I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 4

【 15 Million Gold 】

Thanks to the thoroughly prepared Jeran Ennessy, I managed to secure a new advisor before the deadline, but I couldn’t relax just yet.

Because another expulsion crisis still loomed over me.

Money.

After a full day of rest yesterday, I now sat in silence, staring at the notice urging payment for one year’s worth of tuition and dormitory fees.

Since the advisor situation had wrapped up more quickly than expected, I still had a fair amount of time left before the due date.

But no matter how I looked at it, this amount was ridiculous.

‘Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million…’

I counted the zeros again and again, but the number didn’t change.

In roughly thirty days, I needed to come up with an astronomical sum of ten million gold.

“Haa.”

‘I don’t even have ten million won in my real bank account…’

I stared blankly at the number printed on the fancy paper.

Then I opened the status window to check how much money I currently had.

[20 Gold]

Which meant I needed 9,999,980 more gold to avoid expulsion from the academy.

I decided to think rationally.

There was no way I could earn that kind of money just by working. That idea wasn’t even on the table.

So one option remained.

I had to borrow it from somewhere.

In the real world I came from, there were a limited number of places you could borrow money from.

1. Mom and Dad.
2. A bank.
3. Student loans.
4. Loan sharks.

First, eliminate options 1 and 4.

There was no Mom or Dad here. I didn’t even have a chance to use that option.

Lucia likely had no family she could rely on either.

Karl Evenhart had served as her guardian. That either meant her parents didn’t exist, or they couldn’t help her, financially or otherwise.

And loan sharks?

Not even worth considering. That was a direct route to total ruin.

‘Which leaves…’

Borrowing from a bank or applying for a student loan.

I stared intently at the two remaining options written on the paper.

They were the most legitimate and stable methods. Borrowing money wouldn’t prevent me from graduating, and there’d be no illegal debt collection either.

But the problem was…

‘Would a bank lend money to a student?’

That was the biggest concern.

You needed credit to borrow from a financial institution, and students had none to speak of.

It’s not like I had real estate or property to offer as collateral either.

‘If I did, my balance wouldn’t show up as 20 gold in the first place.’

Still, student loans weren’t a guaranteed solution either.

‘What if this world doesn’t even have a student loan system?’

Since this wasn’t the real world, that possibility couldn’t be ignored.

“Haaa…”

My sigh deepened. My head grew more muddled.

The more I thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed, but it wasn’t like I could die in the early stages of the game before even meeting all the capture targets.

After finishing breakfast, I changed clothes and decided to head outside.

…Honestly, the ideal would be if a quest popped up and told me exactly what to do, but nothing of the sort had happened.

First, I’d get my hands on a map of the area, find a bank, and if possible, check whether any scholarship or student loan systems existed.

After carefully planning out my outing, I pulled the bell cord to summon a servant.

For a long excursion, a hearty meal was essential.

***

“Haaa…”

I slumped onto a bench in the academy courtyard, the winter wind brushing past, and let out a deep sigh.

In my hands were loan documents from the bank and a stack of pamphlets I had barely managed to find after wandering all over the academy—guides supposedly prepared for enrolled students at the Magic Academy.

And as that long sigh revealed, my carefully laid plans had all fallen apart.

“How could this happen?”

I stared blankly at the papers in my hands and muttered in disbelief.

Since morning, I’d been running around desperately searching for places where I might get some money, but it was all in vain.

Because all the concerns I’d had, the worst-case scenarios I had quietly feared, had become reality.

While searching the academy with a map, I’d stumbled across a bank.

Without hesitation, I walked in and sat down at a counter not too different from a modern one. I told the bank employee I wanted to apply for a loan.

It was my first time borrowing money, so I was incredibly nervous. The employee greeted me with a friendly smile, looked me over from head to toe, and then asked,

“How much would you like to borrow?”

“Ten million gold.”

“Ah… ten million gold…”

At my reply, the employee gave a vague exclamation. In that moment, the kindness vanished from his expression as if his soul had ascended. He immediately averted his gaze with an utterly indifferent look.

He began gathering documents from under the desk with mechanical precision and asked in a flat tone, “You’re a commoner, correct?”

“…Excuse me?”

“What’s your name?”

“…Lucia Even.”

“Ah, Lucia Even. So you are a commoner.”

Startled by the abrupt shift in attitude, I still answered with the unfamiliar name. As soon as I said it, all traces of courtesy disappeared from his demeanor and his tone turned even colder.

