Chapter 02: Secret Of The Central Entrance 

After the maid showed me the room, which was prepared for me to stay in, she left, informing me that she would let me know when the meal was ready.

I was not anticipating a warm reception, but I certainly did not anticipate such a frigid response, akin to the bitter cold of the North itself.

'Did my siblings not know I was coming?' 

“Whoo.”

The frigid vapor that emanated from my breath dissipated, thanks to the warmth generated by the heating magic in the room.

“Isn't it the coldest time of year?”

During February, the icy gusts can not surmount the towering mountain ranges to the north and become trapped, leading to the notorious cold of North Whedon. 

And after enduring a month of such bitter cold, in March, the very ground freezes solid, rendering it impossible to sow most crops.

Even though I didn’t intend to, it seemed I arrived at the worst possible time. 

'Is that the reason why they were not notified of my arrival?'

No, the room itself was neatly organized and seemed to have been cleaned just a few hours ago, so it didn't seem like they hadn't heard of my coming.

With such insignificant thoughts, I walked over to the desk and chair set up to use for office purposes and sat down. 

The chair comfortably wrapped around me.

I closed my eyes for a moment. With my back resting and not thinking about the reason for such treatment, I diverted my attention to something more important; to come up with the best plans for the future.

The game I transmigrated in was called [Retry].

Though it might seem like the game was given such a name to encourage people to not give up when they failed and try again, in fact, that name served another purpose related to the ending of the game too;

In the first round, the only ending one could achieve in [Retry] was a bad ending. One had to move on to the ‘second round’ to see the proper ending.

I recalled it being heavily criticized as the game company’s gimmick to forcefully increase playtime.

‘The important thing is, I’m in that game.’ 

And there were no second chances in life.

So, in the end, the only possibility for this world was to experience a bad ending.

Not wanting to see such a result, I forcibly headed to Robern Academy, where the game began, but was fired after three months of getting the job due to my fiancée, Erica Bright.

‘The plan got messed up a lot.’

Erica was also an important character in the story’s development. She was one of the helpers of the protagonist entering this year.

She was portrayed as a good-hearted, caring, loving woman.

‘Such Erica betrayed me.’

The feeling of disgust she showed me until the very end of the day was more deeply etched in my heart than I thought.

The girl I saw in the game didn’t have the personality to commit betrayal, so I trusted her wholeheartedly.

‘I can’t just think of it as a game.’

Having learned a bone-crushing lesson, I closed my eyes and calmly locked my fingers together.

'Even if I can’t help the protagonist at the Academy by being right next to him, I need to assist him from the outside and make sure to reach the proper ending.' 

Well, if I didn't want to see the end of the continent, I had no choice but to assist the original protagonist.

In the game, to avoid such an end, the protagonist needed to try twice. But, there was no such thing as a second round in this world. So, I, who knows everything, must act accordingly to prevent this.\

“There are many ways to help from the outside.”

As the game progressed towards the latter half, many quests and activities took place outside the Academy.

Even when I first got to know about being fired, I thought it was rather good; It was hard to do anything because of the ghosts at the academy.

‘They were the main problem.’

The ghosts were the reason I was expelled from the academy.

Because I could see ghosts, the actions I took to settle their grievances or keep evil spirits at bay seemed bizarre to others… which was quite logical.

As the professors testified that I was a heretic or that I was worshiping the devil, and the complaints from the students grew, I was eventually fired.

‘I couldn’t help it.’

I couldn’t stand still when I saw the evil spirits harassing the people in the academy right in front of my eyes.

Even though I knew because of those actions I would be seen as an idiot by others, I still tried to justify my actions thinking the academy shouldn’t be ruined before the main character enters the stage. 

But deep in my heart, I knew my actions were way more selfish and self-serving than that; …Seeing students suffering from evil spirits reminded me of the… past me… of the traumatized child who, even after living two lives, didn't know about the right or wrong… or about what it meant to even live…or…

Anyway, I began fighting against evil spirits in my own way.

And the result was this:

Psychopath. Heretic. Devil Worshiper... 

I was labeled as such.

There was no innovation whatsoever; It was rather heartbreaking and boring because I’d been hearing those names since my school days.

'Even if the world changes, in the end, people think the same.'

“It’s kind of weird when you think about it.”

Anyway, even if I was fired, the protagonist will enter the academy and do well.

There was also a brief episode related to evil spirits, but it was not that important.

I felt there were too many ghosts in this world to end that unimportant episode so briefly, but on the contrary, it seemed I was the only one who saw them, so it didn't matter much.

I laughed at the thought that I was making a fuss alone for no reason and ended up with this result.

“The meal is ready.”

My thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the maid outside the door.

I was about to head straight to the dining hall, but the door opened and a maid pushed a food cart through.

“What does this mean?”

Bringing food here means eating here separately, not at the dining hall with others.

When I asked with a frown, the maid answered with her head bowed in fright.

“Lo-Lord has instructed us to do this. Master Deus is to stay and live in this room from now on.”

