There was not only a mana stone where the Royal Scorpier had vanished.
There was also a yellow sphere, thickly imbued with the creature’s aura.
An inner core.
After picking it up and checking its information, I felt satisfied.
‘I was worried it might not drop, but it came out just like in the game.’
In the game, the Royal Scorpier’s inner core was used as a material for crafting and enhancing equipment, or as a growth accelerant for characters.
When used for the former, it could create equipment with effects related to time.
And when used for the latter…
‘It could double the target character’s experience gain.’
Permanently, for that playthrough.
From a long-term perspective, it was an effect that granted an enormous advantage in raising a character.
After all, the experience needed for growth increased more and more, and as a result, growth speed inevitably slowed.
That was why I planned to use the inner core as a growth accelerant.
However, through the former method.
‘The result of enhancing an artifact with an inner core is randomly determined each time. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t artifacts with fixed results. For example…’
The Sharing Know-How, the artifact Kang Hanbyeol and I wore as bracelets, which allowed us to share the experience each other gained.
If this artifact was enhanced, the result was an effect that increased experience gain by 1.5 times.
Without fail.
‘If I’d obtained it through my own power alone, that’d be one thing, but I got it by fighting together with Hanbyeol. And in the game, whoever used it was ultimately up to the player, but in terms of the story, it was an opportunity Hanbyeol should have obtained.’
So I would enhance the Sharing Know-How and split the gains between the two of us.
It was a shame to give up doubling experience gain, but greed was bound to bring trouble.
Even 1.5 times was more than enough.
I thought of it as a reasonable compromise.
That was when Kang Hanbyeol spoke to me.
“Judging from the look of it, it seems like an inner core. What do you think we should do with it?”
“…”
Kang Hanbyeol was showing interest in the inner core.
There was a subtle desire mixed into the tone with which he sounded out my intentions.
‘Well, it’s understandable. Inner cores aren’t exactly easy to obtain, and this one even came from a Rank 4 boss.’
Even I was tempted, so there was no way Kang Hanbyeol wouldn’t be.
Knowing how he felt, I shrugged.
Then I answered with a sly expression.
“We won’t know what kind of inner core it is until we have it appraised outside, but I do have an idea for now.”
“What idea?”
“It’s an inner core you and I obtained after going through trouble together. But if one of us takes it, the other one is bound to feel disappointed, right? In that case, how about we use it together as an enhancement material?”
“What? Use it together as a material… You’re not saying we should split the inner core between the two of us, are you? If we do that, its efficacy might drop, or it might not function at all…”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m saying we should use the inner core to enhance an artifact the two of us use together. We have the Sharing Know-How, don’t we? The artifact that comes as a pair of two.”
“Ah.”
“With this, neither you nor I would have any reason to feel hurt, right? What do you think?”
“Hmm… We’d have to appraise it first, but I think it’s a decent plan. Then as soon as we leave the Gate, let’s go see Seora noona. She can appraise it too, and she should be able to check whether it’s compatible with the Sharing Know-How as an enhancement material.”
“Good, that was what I was thinking too. If it’s Seora noona, she’s trustworthy.”
The conversation proceeded without friction.
I decided to keep the Royal Scorpier’s mana stone and inner core in my possession.
Facing each other, we grinned and lightly bumped fists.
After that, we headed toward the direction where the Time Stake was, to accomplish our objective.
We climbed the stairs.
After ascending the final step, we were able to see a golden stake floating in midair.
‘This is where the problem starts.’
The Time Stake must not fall into So Hye-yul’s hands.
I needed to alter the game’s progression.
And to do that…
‘I have to persuade Hanbyeol.’
It wouldn’t be easy.
He might even oppose me.
Even so, having steeled myself, I tried to broach the subject as naturally as possible.
“Is it really okay to take this outside? Doesn’t it feel ominous?”
* * *
According to the game’s storyline, during the first semester of the third year.
On the night of the full moon, on the roof of the administration building.
So Hye-yul, having obtained the Time Stake, attempts to fulfill her long-cherished wish.
