Esdinas Academy.
In the game, it was depicted as either 2D illustrations or a 3D semi-open world, but now being able to walk around it in reality feels strangely unfamiliar.
“How do you like it? Pretty well implemented, right?”
It’s not surprising that Changyeom, who is leading the way with a light step and hands clasped behind her back, is proud of it.
“Not just well implemented.”
“Huh?”
“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this is the real thing.”
Every element from the game has been fully integrated and brought to life, making it practically the real Academy.
From the moment you enter the main gate, the marble bridge unnecessarily extending all the way to the Academy courtyard, to the pigeons briefly resting before flying away—everything is replicated in detail.
Except, there are no people.
“Master.”
“Wait a moment.”
When I call out to Changyeom, she turns around and waves at me.
“I instructed you to call me ‘Master’ to clarify our master-servant contract, but honestly, I’m not really comfortable with it.”
“…?”
“Just call me Changyeom. Speak informally, too.”
“Does that mean you’ll also speak informally to me?”
“Wow, you’re quick to adapt. Yes, I’m already speaking informally, aren’t I?”
Changyeom smiles broadly, though I still used formal speech.
“Feel free to use whatever speech is comfortable for you. Of course, I’m fully aware of our contract, so rest assured.”
I pointed to the mark of Changyeom’s mark engraved on my neck.
Regardless of our speech, the master-servant relationship, bound by a soul contract, leaves no doubt about who holds the upper hand.
“Alright. Then follow me. I’ll give you a tour of Esdinas Academy.”
“Before that.”
I pointed downward.
“Do you know what Esdinas Academy really is?”
“Of course I do. It’s the most prestigious educational institution in the Middle World, isn’t it? Initially, anyway.”
There’s a hidden meaning in her words.
“The Empire, Kingdoms, Merchant Guilds, and the Church of the Goddess—every major power on the continent established the ‘Academy’ at the heart of the continent. They sent their heirs there to learn and grow together from a young age. But in reality, it was an adult’s proxy war using their children.”
“A war fought through their offspring.”
Esdinas Academy.
It was established with an unsavory purpose right from the start.
“Officially, they say it’s to build friendships from a young age, to foster connections. But in truth, it’s a competition among the heirs of various nations who enroll at the Academy.”
“Grades, abilities, talents—each year, new students are sent, and three years later, on their 20th birthday, their performance determines if they are fit to inherit their nation’s power.”
As expected, Changyeom knows the background of Esdinas Academy well.
“Heirs who achieve high marks and make many friends at the Academy rise in the line of succession, while those who fail to perform are demoted and eventually lose their right to succeed.”
“They know that their future and life depend on their three years at the Academy, so they push themselves to the limit. Except in special cases, of course.”
Despite being called an Academy, it’s practically a university.
But instead of a place to enjoy youth and scholarly pursuits, it’s a battlefield for building careers, credentials, and connections.
Esdinas Academy is a place with centuries of tradition and history built upon this premise.
“And yet, it’s actually a front to conceal a deeper secret.”
Changyeom takes my hand.
“People dig into the Academy’s reality, mock its pursuit of a society built on petty competition, and scoff at the results.”
Whoosh.
“All while failing to uncover the ‘true purpose’ left behind by those who first founded the Academy.”
A pair of blue phoenix wings spread behind Changyeom, and she takes me with her as we fly toward a specific location.
“Do you know where this is?”
“I know it well.”
Changyeom brought me to one of Esdinas Academy’s buildings, located deep within a forest, far away from the other lecture halls.
“The Old School Building.”
It’s the kind of place you often hear about.
“The first building constructed when Esdinas Academy opened, now abandoned and unused by anyone.”
Despite its centuries-old tradition, the building is so old and decrepit that repairs or remodeling are practically impossible.
The kind of place where students whisper about ghosts appearing, and where such events actually take place.
“The abandoned library here.”
Boom!
Changyeom descends directly onto the four-story library building.
The way she infused her magic into the ground and descended was akin to a meteor crashing down to Earth.
“This is where the founders of Esdinas Academy hid the ‘real truth.'”
The underground archive of the library.
As we descended through the roof of the basement, which no one visits, we were met with the musty smell of old books, scattered among the collapsed bookshelves.
The underground archive bore the clear signs of being abandoned, likely due to an earthquake that turned it into a ruin, with maintenance being abandoned as a lost cause.
“Here.”
Changyeom raised her fist high above her head.
“Below.”
With a resounding whoosh, her hand, brimming with blue flames, struck the library’s basement floor.
A hole burst open below, and something resembling a mirage began to seep out.
“A vast cavern leading underground.”
Beneath the basement archive, an expansive cavern roughly 8 pyeong in size had opened up.
“Hold on tight. We’ve got about 10 kilometers more to descend.”
Changyeom extended her hand toward me.
“If you lend me some strength, I think I can fly down on my own.”
“What if I refuse?”
“…Would this work?”
I moved in front of Changyeom and took her hand.
“Puhehehe.”
Changyeom grinned, her wings unfurling as she slightly lifted off the ground.
“It might get a bit hard to breathe, so bear with it, okay?”
