In the middle of the Gymnasium under the calming moonlight, a charming spectacle found itself in front of me.

“You’re telling me, that I’m misunderstanding everything?” Uriel pointed at herself with furrowed eyebrows.

“Yes,” I replied earnestly, holding in my laughter.

To the side of me, Erin sported a disturbed expression, “We’ve been telling you… I’m not what you think I am.”

The swords by this point had already been put away, and we were chatting on the benches to the side of the sparring arena.

“I’m sorry, really!” Uriel bowed frantically up and down. “But… Luke, I didn’t know you trained this hard.”

“There’s no possible way to get stronger without going through life and death, or so I believe,” I explained with a tired voice. “The only problem is that instead of learning, I instead receive a merciless beating.”

Erin crossed her legs and smiled, “Of course, that is the way I learnt my way of combat.”

Uriel blinked blankly at the statement, speechless at her brazenness.

“Anyway, I’m pretty badly injured and want some sleep,” I yawned and stretched lightly as to not widen my wounds.

The saintess woke up from her stupor and immediately began pouring divine energy into my wounds.

“We’ll see you next time Erin, and remember, the weekends are off!” I wagged a finger in front of her.

I received a response that subverted expectations, she glared fiercely with a piercing look. “Huh? Since when?”

I astutely stood my ground, “I have plans, unfortunately.”

“Denied.” Erin spoke without a shadow of a doubt.

I was taken aback, “What do you mean, refused. I have a will, you know?”

“You signed up for this, if you can’t handle daily training… then we can end the training here,” Erin grinned haughtily.

My body fell limp. The entirety of my time in this academy would have to be disturbed by this demonic girl.

“There, there,” Uriel rubbed my back after finishing up the repairs, “How about we head back now?”

“Yeah, I want out from this hellish place,” I nodded in tears.

We stepped out from the gymnasium, and headed for the Golden Nest. On the way, they had some intriguing conversations. Erin seemed to be interested in the Order of Unity, asking away about the practices and teachings they underwent. Hearing that, Uriel’s view on Erin had instantly changed. Part of me felt disappointed at her lack of discernment, but happy that these two managed to get along.

We eventually split up at the split between the two halls inside the marvelous building. Keeping in mind the arduous day, I opened my door with the hope of peace.

“So? How was the date?” Fen’s words penetrated my bubble of hope.

“It was simply an outing between friends, and honestly… too much happened,” I sighed and collapsed on my bed on the other side of the room.

“Really?” His eyes sharpened, sensing there was more to what I said.

“I’m not saying anymore, shoo,” I tossed around to the wall to avoid looking at him.

“Aren’t you gonna shower?” An amused tone made itself apparent in his comment.

“Shit!” I panicked, looking at my dirtied bedsheets. “Ugh… what did I do to deserve this?”

“Maybe trying to accomplish the feat of leading on three beautiful girls at the peak of their youth?” Fen joked with a shrug.

“You wanna go there? Are you sure?” I glared back at him, “From what I’ve seen, it’s not just that bitch trying to get to you but–”

I gulped, acknowledging the consequences of revealing such information. In specific, the possible overreaction from Demon Lord’s daughter.

“I get you two don’t like each other, but what’s with this mention of another?” Fen dropped the joking, interested in why stopped speaking.

“The answer has been right in front of you for a while,” I told him outright.

“Is that so?” He rubbed his chin. “Well, I won’t pry based on that look of fear in your eyes.”

“In exchange for that hint, do me a favour and tell me if Luna does anything… strange,” I shamelessly asked.

Fen looked at me meaningfully, “Is there a reason?”

“The safety of the academy, or something to that extent,” I shrugged before entering the shower unit.

“Wait– elaborate first!” At that point Fen reached out for me physically.

My shoulder had been grabbed, and I almost stumbled backwards. “Alright, damn… I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but your intuition probably will.”

Fen waited for an answer, choosing to remain silent.

