……Sixteen years ago, the appearance of the "Dungeons" ushered in a second golden age for a Japan that had long been in decline. By 2030, the rise of the arcane industry had propelled Japan back to its position as the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP. Explorers who ventured into the unknown were celebrated and consumed as heroes, while a chosen generation of young elites competed for supremacy at the prestigious Rosenfels Academy. And somehow, I find myself standing within those illustrious halls. Not because anyone recognised some extraordinary talent in me. A special admissions lottery――in other words, I'm nothing more than an outsider who happened to win the equivalent of a lottery ticket. No martial arts experience. Zero exploration achievements. All I have to my name is a wallet too thin to afford even a proper set of training equipment, and a notice informing me that I must pass a "Merit Assessment" far more demanding than anything ordinary students have to face. I lift my gaze, and there she is, at the centre of the classroom. Charlotte Evelyn Wycliffe. A noble, cold-hearted prodigy born with every assurance that she would one day stand at the very top. Bathed in the light, she inhabits a world in which someone as insignificant as me has never had a place――not even within her field of vision. From this moment onward, everything depends on my choices. Which martial art should I master? How will I earn money, strengthen myself, and survive the dangers of the Dungeons? Should I strive to reach the pinnacle of the Academy, conquer Kyushu, and eventually challenge the best in the nation? Or should I seek an entirely different path through life? Even a future in which I might stand beside the "Sword Princess", the girl who never smiles, is not something that can be obtained through wishes alone. Destiny is not determined by talent alone. But neither is reality so kind that hard work will always be rewarded.