As an Ordinary person (Why do I keep attracting Psychopaths?)

Professor Veyne stood at the front of the class, his cold voice as indifferent as ever. "We will now begin the next chapter: Summoning Runes."

The moment the words left his mouth, a wave of curiosity rippled through the classroom.

Summoning.

It wasn't just any lesson—it was the moment every student had been waiting for. The idea of calling forth a powerful, otherworldly beast to be their lifelong partner was enough to make even the laziest student sit up straight.

Professor Veyne continued in his usual unhurried tone, "The summoned entity depends on which being chooses to respond to your call. You do not choose them—they choose you. You may only summon once. The being that answers will be bound to you for life."

Gasps and murmurs broke out across the class.

A lifelong contract?

The excitement doubled. Some students clasped their hands together, praying for mighty creatures. Others were already daydreaming about dragons, phoenixes, and celestial tigers.

And among them, Yuna was practically vibrating with expectation.

This was her moment.

As a transmigrator, surely she had some hidden protagonist buff, right? A strong, divine beast would answer her call. Maybe an ancient wolf king or a mythical chimera.

She was ready.

Professor Veyne stepped back. "Begin."

Glowing runes lit up the room as students chanted. Magic pulsed, forming intricate symbols in the air. One by one, the summons started to appear.

"Whoa! Look at that beast!"

"A lightning spirit-tiger?! It's massive!"

"That's a three-headed serpent! It looks terrifying!"

Yuna turned to see someone had summoned a crystalline deer, its translucent body shimmering like a prism. Another had a miniature dragon perched on their shoulder, its tiny wings flapping as it let out harmless puffs of smoke.

Magic filled the air—powerful, dazzling, otherworldly.

And then—

It was Yuna's turn.

She placed her hand on the summoning rune, brimming with excitement. Magic surged. The runes glowed bright.

Yes. Yes, this was it!

A burst of light—

The energy swirled—

And then, with a soft flutter of wings—

—a slightly bigger-than-average raven appeared before her.

Silence.

The room, filled with majestic, divine creatures, collectively turned to stare at the very ordinary-looking black bird now pecking at the ground.

Yuna's brain short-circuited.

"…You're joking."

The raven blinked at her. Then cawed.

The sheer contrast was painful.

Celeste, beside her, had just finished her own summon. A beautiful, bat-like creature with gem-studded wings, soft dark fur, and long, elegant eyes. It radiated an aura of mystery and grace.

Yuna turned to look at Celeste's summon.

Then looked at her own.

A plain raven.

A completely normal, everyday, non-magical-looking raven.

Her eye twitched.

"…I want a refund."

Celeste, ever cheerful, clutched her stomach and burst out laughing. "Ahaha—Yuna, this is—this is too funny!"

Yuna gripped her head. "No, Celeste. This is tragic."

"Come on, he's cute!" Celeste cooed, reaching out toward the raven.

The raven, however, hopped away and landed firmly on Yuna's shoulder.

And then—fluffed up proudly.

Yuna blinked.

The raven stared at Celeste with undisguised smugness, as if to say, I am hers, not yours.

Celeste's laughter grew louder. "Oh no, Yuna. He loves you!"

Yuna sighed, staring at the raven who was now nuzzling into her hair. "Of course, I get an affectionate bird. Of course."

The only light amidst the endless bleakness.

Before Yuna could fully process her crushing disappointment, the classroom descended into chaos.

One of the spirit tigers pounced onto someone's desk. A student screamed as their three-headed serpent decided it liked wrapping around people. Someone's fire-lion accidentally set part of the floor on fire.

The air was filled with the sounds of shrieks, laughter, and spells being cast in an attempt to control the summons.

And in the middle of the madness—

Yuna's raven was calmly preening her hair.

"...You're not even trying to be impressive, are you?"

The raven pecked at her hair affectionately.

Celeste wiped tears from her eyes, barely able to breathe through her laughter. "I—Yuna, you have a lover bird instead of a combat beast!"

Yuna groaned. "Kill me now."

Professor Veyne stood by, making no attempt to stop the madness.

One student shrieked as their overenthusiastic summon tackled them to the ground. Another sprinted across the room, yelling about a rogue lightning fox.

Professor Veyne's only reaction was a slow, unimpressed blink. "You are responsible for taming your summons. Figure it out."

Yuna massaged her temples. "Of course. Of course he says that. Why did I even expect anything else?"

She turned back to her raven, who had now tucked itself comfortably against her neck.

"…I was hoping for an ancient celestial beast, and instead I got a clingy flying cat."

The raven fluffed up again, completely unbothered.

It was clear—she was stuck with him for life.

Yuna exhaled deeply.

"…Fine. Whatever."

She reached up and scratched the raven's head. It cooed in delight, nuzzling against her hand.

Celeste grinned. "You love him already."

Yuna groaned, accepting her fate.

Her identity as an unknown, background character in a novel have been firmly confirmed with this.

Belatedly, Yuna wonder what Austin summoned will be like, in fact, she was curious about what all those characters who appear in a novel summoned pet will be.

After the exhilarating chaos of summoning their lifelong partners, the students were still buzzing with excitement when Professor Veyne finally spoke again. His cold, unhurried voice cut through the lingering chatter like a knife.

"Now that you all have your summoned beings, we will proceed with the next announcement."

The room, still half-filled with students wrestling their overenthusiastic summons, quickly fell silent.

