The Mob Character Who Woke Up!-Chapter 51: Follow your passion!

"Well," Gad grunted while patting Leo’s head firmly to get his attention. "I know exactly where I’m goin’."

Leo crouched down carefully so the dwarf could hop off his shoulder with dignity. Gad smoothed his tunic with both hands, looking surprisingly dignified for a man who had been perched like a parrot just five seconds ago.

"Craft and Code Department," Gad declared proudly, pointing a thick thumb at the Artificer banner hanging nearby. "I’m gonna become the best damn Smith this entire academy has ever produced in its history. Gonna forge a legendary hammer that hits people so hard they wake up in next week. Ha ha ha."

"That sounds absolutely amazing, Gad!" Leo beamed with genuine excitement. "Good luck on your journey!"

"Aye. Don’t die, you two," Gad said gruffly.

Gad waved once and marched off confidently toward where the crafting professors were gathering their students.

Leo turned back to Kaizen.

"What about you, Best Friendo? Which element truly calls to your soul?"

Kaizen didn’t look at the flashy banners waving in the breeze. He didn’t look at the impressive Firebirds still circling overhead or the Ice Storms being demonstrated.

He looked directly at the lonely, abandoned-looking stage where a scrawny man was slowly packing up his rejection.

"I already chose," Kaizen said simply, nodding toward Mr. Finch.

Leo followed his gaze. His jaw dropped slightly in shock.

"Him?" Leo whispered in disbelief. "The, the drunk professor’s assistant?"

"Yep."

"But Kaizen," Leo said, his voice suddenly full of genuine concern. "That’s Axiomancy. Do you actually know why nobody ever picks it? It’s literally just advanced math! It has absolutely no offensive nor Defence! It’s widely known as the hardest path with the lowest possible reward!"

Kaizen nodded calmly. "I know all of that."

He looked directly at Leo.

"But it’s my only real option."

’Because I see the underlying code of this world.’ Kaizen thought silently. ’And because if I pick Fire, I’ll be constantly compared to you and your overwhelming talent.’

’If I pick Ice, Rina will freeze me solid out of spite.’

’I desperately need to be in a lane where nobody else is driving so I can develop at my own pace.’

"It’s the only way," Kaizen said aloud, looking Leo straight in the eye with complete seriousness, "for me to survive in a world filled with monsters... monsters like you."

Leo froze completely.

He misinterpreted it. Of course he did.

He didn’t hear the actual meaning of "You guys are all terrifyingly strong and I need a survival niche."

He heard what his hero brain wanted to hear: "I am choosing the hardest possible path to challenge myself, to stand by your side as an equal companion."

"Kaizen, my best friendo," Leo’s eyes began to shimmer with emotion. They got big and wobbly like he was about to cry. "You actually..."

"Don’t," Kaizen warned urgently. "Don’t do the face."

"Follow your heart!" Leo shouted dramatically while grabbing Kaizen’s shoulders with both hands. "You’re absolutely right! A true man must follow his chosen path, even if it’s covered in thorns! Even if it’s filled with complicated math! You are so incredibly brave!"

"I’m really not brave at all, I’m just—"

"I will support you with everything I have!" Leo declared loudly. "We will reach the very top together! My Best Friendo!"

He pulled Kaizen into a hug. It was a suffocating, rib-crushing hug of pure shonen friendship energy.

Kaizen tried desperately to tap out, but his arms were completely pinned to his sides.

As he struggled for precious oxygen, he suddenly felt it.

A gaze.

It wasn’t a hostile gaze filled with murderous intent. It wasn’t even a particularly threatening gaze. It was sticky in the worst possible way.

It felt like someone was watching them from somewhere in the crowd and mentally writing a script for something horrible.

Kaizen managed to turn his head slightly while gasping for air. He scanned the crowd of departing students.

He didn’t see anyone specific staring at them. But the feeling was definitely there. The exact same feeling of being number four on the Trending Tab. That disgusting, skin-crawling feeling he got when he accidentally read that cursed content. He had literally thrown his phone away to escape from that filth!

’SpreadedCheekz!’

Kaizen cursed internally while his face turned green with horror.

’I know you’re watching us right now. I know you’re writing this exact moment down. Count your remaining days. I will find you eventually, and I will beat your ass into absolute oblivion.’

"Alright, let go!" Kaizen wheezed desperately, shoving the Hero away with all his remaining strength. "Go pick your stuff and be the hero, dammit! Follow your dream or something..."

"Right!" Leo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Farewell for now, my best friendo! Thank you so much for opening my eyes to the truth!"

Leo turned around and sprinted toward the Pyromancy booth at full speed, screaming at the top of his lungs, "PROFESSOR SERIS! TEACH ME TO BURN WITH PASSION!"

Kaizen stood there alone, adjusting his crumpled collar.

"I didn’t open anything," he muttered to himself. "I just desperately wanted you to leave me alone."

Ten minutes later.

The massive courtyard was completely empty now. The cheering crowds had moved to the various registration halls. The legendary S-Rank Professors had left to drink expensive tea and compare notes on which genius students they had managed to recruit.

The stage was utterly deserted.

Save for one person.

Mr. Finch was down on his knees, gathering scattered papers that had blown off the podium during his humiliating presentation. He looked absolutely miserable.

He didn’t look up when the last of the students left. He physically couldn’t.

He knew the terrible reputation all too well. Axiomancy: The Dead Stream. The Nerd Trap. The Career Killer.

"It’s fine," Finch whispered to himself while sniffling quietly. "The Professor is just eccentric. Yes, he drinks heavily. Yes, he sometimes accidentally blast students into the sky during experiments. But he’s a genuine genius when he’s sober!"

Finch shoved another crumpled paper into his worn bag.

"If I could just get one student, just one single person to sign up this year, maybe the Professor would finally sober up. Maybe he’d remember that he used to be the famous Vector Gentleman. But nobody wants to do the complicated math. They just want explosions and instant results."

He let out a long, rattling sigh of complete defeat.

"Another year with zero enrollment. The Dean is definitely going to cut our budget down to zero. We’ll have to eat chalk for lunch."

Mr. Finch zipped up his bag with shaking fingers. He stood up slowly, wiping his dirty glasses on his wrinkled sleeve.

"Well. Back to the empty lab."

He turned around.

And screamed.

"GAH!"

Standing right in front of the podium, not even three feet away, was a boy... with a goofy smile.