Chapter 5: Enrollment (3)
Arcanium, the magical city.
The city, which floated in the air, far away from the clutches of land, gave the illusion of a massive carousel hanging in the middle of nowhere.
A carousel that flashed brightly in many shades of blinding lights.
This city, which hovered through magic, was said to be about half the size of Seoul.
Baek Yu-Seol realized he was in another world as he watched the city float under the night sky; its radiance flipping away the dark veil that hung around them.
In the grand city of Arcanium, there were five prestigious academies, as well as a famous mage tower and the Association of Magic Knights. Stella Academy was known among them for possessing the most powerful mages and the most outstanding students.
Geniuses and aristocrats flocked from all over the world, and he wondered what kind of talent Baek Yu-seol had to enter this place, where dragons ran rampant.
“Are you awake yet?”
“Yeah.”
"We're almost there. You woke up like a ghost."
At that moment, he noticed that the wagon was being driven by a different mage compared to the previous night. It appeared that they switched shifts along the way.
He leaned back in his seat and summoned the system.
He was promised one of three rewards last night.
A downgraded item, a downgraded skill, and a small amount of EXP.
'What should I do now?'
He had a lot of items and skills. In the long run, it would not be a bad idea to ask for body strengthening skills, but it seemed like they could be learned separately later anyway.
First of all, he picked the item he loved the most.
‘Is it possible to get my Reflecting Radiance or Flash of Tribute?’
[The search reveals that the grade of the item is too high. The downgrading is in progress.]
‘Well. What about Hyper Flash?’
[As per the results of the search, it is impossible to acquire this skill because it is a higher-level sub-skill of Flash. However, you can use the reward by slightly enhancing the Flash.]
‘Do we really have to downgrade? Can we not do it?’
[Your narrative power is lacking, so it is impossible for it to fully materialize.]
'What’s that?'
[The power of storytelling is called Narrative Power. Like yesterday, if Baek Yu-Seol unfolds the story in a direction different from the original, the Narrative Power builds up.]
'Oh, I see.'
‘Why complicate things when you could simply say, “I can’t give you a character item just because you're a newbie?”’
‘Now what should I choose…?’
Most of Baek Yu-Seol’s equipment was of high grade, and even if he reduced them by several grades, his options were still limited as a high-grade item did not imply a good item.
Despite his low rank, there were numerous items and skills that could result in high efficiency in his current situation.
Emergency Evasion allowed one to avoid or block one attack unconditionally, but it had a long cooldown, whereas High Frost allowed one to flee from any danger. For a limited time span, Spectral Shift made one nearly invincible and increased movement speed.
Why were they all escape skills? It was because he lacked the necessary attack and defense abilities. He wanted to live longer because he was a character with poor survival skills, so he only learned escape techniques.
He rarely used them after becoming a veteran, but they could come in handy now that the game had become reality.
However, it wasn’t yet the time. There was one item that was more important for the [Episode] progress right now.
‘Sentient Spec.’
It acts like a Secret Folder. A word that was particularly familiar to men.
When he was serving on active duty, he was once cursed at by the company's boss because someone created a secret folder on his computer in the administrative unit.
‘Did you put porn in here? What’s the password? Give it to me now!’
‘It wasn't me.’
‘You trying to die? Want a disciplinary action?!’
‘I really don’t know.’
Those desperate cries were still fresh in his mind. He felt wronged and resentful because he had never created such a folder.
However, it was later discovered that the folder was created by an administration official and contained highly confidential information. When the facts were revealed, that guy apologized to him.
Since then, Baek Yu-Seol also found secret folder to be a good storage space to save information or take notes no matter what game he was playing.
[...System review complete. The item is deemed viable.]
As soon as he saw the confirmation message, he clenched his fists tightly.
‘Great. Let’s go with that.’
[Item: Sentient Spectacles]
[Phenomenon Analysis, Summary, Information Retrieval, Night Vision, Infrared Vision… etc. All functions will be deleted.]
Tuk!
A round spectacle with a black frame fell on his palm. Even though he didn’t care about fashion, it was pleasant in its own way since it was based on the design used by celebrities.
All major functions were removed after the downgrade, but the most important function still remained.
[Sentient Spectacles]
[Grade:- ~]
[Description: Do you remember what you had for dinner yesterday? Did you immediately forget the account number you just heard? Don’t worry! These glasses will remember everything you have seen, heard, and read!]
[Special Features]
[Secret Folder]
[Seal]
[It is activated by consuming your mental power.]
