Whether by natural phenomena.
Or by artificial means.
Majin—those who replaced their own hearts with special crystalline bodies like the magic stones that monsters possess, transcending the realm of what it means to be human.
Having gained the instinct to crave the mana of other beings, just like monsters, they harbor no ideology, no philosophy, and no values; a group gathered solely to remain faithful to their instincts above all else—that is the Majin Association.
In the game, they were enemies one encountered countless times while progressing through the story.
Among them, the Doll Witch Yi Gahyeon.
As one of the Six Demons representing the Majin Association, she appeared with particularly high frequency and was quite the troublesome villain.
[Yi Gahyeon]
"—So you're the disciple of Tugwi. I was curious what kind of face you had, so I even infiltrated the entrance exam in secret, but I missed seeing you then… I'm glad to see you like this. Above all, your face is exactly my type. I thought you'd look as ferocious as Tugwi, but this is quite unexpected? *Sigh*… I want to add you to my collection."
Yi Gahyeon enjoyed taking beautiful people, dressing them up like dolls to her own taste, and possessing them.
Thus, having fallen for Gang Hanbyeol's appearance, she became obsessed with him and repeatedly sought her opportunities.
'To think she'd become a recurring enemy just because his face was her type… When I first played the game, I wondered how such a nonsensical development could even exist.'
Meanwhile, Yi Gahyeon's abilities were formidable, befitting one of the Six Demons.
She could split off pieces of her soul to seize others' bodies.
Because of this, she often hid her identity, approached Gang Hanbyeol's party, and put them in danger.
Then, after somehow advancing the story and finally engaging her main body in battle.
[Yi Gahyeon]
"—But what to do? Unlike my doppelgangers, I'm incredibly strong."
The player had to fight a chaotic battle.
Because the main body—not the soul-split doppelgangers—demonstrated tremendous power.
Because of that, the process of killing her could drain every potion one had saved up, or even result in party members dying.
'Or if Gang Hanbyeol died, the words Game Over would appear.'
In the game 『Brave Hearts』.
If a party member died, it couldn't be undone, the reachable endings would be limited, or one would arrive at an ending caused by a specific party member's death.
In that sense, it was a future hurdle for someone like me, who wanted to avoid bad endings and live happily in this world.
An unwelcome development.
Moreover, if Gang Hanbyeol were to die….
'It'd be a straight shot to the Yi Gahyeon Ending.'
Waiting there would be the Ruin Ending.
Yi Gahyeon would become the head of the Majin Association, and everyone with beautiful looks would fall to become her dolls.
Collections with their souls extinguished.
Since every character appearing as an ally possessed considerable beauty, none could escape becoming dolls.
[Yi Gahyeon]
"—My beautiful dolls. Then, whose body shall I enter today?"
In the game's ending, there was a scene where Yi Gahyeon walked past people packaged like toys in display boxes.
Characters were reflected one by one in her gaze as she looked over the displays in the nude, wearing nothing at all.
Among them was me, Do Gyeonu.
Finally, she stopped in front of Gang Hanbyeol, who lay in a toy box with his eyes closed.
[Yi Gahyeon]
"—Yes, I've decided. Today, I shall enter Hanbyeol's body. Hanbyeol, noona will dress you up prettily."
With that, the screen darkened, and messages appeared.
[The world has become one where the beautiful become dolls, and the ugly become slaves.]
[Yi Gahyeon became the master of that world, and when she began to feel the effects of aging, she killed every living being.]
["That which is not beautiful is not worth living."]
["Aging is not beautiful."]
[Having left those words, Yi Gahyeon remodeled herself into a doll.]
[She became a doll.]
[Now, only she and the dolls exist in the world.]
[The world has perished.]
[— Bad Ending —]
The Ruin Ending caused by Yi Gahyeon.
As someone who wished to avoid that ending, I couldn't miss any opportunity to lower the difficulty of the battle I would one day fight against her.
So….
'I have to kill her here once.'
Before the game's story begins.
I will destroy a portion of Yi Gahyeon's soul.
And weaken her that way.
I swore to myself.
* * *
[You have entered the Gate.]
[Yellow: Honrim Island V]
When I opened my eyes, I was in a forest.
