A Bleak Beginning

The academy’s main gate was packed. Freshmen starting the new semester mingled with those who had come to take the entrance exam. Among the current students, exhaustion lingered from the long break, but beneath it lay a clear undercurrent of joy. For the newcomers, the feeling was even stronger. Getting into this academy was one of the highest honors a person their age could achieve. Everyone here hoped they would pass the test and walk proudly through those gates. Their faces were filled with that very wish.

“Haa…”

Everyone except me, that is.

I let out a deep sigh and plopped down on a bench in the nearby park. The first thought I had after arriving here—excluding the whole “I have a dick that doesn’t work” situation—was whether something like this could even happen. If I wanted to sort out the situation, I first needed to figure out why I was here in the first place. And the answer lay in the hazy final memory still floating in my head.

I said I’d come back.

Right before I lost consciousness, I definitely heard those words. At the time I was too confused to process it properly, but now that I thought about it, that voice clearly belonged to the final boss—the Demon King.

A sudden possession. The boss’s voice ringing in my ears. The deduction wasn’t hard. Especially when you considered that the Demon King’s classic last line before dying was always, “I will return.”

“I’m really going to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kill that bastard.”

I rubbed my face roughly. Now that I knew the cause of my possession was that damn demon, my course of action was set. I had to find the son of a bitch who shoved me into this body and beat the absolute shit out of him.

I clenched my fist tightly. This body had potential. The overpowered traits I’d bought with all the points I’d saved proved that much.

I carefully looked up at the status window floating in the air.

A satisfied smile crept across my face as I looked at the mountain of traits crammed into the window. Sure, there were two glaring flaws, but one of them could be fixed quickly. The real problem was the shameless bastard sitting at the very top of the list with no level attached. If it had been tucked somewhere in the middle or at the very bottom, I could’ve just smiled and moved on, or deliberately ignored it. But no—the system had placed it front and center so I’d be forced to see it every single time. Truly malicious design.

“Tsk.”

I ground my teeth hard. My hand instinctively went to my pocket, but of course no cigarettes appeared. I let out another long sigh and set my top priority.

First, I’m curing this goddamn condition.

Killing the demon? Sure, that sounded good. Meeting the heroines? Also good. Doing all the things I couldn’t do while trapped in the game? Even better. But before any of that, didn’t a man need to be able to function like a man?

One of the main reasons I applied to the academy was to cure this affliction. This world was full of miraculous elixirs and heavenly treasures. Among them existed an elixir capable of completely erasing the disease festering inside my body. If it could burn away all kinds of penalty traits, then surely it could erase this cursed trait as well.

However…

I roughly remembered which dungeon the elixir appeared in. Penalty traits that didn’t disappear even in the late game were usually extremely severe, so I’d made sure to memorize where to find the elixir that could remove them. I’d entered that dungeon quite a few times while hunting for it, so I knew the patterns like the back of my hand.

The problem was that the dungeon didn’t appear in the early stages of the game. There was a reason I only ever went there in the late game. Even though I had the patterns memorized, it was still difficult to obtain, and it didn’t even spawn at all during the early portion of the story.

In other words, I couldn’t get the elixir in my current state.

That was why I needed to get stronger. Strong enough to enter the dungeon the moment it opened, clear it, and obtain the elixir. While I was at it, I might as well test out some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠other legendary medicines too.

Holy Water, said to be blessed by the gods themselves. The essence of the forest, gathered drop by drop from the dew of the World Tree. And the crystal-clear Cheongseok Oil famous in the East. Until I could get my hands on the elixir, I planned to consume anything and everything that was even remotely good for the body.

Fuck it. If I shove enough of this shit down my throat, something’s gotta work.

Once I cleared the penalty? I’d enjoy everything I couldn’t enjoy in the game, kill that demon bastard, and ride off into a happy ending.

With that pleasant daydream in mind, I closed the status window. My physical stats were garbage compared to the traits I possessed, but it didn’t matter. Unlike traits that could only be obtained during character creation, stats would keep rising as I progressed. Right now, the number and rarity of my traits were what mattered most.

After all, the entrance exam wasn’t something you could pass with raw power alone.

With that thought, I scanned the massive crowd waiting for the test. There were easily two to three times more people than I remembered seeing in the game. Even though the current students had already entered through the main gate, the line of applicants showed no sign of shrinking.

“Well, I guess that makes sense.”