It was impossible to recall and read information about monsters he had successfully hunted or knowledge he had gained in the game Aether World. Whenever he forgot, he needed to return to the map and read it again.
Where did the materials come from? Which characters did he interact with? And what contributions did he make to the kingdom?
Nothing of the sort was provided.
So, players developed top-level systems like the Secret Folder to store information.
And there was only one reason he got those specs now.
Baek Yu-Seol had forgotten most of the game’s information.
The items he obtained from a specific hunting ground or a rare item he obtained from a specific dungeon and so on. All of this important information was documented inside the folder.
Furthermore, this was the one he used while playing the game, so the information should be there.
[View the Secret Folder.]
[Alchemy Ingredients]
[Hunting Ground]
[Dungeon]
[Monsters]
[Character]
[Magic]
[Other…]
As soon as he put on the glasses, countless folders lining up one after another appeared in front of his eyes.
Unfortunately, the story was not recorded, and since he was not interested in the characters, the folder was mostly empty, but it was still a satisfactory result.
'For the prize, it’s good enough.'
'Now all I have to do is figure out how to use these specs.'
The amount of information he had was enormous.
He had been traveling the world for ten years and had only collected the best items. To say that he was fortunate enough to get them was not enough.
‘Even if I can’t recover all of the skills of the character I’ve developed over the last ten years, I should be able to catch up to half that level in the near future.'
'Now that I think about it.'
'Among the effects of this spec is the ability to summarize and reveal characters’ information.'
'I mean, maybe I can figure out the identity of the gray-robed girl sleeping next to me.'
“We’ve arrived.”
However, as soon as the wagon arrived in Rezoica, the gray-robed girl quickly got off.
“Let’s do it quickly…”
Baek Yu-Seol quickly separated and headed for the airship dock after thanking the mages for their assistance.
“Do you have a ticket?”
Baek Yu-Seol guessed that the man was just skeptical since he appeared like a villager.
“Absolutely.”
“Hmm…”
The sailor carefully examined the ticket. It seemed as if he was afraid that Baek Yu-Seol would try to sneak into Arcanium, the world’s top magical city.
With a hesitant expression, the sailor brushed past him. Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but relax as soon as he boarded the airship.
“Wow…”
Even though Baek Yu-Seol had been on an airplane, this was an airship. Both the words and the atmosphere were miles apart.
The airship was almost in the shape of a cruise ship, and with how luxurious it was, this was merely an airship heading to Stella Academy and not Arcanium.
The majority of the passengers on board were students from wealthy families on their way to the Stella Academy.
After some time, the ship's engine roared, and the moment Baek Yu-Seol felt the cold breeze kissing his cheeks, he knew that the ship had long left the mortal land.
The airship did not feel stuffy like an airplane, where one could only see outside through a small window.
Perhaps that was why there were a lot more students outside than Baek Yu-Seol expected.
“Look at that jerk gazing around.”
“Is this your first time on an airship?”
“You must be from the village.”
“Tsk, Stella is one of the most prestigious academies in the world, but I don’t know why they allow commoners to attend. What a letdown.”
“I also don’t get it.”
Baek Yu-Seol was able to hear the contempt around him because he had sensitive hearing.
‘Ahhh, rich kids are the same whether on Earth or in a magic world.'
What could one expect from teenagers’ level of gossip? He wanted to summon everyone to the bathroom and have them wet their hair in the toilet bowl, but he held back because he did not want to be like those teenagers.
“Look, they’re smoking.”
And Baek Yu-Seol acted like an adult.
“Yeah?! Arcanium is a no-smoking zone for teenagers!”
The sailor dashed over to the students he had pointed out.
“This… is a cigarette!”
Finally, while going through their belongings, they discovered a cigarette stash. In such a situation, an average student’s attitude would be fixed.
If you are a commoner, claim that you do not own it.
“Let it go! I am the heir of Baron Denington of the Kingdom of Adolevit!”
If you are a noble, threaten by emphasizing your noble status.
However, nobility or anything else was unimportant in the flight to Stella. They had to follow the school’s strict rules from the moment they arrived. The sailor opened his mouth to speak.
That, however, was unnecessary.
Suddenly, the Heir to Baron Dennington abruptly closed his mouth. The sailor took a step back, and the students split to pave way as if they were hypnotized.
The world almost stopped, and the commotion died down when a girl appeared.
Her silver hair fluttered chaotically but still shone with grace, and her red eyes, darker than blood, appeared to possess the power to stun anyone. At the same time, her beautiful appearance blurred the presence of everyone around her.
