It worked.
Away from my sweat-drenched mouse, I clenched my fist in silence.
I wonder how long it has been since I last showered?
Surrounded by torn notes and scribbled papers, I looked past the monitor into the burning kingdom on the screen.
A hellscape born from the selfish act of a single player: me.
All to save one character.
One girl hated by the world.
Even as I watched cities crumble and people scream in pain, hated by an entire species, my heart raced when she appeared before me—her expression had a troubled look
So beautiful...
"Why?" she asked.
A gamer's whim. Long, long whim that spanned over half my life.
The 'hobby' that I swore to devote to "save you."
But in the end, my efforts bore fruit. I thank you for giving meaning to this meaningless life.
The screen flickered
I yawned as my eyelids grew heavy. Even the adrenaline that supported me ran out as I accomplished my goal.
Darkness swallowed the screen.
[Congratulations! You have created a route beyond the game's mechanics.]
---
Chronofall was a 'godly' game released in 2030, widely called The Elder Scrolls VI, though there was nothing elderly about it.
It was marketed as pc game when it came, but later introduced a VR counterpart, which I played both.
Simply saying, the game's story was about a fantasy descending into the modern world.
Fueled by revolutionary AI, it gave players freedom beyond reason, which won the hearts of millions of gamers, even with society divided between the use of AI or not.
You could build a stealth archer and literally hide from the eyes of the sun, then strike stealth damage, plunging the world into eternal darkness.
Or you could become an undead priest, stacking immortality upon immortality, turning death itself into a joke.
Borrowing my dad's computer, I first discovered that world when I was eight, thinking I could become the hero I had imagined.
And before I knew it, it had become my life.
So why...
Why am I just remembering this now?
---
I blinked my hazy eyes.
In the bus waiting line, I contemplated my current situation.
I was reborn...
No, it was more like I had lived as "this" character for fifteen years, and the memories of my past life just came back right now, on the first day of the academy.
A single question came. Why me?
I had nothing special going on with me. I was just a gamer who liked playing games. Even the 'creating a new route/ending' wasn't something special.
Many players, at least the ones I've read in forums, could do the same. So why out of all those players and top rankers, did the world choose me?
In the Korean novels I've read, the protagonists had something special going for them—like being the game developer or being the top ranker of said game—but all I had was devotion to the point of madness.
I scratched my head in frustration and checked my memories.
Without a doubt, this world I lived in was Chronofall.
That unreasonably expanded world due to the descent of fantasy
What befall in my eyes were the familiar skyscrapers that covered the skies, and beyond these scenery would be the territory overtaken by the races from the fantasy world.
Elven and orcs alike, even spirits and demons would reside by.
It's fun because the game remained as the game, but now that it has turned into hardcore real life, where one's life is limited, I can't laugh at it anymore.
Complaining like this won't change anything.
As soon as I finished checking the content of my memories, the memories from my previous and present lives seamlessly blended.
'That's right,' I weakly murmured. "[Stats]"
I'd feel embarrassed if someone heard me mumble those words.
I silently checked my surroundings as the contents of my stat became clear.
[Mochizuki Ren]
・Strength 13 ・Perception 23
・Agility 17・Wisdom 34
・Intelligence 11・Magic -999
Skills -
[Hyper-Sensitive Magic Circuits] - Lv.1
◦ Due to the overloaded magic circuits, inability to channel nor store mana.
◦ The shattered circuits vibrate when mana passes, sending instinctive feedback through the nerves.
+10% Agility
+20% Perception
+50% Wisdom
Enhanced sight
Sixth Sense: Danger Sight—upon activation, enables one to instinctively feel when "cause and effect" around the user is shifting toward danger.
Unique Skill - [Blink] - Lv.1
Interpretation 1: Uninterpreted.
From infancy to adulthood, an average untrained person would amount to 0~10. With most of my stats being above 10, it was clear that I didn't slack off in this world.
But still… what a messed-up build.
I gave up at the sight of my stats. I wished I remembered it wrongly, but reality was in front.
I had such high wisdom—immensely useful for spell crafting, yet I didn't have and will never have the resources to use magic. Nothing felt more frustrating than that, considering how useful magics at Chronofall were.
And what was [Blink]?
One could make teleportation magic with spell crafting, but Blink didn't exist in the game, nor did a character called Mochizuki Ren.
Well, that's my original name in a previous life after all.
Unique Skills are entirely unique to the person with them. Even if a similar ability appears in the future, it can't be the same one.
Players being the chosen one could create their own Unique Skill, but I, as someone who was promoted from player to NPC, had no such leisure.
