This world was a setting in a video game. However, more explanation is required.
The game Aether World was based on the original romance fantasy novel, “Don’t Love the Unfortunate Princess.”
The novel was about a young girl named Eisel who lost her father and family when she was young. She grew up under the schemes of the villainess Hong Bi-Yeon while studying at a magic academy. Everything eventually led her close to one of the male protagonists… something like that.
In the process, her fire for revenge disappeared, and Eisel, the heroine who was once more imposing and powerful than anyone else, was later given up for taking refuge behind the male protagonist. The novel concluded with a sad ending and received a lot of backlash. Nonetheless, the game Aether World directly adopted this world.
However, the game’s content was completely different from the original novel.
A new character named Flame was added to the game, and she became the actual female protagonist.
The game’s concept was nothing out of the ordinary. In the game setting, the character Flame is a woman living an ordinary life in the modern world; someone who enjoyed reading the romance novel ‘Do not Love the Unfortunate Princess’ and accidentally transmigrated to this world.
As a result of being pushed out of her role as the main heroine, Eisel was dubbed ‘Fake Female Protagonist’ because the protagonist of this setting is Flame. She also became a playable character in the game.
‘So, all I have to do now is be careful of the one named Flame.’
Murmur!
In response to the loud sound, Baek Yu-Seol raised his head, and a huge auditorium barred his vision.
An elderly man with a beard reaching his waist stood on the podium. He held up a thing that resembled a microphone and spoke passionately, spitting saliva in the process.
“Ahem! Even right now! The dark mages are causing havoc in the magical world! A mage’s destiny is to protect the world from the forces that lurk in the darkness!”
The voice that sounded like an echo was both familiar and strange.
“Ugh, the vice principal is so boring.”
“A pep talk as soon as this?”
Looking around, he noticed over a thousand students lined up in the five columns. They wore Stella Academy’s high school uniforms with a black base and intricate gold embroidery.
After rehashing the story a few times, it was a scene Baek Yu-Seol often saw because this was Stella Academy’s entrance ceremony.
‘… It feels really strange.’
The scene he saw in a 3D game had turned into a perfect reality. Every student was alive and had feelings.
He shifted his gaze to find the girl known as Flame.
The short girl with pretty ebony hair was calmly surveying her surroundings.
She was so adorable that many comments like ‘lovely’ were used in the game, and everyone, regardless of age or gender, was secretly staring at her.
‘She’s also from the modern era.’
At first, Baek Yu-Seol wanted to confront her and ask if she genuinely came from the reality he knew.
It would be better to be associated with a similar modern person to figure out how to get out of this world or survive.
Wouldn’t it be accurate to say that they might have a better sense of unity and could take good care of each other because they had been living in the same modern age?
But he could not figure out what kind of woman she was, so he abandoned the plan. She could stab his heart to rule out the possibility of another transmigrator familiar with this world, and he would die without anyone knowing.
‘I need more information.’
There was no need to rush. She was a person who transmigrated through the original novel, whereas Baek Yu-Seol was a person who transmigrated through the original game, which went a step further. Even though he was an extra with a role similar to that of a local shop NPC.
“So, I hope all freshmen will continue to devote themselves to defeating the dark mages today and tomorrow! That’s all!”
“Following that, the four students admitted with high grades, and the freshman representative will take an oath.”
The freshman representative and the students ranked second through fifth went to the podium. They were Hae Won-Ryang, Eisel, Flame, and Hong Bi-Yeon.
“Wow, how do they all have such great brains and good looks?”
“I know right…”
There were always bright people who everyone looked up to, unlike Baek Yu-Seol, who was ranked last out of 1,141 people.
The five of them could be considered exceptional students with outstanding talent, but one stood out.
“Freshman representative, Ma Yu-Seong!”
He was Ma Yu-Seong, a freshman representative who became the head of Stella Academy’s first year.
He was the perfect embodiment of the phrase supreme excellence.
He possessed a rare potential to reach the divine realm of 9 stars and a natural aptitude for commanding all the attributes in this world.
As a result, Ma Yu-Seong was his first concern.
Even if he could not achieve the true ending, he had to bring Ma Yu-Seong to the good side to avoid the bad ending.
It was the female protagonist Flame’s role to lead the way, while his role was to support the main characters from behind the scenes.
“This concludes the entrance ceremony.”
Cheers erupted after the entrance ceremony was completed. Meanwhile, he finished the opening ceremony by watching the main characters.
[Episode 2 ‘Enroll in Stella Academy’ has been completed.]
[A small amount of EXP is acquired.]
—
Thinking school was only about fun and games was nothing more than a kid’s fantasy.
Having a good time at school with your friends? A fireworks display that makes your heart pound with unrequited love?
All fantasies.
Mid-term exam, final exam, mock exam, assignment, homework, and repeat. That was the reality.
‘It’s been a while since I graduated from university, but I’m back to high school.’
It was said that Stella Academy was more difficult than most Korean universities, so his future already looked bleak.
The most important thing in school was not dating, making friends, or attending festivals; instead, it was exams.
The Stella Academy also held a test on the first day of classes. It was far too simple to be classified as a test.
The famed Class Placement Test.
The written and practical magic test evaluated internal rankings even after passing the entrance exam, which boasted extreme difficulty. The students were organized into Classes F to S based on their rank.
Most of the main characters were naturally assigned to Class S. Still, Baek Yu-Seol was almost unconditionally assigned to Class F since his grades and combat abilities were also at the bottom, so he was always at a loss in ‘events’.
In the game, he went to the library or reading room and activated an automatic study system to improve his grades, but it would not be possible in real life.
As a result, he was staring blankly at the exam papers on his desk.
Wasn’t it enough just to look at the test in the first place?
Or it might not be the case.
