“What the hell is this…”
Han-cheol couldn’t hide his disbelief and rubbed his forehead. He spoke.
“What? You sent the princess back to the Empire?”
“That’s how it turned out.”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s how it turned out’, you bastard! You’ve completely thrown off the entire main storyline! No, before that….what the hell did you even do? How does one even send the princess back to the Empire? That route was never supposed to exist!”
Han-cheol looked utterly flustered, as though he were having a panic attack. Yujin just awkwardly averted his gaze and scratched his cheek.
“Well… it’s kind of complicated to explain, so it’s hard to put into words.”
More precisely, it was something he was reluctant to talk about. No matter how you looked at it, saying he had to send her away because her feelings for him had become too intense just felt… wrong on so many levels.
“This is driving me nuts…”
Han-cheol ran a hand down his face and let out a sigh. Yujin gave a bitter smile and said to him,
“Anyway, in this case, does that mean we don’t have to worry about a terrorist attack on the Academy anymore? That is, assuming their only target was Her Highness the Princess. I wouldn’t know beyond that.”
“Technically, yeah… but now who knows what’ll happen to the imperial family.”
Who knows what’ll happen to the imperial family… At those words, Yujin tilted his head slightly and asked,
“Hmm… I heard dark mages usually hide themselves and stay well out of sight. Are you saying they’re bold enough to attack the imperial family now?”
“Of course, normally it wouldn’t make sense for dark mage factions to go after the imperial family… But then again, the same goes for the Academy. Since you’re a professor now, you must at least know the name of the Academy’s headmistress, Ines Karandar, right?”
Another familiar name popped up unexpectedly. Yujin nodded at the mention.
“…I do. She’s the one who scouted me, after all.”
Yujin too had seen that person briefly within the game. Han-cheol spoke.
“She is one of the top-tier powerhouses among mortals. Even if a bunch of dark mages swarm her, she can wipe them out with ease. As long as someone like her is standing guard, a terrorist attack on the Academy is even harder than one on the imperial family. More than that, the Academy isn’t just defended by Ines Karandar. There are plenty of other strong individuals around, especially among the professors. Of course, not all of them share the same ideals or sense of camaraderie, but as long as they belong to the Academy, they are bound to respond if the Academy comes under attack. Honestly, launching a terrorist attack on the Academy might be harder than one on the imperial family.”
“Is it really to that extent?”
To be honest, as someone who had become a Transcendent, Yujin had never really felt that Ines was all that powerful, so it didn’t quite sink in. But Han-cheol firmly nodded.
“Of course, without the Headmistress, the Academy would be weaker than the imperial family in some ways. Even so, it’s not a place that could be attacked lightly. Well, in the original story, a terrorist attack did end up happening, though.”
At that point, a question occurred to Yujin, and he asked Han-cheol.
“Hmm… If the main story going off track could lead to the end of the world, then that would mean the terrorists succeeded if the player didn’t intervene, right? But from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like something the dark mages could pull off on their own.”
“You’re absolutely right. That’s why the dark mage faction chose to strike when the Headmistress wasn’t present. And also…”
“Is there a mole?”
“…Exactly.”
When Yujin picked up on it so quickly, Han-cheol gave a nod.
“Well… it doesn’t seem so strange, actually. The fact that Her Highness the Princess was being consumed by a demon was top-secret information. The moment that leaked to the dark mages, it was only natural to assume there was a traitor or someone leaking information. And if the objective of the Academy terror attack was to secure the princess, then they’d definitely need someone who knew the Academy inside and out.”
“Exactly. But now… things had gotten complicated. Like you said, if the princess returned to the Empire, then not only would the story go off track, but I also know far less than I used to. Just interfering with the imperial family is difficult in itself.”
“……”
“The imperial family is already having a hard time dealing with the princess and has become extremely sensitive to any outside interference. And that’s not the only issue. It’s also becoming harder to grasp the movements of the dark mages. Now that they have no reason to be involved with the Academy, it’s impossible to predict what they’ll do. Will they target the imperial family instead? Or come up with some other plan? To be honest, I don’t even know if there’s a traitor in the imperial family or not. After all, the princess’s storyline ends with the Academy attack. Whether the terrorist attack succeeds or fails, the princess ends up being consumed by the demon either way.”
“…Is that so?”
At those words, Yujin asked again in a slightly quieter voice. Han-cheol nodded.
“Yeah. Even if you successfully stopped the terrorist attack and prevented the princess from being kidnapped, the dark mages would have already put their schemes into motion, and by that point, the princess would’ve been devoured by the demon anyway. Then a boss battle would open, and you’d have to subdue the princess alongside other powerful characters. That was the main storyline, and honestly, the only real way to deal with her. If you failed to stop the terrorist attack, she’d be kidnapped and fully awaken as a demon, and 70% of humanity would be wiped out. So if the attack wasn’t stopped, and you looked ahead to what would happen later, there is no way to prevent humanity’s destruction. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for a newly awakened Transcendent, it wouldn’t have just been 70%… the entire mortal race would have perished. According to the game’s lore, a Transcendent isn’t something mortals can even begin to challenge.”
