Chapter 68
Whether by natural phenomena.
Or artificially.
Transforming their hearts into special crystals like monster-held Mana Stones, Mines that have moved beyond the realm of humans.
They have an instinct to seek mana like monsters, and the Mine Council is a group gathered solely to follow that instinct, devoid of ideologies, beliefs, or values.
In the game, they were the enemies entangled in the story.
Among them, Doll Witch Lee Gahyun.
As one of the six leaders of the Mine Council, she appeared frequently and was a considerable headache as a villain.
“Lee Gahyun”
“You are a disciple of the Dark Arts. I was curious about how your face looked, so I secretly infiltrated the entrance exam, but I regret not seeing you then… Seeing you now, it’s nice. Your face is exactly my type. I thought you would look rugged like a Dark Arts practitioner, but this is quite unexpected, isn’t it? Hm… I want to make you a part of my collection.
Igahyeon enjoyed decorating and possessing beautiful people according to her taste like dolls.
Thus, she fell for Kang Hanbyeol’s appearance and pursued opportunities to approach him persistently.
‘He keeps appearing because his face fits my taste… When I first played the game, I wondered how such an implausible development could happen.’
Meanwhile, Igahyeon’s abilities were formidable.
She could split her soul and possess others’ bodies.
As a result, she concealed her identity, approached Kang Hanbyeol’s group, and put them in danger.
Eventually, she progressed through the story and engaged in battle with her true self.
‘Igahyeon.’
“But what should I do? Unlike the clone, I am incredibly strong.
The player had to engage in a fierce battle.
As her true self, not the soul-split clone, displayed powerful skills.
As a result, in the process of killing her, the potions collected so far might be wasted, or party members might die.
‘Or the game over screen might appear as Kang Hanbyeol dies.’
In the game ‘Brave Hearts.’
If a party member dies, it cannot be reversed, leading to restricted endings or reaching an ending resulting from the death of a specific party member.
In that sense, avoiding bad endings and wanting to live happily in this world posed a challenge for me.
It was an unsettling development.
Especially if Kang Hanbyeol were to die…
‘Straight to Igahyeon’s ending.’
Then, a destruction ending awaits.
Igahyeon becomes the leader of the Mind Council, and everyone with a beautiful appearance becomes her doll.
As collections with extinguished souls.
As all characters appearing in the game have significant appearances, they cannot escape the fate of becoming dolls.
‘Igahyeon.’
“My beautiful dolls. So, which doll’s body shall I inhabit today?
In the game’s ending, there is a scene where Igahyeon passes by a place where people packaged like toy boxes are displayed.
With her gaze roaming the display shelves in a state of complete undress, one by one, characters are reflected in her eyes.
Among them, there was me, Do Gyunwoo.
Finally, she stops in front of Kang Hanbyeol, who is in the toy box with closed eyes.
‘Igahyeon.’
“Alright, I’ve decided. Today, I’ll inhabit Hanbyeol’s body. Hanbyeol, I’ll dress you up beautifully.”
With that, the screen fades to black, and a message appears.
[Beautiful people became dolls, while those who were not beautiful became slaves in the world.]
[As the master of that world, Ih Hyeon ended up killing every living being once he felt old age creeping in.]
“Those who are not beautiful are not worth living.”
“Growing old is not beautiful.”
With those words, Ih Hyeon turned himself into a doll.
She became a doll.
Now, in this world, only she and the dolls exist.
The world has perished.
─ Bad Ending ─
Destruction ending by Ih Hyeon.
As someone who wanted to avoid that ending, I couldn’t miss the chance to lower the difficulty of the battle that would eventually come between her and me.
So…
“I have to kill her here.”
Before the game’s story begins.
Eradicate a part of Ih Hyeon’s soul.
That way, weaken her.
I made a vow.
***
[I entered the gate.]
[Yellow: Honrim Island V]
When I opened my eyes, I was in a forest.
Thick bushes surrounded me, and through the branches overhead, I could see the blue sky.
The wind gently rustled.
Shooosh.