Without so much as looking my way, he carelessly tossed the stack of documents he had prepared toward me.

“Read this and come back with the necessary forms.”

“…Sorry?” I asked again, baffled.

He responded as if he couldn’t be bothered to explain further, his voice laced with irritation, “I said, read the documents and come back after preparing them.”

“At the very least, shouldn’t you explain something—”

“There’s nothing to explain. Prepare the forms and come back yourself.”

“……”

“Your eyes work just fine, so you should have no trouble reading the documents. You’ll understand if you look at them. If you continue to interfere, I’ll call the guards.”

Faced with what was practically a threat, I had no choice but to pick up the discarded pile of papers and leave.

‘What the hell just happened to me?’

Even as I walked out of the bank, it didn’t feel real.

It was such an absurdly irrational experience that I was deeply shaken. Something had clearly happened, but my head was blank, and I couldn’t fully grasp the situation.

I stood motionless in front of the bank building, letting the cold wind wash over me for a while. After a few minutes, I gradually began to regain my senses.

And then I started to understand why I’d been treated with such contempt.

‘Because I… because Lucia is a commoner.’

Thinking back, the moment his attitude completely changed was when he confirmed my name.

The moment he was certain that I, Lucia Even, was a commoner and not a noble, his behavior turned openly rude.

Only then did I finally remember exactly where I was.

Calypse Magic Academy, the most prestigious institution of higher education in the Empire.

And the Empire was a nation ruled by an emperor, where nobles, commoners, and slaves existed… a society where the class system still prevailed.

If this institution was founded in such an empire, then naturally, most of the students receiving education here were likely to be nobles or even royalty. Not someone like me, a commoner.

Realizing this hit me like a blow to the head.

“…Hah.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

‘No wonder his reaction was strange when I asked to borrow ten million gold. I guess nobles don’t come here to borrow such a small amount.’

“Fucking bastards.”

After experiencing this damned class-based society firsthand, curses burst from my lips. It felt even more miserable when contrasted with the warmth I’d received from Jeran Ennessy.

Since getting a loan from the bank was completely out of the question, the only options left were student loans or scholarships.

After wandering all over the academy, I managed to get my hands on a few pamphlets scattered around campus, but none of them offered the kind of scholarship I needed.

The only way to be exempted from tuition and dormitory fees was to make a massive donation to the academy and get your name engraved on the list of major donors who brought glory to the school.

That was it.

‘If I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t be going through all this in the first place.’

With all hope and plans crushed, all I could do was shuffle to a new spot and sit on a campus bench like a father who’d gone bankrupt and lost everything.

‘Now what…? I’m completely out of ideas…’

I leaned back against the bench, gazing up at the blue sky, the grand academy buildings, and the neatly planted trees. I hoped a solution might come to me if I stared hard enough.

But only one thought surfaced.

“I’m hungry…”

And at the same time, my stomach let out a loud, foghorn-like growl.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.’

I slipped a hand into my coat and checked the time with my pocket watch.

2:30 p.m.

Well past lunchtime.

‘No wonder I’m hungry.’

Whether it was resignation, submission to reality, or a simple loss to instinct, I couldn’t tell. With a blank look, I returned the watch to my pocket when suddenly, something flashed before my eyes.

[Quest: Visit Bell Restaurant in the academy and get a job. (0/1) (!)]

“Whoa! What the—?”

I jumped back in surprise as the quest window popped out of nowhere and involuntarily shivered.

Calming my startled heart, I reread the quest carefully.

“Bell Restaurant… A job?”

Blinking slowly, I tilted my head.

It was such a random quest.

Go to a restaurant and get a job, just like that?

‘Why did this show up?’

I paused to think, but it didn’t take long to realize what it meant.

“No way… Don’t tell me it wants me to earn ten million gold by working?”

Even as I said it, I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

That kind of money wasn’t something you could earn with ordinary labor no matter how hard you tried.

Unless it was a place using the restaurant front to cover up all sorts of shady and illegal business behind the scenes, there was no way.

I had my doubts for a number of reasons, but deep down, I already knew.

Following this quest was the right choice.

This was the world of Thump Thump Magic Academy, a created world.

There was no way the developers had designed this quest without a purpose.

‘Let’s just go. Something has to come out of it.’

Too hungry to think any further, I tucked the documents into my bag and pressed the exclamation mark next to the quest.

Clutching my empty stomach, I began walking in the direction indicated by the navigation arrow.