I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

Special magical tool provided within the Academy.

This magical tool looks like a small tablet and had a messaging feature installed.

It also had a function to view news and announcements from within the Academy, which is why the students called it a messenger.

Unfortunately, this messenger could only be used inside the Academy.

The circuit for transmitting the magical tool’s signal was only set up inside the Academy.

Well, for the Academy students who rarely left this place, it was a restriction that didn’t really matter.

But this amazing messenger wasn’t just given away for free at the Academy.

Well, they did give it away, but with some discrimination.

Upperclassmen had unlimited sending capabilities, but if you were in the middle class, you were limited to 150 messages a day, and if you fell to the lower class, it was a total of only 300 messages a week.

Of course, if you only used it when necessary, it wouldn’t be inadequate.

But would kids at this age really only use this function for official purposes? Not all, but most would definitely use it for private conversations.

Especially Seria. She didn’t have any limits, and that made her incredibly lucky.

[Seria: Rudion. Are you there?]

[Seria: I just came back from Lilith’s room.]

[Seria: I thought I was going to faint.]

[Seria: You should have seen how messy her room was.]

[Seria: Rudion’s room is well organized, right?]

[Seria: I’d love to see it sometime.]

What could she possibly say that was so much? Every night before sleeping, she bombarded me with messages—it was her daily routine.

My room is indeed organized, but there’s a wall missing, so I can’t show it.

And why the hell are you trying to come into the boys’ dormitory? That’s against the rules!

Even though this messenger was great for communication… I had no one to message or who would message me aside from Seria, so it remained sealed.

I carried it just in case, but I turned off all the notifications and shoved it away.

Beeeeeeep!

So when it went off during the lecture, I wondered what it was.

Thanks to that, I drew a lot of attention during the lecture. All the eyes of Professor Reina, who was giving the lecture, and the students listening were focused on me.

I discreetly pulled it out to check, and there was a message from Alkiné.

[Alkiné: If you are reading this message, please come to the Student Council immediately. There’s a new Rift.]

Since there was no indication of anyone being referred to, it seemed like an announcement sent to all Student Council members.

Given the strange sound of the alert, it must have been sent as an emergency message.

It could be thought of as a kind of disaster alert that only authorized people could use.

Seria, who was sitting next to me, glanced at my messenger and spoke.

“I should go right away.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm.”

She then glanced at her own bag, but sadly, her messenger remained quiet.

That made sense. Alkiné wouldn’t let a new freshman participate in Rift exploration.

I’m just an extremely special case.

“I guess I should try my best to catch up quickly.”

Though she pretended otherwise, she looked quite dejected.

But she didn’t need to feel that way. With her current level, she could definitely join.

I had seen her using magic when demonstrating for Lilith’s training, and it wasn’t at a level she should be showcasing right now.

If only Alkiné had seen her skills, she would have seriously invited her along.

Based on the original, she seemed to be at a mid-second-year level? At that time, Seria had already cemented her top position, so while she couldn’t ace everything solo, she was strong enough to contribute as an exploration force.

Next time I get the chance, I’ll help her advocate for it a bit. She’s sulking over not receiving a single message.

Anyway, since they called, I should head over quickly.

Lecture was out of the question. Understanding magical power wasn’t exactly vital, and the Student Council activities took priority.

You might wonder what’s so urgent, but if the Rift isn’t handled, it becomes a problem for the Academy, so there’s no choice.

“Professor. It seems I have to go to the Student Council.”

“Go ahead.”

After briefly explaining the situation to Professor Reina, I got a light approval.

“Have a good time.”

“Yeah. Study hard.”

“…Please don’t treat me like a kid.”

And as I left, I tossed a joke to the still slightly dejected Seria.

“So they’re already calling you at the Student Council level?”

“I knew the level was different, but I didn’t expect it to be significant enough to summon me.”

“Feels like a wall is closing in….”

Some students in the vicinity were murmuring, but I didn’t pay much attention since it didn’t seem important.

As soon as I stepped out of the classroom, I headed straight for the Student Council.

Even though I was summoned with an urgent message, it didn’t seem that critical, so I didn’t rush there like before.

When I arrived and stepped inside, I felt some unsettling glares.

It seemed that news of my appointment to the council had already spread.

Alkiné, however, acted indifferent and welcomed me brazenly.

“You’re here. Sit over here.”

She even had my seat saved for me—right next to her.

Can you not do that, President? Every time you act like that, the Vice President looks at me with murderous intent.

After sitting down, we waited a short while, and soon all the Student Council members except Seria gathered.

Once everyone was present, Alkiné stood up immediately.

“Alright. Everyone’s here, so let’s head out.”

There wasn’t really any explanation. Whenever a Rift opened, the Student Council’s task was always the same.

In fact, on the first day, the primary objective was just to survey the entrance of the Rift and gather information, so no elaborate preparations were necessary.

“Why is another one opening after just a week?”

“Hope it’s not another strange Rift like last time?”

“Seriously, don’t joke about that.”

