Academy’s Drunk Fighter

I think I once heard a story like that long ago.

God gave water to humans, and the devil gave them alcohol.
That alcohol was made from grapes nourished by the blood of various animals.
When you first drink it, you become as gentle as a lamb.

Drink a little more, and you'll dance and sing like a monkey.
Drink more, and you grow fierce like a lion. Go beyond that, and you become a pig, puking and rolling around wherever you please.
A drink that literally turns you into a beast.

Alcohol.
A curse granted in exchange for the power to deny reality.
Of course, doing this in real human relationships is an incredibly effective way to make everyone around you disappear.

“Uuuugh…”
Yeah, I do like drinking, I’ll admit that.
But it’s not like I want to drink until I’m throwing up.

I just want to get drunk enough to feel good, sleep comfortably, and wake up without a hitch.
That’s the perfect amount—the ideal point of enjoyment.
“Damn curse…”

Even so, I once again drink the liquid inside the bottle, trying to chase away the headache clawing at my skull.
The aftereffects of intoxication and the curse-induced headache were both awful, but between the worst and the less bad, I chose the lesser evil.
“Ah, why the hell is my life like this?”

The world feels hopeless.
There’s nowhere for me to stand, and I’ll probably live alone for the rest of my life.
Right. What the hell am I even supposed to do now that I’ve TSed into this kind of body?
I guess it’s a relief I didn’t have anyone around me in my past life.

Aah… how should I kill myself later…
.
.

.
Gulp.
“Uu… Uhaa…”

[Current Intoxication: 1%]
Yeah. I was trying to endure the headache and the curse just this once, but apparently, that didn’t work out.
If it were a physical curse, maybe I could handle it, but since it’s a mental one, I can’t even think straight in the first place.

It’s like all the darkest, most humiliating memories from preschool to adulthood are kicking down the door at once, trying to pour in.
A ridiculous curse that buries you under negative memories and pushes you toward suicide.
But—one that disappears as soon as you drink.

“Goddamn it!! What kind of bullshit curse is this!!”
I chose it myself, but I still don’t get why the hell something like this even exists.
“Pffft…”

Still, I did get something out of this.
This curse isn’t something you can endure with willpower or some normal method.
I could feel that instinctively.

You know how in those shounen manga, they’re always yelling, “Surpass your limits!!”? Like that’s supposed to be easy.
A limit is, by definition, the highest point a person can reach.
If you can break through it, it just means your bar was set higher—not that it was really your limit.

So, the max I can last without any intoxication is about five minutes.
If I really push it—really—maybe ten minutes, tops.
“Wonder if there’s another way~”

There’s all sorts of equipment that boosts attack power, defense, divine energy, or mana. Even ones that add traits. But something to help endure a lack of intoxication?
“...Yeah, that’s gonna be tough.”
Since this is a comedy-style trait, I doubt there’s gear specifically made to support it.

And even if there was, I probably wouldn’t have paid it any attention…
I guess I should look into gear that affects mental strength or weakens curses instead.
Anyway, back to the point...

[Balance: 100,000]
To buy any mental defense items, I’d need money. But staring at my empty bank account just made me sigh again.
It wasn’t just a money problem.

The entrance ceremony had just started yesterday.
Scholarships weren’t even handed out until the end of the first semester at the earliest.
There’s no way I can last that long with my wallet already bottomed out.

At least I got a dorm at a discount, so I’ve got a place to stay. But still…
‘If this keeps up, I won’t even be able to buy booze…!’
Most of my spending was going toward alcohol, so at this rate, I might end up in a situation where I can’t even fight off the curse.

Right now, I’m just watering down the strongest stuff I can find and forcing it down, even ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) if it tastes like crap—but that can’t go on forever.
I’ve even considered buying industrial-grade ethanol…
“But it tastes awful…”

That stuff’s hard to deal with anyway, and just imagining drinking it gives me a mental breakdown, so I’ve been putting it off again and again.
At that moment, someone somewhere asked me,
‘Hey, didn’t you win that duel yesterday?’

“Ahh… you mean that.”
And naturally, someone has to answer that, right?
To understand what they’re talking about, we’ll need to go back to yesterday.

.
.
.

One day earlier.
After I’d beaten my opponent at the entrance ceremony, I was happily grilling mung bean pancakes.
“Ugh…”

The muscle-freak professor looked at the mess like, “How the hell am I supposed to clean this up?” And since I’d just chugged a massive amount of alcohol, my stomach was a mess and my head was still spinning, even after throwing up.
“Student! Are you all right!?”
“Ah… yeah.”

At that moment, the male student I’d defeated—now supported by the med team—stood up and came over to me. Surprisingly, he accepted his loss without much resistance.
And then…
And then!!! It happened.

Just as I was thinking about what kind of booze to buy next, someone walked up from the distance.
I still don’t remember their exact face or figure.
Maybe I was so overwhelmed by fear that my brain erased the memory.

All I remember is one sentence.
“This is the invoice for academy property damage.”
“…Huh?”

