Entrance Ceremony (2)

“Vice President, Lizzie Lynn August.”

The sudden mention of a familiar name snapped me out of my daze.

Lizzie Lynn August.

Though I couldn’t quite remember her during our first meeting, she was now someone I could recall vividly enough to leave a lasting impression.

She was the eldest daughter of the August family and the older sister of Karaham, the mid-boss of Part 3.

‘…How the hell did she get enrolled?!’

As far as I knew, Lizzie had always been a girl with only mediocre talent for magic.

That’s why she had taken the Academy’s Magic Department entrance exam last year, but I thought she had failed without achieving decent results.

So I never expected to see her at the Academy again, and even if we did meet, I never imagined it would be within the Academy’s walls.

Whatever her scheme was, seeing her officially enrolled-and not in the Magic Department but the Pharmacy Department-left me momentarily stunned.

‘Should I consider this good news…?’

At the very least, ranking second in the Pharmacy Department meant she was somewhat capable, so it was safe to say the Academy’s overall strength had increased.

Of course, the Pharmacy Department was a non-combat division, so unless she was as skilled as Lara, the top student, the impact wouldn’t be that noticeable.

For a brief moment, I even wondered if this was just an unbelievable coincidence-a case of mistaken identity. But soon, a familiar voice shattered that last possibility.

“Sister! It really is you! You’ve brought honor to the August family in my stead…!”

“Shut up and wait quietly, you’re embarrassing me…!”

Hearing the unmistakable voices of the August siblings from a distance, I had no choice but to accept reality.

Ultimately, my actions during the Imperial Palace assault incident had altered the student pool of Luminor Academy.

At least in Ethan’s case, the change was clearly for the better, so I figured Lizzie’s situation was similar.

Lost in thought, I absentmindedly stared at the stage as a young lady with sky-blue hair began ascending the podium.

As I blankly followed her path with my eyes, I suddenly felt an odd sensation-as if our gazes had met.

-Wink.

“……?”

…Did she just wink at me?

Nah, no way. She must have been exchanging greetings with someone else nearby.

After all, I was dressed completely differently from that day, and when I first met Lizzie, I had been wearing a mask that covered half my face.

Even if we had met and talked before, it was nearly impossible for her to recognize me at a glance.

So I shifted my gaze elsewhere, and before I knew it, familiar names were being called for the remaining top students of the Theology Department.

Watching the “Fake Saint Celista” ascend as the Theology Department’s top student, I finally confirmed that the story was still progressing as intended in other aspects.

‘At least they’re properly recognizing Celista as the Saint.’

In the prologue, one of the most critical factors determining the game’s difficulty was whether Celista was acknowledged as the Saint or not.

If she was recognized as the real Saint, the game became easier; if she was exposed as a fake and excommunicated, the difficulty spiked.

The reason for the easier difficulty was simple: Celista, grateful to the protagonist for saving her from excommunication, would follow them around like a devoted healer throughout the journey.

In fact, after this event, Celista essentially became a freebie character who didn’t even count toward the party member limit.

Having an extra healer capable of area-wide healing and buffs would naturally make the game significantly easier.

‘If they kept Celista alive, maybe they’re seriously trying to clear the game.’

I might need to revise my earlier assessment of that “Gyeotmwa” guy.

While Silena’s presence could be chalked up to coincidence, recognizing Celista instead of excommunicating her was a mistake many first-time players made.

Contrary to expectations, excommunicating Celista didn’t lead to finding the real Saint-instead, players were left without a healer, forced to struggle alone.

By the time the choice to excommunicate her came up, the real Saint, Lilith, had already been subjected to all sorts of conditioning by Ethan, losing her qualifications.

Since Lilith couldn’t be recruited as the Saint anyway, keeping Celista was always the better option.

No healer matching her stats appeared until much later in the game, and even awakened Celista was objectively a strong character.

‘If the protagonist is really a transmigrator seriously trying to clear the game, maybe I should have a proper talk with them.’

Lost in thought, I looked up at the stage as Princess Seraphine, the top student among all freshmen, began her speech.

