The Genius At The Swordsmanship Academy

Episode 1

Prologue

In the pouring rain at the academy’s main square.

The brutal fight, with no audience, was reaching its climax.

“This can’t be happening, this is impossible!”

He screamed desperately as he was being overwhelmed by Serine’s Bastion swordsmanship.

His entire body was already covered in blood.

“I’m supposed to conquer the academy, defeat the six great sword families, and rise to the top of the empire… I, the genius swordsman, cannot be beaten by a mere woman like you!”

“Shut up, Ernas.”

Serine shot back coldly.

“You’re not a genius swordsman. You’re a talentless… fake genius.”

Ernas, the counterfeit genius.

Using the power of an artifact to steal others’ sword techniques, he had pretended to master all swordsmanship.

But since he could only mimic others’ techniques superficially, he eventually tried to reach the top of the academy not through skill, but through schemes… Now, all his plots were exposed, and he had become a public enemy.

“As someone who was once your fiancée, I will punish you for deceiving everyone.”

“Serine Bastion!”

Ernas screamed as he swung his sword three times in a row.

It was the signature move of the Bastion swordsmanship, the ‘Vertical Trinity’.

However, Serine was not about to fall for a technique clumsily imitated using an artifact.

“It’s useless.”

“Ugh…!”

Swoosh!

With a single attack, Ernas’s technique was neutralized.

He dropped his sword, and Serine’s blade pointed at his throat.

“End this false life of yours now, Ernas.”

“…!”

Facing a despairing Ernas, Serine launched her final attack.

Hoping that all of his evil deeds would wash away with the rain.

* * *

“I’ve checked the manuscript you sent me, author!”

Just as I was taking a break after sending the manuscript, my editor called.

“Finally, Ernas dies! I’ve been wondering when that would happen.”

“I planned to kill him off around this point.”

“With this, ‘Becoming the Hero of the Sword Academy’ is also heading towards its final chapters!”

‘Becoming the Hero of the Sword Academy’.

It’s the fantasy web novel I’ve been sharing for five years, falling under the ‘academy’ genre.

The story of a protagonist entering a academy to learn swordsmanship, interacting with various characters, and growing through these experiences. It’s been the most commercially successful work I’ve written so far.

“Did you always plan for Serine to defeat Ernas instead of the protagonist?”

“Yes. Honestly, Ernas is too weak to face the current protagonist.”

“True, he’d lose his head with just one strike. It’s more interesting to have his former fiancée, Serine, take him down.”

Ernas Lanzstein, who loses his life in this episode, is a key antagonist who has appeared since the beginning of the novel.

With the power of the artifact, Ernas could imitate others’ abilities, making himself seem like a swordsmanship genius.

But his real skills were terrible, and the artifact’s effects had limits… so he ended up relying on schemes and plots.

In the latest episode, Ernas was defeated by his former fiancée, Serine Bastion.

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a shame to see Ernas go. He was the best at scheming among the characters, which added a lot of tension to the story, didn’t it?”

“There’s some truth to that. I used him a lot whenever I needed to.”

“It was fun watching him play mind games while maneuvering among the six great sword families.”

My editor seemed a bit regretful about Ernas’s death.

But Ernas was a character who had to die, so there was no choice.

“Author, have you ever thought about writing a side story after the main one ends?”

“A side story?”

Where did that come from?

Some works do have epilogues or spin-offs after the main story ends, but I’ve never written one.

“I’ve never thought about it.”

“How about an ‘If’ route? A story that unfolds differently from the main plot.”

“Oh… you mean a different storyline?”

“Yeah, like a story where Ernas becomes the protagonist, defeats the six great sword families, and takes over the academy. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”

“Hmm…”

It was an intriguing idea.

But not very realistic.

“To avoid Ernas’s downfall,I’d need to rewrite the story completely. That wouldn’t be easy.”

“Really?”

“Yes, he’d have to get his act together from the moment he starts.”

Ernas makes enemies with everyone from the start.

As long as those grudges exist, Ernas is destined for ruin.

To save him, I’d have to start the story over.

“Even if I start over… the conflicts between the six great sword families would still exist, and Ernas’s swordsmanship would still be terrible, so it wouldn’t be easy.”

“Haha, you think it would be tough?”

“It would be an extreme hard mode.”

After all, Ernas is a fake genius, not a real one.

Navigating the story’s many events with his skills wouldn’t be easy.

“But, author.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it more fun because it’s hard mode?”

“…”

I paused to think.

There’s no way I’d actually write a story where Ernas doesn’t fall.

This was just idle chatter.

So, I responded lightly without much thought.

“Yes, it would be interesting.”

“Right?”

At that moment.

I suddenly felt a chill down my spine.

What is this?

“I knew you’d say that, author.”

“Excuse me?”

“A story where Ernas doesn’t fall… I’m really curious about what kind of story that would be.”

The chilling sensation became more pronounced.

Gripped by an unknown fear, I tried to speak urgently.

“…!”

But no words came out.

I was already being swallowed by a massive darkness.

A terrifying darkness filled with countless swords.

‘No way…!’

I could still hear the editor’s words echoing in my mind.

Realizing their true meaning, I was sucked into the endless darkness.