It's a Misunderstanding
It's a misunderstanding. Really.
In Ether Frontier, colloquially known as "EF," there are five bad ending routes.
Three disasters erupt from within the Academy. Two more come from the world of hunters outside.
Only by thwarting all these calamities can you reach the "normal ending." And to unlock the true "happy ending," not a single named ally can be sacrificed in the process.
'Not a fan.'
But I just couldn't stomach the structure of that damn happy ending.
The game system doesn't let you preemptively block the incidents from even happening. Sure, you can somehow fend off the disasters, but countless extras get helplessly swept away in the process.
And what pissed me off the most was that flimsy limitation: you could never redeem the enemies who became the culprits behind the disasters.
They weren't villains by choice. Tragic bosses forced into catastrophe by the system's bullshit and their unfortunate pasts.
I never once considered an ending where you had to mercilessly cut them down a true happy one.
So I'd sworn to seize a perfect conclusion my way in this shit game turned reality.
"Wasn't really trying to threaten or anything..."
Out of those five tragic disasters, the very first culprit to paint the Academy blood-red...
Of all people, it had to be my absolute favorite character—the one I'd always considered my biggest sore spot in the game—now slumped in the bushes right in front of me, grinning vacantly.
'...Actually, this might work out perfectly.'
My original plan was to finish all the prep I could at the Academy first, then start twisting the disasters properly.
But if she came rolling right to me, saving me the legwork? No reason to turn that down.
As I silently crunched the pros and cons in my head...
"What the hell are you? How dare you tail us in secret! Spill your affiliation and purpose right now!"
Kwak Taesan blocked her path, snarling with a ferocious grimace, muscles twitching like he was seconds from swinging.
But the white-haired girl just blinked wide-eyed like a startled rabbit, unfazed by the massive gorilla's roar.
Soon, Seol Eunha—fiddling with her empty scabbard as she stood before the bushes—nailed it shut with an icy voice.
"You. You've been steadily following us for at least 30 minutes since right after the entrance ceremony dismissal."
"...Huh?"
"In this massive Academy, it's impossible for our paths to overlap by coincidence for 30 straight minutes. You're clearly approaching with intent."
Seol Eunha's purple eyes flashed sharply, as if ready to sever the girl's neck.
"I'll count to three. Answer."
Stifling silence.
"One."
Seol Eunha's merciless countdown began.
But even amid the chilling killing intent, the white-haired girl glanced at the blade hovering by her cheek and broke into a beaming smile.
"Hmm... 'Purpose' sounds too grand."
"Two."
"And explaining here... well, it's something I'm personally curious about over there."
The girl's hazy eyes drifted past Kwak Taesan and Seol Eunha, locking straight onto me.
'Personally curious about me?'
"Three."
Shing—! The instant Seol Eunha reached mercilessly for the spare dagger at her waist.
I stepped forward in a hurry.
If her attack accidentally triggered that walking time bomb's self-defense mechanism, not just us four but the entire dorm courtyard could vaporize.
No more spectating.
"That's enough, Eunha."
I plastered on a relaxed, veteran gamer's expression and lightly tapped her slender shoulder.
"...Master?"
"No need to swing at someone with no intent to resist."
At my low murmur, Seol Eunha's purple eyes flickered faintly. She slowly withdrew her hand from the dagger hilt and nodded solemnly.
"...I see. That's your way, Master. Understood."
...I'd just stopped a bloodbath, but what the hell had she understood on her own?
I swallowed a deep internal sigh and walked past Kwak Taesan—still radiating menace—and Seol Eunha toward the bushes.
The white-haired girl stared up blankly from her seat on the dirt. I stopped right in front of her nose and rummaged in my uniform pocket.
"You said you had something personally curious about me earlier."
"Yeeah... but."
She trailed off, glancing warily at the two behind me radiating killing intent.
Fair enough. No way to chat amiably in this powder-keg standoff ready to erupt into fists and blades.
I pulled out my smartphone and dangled it before her eyes.
"Looks like too many eyes around to talk now. Here."
"...Huh?"
"Punch in your number. I'll contact you later."
She was a time bomb I'd have to track down and coax sooner or later anyway.
But if she bit the bait first? Securing her contact now for a private chat would make controlling the disaster way easier.
"...Gasp."
That's when Yoon Seoa—peeking from behind me—clapped both hands over her mouth with a sharp intake.
"Kuhahaha! As expected of the man I acknowledge! The second a girl he likes shows up, he ignores all the stares and goes straight for her number with that boldness! A true alpha!"
"...What?"
I shot a pitiful look at Kwak Taesan's nonsense, then turned back to the girl, holding out my lit-up phone screen.
"Come on, quick... "
"...Eeeh?"
But the girl who'd grinned calmly even before a cold blade now fidgeted with her shirt hem, face flushing beet red like it might explode.
"Um, w-well, you see... Uuuum..."
What the fuck.
What the hell are you all imagining?
Screech, click.
Male dorm single room. The door lock clicked shut, and I flopped straight onto the bed.
"Ughhh..."
Every muscle screamed, a horrific fatigue boiling my brain like it was on fire.
'How many incidents in one damn day?'
Entrance ceremony dumps the top seat on me outta nowhere, vice-top crew picks a fight, musclehead Kwak Taesan challenges me to a duel, and right after dismissal, bam—first main story disaster.
