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Translator's note: That * wasn't my translation! That's the author translating himself!
Also, I love how the story goes! It makes me feel cozy and safe. I want to go to this school if I can!
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Seeing me brush it off, “smart butler” zipped away to do its own thing without a fuss.
As I stepped inside, the place seemed to spring to life—like the whole house was waking up.
In plain English? The main power switch flipped on.
Or maybe it wasn’t just electricity.
The house was designed with some serious flair—those decorative patterns on the walls weren’t just for show.
They blended seamlessly into the aesthetic, and if I hadn’t peeked with my Psi-vision, I wouldn’t have noticed the faint glow wasn’t from some fancy LED strip.
It was magic. Or at least some kind of transcendent energy flowing through.
That energy kicked on a bunch of standby furniture, giving me the illusion the whole place was coming alive.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Bai Yu said, stepping up beside me. She must’ve noticed me standing there, gawking like an idiot. “A lot of stuff on campus runs on magic. Store some of your extra mana here, and it’ll keep everything humming. Looks like the last batch of seniors left plenty behind for you newbies.”
“So, wait—no electric bills or anything?” I blurted out, sounding almost too eager. Even with a house this nice, utilities for a place this size would’ve been a killer.
No bills? That was a dream come true! Just gotta keep the mana topped up. Hope I don’t end up as a human battery pack down the line.
“Pretty much,” Bai Yu said with a shrug. “It’s all mana-powered. Once you get the hang of channeling it, you can control all the magic-driven stuff remotely. Like this—”
She snapped her fingers, and the hidden AC in the living room hummed to life. A massive screen on the wall flickered on, too.
A TV, maybe? Do people still watch TV these days?
Back in my last life, I’d ditched TV ages ago—ours just sat there unplugged, collecting dust.
But in this life, my parents were glued to it. They barely let me near the thing, though. I didn’t care much—I wasn’t into it anyway.
I'm not sure if that was their subtle way of saying they didn’t like me. Or they just didn't want me to watch TV.
My little brother, though—he was parked in front of it all the time. The clearest memory I’ve got is them shelling out for some premium toddler channel membership just for him.
I was floored at that time, thinking, 'since when did TV come with a VIP paywall?'
Seeing a TV here, though, piqued my curiosity.
Did it even get a signal? What channels would it have? Probably a news channel, right?
Too bad I couldn’t care less about this world’s headlines. Maybe it was the lack of attachment—no sense of belonging makes even the fluffiest, conflict-free gossip feel like a snooze.
“…Breaking news: Representatives from the Big Three have responded to Witch School’s aggressive recruitment tactics. Sorcerer School has called the move outrageous and over the line, while Ms. Gong from Elf School’s admissions office condemned it as completely unacceptable…”
The TV blared the news, catching me off guard.
Actually, scratch that—on second thought, it wasn’t all that shocking.
Bai Yu didn’t waste a second—she groaned and switched off the TV. “Ugh, more mindless coverage. Every time this happens, it’s the same recycled nonsense. Do reporters ever think to ask Witch School directly what’s up?”
Asking Witch School outright…
That’d probably tick off the entire Big Three.
Were they really not afraid of the backlash? I couldn’t help but picture some senior from here doing an interview—smirking the whole time, tossing out lines so savage they’d burn bridges left and right.
Alright, now I was really into it.
Who didn’t love a little drama? Let’s see some sparks fly!
Maybe a little chaos too.
…Okay, fine, as long as none of it landed on me. And yeah, that was just me talking tough—I wasn’t actually hoping for a fight.
Still, compared to that pointless TV segment, I was way more hooked on Bai Yu’s trick. This magic stuff? Pure gold for a lazybones like me.
I was about to jump in and ask how to get a grip on my own mana, but Bai Yu cut me off, stepping closer.
At the end of the day, this was campus housing—shared housing, no less. Time to divvy up the bedrooms.
“Come on, let’s head upstairs and check out the rooms. Pick one you like and claim it before someone else does,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the stairs.
“You’ll need to unpack and figure out what you’re missing. Anything extra, you’re buying yourself,” she added.
“Oh. Right.” I followed along, letting my earlier thoughts fade.
Unpack what, though? My “stuff” was barely anything—just the little I’d brought, still tucked away in Bai Yu’s storage.
As for extra stuff, unless it’s a total necessity, I wasn’t spending a dime (translation: I’m broke)*. But picking a bedroom? That mattered.
Since I got here first, I wasn’t about to play nice for roommates I didn’t even know.
Why save the good rooms? No clue if we’d click. I’d love it if we did, but I’m not forcing it.
It was random anyway. Maybe they got more cash than me, whatever. If they started stirring trouble under the same roof, I wasn't going to babysit. Got a big ego? Spend your bucks on a swankier spot—why crash here?
I shook it off after a second.
Why am I already cooking up some sassy roommate showdown before even meeting them?
Nope, not cursing it!
If I was hoping for anything, it was laid-back, cool girls as housemates. I was chill myself, and as for cool… well, I’ll figure that out. I'm still getting the hang of this girl gig, you know.
“Yuehan, got any bedroom preferences? Lighting, spot in the house, airflow, anything?” Bai Yu asked.
“Not really fussy,” I said, keeping it humble. Sure, I’d just told myself I wouldn’t hold back, but now that it was go-time, I didn’t have a wishlist.
Dark, shadowy corner room? Worked for me. Anything was better than back home.
“You still got to choose one,” Bai Yu said with a little grin. Seeing me hem and haw, she threw out an idea. “What about this one?”
She swung open a bedroom door, and it was sharp—real style. The curtains were pulled aside, showing off a massive floor-to-ceiling window with light pouring in, plus a balcony out back.
If it was this room, yeah, I could make it work.
“Yep, this’ll do!” I said, sealing the deal with a grin.
“You don’t want to peek at the others? Could be something nicer.”
“Nah, good enough’s fine by me,” I shot back. “Checking a ton of rooms just means picking one anyway. Why drag it out when I can settle now?”
“Makes sense.” Bai Yu stepped into the room with me, and with a quick flick of her hand, my suitcase popped up out of nowhere—the same ratty one I’d hauled here to begin with.