36. Magic Survival (1)
Even after Baek Yuseol had left his seat, Zeliel remained rooted there for a long while, unable to bring herself to move.
Even through her cynical gaze, it was difficult for her to properly face the situation before her.
And yet time continued to pass.
…I have to prepare for the next event.
She forced strength into her trembling legs and stood.
A great hole had been torn open in the heart that was always so cold, but she knew well that if she wanted to keep moving forward, this was no time to sit collapsed.
I should have listened to Father’s words better…
A mana pledge was absolute.
But that also meant it was the kind of vow that must never be made lightly.
Even before becoming a mage, there was one lesson children usually received first from their parents.
—A mana pledge is something you should treat as though you are staking your life on it.
For that reason, within magical society, it was considered discourteous to casually thrust a mana pledge at another person.
Unless, perhaps, that other person happened to be some notorious criminal.
Was this really something worth staking my life on?
…If one were to answer honestly, then yes, it was.
Because she had truly thought she would rather bite off her own tongue than let her father find out about such a shameful failure.
And what had become of the result?
She had truly ended up with a leash around her neck in the form of a pledge,
and for at least three years…
she would likely be unable to see her father.
For Zeliel, that was the most horrific torture imaginable.
Day by day would probably feel like a nightmare.
She had to find a way to cure her father’s “incurable illness” as quickly as possible,
and yet she could not even see him.
“Ah…”
Staggering, her legs gave out, and she had to put a hand on the table.
A heavy, rough sensation passed through her palm.
When she looked, some stone-like fragment had been left on the table.
It was the item Baek Yuseol had left behind as a “gift.”
An object belonging to that Baek Yuseol whom she wanted to tear to shreds.
She had not the slightest desire to take it with her, but she had no choice.
At present, she was in a position where she could do nothing but obey his words.
Stuffing the stone fragment clumsily into her arms, Zeliel staggered back toward her waiting room.
Her retreating figure looked painfully pitiful…
but there was nothing in this world that could comfort her.
The inside of the Stella Dome was made up of an astonishing variety of structural systems, and the routes were so complicated that first-time visitors were said to get lost and wander even with a map in hand.
Fortunately, the Dark Mage using the name “Kabaren” did not seem to have that problem.
Anella followed behind him as he went deep into the tangled interior of the Stella Dome.
“Haha! It’s a bit complicated, right? That’s just how Stella is, so keep up. Ah, it’s fine, no worries, no worries! I’ve memorized every path in this place!”
“By the way, what kind of status did you use to get in? Not just anyone can enter the administrative zone, but you’re wearing a school uniform. Don’t tell me you got in under some pathetic role like part-time staff? Pffhahah! No way, not that, right? The missions you can do with a status like that are too limited. Right? Right, right?”
“Shut up.”
He was unusually talkative, the type who simply could not bear not to dump every thought that crossed his mind straight out of his mouth.
From Anella’s perspective, it was a personality she found thoroughly unpleasant.
To begin with, even if he had not been a Dark Mage, he still would not have been the kind of person she would want to spend time around.
Kabaren led her somewhere while babbling incessantly.
In the first place, the only reason she had been able to enter the Stella Dome’s administrative sector at all was because of Baek Yuseol’s help.
Since she had entered merely as “a participant’s friend,” her range of movement should have been limited.
Yet Kabaren kept tapping the ID card on his necklace against sensors and wandering wherever he pleased.
I never thought Stella’s security could be this weak…
Once again, Anella was made to feel just how extraordinary—and dangerous—the forbidden Dark Mage art developed by the Moon Shadow Sect leader really was.
Because it meant Dark Mages like him were infiltrating every corner of the magical world even now.
For a moment, the thought welled up in her that if things continued like this, the Dark Mages really might swallow the world whole.
But she shook her head and forced it away.
I’m going back to being human.
The Dark Mages ruling the world?
The moment that race, driven impulsively by momentary desire, endlessly selfish and drunk on power, came to rule the world, that would be the end.
She too was currently a Dark Mage,
but she did not want such a world.
To begin with, even if a world ruled by strength did arrive…
with her weak power, she would amount to nothing but prey.
“All right, all right, here we are!”
After walking for quite some time, Kabaren entered an area deep within the Stella Dome that required especially high-level access.
“This is…?”
A great room at the end of the corridor.
This circular space was packed on all sides with magic circles, while countless researchers hurried back and forth controlling them.