Along with that wind, a sound reminiscent of waves crashing reached my ears.
It seemed like there was a sea nearby.
[This is a conquered gate.]
“Is it on the outskirts of the island?”
Clearing the message that popped up with my hand,
I deduced my current location.
Since the sound of the waves was likely the edge of the gate, I decided to head in the opposite direction.
“Are they all taking their positions?”
The examinees must spend three days on this island, snatching and protecting their exam tickets to avoid being robbed.
Without guaranteed safety, I couldn’t rush recklessly.
I needed to secure a place to seize the opportunity to snatch the exam ticket, explore a route to escape quickly after snatching it, and establish a base on the island.
First come, first served.
If someone knows how to “hunt,” they will surely be moving like that.
But I had no intention of doing so.
“I can’t settle in one place as I need to find Iga-hyun.”
As long as I didn’t know where Iga-hyun was, I had to search for her.
Furthermore, I didn’t know her face.
Not that I didn’t know the face of the doll-like Iga-hyun, but I didn’t know the face of the examinee she had possessed.
It was inevitable.
In the game, it was only mentioned in passing through the characters’ lines.
During the entrance exam, there was a strange examinee who pretended to be an evaluator and evaluated the examinees, and that examinee, who must have passed for sure, mysteriously disappeared from the academy.
And she only mentioned it later with her own mouth.
That she was that examinee.
“If I go inside the island, I’ll probably run into examinees a lot.”
So I had no choice but to rely on that clue to find Iga-hyun.
I decided to head towards the center of the island for now.
Surely, the examinees would be active around that area.
There was a high chance she would be there, and even if she wasn’t, I could hear rumors about her.
“Did Haneul fall somewhere else?”
Meanwhile, I looked around almost in sync to find Yeon Haneul, who had entered the gate with me.
Unfortunately, she seemed to be nowhere nearby.
I had to give up on finding her.
That was when I thought so.
Rustle.
I heard a sound of something moving.
Stopping in my tracks, I spread out my detection net to sense any presence.
“It doesn’t seem like a person…”
The sensation caught by the detection net was faint, unrefined, and rough.
There was no sign of mana manifestation, meaning that the mana flowing naturally from the body was like that.
A monster the size of a small animal.
It posed no threat to me.
＜Mana Bullet＞
Still, I couldn’t ignore it.
Just sensing it made me nervous.
I raised my index finger, pointing at the bushes where the guy could be hiding.
Mana condensed at the tip of my finger.
With a light flick of my finger, the mana shot out like a bullet.
And so, four shots.
I attacked the bushes.
Whoosh!
The guy couldn’t dodge my attack.
A sound came from the bushes where the mana bullets flew.
I spread out my detection net again and saw that the guy’s mana was still active, unmoving in its place.
Seemed like he had lost consciousness.
I decided to confirm his identity.
“What’s this? It was you?”
I could see a monster lying flat on the ground, knocked out.
[Encountered a Monster]
[Pikatail (Rank. 01) x 1]
Pikatail, a Rank 1 monster.
With very short ears and a tail as long as a mouse’s, it was a creature halfway between a rabbit and a mouse.
Considered one of the weakest among Rank 1 monsters.
Although it could run away swiftly with its long legs, it seemed unable to escape my magic.
“Guess luck is on your side too.”
Foaming at the mouth and twitching, the creature looked pitiful.
But it was a monster.
I aimed a mana bullet towards its tiny head.
Pew!
From its head to its chest, the creature was blown away.
The mana core, the foundation of its existence, fell to the ground.
The creature turned into mana particles, leaving no trace behind.
I picked up the fallen mana core.
“They said you could exchange these mana cores for Geumgang coins depending on the quantity obtained in the test…”
Every little bit helps.
I put the mana core in my pocket.
It was right at that moment that my evasion instinct kicked in.
Zap!
Electricity passed through my spine.
I swiftly twisted my body as my instinct to dodge called out.
Beyond the dense forest.
Swish!
“…Damn it.”
Something swooped down in a spiral.
It was a massive scythe.
