The Protagonist Already Knows

Chapter 10: Pearl

Sitting on the train, ignoring the occasional strange glance people threw at me because of my partially ripped clothes, I glanced out the window.

After handing the rest of my money, excluding the fee for a one-way train back to Vael, to the alchemist-shop lady, I was now newly broke.

Gazing at the vivid and lush green forests, coupled with the bright yellow sun, I tilted my head, wishing I could open the window and put my head out like a dog in a car.

At this moment, I felt an undeniable sense of joy.

Was that wrong? Did I really deserve to feel such a way?

I ignored those questions for just a moment and peacefully watched the beautiful sights, letting my mind go empty.

Only after a few moments did I realize the reason for my feelings.

Glancing at the person to my right, I also found them with a large grin as they gazed down at their smartwatch, typing away without a care in the world.

I could feel their genuine happiness...and it was influencing my own emotions, as if I were living vicariously through them.

"Your eyes may perceive the souls of others directly: You may mark other souls to bear a portion of their pain or transfer a portion of your pain to their souls. Additionally, you may understand the internal emotions of marked souls further."

Looking around, I found another person who was obviously tired, half-asleep, with their head jerking back and forth as the train moved forward.

However, as I attempted to read and mark the second man, my ears began ringing while a sharp pain, as if I had been stabbed, raced through my brain.

"Only one..."

Pausing for a moment, I pinched myself, still feeling some pain, and gazed at the texting man beside me.

However, his expression didn’t change.

Is the pain too light?

Confused, I was just about to pinch myself harder when the train suddenly jerked forward, my shoulder brushing against his.

Suddenly, the texting man’s eyebrows furrowed as he confusedly glanced around, perhaps wondering why he was feeling a wince of pain.

Unmarking his soul, I continued pinching myself, instantly feeling the pain increase by a bit.

"I see..."

Turning back around in my seat, I gazed out the window behind me and remarked the texting man. In the future, I would definitely need to learn how to separate emotions that were mine and that stemmed from marked souls.

But...now, at least for a moment, I could enjoy this happiness, even if it didn’t belong to me.

...

...

...

"Station: The Sunken Pearl Academy! Arrived."

Indeed, the number-one hero academy on the entire human continent should have its own station.

Glancing around, I realized I was surrounded mostly by students, the returning students wearing academy blazers while the new first-years like me wore whatever.

The texting man had long left, my mark involuntarily vanishing from him at some point.

Joining the crowd of students getting off at the station, I stepped onto a stone path, surrounded by lush green grass and oak trees.

Walking along the crowded stone path, I followed my fellow first years, who had already clumped into groups and were excitedly discussing.

"I hope I get Sooyung as my advisor!"

"Did you hear? Athen, the number one-ranked hero, is sending his daughter here as a first-year!"

"Apparently, the top guilds are sending their recruits here this year, too, instead of personally training them...I don’t think ranks 1-100 will even be possible for normal people."

Eventually arriving at a table, where a group of teachers was handing out room keys, I said quietly.

"Ash Fell."

The teacher wearing glasses paused for a moment, glancing at my face, before awkwardly coughing, handing me a key, and saying.

"Follow the path down and make the first right."

Nodding my head, I grabbed my key and headed to my dorm.

Prior to arriving at the academy, the over 2,000 first-year students were already ranked based on their entrance exam results.

The Sunken Pearl Academy actively encouraged and promoted competition among students through things like this and school club competitions, believing it fostered growth and ambition.

Glancing at the #99 on my key, I was pleasantly surprised and simultaneously disappointed.

Ash must have been fairly strong to achieve such a ranking, even with his father’s influence.

Thus, it seemed I hadn’t inherited Ash’s stat menu: the stats I saw on my status screen upon my transmigration were mine from back on Earth.

Arriving at the nicest dorm hall on campus, reserved for students ranked 1-100, I immediatly entered the elevator, not bothering to explore the dorm’s amazing amenities like state-of-the-art gravity rooms, virtual reality simulation rooms, and Mimic Chambers.

My room was extremely large, with a king-sized bed, a modern kitchen, a full dining table, and even a terrace.

Additionally, the rooms were cleaned daily during classes, allowing students to focus fully on training.

Not skipping a beat, I immediatly showered, wiping every part of my body down to the inch before changing into the fresh academy uniform in the closet: a dark-blue blazer bearing the academy’s sigil of an open oyster shell with a shining pearl inside, a white collared shirt, and a pair of black jeans.

With the entrance ceremony starting in less than an hour, I took a seat and relaxed on the terrace, allowing the sun to dry my damp hair.

On the train, I had managed to summarize and identify some of my gift’s current restrictions.

Marking and unmarking souls was as easy as just looking at a person: the person wouldn’t even know their soul had been read. Additionally, I could unmark one person and mark another in an instant without any cooldown.

As for transferring and sharing pain, I could only do so once every five minutes. Transferring pain was quite complicated, with me actually having to make physical contact with my marked target, and I could only send around 25% of my pain.

However, sharing pain was relatively simple, requiring me only to see them, and I could receive around 50% of the pain they received.