“I was the one who got hurt last time, so why are you more flustered?”

A few members were lightheartedly exchanging those conversations.

But was it a flag?

As we headed toward the Rift, Grain’s expression suddenly hardened.

“President. I think there’s something wrong.”

He even bluntly stated it.

As a result, the light atmosphere turned slightly serious, and everyone picked up their pace as we moved toward the Rift. However, as soon as we reached the entrance, everyone froze in place.

Before us was a sight of the Rift that was completely different from what they knew.

Grrrgghhh—

The Rift, which should have remained undisturbed, was squirming wildly, making sounds as if it would burst at any moment.

Furthermore, the red aura that should be emanating from the core of the Rift was pouring out haphazardly from the Rift itself.

Of course, I might be the only one seeing this, but once I compiled all this information, I thought no other possibility existed.

This was a sign of Rift rampancy.

I urgently turned to Alkiné.

“President, do you know how long that Rift has been open?”

“It’s been about an hour.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Rampancy usually occurs due to prolonged neglect of a Rift. The energy inside accumulates without being processed and eventually bursts out.

But that usually takes at least a month. An hour wouldn’t come close…

Could it be related to the difficulty level? Does that difficulty mean Rifts are generated right before going rampant?

Thinking about it was useless. Knowing the truth wouldn’t stop the Rift in front of us from going rampant.

I deemed it necessary to stabilize the situation, so I looked around, and everyone was just on high alert, unsure of what to do.

It couldn’t be helped. In fact, this world is better structured than I thought, and incidents of Rift rampancy near inhabited areas are virtually nonexistent.

So unless you’re someone who’s been through a lot, knowledge in this area is quite poor.

Especially for the Student Council, which deals with Rifts as soon as they appear.

They might have learned about it in theory, but theory and practice are different.

I cautiously asked Alkiné too, but even she shook her head.

“I’m sorry. I’ve heard about this happening a lot in my hometown, but I’ve never experienced it myself.”

“Well, I figured as much.”

Even if the North has frequent Rifts, she must have been a child when she was there.

It would be strange to expect someone in the Student Council experiencing their first Rift to know about the North’s incidents.

Since Alkiné was like this, I didn’t think anyone else would know better.

Ah, seriously. I tried to quietly accumulate my contributions, and now I’m completely in trouble.

I approached Alkiné, who was busy racking her brain for a solution, and suggested.

“President, we have two options.”

“What are they?”

“One is for you and me to go inside and handle the core as quickly as possible.”

“What’s the other?”

“The alternative is to let it burst and request help from the Academy when everything goes haywire.”

Entering won’t guarantee we can conquer it, but it’s better than doing nothing.

If we fail, we can just slip to the second option naturally.

Of course, there’s a risk that if we enter and the gate goes rampant, we’ll get launched out with monsters surrounding us… But still, I could just dodge and run, and Alkiné could clean up with a few swipes, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.

…Why am I even entering? To rack up those contribution points, of course.

Alkiné, upon hearing me, chose the former option without a second thought.

But after deciding, she seemed to have a question and asked me.

“Is it really necessary for just the two of us to go? If we need to find and handle the core, wouldn’t it be more efficient for everyone to go in together…?”

“Really? You want to enter that unstable place all together? Do you know what could happen if something goes wrong?”

If we all went in together and failed the conquest, we’d get spit out and scattered. And worse, along with the monsters inside.

Then everyone would need to figure out how to escape, and honestly, I wouldn’t feel secure about that.

It wasn’t because they were weak. My stats are way lower than theirs, so I can’t disregard the Student Council’s strength.

But the fact that we’d be dealing with variables coming out of the Rift was enough to raise my anxiety.

Unless it was someone with overwhelming power like Alkiné, I wouldn’t know how it might play out.

Isn’t there already a precedent? The distortion incident from the last Rift.

Sure, that time was chaotic due to the Demon Race, but still, those transformed monsters wouldn’t have been manageable individually.

Alkiné was aware of that, so she didn’t rebut my statement.

“I feel a bit sorry for depending on you, especially since you’re the Student Council President… but for now, we have no choice but to follow your lead.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. We help each other out, right?”

“Thanks for saying that.”

And so, Alkiné and I would go ahead to deal with the Rift, while the other members would stay nearby to remain on alert and respond in case of a rampancy.

“President! Why on earth are you dragging him along? It’d be better to take me instead…!”

As I announced the plan to everyone, there was one guy grinding his teeth in opposition, but the decision had already been made, and it was too late to change things.

Honestly, taking the Vice President along would probably be better in terms of strength… But hey, in these sudden situations, an experienced player is better even if the specs are lacking.

Alkiné also found herself slightly fed up with Diggerus’s obsession, so there was no way she’d choose to ditch me for him.

The other members looked at me with confused expressions, but thanks to the President’s orders, they seemed to reason that something must be going on.

“Why… Why that guy…?”

Leaving the grumbling Diggerus behind, Alkiné and I stepped into the Rift, which looked like it would burst at any moment.

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