Ars wanted to sew his mouth that responded automatically when he was too confused or annoyed to answer. But, alas, that was too late.
He was already behind the podium, standing right next to Blanche, and became the center of attention. All the students looked at him with expectation.
When he looked at her, she nodded her head and whispered, mistaking it for a question.
"Feel free to start any time. If possible, please share your name first so the students know who you are."
Easy to say, hard to do.
Ars was never one to be the center of attention. Saying nothing would be bad, but he didn't know what to do. They treated him as a part of this Eldritch Family thanks to his new horns.
'A self-introduction is a first step.' He decided. 'Let's just make it simple.'
"Cough." Clearing his tongue, he was ready to speak. He looked in the front and suddenly he felt the pressure from everyone's expectation on him.
Maintaining his smile was a bit difficult, so he just chose a poker face.
"Nice to meet you all. I am Ars."
A simple yet clever introduction. Because he didn't know the naming rule in Dark Union, he just used his first name and didn't introduce his family name, which was Celton.
No one said anything. Some nodded their heads, taking the new information about his name in.
'Great.' Ars rejoiced. 'It's a good choice to make it simple. And then, daily life… I don't know how to torture someone or anything. I will just tell them about how I play games everyday, then. That should be good enough. Boys my age also play games, right? I doubt they don't.'
Taking a deep breath, he continued slowly.
"I never thought that I would be standing here, talking to you guys like this, especially since I only found out about my admission a few minutes ago. Heck, I don't even know that I would be coming here at all! Hahaha."
A joke to crack the stiff atmosphere. It always worked. Unless it wasn't a joke at all.
Some students were chuckling. Blanche even giggled on the side.
"It seems that Ars is really good at making jokes." She said, looking at him. "But we are curious about your daily lives. Can you share with us what you did everyday? Just a little is fine."
"Of course." Ars nodded, gulping his saliva.
Nervous? Obviously. Excited? A little bit. Scared? Shitless.
That was his current condition.
"Let me tell you what I did yesterday. Ah, yesterday was my 18th birthday, a coincidence that I would have to share a story with you."
"Oh! A birthday. Congratulations." Blanche clapped her hands, "Because it's your birthday, then it must be special, right? What did you do yesterday?"
"Yes, it was very special indeed."
The so-called speech became something like an interview. Comfortable, that might be the right word.
"I was playing a game yesterday. It was a card fighting game and a special event was held to celebrate my birthday. My friend invited 100 people to fight against me."
'That bastard wanted to bully me to celebrate my birthday. Heh, unfortunately for him, they are all no match. I am a ranker and they are just noobs. My cards are better than theirs.'
A smirk appeared on Ars's face as he continued.
"I defeated that trash easily. I didn't even need to move my left hand."
'Just using a mouse is enough to move the cards, after all.' He nodded in satisfaction and raised his head to see the students' reaction.
The boys must have been moved and wanted to play a game with him after hearing that he was a gamer that defeated 100 people.
However… Light Union and Dark Union had different cultures. Some words had different meanings in two territories.
Games failed to unite two territories.
"1 vs 100, and using cards at that…"
"Ars is scary. He might be the scariest freshman."
"Wow, my respect has grown."
"Hehe, 100 people, huh? That's a lot."
Hearing the students' murmur, Ars felt like they misunderstood something.
Why would he be the scariest freshman when all he did was be good at a game? And why were their reactions so strange?
Ars only smiled without saying anything more. He didn't want to screw things up.
"That was a good story. Give applause to Ars!"
With Blanche's words, applause thundering in the hall. The students were smiling widely as they clapped their two hands, some did it with four and six hands too.
In just a few minutes, Ars had done something that gained respect from some of the students. He felt embarrassed and scared because he didn't know what happened. He just waved his hand at them and smiled, fueling more thunderous applause.
Blanche approached him and extended her hand.
"It's nice to have a good prospect in our school. I hope you will have a good time in our beloved school. Learn and grow as a person. Let's aim to control this world with our knowledge and power!"
What an ambitious dream!
'I can't relate, though.' Ars thought, but he grabbed Blanche's hand regardless.
They smiled at each other and Ars returned to the crowd. Many students patted his shoulders as he walked by. They seemed to respect him now.
The Student Council President took the podium once again and the otherworldly grin returned to her face.
"Now that the new student has shared his beautiful life story with us, let's move to class placement!"
Another round of thunderous applause resounded inside the hall.
Ars looked around him and sighed. He could feel that his daily life was going to be a hell.
The first day in school, and he already felt that he wouldn't survive until graduation. And this class placement. Was there something like this? And how could he be placed into a class when he didn't even register in the school yet?!
He sighed in his mind, unable to let it out. He felt like if he sighed, he would be cursed by someone here.
'I want to go home. Or maybe go back to my old school. I miss my old classmates. I miss the Light Union.'
But the future was uncertain.
Just like now.
"Kill one of the students here. Feel free to team up. The class would be decided by how creative you are at doing the test! Now go. The teachers will kill whoever exited this hall, so be careful."
Ars felt like the future he didn't predict had arrived.
And it wasn't bright. Rather, it was pitch black.