Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Translator: Penny
Episode 21: The Chaotic Freshman Entrance Ceremony [1]
Episode 21: The Chaotic Freshmen Entrance Ceremony [1]
Passing through the Academy's main gate after so long felt strangely new.
Well, it is my first time, after all.
A mix of excitement at finally seeing the original story begin, anxiety about whether I could bring this tale to a happy ending, and lingering thoughts about whether I could return to my own world when the story concluded.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.
Unfortunately, today wasn't the actual entrance ceremony.
- Sigh, why are we even rehearsing? Isn't it just going to be the Chairwoman's 20-minute speech and then we're done?
- No, this year they're doing something special. Since all those "Golden Generation" kids are coming, they're using an augmented reality Demonic Beast generator for a surprise.
- Back in our day, we just had to catch falling paper from the sky. The freshmen are going to have way more fun.
"Don't embarrass yourself there, or your school life will be over."
As it turned out, today was a rehearsal for the freshman entrance ceremony.
The plan was simple: during the ceremony speech, a Gate would suddenly open in mid-air, triggering a Dungeon Break. Virtual reality monsters would swarm down, and the cadets' reactions to this simulated crisis would be observed.
Of course, such a plan would face fierce internal opposition if proposed openly. Chairwoman Eve had devised a clever workaround: today's rehearsal.
"Alright, can someone move that beam projector over here? Since there won't be any physical damage, just make it look as menacing as possible."
"Yes, Chairwoman."
"And Hansu, bring me some Mana Stones to install inside."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Following Eve's instructions, Student Council cadets were attaching beam projectors and augmented reality devices.
Click!
Whirr... Click!
"Hey, is the Student Council President allowed to slack off like that?"
"I'm working hard, Miss Ayul."
Of course, so am I.
Watching Kang A-yul fly around on a sword using Sword Manipulation Art, installing Mana Stones into the ceiling lights, my mischievous side kicked in. When he accidentally dropped a Mana Stone, I picked it up and installed it in the light fixture right in front of me instead of returning it. "Hey!" he shouted, but I just chuckled and ran away.
Even in the story, Yun Seong-ho and Kang A-yul occasionally showed this kind of chemistry, but experiencing it firsthand felt strangely surreal.
Especially since Kang A-yul had already sensed my intentions before I killed Yun Seong-ho and even warned me against it, I had to perfectly impersonate Yun Se-a as she existed in his memories.
"Alright, just move that one over there... Hey you! Stop staring at the already installed lights from afar and come help me lift this!"
"...Fine."
Her work ethic is extraordinary.
She's gathered only the Cadets who can deliver messages to the Board of Directors, and while they're distracted, she's manipulating the magic stones to inflict physical damage in the augmented reality. Truly impressive.
The mere fact that he could screw over the Board of Directors seemed to bring him such joy; the smile on his face never faded.
According to the official explanation, they prepared a rather harsh test to assess the skills of the cadets, who are supposedly part of the "Golden Generation." But since so many of the Board of Directors' children are entering this year... I wonder if they're deliberately trying to humiliate them.
For some reason, the entrance ceremony is broadcast live to showcase the cadets' martial prowess.
It's obvious that the Board of Directors' children got in through connections. This feels like a particularly malicious scheme to immortalize their humiliating retreat in front of the entire nation.
In the game, these scenes were often skimmed over, and the Board of Directors were just background figures—only Eve Meitner, the Chairwoman, needed to be remembered. But I knew their true, sinister intentions all too well.
Their plan was to oust Eve from her position, seize the vacant Chairwoman's seat for themselves, and then funnel promising students to major guilds in exchange for massive kickbacks. I knew this dirty scheme for a fact.
During my brief conversations with Eve, I had repeatedly expressed my desire to grind these Board members into dust.
"Yun Se-a, adjust the lighting angle over there!"
Kang A-yul, soaring through the air on his sword, monitored the overall lighting situation.
Wearing Raon Academy's rather short skirt and floating high above, the male cadets couldn't bring themselves to look up, moving silently with their heads bowed.
"Miss Ayul, if you fly around so carelessly, the male cadets below won't be able to lift their heads."