“You’ve never been here before, right? This is the ‘System Control Room,’ the place that governs every phenomenon inside the Stella Dome. Well, there are probably another five or six rooms like this inside the Dome, but that’s not what matters.”
That was right.
What mattered was this—
that a Dark Mage had reached the core location that controlled the Stella Dome,
the place that was practically the very symbol of Stella Academy.
How…?
Anella took a step backward.
Because no matter what, she did not believe they could possibly have gotten this far this easily.
This had to be a trap.
Otherwise, it made no sense.
Stella’s security… is really this sloppy?
At this point, it almost felt as though someone had deliberately opened the way and invited them in…
Why?
She tried desperately to recall who might have infiltrated Stella Academy, who might have wormed their way into its upper ranks,
but as nothing more than a low-ranking underling, Anella had never been given much information.
A blank in her knowledge.
Faced with an unbelievable phenomenon that had slipped through the cracks of her ignorance, Anella felt an unknown terror approach.
Quietly.
Slowly.
Certainly.
As though it meant to swallow her whole.
“Whoa, whoa. No need to be so scared.”
As if he understood her reaction, Kabaren chuckled to himself and walked forward.
“Hold it.”
“This area is restricted.”
Researchers in white gowns and magic knights in black robes stepped forward to stop him, but Kabaren boldly held out his badge and put on an act of being a perfectly normal person.
“Looks like you didn’t get the message. I’m here at the vice principal’s request. I was told that part of the control room’s magic circles need some system adjustment. Here, this is the access pass with their personal signature.”
“Ahh… I see.”
After looking over the pass—whether genuine or forged was impossible to tell—the magic knights nodded and allowed him through.
“And the student behind you…?”
“She’s a student I’ve been keeping an eye on. She said she wanted to see the Stella Dome’s magic.”
“Hmm. Very well, but please make sure the student does not touch the magic circles.”
“Of course.”
Even so, this was still the Stella Dome.
It was not as though the entire system would suddenly go down just because someone touched a few magic circles, so if a man supposedly sent on the vice principal’s orders requested to bring along a single student, then there should be no great problem in granting entry.
…And so, after safely entering the System Control Room, Kabaren turned back toward Anella.
“You saw that, right? For the Moon Shadow Sect, something like this is easy.”
Only then did Anella understand why he had brought her here.
A display of power and influence.
She had known that there were covert struggles among the Dark Mage factions, but because she had always been a low-level underling, she had never personally experienced them until now.
Given the situation, she had been mistaken for a higher-ranking Dark Mage, and this man had come to show off to her.
We can do even this. What can your side do?
Only belatedly realizing what he intended, Anella felt thoroughly disgusted, but unfortunately there was nothing she could show in return.
“Ah, of course, this isn’t what I really wanted to show you.”
“…What?”
“You do know that the Stella Dome is half a fictional space, right? Which means it’s very similar to the Inner World.”
And what of it?
Kabaren curled his lips upward and slowly approached one of the nearby magic circles.
“These magic circles… are operating with incredible precision. If we meddle with them a little, not much would change. Is that the principal’s magic, I wonder? Amazing. Truly amazing.”
But.
“If we’re Dark Mages… then by slipping into gaps in that system, we can cause something like a ‘bug.’”
Normally, finding flaws in the magic of a 9-Class mage was something nearly impossible.
But this was a special case.
The Inner World was the realm of the Dark Mages.
Even Eltman Eltwin, acknowledged as an authority in spatial magic, had not completely conquered the Inner World.
Because of that, a highly skilled Dark Mage could make “a very slight interference” in even Eltman Eltwin’s perfect magic.
Just like when the “real Persona Gate” had appeared during the first-years’ Persona Gate practical lesson before.
“So, what little prank should we pull this time? Drrrumroll~”
Kabaren said it playfully, then winked at Anella.
“Actually, I already pulled it.”
“…What?”
“You know Magic Survival, the one taking place inside the Stella Dome…? People can’t inflict actual harm on each other there, right? Right?”
That was precisely why participants could attack one another in earnest without fear, and also why they did not have to be afraid of being attacked themselves.
But what if…
“among them, there’s one person! A Dark Mage. Someone who can really kill the others. Then what do you think would happen?”
“…What?”
“Hm? Wouldn’t the survival match get way more exciting?”
Only then did Anella understand what he meant, and her face went pale.
They could inflict direct harm on others.
They could really kill them.
