Vinny stared nervously at the form in front of him. It asked for basic entrant info: gender, name, year, rank, and affinities for each element, etc.

There was no way he could write his real name. On the spot, he came up with Vinnia as the name he’d compete under. As for the elemental-affinity fields, aside from Ice affinity he filled the rest with nonsense. He absolutely could not leave anyone a handle to grab after the fact.

At last, when he looked at the gender field, he could only let out a long sigh and fill in a conspicuous “Female.” Then he handed the completed form to the student working the registration desk.

“Alright, Student Vinnia. Here’s your number. Take this and wait backstage.” With that, the student passed a numbered tag to Vinny, told him to wear it on his arm, and then waved him through to the back.

“......” Vinny was still a bit dazed as he walked from the registration desk into the contestants’ passage. He hadn’t expected to get in this smoothly. In his original imagination, showing his student ID was going to be another pain. Sure, guys could participate, and contestant info wouldn’t be made public, but if other people found out he’d entered with this presentation... where would that leave the face of Vinny, notorious reprobate of Camella’s capital?? Wouldn’t he end up a massive laughingstock from here on out?

But why did they suddenly not need to see a student ID??

Vinny found it strange. By rights, an event like this should definitely require a student ID, right? To prevent upperclassmen from entering, that sort of thing.

He remembered that before he came in “dressed as a girl,” he’d asked that kid at registration why he couldn’t compete wearing that outfit, and the kid had been all kinds of arrogant: “That’s what the organizer wants. If you don’t like it, go find the organizer. I’m just a hired hand, don’t bother me. Also, we’re not banning male students,” and so on.

Organizer??

So this event wasn’t being run by the Academy administration, but by some deep-pocketed organizer??

Vinny frowned.

When he reached the backstage area, he saw the gathered contestants waiting and resting there.

Mm. He didn’t recognize any of them, but they were all girl students whose looks cleared the bar. Most wore their own outfits to show off a personal style; the ones in school uniforms were the minority.

As expected, no boys had shown up—just girls.

Wait a second, this is Carillian Academy, right?? Who the hell was so bored—or which big-brained pervert was so “innovative” and so lecherous—as to come up with a beauty pageant like this? The vibe is so far off from a combat academy, isn’t it??

Thankfully, when the girls saw Vinny come in, they only gave him a glance before many of them withdrew their eyes; it didn’t make him too nervous.

If that many eyes had kept staring without stopping, Vinny would’ve suspected he’d exposed his male identity. Strictly speaking, males could enter, so it wouldn’t break the rules—but still, how to put it??

What normal guy squeezes in to enter this kind of event??

...No, you can’t say it like that. It only proves the rest are a bunch of cowards—a pack who can’t withstand shame! And he is the one warrior among them fit to carry the burden!

Vinny found a seat, sat down, drew a deep breath, and leaned back into the soft chair.

Sitting like that, he suddenly felt a few lines of sight on him. When he looked over in confusion, he realized several nearby girls were staring with curious, odd expressions.

What’s that supposed to mean? Did he blow his cover??

His heart tightened, but he quickly realized the problem wasn’t exposure—it was how he was sitting.

Legs spread, torso pitched forward, fingers interlaced and clenched—this posture was way too much like a guy’s. No girl would sit like that!

He caught it in time because he’d been a “girl” plenty of times already; he knew this sort of thing.

So he immediately feigned that he’d just been relaxing for a moment, and very naturally changed it back: sat up straight, placed both hands flat over his lower abdomen, set his legs properly.

Mm. He was copying Vanessa’s posture; when he was Vanessa, he generally sat like this. His brain didn’t have enough memory space, so the imitation wasn’t perfect—but it was seventy or eighty percent there.

Mm... since when did imitating himself get this hard??

Noticing that his earlier posture looked more like nerves than anything else, the girls withdrew their gazes—after all, staring at a stranger like that was impolite. Still, they were curious: this light-blue-haired girl looked like some family’s pampered daughter, yet her sitting posture was so “unrestrained.” It was odd enough that they’d looked a few extra times.

When he saw everyone lose interest in him, Vinny exhaled. With a reflexive lack of security, he pressed down the hem of his skirt, terrified that some careless move would make him flash by accident.

That would be a disaster!

In the contestants’ backstage rest area, nobody was talking; they didn’t seem to know each other and had no desire to chat.

Quite a few present were noble young ladies. A beauty pageant was a first for all of them, and they were all first-years besides. Even if they were confident, they couldn’t help worrying they might not do well, so there wasn’t much mood to socialize with rivals.

Before long, a staffer entered the rest area, drawing every student’s attention.

“Honored contestants, thank you for entering the First-Year Exclusive Beauty Pageant of Carillian Academy, hosted by our organizer. The final winner will receive an Ice Elemental Elixir refined by our organizer.

“Now, I’ll announce the rules. First round: come on stage by number and give a self-introduction. You can improvise freely here—show the audience as much of your style and characteristics as you can.