For this max HP 1 glass cannon blowfish body, it was an utterly grueling, cursed day.
"Still, the payoff matched the grind. Won't push this hard next time."
First impressions matter in everything.
Having seared a intense, overwhelming image into Class 1's minds meant I could chill and coast for a bit.
"Alright, time to check Kwak Taesan's reward."
I rubbed my stiff neck and pulled the hefty item he'd shoved at me from my pocket.
A small pouch crudely woven from rough fabric. As I untied it to peek inside, I froze at the unnatural mana pulse from the cloth under my fingertips.
'...Huh?'
No contents? The pouch itself is the artifact...?
'What? This isn't the original reward table.'
My pupils quivered faintly. Pretty sure beating Kwak Taesan originally gave a weapon or magistone, not a pouch.
I set the weird pouch on the bed and inspected it every which way.
But visually, it was just a plain black rag—zero clues.
'Good thing I prepped a hypothesis for this.'
I grabbed my smartphone from my inner uniform pocket without hesitation.
And launched the official Academy terminal app that Professor Cha Yura had me activate on entrance ceremony day.
Aiming the camera lens at the black pouch on the bed.
Whirr—
A familiar faint vibration, and a transparent blue panel shot from the lens, floating in the air like a pop-up.
■ Name:Subspace Pouch
■ Grade:S-
■ Type: Magic Tool / Inventory
The pouch's internal storage space is unlimited.
It can hold anything, regardless of physical volume.
[Passive Synchronization]: Equipment items stored inside are automatically deemed "equipped" even without manual wear, applying all effects in real-time.
"Nailed it."
Hypothesis confirmed perfectly.
Ever since seeing my stats pop up as a hologram on this phone during the entrance ceremony, I'd cautiously theorized:
If the game world becoming reality fused the player convenience "system windows" with this world's cutting-edge magic engineering into smartphones...?
'It could totally handle status screens.'
I grinned in satisfaction and glanced back at the hologram.
Subspace Pouch—inventory, no less. S- grade.
Worth kowtowing just for unlimited storage, but the utility? Insane.
'Fucking broken. Toss gear in, and it auto-applies passives without wearing? Madness.'
How the hell did Kwak Taesan even have this? And think to gift it to some guy he just met?
Ahh, Kwak Taesan. Absolute GOAT. Worship you today too.
Same time, Class 5's rundown dorm—the academy's absolute bottom.
Even as the continent's top Academy, its strict meritocracy meant sky-high Class 1 treatment versus Class 5's dirt floor.
Unlike Class 1's luxury hotel singles, this cramped, drafty relic of a room with peeling window frames. In pitch-black darkness without even a light on, the white-haired girl huddled in the bed corner, knees hugged tight.
Chilly night wind snuck through her thin shirt, but Ha Yuseong didn't stir.
Her vacant eyes stared endlessly only at the smartphone screen on the floor.
The three characters glowing alone in the dark—the number forcibly thrust into her hand that afternoon.
"I actually made a friend reeeal..."
A faint smile ghosted her pale lips.
Days since enrolling here, yet no one by her side.
"Whaaat... Being alone isn't so baaad anywayyy."
She gazed blankly at the screen, recalling the afternoon.
Hiding from the suffocating classroom, dozing lazily atop a quiet alley wall.
Coincidental commotion below. Lee Yeji's vice-top crew versus Yoo Dohyun with his dirt-smeared stick.
At first, figured typical bullying. Boy with zero detectable mana helpless against elite spells.
But it was one-sided slaughter.
[Sedimentation, Gravity, Chains of the Earth.]
Murky gravity magic circle surging at his feet.
Yet in the crushing field, the boy moved without a hint of slowdown. As if physics itself didn't apply to him.
And what followed was even weirder.
[Overheat, Condense, Fire. Scatter into ash.]
Perfectly smacked the mana core of the incoming flame arrow from the branch tip, reflecting it straight back at the caster.
Four Class 1 aces floored in seconds, extracting "Please spare me" surrender from groveling Lee Yeji.
'That toooo... was a parry, righttt...?'
The girl blinked slowly once.
Boy parried invisible gravity magic, even reflected formless mana physically.
Then...
This uncontrollable curse of hers, summoning nightmarish disasters the instant she drew mana, ignoring all logic?
'Maybe that boyyy... could parry it toooo.'
Just that shallow curiosity. That's why she'd tailed him 30 minutes straight post-dismissal.
"Tomorrow, after classes..."
She tapped the screen on.
Right as she tentatively typed a message asking if she could visit tomorrow.
Bzzz— The device vibrated sharply, a notification popping up.
"...Huhhh."
Instantly, her eyes widened like a rabbit's at the screen.
Can't have eyes on us.
Quiet spot.
Just the two of us?
'Juuust the twooo...?'
What intent behind this messageee...?
"......"
In the dim Class 5 dorm room.
Under the smartphone's bluish glow, her pale cheeks flushed explosively red.
She buried her scorching face in her oversized shirt hem and started rolling wildly on the narrow bed.
For a white-haired girl who'd never even had a friend, let alone dated...
"Auuu..."
That dry, rational phrasing proved fatally stimulating, sparking the most lethal misunderstanding.