episode_0017

The guys from the Laflacsia Research Institute only gave me bad memories.

Because of the disgusting pseudo-formula they gave me as meals, I didn’t touch white milk for a long time even after escaping.

Also, I had bad dreams there every night.

One night, someone pulled out my spine and stole it, then mocked me, saying, ‘Your spine has been replaced with cash, any complaints?’

And another night, I experienced daily nightmares where someone claiming to be a descendant of Hua Tuo tried to cut off my head with a chainsaw to cure my headache.

Fortunately, the frequency of these dreams decreased somewhat after I came to Kalia’s house.

However, the bald director’s reckless delusion provided me with an option. I carefully took out the document I had kept in an envelope and checked it again.

‘They’re letting me in through a special admission. Could there be another school this easy to get into?’

The day after I arrived at the Brotherhood’s residence, I immediately looked at this document.

When I took out the document, I saw the words ` ` written in huge letters.

‘Polaris Comprehensive Academy?’

I had never heard of such a place among the academies where the protagonist primarily operated within the storyline.

The main settings in the game were places like or . All the main playable characters also came from there.

But I had never heard the name Polaris before.

After becoming a girl, my mind had already dulled, so memories from before my transmigration didn’t come easily. I thought for a long time.

It was only after I looked up a map later that the memory came back to me.

This school appears in the game as a location called .

It’s a dungeon set in a ruined school.

‘This school is ruined!’

According to a brief setting in the game, a massive portal opened at the school as a result of a secret experiment conducted by a certain clan.

As a result, most of the academy’s students were exposed to lethal aether waves, their brains melted, and they became ghouls. The school, infested with aether, was sealed off, having been transformed into an otherworldly place.

Some of the playable characters were students who survived this incident and transferred out.

Realizing this, I immediately put the document away. I checked, and it was still intact and hadn’t been ruined yet.

However, if my prediction was correct, Polaris Comprehensive Academy had a high probability of becoming a horror theme park, swarming with demonic beasts and student ghouls, sometime in the future between now and the main story.

‘There’s no need to willingly walk into a death trap!’

Moreover, when I asked Kalia, the school’s image wasn’t very good.

“Polaris Comprehensive Academy? I heard it’s large and many kids from good families go there?… But I also heard it’s too strict. The school atmosphere… is said to be close to military style?”

To cross-check, I went online and looked for reviews of the school.

But all the reviews were strange.

-‘It’s such a great school!’

-‘The solidarity between seniors and juniors is strong!’

-‘A family-like atmosphere!’

-‘You’ll mature if you go there!’

It was filled with too many good words, making it unbelievable. It was suspicious in many ways. Did they hire people to write fake reviews?

So, at first, I just intended to live off the Brotherhood.

Kalia and the aunts and uncles of the Brotherhood also reacted somewhat positively to me living with them.

First, I couldn’t just be a freeloader while living with them, so I thought about finding a part-time job. After everyone left for work in the mornings, I diligently sought out jobs for several days.

But a problem arose.

I had forgotten one very important fact.

“Oh? You saw the announcement and came? Great, could you show me your student ID?”

“You look like a hard worker. Which academy are you from, student?”

“Which school did you come from?”

“First, let’s see your student ID?”

The fact that this was an Academy City.

Rustrum was an Academy City established for the purpose of gathering and educating awakeners from all over the world.

Aside from corporations, research institutes, factories, hunters belonging to various clans, students and personnel supporting them, and people doing business with students, the vast majority of the population were all students belonging to academies.

Therefore, the ID card in this city practically meant a student ID. It wasn’t that there were no other ID cards or means of identification, but the overwhelming majority relied on student IDs.

Just as cards are essential in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, having a student ID is considered natural in Rustrum.

If you don’t have a student ID? That person is essentially a credit defaulter or an illegal immigrant. You can’t find any work.

Later, when I asked Kalia at home, she was surprised and then got very angry.

“Violet! You idiot! Does it make sense to just go look for a part-time job by yourself without a student ID? What if some weirdos grab you then?”

“I’ll be fine! I’ll just run away really fast or hit them on the head with this hammer.”

“What do you mean you’ll be fine! Ugh, seriously…”

From what I heard, the only jobs available to someone without a student ID were difficult and demanding labor, or illegal entertainment-related work. Even then, it was common for wages to be withheld.

“Wait, Kalia, do you have a student ID then?”

“Of course! Where do you think I’ve been since this morning?”

Surprisingly, Kalia had a student ID. In the main story, she had dropped out of school and was working as a freelance hunter, but here, she was still a student. Now she was apparently taking a leave of absence to go to a dungeon or something.

Yes, dungeons, that was the biggest problem.

