Ch.0The Day the Inhibitor Broke

Tap, tap.

The hard sound of shoes echoed regularly through the hallway. Even on the day of leaving the academy, not a single emotion of disturbance could be felt.

Just, so this happened to me.

It felt like watching someone else’s life from a distance. Some might call it escapism, but honestly, there was nothing beyond that level of sentiment.

At the end of the long corridor, at the entrance, a woman waited for me with her arms crossed.

Elegantly flowing blonde hair, tied at the end and draped over her shoulder, reaching down to her chest.

The warm sunlight pouring down seemed to exist solely as lighting to enhance her beauty.

“Erika Bright.”

I spat out her name. Erika displayed a twisted smile bordering on mockery as she crossed her arms.

“How do you feel?”

“Hmm.”

What answer would satisfy her? I pondered briefly, but Erika interrupted, tapping her fingers while keeping her arms crossed.

“How does it feel to be kicked out of the academy? Because of your fiancée, no less.”

“Ah, that.”

I’m sorry.

With my emotions so worn thin, such elaborate descriptions are difficult.

“It’s refreshing.”

I said with a slight smile.

Crunch.

Erika twisted her lips, suppressed a hot breath, and bit her teeth.

“So you know how to smile?”

“……”

“Try smiling more often from now on. Maybe then you wouldn’t have been betrayed by someone like me.”

Uncrossing her arms and clenching her fists, Erika brushed past me. The fresh scent of oranges noticeably tickled my nose as she passed.

“Get lost. Don’t ever come into my life again.”

I briefly watched Erika walking away with her back turned, then nodded slightly.

“I’ll try.”

Tap, tap.

Once again, with the same footsteps as usual, I stepped outside the academy.

Perhaps because it was still vacation period, the academy was eerily quiet.

Slowly turning around, I stared blankly at the academy.

Dozens, hundreds of evil spirits roaming between the massive academy buildings.

They all began waving at me in unison, cackling and laughing.

[I should have gouged out your eyes! I should have put your luscious black pupils in my eyes!]

[Someday I’ll cut off your limbs and drink your blood like wine!]

[Freedom! Freedom! It’s freedoooom!]

[Kihihihi!]

[With six hands I’ll dig out your entrails, put them in nine mouths, and chew them with one hundred and eighty teeth!]

[This place will now become the dwelling of ghosts, the resting place of the dead!]

“What a pitiful place.”

Robern Academy, the setting of the game “Retry.” The place where the game’s protagonist, main characters, and supporting characters fight together.

Unfortunately, Robern had an excessive number of ghosts, and the reason was simple.

It was built on a mass grave of those who died and were buried nameless.

I heard it was meant to be a building with symbolic significance, not bound by the past but serving as a stepping stone and cornerstone toward the future.

“Tsk.”

The game’s main story hasn’t even begun yet.

I clicked my tongue, remembering how much I struggled to stop those evil spirits.

“It’s done.”

Listening to the curses of the evil spirits, I turned my steps.

“Every choice must be followed by responsibility.”

As I stepped out through the academy’s main gate, the screams and laughter of the evil spirits grew even more intense behind me.

From my perspective, with memories of my past life, I knew exactly how to describe this situation.

The restraints on the evil spirits had been broken.