I Watched Her Die for 5,000 Hours
I Watched Her Die for 5,000 Hours
I returned to the dormitory.
Shwaaaah-
I washed with hot water.
The sweat washed away.
The dew washed away.
I put on my school uniform.
The dawn mist was lifting.
The sun had fully risen.
The air had become warmer than before.
The smell of water was turning into the smell of grass.
Several birds began to chirp.
That boundary where night ends and morning comes.
8 AM roll call.
"Room 201."
"Yes."
As usual.
"Room 302."
"............Yes."
Aria.
She was small.
Check.
3 minutes.
Knife-precision roll call.
"That is all."
Breakfast.
The dining hall.
Carrying a tray, I passed the serving line.
Bread.
Soup.
Eggs.
I headed for the corner table.
The seat I always sit in.
That's when.
I saw the far corner.
The opposite end.
Silver hair.
Roughly tied up.
Wearing her school uniform draped over her training clothes.
Rena.
She was sitting alone.
On her tray, a single bowl of cereal.
That was all.
Munch.
Munch.
She was eating.
Just cereal.
'.............'
A woman who ran who knows how many laps around the track earlier at dawn.
Was getting through breakfast with just a single bowl of cereal.
A woman who would pull ingredients from the kitchen galley at dawn to cook and eat.
At breakfast, it was cereal.
'.............'
'I don't know.'
'But.'
I felt sorry for her.
I don't know the reason.
But seeing her eating cereal alone.
I went back to the serving line.
I grabbed one more bread roll.
Passing by Rena's table.
Slide.
I placed the bread down.
Without a word.
Rena, who had been spooning up cereal.
Looked at the bread.
Looked at me.
'.............'
She gave a slight nod.
And went back to eating her cereal.
That was it.
'.............'
I couldn't tell if she recognized me or not.
Did she nod because I'm the dorm prefect?
Did she nod because I gave her bread?
I don't know.
I went to my seat.
The corner.
The opposite side.
I spooned up the soup.
'Oh.'
'This is good.'
'Is the school food kinda banging today?'
Morning.
The Academy.
First period is Founding History.
A subject comparable to learning Korean History in my past life.
I entered the classroom.
Stadium-style seating.
I took the very back.
Corner seat.
Both sides were empty.
'Nice.'
"Hey, is it Founding History today?"
"Sigh. I'm sleepy."
"Last time he told us to memorize three Emperor names. Did you?"
"As if. I can't even memorize the name of my family's first ancestor, you think I memorized that?"
Korean History class in my past life was like this.
The sound of opening textbooks was the same as the sound of sighs.
It's exactly the same here.
Even if the world changes, history class is still a snoozefest.
"Fuck. Is the part he told us to underline last time gonna be on the test?"
"Probably. He emphasized that part."
"Did anyone actually underline it?"
"............."
"............."
"Nobody did."
Creeeak-
The classroom fell silent.
The chatter from moments ago stopped as if cut with a knife.
The door opened and the professor walked in.
An old man with white hair.
His glasses were perched on the tip of his nose.
"Now then, let's begin."
He started writing on the blackboard.
Tap-tap-
Tap-tap-
[The History of the Empire's Founding — Chapter 3: Great Emperor Aurelius's Education Decree]
"What was the first thing Emperor Aurelius did after unifying the empire?"
Silence.
No one answered.
Not the front row.
Not the middle row either.
The professor sighed.
"I ask this every year, and every year, there is no answer."
A tone of voice indicating he was already used to it.
At that moment.
"The establishment of an educational institution."
A voice.
From the front.
'.............?'
I lifted my head.
Third row.
Center.
Black hair.
A sword over his school uniform.
His posture was perfectly straight.
Siegfried.
"The first thing the Great Emperor did after the war was to put down his sword and establish a school. It was his judgment that culture was necessary to maintain a nation unified by force."
The professor's glasses went up.
His eyes sparkled.
"Oh. That is correct. Siegfried-student."
Siegfried nodded.
The professor continued.
"Great Emperor Aurelius said, 'A nation built by the sword crumbles by the sword.' Therefore—"
"Education Decree, Article 1."
Siegfried spoke.
Before the professor could finish.
"'All children of the Empire shall be well-versed in both the literary and martial arts.' That is why Founding History is a required subject at the Academy now."
