CH 1

Chapter 1 – Graduation exam (1) 

Yes, I know. This must be how I appear now. I should have died, but for some reason when I had opened my eyes, I had become a teenage girl.

I tried my best to understand everything, but I could not make myself accept the pair of bunny ears on my head. 

In addition, I had died in a deserted alleyway, but now I was in a school dormitory. Where the hell is this place?

“Aris! What are you cooking up in there? Everyone is waiting for you!”

Suddenly the door opened and a girl with brown hair and brown rabbit ears barged inside.

“For me?”

As I made a puzzled expression, the large eyes of the brown-haired rabbit grew bigger and bigger.

“What are you doing, still not dressed? I will help you, since we don’t have much time!”

“Wait….”

With her help, I was able to wear a women’s uniform. A black uniform with a red pleated skirt. Leather boots. A rapier on the waist. Except for the skirt, the uniform is pretty similar to my original outfit.

“Oh, and this!”

The brunette put a large black brim hat with feathers over my head. There were already two holes pierced in the brim hat, so the rabbit ears could be pulled out of the hat.

“How pretty!”

As the brown-haired rabbit said, I was really pretty. It’s not that the brunette was ugly, she was definitely pretty, but I couldn’t help but notice how prettier I was.

“Okay! Let’s hurry! We don’t have time for makeup!”

The brunette bunny dragged me outside. When I rushed through the hallway getting dragged, the women with bunny ears and bipedal men let us through while murmuring amongst themselves.

“Are they on their way now?”

“Is she not scared?”

“I don’t think that’s the case, looking at her expression or the state of her ears??”

“Then what is it?”

“She’s comfortable?”

I could hear everything, due to the bunny ears. But looking at the atmosphere, I could tell that some important event was happening, I just wasn’t sure what. 

“Where are we going?”

“Where do you think it is? Of course the exam room!”

“Exam? What exam?”

“Why are you so clueless all of the sudden? Your graduation exam! I said several times that you have to make up for it in this graduation exam if you want to graduate!”

Graduation exam? At that moment, something came to mind. This sounded exactly like the contents of a children’s book called ‘Jarrod the Rabbit Hero’. But Jarrod was the male protagonist. Then wait… a rapier with this look? So, am I the nameless female rabbit who appeared as a matchup for Jarrod’s graduation exam?

Although the story was so terrible that the book had better use for kindling a fire, and she was only the nameless female matchup, the confident attitude that she held despite her lack of skills was enough to make me hold admiration for this character who I really liked. 

Of course, I had never mentioned that I liked this book because of my reputation, and using a fake name ‘Aris,’ I had repeatedly written letters to the presumed address of the storybook author to make a supplemental story about this female character…wait?

“Hold it right there.”

I stopped the girl who was dragging me.

“Why? I told you we are late!”

“You called me Aris earlier, right?”

Then the girl looked at me like she was speechless.

“You are still out of your mind! ‘Aris Wafer’! It’s your name!”

This meant that the nameless female rabbit was given my pseudonym, and my dead self was in the storybook?

“No, this is….”

“You can tell me a story later!”

In the midst of feeling like losing my mind, I had already followed the brown rabbit to the front of the match field.

“You are late.”

The rabbit standing in front of me was a gray bunny, but he must have been the one called the ‘Tiger Bunny Teacher’ due to his temper, Jeffield. 

“We are so sorry! I think she’s a little nervous”

The brown haired rabbit came up with an excuse for me.

“No. I don’t think that’s the case? Aren’t the ears of Aris still standing tall as we speak?”

Jeffield pointed out my ears.

“No, that’s because…”

The brown haired bunny tried to take my side as if this was her concern, but as Jeffield sent out a hand signal, she stopped talking. 

“Nevermind, Annie. There is no need for you to explain to her. You are still a troublemaker, Aris.”

This rabbit was the teacher who supported and advised Jarrod everyday. In the novel, he had an image of a strict yet warm character, but he was especially mean towards me. 

“I honestly don’t understand that you are taking the graduation exam. You have been a troublemaker since the beginning of the school year. You never even paid attention in class because you were so obsessed with your so-called rapier or poking stick thing.”

The rabbits in the story probably mostly used magic, and if they had used weapons, they would mostly use double-handed daggers. So, the curriculum was completely different from Aris, who used a rapier.

