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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: EP.2 0-3. Tutorial - The Pure Love Black Knight Bound for the Academy
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'Grand Route.'
The new system added in the sequel, Black Heart.
It inherited data from the previous game, allowing you to progress the story using those relationships in the follow-up.
It featured events and choices you wouldn't see under normal circumstances.
For example, if you'd maxed out affection like I had and cleared the Saintess route before inheriting, you'd meet her right at the start of the game.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Hello there, Mr. Lost Puppy?
Normally, you'd have to trek to the monastery where the Saintess lived and use all sorts of methods to dispel her suspicions.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Um, have we met before? You look familiar... You were the one donating to the orphanage! No wonder...! Are you free tonight by any chance? I'm thinking of buying a cute doll... What? N-No, I'm not the one buying it! Absolutely not!
No need for any of that here.
The Nameless Saintess was a blunt character from the start anyway.
She only softened up for those she'd acknowledged.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The Hero and the Mage got married? Time flies, huh. Doesn't that remind you of anything?
Chaining happy endings like this in the sequel was the 'Grand Route.'
I still remembered the ad promising brand-new endings.
But there was a problem.
For starters, no matter how strong you'd built your character in the previous game, you had to begin from scratch.
The only thing carried over was your 'relationships' with the characters from the prior game.
And if you slipped up even once, your save file was gone.
The Black Heart devs were evil incarnate.
But the absolute worst part was that I'd ended up inside the game.
"I'm never touching Black Heart again. Knight Heart... you were right... come back..."
I hung my head. How could I have forgotten who made that infamous sequel?
I should've trashed the email the second I got it. Or reported them for fraud.
I went to bed last night and woke up to a transparent status window floating in front of me.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ta-da! It's finally time for you to head to the academy, Lee Soo-hyun!
"What the hell is this?"
I rubbed my eyes. It wasn't a hallucination.
The familiar tone of the devs briefly lifted my spirits. Maybe it'd guide me step-by-step like a tutorial fairy. I dared to hope.
Forgetting, of course, that no one who'd shove you into a beta test would be that nice.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Grand Hearts Academy introduces a brand-new system!
What now? Possession on top of inheritance?
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ It's the heart-fluttering... thump-thump... Love Meter system! What happens when a character's love hits 100%? Exciting, right?
"So that's what a romance fantasy academy story means..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Yep! Beating the Demon King for a plain happy ending is so overdone~ By the third game, people would riot...
Not affection, trust, or fame meters.
Love Meter?
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ I know you hate spoilers...! So that's all the explanation you get!
I stared in disbelief as a massive window popped up in front of my dumbfounded face.
Huge letters spelling "Grand Route," followed by a list of smaller lines.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
Grand Route Achievement
Objective: Achieve Grand Route 0/1
Now you can pursue love lines! Please proceed with romance stories at the academy!
Just protect all the couplings from the previous game! Fighting!
🎁 Reward: Return to the real world, Nameless Saintess's 'Grand Route' ending.
❌ Failure: ???
"..."
I stared at it for a long while.
The garish pink colors and heart decorations screamed "game," utterly alien.
Fuck. Why is it pink? Why the damn hearts? Black Heart devs, you made this yourself, didn't you? And failure is just ????
Obviously, the save file gets deleted.
"That's what beta tester meant?! You crazy bastard!!!"
I yelled. My vision was narrowed.
Because the bonus item they'd given me was blocking the view. And it wouldn't come off. Not even for meals.
"If you're sending me to the academy to raise Love Meters, just send me already! I had no idea and thought I needed to defeat the Demon King or something!"
She'd been silent until now, so I'd assumed I had to fend off an academy ambush.
Most love lines in parts 1 and 2 led to crises like that, and clearing them unlocked the Grand Route happy ending. Or so I'd thought.
But no. That was why I was cursing up a storm since morning.
"At least let me take off this helmet!!"
Tears blurred my vision.
"Status window!! Open stats...!! Nothing works!"
I spouted every cliché line for a good ten minutes, but nothing happened.
My hollow shouts met only silence. In the end, it was all up to the devs' whims. I had no choice but to accept it.
"...Sigh. If it weren't for our Saintess, I wouldn't have fallen for it."
I let out a deep breath. It'd been five years since I got pulled into this game. When I first landed in that unknown forest, I nearly died for real.
Luckily, a kind old couple took me in. I was grateful even for the age regression.
"Black Knight Licht."
I'd possessed the same character used across both previous games. Talk about inheritance irony.
"At least let me use magic like Licht, or is that not possible in the prequel?"
I checked the mirror. A warrior with a black helm pulled low. No armor made it awkward, but it screamed Black Knight.
"Surprisingly comfortable, though."
No helping it. Fine, I'll show you. Think I don't know romance stories? I'd memorized every line from the setting bible.
"...This time, I'm seeing that ending. You bastards."
Why did the Saintess have to die in part 2 anyway?
