episode_0130

Like the lingering image of midwinter, the night of the banquet passed.

The academy returned to its daily routine.

With a single night celebrating the new semester, the short yet intense two-week vacation came to an end.

It was a time when resumed studies and schedules vexed the students.

Even the relatively relaxed campus atmosphere gradually reverted to a fiercely competitive arena.

The second act was about to begin.

Peacefully. And calmly.

“I’ve processed all the documents you handed over.” “Ah… Thank you.”

That daily routine included me as well.

It had been a long time since such a peaceful atmosphere.

As I was handling my staff duties as usual, the woman next to me gently tapped my shoulder.

Before I could even turn around, a teacup was placed on my desk.

Warmth filled with fragrance.

I tilted my head.

“Black tea…?”

“Because it’s cold. My skill is terrible, but I tried brewing some.”

“For someone who says that, the aroma is quite good. I never knew you had such an eye for tea, though.”

“It’s my first time serving it to anyone.”

“I’m the first again, it seems.”

“Are you happy about that?”

“Of course.”

The conversation flowed naturally.

After the banquet. There was a slight, but noticeable, change in our relationship as well.

Should I say the distance between us narrowed compared to before?

Her unique cold and lifeless aura remained, but her attitude towards me seemed somewhat softened.

Even her endlessly stiff way of speaking had noticeably relaxed since that day.

It felt like we had grown a little closer.

We continued our work side by side.

“By the way… the workload seems to have increased unusually.”

“It’s a busy time, what with this and that.”

The beginning of the winter semester. It was the busiest time for the academy throughout the year.

Especially since many dates overlapped with external institutions, internal staff were often dispatched outside, making it the time when the academy was most empty.

Its notoriety was so widespread among the staff that it was almost a joke.

A hectic week, what with this and that.

‘Was it because of that?’

There were also packs of wolves waiting to exploit such openings.

An incident that mercilessly trampled daily life. It was none other than the first attack to occur at the academy.

In the original story, it was the signal for the beginning of the full-scale waves, and also the point where the nightmare, which had only been faint until then, arrived directly.

Even the brief peace shattered into pieces.

Finally, the storm would rage.

‘Is it already in a few days?’

A story that was just around the corner.

Perhaps, as much as waiting for the start of the disaster, preparations were needed on my end as well.

Because if I made a single misstep, I would slip and fall.

As I was pondering the disaster for a moment, the woman sitting nearby gently called my name.

Her voice was somewhat flustered.

“Student Yuda?” “Yes?”

She was looking at the snake. More precisely, she was looking at the hand caressing her purple hair.

Stroke, stroke.

“…What is this?”

“Ah.”

I realized belatedly. Recently, there had been many requests for petting here and there, and having gotten used to it, my hand seemed to have moved on its own.

I gently removed my hand that had been touching her soft hair.

Was she quite flustered?

Selena had a dazed expression.

I added an awkward excuse.

“It was out of habit… I apologize. I was rude.”

“No… I wasn’t particularly offended or anything. I was just surprised by the unexpected action. There’s no need for you to apologize.”

“Then, may I continue?”

“Please refrain from that.”

“That’s a shame.”

My playful response.

The woman, who had been staring at me, soon mumbled in a faint voice.

It was her own unintentional thought.

“Student Yuda is interesting.”

“Hmm?”

“How should I put it… being with you feels comfortable, and it strangely reminds me a lot of the past.”

“……”

Thoughts of the past. Does the longing contained in those fragments refer to your regrets?

The atmosphere seemed to grow heavier little by little.

The woman quickly gathered her gloomy demeanor. It was an unclear inner thought.

“Now, it’s something that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Do you have any concerns?”

“How could I have such a thing?”

“You never know. If you do, please feel free to rely on me anytime.”

“You really are a good person, aren’t you?”

The woman subtly turned her eyes away.

Her expression gradually darkened upon seeing my smile, but…

I didn’t question it.

Because from the beginning, my aim was to elicit such a reaction.

The reason I was so affectionate with you, the reason I was so innocent, the reason I was so tenderly obedient, was from beginning to end to stimulate your guilt.

I was manipulating your emotions as I pleased.

With a cunningly teasing tongue.

Merely with the excuse that it was all for the future.

I had lied.

‘So… I don’t deserve to be called a good person, either.’

I smiled bitterly for a moment. So that she wouldn’t notice.

As I covered my mouth with the tilted teacup for a moment, she said, tidying the processed documents.

And then, she put an end to the work that had been continuing.

“Let’s call it a day for today.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“That’s my line to say. Thanks to Student Yuda, we finished several hours early.”

“Haha… Then I’ll be heading back now.”