I sat quietly, listening to her address while waiting for the rest of the ceremony to pass.

Pondering how I could get a private conversation with that guy named Gyeotmwa Josyegigot Volt.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The transmigrated hero of 『Luminor Academy』, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot Volt.

He scanned the faces of the top students on stage, gauging the general caliber of the incoming class.

‘I’ve been observing the new students around the Academy for days, but there are definitely differences from the original game’s story.’

He had transmigrated into 『Luminor Academy』 as the protagonist about three years ago.

His backstory was that a younger cousin, visiting during the holidays, had accidentally caused his transmigration while trying to delete a character they’d created to play 『Luminor Academy』.

Thus, he found himself stuck in this world with the bizarre, unwanted name his cousin had hastily chosen.

Still, since he was here, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot had been diligently working to clear the game.

Having played 『Luminor Academy』 multiple times in his past life, he already had a firm grasp of the overall storyline.

He had also thoroughly studied the game’s walkthroughs on Lua Gallery, particularly the guide by “Lilgirlchang.”

Not excommunicating Celista but recognizing her as the Saint, meeting Silena in the Elven Forest and getting her enrolled in the Academy, preemptively dealing with early-game enemies, and not interfering with rival characters’ enrollment just to pursue heroines-he had it all planned.

Despite his ridiculous name, his sole goal was a “safe clear.”

Whoever had brought him to this world had set one condition: to return to his original world, he had to clear the game and achieve the true ending.

…The problem was that this world seemed to be diverging from the original 『Luminor Academy』 storyline.

‘No matter how I look at it, too many things have changed.’

The courtesan at Silverwood Territory, whom he’d met while hunting monsters, wasn’t a pink-haired woman but a brown-haired girl resembling Aeria.

The list of Magic Department qualifiers inexplicably included the name of a girl suspected to be Saint Lilith.

And most baffling of all, Lizzie-who should have died in the Imperial Palace assault-had somehow enrolled as the Pharmacy Department’s vice president.

Each of these changes was enough to unsettle Gyeotmwa… the hero, but the most shocking was undoubtedly the unbelievable transformation of the Pig Prince, Ethan.

‘Who would call that guy the Pig Prince now?’

At first, he thought someone else had taken Ethan’s place on stage.

His appearance and aura were so drastically different from what he remembered of Ethan in the original world that the only similarities were superficial at best.

Even now, seeing him standing next to him as the Swordsmanship Department’s vice president, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot couldn’t help but stare in disbelief.

‘No matter how I look, it really is Ethan himself.’

The twin swords at his waist, the Blackwood family’s twin-headed eagle crest emblazoned on his sword and cape-even someone who had never met Ethan would immediately associate him with the Blackwoods.

Even more telling were the Blackwood family’s signature black hair and eyes, undeniable proof that this was Ethan Richard Blackwood.

Faced with this surreal reality, the hero couldn’t help but feel disoriented.

After some deliberation, he arrived at the most plausible conclusion.

‘At the very least, this Ethan guy is definitely not normal.’

Whether he was from the same world or not, the Ethan before him was clearly not the “Pig Prince Ethan” he knew.

And given that all the altered future events were tied to Ethan, the likelihood was high.

Exiling Aeria, who had stolen his mother’s keepsake, to Silverwood’s penal colony; recognizing Lilith’s magical talent and scheming to enroll her in the Academy-it had to be his doing.

Rumors even suggested he had played a significant role in the Imperial Palace assault, meaning he might have intervened to prevent Lizzie’s death.

‘I’m not sure what exactly he’s after… but our goals seem broadly aligned.’

His future-aware behavior hinted that he might be a transmigrator like himself or perhaps someone who had regressed from another timeline in this world.

Of course, since he was originally a villain, revealing his own transmigrator status carelessly wasn’t an option. But at the very least, he needed to confirm Ethan’s identity.

Even as Seraphine’s speech continued, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot could only wait impatiently for the ceremony to end.

All he wanted was a chance to speak privately with Ethan Richard Blackwood, the man standing beside him.