The Entrance Ceremony and the First Event
Ugh!
Aigoo, what a startle!
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest as I sat up in my bed. The familiar ceiling above me finally brought a sigh of relief.
It took longer than I expected to wake up. If the regression hadn’t triggered, I might have panicked.
I ran a hand through my hair and gave a wry smile at the familiar room around me.
“I’m back.”
The first timeline ended in utter failure.
Shortcomings in the growth of the heroines and the other main characters, and even more so in the lack of relationships with them… there were plenty of reasons why it went wrong.
But the second timeline was different. After all, I had chosen the regression trait knowing the first one would fail.
‘What stats came over this time…?’
I smiled as I hid my anticipation.
Even though it was a game, I had spent blessings to gain the regression trait.
In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to spend an entire blessing slot for regression. In any game, failing a run just meant starting a new one.
But I had thought differently.
If there had been only one blessing slot available, I wouldn’t have chosen regression.
The Curse of Equivalent Exchange had created an extra slot, and nothing in the world fit it better than regression.
Why? Because regression itself wasn’t the point—it was the sub-trait that came with it.
‘Inheritance.’
Trait: Inheritance. When a new timeline begins, it randomly takes a portion of the previous timeline’s stats and skills.
A scam-level trait that could only be used with regression.
I had been reincarnated into this world two times now, but I had already played the game dozens of timelines.
It was obvious that one timeline alone wasn’t enough to end it.
“Hah…”
I exhaled slowly, excitement building as I opened my mouth to check the inherited stats.
“Status window!”
…Nothing happened.
“What?”
Why wasn’t it working?
A flicker of unease crossed my mind just as a message appeared before my eyes.
[Starting the second timeline. Player’s luck is being invoked.]
[Current stats are being updated. This may take a moment.]
“Oh… I almost had a heart attack.”
Something was changing, so the status window hadn’t appeared. I had even worried about it disappearing.
I calmly read the message window, then exhaled a long breath as I brushed my chest.
I wanted to check the status right now, but it didn’t matter if I didn’t.
After all, this life was an All-Rounder too.
All-Rounder.
Unlike Weapon Masters who only used one weapon, an All-Rounder handled frontline combat, rear magic, and support in a single balanced package.
When someone grew perfectly and could stand alone on any battlefield, they were called an All-Rounder. If they fell behind, they were simply…
‘A useless loser. A total loser.’
Either way, it wasn’t good.
Still, I had two reasons for choosing All-Rounder.
The first was the most important. The second was minor.
‘I don’t know which stat will come over during inheritance.’
Even if I fixed my main weapon as a sword, if the lowest stat came over during regression…
Then I would be starting completely from scratch in the next timeline. And I would lose the stats I had inherited before.
That would be a huge loss.
So I chose All-Rounder, distributing all stats evenly.
The second reason was simple.
‘It’s not really anything.’
Yeah.
Compared to the first reason, it was nothing at all—utterly trivial.
Because I had no friends.
“…”
Right.
When I fought on the front line in the first timeline, I had no friends to handle rear and support. So I chose All-Rounder. But after thinking it over, it seemed like the right choice anyway.
Ah, no. The second reason wasn’t first. I had chosen All-Rounder because I thought of the first reason first.
Anyway.
“Sigh.”
Shaking off useless thoughts, I stood up. I had obviously regressed from the moment I was reincarnated, so it was time to move.
Today was the Academy’s graduation ceremony.
It was time to return as a first-year student.
Ah, this heavy, cool sensation…
Time to return as a true otaku!
@
The game always began with the Academy graduation ceremony.
Of course, even without the status window’s help, I could enter the Academy. Players couldn’t progress the game unless they enrolled.
I adjusted the collar of my now-familiar uniform after three years of wearing it. I walked calmly toward the auditorium where graduation ceremonies were held.
While walking, my mind kept racing.
The first timeline had failed miserably.
I hadn’t even died fighting the Demon God myself. I had died at the hands of the Salvation Sect leader long before that.
The main characters had reached the point of being unable to fight after battling the cult, and even if I had survived somehow, clearing the game would have been nearly impossible.
‘Then…’
This time I needed to change my approach.
The most promising way was…
‘To become friendly with the main characters and grow them, or at least ensure they still grew.’
One meeting with the Demon God had taught me that lesson.
No matter how many tricks I used or how hard I worked to raise my specs, I would only have about ten percent of my lifespan left to defeat the Demon God.
The final boss’s specs in this game were beyond imagination.
