91.
The Salenium Academy is an academy where everyone dreams of admission, but its essence is fundamentally a military training ground.
Once admitted, there is very little support available, except for basic necessities.
Only a few top performers can enjoy privileges, while millions of ordinary students must fend for themselves.
Moreover, there is no intervention from the professors beyond dealing with the aftermath, even in the event of an ‘incident’.
Handling incidents and accidents solely by students is one of the rules set directly by the founding emperor.
Knowing how to handle all incidents and accidents, and surviving in the midst of countless obstacles, only a few can become talents that contribute to the empire or something like that.
It’s a place where lives are as disposable as rags, but the fact that it’s the empire’s most prestigious academy remains unchanged.
Perhaps that’s why hundreds of thousands of people will knock on this door next semester.
…In that sense, Act 3 is the main story.
Act 3 in the original work was truly unpleasant, terrible, and despicable.
It is true that the “Salenium Saga” is a bright and lively game.
Therefore, Act 3 highlighted only the ‘dark side’ of Salenium in a stark manner.
The beginning of the incident is simple.
Three students, unable to afford their tuition this semester, embark on an exploration to a “specific location” for half a day due to lack of funds.
However, they do not return until late in the evening.
Up to this point, it’s just a common situation of being lost, but then a bizarre rumor spreads throughout the entire academy.
“The people who went on an exploration to that specific location did not return. This rumor circulated, and upon investigation, it was confirmed that no one who went actually returned.”
“…Ah, that’s what you mean. Yes, I heard about it before coming. From the last week of vacation until this morning… Those who went on an exploration to the Eastern Jungle Zone did not return. Not a single person… It’s strange, why didn’t anyone find that strange? Even those who should doubt and verify all information… This is disgraceful.”
“You’re not wrong, Reyna.”
Of course.
Because this is ultimately the misdeed of the demons.
They have such skills spread throughout the exploration field, that erasing a single ‘location’ from people’s consciousness as a whole wouldn’t be difficult.
It’s highly likely that the Student Council or Reyna’s side failed to confirm about the ‘East’ due to the demons casting a spell of consciousness control over the ‘East’.
“It’s an extremely unpleasant feeling.”
Even without direct contact, they are closely connected, denying in front while helping each other from the back, as that’s what the demons do.
The exploration field, the disappearances, and even consciousness control, all three are likely to have been intervened by different demons.
She desperately wracked her brain to piece together the puzzle.
The scorching desert claimed the students’ lives or caused them injuries, and those who went to the ‘Eastern Jungle Zone’ are all in a missing state.
Until ‘before it started’, the background field of Act 3 Scene 1 cannot be confirmed by any means.
“Reyna, has the Student Council taken action?”
“Yes, they dispatched a search party… to the ‘Eastern Jungle Zone’ we are currently heading to.”
“When was that?”
“Two hours ago.”
I see.
The development is roughly like this.
A series of ‘Monster Habitat’ incidents, initially focused solely on ‘one area’, unexpectedly brought to the surface a ‘quietly buried area’ in connection with the rumor of ‘no one returning’.
In line with the current situation, the answer naturally falls into place.
By driving the monsters out of their original habitat, they caused casualties and disappearances in all exploration fields.
Among them, by diverting people’s attention to the ‘Southern Scorching Desert’, they relatively buried the ‘Eastern Jungle Zone’.
And with ‘all preparations’ complete, the demons deliberately spread the rumor, leaving the Student Council with no choice but to come to the ‘Eastern Jungle Zone’.
It’s a truly wicked deed.
In such an incident, the main character, no less than ‘Daisy von Schkross’, is involved.
One can guess why.
I, who was none other than Reyna von Wolfgang, a perennial valedictorian, made it to the top of the year much faster than in the ‘original work’.
Thus, Daisy von Schkross, who was originally the valedictorian, naturally had no choice but to be pushed down to salutatorian, and with that, the disgrace of losing to the Wolfgang family, a long-standing prestigious family, and all the scholarships and financial support that came from the family would have been cut off.
So, Daisy von Schkross, who became penniless, would have had to put her life on the line to earn money for tuition, even through exploration.
I didn’t expect it to turn out this way.
Daisy von Schkross is a key figure in the ‘East’.
If she’s on my side, it’s only natural that the ‘East’ will also be on my side.
Here’s the translated text of the novel excerpt:
**It is a waste to lose talent here.**
“Act 3, Scene 1.”
Act 3 deals with various events that occur when the protagonist, Erhan, joins the ‘Student Council’s Search Team’ as previously described.
“But Erhan alone is not equipped enough to clear Act 3.”
Even the equipment he is currently wearing is lacking, much less to challenge the jungle area.
There is no reason not to go.
I ran to the east entrance with Reyna and jumped straight into the jungle.
“Adrian, are you okay? Even if only the two of us go like this…”
“We don’t have time, and there’s no other way, is there? And… I’m here.”
At that, she smiled lightly.