I could only interpret my Unique Skill carefully, not to ruin my future.
While I was contemplating my future build, the bus I was waiting for arrived.
That's right, today was that long entrance ceremony…
Some around me wore the same uniform as I did. They clenched their fists, barely containing their excitement.
'It must be good to be young.' I shook my head as their senior—33, combining both my previous and present life—and lifted my foot to the bus.
The inside of the buses had its own familiar scent—the air purified by magic calmed and relaxed one's mind.
'Ohhh… so this is the legendary +15% recovery speed that lasts for an extra 8 hours after the bus ride!! As expected of the prodigious Arcana Pathfinder Academy!!'
I shone my eyes inwardly as I gazed around, but kept a poker face. Experiencing it in-game and in real life was a whole different thing!
Yet, suppressing my desire to inspect around more, I moved to the nearest seat not to bother the students lined behind me.
"No way is that…!"
"Whoa, she's cute…"
Seems like it's going to get rowdy.
I attempted to reach out for my wireless noise-cancelling earphones, but was greeted by an adorable voice as if inviting one to cloud nine.
"Hi! Are you a new student too?"
The source of this introvert nightmare fuel? No way… is that Alicia Solenne? Why is a princess like her riding on this commoner bus? Is she here for the recovery-boosting benefits too?
What unfolded before my eyes was a face meticulously handcrafted by the gods themselves to make the most beautiful woman in the world. The small, adorable nose made one want to press it lightly, yet her long, seductive eyelashes made one want to make a mess of her.
Wrapping her was a sunlight that fell on her gold-yellow hair as if the world was congratulating her arrival.
Even without any filters, she was easily more beautiful than anyone I've seen in my previous world.
I widened my eyes in surprise, unable to open my mouth, I nervously nodded, taken aback by her beauty and innocent behaviour.
"Really? That's great~! I was getting nervous because I didn't know anyone, so I was hoping to get to know you… oh right. I am Alicia Solenne! Nice to meet you!! I hope we get to the same class," unbothered by my silence, she cheered up on her own.
She was the type of girl who smiled like sunlight, talking to everyone like an old friend.
Even to a loner like me and 'her'.
Suddenly, a pulse of heat shot through my skull. My hand is supporting my head.
The bus doors closed as the final person entered.
Missing the white-haired female who had just entered the bus, my memory flooded my mind with a flashback of my previous life.
["I-I am Irysis- I, I hope we get to the same classroom too!!"]
[Beyond the scenery, I saw two girls walking together. One white haired, another, Alicia's golden hair fluttered by the wind.]
["A-Ali" the scene swiftly changed as the white haired girl tried to call out, only to be interrupted by one of Alicia's friends. Unable to do anything, she couldn't help but give up as Alicia happily talked with her friends.]
["Who was that girl, Alicia?"]
["It's Irysis, my friend! Hmm… I wonder if she had some issues…"]
["Well, it's probably not something important."]
["Maybe that's true! If it's something really troubling, she'd ask me!"]
[The scene dimmed once again, moving to another one. ]
["Irysis! Why have you turned out like this! Please hold on! I swear I will save you!"]
[The next scene, Alicia was crying next to Irysis' mutilated body as the protagonist looked up—tightly gripping his sword.]
["I'm so sorry… so sorry… if I just noticed much quicker… if I just paid more attention to you…" Alicia's shoulder shivered as she sobbed—her staffs resting upon the girl's lifeless body.]
Death after death, and restarts upon restart. No matter how much I tried, she always ended up in the same fate. Until I succeeded.
It's not that I blame you for everything.
After all, it's all that fucker's fault that she always ended up that way.
But. Unconsciously, I was directing my gaze at her keenly, surprised at myself being capable of doing such acts.
Then, I opened my mouth as a clear sound reverberated through the bus.
"You hope-giving hypocrite who surrounds yourself in meaningless friendship. Do you think you're helping at all? I despise nothing more than a creature like you."
From the standpoint of a loner, I couldn't help but be controlled by emotions and say some words I didn't mean.
'Shit. '
'Did I just say that to her?'
Alicia furrowed her brows and placed her chin above her hands, pondering my sentence.
It's her habit when she's troubled.
Yeah, I know. I didn't think I'd become like this on our first meeting—heroine.
I just wanted to get out of here. I just wanted to disappear from this spot. I'm going crazy.
[You have successfully interpreted your Unique Skill]
Accompanied by the system notification, the landscape warped as I vanished from the spot. The next second I blinked, the bus was gone, and my surroundings were replaced by the landscape of bustling cities.
Breathless, I ran away.
As far as I can, away from the bus.