Dense thickets surrounded me, and blue sky peeked through the hanging branches overhead.
Occasional winds blew, making it pleasantly cool.
Whoosh.
Carried on that wind came a sound like crashing waves.
It seemed the sea was nearby.
[This is a previously cleared Gate.]
'So I'm at the outskirts of the island.'
Waving away the pop-up message with my hand.
I inferred my current location.
The direction from which the waves sounded was likely the edge of the Gate, so I decided to head the opposite way.
'I wonder if everyone is securing their positions.'
The examinees had to survive on this island for three days, waging a battle of seizure to steal exam tickets and protect their own from being stolen.
Unless one's safety was guaranteed to that extent, one couldn't recklessly move about.
They would need to secure locations offering chances to exploit opponents' openings and seize exam tickets, scout escape routes to flee quickly after stealing tickets, and establish bases to survive on the island.
It was advantageous to those who entered first.
Anyone who knew how to 'hunt' would surely be moving accordingly.
But I had no such intention.
'I have to find Yi Gahyeon, so I can't settle in one place.'
Not knowing where Yi Gahyeon was, I had to wander around looking for her.
Moreover, I didn't know her face.
Not that I didn't know the Doll Witch Yi Gahyeon's face, but rather that I didn't know the face of the examinee whose body she had taken.
It couldn't be helped.
In the game, it had only been mentioned in passing through characters' lines.
There was a strange examinee who had tried to evaluate others by pretending to be an examiner during the entrance exam; though she had surely passed, for some reason she wasn't seen at the academy.
And later, she had said so herself.
That she was that examinee.
'I need to head deeper into the island to run into more examinees.'
Thus, I had no choice but to rely on that clue to find Yi Gahyeon.
For now, I decided to head for the center of the island.
Surely, the examinees would be active around that area.
The chances of her being there were high, and even if she wasn't, I could pick up rumors about her.
'Did Haneul drop elsewhere?'
Meanwhile, I looked around for Yeon Haneul, who had entered the Gate almost together with me.
Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be nearby.
I had to give up on finding her.
Just as I was thinking that.
Rustle.
A sound of something moving.
I stopped and spread out my detection field to sense the presence.
'Doesn't seem to be a person….'
The presence caught in my detection field was faint, disorderly, and rough.
There was no sign of manifested mana; this was simply the mana naturally emanating from its body.
A monster the size of a small animal.
It posed no danger to me.
But that didn't mean I could ignore it.
Detecting it alone put me on edge.
I raised my index finger and pointed at the thicket where it was hiding.
Mana condensed at my fingertip.
With a light flick of my finger, the mana shot forth like a bullet.
Four shots like that.
I attacked inside the thicket.
Squeak!
It couldn't dodge my attack.
That sound came from the thicket where the mana bullet had flown.
Spreading my detection field again, its mana hadn't gone out, and it wasn't moving from that spot.
It seemed to have lost consciousness.
I decided to check what it was.
"What? It was this thing?"
I found the monster passed out, flattened against the ground.
[You have encountered a monster.]
[Pikatail (Rank 01) x 1]
A Rank 1 monster, Pikatail.
A monster with very short ears and a long rat-like tail, its appearance half rabbit and half rat.
It was considered among the absolute weakest of Rank 1 monsters.
Its only saving grace was its long legs, letting it flee quickly, but it seemed it couldn't escape my magic.
"I suppose this is your luck too."
Seeing it foaming at the mouth and convulsing made it look pitiful.
But it was a monster.
I fired a mana bullet at its tiny head.
Pshk!
Its head and chest blew away.
Because of that, the magic stone—the foundation of its existence—fell to the ground.
Immediately, it dissolved into mana particles and vanished without leaving a trace.
I picked up the fallen magic stone.
"Submitting magic stones obtained during the exam… they said you can get Geumgang coins based on the amount, right…."
Every little bit adds up.
I put the magic stone in my pocket.
It was precisely then that my evasion instinct kicked in.
Crackle!
An electric current swept down my spine.
As my evasion instinct screamed, I hurriedly twisted my body.
From beyond the forest where I had turned.
Whish!
"…Shit."