I clicked my tongue and lightly swept my gaze across the crowd. Amid the sea of people, snippets of conversation mixed with sighs reached my ears.

“Did you hear the rumor? They say the granddaughter of the Sword Saint and the disciple of the Blue Tower Master are in this batch.”

“If it was just them, it’d be fine. But look over there. That’s Edan. The genius from Germany famous for his magic formulas!”

“The son of the French Meister is here too… I heard he already received a title.”

“This year’s freshman class is seriously insane. What the hell are we supposed to do?”

Just as the chatter suggested, this year’s batch was completely broken. People who should have appeared only one or two per class had shown up in droves. Some of the names being thrown around were characters who didn’t even appear until the latter half of the game. Considering how stingy the game was with giving characters decent screen time, the fact that they got consistent appearances later meant they were that strong. Or at least important enough to warrant the attention.

Anyway, because this class was so stacked, most of the conversation revolved around who would take the top spot. I also briefly recalled who claimed first place in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the game.

If it was the person who took the top spot during the entrance exam—the starting point of the game—then it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠probably…

Geomhee.

Unless the player went full physical monster mode, the result was always fixed. Geomhee. The woman who would dance with the sword. She was somewhere in this massive crowd right now.

There were plenty of other competitors aiming for the top spot. From those already famous and widely known, to those hiding their power and only now revealing their talent. I had to defeat all of them and claim the number one position.

Normally, that would be impossible.

At least with these stats, it would have been. Most players spent all their points on traits they couldn’t buy later, leaving nothing for stats. Especially considering what the entrance exam was like.

But things were different now. I didn’t have just one or two traits. Even though the exam’s difficulty was no joke, with this many traits I could definitely clear it.

“All new students, please take your seats!”

After entering the auditorium, I followed the instructions and sat down. Once everyone was seated, another voice rang out.

“All personnel confirmed seated.”

“We will now begin the 43rd Entrance Test.”

“Students, please relax and remain still.”

The moment the voice finished, a powerful wave of mana surged through the entire auditorium. The illusion used for the entrance exam wasn’t simple magic—it was closer to a ‘law’ of its own. The wave swept over the entire hall.

At the same time—

The surrounding scenery twisted, and a massive horned bull appeared before my eyes. It exhaled pure white steam, looking like it would charge at me at any second.

And with that final message, the entrance exam began.

**

“Hmm.”

Instructor Kim Sung-il swallowed a groan as he watched the students simultaneously fall into the illusion. Even though he had been an instructor at the academy for quite some time, he still couldn’t get used to the sight of everyone slumped over, lost in the illusion. If this kind of magic were ever released on a battlefield, that battlefield would undoubtedly be annihilated.

Thankfully, the academy strictly prevented any leaks of this magic. And the person capable of using it no longer existed in this world.

Kim Sung-il checked the rapidly decreasing timer and plopped down onto the chair that had been prepared in advance. The hallucination gave every student the same trial: survive for ten minutes against a B-rank monster, the Iron Horned Bull. Those who succeeded passed. Those who failed were sent home.

That was why he was sitting here, responsible for sending back the students who woke up from the illusion.

“This batch has all kinds of monsters. I wonder if anyone will actually kill the bull?”

Every year, there would be one or two who didn’t just run away from the B-rank monster but actually subjugated it. Those people usually took the top spot and were called monsters even within the academy.

Well, I’ll find out if I wait a bit.

The test results could be checked through the holographic panel in his possession. So he would know who subjugated it first and who took the top rank.

Just as he was stretching with that thought in mind—

“What the…?”

Kim Sung-il discovered a student who had woken from the illusion after less than two minutes. The kid looked physically weak, and the amount of mana inside his body didn’t seem all that impressive. A total nobody.

The student who had woken up looked around, confirmed that he was the only one awake, then started gathering his belongings to leave the auditorium. Watching him, Kim Sung-il stood up from his chair and approached.

“Hey, student.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be too disappointed about failing. There are plenty of other good places besides here.”

The boy didn’t look particularly scared or depressed, but Kim Sung-il said it just in case. However, the student’s expression became strange. It was the face of someone who had no idea what the instructor was talking about. Then his mouth opened.

“I passed, though?”

“Huh?”

“I cleared the test.”

Leaving those words behind, the student walked away. Kim Sung-il stood there with a dumbfounded expression and looked down at his holographic panel.

There, written clearly, was the message announcing Sungjin’s success.