I headed out of the research lab.

Shadows slowly creeping.

Each step I took cast a shadow.

The surrounding air instantly grew heavy.

‘Soon.’

The evil that would approach before long.

As it was the time just before its beginning, the remaining time had to be spent on preparation.

It was a moment of wandering through darkness once again.

No matter who I was. This episode wouldn’t be easy.

***

Academy Attack.

The episode that marks the beginning of the original story’s tragedy.

[EP23. The Stirring Evil]

-Boiling blood and malice, lives crying out for death-

In the original story, this was where the hardships truly began.

As if everything before had been nothing.

The black mages, who had vanished after the Great Extermination, targeted Gallimard Academy, where the Empire’s finest talents gathered, to make their grand debut.

By awakening the [Calamity] sleeping deep beneath the academy.

Their plan was to completely destroy the surrounding area.

In the original story, it was a resounding success.

‘Rats.’

An ancient, forgotten secret passage. After long research, these fellows discovered the academy’s weak point, secretly burrowed in, awakened [Death], and then calmly escaped.

The awakened calamity then utterly destroyed the entire area.

A brutal tragedy.

After half of the staff sacrificed their lives, the calamity was successfully sealed once more, but the academy had already suffered irreversible damage.

At least, the consolation was that there weren’t many casualties among the students.

The land where countless blood was scattered.

Regardless.

The cultists, seizing the opportunity, appeared on the scene.

To bring about the resurrection of the Demon God.

‘Many… too many died.’

It was a story that ‘shocking’ didn’t even begin to describe.

Up until then, even though there was a dark atmosphere, at most only a few extras would die, and familiar supporting characters rarely exited the stage.

But even that unspoken rule was completely overturned with this attack as a turning point.

Because nearly half of the supporting characters couldn’t keep their lives.

[Category: Free Board]

[Title: Professor Raphael dies here??? No way!]

Why did so many die in this episode? I didn’t expect even this person to die. Damn, it feels like about 40% of the named characters were wiped out. Especially the executive-level staff, it’s practically annihilation. Even with the situation like this, the Dean isn’t stepping up. Is he really such a useless character?

[Is the Dean’s incompetence a one-day or two-day thing? [An idiom implying that something is not new or surprising.]] -> His 2443957th season of incompetence -> Is it you again… JOAT -> Wow, the ‘saw the future’ guy is at it again.

[Raphael was truly awesome until the very end.] -> Him dying while protecting the students is so true. -> That guy’s departure was a work of art, too. -> A true professor… We won’t forget you…

[No, damn it, this can’t be true. Professor Raphael, please don’t die, please shake it off and get up!] -> But the result was a donut. -> My chest feels empty~ -> Good ventilation, I guess. -> I’ll tear you guys to shreds.

Characters I often encountered. As NPCs with whom I occasionally exchanged greetings and was friendly with started dying, the shock of this episode was bound to be particularly strong.

That’s why many multi-playthrough players emerged, attempting to prevent this event.

But the result was…

[Category: Q&A Board]

[Title: Can this really be stopped?]

I’m a user who’s passed 300 playthroughs. I keep trying every desperate measure to stop the attack episode. But there’s a problem. It seems the developers have blocked all routes to overcome it. It’s completely blocked from beginning to end. The secret passage through which the cultists invade isn’t properly revealed either. The altar where the calamity is sealed is covered by some ancient something, so it can’t be found even with detection magic. Moreover, there’s insufficient firepower, so the method of suppressing the calamity early on also doesn’t work. Is this really the end here?? Can we really only watch the calamity revive?

[If only we could find out the passage’s location, it seems like something could be done.] -> The problem is we can’t find it, damn it.

[According to the setting, the passage’s location is known only to successive Deans.] -> But the current Dean is mute? -> So there’s no way to find out. -> Ah, incompetent ass.

[Can’t he just spread all the prophecies to the world, bear the restrictions, and die a glorious death?] -> I think they said that’s not allowed because it’s the protagonist’s guide role or something. -> He hasn’t guided anyone, so what kind of guide is he? -> Isn’t he just India? -> Peaceful Rindorindo today too.

[Even the strategy guide guy failed at that.] -> No, then that means no one can find it. -> If even the guy who streams 16 hours a day can’t find it, what are we supposed to do? -> I tried 1,739,355,224 times after reading this post.

No method existed.

The location of the underground passage was not properly revealed, and its spatial characteristics prevented even detection magic from working, making it difficult even to detect an intrusion.

As such, preventing the calamity was often considered impossible.

Because even I in my previous life hadn’t succeeded.

Of course.

‘This time, it’s different.’

There was a way to save the academy and the people engulfed in ruin.