I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City

36 – The Progress Awaited -2-

Clara.

Abyss City’s S-class limited character. At the time of release, it ranked number one in store sales.

The character PV views had surpassed 2.7 million the last time Rohan checked.

Compared to Ichinose Yui and Noah Frozenheart, the period she was in Rohan’s party was relatively short.

Rohan’s third S-class character to achieve full breakthrough, a character he cherished no less than the previous two.

Thus, he remembers the revealed settings clearly.

‘Clara’s origin is Geno.’

Geno is a small, closed-off country in the west that does not interact with the outside world.

Meanwhile.

Unlike the south, which is listed as Rohan’s homeland, it is a country on the path to ruin due to internal conflicts.

Recently, it was found that the deaths of the leaders have led to a state of anarchy, and neighboring countries have begun to reach out under various pretexts.

Clara must be aware of this fact as well.

Anyway, unlike Geno’s exclusive attitude towards foreign countries.

Internally, they put all their efforts into training spies for purposes such as assassinating key figures, gathering information from other countries, and extracting technology.

Clara was one of the vagrants who were educated and raised there.

‘The name she was called there was not Clara, but No. 11.’

As you can see, her innate nature was passive, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if she had been kicked out at any time like the other vagrants who came looking for food.

However, her talent related to force overwhelmed everyone who was educated with her, so it was said that expectations were high even within Geno.

‘It’s truly a tragic story.’

But the twists and turns of fate come unexpectedly.

One day, Clara was tasked with finding and dealing with a group that had accumulated wealth by smuggling foreign goods into Geno, and confiscating their property…

What more can be said?

The girl, who had been living under the burdensome words of ‘sacrifice for the greater good’ without knowing the reason, vaguely came to understand the outside world that day as she encountered foreign goods.

Smartphones and laptops piled up without an owner, colorful books, external hard drives containing animations and movies.

At first, there was a moment when it was denied as a vile propaganda meant to confuse the people of Zeno.

Clara, though timid in social relationships, was not stupid, so she siphoned off some items and returned them to Zeno.

There are two major mistakes made by the person in charge of teaching Clara here.

The first mistake was assuming that Clara, seeing her passive behavior, did not have the guts to run away.

The second mistake was dispatching her on this mission before conducting proper mental education based on that assumption.

Thus began the time of endurance.

Would the heavens have found the girl, who was accumulating knowledge and waiting for a chance to escape, admirable?

An incident occurred that shook the foundation of the nation, as if telling her to come out.

Farmers, living in a society so poor that they were mocked by other countries as a beggar nation rather than Zeno, rose up and formed military organizations or bandit groups.

The leadership, which had no overwhelming ruler, repeatedly clashed in opinions, and the small country began to crack.

The day one of the leaders dispatched the spies he had been nurturing, not for their original purpose, but to suppress the uprising in his own country.

Clara escaped without hesitation, not looking back.

.

Rohan looked at the girl facing him.

It feels different to have the information I learned from the game and the person who actually experienced it right in front of me.

Rohan even understood why Clara adhered to her unique fashion.

She had fallen in love at first sight with a fashion magazine she had siphoned off, after wearing only black tights every day.

I heard she also got into the game while learning about the outside world.

There was something Rohan, who held information about Clara, did not know.

That was the present.

I remember up to the moment I left Geno, but there’s a blank until I met the protagonist in the second year.

So, Rohan wanted to know the situation Clara was in now.

He was also pleased because it seemed like this girl would willingly talk about her personal matters.

“You, you still don’t ask anything? Why are you like that every day…?”

Rohan answered carefully to the topic Clara started.

“Honestly, I was curious, but I thought it might be a burdensome question.”

“You were curious…!”

The girl’s eyes sparkled and grew larger.

It feels like her twin tails are swaying like a tail.

‘That’s the happy point.’

Rohan was curious about what personal matters Clara would talk about, so he decided to ask subtly.

It seemed okay if it was a distance close enough to bring up as a topic.

“You’ll tell me, right?”

“But… it might not be interesting.”

Rohan, who was quietly watching Clara stirring her drink with an innocent straw, reached out.

He tapped Clara’s pale hand with his fingers.

“!!!”

The startled girl met his eyes that she had been avoiding.

Only then did Rohan smile and say.

“Is fun important between us? It’s just important to know each other.”

