Falling in Love at the Academy Means Death

The carriage stopped after a while. A thick man’s voice continued with the sound of ‘whoa whoa’.

“Dormitory C building is here, young boy.”

More at NovelNext com

Needless to say, this ‘brother’ is me.

My name here is Johann Esperts.

I bowed to Adrine and put the backpack on my shoulder. When I left the wagon, the driver sitting in the driver’s seat said to me.

“If you walk straight that way, you will find dormitory C.”

“i get it.”

“And I am your guardian knight.”

With his words, the scent that had been stinging my nose from earlier became thicker. The source of the smell from inside the carriage was this man.

[The Smell of Death]

A system that warns users when a crisis strikes during game play. The system is warning me that this man now has ‘malignant intent’ on me.

I looked up at the knight sitting in the driver’s seat.

Guardian Knight Hoan.

A character who is willing to kill anything related to Adrine.

he said with an expressionless face.

“I overheard what you were saying unintentionally.”

The ‘words’ he said must be referring to the conversation he had with Adrine.

This Guardian Knight has an unusually keen ear.

“And I will protect not only Lady Adrine’s safety, but also her honor.”

Of course, I know what kind of ‘honor’ this article will protect. I have only one answer to this.

“Don’t worry. I will not make a scandal involving that ‘lady’ with my mouth.”

“Can you swear?”

“I swear.”

The smell that stung my nose soon disappeared. It is a departure from the bad ending route at the beginning of the game.

The knight nodded moderately and then rode off.

The carriage quietly moved away, but I didn’t think I was alive. Only the form of death has changed.

Left alone, I looked around.

Compared to the road paved with countless footprints, strong grasses stretched out on both sides of the road.

I closed my eyes for a moment and savored the sounds.

grasshopper sound.

wind noise.

The sound of the moonlight tickling the leaves.

You will never hear these sounds again.

I fixed my backpack and walked out towards the dormitory.

***

Adrine quietly swept the seat where Johann Esperts had been sitting. He left and only took his backpack, leaving the warmth behind.

7 hours by carriage from the capital to here.

The short conversation we had at the end remains in my mind.

‘I am, John. Now, if someone confesses, I think we’ll date.’

‘It’s the complete opposite of me. I don’t think I’ll go out with anyone even if they confess.’

Was it hasty?

Or maybe my acting was clumsy.

During his academy life, he wanted to find someone who would be on his side. And I thought the opponent was just the right person.

The ring he wore had the emblems of dogs and wolves engraved on it.

There is only one family in the Empire that wears such an emblem.

Espertz family.

A family with a unique way of detecting ‘crisis’.

More at NovelNext com

Numerous assassins and spies dispatched to the empire revealed their identities in front of the family. However, the family’s crisis did not come from knives or poison, but from 148 cards.

The family squandered their wealth through gambling and fell into ruin.

Maybe I was a bit cowardly. The whole time he rode with John, he maintained an angle where he could see the expensive jewelry in the narrow carriage.

Although she didn’t get stepped on as a princess, she must have planted the image of her as a family of influential people.

There are two things in the world that humans cannot hide. It is love and poverty.

Those who fall in love and those who fall into poverty have different eyes.

But she did not see the look in the eyes she expected from Johann Esperts.

‘My family collapsed because of my brother, isn’t it a bit unfair to be conscripted to the academy?’

Same for this question.

Yohan didn’t show any complaints or complaints about the position he had to go to the academy, let alone hold a grudge against his brother.

“Beauty doesn’t work, and they don’t move according to practicality… .”

It was not that difficult for her to make the opposite sex her side in her life. She felt a slight interest in John, who did not respond to her subtle temptations and suggestions.

Before long, the carriage stopped again.

“Miss Adrine. This is dormitory building A.”

Adrine is, of course, a pseudonym.

As she got off the carriage, she took a deep breath.

“It starts here.”

“yes. I will load the wagon’s load.”

“yes. Please do your best.”