“That’s right, Adrian is here, so there’s no need to worry at all.”
We leaped over the swamp, pushing aside the branches blocking our view as we ran.
Sounds of flapping wings and rustling echoed from the deep darkness of the jungle.
Reyna and I raced through the jungle. And the sounds of unknown entities closing in on us.
That’s why we never let go of each other’s tightly held hands.
“I have something to ask you, Reyna.”
“Yes.”
“…Aren’t you in a position to compete for the Chief Seat against Daisy? Frankly… wouldn’t it be more beneficial not to seek help from Shukros Yeongae?”
“That’s… a different story.”
Reyna’s clenched fist was visible.
“You can’t compare a person’s life and the Chief and Vice Chief positions. Daisy von Shukros is truly annoying in every way, always picking fights and suddenly crying, but… she acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move forward. Even though she’s a person who irritates me in many ways, she’s a person who acknowledges her own shortcomings and constantly strives to move
At the same time, he dashed forward and leaped into the sky.
Now.
It was a magnificent entrance.
* * *
Erhan tightly gripped the hilt of his greatsword.
Before him, countless insect-like monsters appeared, too numerous to gauge with the naked eye.
With sweat trickling down, he struggled to control his wavering determination and focused.
He couldn’t afford to fall here.
“Erhan, please cover our rear… Oh, I didn’t expect so many monsters to gather like this. It’s my mistake.”
“No, it’s not. Senior Lien, we will definitely make it out alive.”
“Even just saying that is appreciated. It was a good decision to have you join the search party.”
Nodding, he leaned against his back and faced the swarm of monsters.
It might be his end here.
But… he couldn’t just die here without a fight.
Carefully, very carefully, he planned to fight and survive without succumbing to death.
After all, he hadn’t achieved any revenge yet!
“…Now, everyone in the search party, charge in my direction! We’re going to create an opening! We will survive no matter what!”
Following the leader’s order, Erhan also released the magic surging from his body outward.
A sense of omnipotence enveloped him, stronger than ever before, as his heart beat with excitement.
But he mustn’t be intoxicated by power.
Promising that to himself, at the moment he was about to leap into the mass of monsters.
Suddenly.
A voice echoed from above.
“If it’s a Hydra with seven lives or an undead-type monster that must be struck not in the flesh but in the soul, the monster will die with a fatal blow. Especially for insects, their durability is negligible.”
“Oh, really?”
At the unexpected voice, everyone looked up at the sky.
And they were all astonished.
The countless monsters tightly surrounding them, the faint and endless sky visible in between.
It was because a man was falling vertically from there.
And.
Facing such a man, another person was falling from the sky, pulling a huge arrow of lightning in her hand.
The man with shining golden hair and the woman with dark black hair fluttering like the night…
Where have I seen them before…
“Oh, it’s Adrian and Senior Wolfgang?!”
Even in Erhan’s astonishment, for a moment.
When the man swung a long staff, a fierce rainstorm poured from the sky.
“I’m shooting! Everyone, protect yourselves!”
Protect, how on earth were they supposed to do that?
Erhan urgently used his greatsword as a shield and wrapped himself in magic. Then, a bolt of lightning flashed.
The lightning arrow shot from the sky struck the ground, and at the same time, a tremendous explosion bathed the entire area in light.
A strike that defies description.
“…What.”
As I turned around after sheathing my sword, the insect monster that had been there was completely wiped out with just two attacks.
Not even a corpse remained; from the fluttering wings to the horrific compound eyes, everything had been reduced to a handful of dust.
Above the dusty ground covering the earth, a man and a woman, carried by the wind, slowly landed on the floor.
A long staff.
Tapping the ground lightly, the man with sharp features spoke.
“Fortunately, it seems we are not too late.”
Truly, it was a heroic entrance.
* * *
Hmm.
He truly intervened at the right moment.
Of course, in the ‘original work,’ Erhan did unleash the ‘Hero Sword’ properly and exterminated those bugs in one go… But since the flow of the story had diverged from the original in the third act due to Daisy von Schkross’s issue, it was necessary to save his ‘Hero Sword.’
Brushing off the dust from my uniform, someone approached me.
A woman with navy-blue hair tied in a ponytail, equipped with a large spear and shield, unlike other members of the student council, she had a badge on her chest instead of an emblem.
“You….”
“I am Lien Pritria, the leader of the Student Council Search Team. I am Adrian, and this is Reyna von Wolfgang.”
“Y-yes… I see. Thank you for saving us…”
“I’m sorry, but now is not the time for such polite conversation. We need to move immediately. Increase the marching speed. The destination is the central entrance.”
“Y-yes?”
“I will explain later. For now, we must move first.”
After all, the initiative was on our side.
Since they had been saved by us, they could not refuse my demands.
“Hurry as fast as you can, the longer we delay, the more damage will increase.”
Yes.
We don’t have time, so let’s go, and I’ll explain on the way. Okay?