The professor smiled.
It was the first smile I'd seen in this class.
"Excellent. Then, what about Article 2?"
Siegfried's eyes gleamed.
"'Those who do not know history are not qualified to discuss the future.' That was what the Great Emperor said during his speech at the founding ceremony."
'.............'
I watched from the very back.
The man who had cleaved a training dummy in two.
The one with a mana of 891.
The top student of the Swordsmanship Department.
Was answering questions with sparkling eyes during Founding History.
Students nearby were sneaking glances at him.
"Siegfried likes that kind of stuff too?"
"That's unexpected."
"I thought he was just good with a sword."
Their expressions weren't saying 'That's weird,' but rather 'That's cool.'
'.............'
If that had been me.
If I'd raised my hand from the back and said, "The establishment of an educational institution."
'What's with that guy.'
'He's showing off.'
'Isn't he a history sperg?'
It would've gone like that.
I'm certain.
But if Siegfried does it, the story changes.
Same lines.
Same content.
Same hand raising.
If the face is different, the attributes change.
A nerd becomes cultured.
Showing off becomes confidence.
Knowledge becomes being well-versed in both literary and martial arts.
Fuck.
Good looks are like alchemy.
They turn even bad things into good things, without fail.
At that moment.
I felt a gaze.
From the front.
There was someone looking at Siegfried.
Fifth row.
Silver hair.
Blue eyes.
Elise.
Every time Siegfried answered, her eyes followed him.
Every time Siegfried nodded, the corners of her lips slightly lifted.
Every time Siegfried's eyes sparkled.
She was smiling.
Happily.
'.............'
The woman next to Elise poked her with an elbow.
"Eonni."
"What."
"Your ears are red."
"They are not."
"They're totally red right now, though?"
"It's because I'm cold."
"It's March, you know?"
"............I said they're not."
Elise covered her ears with her hair.
Hands moving fast.
The woman next to her giggled.
'.............'
I watched from the very back.
She looked happy.
She looked fucking happy.
A girl who likes Siegfried.
Was growing even more fond of him, seeing this new side of him.
'.............'
In the game.
More than half of the bad ending routes were her corruption.
No matter which choice you picked.
No matter which branch you took.
If Elise became corrupted, it was over.
Nothing could stop it.
Reset.
From the beginning.
Siegfried ultimately never accepted her.
And so she would become corrupted.
A bad ending I saw dozens of times over 5,000 hours.
'.............'
The class ended.
Siegfried stood up.
Elise approached him.
"Sieg."
"Yeah?"
"Want to go eat?"
Elise's voice was half a pitch higher than usual.
She was nervous.
But she'd mustered her courage.
Siegfried looked.
At Elise.
"Sure."
He smiled.
Comfortably.
Elise's face brightened.
Her ears turned red again.
But this time, she didn't hide them.
They walked out together.
Side by side.
As they left the classroom.
Elise looked fucking happy.
Her steps were light.
'.............'
'Well.'
'Seems like it's going fine for now.'
I also stood up.
From the very back.
No one looked at me.
Because I'm an invisible man.
I left the classroom.
Afternoon.
Combat Studies class.
The professor stood at the front.
A scar on his chin.
"I will be announcing the results of the previous group practice session."
The classroom fell silent.
"As of this practice session, the bonus point system based on ranking assignment will be applied."
He wrote on the blackboard.
[Bonus Points by Rank]
[1st Place: +30 points]
[2nd Place: +25 points]
[3rd Place: +20 points]
[4th~5th Place: +15 points]
"This will be reflected in the end-of-term final grade. It is also included as a completion requirement."
A commotion spread.
"It's reflected in completion?"
"The ranking matters, huh."
The professor began writing down the results.
[1st Place: Group 3 — Siegfried von Waldstein, Leon von Ashert, and 2 others]
[Total Kills: 67 / Boss-class: 1]
"67 kills, and a boss-class at that. Group 3 was overwhelming."
The classroom buzzed.
"67 kills?"
"A boss-class too?"
"Insane."
But.
I looked toward Group 3.
Siegfried was seated.
As usual.
Expressionless.
Leon was sitting next to him.
Arms crossed.
Looking out the window.
Not looking at Siegfried.
The air between them was cold.
An overwhelming 1st place, and yet.
One of the other two members said, laughing.
