Observing the screens in front of me, I analyzed them this time. I read everything carefully without "activating" the supposed cooldowns that the screens displayed.
[A: Skill; Slash]
[B: Skill; Roll]
[Y: Skill; Throw]
[X: Skill; Stab]
'Interesting,' I thought as the screen labeled with the first letter of the alphabet returned to its normal state. 'It really seems like the cooldown works as I imagined.'
"Miss Geevolaince! Please, listen to us!"
Hearing one of the voices, probably from a third-year student, I quickly returned to the situation I was in.
The mass of students around me left almost no space for me to pass. I was squeezing myself through the few gaps between them.
Conveniently, the screen appeared again. Who was I to refuse its help?
I glanced at the four blue panels in front of me again; they all seemed like actions someone would perform in a battle—except for "Roll" and "Throw."
Those could be useful outside of combat too...
Unfortunately, without knowing more about the situation, using this screen, even if it gave me something good, felt too risky and unpredictable.
'Even if "Roll" seems theoretically harmless and useful in my current situation...' I shook my head and sighed at the thought, but…
I noticed that one of the four screens was different. 'Oh no, what did I do?'
[B: Skill; ☓Cooldown☓]
While I was staring at the screen with the second letter of the alphabet, my legs buckled without me realizing it, and my upper body started falling toward the ground.
Quick-thinking students nearby noticed I was falling, but quickly relaxed when they saw the girl simply rolling out of the crowded area.
After I finished what I assumed was the "Roll," I took a moment to contemplate what I had just done.
'There's no way that was me! Holy crap! It felt like that time I was on a roller coaster, but for a split second.'
—Ding [B: Skill; Ready for next use]
I heard a bell-like sound, and the same panel now read, "Ready for next use..."
I didn't want to believe what I had just done and witnessed. I had rolled my way out of a tiny space between the students.
A small gap between two guys standing shoulder to shoulder—not even kidding, they were shoulder-hugging.
And looking back at where I had been in the hallway near my classroom, I realized I had done a diagonal roll!
Isn't that impossible?
While I was still crouched down on one knee, the other students, who had been slow to react, finally blinked and understood what had happened.
"She's athletic! Incredible!" One of my classmates praised me.
"She's beautiful and clean with it!" Another one praised me, though I'm a guy man, chill out.
"What amazing moves!" Was the statement most students said or thought, I guess.
"Hey, who are the Geevolainces again?" Someone far from me asked another person.
"Definitely a student worthy of being at Burialle." I heard it from a four eyed next to my current position say.
"See? I'm telling you they evaluated her wrong. This elitist school..." A fellow in a light blue uniform said it to his friend, who nodded.
"Hey man, hear me out. I've already decided. It's her." I overheard a student dressed in the same light blue uniform as me whispering to his friend.
'W-What? What are you all talking about?' My face slowly began to heat up. I asked myself if it was a side effect of the "Roll".
"She's kind of cute now isn't she?" My face got even hotter, for some reason.
Silence then filled the hallway when a teacher made his presence known.
'Thank God! Oh wait, I don't believe in God,' I thanked the fact that a teacher had finally noticed the situation.
"Here too? But it seems like this group is smaller than the one at 1401." He seemed rather stressed, speaking out loud.
As soon as the teacher said those words, I suddenly remembered about OUR teacher. Where was he? Why hadn't he stopped this crowd of students in front of the classroom where he was teaching?
Something emanated from the teacher at the end of the hallway. I had no idea what it was, but I could describe it as tangible pressure. I could feel the weight of it on my skin as he strode down the hallway, looking at me with a doubtful expression.
He started to walk and the colors of the third year students became pale almost immediately as the professor came near them. He still carried a doubtful expression, but this time he started to look around more.
I quickly straightened up and stood respectfully.
"Auka Geevolaince, you will receive a message from the System that will explain how to handle the school's factions. Please make sure to understand it."
"Um… okay!" I couldn't meet the teacher's eyes for some reason.
And my face was getting hot again... Damn it, am I sick?
Gradually, the students dispersed, finally leaving me in peace.
…
I finally arrived at my dorm. It would be 1 PM in my previous life right about now. 'Ugh, I don't like that term. Previous life? That makes it sound like I died!'
It'd be lunchtime, and then after that, whatever it is young people in this world do.
But I was doing something completely abnormal for an ordinary person.
"Roll." I rolled towards the balcony.
"Roll." I rolled towards the bed
"Roll." I rolled towards the door, but even though my distance should make me hit the wall, I stopped right before touching the wall.
"Roll, Roll." In middle of the rolling, I tried to say Roll, —Bzzz [B: Skill; ☓Cooldown☓]
"Roll, Roll, Roll, Roll." I spoke too much Roll while rolling towards my bed, —Bzzzzzzzzzz [B: Skill; ☓Cooldown☓]
I was testing this "Roll" that the screens offered me.
And what I discovered was that this skill basically throws me in a direction in a safe and quick manner.
My confidence in using this skill has grown a lot since then. I'd been using it non-stop for half an hour.
Needless to say, my body was drenched in sweat.
I felt twice as tired if I tried rolling normally. But I didn't know how to execute it properly, like the skill made my body do.
Also, the cooldown for this skill was ridiculously short. Practically non-existent—I realized it would be already ready to use again as soon as I touched the ground.