Squish.
Something soft pressed against my face. Along with the unique texture of her uniform, it was warm and plush, with a sensation that reminded me of squeezing pudding or mochi—
“Mmph…!”
“Hold on tight, alright?”
My face was completely engulfed, and I instinctively reached out.
Grab.
Unlike the monstrous mana pouches of an SS-rank, her slender waist felt so delicate that it seemed like it might crumble under the grip of my hands.
From the outside, it might look a bit shameful, burying my face in the chest of someone much smaller and clinging to them like this—
‘How could I refuse when my master wishes it?’
Since Changyeom wanted me to hold on like this during our descent, I had no choice but to comply.
“Here we go~”
Changyeom secured my head with her hands and chest, then spread her wings.
Whoosh—!!
This was a fall unlike any other, far from a gyro drop or bungee jump.
While she occasionally flapped her wings to slow us down, it felt like skydiving without a parachute, giving me the heart-dropping sensation of a non-existent organ plummeting.
‘I really made the protagonist and the characters do this in the game, didn’t I?’
This cavern… it was the secret I discovered on my 1,000th playthrough.
During that playthrough, I unleashed all my pent-up frustration.
How, you ask?
By utterly destroying the Academy.
Using the protagonist and his SS-rank companions, I found a way to select the option to demolish the entire Academy.
And that’s when I found it.
The secret that the founders of the Academy—the first Headmaster, the Emperor who funded it, and the Pope of that time—tried so hard to conceal beneath the old school building, beneath the underground archive.
Question.
Did the founders of the Academy, the first Headmaster, or the Emperor and Pope who funded it, really not foresee that the Academy would one day push children into ruthless competition?
No.
They knew.
They knew, and yet they built the Academy, forcing their descendants into an unending cycle of competition.
‘They hid this place, believing that even if it were discovered, their successors would be able to handle it.’
A secret so crucial that they were willing to create a society of relentless competition for their descendants, all to keep it hidden.
“Ta-da! We’ve reached 10,000 meters below.”
…Upon reaching a depth equivalent to the Mariana Trench’s lowest point, Changyeom tapped the ground beneath us with her foot.
“This is the entrance to the Demon World.”
Yes.
This place is a direct passage to the Demon World.
“An invasion route of the Demon World that no demon has ever discovered, and a secret passage to the Middle World that the humans of the Middle World themselves found and sealed away.”
As Changyeom snapped her fingers in all directions, statues resembling human figures appeared on the walls to the north, south, east, and west.
“These are the four Saints, except for the first Headmaster who was responsible for the Academy.”
The statues looked as if they were marble replicas of the figures displayed in the Esdinas Academy’s history museum. But that wasn’t the case at all.
No.
These were the actual ‘individuals’, petrified.
“A seal on the world, made from their very bodies.”
“…Indeed.”
I had discovered this place on my 1,000th playthrough and crossed into the Demon World.
“The Emperor of the Empire, the Sword Master of the Kingdom, the Grand Mage, and the Saint. These four personally sealed this place.”
“Yes. Even the first headmaster, who took full responsibility for the Academy, was involved. And those five left no trace… afraid that this place might be discovered.”
They feared that if any record remained, someone might open the gate to the Demon World.
To ensure that no one could pry into the memories left in their corpses, they sealed themselves in this place before their deaths.
“So, here’s a question. Why do you think I brought you here directly?”
Changyeom set me down and faced me, standing atop a magic circle.
“Because this is a place you were ‘never supposed to know about’.”
“Exactly. So, how do you think I came to know about this place?”
Changyeom tilted her head and smiled.
“How could I, who have been trapped in Hell for millennia, yearning to return to the Middle World, our original home, have discovered this place?”
“Because, naturally…”
I pointed to my head.
“You took everything from me.”
“…Phehehe.”
“Everything about me. That must have included my memories.”
“Let me ask you something.”
“No need. You already know the answer, don’t you?”
She took everything from me.
“When I offered myself to you, my memories, my thoughts, my plans—they all became known to you. So, you must already know why I made a pact with you.”
“Do you think I’ll help you?”
“It’s a transaction, of sorts. Becoming a slave, with my soul held as collateral, just to ally myself with the one who’s not only the strongest and most reasonable…”
I knelt before Changyeom on one knee.
“…But also the one who most desires revenge against the ‘Goddess’. It’s a gamble.”
“You do realize there’s no saving or loading in this world, right?”
“I do.”
The words “save” and “load” came from Changyeom’s mouth.
“I’m serious. Both as a player and as a human.”
“…”
“In order to escape this world and return to my original one. And you, to exact revenge on the Goddess.”
We shared a common goal.
“To kill the Goddess.”
“Excuse me, ‘Player’.”
Changyeom asked me.
“What if, after killing the Goddess and bringing chaos to the Middle World, you still can’t return home? What will you do then?”
“Then I’ll just be ‘Slave A’ to the Archduke of Hell who killed the Goddess. I might suffer from homesickness, never being able to return to my original world…”
I pressed my lips to the back of Changyeom’s offered hand.
“But at that point, this place will be where I belong.”