She straightened her loose expression. As a member of the royal family, her coming to the academy couldn’t have been without political calculations.

And, she believes, everything in human relationships is politics.

***

I went up to my dorm room and admired the design of the hallway. Basically, it was a design that followed the baroque style, and of course, this was also the concept I had.

Lightly touch the bent curves that have been treated with belly spillage. It feels like seeing a three-dimensional picture diary.

A game I’ve been making since I was 20.

When I think of that development, bitterness and bitter pain follow.

this game was ruined

without being properly evaluated by the public.

It wouldn’t be unfair if it failed because it wasn’t fun.

The game I made, funny enough, didn’t pass the deliberation.

There are a total of 7 items that the Game Rating Review Board of Korea looks at.

Among these, the items that I did not pass are as follows.

[Selection]

[Violence]

[fear]

[Language Inadequacy]

[drug]

[crime]

[Meandering]

In a word, all elements were judged to be ‘non-distributable’ after deliberation. At the time of review, development has already been in progress for nearly 10 years.

It was impossible to completely correct this.

Everyone has a threshold.

I collapsed at that point.

The last memory before coming to this world is the endless drinking. And the woman who tried to stop my runaway, Miri.

I never became a successful developer, but I was a patient drinker.

Perhaps Miri will be the witness. Because I made the woman who I had been making games with live with for 10 years in a small room go away.

My memories after that are still vague. All that vaguely comes to mind is that the end was death.

Could it have been a slip and fall on the stairs in the rooftop room?

And the scent of dependence on alcohol is still there.

I unpacked the backpack I brought.

There, along with mocha bread, a bottle of Esperz wine is piled up in the clothes.

In terms of game setting, it’s a terrible solo run. And as the past month here proves, there is no way to go back to the original world just because you drank.

A letter lay on the desk in the dorm room.

I read the letter as I pulled the wine cork with my teeth.

[Dear Johann Espertz students.

First of all, welcome to the Imperial Gatekeeper Training Center, Academy.

9 o’clock in the morning. Students will move according to the guidance of guides. Before that, please be sure to take the following steps today to check the system and aptitude of your Danjeon.

The following is the order of enforcement of the blood plate method.

… … .]

It was something I knew.

blood plate method.

To understand the system and aptitude of Danjeon.

[There will be a vial of black liquid and a short knife on the bookshelf on the desk. In order to figure out the system and aptitude, you can drop the student’s blood into that liquid.

There are different types of qi that danjeon can exhale.

The reason why our academy conscripts students under the age of 18 is because of the characteristics of this short war. A person’s dantian begins to form at this age… .]

After that, there were long explanations over several chapters, but I condensed my impressions into one sentence.

So what.

He tilted the wine bottle in his hand.

“Whoa… .”

The taste that was set only in letters was vividly experienced. But even though it was set to be a hard drink, I didn’t get drunk until I finished the bottle of wine.

Only drinking habits come naturally.

“It’s a game we made beforehand.”

I said, raising an empty bottle to the ceiling. Of course there is no answer.

Maybe this is a huge illusion that God gave me as a gift. Even though it’s a game that hasn’t been released, I’d like to try it.

More at NovelNext com

Now, if I cut my palm with a knife and dip the blood into that liquid, my specialty will be revealed.

And tomorrow, the real story will begin.

Clearly, I, who knew the setting and progress of this world, would be able to adapt quickly.

However-

for what?

It’s a question I’ve been asking for a month since I came to this world. What do I have to live for ‘here’.

This is not where I grew up, and there are no people here to share my time with.

The girl I worked with on the game left me, and the game never got released.

To experience this game I made by myself?

A bitter smile appeared before the sentence I came up with.

“I decline.”

He shook his head with a sigh. Because you know. Life is something that cannot be continued with just such self-defense.

One month was enough.

This bizarre creative experience.

I left the dorm room with the knife in my pocket.

I made eye contact with some people carrying luggage, but I wasn’t in the mood to bow.