I hated that, so I memorized every attack pattern, squeezed in every bit of damage, and cleared it in a 16-hour no-break marathon.
After twisting myself into knots, the ending wasn't even implemented.
Come to think of it, I got an IV drip midway and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling. Guess that was foreshadowing for this possession bullshit.
"You picked the wrong guy."
I grabbed the notebook from the bookshelf. Everything I might forget, jotted down the moment I arrived. My strongest weapon right now.
I dusted off the cover.
"Cursed Spring Dragon and Drunken Dennis. Can't touch them yet anyway."
Knight Heart, part 1 protagonists. Blossoming love under the magnolia tree.
To save them, I need to beat the Demon King. On hold for now.
"[The Ability to Light and Extinguish Fires Without Touching Them]... No worries there."
The guy who became academy headmaster for his love. I've got his status covered.
"Grand Sword Master and the Sage of the Magic Tower."
They'll be at the academy. One's the sword instructor I called master until days ago; the other's holed up in the library.
'A healthy body houses a healthy spirit!!'
Just reading my own note echoed with his booming voice.
Sorry, Master Drake... Still can't use Aura. Some things just won't come no matter how hard I try.
I turned the page.
"Northern Archduchess was an Easter egg character."
I never read romance novels much, unlike some. Should've browsed the web more. Wonder how far game knowledge gets me.
My gaze lingered, a pang in my heart.
"...Light Hero and Blazing Flame Mage."
Black Heart, part 2 protagonists. Oblivious next-door blockhead and shy red kitty.
They made a great couple.
These trash-tier idiots were decent in the original, aside from fleeing in the sequel.
It's the past still. I can change it.
Core powerhouses and the pair least likely to succeed in love. Total fools.
"Starting with these childhood friends."
Enduring the shift from friends to lovers? Their story was genuinely sweet.
"Gonna be tough ahead."
Sorting my thoughts brought a sigh, and my hand paused on the page.
"..."
I pressed a hand to my forehead. Unlike the others, the spot for her name was blank.
Almost forgot.
"Who to pair the Nameless Saintess with?"
Knight Heart's first healer.
An NPC blank as a white sheet of paper.
"Pleased to meet you."
White hair flowing, wolf ears twitching under her nun's habit—like a homage to a Japanese shrine maiden.
Honestly, I started the game for her.
Now every character felt like a sore spot,
but she'd hooked me for sure. Watching the coldest NPC gradually open up was great.
...And she was beautiful.
"Good morning. Are you feeling alright?"
A low-probability random event.
Probably when I first beat the Demon King and was on the brink of death.
"Knights in fairy tales always protect only the princess. But I prefer heroes who protect everyone else too." "[...Good work today too, 'Black Knight.']"
Her first smile I saw.
Backlit by the sun, her hair gleamed beautifully. Coincidence or fate, job-specific lines like that.
I picked Black Knight just 'cause it looked cool.
From then through Black Heart, playing as him was mostly for her.
"If that's how you feel... Ah, how about trying polite speech this time? There must be people who won't fear you, like me."
Switch to polite speech someday,
and she'd say scars wouldn't scare people off, or offer to heal if it bothered me.
Just character customization.
Yet her emotional depth felt like a living person worrying.
That's why I loved the original.
"I like sweets too. Could you spare one, Knight?" "Your holy power seems a bit low..."
When eating candy buffs, she'd occasionally ask to share, sulking all day if refused.
Adorably pouting.
"Knight, I can't heal without something sweet!"
Stocking extras at shops became habit.
Wait, wasn't she a gold-digging cat?
"Hehe, thank you. May the gods bless you, Knight."
One of the few times her icy expression melted. Worth every gold.
"If you can't trust people, let me be the first to trust you."
Encouragement during betrayal en route to the Demon King's castle,
"Do you know the meaning of Blue Rose? It means 'impossible' at first. But if you don't give up, opportunity will come someday."
After enough tries, her wolf ears and tail drooped differently.
"[...Just once, I'd love to try on a wedding dress. Greedy, right?]"
'That's why I grinded like hell.'
Knight Heart's ending showed her merely mumbling in sleep, imagining a bride in white.
She was a side character.
No official marriage happy end—just the closest thing, the 'Saintess route.'
Player slang for it.
Way too casual a term.
"I was the guy who only saw that... Thinking back, I miss it."
I closed my eyes. I'd banked on the 'Grand Route' ending. Played Black Heart for that reason too.
This time, it'd work out somehow. The ones who possessed me wouldn't lie, probably.
"Alright, first up: meet the Hero and the Mage."
Two days until academy entrance ceremony.
I might not know everything else, but I had to lock in that childhood friend couple.
"All I want is our Saintess's happiness."
They'd helped most with sequel clears.
They'd be the key.
The start of happy endings linking past to future.
I closed the book.
Prep done. Time to write a new story.
A 'Grand Route' where she's happy.