“I know it might sound outlandish, but Luna might be involved with the reason why Charles has been on edge as of late,” I spoke some of my game knowledge. “For example, misguidedly reaching out to a foreign power?”

He rubbed his temples, looking at the ground with a displeased expression. After wasting time on pondering, he raised his hands up in a stretch.

“I will… look into it, but on one condition,” Fen hesitated initially, but answered firmly. “Have a duel with me sometime before the first round of tests, I don’t care if you lose, just fight me with all you have.”

All this time that was what I had wished to avoid, but in truth, I sufferred nothing. I wouldn’t lose anything, and likely only receive praise for surviving against such a powerhouse. I was only scared of the premise of being gravely injured by mistake.

“I will accept it only as long as you get Professor Haruto as the referee.” I put out my hand, waiting to receive a handshake.

Fen reached out and shook my hand, “Finally! I’ve been itching for a fight ever since what happened in Philios Forest even if I have to wait another month.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I laughed with no hint of enthusiasm.

-x-

I stretched out both my arms as I felt the book of hints in my hand. Midnight had already passed, so it was already Saturday, which also meant something new would pop up.

I flipped the book open, and found a peculiar piece of information. I wasn’t sure if it’d be useful or not, but regardless, I would act on Monday when classes would start. Only then, would this be helpful.

“Uuagh…” I yawned, staring into the window piercing moonlight.

With the acquisition of the key piece of this possible Bad Ending, it was clear to me that a lot gears would begin to move. In preparation for that, a good sleep was needed.

-x-

“Well, look who it is,” The professor smiled as he greeted me. “I don’t think I’ve had a student this quick to meet me before the first class – colour me surprised.”

Currently, I was within the unique office of Professor Robert, the teacher of Ancient History. The room reflected his personality, it was compact but messy. Each and every corner was covered in some kind of mural or item related to an event in the past.

‘Hmm, is that what I think it is?’

What caught my eye in particular was a hand with a shining ring. I wanted to analyse it as soon as possible, I needed to keep my priorities straight.

“Truth is, I plan to take your class right up through to the third year, and I wanted to ask some quick questions, if that’s fine?” I asked as innocently as possible.

“That’s encouraging to hear, what is it that your mind desires to know?” He raised his glasses with a flick.

In the game, one of the possible ways to receive any kind of future information was through personal confrontations with the professor. In turn, you would receive key words that would point toward specific happenings of one’s route.

While I had a good idea of what was to come due to some deductions, it was open to gaps of uncertainty. Because of too many deviations from the base game, I suspected none of my plans would be foolproof.

No matter what, I had to find out.

“I’ve heard that the curriculum is going to be largely different this year, I wanted to confirm the rumour,” I repeated the same line from the game.

“Oh, I’m surprised that it managed to leak, but yes that’s true,” Professor Robert let out a wry smile.

Here, I would ask the default question within the game.

“Is there–”

“Since you’re such a diligent student, I’d like to inform you- hmmm, was there something else you wanted to ask?”

I faked a cough, “No, keep speaking please.”

There was never a time when the professor would speak unprompted. I was undoubtedly exploring new territory.

“Well, the Great Hero has blessed the research department with the coordinates of an ancient war site. Which of course, I plan to take the class to as an external assessment,” Professor Robert explained, handing me a research paper.

It contained various reports on a dungeon ruin south of the Alexander Kingdom. There were scribblings in particular about the lack of any monsters, despite the active mana flow from the dungeon care being felt.

In this world it is commonly known that the stronger and denser mana was, inside a dungeon, the more dangerous it could be. Hence, it was what allowed them to rank the dungeons by danger.

“What do you think?” He asked me, definitely expecting a well thought answer.

“Erm…” I paused for a second, “Apologies sir, but what grounds do I have to speak on this matter?”

“I’m going to be honest, even before you entered my class last week, I was aware of your existence,” Robert wryfully smiled.

