Chapter 51

The old dormitory indicates that it was once used as a dormitory. Therefore, the rooms here are designed for multiple people — each room has six beds.

A rough calculation showed that these few small buildings could probably accommodate about a thousand people. It’s likely that the old dormitory wasn’t just in this one place; other areas have probably been rebuilt for other uses.

Now, it looks like all six beds are for his own use! However, this place seems to be rarely cleaned, with a thin layer of dust on the beds. To move in, he would need to do a thorough cleaning first.

This was no problem for Ji Ran. When he lived alone before, he was quite skilled at household chores. He found a broom and started cleaning the room.

Cleaning the room didn’t take much time, and soon, Ji Ran was satisfied as he laid out his luggage on a bed by the window. Then, he took a look around the newly refreshed dorm room.

The dorm room had six beds, three larger tables in the middle, and six chairs. For daily life, these were sufficient. The room’s lighting was also good; although there were a few large trees outside, some sunlight still managed to shine in during the noon. Ventilation was even better — a fresh breeze blew in through the window as soon as the door was opened.

After a brief rest, Ji Ran left the room to explore the rest of the dormitory. He would be staying here for a considerable amount of time, so he needed to familiarize himself with the layout.

Since it was an old dormitory, many areas were quite worn out. For example, the bathroom was shared, and he had to walk a bit to find it. There was no kitchen, either — if he wanted to cook, he would need to prepare his own cooking utensils. Fortunately, Ji Ran was prepared; he just needed to gather some firewood, which was readily available in the nearby woods.

After a thorough inspection, Ji Ran was very satisfied with the place. After all, when he worked in the original world, some of the living conditions were even worse than this.

He didn’t see any other students in the old dormitory during his exploration. However, this was fine; it would be peaceful this way. As for loneliness and isolation... if he could live alone in the mountains for half a month, he wouldn’t be afraid of this.

He decided to cook outside. In winter, he could consider setting up a stove. Ventilation was crucial; he didn’t want to die from carbon monoxide poisoning after acquiring skills and game systems in a different world... That would be a huge laughingstock for all the other people who had crossed over.

After everything was set up, it was almost noon. The recruitment process probably wasn’t over yet, so he decided to make some lunch.

Lydia probably didn’t know where he was staying, so he would have to eat alone. He took out various ingredients from his magic pocket, made a pot of noodles, and added two eggs. The aroma was mouthwatering. Although there were no additional effects, it was still a pretty good lunch.

After eating his fill, Ji Ran lay down on his bed and closed his eyes to start practicing. On the first day of school, there wouldn’t be much to do, and he had already paid the tuition. He would likely receive instructions the next day. Course selection would probably be then as well; he just needed to wait for the student ID notification. However, he should bring Lydia here to familiarize herself with the route, so she could come over for breakfast in the future.

Even after entering the academy, Ji Ran planned to use various foods to accelerate Lydia’s cultivation. Although he didn’t have monster materials, his cooking skills weren’t limited to just those. It would take a bit more effort, but with his cooking skills, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

He practiced for the entire afternoon. When he came out of his practice state, it was already evening.

Leaving the old dormitory, Ji Ran went to find Lydia. When he reached the girls’ dormitory, he saw Lydia looking out the window. He waved, and she saw him with surprise, turning to run out of the dormitory.

"Brother Ji Ran, I thought you wouldn’t come to find me!" For a girl like Lydia, feeling a bit uneasy in a new environment was normal.

"How could I not? Don’t overthink it. Let’s go check out the school cafeteria. After dinner, I’ll show you where I’m staying and familiarize you with the route. You can come over for breakfast in the future if you have nothing to do in the morning." Ji Ran patted Lydia’s head and smiled.

Lydia nodded vigorously and walked shoulder to shoulder with Ji Ran toward the cafeteria.

In such a large academy, there were naturally multiple cafeterias. However, there were signposts at every intersection, indicating the nearest facilities, and a large campus map in front of the dormitories. It was impressive how well the academy handled this, comparable to tourist areas in Ji Ran’s previous world.