“My brother?”

Both of my parents passed away, and now Darius Verdi, my elder brother, was the head of the household.

“In addition, from now on, M-Master Deus is prohibited from having any contact with the outside world.”

I couldn’t help but click my tongue as I watched the maid bow her head again.

‘The rumors have already spread here.’

Rumors that the second son of the Verdi family, who had been fired from the academy, was a demon worshiper seemed to have spread as far north as North Whedon.

“Where is my brother? I’ll talk to him in person.”

Since I couldn’t live in such confinement, I wanted to argue right away, but I couldn’t.

“Lo-Lord is now dispatching troops because of the immigrants crossing the North Whedon Mountains.”

As my eyebrows narrowed even more, the maid hurriedly spoke with a flutter and surprise.

“Master, when you’re done eating, I’ll clean up the tableware!”

With that, the maid left. 

As I took slow steps forward and placed my hand on the doorknob, I felt intense mana film protecting the room.

I could truly feel Darius’ strong will to keep me locked up here.

Did he imprison his ignorant younger brother, who could become a black spot in the history of the Verdi family, early on?

I respected his choice as a family head. In a situation where the entire family could be accused of being demon worshipers, he quickly cut off his younger brother and rectified the situation.

‘But I can’t stay still.’

Because I had to lay the groundwork to help the protagonist who will enter the academy this year.

Leaving the food behind, I placed my hands behind my back and headed toward the window.

Today, the winds of ever-white, blue North Whedon were quite intense.

***

[Professor Verdi was dismissed for inappropriate behavior and speech. Because of this, the lectures he was supposed to take have been canceled, so all those students who applied for his lectures, come to the Academic Affairs Support Team as soon as possible.]

“Huh?”

[The name of the lectures are-]

Meilin, who was surprised by the broadcast that followed, couldn’t help but be startled; 

Because it was Professor Verdi who was in charge of both ‘Mana Harmony’ and ‘Connection between Soul and Mana’ lectures that she had applied for.

“Sh*t, why? Besides, he was fired?”

It didn't even seem like a normal dismissal but of a fairly serious level.

“Damn! I’ve already made up the timetable, but now what’s going on!”

Meilin was annoyed as she tousled her purple hair.

It was only yesterday that she, a sophomore, smiled contentedly at her timetable, which had been meticulously laid out, unlike her freshman year.

But why was this happening now?

“Ugh, so annoying.”

She had heard strange rumors about Professor Verdi, like:

At dawn, he walks through the academy hallways and talks to someone.

He prays by sticking strange pieces of paper to the wall.

And he warns the students to be careful because there is something strange attached to their backs.

She knew that rumors of heathenism were widespread, but she did not expect that he would be dismissed so suddenly.

“Ugh! Really annoying!”

Continuing to spit out harsh words, Meilin thrust her hand into her robe pocket.

Should she think it was rather good because it happened before the semester started?

Fortunately, she didn’t go back to her hometown on vacation and stayed in her dormitory, so she was able to hear the news quickly.

“Academic Affairs Support Team…“

Knowing that it was on the first floor, Meilin walked down the stairs with a strained stride.

‘Don’t let me in any of the remaining lectures for no reason.’

She decided to first see what the Academy would do. But in this case, wouldn’t they simply force another lecture at the same time slot?

‘Don’t put me in a weird lecture because I don’t have one.’

While praying for that, as Meilin came down the central staircase to the first floor, someone caught her eye.

“Hmm?”

A man stood tall on the central porch. His aura was the embodiment of the word hideous.

A dark navy blue energy was circulating around the man, and even the space around him was distorted.

Besides, the thing that stood out the most was…

‘No right hand?’

Even without a right hand, the appearance of him wearing a sword on his left waist was very foreign.

It would be very inconvenient to draw a sword like that.

Instinctively, Meilin realized that he was not an ordinary person.

The moment she tried to look around to see if anyone was there-

Tok.

-Meilin’s right foot touched the hallway on the first floor.

[!]

The man who was showing his back immediately twisted his body and rushed toward Meilin.

-Swish!

A strong wind blew, and the next instant, he stood in front of her.

Meilin unknowingly stepped back, falling on her buttocks and as a result sitting on the stairs, removing her foot from the hallway.

The man who had already drawn his sword noticed it too.

Slowly putting the sword back in the scabbard, he returned to his original position nonchalantly.

Meilin was sure if the man was wearing the sword on his right waist instead of his left one and he hadn’t needed extra time to pull it out, she would be dead already. But more important than that…

“Skeleton?”

That man’s face was of a skeleton with no skin and only flames-like blue orbs were burning in its eye sockets.

Undead in the academy?

Meilin, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, gradually blushed, realizing that it wasn't just cold sweat she had shed in fear... 

Not even confirming if the skeleton wanted to attack her again, she hid her face with her hands in shame.

[TL: If you liked my translation, consider supporting me on Buymeacoffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/george.tl ]

Support Author

Join Discord