*
The academy’s courtyard was thick with black fog.
Thanks to Licht’s instructions, most didn’t fall victim to the Apostle’s attacks. But the enemies were closing in.
“The glass wall shattered!!”
“Now’s the time! Everyone, charge!”
“For the Hero of all possibilities!”
The cultists rushed toward the students, who were holding their breath. Weapons and magic, divine power and spirit magic flew into the murky abyss, but—
“Talk about bad luck. Hero Church.”
Finally arriving for support, Professor Dennis spun a 3D magic circle and appeared, deflecting all attacks.
“… Using spatial control against a mage who twists water attributes to create magic?”
He had now mastered teleportation magic.
“The basic ‘concept’ of water is volatility.”
All of a sudden, there was an oomph as a gigantic 3D magic circle expanded above his hand, turning a blood-red hue.
“Looks like you didn’t attend our academy’s orientation, Metus.”
As soon as he finished speaking, like a burst balloon, the magic circle disappeared without a trace, replaced by the smell of alcohol and grapes that swept away the surrounding black smoke.
“Now you can breathe, folks.”
As he explained in the first magic class, he vaporized the alcohol to nullify the enemies’ abilities.
At the same moment, the charging cultists stumbled around as if intoxicated, soon collapsing or sitting down, dozing off.
“Are you all okay?”
Except for the academy students, thuds echoed from all around.
The gluttonous Apostle, watching from afar, doubted his own eyes at the spherical magic circle spinning in the hands of a man.
“How could this happen? According to the Demon King’s orders, Dennis shouldn’t have any of that…”
His orders had been to watch out for Licht, the boy in the black knight helmet, and to avoid the central hall where Dennis was supposed to be confined.
How could that blue-haired man, glowing with a white aura, escape a barrier created by a water spirit? Questions swirled in the Apostle’s mind.
“Professor!!”
“Professor Dennis!”
At last, the academy students, now relieved, yelled toward their professor and pointed at the toad-like man revealed as the fog cleared.
“I know. We have to catch that guy first!”
Dennis shot a disk of the spinning magic circle. It zipped through the air, cutting through space.
“Coo… Cuk.”
As soon as it hit the Apostle Metus, it transformed into a binding spell. Chains made of droplets wrapped around the chubby middle-aged body.
“Did you really think you could touch my precious students and walk away unscathed, Hero Church?”
Dennis strode toward the captured Apostle, his tone and steps laced with fury.
“..Wait! Just wait!! If you kill me, the student trapped in the nightmare will die too…!”
Metus, squirming like a frog in a human’s grasp, squealed desperately.
But he couldn’t move an inch, only stirring up dust on the ground.
“I’ve already freed you from your status ailments with healing magic.”
The Ten Heroes mocked the feeble threats of the Apostle, but—
“Hehe… That student doesn’t seem to be okay.”
In contrast, the toad-like henchman pointed at someone with a wide, greasy grin.
“… What did you say?”
“Just as the Demon King’s plan had no errors!”
Immediately, the blue-haired man turned around. The other students who had once collapsed were now standing up, regaining their senses.
“Licht, why aren’t you up?”
“Licht..? Hey, snap out of it!”
“Helmet bro!!”
Only the student wearing the black knight helmet, Licht, remained motionless. Pina Grancia shook him, trying to wake him.
“… No response. Licht.”
Seeing him slumped, Pina quickly assessed the situation. At that moment, Dennis’s hand, which had been poised to deal with the gluttonous Apostle, fell.
Mana circuits were tangled, making healing impossible for the student. Black Knight Licht. The Head probably knew the records he had shown when he entered the academy.
“So, what now? A fake who can’t even become a true hero!!”
The Apostle, feeling victory was within reach, shouted triumphantly.
“Here’s how it’ll go. Metus.”
He was rapidly calculating. The Hero Church’s goal likely hadn’t been him from the start.
They must have set their sights on Licht, who was most likely to be chosen as the hero.
Having smashed even the Magic Hat and broken through the dungeon presumably made by the Head, there was no way that student wasn’t a hero.
