I Became the Academy’s Munchkin Sniper

“Can I ask you something?”

Lumina appeared out of nowhere. 

I wanted to ask her, ‘Why are you here?’ but instead, I quickly withdrew the mana that sustained my Clairvoyance. 

I needed to act swiftly.

At this point, I had no idea why she had come to this place. However, there was no reason for me to panic. 

My immediate thoughts turned to survival strategies.

‘Live like an extra.’

The goal was to avoid showing any strength and live a quiet life. If I ever had to get involved, I would resolve things through concealment and sniping. 

If a fallen noble or commoner were discovered to possess such power, the rumors would inevitably involve the word ‘demon.’ 

This had already appeared a few times in various episodes.

There was no need for me to flaunt my power and stir up trouble. The protagonist’s path was always fraught with difficulty.

‘Why did she come here?’

My thoughts naturally shifted to this question.

Lumina was directly connected to the main plot of Artena Academy.

She appeared at the beginning of chapter one during the entrance exam and played a key role in the underground caverns at the end of the chapter. 

Early on, she moved alongside the protagonist’s group, and later in the story, she became one of the most powerful allies, wielding the highest-ranking spirit.

When I replayed this narrative in my mind, I realized that there was no reason for our paths to cross. After all, the original owner of this body—a fallen noble—was destined to fail the entrance exam at Artena Academy. 

The only reason things had changed was because I forced the character into becoming a ‘sniper,’ setting off this chain of events.

In the end, the fact that I was there was the result of my own decisions. 

However, if there was only one thing I could deduce, it was that there was only one girl in this entire mountain who could be the master of the spirits.

And that was Lumina.

The only confusing part was that she was already interacting with the spirits of Magic Mountain before taking the academy’s entrance exam. 

But since that was part of her innate talent, I decided to let it go.

So, in short, Lumina had come to take the entrance exam at the academy, and while communicating with the spirits, she must have spotted me heading toward Magic Mountain.

That should explain the situation.

I now had an idea of how to respond to her. 

Looking at Lumina’s sparkling eyes, I spoke.

“Did you get lost?”

“Haha. No. Not at all. I just saw something really amazing. A house appeared out of nowhere!”

“Maybe you saw it wrong.”

“You said some kind of chant, and then the house appeared. I’m pretty sure I saw that.”

So she saw that much.

Looks like there was no way to pretend otherwise.

Given the situation, I decided to just go with it and act confidently. 

After all, this was my house now, right?

“Actually, this is my home.”

“Really? Oh, I see….”

“Every house has a password or something, right?”

Lumina nodded with a slightly skeptical look. Though a faint smile played on her lips. 

Had she bought it…?

“But it’s so dark here.”

“Well, it’s night.”

“Still, most people would have some kind of light, wouldn’t they? Unless… It’s not really your house, maybe?”

“I just got home, okay? Give me a second.”

I walked past Lumina and headed into the dark forest. I needed to start a fire.

Now that I was in this world, I couldn’t rely on modern conveniences like lighters or torches. Things like firewood and other basic supplies would have to be gathered by hand from now on.

Since this was going to be my home.

I wandered around, breaking off suitable branches and gathering a bunch of tinder, then made my way back to the house.

“Alright. Let’s just set it up here.”

I dropped everything in a random spot outside the house and turned to Lumina. 

She looked confused.

“Is this right…? Or is it wrong…?”

“What is?”

“Never mind! So you’re going to start a fire now, right?”

“That’s the plan.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

Lumina asked, clearly intrigued. She had a lot of questions.

How was I going to start the fire?

“You’re going to do it.”

“?”

A visible question mark seemed to appear above Lumina’s head. She was clearly taken aback. 

It’s not like I wanted to ask her for help, but…

‘I still don’t know any magic….’

Normally, even non-mages would learn some basic support magic once they enrolled at Artena Academy. That’s how other professions worked in the game.

I also planned to learn some basic support spells after getting into Artena Academy. Things like Flash, basic shields, body enchantments, and some basic fire magic.

It’s useful to know the essentials.

“So, can you light the fire for me?”

“… Okay.”

With a look that said ‘What kind of person is this?’, Lumina extended her hand.

Basic fire element magic, ‘Ignition’.

With a soft whoosh, the flame enveloped the tinder.

“Thanks.”

It was a very small flame, but it was enough for now. I wasn’t setting up a permanent camp at the moment, and I’d figure out a better way to light fires later.

Crackle—

I stirred the kindling. A thin trail of smoke rose, and the light from the fire flickered chaotically on the water surface. A warm, golden glow spread around the campfire.

