The Transmigrated Professor

The previous night, before Ray and the others left for Wolfsbane, Ryder had been chatting with Mike when he learned they would be leaving early the next morning.

Not wanting to part ways with his friends, Ryder decided to run away from home. That night, without anyone knowing, he quickly packed essential items into his dimensional ring一clothes, training weapons, food from the kitchen, and some cash, since he would have to leave his smartwatch behind to avoid being tracked by his grandfather.

Once everything was packed, he took a small ring from his drawer. 

Ring of Gyges (A) An enchanted ring that can turn the wearer invisible, making their actions imperceptible to those around them. Caution: Committing unjust acts while using the ring will result in divine punishment through bad luck.

It was a ring his grandfather had gifted him when he had been Cursed. This special Artifact used mana from the surroundings, so even normal people could. However, it had a downside that caused the user to be struck with bad luck if they used the ring to commit unethical deeds.

Since Ryder couldn't use mana to protect himself, Rufus had given him the ring in case he ever needed to escape dangerous situations.

“Never thought I’d be using it this way.” Ryder grinned as he slipped it on his finger.

The next morning, Ryder left a note in his room before telling the caretaker, Emma, that he was going out for a morning run.

Ryder, who had been always spoiled by his grandfather, had gotten a magic bike of the popular XLR8 series for his 15th birthday. 

Silently taking it out of the garage, he activated the invisibility ring and followed Ray's SUV through the portal to Wolfsbane.

Back at the house, about an hour after Ryder left for his run, Emma decided to tidy up his room. That’s when she found his smartwatch and a note lying on the young master’s desk.

“Emma… First of all, don’t freak out… I am so sorry to do this to you…” 

Poor Emma fainted on the spot, realizing her well-behaved young master had run away from home after 18 years of her pampering.

When she woke up an hour later, she quickly called Rufus, but by then, it was too late—Ryder was nowhere to be found.

At the Den, while the others were ordering food, Ryder observed them from outside. Even though he was invisible, there was still a chance he could accidentally bump into someone.

When the others took the elevator upstairs, he rushed behind them. At that time, his eyes accidentally met with the blonde bartender with piercings.

The way they locked eyes, Ryder almost thought the bartender could see through his invisibility spell. 

Thankfully, the bartender quickly returned to serving his guest, and Ryder sighed in relief, reassured the spell was still working.

Checking the floor to see where Ray and the others had gone for registration, Ryder decided to take the stairs.

Unfortunately, he had broken the rule of the Ring of Gyges. He had committed an unjust act using the ring一trespassing into a building. As punishment, the ring brought him bad luck: his leg slipped on the floor, and he passed out.

When he came to his senses, it was already dark outside.

With no sign of Izzy or Mike on the third floor, he slowly made his way back downstairs to the bar.

In the now-empty bar, the lone bartender was cleaning glasses, his back turned to Ryder.

“You should leave now. The restaurant’s closed, and I don’t serve alcohol to minors.”

“You-you can see me?” Ryder was shocked that the bartender could see him. It wasn’t his imagination when he thought their eyes had met earlier.

“Yes, yes. I can see you. Surprised?” The bartender turned around, flashing a cunning smile. “Now, little disaster, run along before I have to tattle your little rebellion to your Grandpapa.”

“Grandpapa? You know Grandpa Rufus-?” Just as he was about to ask him about his relation to his grandfather, something smacked him hard on his forehead, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees.

As he picked himself up, he noticed that his surroundings had changed. He was now standing outside The Pack building, the door to the bar locked.

Lying at his was the item that the bartender had flung at him一a white-and-golden card. An address was written on it in beautiful cursive.

“What is this…” Ryder muttered, stranded in an unfamiliar place with no sign of Ray or the others.

Since that bartender had mentioned his grandfather, Ryder he wouldn't at least try to hurt him in any way, lest he face the wrath of Rufus Briar.

Taking a gamble, Ryder decided to follow the address. It took him a while, especially without his smartwatch, forcing him to ask for directions the old-fashioned way.

Most of the people were pretty rude to him at the start, but the moment he pulled out the card to show them the address, their attitudes did a complete 180, and they eagerly pointed him in the right direction.

At the end of his journey stood a small bungalow with a tiny yard.

The yard looked like a hurricane had passed through it, with trees broken and lightning strike marks on the ground.

“I wonder who's living here?” Ryder carefully activated the invisibility mode on his ring.

As he moved closer, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the balcony.

“Skills, on the other hand, are more innate…”

It was Ray!

Surprisingly the card that the suspicious bartender had given him led him straight to the house where Izzy and the others were living.

