I Became a Blind Swordsman at the Academy

4. Eisel Ludwig

Eisel Ludwig was a very unique character.

The first line she utters when meeting a player is always the same.

‘It’s the first time I’ve seen your face…’

It may not be a very special line.

Rather, ‘What kind of bullshit are you talking about when you’re also a freshman?’ There are bound to be reactions like this.

Even after that, it was a character full of suspiciousness that slowly disappeared leaving only unusual lines.

However, things change when the player progresses through the game and arrives at the fact that she is a regressor.

The word “new face” means that the player is an entity that has never appeared in her return, and the peculiar words she uttered were hints for the future story.

This unique character has come as a guide for beginners in a shallow view, and an attractive element for users who play multiple rounds in a deeper look.

Slightly different speech from before.

In fact, the story twists a little bit accordingly.

It was a powerful device that led the player to play the next round.

As a player, I was no different.

In a way, I guess I was more drawn to it.

A regressor who tries to change the future by repeating countless regressions.

The player could be the only ‘understander’ of such a regressor.

The alluring relationship had a knack for making people bewitched.

I was such a fan of her.

Not only me but many players must have been her fans.

All of us were purely drawn to the character of ‘Eisel Ludwig’.

However, even after repeating countless rounds of play…

‘…Her death could not be prevented.’

Eisel Ludwig dies in the middle of the story in an episode related to the purpose and reason for his return.

Players should also be seen as regressors.

Because it can be undone through the system’s save and load, there was even a way to proceed with a new round.

However, no matter what he did, the outcome of her death did not change.

Because of this, the game company also received a lot of swearing.

‘Can’t I save Eisel no matter what I do?’

‘You idiots who say they can do anything, but why can’t Eisel survive?’

‘I know how to die, and I know why I die… Even though I blocked everything to stop it, I die in the end…’

‘Does this seem inevitable? The game maker said that, but what should I do?’

It had to be seen as a game with a high degree of freedom within the academy, so we had to see that these reactions were leaking out.

On the other hand, the game company took a silent response to the question about Eisel.

Some agreed to it and some denied it.

Because Eisel boasted unrivaled popularity in the game, there were many aftermaths in this process.

Either quit the game or ridicule Eisel as an incompetent regressor.

Or foolishly unable to give up and continuing to try something to save Eisel.

I was the latter.

In fact, even before entering this game, I couldn’t let go of Eisel.

From a certain point on, I was proceeding to come halfway rather than because I liked Eisel.

At that point, it wasn’t stubbornness, it was stubbornness.

‘I thought that now that games have become a reality, there will be some clues.’

Eisel, whom I had just met, walked past me without saying a word.

I haven’t experienced anything like this in the game.

‘Should I be considered not a player now?’

In fact, I don’t know Eisel from a non-player standpoint.

In the game, because of the powerful destiny power called ‘system’, it was made to be tied to her.

“Hmm…”

No matter how hard I try, I can’t find an answer.

In fact, the fact that he is a regressor in reality, rather than a fixed dialogue like in a game, might have to be seen as a more subtle character.

I will try anything I can try.

The desire to save her still hasn’t changed.

It is not her death seen through the monitor screen.

Just imagining the sight of the warmth escaping from her body, which I will see with my own eyes, is too painful.

***

I couldn’t get a single word out.

When I saw him again, nothing was easy.

Even though I didn’t commit a crime, I accidentally hid in an alleyway as if I was running away from him.

‘…anything to do with me?’

I had to admit it.

He is now a separate person from the ‘Zeto’ he remembered.

The memories I shared with him no longer exist.

…he doesn’t know me anymore.

The inconvenient and frightening truth haunts my head.

‘This kind of thing… I thought I was used to it enough to get used to it.’

I guess it wasn’t at all.

It may have been hidden away.

to relate deeply to people.

That man… Jetto was special.

It was the only ‘variable’ created in repeated regressions.

He was concerned about that.

But I guess I wasn’t the only one worried.

he came close to me

I once had a deep conversation with him.

He had an understanding that I could never have imagined.

Maybe that understanding… was thirsty.

He squeezed through my hollow mind and inflated it in size.

