A Game Becomes Curriculum
The meeting room at Grace Academy. Despite it being vacation, many professors and administrative staff were seated. After the chairman’s brief greeting, several documents appeared on the mana panels placed before each person.
“In short, the students are flocking to yet another strange place,” one professor summarized with an annoyed expression.
The first agenda item was simple. A horror game that had been rapidly spreading across the Grace Academy bulletin board and external communities—Retrieval ERROR. Students had begun linking the game to the real-world closed research building and were now posting about going there in person.
The head of the facilities maintenance team nodded with a troubled look.
“Yes. For now it seems to be just discussion on the board, but we’ve confirmed movements toward actual action.”
“Hmm."
“Shouldn’t we at least spread warnings or issue a notice…?”
At those words, the blond, laid-back professor sitting across from him let out a chuckle.
“What does it matter?”
“Professor James.”
“No, I’m not wrong. It’s not like students poking around weird places during vacation is anything new.”
“Given the location…”
“Even so.”
Professor James, as he was called, shrugged at the team leader’s awkward expression.
“They’ll get scared on the second floor and run away anyway. At most they’ll make it halfway down the hallway before turning back.”
“We can’t be so optimistic about potential dangers—”
“Well, I don’t think it qualifies as a danger worth worrying about.”
The one who cut off the team leader was another professor. Professor Sain Olive, who had personally led students into the monster wave…?
“I heard she traded her imperial merits for a mana amplification potion recently.”
“Who would’ve thought it had side effects like that…”
“Isn’t that a side effect, not an additional effect?”
Despite the murmuring of her fellow professors, Sain maintained her indifferent expression and continued.
“I believe the students already experienced what real danger feels like during the monster wave.”
“…”
“We can’t hold their hands forever, can we? Besides, the ringleader… heh.”
Sain didn’t finish her sentence, but the others knew exactly what she meant. With Kale having broken through a new realm thanks to Dodge the Fireball and gained real combat experience from the monster wave, if he was there, the other students would be more than fine even if they tagged along.
After finishing her words, Sain folded her arms, and several professors cleared their throats and looked away.
“Must be because she got it with imperial merits. The effect is quite good.”
“…”
“…”
But the team leader still looked troubled as he glanced around. At that moment, the chairman tapped the desk with his finger.
“I assume everyone here is aware of the existence on the third floor of the closed research building.”
At his low voice, the staff’s gazes gathered on the chairman.
“Encountering it might cause injury, but it’s not the type to kill students or actively harm them…”
“I’ve played that game myself. The core of it is the eerie atmosphere and the records, isn’t it?”
At the chairman’s words, several staff members let out small laughs in agreement.
“That damp, musty air is what scares people.”
“Exactly.”
The chairman nodded. “Therefore, the academy will not intervene heavily.”
The team leader quickly jotted down notes. “We’ll increase patrols around the closed research building and restrict access during the vacation period.”
“Good. That should be sufficient.”
“Since it’s come to this, why not incorporate it into the curriculum?”
“How so?”
“Learning how to dodge and escape from a much stronger opponent is ultimately real combat training, isn’t it? Rather than having them mimic it sloppily, how about officially adding it to the curriculum?”
“Hmm…”
“Would that be alright? It would increase the instructors’ workload…”
“What’s the problem? They’re paid well enough.”
After much discussion and murmuring over the suggestion, the atmosphere turned positive.
“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”
“In the end, real combat sense is best learned through the body.”
“Haha. A similar topic had already come up in discussion.”
Right at that moment—
Knock. Knock.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a woman with a relaxed expression entered. Silver hair sparkling like ice crystals, several medals pinned neatly over her formal suit.
“Oh, you came at just the right time.”
The chairman smiled.
“It’s been two years. Good to see you all, professors.”
The woman gave a light bow.
“Lady Ariel! It’s been a while!”
“Haha, who would’ve thought we’d see the princess at the academy again.”
“She’s become quite the intimidating person since graduating.”
After a brief exchange of jokes, Ariel smiled faintly and stood in place.
“As most of you know, allow me to introduce her. This is Lady Ariel, who will be joining us as a visiting professor starting next semester.”
A small stir rippled through the previously cheerful group at the chairman’s words.
“She will be in charge of assisting with practical combat classes, applied magic engineering, and equipment operation rather than formal lectures.”
Only then did the professors nod in understanding. There was no need for the duke’s daughter to come to the academy as a professor. However, considering the fireball shooter used during the monster wave, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
‘Still, I don’t think the princess needed to come in person.’
‘Is she here to scout talent for the future?’
‘Hmm. The central region will have to work hard if they don’t want to lose talent to the north.’
Sain added, “Lady Ariel will also be directly managing the fireball shooter that will be incorporated into the revamped practical combat classes starting next semester.”
“Hehe. I’ve succeeded in improving it based on field operation data. For educational purposes, pattern repetition and stability take priority over lethality.”
The professors’ gazes toward Ariel shifted upon hearing that she had personally improved its power and speed.
“Senior… I mean, Professor? The lesson plan here mentions Dodge the Fireball…”
One person asked with a puzzled expression. “I heard the original creator is a student at our academy. Has an agreement been reached? I-I mean, just in case it causes unnecessary rumors…”
The chairman answered the question. “Of course. He gave his permission quite willingly.”
***
“Huh?”
Lying on my bed fiddling with the panel, I tilted my head. Why would the academy contact me? More than that, it was the first time the academy administration had sent a direct message instead of a notification.
“What? The tuition should be paid by the family just fine.”
To Chase, student of Grace Academy and user of the handle ‘GameDevChoa’.
Greetings. This is the Operations Management Department of Grace Academy.
