Gargantuan buildings made with the most exquisite of architecture spread out in front of me as I walked through the gates separating two entire worlds. The fresh mana-rich breeze brushed on my cheeks.

The extravagant Agriche Academy was in my sights. I walked over the expansive walkways with a bag over my shoulders, dragging a travel bag through its wheels.

A bunch of other students were entering the place at the same time, but I saw no familiar faces. I checked the letter with my other hand that informed of different things about the institute, it also had a small pamphlet attached to it.

"Green Wolves Dormitory..."

A tall structure covered with glass, another made completely with bricks, and a gigantic auditorium that could function as a fighting ground as well, and many large buildings passed me by as I followed the signboards on the walkways. The other students reduced in number one by one, many going off in the opposite direction. The place was so big that a bit of confusion was natural. Before long, no one else seemed to be around as I continued on my way into the northern ends of the Island soon reaching a small mountain trail.

My feet came to a halt as I faced a four-storey tall building. The expanse of the building stretched far on both sides, the name 'Green Wolves' etched into the bordering walls. I walked up to the entrance of the dormitory and stepped in. Unlike the entrance of the Academy, there was no one here keeping guard or anything of the sort.

There was no need to anyway. An enormous protective shield made purely of magic covered the entirety of Agriche City, and with the density of mana in here, even a powerful gate or dungeon will not be able to expel monsters for at least half an hour.

I pushed open the sliding steel gates and walked inside, closing them after myself. Statuettes of wolves using different skills were placed on tiny pedestals in the yard and the walls. The large wooden frame door leading into the building pushed open to the sight of a luxurious lobby of sorts.

A reception desk in the front with multiple lockers lined up behind it. To my right was an enormous sofa set facing a TV set that could seat more than a dozen people in comfort with a tea table in its center. Three pairs of chairs were lined up on the left with a passage leading further into the building.

I stepped up to the reception while looking around at the new sights.

"There's no one here..."

{Maybe you're the first one to arrive?} the system asked.

"There should still be second and third years." The dorms were separated by rank and not by year or course. "But there's no one in the reception either..."

I placed my hand down on the reception and looked beyond the desk. Sitting there on top of the desk was a small signboard in green paint.

[Reception is self-service!]

{What kind of reception is that?}

"Ah, self-service." I nodded and pulled up the corner of the desk, stepping inside.

{Don't just accept it!}

There were a few books inside the reception, I opened one up and looked through its contents. They were the room assignments. Each floor had about 13 rooms and the second and third floors were completely occupied by the seniors. Since there were no rooms on the ground floor and no first year had arrived, the first floor was mine to choose from.

Taking all the first-floors key cards, I quickly left my bags at the reception and walked through the passage next to the chairs, a wide area leading to four more rooms, and a staircase on the end. I rushed up the staircase and went to the first floor. Unlike the ground floor, the staircase opened up at the center of the floor to a long passage with rooms on both sides. Six rooms were lined up facing each other and at the end of the passageway was a single room with a wide door.

"First come first serve!" I smiled excitedly and opened the door at the end of the passage. The room inside... was smaller than my room back home. I closed the door shut and turned to the other rooms instead. To my surprise, they were much wider than the other one. Each room had a full-size bed and reach-in closet. A couch to rest on, a personal TV, and a study table with a lot of shelf space for books and like. Sticking out from the study table was a tablet pen that was likely connected to the academy's intranet.

I checked the other rooms and went back downstairs, to my surprise, there was still no one coming here. I went to the reception and signed myself into the room with the view overlooking the woods and carried my luggage upstairs, to room 108.

"Hah... this is going to be my home from now on, huh?" I sighed and entered the room. Walking over to the windows, I pulled away from the curtains and the glass panes, letting the sunlight and fresh air swarm inside.

{Quite the place, yes? It'll be your home as long as your rank doesn't change}

"Right," I said as I opened my bags and started unpacking my clothes into the closet.

{So? Are you planning to raise it in the future?}

The formal clothes went far back and the casual ones up front. "It depends," I answered the system while working, the uniform from Agriche stayed outside. "The biggest reason I don't want attention is to develop my strength without falling into the eyes of others, the more attention you attract the more problems will come your way. If I become strong enough then there shouldn't be a big problem with raising my rank and showing myself outright."

With the clothes done, I took out my personal belongings from the shoulder bag. They were just a bunch of books, documents, and some accessories, so it didn't take long to arrange them. At the very bottom of the bag was the book that I had left back to pile dust, the World Domination Plans book. I smiled and kept it in the lowest drawer on my desk.

"But, you know, being something like a power in the shadows will be pretty awesome too."

{Hey, as long as you are dominating the world}

"Haha, that's right. Anything goes."

With all my unpacking done as well, I stood up and stretched my arms. I stepped out of the room and looked down the passage, there still seemed to be no one around. "How strange..." I muttered while opening the letter again. Everything did seem correct, the entrance began at 6 AM and there was supposed to be an opening ceremony at 8.

I looked at my watch again, it would soon be time to go listen to boring speeches—

"—Oh, fuck."

{It's almost 9...}

"Goddamn it!"

I rushed to change into the uniform and dashed out of the room. A late-comer on the first day who bunked the opening ceremony, my smooth sailing school life was about to fucking capsize before the sails could unfurl.