His existence, which had grown as big as the void inside me, was a clear ‘poison’ to me, a regressor.

A drop of hot liquid runs down your cheek.

His last moments still linger in my mind.

Thick blood was oozing from his body, which was barely supporting himself against the broken wall.

The bandages around his eyes flowed weakly, and his dark, deep blue eyes, like the wide sea, that had been covered up until now shone softly.

With a kind smile that has continued from the first moment.

He said that as he swallowed the blood that welled up.

‘always…’

‘I was looking at the same place as you, Eisel.’

‘The sea you liked… I hope we can go see it together next time.’

After saying that, he closed his eyes with a smile on his lips until the end.

The world was silent, as if it were honoring him.

Even though I achieved the goal I hoped for so much with his help.

I didn’t want the end

‘Where is the next…’

Eisel always had a ‘next’.

There was no ‘next’ to him.

To come and see the sea with him now.

It didn’t mean much to him as a blind man, and now he can’t even remember… It was a really selfish wish.

It has become my new purpose.

returned for him.

I completely changed my way of acting, which had been carefully organized through repeated regressions.

It would be nice if the method that I was reluctant to achieve before could achieve the goal.

Get stronger as you go.

Write all possible numbers.

“In this lifetime…”

I will never repeat that experience again.

never.

never.

***

Something bothered me, but time did not wait for me.

Time passed by quickly and it was already the day of the class assignment test.

What if I was in bad shape?

My condition wasn’t too bad.

It might have been helpful to eat the ‘Special Salamander Rice Bowl’, which had a great effect on recovering physical strength.

By the way, there was no taste.

‘I thought about eel rice bowl.’

Class placement tests are already in progress.

All the incoming students, including me, were looking at the large screen located in front of the exam hall.

The cadets who had finished the test or were waiting for the test could look inside the space created by illusion magic, where the test was taking place through the screen of the sending magic.

“What… is that…”

Yuri, who doesn’t know how he found me, naturally stood next to me and relayed the progress to me.

Thanks to her, I was having a hard time pretending that I couldn’t see the contents of the test, but I’m just grateful that it was an act that came out of her kind heart.

“It’s quite…”

“Is that enough?”

“That woman… I hate to admit it… but it seems she’s already easily surpassed the level of a cadet.”

Then, who is taking the exam now, why is Yuri making such a fuss?

The white, golden hair of the woman on the screen flutters in the wind.

It was Aizel.

I totally agree with Yuri’s comments.

It doesn’t make sense to radiate that kind of power already.

‘…is that too strong?’

Eisel in the game, of course, took first place in his group, but it wasn’t this overwhelming.

Excluding himself, the current Eisel destroyed all 9 people scattered on the stage by himself in about 3 minutes.

Through the screen, the image of Eisel suffocating the last surviving cadet is reflected.

With a terrifyingly emotionless face, she stood idly, as if she had done all the work she had to do.

That appearance clearly informed all the cadets who were watching.

Even if the class is different, it’s different for a while.

The electric shock magic she mainly used was the same, but other than that, various skills and abilities that were not seen in her in the game were noticed.

This was extremely strong even considering her special ability ‘Regression’.

‘I can’t follow what the hell is going on.’

I barely hold back the sigh that is about to burst out.

After the long-awaited meeting with her, it feels like the headache won’t go away.

“I will call the next participant.”

Of course, I wasn’t even given the time to worry while looking at Eisel.

“…Amon Caligus. …Zetho.”

My name is heard softly from the mouth of the instructor who was conducting the test.

After that, the names of the remaining members are called one after another.

yes.

You should take care of me first.

The fact that I can influence as much as I want is only after I become stronger.

By the way.

“Amon Caligusra…”

“This is Caligus, who is in charge of the earth in the family of the four elements. I used to run into them often at gatherings when I was a child, how vicious a clumsy, clumsy guy could be… If he was only half his father, he wouldn’t have been so erratic. .”

Yuri, who was next to me, caught my muttering and furrowed her eyebrows in displeasure.

All of a sudden, it was the family of the 4 elements during the class assignment test.

Even in the game, this kind of start had to be seen as a difficulty that was not easy.

‘What can I do?’