Chapter 2: Sixth Entrance Ceremony

After washing up, I changed my clothes.

[‘Mental Healing’ is permanently activated.]

I skillfully put on the suit that had been prepared in my wardrobe.

This makes it my sixth first start.

That’s right.

I have lived through this morning six times already.

“Haha…”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

But the emotion that burst out wasn’t despair.

It was exhilaration.

Ding!

[Find true love and embrace a happy fate!]

The mission message that rings out every time I wake up on the first morning appeared once again.

I smirked as I looked at it.

“Screw that.”

True love?

That’s not my goal in this round.

No, does true love even exist in this world?

If anything, there’s love that pretends to be true—only to stab you in the back.

That was the truth I had learned.

And the truth for them was that there were five male leads who were better men than me.

That’s why, this time, I won’t be deceived by that truth.

“This time, I’ll be the one doing the backstabbing.”

Otherwise, I’d be letting down my past self.

The one who suffered, who ultimately died in agony.

The one whose death was meaningless.

Even if this round ends in a bad ending, I don’t care.

Ah, did they say that Easy Mode doesn’t have any regression perks?

Doesn’t matter.

If anything, I’d welcome the end of this damn regression.

“I’m heading out.”

“Alright, do your best, Emil.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“Brother… You must come back.”

“Fufu, Airi. I’m just going to the academy. No need to worry.”

This was my sixth farewell to my family.

After this, I would never see them again.

In the end, my sister’s worries were right.

She saw me off with a face as if she were sending me to war.

My mother comforted her, patting her head, telling her not to worry.

But, Mother.

My sister’s fears will become reality.

Because in the past five rounds, I never made it back home.

But this time, it will be different.

“Don’t worry, Airi.”

“I’ll definitely come back.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Of course, it’ll still be a bad ending.

But a bad ending doesn’t necessarily mean death.

It could be a lonely, lifelong bachelor ending.

That would be fine.

I’d live as my dear sister’s steadfast guardian.

After that, I boarded the carriage and headed to the academy.

***

“Whew…”

Stepping down from the carriage, I casually made my way to the academy’s front gate.

Reveil Academy.

Normally, it would be natural to feel nervous at the start of this academy journey.

‘But I’ve technically been here for five years, so there’s nothing nerve-wracking about it.’

I walked in as if I had passed through these halls just yesterday.

Soon, I spotted the countless applicants.

All of them had gathered here to take the entrance exam.

Every single one of them was a talented individual from the empire or foreign lands.

But among them, four particular people stood out to me.

‘There they are.’

A pink-haired girl awkwardly looking around like an idiot.

A blonde delinquent folding his arms and glaring at his surroundings.

A mint-haired guy grinning excitedly while scanning the crowd.

A blue-haired girl sitting on the ground with a vacant expression.

‘As expected, she’s not here.’

The fifth one wasn’t present.

Since she was a second-year student, she wouldn’t be at the entrance exam.

She was probably in the dorms or back home.

Regardless.

I engraved the first meeting with them into my mind before nonchalantly shifting my gaze away.

At the same time, an announcer stepped forward and began shouting something.

“We will now begin the Reveil Academy Entrance Exam.”

Right on schedule, the test had begun.

‘This is getting old.’

This was my sixth time taking this test.

By the second round, I had already reached the passing threshold with ease.

So, getting in wasn’t an issue.

But.

‘This time, let’s do things differently.’

Unlike before, where my goal was simply to enter, this time, my objective revolved around the five heroines.

And entrance exam scores contribute to their affection points.

So, achieving high marks would be advantageous.

“Now, let the exam begin.”

The test was divided into three parts:

Written exam, interview, and physical assessment.

Rustle… Rustle…

I took my seat and received the exam papers being handed out.

‘Before, I treated myself as just an extra and didn’t take it seriously, but… this time, I’m going all out.’

As soon as I received the test, I immediately started solving the questions.

Of course, as someone who suddenly possessed Emil’s body, I didn’t actually know most of the exam’s content.

Some questions even covered the history of the Reveil Empire.

But thanks to the convenience of possession—

Emil already knew the answers.

