The Mob Character Who Woke Up!-Chapter 48: F minus ranker!

Ah yes, the butterfly effect.

A butterfly flaps its wings somewhere in the world, destiny shifts in unpredictable ways, the story moves forward in unexpected directions, and that beautiful chain reaction was what people called the butterfly effect.

It was supposed to do something cool and beneficial. Like push the hero and the other main characters into a beautiful team-up moment. You know, the kind with a dramatic entrance, mutual respect forming naturally, maybe even some epic background music swelling in the distance.

Instead of that ideal scenario happening...

Why were they walking directly toward him?

Slowly and deliberately.

"Hmm... that’s not right..."

With faces that clearly communicated the message "We are about to cause problems for you specifically."

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. At all. Not even remotely close.

The butterfly was meant to flap its delicate wings and create gentle ripples, not punch the entire plot in the face with brass knuckles.

What kind of cursed situation was this turning into? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Kaizen was momentarily taken back and found himself desperately thinking about his consistently terrible luck, but when he finally came back to his senses and stopped internally panicking, two figures were already standing directly in front of him.

One was grinning maniacally with that expression that made other people feel reassured and filled with happiness, but for Kaizen specifically meant incoming trouble and chaos. The other person, perched on top of the first person’s shoulder like some kind of bearded bird, was clearly having a hard time expressing his feelings outwardly through all that facial hair.

"Yerr... human. Aye, thank ya. Thank ya fer the help."

Gad Buster always made sure to thank those who helped him out in difficult situations. But all of them up until now had been fellow dwarfs and definitely not humans.

But now that he had enrolled in the most prestigious academy in the entire Republic of Peace Alliance, which everyone just called the RPA for convenience, he was being forced by circumstances to acknowledge and interact with fellow RPA member races.

And it was genuinely easy for him to express gratitude to other stronger and supposedly more gracious races who often looked down on dwarfs. But to a human? The most scummy, vile, backstabbing creatures in the entire RPA according to dwarven cultural teachings? That was a particularly hard blow to swallow for a proud dwarf raised on stories of human treachery.

But hard didn’t mean impossible, so he just choked out the words of gratitude anyway with rosy cheeks burning underneath all that facial hair. Well, the rose color was barely visible between the thick hairs of his beard anyway, but it was definitely there.

Kaizen just looked at both of them with a completely blank expression and nodded his head.

"No problem."

"What’s the matter, best friendo? Are you feeling down too?" Leo asked with genuine concern in his voice. "How about you hop on to my other shoulder? I am strong enough to carry both of you without any trouble!"

Kaizen was absolutely sure that this stupid bastard was physically strong enough to carry two people without breaking a sweat, but the real question burning in his mind was why, why in the world was this guy following him around constantly?

"No need."

Kaizen said while shaking his head absentmindedly. From this moment forward, he wasn’t going to say a single word to any of the main characters at all. Getting involved with them always bit him in the back somehow.

"Nah, don’t lie to your best friendo, best friendo!" Leo protested enthusiastically. "See this guy here, Gad? He never asks for help from anyone and always does his own things solo and ends up getting hurt! Can you believe it, Gad? He actually broke an E ranker’s thigh bone with a wooden skewer while he himself is just F rank!"

Gad raised his bushy eyebrow and nodded his head with interest, looking down at Kaizen from his elevated shoulder position with renewed respect dawning in his eyes.

"Eh? This lad, was it? Ha! Ha! Ha!" Gad bellowed with genuine appreciation. "Saw it on that communication device errr. Yeh did good, human! Real good, aye!"

Gad gave an enthusiastic thumbs up accompanied by that hearty laughter that was signature to dwarven culture. His earlier awkwardness was slowly melting away as he found common ground. Kaizen just simply smiled politely and went along with the conversation because arguing would only make things worse.

The courtyard buzzed with nervous energy and excitement as students shifted their weight from foot to foot. Some were whispering predictions about which branch they would choose.

Others were stretching their necks to get a better view of the platform. The air felt electric with possibility and anxiety mixed together.

After what felt like an eternity of the Vice Principal’s droning speech about tradition and responsibility and the proud legacy of the academy, ten professors finally stepped onto the raised platform in a coordinated line.

A very big wave of cheering immediately reverberated through the assembled students like thunder. Kaizen could physically feel the excitement rippling through the air around him.

He could feel his own heart beating faster in his chest. These people standing on that platform were the legendary figures that would propel him and the two thousand students packed around him toward greatness.

People that had been hand-picked by the mighty SS ranked Principal himself and his equally powerful Vice Principals. Professors that were each at S rank, standing at the peak of magical achievement.

S rank?

Kaizen looked down at his own hand resting at his side. He was merely F rank. No, he needed to be more honest with himself. He was F minus rank. The minus was absolutely necessary to accurately describe his current pathetic state.

For him to climb all the way from F minus to S class would be incredibly hard and time consuming, requiring years of dedication and probably several near-death experiences. But looking at those professors standing tall on that platform bathed in morning sunlight, Kaizen wasn’t deterred by the massive gap.

He had already decided deep in his heart to become strong and powerful enough that people would stop looking for trouble with him when he finally achieved his dream slacker life.

He absolutely refused to be like that snow deer he had seen at Mount Solara, beautiful but helpless and destined to be prey. He would become the Ice Leopard instead, the apex predator that hunted the deer down without mercy.

He clenched his palm into a tight fist, feeling a resolute determination forming in his mind like steel being forged.