Chapter 6: Admission Welcome Party – 1

I woke up early in the morning, washed up, and put on my Eden uniform neatly over my refreshed skin.

I was getting ready to attend the welcome ceremony starting at 9 a.m. It was actually a disguised test of survival skills under the guise of an entrance ceremony.

Professors would explain everything later, but it was to observe how we handle sudden emergencies.

“The Grand Hall is quite far away.”

I stood in front of the elevator, passing the time by checking the Eden Guide app on my phone.

The elevator was busy going up and down, as everyone was bustling around since early morning.

Of course, given the size of the building, there were several elevators.

Like any other elevator, the one I took to go down was going up continuously, picking up passengers from the top floor downwards.

It’s the basic algorithm of elevators.

Suddenly, I thought that if I mindlessly took the elevator, someone might recognize me from the lower floors.

“Hmm… I should do this.”

I unfolded the barrier with perception interference similar to what I used with Gungnir.

If nobody noticed the perception interference when I used Gungnir, then my body would probably receive the same effect.

Ding

With the alert sound, the elevator arrived.

I boarded and pressed the first floor.

It stopped almost at every floor, quickly filling up with students heading to the welcome ceremony.

After waiting for a little over a minute, the elevator finally reached the first floor.

Ding Dong

“First floor.”

The elevator’s announcement sounded as the firmly closed doors opened.

Like water released from a clogged drain, students packed tightly together poured out.

Even I, squeezed in the innermost part, managed to get out last.

“I was worried about getting lost, but I didn’t need to.”

Although the layout of the map shown by the Eden Guide app looked exactly like the mini-map of Eden I saw in the game, I still felt concerned about unexpected situations.

While the mini-map in the game indicated where my character was, the real-world map didn’t.

However, seeing students walking towards the Grand Hall, I felt it would be okay to quietly follow them.

“More importantly, Australia looks completely different from what I knew.”

As I looked at various landscape photos on the Eden Guide app, I suddenly had that feeling.

Unlike the mostly barren deserts of Australia I knew, the Australian continent of this world was as fertile as any lush pastureland.

It was the most fertile and blessed land on Earth, surpassing even the “Great Lakes Region” of North America, which was reduced to mere ruins in this era.

Despite having abundant resources, the United States of the time was just a small faction because it lacked the World Tree.

“I never expected the land to change so drastically just because a tree grew.”

The reason for the rapid change in the Australian continent of this era. Rather than changes in the Earth’s climate or environment, it was because of the World Tree that grew in the middle of the desert.

“Nobody really knows much about that amazing tree, though.”

The true identity and origin of the World Tree remain unknown to the masses of this world.

It’s just a tree with tremendous magical power, which makes the land fertile.

“The land became fertile thanks to the vast magical power of the World Tree, but it’s so vast that it affects organisms and the atmosphere excessively.”

That was the setting.

Unlike the cases of Africa and the Arctic destroyed by the vast magical power of dungeons, the benign magical power of the World Tree turned the deserts of the continent into fertile land where milk and honey flowed.

Just by breathing, one’s magical energy circuits would gradually grow, and the total amount of innate magical power would increase over time.

This era became a paradise where magic dominated the world, and it became the main base for conquering dungeons around the world.

That’s why Eden was built around the World Tree, to guarantee an exceptional growth rate beyond the norm.

“Although Africa and the Arctic might be the same in terms of the setting, anyone who enters those places would die in an instant.”

Dungeons were not just any place that humans had not reclaimed.

Even after four years of harsh training in Eden to become a promising hunter, and even after becoming a seasoned veteran with years of experience, one couldn’t guarantee survival there.

As if to prove that fact, the majority of Eden’s retired professors had retired due to injuries sustained in dungeons all over the world.

While half a century ago, nations around the world were moving to reclaim territories humans had not yet regained, now they were focusing on maintaining the situation in dungeons.

It was a place where reality poured cold water on humanity’s once blazing flame of hope.

That was the uncharted territory of humanity in this world.

“As the story progresses, many things will change… but that’s a story for the distant future.”

The welcome ceremony for admission hasn’t even started yet.

At least half a year must pass before the prelude to a shocking incident that will shake the world begins to unfold, one by one.

Well, I still have plenty of time.

From now on, I’ll strive to gain enough strength to safely reach the end, even if it means risking my own life.

The next few years are enough time to complete such preparations.

Once again, steeling my resolve, I headed towards the grand hall.

“Wow…”

The moment I entered the grand hall, admiration escaped involuntarily.

The huge hall was adorned with pristine white and sparkling gold.

Calling it the grand hall was no exaggeration.

That thought naturally crossed my mind.

“It’s incredible.”

The chandeliers on the ceiling and the glass ornaments resembled those of medieval palaces, yet the overall design was modern.