"Huh? What's that supposed to—?!"
Crash! Bang!
So flustered she couldn't even maintain her sword's levitation, Kang A-yul fell in a comically clumsy heap.
Seriously, if you were going to ride a sword up here, why didn't you wear pants like me? And no underskirt either? What is this, really?
A character who acts cool on the surface but keeps slipping up and doing silly drifts—I knew that already, but...
This is some serious original work accuracy.
After the chaotic entrance test preparations were complete, only the key members of the Student Council remained in the auditorium, including myself and Kang A-yul.
There were six of us in total: the Student Council President (myself), the Vice Student Council President (Kang A-yul), and four other members whose names I couldn't quite recall. As we lined up, Eve snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting us to our designated positions for the upcoming entrance ceremony.
"Well, since your identities are verified... shall we begin the actual rehearsal?"
Snap!
At Eve's gesture, transparent barriers instantly materialized, enveloping the entire auditorium.
"To the students outside, this will just look like a simple cleanup operation," Eve said with a casual wave of her hand, explaining the plan for what was to come.
In essence, Eve proposed using an augmented reality combat simulator to stage a virtual Gate Break scenario, dropping simulated monsters to test the freshmen's exceptional talents. Most of the Student Council members readily agreed.
Ah, of course, we're conveniently omitting the minor detail that this is also about screwing over the children of the Board of Directors.
Kang A-yul was tasked with subduing any students who attempted to escape to unauthorized areas. The four "extras" pretended to evacuate terrified cadets while secretly manipulating the Demonic Beasts' positions to artificially force a full-scale confrontation between the students and the beasts.
And my role was...
"Se-a, I need you to observe the students' behavior from a corner and record every detail."
I thought they'd assign me to subdue the escapees. This is unexpected.
I wanted to suggest using my Demonic Eye of Suggestion to implant a command in all the cadets' minds, forbidding them from leaving this place. But as I fiddled with the earring in my ear, I could only swallow hard.
A few weeks ago.
Boom!
"Ugh... I've lost, Miss Se-a."
"Thank you for the sparring, Ms. Sein."
"Don't mention it. I should be thanking you."
These were the words I heard after narrowly defeating Shin Sein, a member of the Golden Guild and South Korea's 126th-ranked A-Rank Hero.
Unlike me, a Magician, Shin Sein was a Striker who fought like a cyberpunk protagonist, charging aggressively with metal boots on both legs to close the distance.
It was a disadvantageous matchup for me, but I used Psychokinesis and the Demonic Eye of Suggestion to subtly alter her attack paths, creating openings to finish with Void.
When fighting with a Defender in front, I could use the Demonic Eye of Suggestion to manipulate the enemy Defender and secure victory.
"Listen up, your power is way beyond the norm. How can a Cadet already be fighting A-Rank Heroes on equal footing?"
With those words, Eve immediately dashed off somewhere and returned with a amethyst-studded earring, which she promptly fastened to my ear.
"This is the earring."
It's said to reduce my ability's maximum output by about 30%.
When using the Demonic Eye of Suggestion or Mephisto's remnants, wearing this restraint will limit my power. Eve's hypothesis was that this would naturally reduce the strain on my body.
After putting on the earring and testing my ability, I could definitely feel the reduced strain.
More precisely, it felt like the stability of my ability's manifestation had significantly improved.
Eve seemed apologetic about forcing me to suppress my power, but I reassured her it was fine since I had no intention of drawing attention anyway.
"If I ever need to break the earring to use my full power, Eve will already know the situation is critical."
I could forcibly destroy it, but unfortunately, doing so would send Eve an alert with my current location and confirmation that I had destroyed the earring.
They probably just want me to wear it.
In other words, destroying the earring would summon Eve.
Well, Eve can handle anything that happens within the Academy.
My job was to throw Hidden Pieces and opportunities at the protagonist, then pray he'd behead the Final Boss.
With a relaxed mind, I drifted off to sleep, anticipating tomorrow's encounter with the protagonist and the start of the upcoming episode.
But on the day of the entrance ceremony...
The protagonist is missing?!
The protagonist wasn't in the auditorium.