After discussion and verification by the instructors, we have confirmed that Dodge the Fireball and its related training methods have had a positive impact on real combat performance.
Accordingly, we intend to introduce similar evasion training into parts of the practical combat curriculum starting next semester.
The equipment will be jointly prepared by our academy and the Northern Technology Development Bureau. We would like to borrow the structure of your game for educational purposes and request your cooperation.
…
We look forward to your positive cooperation.
P.S. Regarding the recently popular Retrieval ERROR… (omitted)
The academy plans to manage the situation, so there is no need for additional concern on your part.
“???”
After reading the message, I scrolled back up and read it again. Then scrolled up once more…
“They’re really going to use this in actual classes?”
The professors seemed even crazier than I thought.
“No, maybe I should say the instructors have lost it this time.”
Even if the academy wanted to run this class, they didn’t really need my permission. With the imperial family’s protection, the power of the empire’s top-ranked academy was immense.
“Still, it’s surprising they made such a polite proposal.”
And on top of that, they were offering not just academic credits—which I didn’t even ask for—but royalties as well.
I immediately wrote a positive reply and sent it to the academy’s Operations Management Department. After all, there was no reason to refuse when they were looking favorably on my game. From the very beginning, when I created Northern Defense, I had wanted it to influence reality, and if that influence came back in such a positive way, it was a good thing.
Students suffering? “Not my problem. I only take practical classes as electives anyway.”
For reference, the same applied to Yaruru.
Plus, there was one more piece of good news. From the postscript, it seemed the academy was already aware of the issue surrounding Kale. They said they would handle matters regarding the closed research building from now on…
“Then that’s that.”
It wasn’t like I had to stand guard in front of the closed research building myself. Unexpectedly, one headache had been resolved.
“But who’s going to be in charge of the fireball dodging training?”
The first person who came to mind was Lady Ariel… but then again—
‘Would she really come in person?’
She was the sole heir of Valkar, after all. At best, some researcher from the Technology Development Bureau would show up.
With that thought, I left the room to share the news with Yaruru.
…
“Yaruru— can I come in?”
“Just wait a moment!”
After some bustling sounds from beyond the door, it soon opened.
“What’s going on?”
She was wearing pajamas with her hair floating messily—clearly she had come straight from playing a game.
“…Says the guy who only ever wears weird gray clothes.”
“You’re not even denying you came from gaming, so I’m starting to suspect you’re addicted, Yaruru.”
“Hmph. I do plenty of other things normally. You only ever come looking for me when I’m gaming.”
…Who would’ve thought I’d hear the kind of line I used to see all the time on the internet in my past life coming from Yaruru?
“Anyway, I’ve got good news.”
“Good news usually comes with bad news following right after…”
“Why don’t you trust people more?”
“Because you made me this way.”
Ignoring Yaruru’s slander, I showed her the message I received.
“The academy contacted me.”
“Hek…! Don’t tell me the martial arts expert finally caused trouble!”
“No. The academy said they’ll handle that side themselves.”
“Then what is it?”
At my mischievous reaction, Yaruru snatched the panel.
“…Huh?”
Line by line, the more she scrolled, the rounder Yaruru’s eyes became.
“Hold on. Is this for real?!”
“I had the exact same reaction at first.”
Yaruru kept reading the message over and over, as if she couldn’t believe it. Well… I had expected that kind of reaction. I was still feeling dazed myself.
“Come in first!”
At Yaruru’s invitation, I stepped into the room and was greeted by a chaotic scene. Snack boxes were scattered beside the bed, pages from a memo pad were piled on the desk, and a mana panel was left powered on.
“…What, you were playing Northern Defense?”
“That’s not important right now.”
“Weren’t you the one who said you weren’t addicted?”
Yaruru shot me a sharp glare and perched on the edge of the bed, reading the message again.
“Wow…! I knew Dodge the Fireball would make it this far!”
“What’s with you? Why are you so excited?”
“Because I’m GameDevChoa’s assistant!”
I was about to point out that she only became my assistant after Northern Defense, but seeing Yaruru’s beaming smile, I decided to keep my mouth shut. Well… thanks to Yaruru, Dodge the Fireball had started influencing reality, so she could be said to have contributed something.
“But this doesn’t really have anything to do with us, does it?”
“Keke. You noticed too?”
“Good thing Chase and I aren’t knight majors.”
Even if we had combat ability, we didn’t necessarily have to take related classes. Of course it was a required elective, but fundamentally this was a story for students aiming to become knights or martial artists.
“Right.”
I nodded.
“It’s a relief we won’t have to suffer dodging fireballs. Don’t you think?”
“Ugh— just thinking about it is terrifying.”
“Other people are paying to experience it. Don’t you want to try it at least once?”
“Don’t even say that.”
Seeing Yaruru’s whole body shiver in disgust, I held back my laughter and picked up a drink from the desk.
‘This feels pretty good too.’
It was nice seeing the bulletin board go wild over my game—comments burning up, recommendation counts rising, posts being made faster than they could be read. But this was a little different.
The academy using my game as a motif for actual classes?
‘Ehehe…’
“Ah!”
Yaruru clapped her hands as if she’d just remembered something.
“So did they tell you how much royalty they’re giving?”
“Huh?”
“It’s an important issue.”
“Well— they didn’t say it was small.”
“Oh! Then does that mean Chase will cover the expenses if I do research during winter break too?”
“…Summer break hasn’t even ended yet?”
“Ehehe— anyway, this is great!”
“…”
“Just like with Northern Defense, lots of students are going to love this too!”
Love it, huh…
After all the discussion with Adel, the direction for the new game had finally been decided.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about something—”