The Villain in the Novel Lives as the Second Best at the Academy

Dormitory life was uncomfortable as expected.

Arta had wanted to live alone from the beginning, and thanks to the fact that one side of the room was completely empty until the entrance ceremony, she didn't have much to worry about.

But not anymore.

The luggage densely piled on one side of the room meant discomfort beyond simple space occupation.

The feeling that the room had become even narrower, the sense of alienation that her own space had been invaded, and above all, the anxiety of having to rub shoulders with the owner of that luggage made Arta's nerves sharper.

But it was unavoidable.

And the cohabitation, which was awkward from the beginning, could only get more strained as time passed.

First among the discomforts Arta experienced:

Arta had strictly set times for bathing. She felt comfortable following her established routine.

However, with a roommate, such tranquility was bound to be broken.

That day too, Arta headed to the bathroom at her usual time according to her habit. But the bathroom door was firmly closed, and the sound of running water could be heard from inside.

'...What shitty timing.'

Arta pressed her lips together. She thought about just washing up at the sink, but that made her feel bad in its own way.

In the end, when she returned after finding the public sink at the end of the corridor, Escher was just coming out.

Black long hair, still damp though somewhat dried, flowed down her back.

Wrapped in a luxurious towel, Escher looked down at Arta standing in front of her.

Droplets of water fell onto the wooden floor along her long, slender fingertips. A sigh subtly escaped.

Escher looked Arta up and down as she made a displeased expression, then casually threw out a remark.

"You should have gotten up earlier."

At those words, Arta laughed coldly.

"This time was originally when I washed up."

"Then you should have said something in advance."

"..."

She hadn't particularly wanted to fight. But that overwhelmingly confident attitude, to the point of being frustrating, was unpleasant.

Eventually, after that day, Arta adjusted her bathing time. Muttering, "It's not like I'm afraid of shit."

But that didn't solve all the problems.

While basic meals were provided by the dormitory, students whose tastes didn't match could also prepare and eat food individually.

Arta tended to take extra dried fruits and biscuits from the dining hall, and occasionally nibbled on them while reading books to satisfy her hunger.

The second discomfort:

That day was the same. While silently turning pages of her book and crumbling biscuits with her fingertips to put in her mouth, Escher glanced at her and tossed out:

"...You're actually eating that."

Arta raised her gaze.

"What's the problem now?"

"Does that taste good?"

Her tone was strange. Not as if she was genuinely curious, but as if she couldn't understand.

Arta quietly chewed the biscuit in her mouth. It was a bit dry, but the taste was bearable.

"Then what do you eat?"

"At least not that."

After finishing her words, Escher took something out of a drawer. A piece of luxurious chocolate appeared from a well-preserved wrapper. The rich cocoa aroma lightly filled the room.

For a moment, just a moment, Arta's insides twisted. But her expression didn't change.

"...It's just different preferences."

Leaving a short answer, Arta lowered her gaze back to her book. But like a thorn deeply embedded somewhere, a small discomfort was piercing somewhere in her chest.

The third discomfort:

Arta basically didn't organize her belongings well. She was uncomfortable if things were too disorganized, but conversely, she was tired if things were too orderly. A state with some degree of appropriate disorder was most comfortable for her. But Escher was the opposite.

Even the way of organizing the desk was different. Escher preferred excessive neatness. If a small object was misaligned, she would invariably realign it, and often interfered even in Arta's territory.

"Hey, why did you put this in the trash?"

When Arta complained while holding a book that had been shoved into the trash and soiled, Escher calmly retorted.

"It was lying on the floor, wasn't it trash?"

Arta stared blankly at her counterpart for a moment, then retrieved the book without a word.

And at that moment, she realized once again that this peculiar cohabitation would not be easy.

In the end, the problems were trivial things. Though the biggest issue was that the person involved kept adding provocations.

Bathing time, food eaten, organizing habits. Each one might not have been a big deal.

But as they repeated, and as it became clear that their personalities did not match at all, emotions gradually accumulated.

Arta was displeased.

Escher also showed clear signs of discomfort.

If it was a mistake that these two shared a room, then it was indeed a mistake.

So from the middle, Arta just used illusions to make Escher's presence invisible. That made her feel much more comfortable.

And one more thing,

From the beginning, she and Escher were in the same academy, but they belonged to completely different departments.

The Magic Department to which Arta belonged was a place focused on learning theory, research, and precise mana operation.

While the Combat Department to which Escher belonged received education centered on swordsmanship, martial arts, and practical application on the battlefield.

Therefore, their class schedules, classroom locations, and even opportunities to encounter each other were rare.

It wouldn't be the case later, but in the first semester, there were no classes where the Magic Department and Combat Department worked together.

Most of the day had to be devoted to their respective classes and training, and naturally they could live without needing to mind each other.

