The Worst Possible Start
A hollow laugh escaped me before anything else.
A forever-single virgin gallery, inside a dating sim?
What kind of ability was this that I'd never even heard of? Still, it was too early to jump to conclusions. I tapped the notification strobing an eye-searing rainbow.
You can see this, right? If you can see it, answer me.
Could you please explain what on earth is going on? I installed the game, and when I opened my eyes I was here.
A genuine fresh newbie. Don't mind if I do.
(emoticon of a tongue flicking and hands rubbing together)
Oh, and it's been a while since anyone showed up, so the kids are hyped and they're gonna flood you with DMs. There's a DM block at the top of your view. Use that.
And you can just drop the polite speech. The kids'll be more comfortable that way.
A remarkably newbie-friendly community. Even so, if I actually wanted to read the must-read post, blocking DMs clearly had to come first. Even while we were talking, messages were stacking up behind the chat window like Windows error pop-ups.
The moment I enabled the block, the messages that had been refreshing with uncanny speed cut off dead. With them silenced, I opened the notice Fermat's Definition had posted.
This post was written for the immediately previous challenger, No. 428.
Should you fail, No. 428, verify the instant the gallery reopens.
1. The game you have possessed is Love & Secrets IN Academy City. If you were possessed without ever downloading the game, inquire separately with a mod.
2. The gallery is free to use. Accumulate three warnings, though, and you get a one-week temp ban.
3. You can open the functions by snapping with your left hand. You know the Thanos finger snap? Do that and the status window comes up. There are several functions; use them when you need to attach photos or share location coordinates later.
4. When you write a new post, you must attach a prefix. Your exclusive prefix tag is [Live]. That way it's easier for the kids to read.
5. If you fail to capture a heroine, or die or kill yourself for any reason, your soul gets stuffed and mounted right here in the gallery. Be careful.
6. If you don't know something, please just ask. Don't try to handle it alone and get fucked.
7. Hitting on just any heroine can blow up in your face. The system won't even process it, and the capture route can get tangled, so approach only the heroines the system has confirmed.
8. After reading the notice, players are to post a verification immediately. Not your real-life info—focus on the role you were given in-game. Height, face, job, where you first opened your eyes when you possessed, that sort of thing.
9. Leave Academy City and it is an unconditional game over, no exceptions. Be careful.
10. Unless yours is a special case, you cannot change jobs. Handle the duties that match the role you were given, and handle them properly.
That's all. Post anything else you're curious about and the gallery regulars will kindly answer.
"Hmm..."
For a must-read notice, what I could actually take from it was fragmentary. A few of the comments even seemed to carry a faint edge of hostility. Still, the one thing that was certain was that I had been possessed, so I decided to write a new post. The exclusive prefix was Live, wasn't it.
My name is Kim Jinsoo, and I'm twenty-five.
The job is listed as 3rd-grade Educational Assistant. Is that some kind of teacher? Or am I actually a university TA?
And my posting is the Bureau of Ability Remedial Education, under the City Administration Department.
I read the must-read notice and I'm still not getting it, so please explain in detail. For the record, I blocked DMs because the mod told me to.
Comments slammed in all at once.
But where even was the Bureau of Ability Remedial Education, that I was supposedly fucked? I was just about to fire a follow-up at the user called SSS-Rank Hunter.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock came from beyond the door that had been shut tight. I jumped and swiped the screen out of my face, and a soft, easy voice reached me.
"Instructor Jinsoo? Still getting ready? You can't very well be late on your first day, can you?"
He had my name exactly right.
"Who is it?"
"The dormitory inspector."
The Dormitory Inspector. I snapped back to myself and got to my feet.
"Ah, I'm sorry! I'll be right out!"
Gallery or whatever. I needed to see something with my own two eyes before any of this would click. I straightened my clothes as best I could and opened the door, and an elderly man was standing there.
"From next time, you'd do well to wake about five minutes earlier and get yourself ready. Live in the bureau dorms and still show up late, and it won't do your reputation any favors."
"I'm sorry."
"Haven't been issued an ID yet, have you? Admin office first, then."
The old man clasped his hands behind his back and led the way with a light step.
So... basically a tutorial NPC.
Thank god. At least it didn't seem to be the sort of game that just dropped you somewhere with no information at all.
And then there was the view. Beyond the wide-open window, the sight was nothing short of astonishing. What caught my eye first were the skyscrapers strung against a crisp, clear sky. A proud citizen of Seoul isn't exactly stunned by a forest of buildings, but these weren't the usual uniform blocks. Curves, straight lines, and every other architectural style imaginable rose up together, and that alone was enough for me to accept, cleanly, that this was not Seoul. The kind of scenery you might see entered in a future-photo exhibition under the name Seoul, 2040.
Academy City.
If I'd been possessed into some bizarre medieval fantasy where you had to use a pit latrine, that would be one thing. As it stood, it was fair to say every piece of modern infrastructure was already in place.
Maybe this isn't so bad?
That hopelessly optimistic thought reversed itself in an instant.
BOOM!!!
An explosion erupted from the far end of the corridor.
"!?!"
What stepped out of the enormous flames was a man who, at a glance, had completely lost his mind.
"AAAAAH!!!"
A pure-white straitjacket, and fire pouring from his mouth. I startled and tried to scramble backward, but the Dormitory Inspector ahead of me raised a hand and cut me off.
"You'll have to get used to it. This is a sight you're going to be seeing all the time."
"No, that's— that's not it!! Right now that man is going to— us!"
Those unfocused eyes locked onto me for a single instant—and just before the roaring fire flashed from his mouth.
CLANG!!
Something like an opaque barrier wrapped the man. The flames bursting outward struck the field and surged back the other way. A second later, burly men in black uniforms came charging out of another corridor.
"Barrier grenade, confirmed!!"
"SORT!!"
"Take him down!!"
The man who had arrived in an explosion was subdued on the spot and set upon with batons, and only after he hung limp as a corpse did they drag him away. The whole thing had taken the space of a blink.
They say that when the shock is bad enough, the scream never even comes out. I was standing there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open when the Dormitory Inspector clicked his tongue and added,
"Guts this soft, and you think you can work at the Remedial Bureau?"
Only then did I fully understand the comment I had read a moment before.
That place is basically Arkham Asylum lololol
The identity I had been given after the possession was that of a bottom-rung employee at a mental hospital.