Others lived in a 480p world, while she lived in a 1080p full HD world.
With such a clear and vivid appearance, it was very easy to guess her identity.
Hong Bi-Yeon Adolevit.
Princess of the Kingdom of Adolevit.
Baek Yu-Seol’s first thought when he saw her was, ‘Wow, she’s a celebrity.’ But then he felt compassion for her.
In this storyline, Hong Bi-Yeon was a villainess. With that, she was doomed to a bad ending.
She was destined to meet her end in a variety of ways after a series of nerve-wracking battles with Flame.
She was brutally murdered in some endings, while she was bullied by the entire school and then expelled in others. She was even imprisoned in the countryside to be punished for eternity. In the worst cases, she was humiliated to the point of being unable to lift her head again.
It appeared that they were attempting to give the character Hong Bi-Yeon a bad ending on purpose.
“P-Princess…”
The heir of the Denington family trembled at the sight of his kingdom’s princess. However, Hong Bi-Yeon took no action against him, which caused a commotion in the cabin.
She simply sent a disdainful glance at him and walked past him.
For a brief moment, Baek Yu-Seol’s gaze was glued to Hong Bi-Yeon’s back as her hair fluttered wildly. It was a far cry from her first appearance in the game.
Despite her villainous title, there was a reason she was popular with many male players.
It was definitely a little frightening.
She was lovely, but he was afraid if he talked to her, he would be reprimanded. He entered the cabin after seeing Hong Bi-Yeon leave.
It was lunchtime, and the cabin had convenience stores, so many students were eating snacks.
‘The price is extremely high.’
At that price, he could eat a full meal and drink coffee. When he heard students whispering next to him, Baek Yu-Seol slumped on a chair and stared blankly out the window, thinking it would be better to just starve now and eat later when he reached Arcanium.
“Hey, isn’t that Eisel over there?”
“Huh? I understand. Eisel, the eldest daughter of the traitor, Grand Duke Morph…”
“Shh. Don’t bring it up. What if she overhears?”
“That’s right.”
'Eisel? A familiar name.'
Following the students' eyes, Baek Yu-Seol noticed a lonely silhouette sitting in the corner reading a book.
She had sky-blue hair and like Hong Bi-Yeon, a beautiful noble appearance as if blessed by God. Those facial features and the aura that seemed to refuse anyone's company appeared to be familiar to him, but he could not recall why.
He hurriedly took out the specs and checked her information.
[Eisel Morph]
[Fake Female Lead.]
[Lightning and Ice Mage]
[Loves pizza and pickle soup.]
[Eldest daughter of Grand Duke Morph.]
[Father is dead and the family is in ruins.]
[Dies later on.]
‘What the heck. Was she that fake female lead?’
She reminded him of the gray-robed girl he saw off this morning. He was not certain, but the gray-robed and Eisel had to be the same person.
'Anyway, I’ve noted it as one of the important plot points.'
The information contained in the specs was a summary of information gathered by community members in their unique ways.
Of course, Baek Yu-Seol did not record much because he was not particularly interested in the game characters, to begin with, but the girl named Eisel was especially unfamiliar.
What concerned him the most was the ‘died later’ part. Community members rarely used the word ‘death’ to describe a character.
Since it was a simulation game, there were numerous routes and possibilities, so if she could be saved even once, the word ‘death’ would not appear.
However, despite the numerous efforts of countless players over the course of ten years, that girl Eisel appears to be an absolutely hopeless character.
In other words, no matter where or how she died, the girl’s death was unstoppable.
‘Her father was most likely murdered by the dark mages.’
Dark mages, those who possessed magic powers, had accepted the otherworld invasion, and swore loyalty to the demons, converting themselves to one of them.
The ability to freely transform their bodies and use magic were not only powerful but they were portrayed as evil and the players’ true enemies.
The dark mages continued to invade in order to encroach this magical world into the Underworld, such as by opening the Persona Gate or liberating the ancient dungeon. The Stella Academy was responsible for training magic warriors to combat it.
And she was the world’s original female protagonist with the ability to fight such dark mages.
However…
Baek Yu-Seol did not want to die to get involved with the main character as well as the supporting characters.
The female protagonist had a very special ability to purify black magic, but she couldn't see past the treachery of humans, and treated everyone with innocence, which could potentially endanger the people close to her.
The main protagonist's actions did not matter much.
Because Baek Yu-Seol wanted to get to the true ending.
‘If they want to play, I won't mind teaching them a move or two.’