Professor Veyne continued, "From today onwards, you may collect points by completing tasks listed on the academy's notice board. Every 100 points earned is equivalent to one card point. I advise you to actively raise your card points."

A murmur of curiosity and concern spread through the students.

"A point system?"

"What happens if we raise our card points?"

"He didn't even tell us what they're used for..."

Professor Veyne didn't elaborate. As expected.

Yuna sighed. Of course, he's being mysterious about it. Why give students the full picture when he can just dangle ominous hints and watch us suffer? Classic.

Nonetheless, there was nothing to do but check out the task board, so after their basic rune class, Yuna and Celeste made their way there.

As soon as Yuna laid eyes on the task list, her soul left her body.

• Cleaning the Alchemy Labs (0.5 points per week) — Translation: Risking your life by scrubbing away unidentified, probably-unstable potion stains.

• Taming the cafeteria's rogue soup gremlin (Past attempts have resulted in failure. Try at your own risk.) – 0.75 points

• Tending the academy's monstrous garden (Survival not guaranteed.) – 0.9 points

• Assisting the Combat Instructors (0.5 points per week) — Translation: Becoming a human punching bag for overenthusiastic battle maniacs.

• Sorting through Academy Archives (0.25 points per week) — Translation: Paperwork. Endless. Paperwork.

• Maintaining the Library (0.25 points per week) — Translation: Dust. Books. More dust.

Yuna groaned. There is no winning here.

Celeste, bright and bubbly as always, peeked at her. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Pass away," Yuna muttered, scanning the board like a prisoner on death row looking for the least painful execution method.

Finally, she sighed in resignation. 'Fine. If I must suffer, then let it be the best among the worst'.

"…I'll take the library."

Celeste, ever the devoted follower, immediately nodded. "Then I'll do it too!"

Yuna stared at her in mild disbelief. "You don't have to suffer just because I am."

Celeste just smiled. "But suffering together is more fun!"

Yuna narrowed her eyes. This girl was too cheerful for someone walking into an abandoned library filled with dust and probably ghosts.

"You're insane," she said.

Celeste grinned. "You love me anyway."

Yuna sighed.

And with that, they begrudgingly signed up for their dust-filled fate.

As they turned away from the board, Yuna caught sight of Austin.

More specifically—Austin's summoned beast.

Her eyes widened.

Standing regally beside him was a mythical white tiger, its fur gleaming like fresh snow, its forehead adorned with a blue diamond that shimmered under the light—the same shade as Austin's eyes.

And its own piercing blue eyes were just as sharp, cold, and striking as its master's.

The sheer presence of the beast radiated power. It wasn't just strong—it was the type of summon that belonged to the main character.

Yuna internally wept. So unfair.

She didn't even get a chance to admire the tiger for long because suddenly—

Its large, elegant form approached slowly but surely, blue eyes locking onto her.

Then—

It leaned in, its massive head tilting down as if to—

Lick her.

Yuna blinked, utterly baffled. Wait. Hold on. Excuse me?

She was still trying to process why a divine beast was acting like an oversized housecat when—

A dark blur suddenly launched forward.

CAW!!

Her raven—normally just a harmless ball of fluff—flared its wings aggressively, puffing up until it looked twice its size. It screeched, beak open, talons out, and prepared to PECK the gigantic, clearly stronger tiger in the face.

Yuna's soul left her body.

Her ordinary, weak, no-special-traits raven was about to throw hands (claws?) at a divine beast.

Celeste choked on laughter beside her.

Yuna, horrified, grabbed her bird.

"Buddy. Buddy." She whispered urgently. "That is a divine, legendary, ancient tiger. You are literally a common bird. Do you see the problem here??"

The raven ignored her and flared its wings dramatically, standing its ground.

The white tiger blinked down at the much smaller creature.

For a moment, it seemed utterly unfazed.

Then—

It backed down.

Yuna's jaw dropped.

The mighty, otherworldly white tiger—the legendary, noble summon—actually took a step back.

It wasn't obvious. It didn't look afraid, not really. More like it was… begrudgingly giving in.

Like an apex predator stepping aside for an overenthusiastic kitten.

The other students, watching the interaction, shrugged. "Guess the tiger's just being nice."

Yuna, meanwhile, screamed internally.

What kind of blackmail material does this bird have on a legendary creature?!

The raven, clearly satisfied, hopped onto Yuna's shoulder and smugly fluffed its feathers.

Yuna groaned. "I give up."

Celeste wiped tears from her eyes. "Your bird is delusional."

Yuna sighed heavily, accepting her fate.

Fine. Whatever.

If her weak, non-magical, ordinary raven wanted to act like it was the strongest summon in existence, then she would just let it live in its delusions.

Austin, who had been silently watching, raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

Yuna pointed accusingly at her bird. Celeste was already crying with laughter.

The raven, seemingly victorious, fluffed up and, tucking itself against her neck like nothing had happened.

Yuna stared.

Then sighed deeply.

"…You know what? Fine. Fine. I accept it. You win, okay? You're the strongest bird in the world."

The raven cawed happily.

Celeste wiped tears from her eyes. "Yuna, I think you accidentally summoned the true king of beasts."

Yuna deadpanned. "Yes. Clearly, I have been blessed with an all-powerful, unstoppable force of nature. A legendary summon."

The raven preened proudly.

Austin chuckled under his breath. "It suits you."

Yuna shot him a glare. "Shut up, main character."

And with that, she walked off—her tiny but terrifying summon perched victoriously on her shoulder.