If it weren't for that damned space called the dormitory, they wouldn't even have to encounter each other, so Arta could at least spend her days in peace.

Although she had to return to the same room at the end of the day, just not having to clash and engage in mental warfare all day long was enough to make her feel like she could breathe.

The more she thought about the dormitory, the worse she felt, and the more she learned, the more fun it was to apply, so Arta participated as diligently as possible in her classes.

She was granted admission to the Magic Department as a special admission student.

How remarkable her abilities were, how she wielded magic, no one knew, but the word "special admission" alone was enough to attract the attention of many.

Arta never mentioned it herself, but somehow most students seemed to know.

Ordinary freshmen were selected in order of their grades after taking the entrance exam, and only students with high grades, those classified as top-tier, could be accepted to Veritas.

But Arta hadn't taken the entrance exam, and yet she had entered this place.

That fact alone made the gazes directed at her unwelcome.

To those who had secured their places through the rigorous examination process, a special admission student was an unwelcome presence.

An instinctive antipathy felt towards someone who had been admitted without even being verified for excellence was gradually sprouting among the students of the Magic Department.

However, that antipathy changed completely into a different emotion immediately after her first magic practice.

Special admission meant that she must have received special treatment somewhere, and it was considered highly likely that she had been admitted due to external factors rather than ability.

Previous special admission students were also often rumored to be like that.

At first, no one expected anything. Rather, most predicted that she wouldn't even be able to properly wield basic magic. Most knew she was a commoner.

But such expectations were completely shattered not long after the practice began.

It was basic magic practice. A process to teach freshmen the basics of elemental magic, simple practices like lighting fire, moving water, generating wind, or handling earth were given.

It was natural for most students to experience trial and error while handling unfamiliar magic.

Since they were at the stage of practicing for the first time without even properly learning how to tune mana, they often struggled with controlling the size or speed of magic.

But Arta was perfect from the beginning.

She didn't make a single mistake in controlling mana.

Even when first kindling a flame, a steady-sized flame burned from her fingertips without wavering.

Normally, in the process of wielding magic, mana would be excessively consumed or unnecessary force would be applied, causing the size to fluctuate inconsistently, but the flame she created maintained a perfect form from beginning to end.

It wasn't simply a matter of being skilled. It was a movement as if she had perfectly understood the structure of magic from the beginning.

It instilled a strange sense of alienation in those who saw it.

And that alienation deepened as time passed.

Whether controlling flames, handling water, generating wind, or moving the earth, Arta performed magic without a single failure, even in a much more efficient way than what was written in the textbook.

Usually, to unfold a magic, one must operate mana, read the flow of elements, and execute magic sequentially, but Arta seemed to have skipped such processes.

For her, magic was not just a spell, but dealing with the principles of existence.

She understood the principle of how fire is created, knew how water flows, could explain why wind blows, and intuitively penetrated how earth moves.

As if she understood all of those things primordially, she unfolded magic in an extremely natural and simple way.

The reason was simple. Since the way to awaken illusion magic was to twist the principles of existence, one had to know the principles of existence in advance to move on to the introduction of illusion magic.

The moment they saw this, the students of the Magic Department could not help but instinctively realize.

That she was not at all in an equal position to them.

For them, who learned, experimented, researched, and progressively developed, magic was not just a technique but a product of effort and achievement.

It was the principle of the Magic Department that one could manipulate magic more precisely as they learned day by day.

But Arta seemed to be standing at that final stage from the beginning.

At first, they didn't want to admit it. They thought she might just be good at basics or have abilities specialized in certain series.

However, as time passed, their hopes were shattered.

Whatever magic, whatever element, she performed without a single error.

It was a realm that seemed to instinctively penetrate the very concept of magic, beyond innate genius.

Her existence gave a sense of inferiority to everyone in the Magic Department.

Not only ordinary students but even those who had achieved excellent grades couldn't help but feel helpless before her.

As practices continued, as the magic she demonstrated increased, the atmosphere in the classroom became increasingly heavy.

She didn't seem like a 'student' who worked hard and grew, but like a 'magician' who was already complete.

The moment that perception settled, students gradually began to distance themselves from her.

Those who initially spoke to her gradually decreased, and those who avoided being in the same group as her during practice hours increased.

Being with her meant facing one's own inadequacies, and most found it difficult to endure.

She didn't care much about that fact.

From the beginning, Arta wasn't the type who enjoyed mingling with others, and she didn't have a strong desire to be recognized by someone.

She simply used what she knew and found it enjoyable, and how it affected those around her wasn't a consideration.

However, the gazes looking at her from around were becoming increasingly cold.

It wasn't that they feared her skills, but her attitude of doing it so nonchalantly made them even more desperate.

Some whispered behind her back, some tried to keep her in check with wariness. But none of them could surpass her. There was an insurmountable wall between them and Arta.

And as long as that wall existed, she could never be welcomed here.