*
The Chancellor’s Office of Grand Hertz Academy.
In a place where you can assess the surroundings using a magic-infused crystal ball.
“Looks like the Magic Hat has become a Demon and wants to claim you all for himself…”
“Yeah, if he was targeting Pina from the start, he wouldn’t have killed Black Cloud.”
Giseok and I were playing chess.
That guy has this habit of playing chess to organize his thoughts.
I had asked him for help in finding a way to defeat the Magic Hat.
One life with no retries.
Dying here is different from dying in a game.
“… He probably would have attacked in one go.”
“Exactly! It’s not like he’s a minor demon – why send important forces separately?”
I gulped as I replied.
If the Head had brought all the Demon Kings to attack the academy, it would have been simple.
But the fact that he didn’t means he had a different goal.
“You knew I was an academy student too?”
This time, Giseok moved the rook.
He was thinking deeply, with his legs crossed.
“Doesn’t something seem odd? Su-hyun?”
For Giseok to say that, the Magic Hat’s actions were indeed suspicious.
Erasing the existence of his elite guard Silver, or pretending to be a teaching assistant to get close to me.
It contrasted sharply with how he initially attacked Kainel and Pina.
“… Su-hyun isn’t the weird one. It’s the Magic Hat.”
“Pina, that’s not what I meant..”
Pina, who had been gazing at the chessboard, jumped into the conversation.
And fittingly, standing behind Giseok was the Archduchess Sophia.
“Your Highness, if you knew how hard he worked to save you, you’d be surprised. He’s definitely strange.”
“……”
The memory of grinding through the game for 16 hours. It’s something I can’t forget.
It seemed impossible, yet I kept trying until I succeeded.
But there’s no retry button now.
“Anyway, to continue what we were saying earlier…. How did the Magic Hat know about you?”
Seeing Pina’s gaze shift toward me, Giseok smiled at me.
Well, how did he know?
He even called me that horrific title, Lord.
No matter how I think about it, it wasn’t our first meeting.
Could he remember the things that happened in the game? Because I achieved the global first kill?
Perhaps because I succeeded in killing the Demon King of Truth in the sequel [Black Heart].
I received that beta tester mail for that very reason.
“Maybe it’s because I was the first one to kill him? That ‘prophecy’ might be…”
“No, that’s unlikely. Su-hyun.”
Having noticed I was about to say ‘game’, Giseok subtly cast soundproof magic.
He shook his head.
“If what happened in the game is a ‘prophecy,’ then it would explain the Magic Hat’s obsession with you…”
He mentioned that the record I set still hasn’t been broken.
Worldwide, I was the only player to have killed the Magic Hat.
“How does the Nameless Saintess know about you?”
“Based on what I played in the game..?”
If the things we did in the game also had influence here, it would make sense.
Like how the [Inheritance System] allows you to load a save file and see the ending.
Thanks to that, I could get close to the Nameless Saintess Pina in the sequel as well.
“If that were the case, she wouldn’t have appeared in your dreams or been in the shrine’s maze.”
“Then what on earth is happening?”
Giseok immediately declared check. The white queen captured the black king.
“Well… You should ask the person involved. You have the second prettiest girl in the world by your side.”
“The second? Besides Pina, there’s only… Ah.”
Then who is the first?
Looking up at the presence above me, I saw Archduchess Sophia’s face turn red.
Her ears were fluttering slightly above her head.
I remember that pillar guy saying this sight was rare and even filmed it.
“Hey, but still a wolf is better than a bear.”
“Not at all! Bear ears are so round and cute!”
I continued speaking while dodging the check. Let’s compare what needs comparing.
No matter how much of a friend she is, I can’t accept putting Pina below the Northern Archduchess.
“Do you even know how fluffy a wolf’s tail is? You wouldn’t even imagine.”
“Honestly, it seems like it would be hot in summer.”
“Having it as a pillow while you sleep is so cute…”
As Giseok and I raised our voices a bit, I heard a strange sound from the side.
“Hyik, choke…”
That was Pina’s hiccup.
Covering her flushed face with both hands, her wolf ears flopped back, and her long tail wagged vigorously.
Looking ahead, I saw Sophia pinching Giseok’s side.
She must be telling him not to say embarrassing things in front of the person involved.
“Pina, what if your hair turned black and your eyes turned red?”
“Ugh. Th-that would…”
I asked her about the possibility of becoming a Demon.
A Hero becomes a Demon King upon losing a loved one.
So, wouldn’t there be some condition for a Demon King to turn into a Demon?