That scythe passed the spot I was in, slicing through the tree trunk behind me.
I almost split in two like the tree trunk, slipping and falling from the base.
Swish! Thud!
The giant scythe that soared into the sky returned to its original place like a boomerang.
I focused on that direction.
I unfolded my detection net.
“…This time it’s a person.”
Someone was approaching from the shadowy side of the forest.
Their aura was refined and imposing.
The opponent was another examinee like me.
“The question is who…?”
The aura drew closer.
I drew my navy blue sword.
Among the examinees wearing black exam badges, only one came to mind as worthy of using the giant scythe.
I wanted to think of another examinee, but her presence was deeply ingrained within me.
Gradually, the figure of my opponent faintly appeared in the darkness.
“There’s no luck or logic. Why of all places do I meet her here?”
It was the figure of a woman wielding the giant scythe.
A glimpse of gray hair was visible.
With that, I was certain.
The person walking towards me in the forest.
“As soon as I realized you were an examinee, I took a swing at you, and well, turns out you’re a tough one, huh?”
“….”
“Nice to see you! Meeting here of all places?”
She was Nam Yoori, a examinee from Yeonseong South.
She stumbled happily, holding the giant scythe on her shoulder.
But I couldn’t just be happy to see her.
I knew her character well.
“It’s dangerous. She might attack me.”
Nam Yoori, who sought the thrill of feeling alive, found that thrill most intensely when she struggled for survival.
So, she enjoyed killing living beings or putting herself in danger.
In a situation where she and I were competing for exam badges, I could predict what she might be thinking.
She would want to engage in the competition with me to feel that thrill.
Naturally, I wanted to avoid it.
She had no intention of fighting with her.
“…Right. Saw her yesterday, and here she is again today. Coincidence, isn’t it? Well, could there be such a thing as a coincidence that feels like a lie?”
“Is that so? Seems like we might have some kind of fate. Or perhaps, could it be destiny? I think that would be nice too!”
“Ahahahaha…”
“Ahahahaha?”
“You were looking for the checkpoint too, right? Let’s work hard, pass the exam, and meet at the academy. Then I’ll go look for the checkpoint too.”
I tried my best to act nonchalant and guide the conversation smoothly.
Just as I was about to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“…”
Damn it, Nam Yuri wasn’t fooled.
She called out to me.
When I turned around, her violet eyes seemed to devour me with their intensity.
“You’re not going with me?”
“…What?”
“You’re not going to take mine? Not going to steal it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“My exam ticket. We’re in the middle of an exam. But we’re just going to meet like this and part ways? Not even taking the test? Boring, right?”
Nam Yuri puffed out her chest to show the black exam ticket.
I opened my mouth to try to persuade her in any way possible.
“Didn’t we promise yesterday?”
“Yeah! When we meet at the academy, we said we’d settle who pays for the meal with rock-paper-scissors, right? Don’t worry! I have a good memory, so I haven’t forgotten!”
“But if you and I end up fighting, one of us won’t get into the academy, and we won’t be able to keep our promise, right?”
“What’s that. Seriously, you were worried about that? Now that I think about it, you worry a lot, don’t you, seriously? You don’t need to worry about that kind of thing!”
Nam Yuri smiles brightly.
She grips the scythe she had under her armpit and says, “Even if you manage to take the exam ticket from me, with your skills, you could steal others’ tickets and make up 200 points! So, you don’t need to worry about not passing!”
“…Why are you assuming I’ll be the one getting it taken from me? Don’t you think you might get yours taken?”
“Huh?”
At my absurd question, Nam Yuri chuckled.
“As expected, you’re amusing, Gyeonwoo.”
The smile fades from Nam Yuri’s face.
There’s a sharpness in her violet eyes.
The corners of her mouth curve up.
“I’m strong, aren’t I? Even if Gyeonwoo is strong, it’s obvious I’ll win, right?”
Nam Yuri takes a combat stance.
It seems inevitable that I won’t be able to avoid it.
I too prepared my stance.
“Yeah, you’ll have to see if yours gets taken. You better get ready to score 200 points.”