So, all I had to do was dig into his past knowledge and make use of it.

But then.

‘Wait… why is this so easy…?’

The questions were too easy.

I used to struggle with math and magic calculations.

Yet, now, I found the answers the moment I read the questions.

Scratch, scratch…

As a result, I finished the written exam thirty minutes earlier than everyone else.

‘What’s going on…?’

Resting my chin on my hand, I pondered deeply.

Had I memorized the answers after repeating the test six times…?

No, the questions changed slightly in each round, so memorization wasn’t the answer.

That left two possibilities.

‘It’s either a perk of regression… or the difficulty has been lowered.’

Maybe it was both.

I smirked.

Either way, this was a good thing.

Thanks to this, my entrance exam scores would be excellent.

After that, I proceeded with the interview and the physical test.

Of course, thanks to the trait [Sweet Voice], I easily charmed and convinced the interviewers in an instant.

With the influence of the trait [Blossoming Talent], I achieved results in the physical test that I had never even come close to before.

A few days later—

“Freshman Representative, Emil Tier.”

I had earned the top score in the entrance exam and was selected as the freshman representative for the entrance ceremony.

‘This is getting interesting…?’

I thought this process would be unbearably dull, given that this was my sixth time going through it.

But it was turning out to be quite entertaining.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…

As the sound of applause filled the hall, I stood up and walked toward the podium.

Then, I could hear whispers from the crowd.

“Wow… that guy’s the top student?”

“Doesn’t he have a nice vibe?”

“He’s handsome.”

“Huh? Not handsome—he’s cute.”

“Hmmm~, but he has quite the charisma too…”

Was this the influence of [Blossoming Talent], or was it just because I was the freshman representative?

Their voices came through loud and clear.

Handsome, cute, charismatic.

Those were words I had never once heard in my past five rounds.

‘Just how much easier has this become?’

It was almost ridiculous.

“In the breath of spring, where new life begins to bloom…”

Following the freshman representative speech, I subtly scanned the audience.

From a distance, everyone looked similar.

But a few individuals stood out.

The five heroines. The five male protagonists.

And finally—

The protagonist of this game, Sierra.

‘…Huh?’

But something was strange about Sierra’s expression.

While the other heroines and male protagonists either looked indifferent or mildly curious about me—

She was staring at me with a sulky look on her face.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…

‘…What the hell?’

Even in my past five regressions, Sierra had never looked at me like that.

To begin with, I had focused on the villainous heroines, so I had little to no interaction with Sierra.

Because of that, even as I stepped down from the podium, I remained conscious of her.

She was still staring at me with that same sullen expression.

After the freshman welcome ceremony—

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

She suddenly spoke to me.

Not one of the five heroines.

Not one of the male protagonists.

But Sierra, the original protagonist of this world.

“Do you… know me?”

“What? You literally just gave a speech at the welcome ceremony.”

“Oh… right.”

I blurted out a dumb question out of surprise.

With so many things different in this regression, for a moment, I wondered if Emil’s past had also changed and made him acquainted with Sierra.

But if that wasn’t the case, why was she talking to me?

This was the first time in all my regressions that she had approached me first.

In the past, Sierra only acknowledged me when she was involved with one of the heroines I was targeting.

Yet now, she stood confidently in front of me, arms crossed, looking me straight in the eye.

Me.

The same Emil Tier that she hadn’t paid a single ounce of attention to in the past five rounds.

“Anyway, nice speech. You weren’t nervous at all.”

“…Thanks.”

“I’m Sierra. And you’re Emil, right? The top student this year.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m the runner-up.”

Sierra said that as she extended her hand toward me.

“What?”

“I’m the second-place student. If you weren’t here, I’d be the top student.”

“I mean, I figured, but…”

“Then what are you waiting for? Shake.”

She waved her hand again.

She wanted a handshake.

I slowly took her hand and shook it, lost in thought.

‘So becoming the top student connects me to Sierra…?’

I hadn’t anticipated this at all.

…I have no interest in you, though.

“Fufu, anyway, let’s get along. We’ll probably be seeing each other a lot.”

Unlike me, who was utterly perplexed, Sierra gave me a playful wave and walked away.