“Aris….”

The brunette bunny with Annie as her name looked at me and the teacher with a worrisome face. 

“One moment.”

There were still some things to figure out, and as this was a story that I read growing up, I could barely remember the plot, but there was something that teacher Jeffield said that bothered me. 

“First of all, rapier is not a mere poking stick, and it’s a much greater sword than the tiny little daggers that you guys sway around.”

“Oh, Aris!”

Annie was so shocked at my statement that her ears were shaking. 

“Did you guys just?”

Jeffield gave me a sharp glare, so I glared back. There wouldn’t exist anyone who would be scared by a pretty bunny’s glare, but I had pride to protect. 

“Since your upright ears are telling me that you really believe in what you say, I could still give you punishment. Still,”

Jeffiled made a smirk and then stepped out of the way. 

“It’s better for life to teach you. Get in there.”

Before stepping in, I gave Jeffiled one last glare and then headed over.

“Aris! I will be cheering you on from the bleachers, so get ‘em!”

I smiled back at Annie, who cheered me opposed to the teacher, and Annie blushed a little from this smile. 

“You just keep your eyes on me.”

“Will do!”

When I headed in, a male rabbit in a uniform, checking the name list approached me. 

“Aris! I thought that you weren’t coming! The other rabbits were starting to talk about how you got scared, unlike how you always talked with confidence!”

I laughed at his remark. It’s a basic rule in swordsmanship to bluff when you have no idea what is going on.

“Who chickened out? Me? That’s a definite no! Let me get in there this instant.”

The male rabbit then nodded as he understood.

“Fight on! You are the one who would be able to defeat Jarrod!”

“Jarrod.”

Based on the story, I was supposed to lose. In the story, he was depicted as a great warrior. When I thought of this, my whole body was wrapped in an electric sensation. It had been a long time since I last felt this. A feeling you get after reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

Competitiveness.

And the feeling of conquest of winning and fighting with someone stronger than I.

It was the kind of excitement, as if I didn’t know anything but stepped into the dojo with nothing but a sword in my hand. 

“Aris, what’s wrong? Is it because you are scared?”

The male rabbit holding the list looked at me with a puzzled face. I returned a smile at his confused face.

“No, it’s because I’m so excited.”

Did I look a bit sexy with a smile while panting? The male rabbit’s face turned redder than that of Annie’s and he even turned the other way around.

“It’s t..time to go! Go on!”

When I entered after the male rabbit rushing me and stepped inside the match field,

“Woahhhhhhhh!”

The cheer of the rabbits rang across the field,

“Ouch!”

It was so loud that I instantly reflected to cover my ears. But it was no use when I tried to cover where my human ears would have been.

…Oh that’s right, they are up above.

When I pressed firmly on my bunny ears, the world finally was quieter.

“And now, here comes the battle between everybody’s favorite bunny, Aris Wafer, and the valedictorian who always had a perfect score on all written and practical exams, Jarrod!

I didn’t know what kind of school graduation exam had all these rabbits so excited to see a match and even a hired announcer, but anyway, I enjoyed this type of atmosphere.

“Aris waved at me!”

“No, she waved in my direction!”

“No, it was this way!”

The audience was going crazy, proving my embarrassing title as ‘everyone’s favorite bunny.’

“Hmph. You still don’t understand what kind of situation you put yourself into, Aris.”

Meanwhile, a cold, strict voice came from the front. Looking ahead, I saw a male rabbit with black hair stretching out with a dagger in both hands.

“…Jarrod?”

When I asked, Jarrod made a cold face.

“That’s right. Since so many bunnies approach you, remembering men’s names must be harder than memorizing the textbook.”

I was speechless from his words.

“Are you telling me these things because you want to provoke me?”

“Isn’t it the truth? Who doesn’t know that the reason you are here without good grades is all due to your looks?”

Oh, is this what they call a hardworking student who gets jealous of the genius with innate talent?

“Jarrod, I think you are mistaken, but do you think that you are the protagonist of the stage?

“What are you saying?”

Jarrod of course wouldn’t understand what I was saying, as a character in a novel.

“Things will change from now. The protagonist is now me.”

I must defeat Jarrod.  That was the only thing on my mind.