“I’m already supposed to be admitted as per the original plot, so I’ll just leave it blank.”
‘Surely, I won’t get expelled.’
While pondering, he noticed a boy staring blankly out the window with a lifeless expression, as opposed to him, who pretended to be taking the exam.
Ma Yu-Seong was an excellent student.
Even his side profile, with messy black hair, looked stunning under the sun. Aside from his radiant appearance, he had a rather dull face.
‘Has he already become like that?’
That was the main problem of Ma Yu-Seong. Even though he was not yet an adult, he was bored with life.
Because life was too simple and plain for him.
Born into the world’s most powerful family with a brilliant brain and talent, a life without any obstacles where everything no longer amused him.
The divergence here varied greatly depending on how the female protagonist looked after Ma Yu-Seong.
Ma Yu-Seong might occasionally be on the side of the evil or righteous faction.
The proclamation of dark mages working to destroy humans would induce a spark of interest in him, whose biggest problem was a boring life.
‘He has the most serious family history issue in the first place.’
Baek Yu-Seol took a look at his exam paper and realized he had answered all the questions.
‘Wow, he has already solved everything?’
It was not like him, who didn’t know anything. In the midst of this, an idea struck him.
‘Wait, isn’t this exam recorded in Sentient Specs?’
While playing the game, he often went to the library and read books to build up various additional skills, so he was sure there was a lot of knowledge in Sentient Specs.
With that thought in mind, he took out his specs, and at that moment, he felt a hand grab his wrist from behind.
“Wait. What are those specs?”
“Yes, eh?”
As Baek Yu-Seol stuttered in embarrassment, a man believed to be an instructor snatched the specs and brought them close to his eyes.
“You can’t take out your specs during the test unless they were pre-approved.”
‘Ahh. Come to think of it, I have heard that there are quite a few mages cheating with suspicious magic enchantment on their specs. It would never work in Stella Academy.’
‘What should I do?’
As Baek Yu-Seol was pondering, a message appeared in his mind.
[Loss of the item ‘Sentient Specs’ has been detected.]
[Would you like to get it back?]
‘… No, you can’t do that! What if I really get expelled because they thought it was enchanted with magic!’
As he stood still, the instructor nodded stiffly, looking around at the spec.
“There’s no magic in it. Be careful next time.”
“Uh, yes…”
He put the specs in his hands and sat down. He did not seem as thrilled as he thought.
‘Wow, this would have been a real disaster if the original functions were still there.’
The myriad functions in the ordinary-looking specs had now been ‘downgraded’ and disappeared.
If not for that, he might have been expelled from school due to the detection of magic enchantment.
He decided to wear Sentient Specs, pretending to be a veteran who had worn it for decades.
‘Oh…’
Indeed, all of the answers on the test paper began to appear. He tried to write down the answers excitedly, but he had only solved three questions when he was interrupted.
“The exam is over. I’ll take the answer sheet.”
“Uh… huh?”
The answer sheet in his hand flew and fell into the instructor’s hand. Like him, the other students’ answer sheets also flew into his hands. He was not the only one left with regrets as everyone sighed.
‘Oh, I thought I was finally going to use some of its functions.’
With a magic pen in Baek Yu-Seol’s mouth, he knocked on the desk.
He was timidly playing with it, but the supervisor, who was checking the answer sheets, suddenly trembled, and a vicious expression appeared on his face. He came up to Baek Yu-Seol with extreme rage.
“You give me those specs!”
“Huh?”
“Quickly!”
Baek Yu-Seol almost lost his mind. The threat of a real mage could, however, make his heart sink.
As he quickly handed over the specs, the supervisor touched them with a contemptuous expression. He seemed to be injecting mana…
‘What’s wrong with him? I purposely wrote down the process of solving it in detail so that it wouldn’t be misunderstood as cheating.’
“… Ummm.”
Perhaps it wasn’t the result he wanted. He tilted his head, saying, “This can’t be true,” and called an assistant waiting before him.
“Bring Dr. Greyan.”
The assistant quickly left the classroom, and soon, a doctor wearing a white gown and specs appeared.
He was Dr. Greyan, a professor of the Department of Magic Engineering at Stella Academy and recognized as an authority worldwide.
“How is it, Doctor?”
“Well….”
The doctor, who was quietly observing Baek Yu-Seol’s specs, looked at the exam paper and his eyes widened.
‘Did something really go wrong?’
The doctor groaned for a long time. Looking at Baek Yu-Seol’s face, specs, and test papers alternately, he finally opened his mouth.
“The way this student solved these questions… I can’t help but doubt it.”
“As expected, he’s cheating…”
“But it’s not cheating. I don’t feel any magic enchantment in these specs or in this student’s belongings. I’m sure he solved it with pure skill.”
And then he smiled wildly.
“Huh, this is very interesting. It’s something worth living for a long time. As expected, this year’s freshmen are amazing.”
He returned the paper to the instructor as if he had finished his examination. Then, Dr. Greyan tapped him on the shoulder.
“Anyway, Professor Lee Han-Wol, please apologize to the student and guide him well.”
“… I see.”
The doctor also tapped Baek Yu-Seol on the shoulder and walked out.
When Baek Yu-Seol put back the specs and looked at the instructor blankly, he shook his head slightly at him.
“I misunderstood. I apologize.”
Since Baek Yu-Seol really cheated, he was worried about whether he should receive this apology.
But he soon recalled that his specs were a perfect part of him to the point where the mages could not even notice. If Dr. Greyan did not know, it was safe to say that no one in the world would have the skill to do it.
If it were such a perfect trick, wouldn’t it be his skill and not a trick anymore?
So, Baek Yu-Seol stiffened his shoulders and said, “Anyone can make mistakes. Just be careful next time.”
‘After all, I’m a generous man.’