「So Hye-yul」
―If only I hadn’t turned back time, I could have carried it out a little earlier… Why did the me before regression turn back time? There’s no way I had any lingering attachment to this world.
―…Well, whatever. What does that matter now? The Time Stake is here anyway, and I’ve gathered enough mana. I only need to focus on what I have to do from now on.
―Wait for me, Hyeseong. It’s almost time.
The Witch of the Stars, So Hye-yul.
She had a younger brother who had died after being caught up in a monster wave that occurred several decades ago.
She missed him terribly, as he had been her only family.
Thus, her long-cherished wish was to bring him back to life.
By turning back time and altering the past.
「So Hye-yul」
―Today, when the ley lines of Academy City and the atmospheric mana are in optimal condition, is the perfect time. Star Lightroad is also ready to activate at any moment. The theory is flawless. It will succeed. No, it must succeed.
What mattered to So Hye-yul was the past.
The present and future without her younger brother held no value.
She did not care what happened to the world, even if it were to be destroyed.
That was why, no matter what happened, she did not actively try to resolve it, sometimes stood by and watched, and instead displayed an attitude of only weighing practical benefits.
All for the sake of achieving her wish.
「So Hye-yul」
―I’ve committed many wrongs until now, not caring what means and methods I had to use. But it’s all right. In the world where you come back to life, my wrongdoings will be thoroughly treated as if they never happened. In that world, I’ll live happily and virtuously with you.
In any case, as long as the past was changed, the present and future as they were now would be denied, and the world would be reconstructed anew.
And so, desperately shaking off her guilt and madly buried in the past, So Hye-yul attempts to realize her wish.
By using magic to interfere with the world’s space-time, fixing the past at the point when her younger brother died with the Time Stake, then firing into it with Star Lightroad to end the monster wave.
In the process.
‘Hanbyeol, sensing an unusual aura, heads to the scene with his friends to figure out the situation.’
There are three great taboos in magic.
Resurrection of the dead, mental brainwashing, and alteration of the past.
By using Min Arin’s Gift, the Sage’s Eye, to roughly analyze the magic covering the sky above the administration building, Kang Hanbyeol’s party realizes that So Hye-yul has violated a taboo and tries to stop her.
But by the time they break through the traps set up in the administration building, the instructors who have pledged loyalty to So Hye-yul, and Chief Secretary Oh Seung-ah, and finally reach the roof of the administration building, it is already too late.
「So Hye-yul」
―I wondered who was causing a commotion below, and it was Student Hanbyeol and everyone else. Have you come to stop me? But what should we do? My wish is only one step away now. So don’t interfere, and watch from there.
She binds Kang Hanbyeol’s party with magic.
And So Hye-yul changes her younger brother’s fate.
However, her wish is not fulfilled.
Because at the moment her younger brother’s fate changes, the world where the existing her exists and the world where her younger brother did not die split apart.
「So Hye-yul」
―W-why…? The theory should have been perfect, so why…?
So Hye-yul is thrown into great confusion.
Then, upon seeing herself rejoicing over his safety in the world where her younger brother did not die, she panics.
Already having exhausted a great deal of mana, she immediately undergoes mana rampage, and as a result…
‘She transforms into a monster.’
It is the climax of So Hye-yul’s episode.
Kang Hanbyeol’s party ends up fighting So Hye-yul.
At this point, if they win the battle, So Hye-yul dies, and the story continues onward.
However, if they lose, a bad ending awaits.
One where the past and future become mixed up, the world is filled with chaos, and ultimately rushes toward destruction.
[Because there is a past, there is a present; because there is a present, there is a future.]
[The reason the world can exist is because it is composed of such clear cause and effect.]
[However, So Hye-yul’s mana rampage has disturbed the very foundation of the world.]
[Entities from other timelines, regardless of past, present, or future, have appeared, greatly affecting causality. Moreover, all sorts of strange phenomena have occurred, such as causes from the future affecting the past, and the results changing the present and future.]