“……”
As Yujin listened, two things struck her more clearly than ever.
That he had gained the power to destroy an entire world of mortals if he wished, and that the story of the imperial princess, if left to unfold as originally intended, was fated to end in tragedy.
That realization left a slightly bitter taste.
It was as if the story was saying that mortals were so weak that even a single Transcendent could bring them to the brink of destruction and that unless a godlike being intervened to twist fate itself, the princess’s tale could only end in sorrow.
And the fact that he himself was no different from such a godlike being was not a pleasant one.
It felt as though the story was declaring that no mortal strength alone could ever overcome such things.
“Anyway… the bottom line is, now that the princess has returned to the imperial family, even I don’t know what will happen to her. I don’t even know whether there’s a traitor in their ranks or not. And if that’s the case, I can’t say whether a terrorist attack will happen, or if something entirely different will occur.”
“I see.”
“This is tricky… Let’s do this. At the very least, you’re better at thinking things through than I am, so I’ll pass along as much information about the main story as I can. As for me, I’ll focus on growing stronger through labyrinths and quests first.”
It seemed Han-cheol had decided to focus on what he could do, rather than waste energy on things he couldn’t yet understand. It was a wise decision.
Yujin asked,
“And after that, what do you plan to do?”
“You said you’d look into a way for me to return to Earth, so I’ll trust you on that. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can on my end. I can’t afford to die before I even get the chance to go back.”
A fair point. Yujin nodded, then asked,
“In that case, is there anything I should prioritize learning? I mean, out of the main story information.”
“Ah, well, I’m not sure how useful it’ll be right away… but I should start by telling you about the traitor among the dark mages inside the Academy.”
“A traitor, huh…”
Indeed, having that knowledge would definitely help when it came time to act. Yujin asked,
“Then who is the traitor?”
“I wonder if you’ll recognize the name. To be honest, she doesn’t have much significance early in the game. It’s Linne Eneria, the alchemy professor at the Academy. Do you know her?”
“Ah.”
Yujin recalled the conversation he’d had with Linne, the alchemy professor Han-cheol had mentioned earlier.
So she was the mole.
He hadn’t sensed any demonic power from her, but it seemed she had literally just been a supporter of the dark mages.
When Yujin nodded, Han-cheol spoke.
“Ah, so you’ve met her. Anyway, she’s the dark mages’ collaborator. Try to make good use of that. You’re good at that kind of thing, aren’t you?”
“If someone heard that, they’d think I enjoy manipulating people.”
“Don’t you?”
“That’s a serious accusation.”
Yujin genuinely didn’t enjoy manipulating people. He only messed around now and then for fun.
“Ugh, fine… Anyway, for now, she’s the only one you really need to watch out for. Oh, and the All-God Cultists… ah, maybe that’s not urgent just yet.”
“What’s the issue with the All-God Cult?”
Caught off guard by the sudden mention of the All-God Cult, Yujin asked. After a brief moment of thought, Han-cheol replied.
“Mhmm… I’ll tell you about that next time. No matter how I look at it, it’s going to be a long story, and with the main storyline already twisted, I can’t say for sure how things will go. In short, the information is a bit unreliable. For now, let’s focus on what’s immediately in front of us.”
“Well… if that’s the case, I understand.”
If the information had become uncertain due to distortions in the main story, then maybe it was better not to hear it just yet. Accepting that, Yujin gave a nod.
“Then… are you heading back to the Academy now?”
“I probably should. The only thing on my schedule today was the lecture inside the labyrinth, so I’ve got plenty of time…”
As Yujin said that, he casually gave Han-cheol a once-over, scanning him from head to toe. Han-cheol spoke up.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just thinking… maybe I should give our squad leader some proper gear.”
“…All of a sudden?”
“It’s not exactly a sudden thought, though.”
For the time being, Han-cheol would be going in and out of the labyrinth, focusing on his growth. It seemed necessary to equip him with some quality gear to help shorten that process.
“Come to think of it, Mr. Crom did ask me to stop by the Dwarven workshop once.”
Recalling Crom’s words, Yujin opened up his subspace.
Swoosh.
Then he lifted up something that had long been forgotten… It was the horn of Encheos, the demon Yujin had captured in the labyrinth.
[…Huh! Wh-What is the matter…?]
Encheos who had been silent for a long time asked nervously. He was startled by Yujin suddenly seeking him out.
“…Looks like I’ve got just the right material.”
Yujin looked down at him and quietly smiled to himself.
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