I needed to raise my specs and save as much lifespan as possible. To do that, I had to inevitably get involved with the main characters.
So at least twenty percent of my lifespan had to remain. Actually, more than that.
The straightforward method would never clear this game.
“Hah…”
Making friends was already tough for a gamer who only played online.
‘What should I do?’
First, sweeping up all the goblins like in the first timeline was the obvious next step.
In the process, I would have to give up some equipment or goblins meant for the main characters, but that was nothing compared to the bigger issue.
‘I have inheritance.’
Even the lowest stat would still bring at least fifty this time. All the benefits from absorbing every potion from the previous timeline would shine here.
Dividing some goblins would be covered by my stats, and the main characters’ stats would grow too, so I could get better results.
The problem was…
‘How do I make friends?’
I had played the game dozens of timelines, so I knew every personality and preference of the main characters.
But blindly giving them what they liked would get me labeled as a stalker and thrown in prison for sure.
Even if I failed this timeline, it was important to drag the game as far as possible and grow.
Hearing “regression” and “inheritance” sounded like cheats, but it was different in reality. The previous timeline would probably only help this one.
Since only a random portion of stats came over, thinking the next timeline would be better was naïve.
“…”
No matter how much I thought about it, nothing changed.
For now…
‘Let’s just handle the graduation ceremony properly.’
In any game, the graduation ceremony always came with events.
I looked at the huge auditorium building for a moment, then walked casually through the open door.
Inside the auditorium, it was chaos as usual.
Since it was filled with teenagers, that made sense.
Boys and girls of similar ages who had the talent to enter the Academy were each scanning faces and names, trying to make friends.
I yawned loudly and took a seat in the very back where no one would notice me.
Per the setting, I was the only survivor of a fallen noble family. Even though I was noble, with no living family or house left, it was a bit ambiguous to call me noble.
I didn’t know any students from other families, so no one knew me.
My entrance exam ranking was 289th out of 299 total students.
Numbering from the back was faster… and I had no connections with anyone.
In this situation, growing through steady training while setting aside all goblins, handling events, and becoming friendly with the main characters.
Then, together with the main characters, I would stop the Salvation Sect’s plan and eventually defeat the Demon God.
On paper, it was just another generic Academy water game. But the real reason for its popularity was the unique heroines and the stunning illustrations and videos.
The game had such incredible quality that it was said the production budget for illustrations and cutscenes was enough to make a movie. Just the illustrations floating around online were enough to draw in users.
I had started the game because I was drawn in by the illustrations, but I remembered being surprised by how high the difficulty was.
The illustrations and cutscenes were so good it felt like a prequel. But when I dug deeper, the game had a difficulty level close to Souls-like.
Because of all those complex elements, I had fallen hard for this game.
‘Anyway…’
Shaking off my thoughts, I looked toward the stage in the distance.
Students were busy with their own tasks and hadn’t noticed yet, but I still hadn’t seen the professors who needed to sit on the stage.
Confirming that the first graduation ceremony event was about to begin, I took a deep breath and touched the hilt of the sword at my waist.
In the first timeline, I had never participated in this event. That was because it was basically a tutorial event, and no one got hurt or died from it.
Even if it hadn’t been that, I hadn’t properly participated in the grade-related events at the Academy.
The words “didn’t participate properly” didn’t mean I skipped the exams. I simply hadn’t used my traits and truly engaged.
Of course, there were events that happened after getting decent exam scores, so I had always tried to stay in a good range.
I could have taken first place by using my traits properly, and that would have let me get entangled with the main characters.
But I hadn’t done it because…
‘I didn’t have the lifespan to waste on it.’
Even if I didn’t waste lifespan on useless tasks, the first timeline was hard to manage lifespan-wise.
The main characters had been weaker than I expected, and the Salvation Sect had been stronger than I predicted.
If I had created the character with proper traits, I would have had at least one ‘genius’ trait and the story would have been smoother.
But I had already learned through experience that no combination of perfect blessings could bring me to a clear.
Because of the Curse of Equivalent Exchange, I had to use my traits carefully or I couldn’t clear the main quests.
‘I also wasted too much power early on by not figuring out my traits correctly.’
But this timeline was different.
I had all the past senses and experience, and I already understood my own traits perfectly.
Thanks to that, I had a bit of leeway. So in the second timeline, I thought differently.
‘…I’m interfering in every single event.’
Even on the front lines.
So I would introduce myself, get everything,
starting from grades, to honor and power.
I had made up my mind to use every possible means to clear the game.