It was impossible to use the skill while I was in the middle of the roll, or to change direction once I had started.
"One more... hah, hah... time," I muttered to myself, exhausted.
But I was too tired. And then the screen disappeared!
"No! Damn it, I relaxed my fist."
As long as I kept my fist tightly clenched like a punch, the screen wouldn't disappear. That screen was probably some kind of tool, that I don't know how I got nor how it works.
'No use crying over spilled milk.' I threw myself onto the bed, something I'd regret later.
"Hah, hah, hah... aha..." I gasped automatically in exhaustion.
Soon, I remembered the System and asked it to show me what the teacher wanted.
Summing up the three-page document that the school sent to the System for me to read, it was basically a mini-lesson about the factions and how they were after my talent.
But why? In the game, the higher the weapon's grade, the more damage it dealt and the more stats it gave to the character. But, this was also true for magical tools crafted by skilled blacksmiths.
I had once soloed a boss with a grade 1 tool that had stat increases comparable to a grade 3 tool. The problem was that the tool lacked an enraged state, which coincidentally no grade 1 or 2 tool had.
According to the document, in advanced magical tool classes, Professor Sullivan, who was in charge of our classroom, would explain more when we reached that subject.
Until then, all I needed to know was that it was rare for someone to link with a grade 4 tool like I did on their first try.
"And that concludes the encrypted message from Burialle Academy I.M.S@noreplies."
'Well, time to hit the bathroom.'
I got up from the bed and headed straight to the corridor in my small dorm, opening the door to my left.
'Bingo! Got it right.' Inside, the bathroom was a bit smaller than my room. The only major difference was that I didn't see a shower. There was a sink, a toilet, a full-body mirror, a huge chandelier on the ceiling, and farther ahead, a square section of the floor that covered about a third of the room was a few inches below.
But all I wanted to do was take a good piss and then a shower.
I took off my skirt… …ahem, moving on, and tried to grab my companion to aim at the toilet, fully confident.
But—it was gone!
Gone!
Panic set in, and I looked in the mirror.
'Oh right… I forgot. I'm in the wrong body—and it's the opposite gender too.'
Whoever did this for fun, you're going to pay. This is not funny.
I swallowed my pride as a man and sat down on the toilet. And even though no one was in my dorm, I wanted to hide from the world.
A man sitting on the toilet to pee?
I buried my face in my hands, trying to hide. My face got hot like before.
'Just finish peeing already, for the love of God...' I could comfort myself all I wanted, but the shame was hitting me harder than anything I'd ever experienced.
I hate being in this world.
Finally, I said it out loud, to my inner child and otaku self. This had to be the most inconvenience ever…
…I'm being sexist aren't I. Crap.
I can't help myself you know? Look at the situation. Who wouldn't compare stuff?
Sure, I am more quick thinking than others about brainstorming and quick learning… but who wouldn't do this?
Like before I got here, I never ever, ever sit on a toilet to pee. Only in my childhood, but that's beside the point! That's something that hurts any man's pride.
"And I'm a man," I proudly stated, looking straight at the wall in front of me. Except the voice that came out wasn't my usual deep tone. It was soft, feminine.
…Stop refuting me, reality! I'm a man. David. The streamer and speedrunner from Quake Play's. How could I be someone else?
Stop. Derailing. Yourself. 'This habit is coming again.'
Focus. What do I have to learn from this? I need to understand this body. What do women even go through?
I then started to list everything I could remember women do that men don't, except I would abruptly stop unexpectedly at the first word. 'Periods—' The word immediately sent a shiver down my spine.
I barely knew anything about them, except that they happened. Would I... would I need to deal with that now? Peeing blood?
I felt my stomach turn at the thought. This wasn't just a game anymore—it was real, and I didn't know how to handle any of it.
'And that's literally just the first thing. I'm already starting to feel like I'm playing this on hard mode…
Women have it rough.'
As I tried to get on track and think through all the strange changes I'd have to deal with, another thought hit me—one that made my face burn even hotter. 'The dagger test... those red faces... they saw.'
My face now was as hot as ever. Why? Women get hot out of nowhere?
I looked at the full body mirror and a thought about looking at my face to see what's wrong took place. I then stopped peeing and went there.
In it I saw that my face… was blushing.
I buried my face in my hands again. 'Why am I reacting like this? This body isn't even mine. It shouldn't matter. It's not like it's my body that's being judged or embarrassed.' I thought to myself as I took a step back and went back to si—pee. Went back to pee.
Could the old Auka still be alive? Somewhere inside me?
No. That doesn't make sense. Two people in one body? Impossible. Even with magic, that's too far-fetched. Right?
And if she were, she's never taken control yet, so it's impossible.
Am I turning into a girl internally? No, it must just be genetics, clearly. It needs to be.
But even if she isn't or is here, I'm still stuck in this body. And that means I need to understand it. There's no way I can survive the prologue of this world without knowing what it's capable of—or what it'll throw at me next. I've challenged myself to many difficult things, but this... this might be impossible to speedrun.
—Flush
I finished peeing... sitting down.
Let's steer my mind away from this and focus on how to survive the prologue. I want to get out of this world as soon as possible! Masculinity, I'll return to you!