As soon as I left the dormitory building, the same strong smell that I smelled from the carriage stung my nose.

[The Smell of Death] detects whoever has murderous intentions through its sense of smell. And that ‘whoever’ includes myself.

And the source of this [smell of death] was me.

It was time to end this game.

Because there is no reason to delay any longer.

I walked towards the destination I had been thinking about for a long time. With the smell that emanates from me.

It wasn’t even that far away.

The vacant lot behind the dormitory.

It was the last place I had decided on. And it’s not a spleen reason like wanting to die while looking at something beautiful.

i just

I wanted to close my eyes while looking at Miri’s traces.

Jeong Mi-ri.

She, who was in charge of programming for this game, left a single trace under the agreement with me.

Right on the notice board in this vacant lot.

I looked at the notice board. There, each room number and name of each dormitory is listed.

Of course, my name was among them.

Johann Esperts is number 1205.

1205 was also her birthday.

My gaze goes down along the letters. Somewhere in between, there must be a phrase she and I left behind.

Of course, I also remember the contents of the phrase.

[Thank you for purchasing this game, ‘Savior from Another World’. The first game Yohan and Miri worked hard on. Please enjoy it.]

It was what she suggested. Rather than putting developer credits at the end of the ending, let’s show them early in the game.

So, this bulletin board is the place that has been decided.

A phrase that a player who first came to the dormitory in the game [Investigates] the notification board and reads it as well.

I think of game development that started with one belief in me. After developing numerous routes and finally finishing the development of the true ending route, I made up my mind.

As a thank you to her for silently staying with us until the end, we decided to scan her handwritten phrase and paste it here.

It didn’t take long to find it.

The last line of the bulletin board. The consonants were written in poor handwriting, cleverly inserted to match the spacing between the room number and name.

I was just a little surprised.

“This… ?”

Clearly, her handwriting was correct.

But the contents were different from what I knew.

The last fragments of my memory became clearer and my vision became hazy. I spit out her name like a moan.

“already… .”

There was a clicking sound. He had dropped the dagger he was holding in his hand.

I rubbed my blurred eyes once and read the text again.

[In honor of John whom I loved. May he be a challenger who does not give up in heaven.

already.]

One word pierced my heart.

‘Give up’.

I fell to my knees like a man with a pierced heart.

It’s because of my last appearance that came to my mind late.

The day when my efforts in my 20s turned out to be meaningless.

From the day when the release of the game became unclear… .

I didn’t know my binge would end.

And when Miri finally left me, I thought of a way to end my binge.

giving up my life.

I calmly nailed the ceiling of the rooftop room and hung the rope.

“It’s crazy.”

My cheeks are hot as tears pass by.

I remember.

The rope knotted in a circle in front of my eyes, I had recited lines from the game while looking inside the circle.

“Anyway, life and death will lead to one road.”

And remember.

The moment I put my neck in the ring, I felt the creepy feeling of the rope under my chin.

“Hey, hehe… .”

I don’t know when was the last time I shed tears, but the tears didn’t stop. And it wasn’t because I felt sorry for myself who died like that.

I wanted to eat.

It wasn’t the delicacies from the mountains, but the pork soup she cooked.

I wanted to drink.

A glass of beer with her after all-night work.

And I wanted to see you again.

The faint smile she wore.

Suddenly, anger seeps into my chest.

“Shit… .”

She must have known how I died.

Disgust with oneself creeps in. My game plan was absurdly complicated. A boyfriend who took on a long challenge based on this. And the girlfriend who silently accompanied this.

If I had a conscience, I shouldn’t have shown her taking her own life.

“Keuk-kuk. turn it off-“

Like a faucet that couldn’t handle the water pressure, emotions that didn’t make sense kept coming out of my throat.

It was because I kept drawing the image of her who would have confirmed my death.

how much did it hurt

After my death, I started to worry about her.

“Keuheuk-keuheugh.”

Memories I had been avoiding emerged, revealing an ugly naked body.

I was a loser.