There was something else I couldn’t do without a student ID.

“Dungeons? You can’t even properly handle your magic yet. Are you planning to go there with just your unique ability?”

“Yes! You saw me at the research institute. I can fight well enough.”

I had fallen into the world of a game. And I had transmigrated to a time before the main story. So what should I do first?

It made sense to loot hidden pieces and main items first. So, I tried to enter a dungeon.

“You know they won’t let you into a dungeon without a student ID, right?”

“Waaah…”

But here, too, you needed a student ID.

After taking the time to look into it, there was another way. I could get a hunter’s license.

However, the license was subscription-based, so it wasn’t free. You had to pay money to a local clan at regular intervals to renew the qualification, and there were also restrictions on the number of entries and accessible locations.

In contrast, a student ID, for some reason, had no restrictions. Truly an Academy City.

In the end, I decided to go to the academy. I mean, in the worst-case scenario, I could just run back to the Brotherhood, right?

When I told Kalia and the Brotherhood members about my decision to go to the academy, everyone initially expressed concern. It seemed they were worried because I was in the body of a young girl.

“The guys from the research institute registered you, right? Isn’t that dangerous then?”

Uncle Marco with the mohawk worried.

“The Laflacsia guys might track you.”

Kalia warned.

“Will you be able to eat properly?”

Auntie Pola worried.

I gave reasons like the necessity of a student ID within the bounds of what I could say, but these people refuted me with various reasons. There was even a suggestion for the Brotherhood members to introduce me to their workplaces so I could work safely there.

But I tried my best to persuade them.

“Thank you all for worrying! But I need a student ID. And…”

I took out my clone #2 and bounced around.

“I want to become strong!”

Kalia crossed her arms.

“Alright, that’s all fine and good. But Polaris Comprehensive Academy is in the western region. If you get into trouble, it’ll be hard for us to help you right away. Will you be okay with that?”

“That’s fine! I checked, and Polaris is said to have the most security personnel among the academies in Rustrum. And the area around the academy is managed with the most care by the clans, so even a corporation like Laflacsia won’t be able to just barge in.”

“Right, the clan managing the western district doesn’t get along with them. But what about tuition?”

“I called earlier and confirmed that the first semester’s tuition has already been deposited. And I can quickly earn the rest of the tuition by exploring dungeons later. Most importantly, they provide both dormitory and meals! They even give you a school uniform when you go, apparently?”

Kalia suddenly lowered her head and looked me in the eyes.

“…Are you really sure?”

“Yep!”

I clung on to the end, finally persuading everyone and reassuring them.

Thinking about it carefully, I wondered if the Brotherhood members just reluctantly gave in.

***

And at the end of August, I packed my bags and finally took an express bus heading west.

At first, I said I’d go alone, but Kalia, worried about me, came along. We traveled for over a day.

Beneath the hazy gray sky stood a large main gate, reminiscent of a fortress. In the game, it was a ruined wreck, but seeing it intact gave me a new feeling.

Kalia held my hand tightly with both of hers and said,

“Violet, if anything bad happens, you *must* contact me! And don’t ignore my messages! Got it?”

“Of course! And Kalia, I’m not a child. Stop treating me like one!…”

I showed her the used smartphone I had picked up at the Brotherhood headquarters — I had already sold the things I picked up from the research institute due to the risk of tracking.

“You say you’re not a child, but you don’t even wear proper underwear?”

Kalia said bluntly and lightly poked my chest with her finger. I gasped and turned my head.

“But, they didn’t give me things like bras at the research institute…”

Suddenly wearing underwear I had never worn in my life felt awkward and uncomfortable. So I used to walk around the house comfortably just wearing a top, but then the uncles would cough awkwardly and look away.

By the time I belatedly understood why, I was facing Kalia pulling me aside and lecturing me.

Wearing a bra was too uncomfortable, and after a suitable compromise, I just wore an oversized sports bra. Kalia also mainly wore one for activity, so she didn’t say much about it.

“Make sure you wear what I packed for you! Or you’ll be in trouble! Don’t go around braless like you did at home, and especially be careful of male students’ gazes. Your chest is quite prominent, you know?”

“Okay!”

I pulled the suitcase that the Brotherhood members had carefully prepared for me and headed towards the entrance. I saw many other students besides myself. It reminded me of my old school days.

Perhaps it was more similar to the entrance of Nonsan Training Center.

Because while Awakener Academies teach various subjects, they are fundamentally closer to military academies where one learns combat and tactics.

I turned and walked through the main gate, when Kalia suddenly pressed an envelope into my hand.

“What’s this…?”

“I couldn’t put much in. But it should be enough for pocket money.”