The tension in the air rose as he sat down on his office chair. Slowly, he delved into his drawer and picked out a stack of graded papers.

The strange professor pointed to a peculiarly marked one, “Look here, Luke.”

I picked it up, my face souring in the process. I didn’t realise the implications of such knowledge yet.

Robert adjusted his glasses and surmised, “Who would have expected a mere student to have known something like the highly coveted history of our Magic Circle development. Further, your calculations were simply perfect, as if you were a scholar all your life.”

Finally, it clicked. The question about the fireball was actually a trick to make one think it was easy, only to then ask about the history of its usage and creation.

I scratched the back of my head, it was the only question that always remained on the random generated test. Two weeks ago, I barely understood the changes from this world from the game. His additional comment of my work made me sweat a little too.

The professor topped it off with praise, “I’m expecting great things from you, as the only student who answered the entry test perfectly in history.”

‘In the game this information was easily accessible, and could be found in the library around the third year… in fact a whole subquest line revolved around its history.’

It would allow one to gain perfect grades and receive character buffs and some rewards. Yet, I was now in the real world.

At the same time, I couldn’t blame myself either. I’ve received zero attention for scoring perfectly until now.

‘So, why now?’

“Luke, I’m the examiner, no one else knows the scores except me and the headmasters,” The Professor answered as if reading my mind.

“How could you tell?” I barely kept a straight face.

“Not to be rude, but you’re an open book…” Professor dodged my questioning look. “Ahem… Back to the topic at hand, what do you think?”

“In my opinion, Professor… This ruin contains an entity multitudes more dangerous than what has been reported,” I spoke with hesitation. “My reason for saying this, lies within the discrepancy of mana readings from the dungeon core.”

“You already know what that means too?” The professor let out a fierce smirk. “Ahem, continue please.”

“The first reading from a month ago shows a reading from a F-rank dungeon, but a few days later, it detected up to an S-rank for a few moments but was dismissed as an error,” I noted.

“There’s been many false positives in the past,” the Professor rebutted.

“However, the expedition that happened a year prior from the Empire toward the site of the fallen God of War had set this exact same precedent,” I stressed that importance.

With that mention, Professor Robert’s glasses almost fell off due to his sudden reaction.

“How… how did you know that? It’s a top secret shared between the remaining citadels of life,” He stressed.

“I’m not the top student for nothing.” I shrugged it off not willing to say anymore.

The young professor sighed, “Hah, I would love to know some of your secrets – for now however, I’ll refrain from pestering one of my bright students.”

Internally I was frowning. This ancient ruin was directly linked to the God of Shadows, an optional dungeon in the end game close to the end of the third year.

‘That’s right… END GAME. Unless someone on the level of Runalia or Haruto were to come, we were doomed.’

Professor Robert let out a hearty laugh, “Hahaha! Honestly I thought the same, but Calvin believes that was nothing but a coincidence.”

“...”

“It seems you don’t agree with his judgement,” He curiously pointed out.

“Of course I don’t,” I sighed.

“Unfortunately, the decision to deny help has been finalised with the stamp of Abel,” Professor Robert regretfully spoke, leaning on the edge of his chair.

I whispered, “Fuck.”

Robert grinned hearing my curse, “On the bright side, this expedition has been delayed to the second semester thanks to my obstinance. In the meantime, maybe you could reach a compromise depending on your results in the first round of tests.”

“That is nice to hear…” I dejectedly agreed.

I stepped to the door, ready to leave after gathering my thoughts.

“Also, one final thing, I’m thinking of starting with the history of the beastman, and their conflict with the demons before the Great War,” Robert randomly added.

I opened the door with light steps, “A good topic, I’ll enjoy the lesson on Monday.”

I headed for the gym with a slightly better complexion. There were two things I gained, the fact that Uriel’s bad ending is undoubtedly related to the incoming beastman invasion episode, and…

That we’re fated for a horrible death.