You could call it romantic, I suppose. 

From my perspective, knowing what would happen tomorrow, it felt like a brief moment of peace.

I wanted to stay hidden as much as possible, but now that I’d met Lumina, I might as well get to the point.

“So why did you come here?”

No matter how I thought about it, there were too many suspicious details. 

I wasn’t an idiot. There’s no way a meeting like this, which didn’t even happen in the game, could just randomly occur.

Every outcome has a process, and there’s always a reason behind it. 

Why did Lumina come into the deep forest of Magic Mountain? 

Was she following the spirits? 

Did she stumble upon this place by accident? 

But it was too far, and it was already late at night. Not to mention, the exam was tomorrow.

I turned my gaze toward Lumina. She was fidgeting, twisting a strand of her hair. She appeared as nonchalant as always. Her features and demeanor were exactly as they appeared in the game’s illustrations.

In the promotional videos, Lumina’s appearance had made her quite popular, so there was no need to even describe how stunning she was. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming.

I clasped my hands and slightly lowered my head, silently observing her. Finally, she spoke.

“The truth is… I’ve been looking for someone.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Someone who saved me.”

Lumina’s benefactor.

Recalling the original story, there was no such person.

It appeared like she was referring to someone who had saved her earlier today. So, that’s how things ended up connecting.

I finally understood what was on her mind.

Which meant she had likely mistaken ‘me’ for her benefactor. And, well, she wasn’t wrong.

With a serious tone, Lumina asked directly, “So, to get straight to the point… Was it you?”

“Actually, let me ask you something. Why do you think it was me?”

I shook my head and turned the question back on her. It would be a problem if my identity was revealed just like that.

I wanted to keep it hidden.

With that thought in mind, I felt like I had naturally become more shameless as if I were wearing a mask.

“Well… Um… It’s just that what you did today seemed so mysterious.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah…!”

“Alright, I understand. But I haven’t done anything worthy of being called a benefactor. I was just busy heading to Artena Academy today.”

“Is that so…? I guess I jumped to conclusions. Sorry about that.”

Lumina chuckled sheepishly.

I was dumbfounded. She assumed I was her benefactor just because the way I unlocked the cabin seemed mysterious. It was like she had made a random guess.

At least she didn’t have any concrete proof, so I was relieved. If she had, no amount of words would’ve convinced her otherwise.

I reiterated to Lumina once again.

“Just to be clear, it wasn’t me. I really hope you find that person.”

“Yeah. I hope so too.”

“So, are we done here?”

“Yup. I was just about to leave.”

“Alright. Take care.”

Lumina stood up from the campfire, brushed her hair back, smoothed her skirt, and started walking toward the forest. 

After she had gone a bit farther, she suddenly stopped and turned around. 

Bathed in the moonlight, she looked not only cute but also genuinely beautiful.

“Oh, wait! There’s one more thing I forgot.”

“What is it?”

“I just realized we don’t know each other’s names yet.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Yes!”

I responded casually.

“Call me Kyle.”

“Kyle! I’m Lumina!”

“Right….”

I wasn’t exactly thrilled about exchanging names, but I figured it wouldn’t be an issue since we’d find out once we both enrolled at Artena Academy.

‘Please just don’t get too close to me.’

Just as I was thinking that, she suddenly shouted, “We’re friends from today, okay?”

Before I could even respond, Lumina dashed into the forest. Her voice echoed faintly through the trees.

“Nice to meet you~!”

There was nothing I could do now. I had missed my chance to stop her.

Growl—

“My stomach’s growling. Time to eat.”

I was starving, to the point that my stomach felt like it was sticking to my ribs. 

I didn’t feel like going far or putting in much effort since I was tired.

I grabbed my sniper rifle and headed outside.

“Wonder if there are any fish?”

I peered closely into the stream.

Since it was dark, I couldn’t see inside the water, but a blue cross-shaped marker was swimming below the surface. 

Those must be the fish.

I raised my sniper rifle and plop! 

I thrust it into the water. 

After repeating this a few times, the sniper rifle had basically turned into a fish skewer.

As expected, the power of the sniper rifle was incredible.

In the end, I caught four fish. I strung them one by one onto wooden skewers and placed them over the campfire.

For now, I would eat like this, but later, I’d probably have to clean them properly and put in more effort overall.

“Phew… Phew…”

Ten minutes later, I was having a rather satisfying midnight snack.

It was the day before the entrance exam for Artena Academy.