!

Meeting almost every day, sharing hobbies, belonging to the same guild, hanging out after work.

Where could you find such close friends?

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could speak more comfortably with each other? What do you think?

Ah! Eh? Uh, good?

Clara made a strange sound and couldn’t keep her gaze steady.

She looked more than quite flustered, but since she didn’t seem like she would run away, Rohan quietly observed her fresh reaction.

Clink!

The ice melted in the cup, making a sound as they clashed.

Our relationship our relationship.

The girl, who had been mulling over Rohan’s words for a long time, seemed to have made up her mind.

She straightened her back, placed her hands on her knees in a polite posture, and nodded with weight.

Y-yes! Let’s speak comfortably!

Then is it okay if I just call you Clara?

The girl gave a small nod of affirmation.

She awkwardly mixed informal speech, asking how she should address him. But she still remembered her own age.

I no, I can only enter the academy next year.

One year difference, so what. You can call me whatever you want.

Even though it was just a one-year difference, to Clara, Rohan felt overwhelmingly older.

In the end, the form of address headed in one direction.

“Th-then, as Rohan oppa…?”

“That’s fine with me. Just hearing it feels like a treat for my ears.”

Clara, still awkward with dropping formalities, twitched her raised lips.

Rohan liked the ticklish conversation, but he wanted to get to the main point now, so he changed the subject.

“Are you going to tell me about yourself now, Clara?”

“…Yes.”

With the premise that it wasn’t everything, Clara continued her personal story.

“I came from a bit far away… I, I came.”

“I see.”

It meant that her homeland wasn’t one of the three powerful nations running the academy city.

There was no need to specifically mention Zeno.

“Well, for now, there’s no place I can work until my identity is confirmed… and I just like the bookstore…”

“Identity?”

“When I went to the Public Safety Bureau, they said that in my situation, I was like a refugee, so I had to apply for immigration first and get my identity recognized, so I went to the government office… I mean, I went?”

“Ah.”

“While I was getting counseling on that floor, I met the manager who was there for another matter…”

Rohan’s mind had already drawn a clear picture.

‘So that’s why the manager told her to come to the bookstore.’

With understanding.

He focused and listened to Clara’s voice.

“It’s hard to explain in detail, but… in my case, the process of getting an identity issued is, uh, incredibly complicated and time-consuming…”

“First, you need that to find a job or anything, right?”

Nod, nod.

Clara, who confirmed it, recounted the story she heard at the public office in response to Rohan’s request for more details.

Rohan absorbed all the information without missing a single word.

The conditions for obtaining an identity seemed simple at first glance.

The first was to enroll in the academy, which is almost synonymous with the symbol of the academy city, Elysium.

The second was to be a citizen of one of the three powerful nations that run the academy city: Samhwaguk, Tigrova, or the Sepia Archipelago, or to be an honorary citizen recognized by those countries.

The third was to pass the screening to become affiliated with the academy city itself.

These were the main conditions, and Clara said she fell into the third category.

There were also ways for businesses or individuals intending to trade to pass, but these were irrelevant to Clara.

‘The third one is too vague and comprehensive… things like this get complicated when you dig into them.’

Since the institutional aspects couldn’t be detailed even by playing Abyss City.

It was new information for Rohan as well.

In conclusion.

Obtaining an identity to use in the academy city was extremely easy for some, but impossibly difficult for others.

“So, how are you managing now?”

“Uh, until the document review is over, the academy city is providing food and lodging… and the subsidy for the phone bill comes out just right as the manager told me…”

“Hmm.”

Rohan’s expression grew serious.

It wasn’t a pleasant story for the character she loved to experience.

Even though Academy City was a collection of great nations, how great could the food and shelter given to Clara, who was waiting, be?

‘Could it be that she continued to live like this and still didn’t reveal her identity, so she entered Orion Academy?’

It’s hard to be certain.

But recalling Clara’s appearance in Abyss City, the possibility was high.

Just by her abilities, there was no lack for her to enter.

“Is the room provided warm? Is there hot water?”

“I-I don’t really need to wash with warm water. Ah, um, there’s none…? And I don’t really feel the cold…”

She answers in a humble tone, still far from being adept.

In the end, it meant she washed with cold water even in the middle of winter and slept in a cold room without any warmth.

“Hmm.”

Rohan’s worries only deepened.