It exuded luxurious yet restrained modernity.

It was contradictory, but there was no other way to describe it.

The splendor of the Middle Ages, where each displayed their elegance, intertwined with the clean charm of modernity.

The grand hall at the center of the grand hall embraced this refined atmosphere.

The grandeur that had been overshadowed by the beauty of the hall now spread throughout the grand hall.

“I knew the grand hall was magnificent, but I didn’t expect it to be this extravagant.”

It’s a fresh shock.

Before the possession, such places of high society gatherings, rarely seen except in dramas or movies.

The grand hall of Eden showed me more than that, making me realize how ordinary I, a commoner, was.

“That’s fantasy magic. I thought a gate to Eden had really opened.”

“That’s right. I didn’t feel anything strange even while fighting.”

By the time I arrived, new students were already chatting about various topics everywhere.

Finally shaking off my stupor and moving my frozen legs, I joined the crowd.

Even characters familiar from games as NPCs were rare to see.

Interestingly, they were saying the same things as they did in the game through speech bubbles above their heads.

“I rushed here thinking it was the entrance ceremony. Turns out it was just a declaration.”

“To be honest, those who were frozen in shock should quietly adapt. Let me be the first to raise my hand.”

Nevertheless, now that it had become reality, there were more conversations about the entrance ceremony than I expected.

I didn’t know the faces of these newcomers, but their conversations definitely made me realize that this world was real.

It wasn’t just a world where backgrounds and characters from games existed.

It was a world with a history that continued, where each person’s life became a story.

“I never thought about it before, but I have to make sure not to dismiss this world as just a game in the future.”

The human mind is like a reed; there’s always a possibility.

I made that promise to myself in my heart.

Still, since I’m already at the grand hall, I should enjoy the party.

I started to explore the grand hall in earnest.

“Come to think of it, separate from the entrance exam, I heard that this declaration ceremony will be reflected in our admission grades.”

“Wow, seriously? Then whoever reacted quickly this time will definitely have an advantage, right?”

“It might just be a bonus, though. It probably won’t overshadow the entrance exam.”

Some newcomers seemed to have picked up rumors about the declaration ceremony quickly.

Listening to the various conversations of the newcomers, I looked around the grand hall.

High-quality food and drinks were lined up on tables covered in pure white tablecloths, and pleasant classical music flowed.

It truly was a gathering of the world’s upper class.

It was exactly the kind of place where that phrase fit.

“But is this really the level of conversation for twenty-year-olds?”

As I listened to the various conversations of the newcomers, I couldn’t help but feel a gap.

I, a 24-year-old in his twenties who had recently returned to school after military service, felt somewhat alienated, despite being close in age.

The reason was simple.

It was the sense of alienation stemming from differences in status.

Except for me, most of the newcomers at Eden were born into the upper class of this world.

No matter where I looked, they were all either children of well-known conglomerate families or high-ranking individuals.

If someone didnt belong to either side, they were heirs of distinguished Hunter families.

There were those who were purely evaluated based on their abilities and potential, but they were few.

“I’m feeling it hard.”

Should I call it fortunate amidst unhappiness?

The banquet hall wasn’t filled with the conversations typical of the upper class.

Have you decided on which subjects to take?

How should one impress the professors?

This professor was famous in their field, and now they’ve become a professor at Eden.

Various conversations that one might expect in a typical university setting arose.

However, discussions about the current world affairs or glimpses of promising families or companies were not uncommon.

There were also moments of camaraderie while exchanging information.

No, perhaps that’s just normal.

Eden’s disciples.

Among all the humans in this era, those gathered here are the most exceptional, with the highest potential.

Trained since infancy to seize the opportunity to become the cornerstone of the next era in Eden, they are an elite group.

And I, too, am one of Eden’s disciples.

There’s no need to feel intimidated in a place like this.

With that resolve, I indulged in various dishes at the banquet hall, engulfed in a sense of happiness.

Ding!

Like the striking of a staff on wooden floor, a crisp sound reverberated throughout the hall.

“Seems like you’re thoroughly enjoying Eden’s welcome party.”

A man appeared suddenly at the vacant podium.

The origin of the staff sound was the contact between his staff and the floor of the podium.

Clad in a white shirt, black pants, and a somewhat tattered robe, the man commanded attention effortlessly.

All the disciples in the hall naturally turned their gaze to him.

As the robe covering his head was pushed back, his silver hair and the blue walls behind him were revealed.

‘He is finally here.’

In place of the externally reclusive Otinuus, the man responsible for managing Eden, the Vice Chancellor, a master of spatial magic, of mysterious identity, known by various enigmatic titles, also Eden’s unique active hunter, ‘Odd Spatium.’

With his appearance, the official welcoming ceremony for new students at Eden commenced.