The nearest cafeteria to Lydia’s dormitory was the Third Cafeteria, a regular student cafeteria. When they arrived, they saw a crowd of students queuing up to buy food.

Ji Ran let Lydia find a table to sit at while he took two trays and joined the queue. Having gone through high school and university for so many years, he was very familiar with this process. The only difference was that the cafeteria used cash instead of meal cards...

In this world, although magic technology was advanced, even creating student IDs that were like the Hanxin BB machines from the previous world, the cost was not low. Using automatic card readers for meals would be too extravagant. Moreover, the maintenance cost for such systems was high, and it wasn’t necessary for meal service.

When it was Ji Ran’s turn, he chose a few dishes that looked good. The price was indeed as Lai Si had said; the meal for two cost him seven silver coins. For adventurers, this might not be much, but for ordinary families, it could last for half a month...

He brought the trays back and had dinner with Lydia. To be honest, the taste was decent. However, Ji Ran detected a strange flavor, which was likely the legendary alchemical potion. The food in the cafeteria was slightly different for martial artists and mages; mages focused more on spiritual energy, while martial artists focused on physical strength. Ji Ran’s meal was divided into two types, and Lydia’s portion probably had the same flavor.

Compared to his own cooking, the cafeteria food was indeed inferior... As he ate, Ji Ran secretly rejoiced. After all, his culinary skills surpassed those in this world, and it was fitting to be happy.

Moreover, the energy provided by the cafeteria food was far less than what he could provide. It seemed that alchemical potions were valuable in this world, and the academy couldn’t add too much to the food.

After eating, Ji Ran took Lydia to his place while it was still light.

"This place is actually quite nice, I want to live here too..." Lydia expressed her desire to live closer to Ji Ran, but he still refused.

"Living here is really inconvenient. Look, it’s too remote. A girl’s safety can’t be guaranteed. Also... living here would make it hard to interact with other students... I don’t mind, but you can’t. You need to meet more classmates and make more friends. A person’s growth can’t happen without these things."

Although Ji Ran’s persuasion was sincere, Lydia was still a bit unhappy. After touring the dormitory with Ji Ran, she was reluctantly sent back to her dormitory.

By the time he returned from the girls’ dormitory, it was already dark. The enrollment procedures for the day were over, and Ji Ran was now a genuine student of Azure Wind.

The change in identity was still a bit unfamiliar. On the way back to the old dormitory, Ji Ran looked around, feeling as if he had entered a different world.

Well... that wasn’t entirely wrong... He had indeed started a new life and couldn’t live as ordinarily as before. After all, living his second life in such a mundane way would be too boring, wouldn’t it...

When he returned to the old dormitory area, Ji Ran was surprised to see a few lights on in the usually quiet and empty area.

A small house at the entrance of the dormitory, which looked like a mailroom from his previous world, was empty during the day but now had a light on. A few rooms in the dormitory buildings also had faint lights.

When he was exploring the dormitory earlier, Ji Ran noticed that each room had two lights. One was a regular oil lamp with average brightness, and the other was a magic lamp powered by a magic crystal, which was much brighter. However, the dormitory provided the lamps but not the magic crystals... There was some lamp oil, but no magic crystals at all.

Magic crystals, even the lowest grade, were valued in gold coins. In a commercial atmosphere like Azure Wind, let alone other national academies, it was impossible to provide them for free to all students.

The rooms with lights on were probably other students staying in the old dormitory. But the one at the entrance... could it be the dormitory manager?

As he passed the small house, he took a look inside. An old man, who looked to be in his sixties or seventies, was reading a book under a magic lamp.

"New student this year? Show me your student ID for registration." The old man didn’t look up but spoke to Ji Ran.

Ji Ran thought for a moment and took out his student ID. In such an academy, the dormitory manager was likely not an ordinary person, especially since his appraisal skill only returned a string of question marks.

The old man took Ji Ran’s student ID, fiddled with a device on the table, and then handed it back.

"Don’t be too noisy, don’t make too much of a commotion. Don’t do anything against the school rules, and I won’t bother you." After saying this, the old man lowered his head and continued reading.

Ji Ran was speechless, shook his head, and walked toward his room.

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