“Next is the duel segment: paired up two by two for unarmed combat. You may only use low-level magic and must not injure your opponent. Otherwise, you will be disqualified and held accountable. Note: win or loss isn’t important—what matters is whether your fighting style is beautiful.

“Finally, we have the talent performance. Whatever talent you have, you can perform it on the spot—singing, dance, instruments, etc. Feel free to put yourselves boldly on display before the audience.

“Total score comes from two parts: audience votes and judges’ scores. However, sometimes it’s not just those two. As you all know, this event has an organizer. Generally speaking, that third scoring route won’t appear, though.

“Lastly, I wish you all the best. Just keep calm—confident girls are always the most beautiful.” With that, the staffer saluted and left.

Vinny glanced at his number. Mm—No. 18.

He counted the contestants present. With him included, it seemed there were only eighteen. So he was basically the finale—he had registered last, after all.

That worked too. The first to go on would be the most nervous. It was everyone’s first event like this, no one knew what to do, and faced with a sea of spectators, plenty would probably be stunned.

That was indeed the case. The girl holding No. 1 was in knots and flustered. She seemed to be silently telling herself not to be nervous, but to little effect—you could see it from her slightly trembling legs.

Vinny relaxed a fraction. At least he wasn’t first up.

Soon, the event started. The audience filed in. Vinny could already hear the noise from below. Just picturing the ocean of people made him a little faint.

Before long, the rest period for contestants ended—it was time to take the stage.

Called by her number, the first girl stood immediately and walked out of the rest room with stiff steps. When she pulled open the curtain, the roar from outside flooded into the quiet room, making Vinny’s face go blank and at a loss.

Goddess above, this live scene is terrifying! The instant you step on stage, how many eyes are burning holes in you??

Honestly, he truly admired anyone who could loosen up in a setting like this.

Calm down. He had to calm down. This was bread-and-butter for destined heroines. Aesphyra went without saying—that white-haired nut who handled anything with ease would never fear a crowd like this, right??

Mirexia and Isatia often gave speeches under the gaze of their people. Even Shicodale had probably shown himself before multitudes looking on.

If they could do it, why couldn’t he??

No—he kind of really couldn’t, could he??

Watching the girl leave the rest room and step into the public eye under the stares of hundreds, Vinny felt like one pig watching another pig get shoved into the oven.

The hare dies and the fox grieves—soon enough, it would be his turn.

He went a little blank. In circumstances like this, could he really stand out?

Vinny couldn’t help thinking: if only he had Vanessa’s confidence and effortless poise right now.

Looking at the scene—and with no classes this afternoon—students from every year who’d seen the flyers had come to watch the spectacle. Tickets weren’t expensive for them; the emotional value of the hype was worth far more, and besides, it was a show full of beauties.

No need to think about it; most of the ones who came would be boys.

After that, how No. 1 came back and what she said on stage—Vinny couldn’t recall. He only remembered time whipping by. Before long, they were almost through the numbers—it was nearly his turn.

And those noble young ladies were worthy of the name. After watching others’ self-introductions and warming up, they gradually regained their usual confidence and gave their intros with ease and composure.

Vinny panicked even more.

Come on—most of these were young ladies who’d never lacked anything since childhood. And him? What was he??

A counterfeit wandering into a pile of genuine goods—wasn’t he going to be found out in minutes??

“Will No. 17 please come to the stage. No. 18, be ready to go up!”

It was here at last!

Vinny swallowed hard, head slightly lowered, fingers whitening as they clenched his skirt.

Just then, a warm, soft touch covered his cold hands.

He blinked and looked up to see the No. 12 “big-sister” contestant—who’d been sitting with him before and had already returned from the stage—gently placing her hand over his with a kind expression.

Eh—eh, eh?!

Vinny was stunned.

This... might honestly be the first time a girl had ever taken the initiative to hold his hand?!

“Don’t be nervous. Just do what you normally do. Put out your own vibe—like I did,” the statuesque “big-sister” student said softly to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Vinny, taking care of him like a little sister.

“O—okay.” Vinny nodded and turned his eyes slightly aside.

He hadn’t expected concern from a stranger.

Normally, there was no upside to comforting someone right now—they were rivals, and most would wish the other would perform worse.

That she’d reach out to another competitor of her own accord showed she was a kind girl.

She seemed to be called Liz, if Vinny remembered right.

Seeing No. 17 return to the rest area, Vinny knew: it was his turn.

“Next, our final contestant—No. 18, Vinnia! Please come on stage for your self-introduction!”

Vinny’s heart clenched tight. He rose mechanically, met Liz’s encouraging gaze to his side, and under the eyes of many contestants, walked toward the curtain.

Don’t be nervous. He was the capital’s infamous reprobate—what scene hadn’t he seen??

All those years, he’d eaten the scorn and spit of the whole capital, the whole world. Was he really going to be scared by a crowd of mere hundreds or a thousand today??

Could he be scared? No.

