Defeat Addiction (2)

"Hwaaak!!"

I shot upright, screaming at the horrifying sensation of my body being dismantled and reconstructed from code—and my leg caught the desk in front of me, sending me crashing straight to the floor.

CRASH—!

Light burst before my eyes as a dizzying pain bloomed across my leg and face.

"Hey, Dean? You alright?"

I could only groan, immobilized by the pain, when a flustered middle-aged man's voice carried over from across the room. The click-clack of dress shoes spread through the surroundings, and by the time the agony had begun to ebb, I cautiously opened my eyes.

"On your feet. Now. Don't disrupt the class."

A middle-aged man in an expensive suit stood over me, hand outstretched, his expression worn thin with irritation.

"…"

Intimidated by his sharp gaze, I carefully took his hand and got up. He said nothing more, simply descending the steps back to his place at the front of the blackboard.

…Where am I?

For the moment, I went along with the mood and sank back into my seat, but I had absolutely no idea where 'here' was. A rough survey suggested it was some kind of university classroom—a scene I'd never once seen in Desperado Reunion, which only deepened my confusion. It was far too peaceful to be a world built on a dark fantasy setting.

The middle-aged man who'd spoken to me after my fall was presumably the professor. He was passionately lecturing over a formula scrawled across the blackboard, one I'd never heard of in my life—to me, a stranger to this world's knowledge, it all dissolved into so much noise.

…Was university always like this?

It felt like the professor was working hard at the lectern while I sat there dawdling and looking out the window, just like the old days. A familiar scent in the air loosened my tension a little. Being possessed into another body was genuinely jarring, but I was alive and breathing, so I supposed I could count myself lucky. The problem was that I'd woken up in a space I'd never seen in the game, which made it nearly impossible to guess what I was supposed to do.

As it happened, I was seated by the window, so I turned my gaze outside and took in the scenery. Heavy gray clouds hung over a peaceful sky, and beneath it sprawled the rounded expanse of the school's wide grounds.

…Hm?

As I stared blankly across the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sprawling campus, one particular area caught my eye—a spot that looked strikingly like a boss field from the game. A rectangular training ground built for dueling.

Don't tell me… is this the Abandoned Academy?

The Abandoned Academy was the region where you activated the teleportation circle required to reach the mandatory zones. But unlike my memory of ruined buildings swallowed by overgrowth, the grounds now maintained a perfectly moderate appearance.

Did being possessed now mean I'd arrived at an earlier point in the timeline? The question nagged at me, but I couldn't be certain. It might simply have been a region that merely resembled it.

"Class ends here. We'll now proceed to the practical lesson."

At the professor's announcement, the students began filing out of the classroom all at once. Friends clustered together in prearranged groups as they moved, others started loosening up for what was coming—and I hurriedly fell in behind them.

…So it really is the Abandoned Academy.

Walking quietly along in the noisy river of students, the familiar sights grew unmistakable: the original statue of one that stood shattered in the game, the elegant yet minimalist architectural style. The interiors that survived only as traces in the main game matched the atmosphere of the Abandoned Academy exactly as I remembered it. This possession had clearly dropped me into a point further in the past than the main story.

And honestly, that might have been a blessing. In the main game, most of the civilization humanity had built lay in ruins, and death had descended upon the land.

Anyway.

I was quietly following the procession toward practical training, exhaling a sigh of relief, when a girl with a light sky-blue bobbed haircut began drifting closer to me. As the distance between us shrank, something in her peculiar aura drew me in, and I instinctively made room beside me.

"Nice to meet you."

She looked me in the eye and greeted me with a beautiful smile.

"Oh—nice to meet you too."

I'd been staring, entranced, at her faded, cloud-white eyes, and only then realized my rudeness in leaving her greeting hanging. I hastily returned it.

"Class was so dull. Your little stunt livened things up nicely."

"…Ahem."

Flustered by her mention of my collapse mid-lesson, I cleared my throat and composed myself. I wasn't the only one thrown off by the possession—to the other students, I must have looked like an idiot who jerked awake from a nap out of nowhere. The thought brought the shame rushing in belatedly, and my face flushed scarlet. Still, the past couldn't be undone, so I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

Deciding I might as well ask her about the lesson, I spoke up.

"The professor just mentioned a practical lesson. What's that involve?"

"The practical lesson is… a class where you duel against other students to build real combat experience."

Her eyes curved in a languid, almost seductive smile as she kindly filled me in.

"Duels, huh…"

At the word duel, a sudden thought struck me.

…Do I have a status window?

In every game possession story—novels, manga, all of it—there was always a status window to check your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠abilities.

The moment I thought status window, a pane flashed open before my eyes. A quick look told me I'd naturally defaulted to Level 10, the base level, having failed to inherit the Level 999 I'd earned in my first playthrough. And there, beneath it, was the perk I'd gained for this second playthrough—Defeat Addiction.

So it's not that I gain 10 levels by winning… it's that my opponent gains 10 levels when I die?

A hollow laugh escaped me at the utterly useless, absurd perk.

"Are you looking at your status window?"