“Oh? Wait! Take it back! I’m fine!”

My face hardened. Wait, I don’t need this. I couldn’t possibly not know the Brotherhood’s situation, pouring money into finding Kalia’s missing uncle.

As I tried to give it back, Kalia took her characteristic quick steps and pulled back.

“Make sure to open an account when you get your student ID. I’ll deposit money little by little!”

“Ah! Wait…”

She waved from afar. I saw her pink bob swaying in the wind as she moved away.

My heart felt restless.

This really feels like going to the army…

***

The academies in the Academy City pursue diverse curricula and pedagogical methodologies according to their individual characteristics. However, educational systems like the academic calendar and some educational content are managed in an integrated manner for the implementation of the grand objective: preventing interdimensional invasion. Thus, all academies operate on a September semester system.

It was still a long way until the semester officially began. According to the schedule guide, student IDs would only be given out after the entrance ceremony.

For now, it was time to find the dormitory and unpack my belongings.

‘With this, would the Brotherhood and Kalia be even a little safer?’

While staying at the Brotherhood’s residence, something came to mind as I reviewed my knowledge of the game’s lore.

Violet, the Witch of Limitless, is an executive of the Obsidian Legion.

The Obsidian Legion is a notorious terrorist organization within the Academy City.

I used the term “terrorist,” but they are different from the cowardly bullies commonly associated with the word “terror” – poor Middle Easterners with AK rifles, or those who shoot at schoolchildren and throw bombs.

The Obsidian Legion is a professional military organization operating helicopters, vehicles, and advanced equipment. They could be compared to a certain mercenary group run by a former Russian chef. The name “Legion” isn’t attached to them for no reason.

For terrorists, their scale is surprisingly large, but there aren’t many revealed settings about them.

And, the Witch of Limitless is one of the axes that marks the cruel finale of the main story’s Part 1.

When I saw the identity of the soldiers who stormed the research institute, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Before the main story, Obsidian Legion forces raided the place where this body, ‘Violet,’ was imprisoned in the research institute.

And a few years later, Violet becomes an executive of the Obsidian Legion and commits mass murder.

Was this a coincidence? Could it be that Violet was recruited during that raid and became a villain? Perhaps the Obsidian guys, coveting my unique ability, might have launched the attack.

And if those guys tracked me down, that would be the worst. They were far more persistent than most corporations or clans. And they were incredibly strong.

What if the Obsidian guys raided the Brotherhood’s residence? They definitely wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Including the general commander, there are seven main executives; in the main story, two more executives appear besides Violet.

‘Sycamore the Indomitable and Archer Calyx… was it?’

These two are Violet’s superiors. And since the identities or abilities of the other executives have never been revealed, I don’t know them.

Of course, I might be overreacting, but you never know.

Therefore, I need to learn how to handle magic at this school and collect the hidden items within this academy. That way, I can improve my abilities. That is my primary goal.

I finished submitting the documents at the administration office. As expected, there were no problems since I had checked them multiple times. After receiving a few instructions, I headed to the dormitory.

‘Whatever happens, right now, I am Violet, the good female student!’

The wicked witch who murdered innocent students and decapitated a woman close to the protagonist – either a comrade or a lover – for the purpose of provocation, will not exist in the future. Because I won’t live that way!

‘Come to think of it, who was that woman the witch killed?’

Oh dear, memories from before my transmigration keep not coming to mind. What was her name?

She was a kind and altruistic girl with silver hair and blue eyes.

Due to the protagonist’s gender-selectable nature, she became a close friend if the protagonist was female, and a character close enough to be in a ‘situationship’ if the protagonist was male.

She helped the protagonist with various things, showered them with items, and cheered them on diligently. That’s why she was extremely popular among users. Everyone also looked forward to her being released as a playable character.

But ta-da, the wicked witch cut off her head in the later parts!

The moment the story updated like that, communities worldwide exploded. It was also the moment when public opinion about the Witch of Limitless turned completely around.

But the future has changed. By this body, by True-Violet, that is. Hehe.

“Doobie-doo-doo-doom~”

I hummed as I went up to the dormitory.

According to the information I received, the dormitory rooms are for two people. I have a roommate, but who could it be? I hope it’s a beautiful girl like me.

A moment later, I came face to face with a girl who had already arrived in the dorm room and was unpacking. The girl saw me and greeted me.

“Hello?”

She was a girl with long, shimmering silver hair and clear, blue eyes.

“Wow… so pretty…!”

I exclaimed. The girl, hearing my words, looked blank for a moment before her face turned red.

“Huh… umm…?”

Even her flustered expression was pretty. But, she looks very familiar…