That was the tiny, but horrific act of terrorism Kabaren was about to commit.
With over thirty prestigious schools gathered for a tournament, real students would die before everyone’s eyes.
“The match has already started.”
“No…”
“Yep. The moment Magic Survival begins, every participant gets sent to an isolated space. Even Eltman Eltwin can’t stop it easily. So? Doesn’t it sound fun? Isn’t it exciting? Huh? Doesn’t your heart pound just thinking about it? Ahh, I’m so excited I could go mad. Ahhh…”
Damn it!
Leaving behind Kabaren, who clutched both hands to his chest and stamped his feet with an ecstatic expression, Anella dashed out of the control room.
She had to tell Baek Yuseol about this immediately.
And then a thought struck her.
Wait, in Magic Survival…
Baek Yuseol is a participant too, isn’t he?
—Participants, please move to your designated positions.
At the sound of some woman’s voice echoing through the air, I stepped onto the platform.
On either side of me stood elites who had come from each school, lined up in rows.
Maybe it was just because they were geniuses, but looking at them in their wildly distinctive outfits made me strongly feel all over again that this world really had originally been a game.
“Hm…”
Activating the telescope function in my glasses, I looked toward a place far in the distance.
I caught sight of Zeliel, wearing an expression that looked half-dead as she stared blankly into the air.
She’ll be okay… probably?
Since I knew that the fundamental reason she had no choice but to become a villain was her father, Melian, I had no choice but to take such extreme measures.
Because of the mana pledge, it was impossible for Zeliel to retaliate against me.
It would be really nice if she let go of her feelings for her father like this…
but that would not be easy.
It’d be nice if she met someone good and started dating.
I doubt that’s likely.
Even in the original game, Zeliel had only ever been left with two paths: either keep looking only at her father and walk toward ruin, or ruin the protagonist instead.
—The match will move to the ground shortly.
At the voice suggesting the match was about to begin, the participants started loosening up.
I was stretching lightly too when a commotion broke out somewhere behind us.
“Wait, I have to go tell him—!”
“Student! Step back! We’re right on the verge of the match starting—”
“Please! I just need to pass on one message—!”
What?
Narrowing my eyes, I activated the zoom function of the Jikbakguri Glasses to the maximum, and faintly caught sight of Anella’s face.
But the distance was too great, and there was a barrier between us, so I could not hear her voice clearly.
Wasn’t she supposed to avoid standing out?
What’s with her making such a scene?
At that moment—
a warning message rose into the air.
Ding.
[A variable has occurred in the sub-episode ‘Inter-School Competition.’]
[‘Inter-School Competition’ has been promoted to a main episode.]
What the…?
It was a message I had not anticipated at all, so there was no way not to be flustered.
No, all of a sudden?
Hurriedly searching through the Jikbakguri Glasses, I tried to figure out what in the world this meant.
[Sometimes that happens.]
[You know, the kind of development where a Dark Mage barges into an event and turns the whole thing into a mess.]
[Why does that happen even though it’s not even a main episode? How should I know? Go complain to the game company.]
[Back then, I died once when a meteor fell out of the sky during a Ma Yuseong date event. So annoying.]
Only then did I realize that in the original game too, cases like this had happened very occasionally.
It had never happened to me, but every once in a truly rare while, posts about it would show up in the user community.
[Why does this happen, you ask?]
[Well, maybe because you played the story like total chaos.]
[This is what happens when you don’t look up a guide and proceed properly.]
[If it’s already happened, then… unlucky.]
[What else can you do? If you don’t want your character deleted, you have to solve it.]
Normally, an “event” was nothing more than a healing segment where nothing happened and the story briefly took a breather.
But very, very occasionally…
an event would produce an incident and be promoted into an episode.
A probability as viciously low as lightning striking the same jujube tree again and again.
A situation brought about by countless choices intertwining and tangling together.
[Episode.09]
[A Shadow Cast Over the Inter-School Competition]
And that vicious episode had now dropped into my lap.
[In my case, the ‘Inter-School Competition’ event turned into some kind of Mafia murder game.]
[But don’t worry.]
[You just follow the guide. Just the guide.]
[Now then, let’s reassemble this event that’s been smashed to pieces.]
As lines from the strategy guide spread out before my eyes in a long column, a strange sensation wrapped around my whole body.
As I was seized by the odd feeling of being moved somewhere, the world inverted.
—The match has begun.
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