Free Web NovelChapter 3: Not today, bitch!
The heavy oak doors clicked shut behind Professor Elena Moon.
"Silence."
She didn’t shout, but her voice carried a sharp, magical weight that instantly killed any remaining whispers in the amphitheater.
She walked to the center of the podium. Even from the back row, Arthur had to admit she was stunning. She was a High Elf, well over two hundred years old, but she looked like a woman in her absolute prime. Her silver-blonde hair was tied up in a strict, immaculate bun. Her expression was cold enough to freeze water.
She carried herself with the absolute grace and arrogance typical of her race. She looked down on everyone in the room as if they were dirt.
But her body told a completely different story.
Her dark academic robes were tailored dangerously tight around her waist, flaring out over wide, heavy hips. Her chest was massive. The sheer weight of her boobs strained against the buttons of her white silk undershirt with every breath she took.
God, she really is walking porn, Arthur thought, leaning his chin on his hand.
"Turn to page ten. We are covering the foundational principles of mana circuits today," Elena announced, her melodic voice infused with authority.
She began walking the aisles, her head held high. To the rest of the class, she was the untouchable, noble Archmage.
But Arthur knew the truth beneath her arrogant facade.
Professor Elena Moon was a massive exhibitionist. Underneath those strict, heavy robes, she never wore panties. She was addicted to the thrill of nearly being caught. She loved knowing that the pathetic human boy in the back row was jerking off to the sight of her cleavage and her legs.
The original Arthur thought he was some master stealth rogue. He thought he was cleverly taking sneaky glances under her skirt, snapping hidden photos, and snatching up her discarded tissues without her knowing.
Use your brain, Arthur thought, watching her pace. She’s an SS-rank hunter. Her perception stats are off the charts. You really think a weak, unawakened stalker could hide in her blind spot?
She knew all along. She never stopped him because she didn’t want to.
She couldn’t exactly act like a slut in public and ruin her noble High Elf image. So, she found a loophole. The original Arthur was her perfect prey. She got to feed her massive ego and live out her dirty kink, and all she had to do was pretend she didn’t notice him staring at her ass.
But today, the dynamic was broken.
Half an hour into the lecture, Elena was getting restless. Her pacing had become slightly faster. Her eyes kept darting to the back row.
Why? Because Arthur hadn’t taken a single glance at her.
Unable to take the lack of attention, Elena walked straight up the steps toward the back of the class. She stopped right next to Arthur’s desk.
With a subtle flick of her wrist, she deliberately knocked her own silver pen off the desk. It clattered to the stone floor.
Slowly, deliberately, Elena bent over right in front of him to pick it up.
She shifted her robes, giving Arthur a perfect, unobstructed view straight up her skirt. Bare thighs, pale skin, and absolutely nothing underneath.
She waited for his filthy gaze to land on her. She waited for the familiar spike of dirty thrill.
It didn’t come.
Arthur was staring straight down at his textbook, a quill in his hand. He wasn’t even looking in her direction.
Elena frowned slightly. She shifted her weight, leaning just a fraction more, staying bent over for an awkwardly long time.
Arthur’s eyes were locked on the intricate mana diagrams in the book. He flipped a page, his expression completely serious.
A sudden, sharp sting of disappointment hit Elena’s chest. The empty void of his missing attention felt strangely cold.
Is there something on my face? she thought, suddenly self-conscious. Did I wear the wrong perfume today? She clamped her mouth shut, standing back up quickly. Her jaw tightened in sheer irritation.
Arthur didn’t even blink. freewёbnoνel.com
Not today, bitch, he thought, dipping his quill into the inkwell.
He was well aware of her antics. But he wasn’t falling into the trap. He had vowed to himself the moment he woke up in this body: he would never be a simp. He wasn’t going to feed her ego for free.
Show off all you want, Professor, Arthur thought, his eyes scanning the dense text on mana theory. Tits are temporary. Stats are permanent.
He was entirely focused on the lecture for a very specific reason.
In the original game, most players skipped the classroom scenes. They just clicked ’skip’ to get right back to the dungeon crawling and monster hunting. But there was a hidden mechanic that the hardcore players eventually figured out.
Sitting in lectures, actually focusing, and absorbing the academic knowledge increased a hidden stat: Intelligence (INT).
It wasn’t a massive boost. In fact, it was microscopic. But if you sat through every single lecture, every day, and focused intently instead of sleeping or slacking off, those fractions of a point stacked up. Over a three-hundred-day academic year, you could gain a massive amount of INT purely from studying. And the INT stat directly increased overall Mana capacity and magic control.
Right now, his Mana was at a pathetic 3. He needed every single drop of magical power he could get his hands on.
For the next two hours, Arthur didn’t look up once. He ignored the whispers of the other students. He ignored the Elf Princess, Elara, who kept throwing him sideways, highly suspicious glances. And he completely ignored Professor Elena pacing furiously at the front of the room.
He read. He took notes. He memorized the mana circuit diagrams until his head throbbed.
Focus. Read. Understand the flow, he chanted in his head, forcing his burning, asthmatic lungs to take slow, shallow breaths.
When the heavy bell finally rang, signaling the end of the lecture, Arthur dropped his quill and rubbed his aching temples.
A translucent blue window chimed in his peripheral vision.
[Academic Focus Acknowledged.]
[Understanding of Mana Theory increased.] freewebnoveℓ.com
[Intelligence (INT) +0.1]
Arthur let out a long breath, a genuine smirk crossing his face.
Perfect. It actually works.
It was a tiny step, but it was a step up. No cheating, no shortcuts, just pure, agonizing grind.
"Class dismissed," Professor Elena said sharply. She gathered her papers, her golden eyes darting one last time to the back row.
Arthur was already packing his bag. He slung it over his shoulder, didn’t spare her a single glance, and walked out the back door.
Elena stood frozen at the podium, her knuckles white as she gripped her lecture notes. A strange, heavy heat pooled in her lower stomach. The absolute indifference in his eyes bothered her way more than she would ever admit.
What is wrong with him today? she thought, biting her bottom lip hard enough to hurt. And why do I care so much?
