love you with all my heart.”

“I love you too, Noah.”

The eyes of the students, who were watching with half-enthusiastic expressions, shone with curiosity for a moment. This was because the two actors were hugging and staring at each other.

Anyone could guess what would happen next.

‘Kiss scene. It’s definitely a kiss scene.’

Sharelle’s leg bounced up and down as she made a fuss.

“Oh my, they’re gonna do it? Actually?! Oh no!”

The audience focused this time out of pure curiosity about whether they would really kiss.

“Ollia.”

“Noah.”

The tension soared the moment they started to come closer.

“AAAHHHHH!”

Suddenly, Yiruki appeared behind Nade and bit down on his neck, knocking him down.

“KYAAAAAAA!”

The students jumped when the scream rang out from the sound system.

‘That scared me.’

Nobody expected Yiruki to appear. This was because it was impossible to produce this kind of production with only the stage equipment.

Shirone wrote the script aiming for this point. He thought he could surprise the people by using the invisibility cloak. As the tension escalated, the audience gradually moved to sit on the edge of their seats.

Yiruki, who knocked down Nade, pretended to dig into his flesh. Bone-crushing, flesh-chewing sounds were emitted from the sound system.

“No! Noah! NOAH!”

When the flesh-eating ghost disappeared, Ollia held the dead body of Noah in her arms and cried out in anguish.

The lights went out, and a woman’s outcry was heard.

“AAHHHHHHHH!!! I won’t forgive you! I’ll kill them all! I’ll turn you guys into ghosts, too!”

The voice of the woman echoing in the dark sent shivers down the students’ spines.

When the sound of the woman cursing ended, the spotlight shone once again on Nade, who came back as the narrator.

“It was approximately six months ago that we heard— No, when we excavated this story. It was thanks to an old diary we found while researching the history of the magic academy.”

Nade pulled out a single notebook.

It was supposedly a 520-year-old notebook that was buried underground.

Of course, it was something they made in a hurry a few days ago.

“Our members who study psychic science immediately launched an investigation and we learned a shocking secret. It is the fact that the ghosts of that time still roam this academy.”

Ding. Ding. Ding.

The sound system started ringing a bell which sounded familiar to the students. It indicated midnight.

“Every night at 12 a.m., hungry ghosts roam places devoid of light. So we thought, this could be the evidence to prove the existence of souls.”

The students frowned.

Even though they’d been attending the academy for several years, they had never seen a suspicious person, let alone a ghost.

“Of course, we know. You’ve never seen one before. However, according to the study of Supernatural Psychic Science, souls have properties that can only be seen by those who wish to see them. A special kind of mental frequency has to be met. This is why we decided to hold this presentation. Now that you know the story of souls, your frequency is set right. Now you too will be able to witness ghosts wandering the place believed to be the destination for the soul of the dead.”

Nade gave a wink and made a final comment.

“Of course, only if you’re lucky. This ends the presentation given by the Supernatural Psychic Science Research Group.”

There was only silence after Nade left. Instead of applause, there was only a bleak atmosphere.

“What? What is he saying?”

The students were filled with betrayal and despondency.

They said it was a presentation to prove the existence of the soul, but all they did was dress up as ghosts.

“As expected, this was just a joke. I thought they would show something amazing.”

“We are the fools to have expected something. Let’s be honest, how could they prove the existence of ghosts? We’ve been completely deceived.”

Class 4 joined in.

“There were lots of talks about Shirone and Yiruki, but in reality, they aren’t much of anything. Hey, let’s leave. I wasted my time here.”

Voices of disappointment could be heard all around the hall.

The students were reluctant to even have a break time and instead spent that time studying. So they were extremely regretful to waste their time watching a false presentation.

Mark and Maria came down while other students began leaving the lecture hall.

It was to see Amy and Sharelle.

“Hello, Seniors!”

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

“How did you like the presentation?”

Mark seemed to have found it absurd.

It was especially more difficult for him to accept today’s presentation because he knew of Shirone’s level of genius.

But Amy didn’t have anything to say either.

No excuses, no pretext to try and justify the situation. What they saw was everything, and this was the end of the presentation.

Sharelle stood up for Shirone.

“I’m sure they originally prepared something, but maybe something went awry. Didn’t have enough time, or something. Right, Amy?”

“It’s true this is a whole failure. Anyway, I should have known from the moment I heard that he was hanging out with strange kids. Let’s leave.”

Sharelle grumbled at Amy’s cold attitude.

“How can you be so indifferent to your boyfriend?”

“Haha! That’s Senior Amy’s charm. Shirone is probably the one most upset out of everyone here.”

Mark had a point. Sharelle followed behind Amy.

Now the only ones left were the instructors.

They honestly had no clue what to write on the evaluation sheet.

Siena was especially shocked.

‘Why in the world did they give this kind of presentation…’

She couldn’t believe they held such a childish presentation in the presence of the headmaster no less.

A headache was already pounding her head as she thought of ways to cover up this situation.