Something came spinning.
It was a giant scythe.
The scythe passed through where I had stood and cut down the tree trunk behind me.
I nearly split in two like the tree trunk, separating at the base and toppling over.
Whish! Thunk!
Meanwhile, the giant scythe that had soared skyward returned to its original location like a boomerang.
I stared in that direction.
I spread my detection field.
'…It's a person this time.'
Someone was approaching from beyond the shadowed forest.
Their energy was orderly and heavy.
The opponent was an examinee like me.
'The question is who….'
The presence drew closer.
I drew my azure sword.
Among the examinees wearing black exam tickets, only one person came to mind who would use such a giant scythe.
I wanted to think of another examinee, but her existence was etched too deeply within me.
Before long, the opponent's figure vaguely emerged from the darkness.
'Just my damned luck. Why the hell did I have to run into her here of all places?'
It was the figure of a woman holding a giant scythe.
Gray hair peeked out.
With that, I was certain.
The one walking through the forest was.
"I threw my scythe the moment I realized you were an examinee, but what do you know, turns out it was Gyeonu-Gyeonu?"
"…."
"So glad to see you! Meeting in a place like this?"
It was Nam Yuri of the Yeonseong Nam Clan.
She greeted me cheerfully, the giant scythe tucked under her arm.
But I couldn't simply be happy to see her.
Because I knew her personality all too well.
'Dangerous. She might attack any moment.'
Nam Yuri, who craved the stimulus of feeling alive, felt that stimulus most when fighting for survival.
Therefore, she felt ecstasy in killing living things or putting herself in danger.
It wasn't hard to imagine what she was thinking in a situation where we had to fight over each other's exam tickets.
She would want to feel the thrill of fighting me over them.
Naturally, I wanted to decline.
I had no intention of fighting her.
"…Yeah. Saw you yesterday and again today. What a coincidence… no, I wonder if such a ridiculous coincidence can even exist."
"Right? I guess we really are connected. Or could it be fate? I think that's wonderful too!"
"Ahaha…."
"Ahaha?"
"You were looking for a base too, right? Work hard, pass, and let's see each other at the academy. Well then, I should go find a base too."
I tried to act as naturally as possible, guiding the flow.
As I tried to leave like that.
"Where are you going?"
"…."
Damn it, Nam Yuri wasn't fooled.
She called out and stopped me.
Turning around, her purple eyes had the look of someone about to devour me.
"Aren't you going to do it with me?"
"…Do what?"
"Aren't you going to take mine? Aren't you going to steal it?"
"So, what?"
"My exam ticket. We're in the middle of the exam. But you're just going to meet and leave like this? Without even testing each other? How boring."
Nam Yuri puffed out her chest so the black exam ticket was visible.
I opened my mouth to somehow persuade her.
"Didn't we promise yesterday?"
"Yes! That when we meet at the academy, we'd play rock-paper-scissors to decide who pays for the meal, right? Don't worry! I have a good memory; I haven't forgotten!"
"But if you and I fight, one of us won't pass the academy, and won't be able to keep the promise, right?"
"What. Gyeonu-Gyeonu, you were worried about that? Now that I see, you're quite the worrywart? You don't need to worry about that!"
Nam Yuri smiled brightly.
She gripped the scythe she had been holding under her arm.
"Even if Gyeonu-Gyeonu has his exam ticket stolen by me, with your skills you can steal other people's tickets and make 200 points! So you don't need to worry about failing!"
"…Why do you assume I'm the one who'll be robbed? Don't you think you might be the one robbed?"
"Huh?"
At my absurd words, Nam Yuri tilted her head.
"Gyeonu-Gyeonu is so interesting after all."
The smile vanished from Nam Yuri's face.
A cold gleam pierced her purple gaze.
The corners of her mouth rose long and thin.
"That's because I'm strong, right? No matter how strong Gyeonu-Gyeonu is, it's obvious I'll win, isn't it?"
Nam Yuri took a combat stance.
It seemed unavoidable after all.
I too readied myself.
"Fine, you'll find out when you're the one who gets robbed. You'd better prepare to gather 200 points yourself."
I had become the childhood friend of a mid-boss.