Otherwise, where would the face of the Camella Idea King be??

At that thought, Vinny recovered his usual aura. Steady, he lifted the curtain and stepped out of the rest area.

The onrushing clamor and shouts didn’t break his aura. He shouldered it.

Under the attention of spectators from every year, the light-blue-haired girl, her hair in shoulder-length twin ponytails, walked the stage in measured steps.

“Whoa, turns out our first-years have that many good-looking girls? How come I never run into them?” Somewhere down below, Andre cracked seeds while chatting with his card buddies.

“So what if you do? You really think you’ll ‘spark’ with one?” Fudi ribbed him, then glanced up at the light-blue-haired beauty on stage and muttered, “Speaking of, where’s Vinny today? Why can’t I reach him? He’s nowhere.”

“Come on, who is Big Bro Vinny? You think he’s like us commoners, here to watch a pageant? He’s probably in the library studying or something.” Andre waved it off.

“Him? Tch. Give me a break. He just doesn’t know about this. If he did, he’d run here faster than us! Library?? He’s probably already here, sitting somewhere right now, just not telling us so he can hog it!” Fudi sneered.

Meanwhile, under countless eyes, the light-blue-haired girl on stage fell silent for a beat. She remembered what Liz had told him backstage.

Just be normal. Put out your own vibe.

Right. Aura can’t be faked. He couldn’t use someone else’s vibe—only his own.

So what was his vibe—if swapped onto a girl?

With that thought, Vinny crossed his arms before his chest, lifted his chin a touch, and looked down on the noisy audience with a condescending gaze.

At the same time, quite a few spectators fell silent.

“What are you staring at? What is that look? You—do you have an opinion about this young ma... this young lady?” Vinny cleared his throat and spoke in a falsetto, using his usual way of talking and style as he looked down at one guy below the stage.

In everyone’s eyes, the light-blue-haired girl in a school-uniform skirt—every inch the pure student—stood tall, chest out, and in a delicate voice said that to the audience.

The crowd went quiet.

The seventeen first-year girls before her had been noble, or gentle, or confident and poised. You could say the “standard lanes” were jammed full already. A “willful, domineering princess” lane like this light-blue-haired girl’s was a first.

“Hmph. Cat got your tongue? Remember this: this young lady’s name is Vinnia—No. 18, Vinnia. Remember to vote for this young lady, alright? Otherwise... hmph... you’ll regret it. Understood?” Vinny wanted to display the tyrannical dominance he used as a reprobate. What he didn’t know was that, in this body, what he showed wasn’t dominance at all—it was a little milk kitten putting on a milk-ferocious pout.

As he spoke, he even lifted a tiny fist and gave it a squeeze. He thought he looked fierce; in the audience’s eyes, it was pure cuteness. Because there was no “acting” veneer to it, it came off even more adorable.

After finishing this almost “huffy” self-introduction, the light-blue-haired girl gave a dainty huff, copied Aesphyra’s usual motion of teasing hair behind her ear, flicked a strand by her cheek, and turned to leave.

Tch. A bunch of weaklings—stunned by this young la... this young master’s aura, huh??

When Vinny stepped off, the silent venue erupted in thunderous applause.

“Mom, I—I think I’m in love.” The very student he’d pointed to earlier was grinning like an idiot.

From birth until today, he finally understood which type of girl he loved—what kind of girl made his heart thump.

Turns out, all along, this was his type?

Good grief! He was born to be Miss Vinnia’s dog, wasn’t he!

It was a blessing Vinny didn’t hear that. Otherwise, he’d have stumbled and face-planted on stage.

He never imagined his self-styled introduction would be this popular.

You had to admit: a certain personality on a guy is annoying; put it on a pretty girl and it becomes irresistible contrast-moe.

“Ohhh! That blue-haired girl’s called Vinnia? Ahhh, that willful streak—you just can’t quit it!” Andre and the card crew were losing their minds. Only Fudi stopped cracking seeds, a strange look in his eyes as he muttered to himself.

“Weird. Is it just me?”

“Why does this pretty blue-haired girl’s way of talking feel a bit like our bro Vinny?”

Normally, Fudi wouldn’t connect those dots. But the speaking style and aura were too similar—down to the huffy rhythm.

No, no—that had to be an illusion. An illusion.

Otherwise...

Fudi’s scalp prickled. He didn’t dare think it through. He felt if he kept going, he’d be trespassing on the brotherhood line.

Vinny knew nothing about his card buddies coming to watch him compete. But after he returned to the rest area, he discovered something even more jaw-dropping.

His Virtue had changed.

[Virtue +240]

[Current Virtue: 11244]

Wait, what the hell??

Vinny was dumbfounded.

What was going on??

How did Virtue suddenly credit +240??

Th—this wasn’t right. Who was trying to frame him today??

At any other time, Vinny would have been delighted. Right now, he felt nothing but dread.

He knew there was only one reason for a swing this big: a destined heroine was in the audience—and had very likely discovered his true identity!