"Haha. We're 1st place! Isn't that crazy?"
No one answered.
"Uh... come on, let's relax, guys! We're 1st place!"
Siegfried nodded.
Lightly.
That was it.
Leon was looking out the window.
Didn't even turn his head.
"Hey... we're 1st place... what's with everyone..."
The man's voice grew quieter.
The other one next to him patted his shoulder.
A gesture of comfort.
'They're 1st, so why are they like that.'
'Something must have happened between those two.'
'If 891 and 923 are on the same team, hunting shouldn't have been a problem.'
'Did they clash at some point during the hunt?'
'.............'
'Fuck. I feel sorry for the two caught in the middle.'
My past life came to mind.
There was a time two people had a power struggle during a group project.
The atmosphere was fucking brutal.
I was the one caught in the middle.
'Fuck.'
'That was so fucking hard.'
Suddenly, my current team was starting to look lovable.
The rankings continued.
[2nd Place: Group 5 — 52 kills]
[3rd Place: Group 1 — 48 kills]
[4th Place: Group 8 — 41 kills]
It went down.
[5th Place: Group 7 — Ian Valentine, Camilla von Edelweiss, Derek von Grausen, Marion von Herpelt]
[Total Kills: 31 / Hobgoblin Bonus +15 points]
'5th place?'
We only killed 31 though.
The professor explained.
"A Hobgoblin is worth three times the points of a normal goblin. Catching this many Hobgoblins at this rank is a first throughout this entire practice session."
'A first?'
"Counting the risk adjustment, that's 5th place. A bonus of 15 points. Among 4-person groups, this is effectively top-tier."
'.............'
'All I did was fall over.'
The class ended.
The students stood up.
Two girls came over to Camilla's side.
"Camilla~ 5th place, that's amazing!"
"How did you even catch a Hobgoblin?"
Camilla laughed.
Brightly.
"Derek-sunbae was really amazing, you know? He charged forward like this, holding his sword out—"
Camilla stretched her arm forward.
Pretending to hold a sword.
"Three Hobgoblins came at once and his sword shone like this, shoosh! shoosh!"
She swung her arms.
The girls' eyes widened.
"Amazing."
"Really?"
"And then Marion-sunbae shot fire from the back, whoosh! and its range was this huge."
She spread both arms wide.
"That's crazy."
"With the sunbaes holding the front line, all I had to do was push the flanks with wind. It was all thanks to the sunbaes, really~"
Derek was listening from behind.
He smiled.
A pleased face.
"Hoho. Camilla gave good instructions, you know."
Marion nodded.
"If it wasn't for Camilla, our formation would've collapsed."
Camilla bowed her head.
Modestly.
"Not at all~ I didn't really do much~"
'.............'
'She's literally mimicking the sunbae's actions while praising them.'
'That'd make the sunbaes feel good.'
'While lowering herself.'
'Fucking natural.'
'She's a first-year?'
'She's not from a merchant family for nothing.'
'That's talent.'
Just then, Derek spoke.
"We had some luck too."
Camilla stopped.
"Luck..."
Her gaze moved.
It looked at me.
Packing my bag in the very back.
".................."
".................."
Our eyes met.
0.3 seconds.
Camilla's eyes shook.
Me falling over.
The Spore Shot.
The wilted grass.
The dry stem.
Eyes that were flashing through all of it.
Whisk-
She turned her head.
Quickly.
Fast enough to make her hair sway.
"That's right! We had some luck too~"
Brightly.
She continued immediately.
Switch ON.
Laughing with the girls, she left.
'.............'
'Luck.'
'Right.'
'Since falling over counts as luck.'
'But just now.'
'Why did she look at me and then turn away.'
'So fast it made her hair sway.'
'.............'
'Well. Not that it's any of my business.'
I also stood up.
From the very back.
No one looked at me.
Because I'm an invisible man.
I left the classroom.
Walked down the hallway.
No one called my name.
No one looked at me.
'.............'
'Well.'
'It's fine.'
I put my hands in my pockets.
Walked.
'Shall I log in again today.'
'To the place where my comrades-in-arms are.'
The people I meet when I connect every night at 10 PM.
All I know is their nicknames.
But we raid bosses together.
Die together.
Resurrect together.
'To the place where my real friends are.'
I walked toward the dormitory.
My steps became a little faster.