Ryder crept towards the balcony to check out what they were doing.

Izzy, Mike, Jacob, and that new boy whom Ray had brought in were sprawled on the sofa, as Ray gave them a lecture on Skills and Abilities.

It seemed the lesson had been going on for a while since it didn't take long before Ray began wrapping it up. 

Just as Izzy and Mike began heading back to their rooms to rest, Ray suddenly stopped them.

“By the way, Rohan, Mike. Are any of you willing to share rooms?”

“Share rooms? Why?” Rohan tilted his head in confusion.

Even Ryder, who was eavesdropping from outside, was puzzled at the unexpected question.

“To accommodate an uninvited guest, of course,” Ray answered as he turned to look at the balcony where Ryder was hiding.

Ryder’s eyes widened in realization, but before he could escape, a blast of water struck him.

And his ring decided to choose this exact moment to shut off, revealing his drenched figure to the world.

“Care to explain what you are doing in our house, Ryder.” Ray approached him, as Ryder wiped off the water from his face.

“Ryder! What are you doing here, man?” Mike and Izzy rushed to the balcony to help their friend inside.

“You know, you could have done this even without blasting him with water.” Izzy glared at her brother with a prickly expression.

“It wouldn't have been satisfying otherwise.” Ray shrugged his shoulders. “So what is a runaway doing all the here on Wolfsbane?”

“Wow, you’ve sure got guts!” Izzy praised Ryder, handing him a towel.

“R-runaway? What are you talking about? Of course, I came here after asking my grandfather for permission.” Though he tried to maintain his confident stance, Ryder’s hands were shaking as he dried his hair, startled that he had been exposed so quickly.

“Oh?” Ray eyed him suspiciously.

“Y-yeah. My grandfather thought it would be great for me to learn among friends. Plus, you were an ex-professor at the Star Academy, so that certainly helped his decision. That’s why I came here to train with you.”

Lies kept rolling off his tongue, as Ryder’s mind froze, unable to think what could convince Ray.

“You do know we are neighbors, right?” Ray smiled at him, like a mother who had caught her child with his hand in the cookie jar. “Our caretakers talk to each other.”

Ray explained pulling out a screen on his smartwatch. It was a message his caretaker had sent him in the afternoon.

Ryder paled as he realized that his lies never stood a chance.

“I just wanted to go to an Academy together with Izzy and Mike. Y-you were the one who brought them here. If anything, my r-running away is your fault.” Ryder’s overloaded brain was now saying anything to shift blame.

Ray was taken aback at the transparent attempt at blackmail. “My fault? You’re saying your decision to run away is my fault?”

“Yeah. So if you don’t want to be scolded by my grandfather, you'll have to let me stay. PLEASE.” Ryder begged, grabbing Ray’s legs. “I won’t let go until you allow me to stay.”

Quickly catching on, Izzy and Mike also grabbed Ray’s legs. “Please let him stay!”, They begged with puppy-dog eyes, second only to Puss In Boots.

“L-Let me go.” Ray desperately tried to save his pants that were on the edge of moving down.

“Fine. FINE! He can stay.” It was only when he agreed to their request, did the trio finally let go of his legs and pants.

“But… if your grandfather comes looking for you, I am not stopping him,” Ray warned.

“Mike, he’s staying in your room. And since you came here to study with your friends, make sure you're up for morning training.”

With a firm warning, Ray left for his room.

 

In Mike’s room, after Ryder changed into a dry set of clothes, Izzy, Rohan, Mike, and Ryder sat in a circle on the bed.

“I can’t believe that stupid plan actually worked.” Rohan sighed in disbelief.

Previously, when Mike and Izzy saw that Ryder was sad about not being able to attend the Academy with them, Izzy had invited him to train with them, suggesting he run away from home.

Since Ray had already informed them where they would be heading for the training, it was easy to share the details with Ryder. But just in case, Ryder had decided to follow them on his bike invisibly.

The only problem had been convincing Ray to let Ryder join the training once they reached Wolfsbane.

Unfortunately, before they could even think of that, Ray found out about Ryder.

"Seriously, you should have hidden better." Izzy looked at Ryder Ryder in disapproval.

"Things just... happened that way." Ryder had no excuse.

That's why the three had to devise a makeshift plan and so they decided to choose the most direct approach—begging.

Rohan had doubted that someone as sharp as an Academy Professor would fall for their bad acting, but once they started threatening his dignity by pulling on his pants, even Ray had no choice but to give in.

“You’ve just walked into Dante’s 8th Hell, my friend,” Rohan sighed at Ryder’s recklessness, wondering just what kind of hellish training Ray would make them go through tomorrow for their stunt today.