He handed me a slip of paper and walked off.
The amount billed was exactly 900,000 won.
It was a damage invoice for the wall I’d smashed when I used [Fajing] and sent the guy flying.

“Th-this is insane!!!”
“Well… that’s tough luck, huh…?”
Professor Philia, watching that tragic scene with pity, handed over the still-staggering student to the academy hospital.

And in that place, I alone remained, sunk in despair.
That was the end.
And now, from the 1 million won I’d received from that male student, only 100,000 won remained after subtracting the 900,000 for damages.

I never imagined it would cost that much, not to mention the counter skill isn’t something I can even control.
It’s literally set to trigger automatically when someone initiates an attack.
Of course, that kind of excuse obviously wouldn't fly with anyone.

Who would believe me if I said, “It wasn’t me, my skill went off on its own”?
And so here I am now, but there's no way I can live on just 100,000 won.
Asking for money from my mother—the mother of this body—wasn't an option either. I already knew things weren’t going well for her side either.

“A lucky encounter… I need a lucky encounter…”
Isn’t there always something like a Nightlight Pearl buried in the woods behind the academy in those novels?
No, even if it’s not that, at least some damn wild ginseng should be growing out there…

But as far as I remember, there’s nothing like that hidden here.
This is a world where traits and the player’s choices are everything.
And I, I could only sit there cursing my current state and the choices of my past.

“…No.”
But—
I won’t give up.

If I’ve already possessed a character in a game, TS-ed and everything, there’s no way I’m just gonna rot in a room drinking all day.
“I need to make money.”
Living the same kind of life I did in my past world—I've had enough of that shit.

If you think about it, I’ve basically been given an extra coin to continue.
No, I’m younger now. And I have way more potential.
I’m young and perky, damn it!!!

There’s undeniable value in my life now. And… I have a reason to live.
“Hrrrgh!!”
And just like that, still pressing the cold bottom of the liquor bottle to my forehead, I jumped up from my spot and rushed out to find a job somehow.

 
****
“Hm, is this the list of this year’s incoming students?”

A black-haired woman began slowly flipping through the list of new admissions.
Documents outlining each student’s traits, characteristics, prestigious families, or their backgrounds.
Some students already possessed enough influence and power to overshadow even the third-years.

Some were so unremarkable it was hard to say why they stood out at all.
But every one of them was her student.
“There are quite a lot of new students this year, aren’t there?”

“Yes, it seems many children of major clans and former golden-age figures all decided to apply this year.”
“We’ve never passed 3,000 total students across all years before. It’s fascinating.”
“Was it like that in the past as well?”

“Ah… yes. When I first came here, I made sure the exam difficulty was set quite high.”
“The first time…”
Hearing the woman speak, the person in front of her trailed off, as if recalling a distant past.

“Still though… the Tower Association? What are those old fogies up to?”
“I’m not quite sure. Perhaps they feel they have nothing left to teach. Or maybe… they want something from us?”
“They want something… Elixirs? I already drank those, though. Hmm… no idea.”

“You drank them!? Do you even know how expensive those—!!”
“Kidding, just kidding~”
“….”

The man’s pupils shook at the mention of her drinking an elixir, but the woman simply laughed it off like a joke.
“In any case, this year’s class really does seem promising, doesn’t it? It’s been so long since I was this excited!”
“You say that every year.”

“Well, all students are important, after all. And a woman’s heart changes every time, you know?”
“Snrk.”
“W-What was that look?! Were you holding back laughter just now?!”

As he held back a smile behind her, the woman continued turning pages, carefully scanning through each student.
As if admiring a collection of rare treasures.
And then, she came across something that clearly caught her eye—something valuable.

“Ooh! Is it this one? Yoon Siwoo?”
“Yes, he ranked first in this year’s entrance exam.”
“Let’s see~ Hmm, no notable background, and no known public information?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”
“That’s fine. I’ve always wanted a student with an air of mystery. Though, I’d like to learn a little more about him…”
Like a predator eyeing its prey, her gaze lingered on the photo of the student named Yoon Siwoo.

“Oh, there’s another page.”
“Hm? So it wasn’t the end?”
Right after Yoon Siwoo’s file was the record of another student—one who entered this year as a recommended candidate.

“Hm…?”
A white-haired girl with dazed, drunken-looking blue eyes, dressed in plain jeans and a white T-shirt.
[Hernia Esha]

“This one?”
“She was recommended by Professors Philia and Noel. They said she used a rather interesting technique near the end of the exam.”
“Hmmm… no impressive background… doesn’t seem particularly talented either. And why is the photo so blurry?”

“We looked through all the related files and… those were the only pictures where she wasn’t swaying around. Ah, and she’s currently under a damage compensation claim for property destruction.”
“…R-Really?”
The woman stared at the girl’s photo, clearly flustered, then simply closed the file.

She never read the last line at the bottom of the document.
[Unable to properly assess physical ability limits.]
[Minimum Rating: F]

[Maximum Rating: S]
[A retest is scheduled for a later date regarding these results.]