"…Huh?"

The girl, who had been studying my face intently, brought up the words 'status window' out of nowhere.

"C-can you see it?"

"Don't worry. I can't peek at other people's."

Whether she could use one too, like me—she smiled gently and waved a hand as if to assure me she hadn't been snooping.

I almost asked whether she was also someone who'd been possessed, but looking closer, every student around us seemed to be staring into empty space, checking something of their own.

…So in this world, everyone can use a status window.

I'd half-wondered if the status window was my consolation prize for getting unwillingly possessed, but no—it turned out everyone got to drink that kimchi soup. I smiled bitterly. Deciding against digging any deeper, I dismissed the window out of sheer frustration—simply thinking close was enough to shut it—and turned my attention to the girl trotting along beside me.

"Something you want to ask me?"

Catching my glance immediately, she let out a subtle little laugh and spoke first.

"Um… what's your name, exactly?"

No—I asked her name first, naturally enough. Since she clearly didn't recognize my face, she must be an NPC who never appeared in Desperado Reunion. Not that I would have known her face anyway, given that most characters wore armor covering everything. And besides, I'd killed every single one of them on sight…

"My name? …Heheh. I'm Eileen."

"Eileen… that's a pretty name."

"Thank you."

She introduced herself as Eileen and answered my compliment with an easy smile. It struck me as oddly familiar, but the memory wouldn't surface, and I furrowed my brow.

…Was she a character from the game?

"Have we… met before, by any chance?"

When I asked Eileen whether we'd already crossed paths in the game—

"No. We haven't."

her demeanor darkened noticeably, and she answered coldly.

"…Oh. Sorry."

Wondering if I'd just come off as some creep flirting with a total stranger, I apologized at once and looked away.

We walked on down the corridor, and before I knew it, we'd arrived at the dueling arena—the boss battle field. No boss abruptly burst out of nowhere, of course; the students simply arranged themselves around the professor standing at the center of the arena.

The boss that spawns here used to be absolutely hideous.

The Abandoned Academy's boss had been genuinely grotesque. A massive mass of writhing flesh, with spellbooks and a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠staff embedded in its body—an aberration of a boss. I'd of course sent it to the grave in two hits with my Level 999 power.

"Now, everyone, focus."

Once the professor had everyone seated and called for attention, the chattering students fell silent in unison.

"I will call students at random. Those named will choose their own dueling opponent."

And so the professor called up roughly ten students at random, having each designate their opponent.

"Eileen. Come up and name your opponent."

Eileen was called last.

"I choose Dean."

She pointed at me—the one person she'd already spoken with—and for some reason, sent a deep, lingering gaze my way. Unable to read the meaning behind those eyes, I could only look away, flustered at having locked gazes with a pretty girl.

"The duels will now proceed in the order the students were called."

And so the practical lesson began.

The practical lessons were far less chaotic than I'd expected. The students chose their weapons beforehand, then fought in a slow, measured exchange of blows—closer to sparring than true combat. I'd been worried the students might unleash devastating magic or lethal techniques, but the duels were gentle enough that even I, who'd taken kendo briefly as a child, could have held my own. Relieved, I watched the surprisingly ordinary matches unfold one by one.

"Right, the final match. Eileen, Dean. Come forward."

Our turn came, and I stepped into the arena with a longsword that sat comfortably in my hand. Unlike me, Eileen drew out only a single thin dagger. Even if this was just training, we'd be crossing real steel—cold sweat trickled down my back. I crammed the rules into my head as hard as I could: you stop the moment your strike would connect.

"Begin!"

The professor called the start of the match while I kept my eyes locked on Eileen, dagger raised in her stance.

And in that instant—

CRRK—

"…?!"

A sheet of ice shot out from beneath Eileen's feet and crawled up my own, gnawing its way along my body until my legs froze solid. I was still reeling from the incomprehensible situation when—

"Kgh…!"

a dagger blade sank deep into my throat. The cold kiss of metal spread through me, followed wave after wave by a burning, searing agony.

So I'm finally getting my revenge.

The moment Eileen's cruelly curving eyes entered my field of vision, I remembered the truth behind the sense of déjà vu her name had stirred in me.

The information I'd seen just before being possessed. Among the five who had inherited the memories and stats of the first playthrough, one of them—

was Eileen.

…Which meant.

"I killed you like this back then too, didn't I, Dean?"

Eileen was an NPC who had regressed carrying the memory of her own murder—murdered by me, during my first playthrough, back when this was still just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a game I was playing.

The instant she twisted the dagger free, my strength drained away and I crumpled to the floor. It was unbearable—the burning, and the wind that breathed in through the wound with every gust. The attack had come so suddenly that neither the professor nor the students could bring themselves to help me; they could only stand there, mouths agape.

…It was far too unjust a way to die. The reason I'd slaughtered NPCs left and right back then was simple: it was a game. The game had been designed from the ground up so that if you wanted an NPC's equipment, you killed them and took it. I'd merely followed the game's design.

Cursing the god who had possessed me into this place, feeling the bitter unfairness of it all—

the light faded from my eyes.