“I don’t know. Hik. My hair was originally black, but…”
“Do you know the meaning of black roses? I saw you all in black in a dream before.”
That was already known information.
Since both Rock and Rufus had black hair, it wasn’t surprising that Pina used to have black hair.
“That probably means… ‘You are forever mine.’”
“……”
Chills ran down my spine as soon as I heard that flower meaning.
It was entirely opposite in negativity to the meaning of blue roses.
‘Maybe… if I get seriously hurt, then Pina….’
That was confirmed by the sage’s foresight.
The possibility of me being gravely injured while defeating the Magical Hats, who had transformed into Demons, became larger.
“See? While I’m not sure, it’s highly probable that the dark Pina you mentioned could also become a Demon.”
As Giseok spoke, he pointed at the black pawn with his hand.
Somehow, I had swapped it for a queen at the edge of the chessboard.
“Are you dreaming of something similar to a dream within a dream?”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s like a dream within a dream. If we think of it that way, maybe the Pina you saw in those dreams wasn’t the real one?”
He again captured the black queen with the white queen, declaring checkmate.
A dream within a dream.
If it wasn’t that the game affected this place, and if the Nameless Saintess and the Demon Pina I saw were real…
“… Are you saying I might have amnesia?”
“Well, that’s just my guess.”
I had mistaken being possessed by the game with reality.
He said that what happened once could happen again.
“Su-hyun, what will you do if a person dies?”
“..Don’t say stuff like that. I’ve been trying my best to prevent that from happening.”
An event where all the characters here died.
When the Magic Hat suddenly appeared and sliced people with cards.
To be precise, Kainel and Ariel escaped, but they were still alive.
“But even if you defeated the Demon King of Truth, it wouldn’t have changed anything.”
“… What are you trying to say?”
The Nameless Saintess Pina wasn’t even on the list of casualties.
Buried under the rubble, the countless times I saw her die was terrifying.
“To change destiny, you’d have to dig at least dozens of graves.”
He stood up and patted my shoulder.
A preparedness plan for the unexpected.
Even if unanticipated events occur, he advised me to find a way to make up for it.
“I’ll try, but I still haven’t found the holy spear I used before.”
“…. Thanks for your help, Giseok.”
I could only express my gratitude to him.
“Hey, that’s what friends do for each other.”
He said he had to take revenge on Sophia’s father, but I appreciated that he would also fight for me.
*
Before Emperor Rock arrived at the academy, I revealed the truth to Drake and the Sage.
“… Black Cloud is dead.”
“No way. It’s highly likely that the Magic Hat killed him…”
Even then, the Grand Route wouldn’t be achieved.
Drake couldn’t accept the Sage’s heart because he hadn’t finished his revenge.
‘..I hope these two can be happy too.’
If from the beginning I was trying to prevent Demon Kings from dying to stop the Magic Hat’s transformation, then I just needed to defeat that changed guy.
So they could eventually come together.
“But the Demon King of Truth is still left, right? My disciple.”
“He was tormenting us to become a Demon…”
Drake answered my call willingly.
While we were just comrades in the game, here we truly had a master-student bond.
“We need to take revenge on those who died at the hands of the Magic Hat to ease their souls!”
He raised his voice, trying to pretend to be cheerful.
Even though the target for revenge had disappeared, he smiled to help me.
“Y-yeah. If we really catch the Magic Hat, then Lord Drake could find relief too, right?”
The Sage probably knew about the past Drake had.
Even if it was a prediction of the future, it must have been tough to see, likely including scenarios where they lived as a couple.
“Thank you, everyone…”
I expressed my gratitude to them.
If I hadn’t worked hard for Pina, even if these events had unfolded the same, they wouldn’t have helped me.
Grateful that I could protect people, even if I was weak.
“Licht, I can see the Magic Hat now.”
I prepared for an annoying battle against the Demon King.
“Pina.”
Her trembling eyes. Her ears shaking and her tail drooping.
She gripped the sword’s handle so tightly it seemed like it would break.
She was showing her anxiety toward the distant Demon King.
“How about we eat strawberry cake at the bakery in front of the academy tomorrow morning?”
As I gently held her trembling hand, I promised for an uncertain future.
I naturally spoke about survival.
“Yeah… sounds good.”
Without needing any action or words, we were already of one heart.
“Su-hyun.”
“Yes.”
While I answered, I was keenly aware of the ominous feeling approaching.
She lightly tapped my side with her tail and, in a voice full of shyness, painted her future.
“When we get married… I want to wear a white wedding dress.”