“Student Mardol. Are you close with Licht?”
He gulped. At this rate, they’d all fall victim to the Head’s trap. He might soon appear and wipe out this place completely.
“… Yes, I suppose so.”
To twist his calculations, there was no choice but to make an unexpected selection. Dennis spoke bluntly to the princess.
“That means there’s something only you can do.”
Emperor Rock’s daughter. The person he knew with the highest mana, capable of influencing others just by being close.
“Enter the nightmare and save Licht.”
“Understood, Professor.”
As he requested, Pina nodded firmly while looking at him, her glass armor sparkling.
“That’s impossible. Wait, that’s not what I heard!”
Metus looked aghast, having heard about the identity behind the masterpiece in advance. However, the princess remained unfazed.
“..Licht.”
She gently laid the collapsed black knight down. Her golden wolf eyes inspected the motionless man, devoid of life like a doll with its string cut.
“What kind of dream are you having…?”
As she saw Licht, squinting through his helmet and sweating, her expression turned sad.
She understood better than anyone what emotions were involved, as if she was looking into a mirror.
Trauma is like a shadow of a person. Something everyone has to carry, yet some carry shadows so dark they block out the light.
If someone had to bear such a weight for their entire life, their heart would be crushed.
A person afraid of fire. The burn scars she had seen briefly seemed severe. Perhaps he was experiencing the past in real-time.
“… It’s hard, isn’t it? But you just have to hang in there a little longer.”
If it weren’t for Licht, she would probably never have overcome the trauma given to her by the Magic Hat. In reality, he had risked his life to restore her card.
Without her mother, Bellin Grancia, the Empress, being taken hostage, the knight had been able to show a brighter side lately.
“You’ll be okay soon. Licht, just like how you saved me before.”
Pina held one of Licht’s hands, praying with both of hers. She looked as if she could be mistaken for a priestess if she weren’t in armor.
She tightly closed her eyes. She briefly thought that within this man lay an incredibly dark past.
“This time, I’ll—”
That was already irrelevant to Pina. Just like the Black Knight, who had not retreated even before the Demon King.
“… I will save you.”
She had to become the black rose.
*
When someone mentions Christmas, what comes to mind?
Carols ringing through the streets, or a white-haired man in red clothes sliding down chimneys to distribute presents.
Some might think of the snow-filled sky, while others could count the colorful fairy lights adorning green trees.
But what sticks vividly in my memory is something that’s burned into my mind.
“This place….”
A world transformed white by the deep snow, and—
“Mom! Santa Claus is definitely coming tonight, right?”
“Yes, Young-min. So you have to listen carefully to the doctor today, okay?”
“Okay! Got it!”
In a place somewhat similar, little children in pure white clothing were gathered. The children’s ward I had inhabited in reality.
“I was attacked by the Apostle of Gluttony.”
I opened my palm and looked below. My minimized frame and hand size. I was again returned to that despairing moment in the past.
“…”
Even if I opened my mouth, no words would come out. The past remains unchanged, and some facts cannot be altered.
This is before I got trapped in the game, my past.
The ability to recreate a person’s trauma. Unlike with Servi, I had no sword, and even trying to bite my tongue was impossible.
Nothing would move by my will. I should be telling myself to run, but I couldn’t.
“I was about to be released tomorrow.”
Having no way out, I began racking my brain as much as I could.
Like rewinding a book to read again, I was trying to rearrange the shattered fragments left in my memory.
I had been hospitalized after barely colliding with a car while riding my bike. My father, a firefighter, couldn’t always be around due to his busy schedule.
By evening, a fire broke out, and I awoke in the night to find myself extracted by the hospital staff.
“..I heard a child’s cry for help and ended up racing back.”
I wanted to close my eyes. This world, where only consciousness seemed sane, felt like it would drive me insane.
“Su-hyun! Aren’t you excited for Santa Claus today?”
A child in the same hospital room, unaware of the future awaiting him, smiled bright-eyed. I felt despair looking at that boy.