[The world is being revised in real time.]
[Then, in the end, the world, no longer able to withstand causality, was destroyed.]
[─ Bad Ending ─]
Also known as the Causal Chaos Ending caused by So Hye-yul.
As someone who knew that ending, I wanted to eliminate the source of trouble in advance.
‘On top of that, the Chairwoman who appears as the episode boss was insanely strong. I can’t take on unnecessary risk just to follow the original progression. It’s best to avoid risks that can be avoided.’
That was why I was trying to destroy the Time Stake.
I continued speaking to Kang Hanbyeol, who had agreed to hear my opinion.
“You must have felt something too after reading the scenario message. It’s a stake that can stop any time. Depending on how it’s used, someone could even obtain eternal life. If something like this gets out into the world, wouldn’t something terrible happen?”
“But we promised the Chairwoman we’d take the stake out. Shouldn’t we at least discuss it with her before making a decision? And while I do acknowledge the stake’s danger to some extent, I think it could also be beneficial depending on how it’s used.”
“You’re right. Even so, I think it’s better to dispose of it as long as there’s even the slightest possibility it could be misused. Of course, I’m not saying I suspect the Chairwoman, but you never know about the people around her. And we don’t know what might happen if villains learn of the stake’s existence.”
Unfortunately, I absolutely did not want to talk about the game.
So my persuasion, though seemingly logical, inevitably carried a trace of emotion.
But I brazened it out and pushed hard.
In the end, Kang Hanbyeol raised the white flag at my uncharacteristic behavior.
Shaking his head as if troubled, he clicked his tongue.
“All right, I’ll do as you say. Haneul told me that when you act like this, it’s because you have your own reasons. And I know you have good instincts, just like me. In exchange, when we get out, you report it to the Chairwoman.”
“Yeah, leave the report to me. Thanks. And sorry for putting you in an awkward spot.”
I was glad Yeon Haneul had been mentioned.
She probably played a part in my persuading Kang Hanbyeol.
Silently thanking her, I drew the Ultramarine Sword.
‘Even if we enter the Gate again, the stake won’t regenerate. Something this special is treated as one of a kind.’
In fact, in the game, the Time Stake could only be obtained once per playthrough.
So I decided to break the Time Stake without the slightest worry.
Taking the stance of the Beast King Style, I brought down the Ultramarine Sword.
───!!
A crack formed in the Time Stake.
Platinum light burst out from it.
Soon, a message appeared at the same time as the Time Stake shattered into pieces.
[The effect of the Time Stake is disappearing.]
[The monsters whose souls had long been bound by the Time Stake are meeting their end.]
[“No, I don’t want to die! I, I…!”]
[The boss monster of the Temple of Time, the Foolish King, screams.]
[… ]
[All monsters, including the boss monster of the Temple of Time, the Foolish King, have been subjugated.]
[The remaining攻略 conditions will be omitted.]
[You have cleared the Gate.]
[The Gate’s grade will henceforth be permanently adjusted to Yellow Grade.]
The Gate was suddenly cleared.
Even after seeing the message that appeared, I was not flustered.
Because I had experienced it in the game.
Of course, it was different from the situation in the game, where I put the Time Stake into my pocket…
Still, the fact that the Time Stake had finished its role in the Gate was the same.
At that moment.
Fwoosh!
Particles of light gathered before my eyes.
Opening my palm, I caught the falling Gate Key.
Because it had expended its power, the Gate Key had taken on a translucent color.
“Wow… I never thought the Gate would be cleared like this.”
“The Time Stake disappeared, after all. Good thing we came here first instead of going to the Foolish King, right?”
“Yeah. We almost wasted our strength for nothing. Anyway, is this the end? Should we go outside?”
Kang Hanbyeol pointed at the Gate that had appeared where the Time Stake had been.
If we passed through there, we would be able to return to the original world, but…
I shook my head.
“Wait a moment. We still have to finish farming.”
Kang Hanbyeol might not have any more business here.
But I still did.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss