“What’s your name?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Student! Please tell me your name! The time you’re wasting here is enough for me to register five other people!”
“...Huh?”
Ain was a bit dazed.
Looking at the elderly professor in front of him and the students around him wearing distinct white-and-blue school uniforms, Ain couldn't distinguish what the current situation was.
“I... my name is Ain! Right! Ain Aldric!”
“What year?”
“I should be... a second-year?”
Blurred memories flooded his mind, and Ain felt that all of this was somewhat familiar.
“Ain? Wait, you’re that Ain?”
The previously angry professor immediately showed a look of surprise upon hearing Ain’s name. He frowned, then sighed and said:
“Ain... Forget it, next!”
The professor lightly slapped a piece of white paper against Ain’s chest and waved for him to leave.
Ain was a bit confused by the professor’s sudden change in attitude, but he didn’t think too much about it. He walked slowly out of the registration room, trying to look like the other students around him.
As a large amount of memories flooded his mind, Ain finally understood the current situation.
He had transmigrated. He had transmigrated into a game he had played in his previous life.
And he happened to transmigrate right when he was finishing his first playthrough of the game.
《An Otherworld Academy Adventure Where a Happy Ending is Forever Impossible!》
Just like the name suggested, this game was filled with an overwhelming number of bad endings!
And the ending of the first playthrough he had completed happened to be his least favorite bad ending.
Just thinking about the special CGs in it made Ain break out in goosebumps.
Being drawn and quartered was practically a regular occurrence. For the game's main cast, the game even demonstrated all sorts of strange and grotesque ways to die!
As a game uploader who pursued perfect clears, Ain had wanted to curse out the game developer’s entire family every time he played.
Can't you make a game without throwing in tragedies? Why are you so selfish! Ptooey!
“Where am I right now? Golden Branch... Golden Branch Academy?”
Golden Branch Academy was the primary setting for the early to mid-stage story of the game. It was the largest magic academy in the empire, a major producer of magical resources, and a gathering place for geniuses.
“Ain... Isn't this guy a villain?”
The final boss of the first act, Ain Aldric.
He had suffered from a condition called “Mana Leakage” since childhood. Any mana he stored would naturally leak out of his body, leaving him with a mana capacity dozens of times smaller than that of an ordinary person.
In the first act's plot, he participated in an academic competition just to obtain the first-place prize—the Erdo Magic Crystal.
Unlike ordinary magic crystals that contained mana, this crystal had the property of absorbing external mana. Although the stored mana couldn't be used directly by a person, in Ain’s eyes, it was one of the few turning points in his life.
If he could turn this crystal into an alchemy tool, maybe he could use the mana stored within it?
However, while the idea was good, the reality was that he didn't even get the chance to touch the crystal.
In that competition, Ain only took second place.
First place went to the academy's magic genius, the undisputed strongest of the third-year, and the game’s primary heroine, Erylin Lorenz.
Having been bullied by family members since childhood, Ain’s heart was extremely twisted. In his eyes, everyone who looked him in the eye was mocking and ridiculing him.
Erylin taking first place was, in Ain’s view, a deliberate attempt to oppose him and steal the magic crystal that should have belonged to him.
So, in the middle of the first act's story, Ain publicly confronted the heroine. After saying some things only a socially withdrawn person would say, he suddenly launched a taboo magic at her.
After being taught a lesson by the heroine, Ain’s already weak mana storage was completely depleted due to mana exhaustion and the backlash from the taboo magic.
Driven by humiliation and a sense of defeat, on the night before the exam, Ain secretly used taboo magic in his dormitory, willing to pay with his life to seek revenge on the heroine.
But in the end, he was completely consumed by the backlash of the taboo magic. His soul was wiped out, and he became a magic puppet that only retained basic speech and movement capabilities.
Ultimately, the puppet-like Ain entered the practical exam grounds and fused with a Tier 3 Magic Wolf, Mordred—which shouldn't have been in the exam—becoming the final boss of the first act and attacking the protagonist's party with his lingering obsession.
“The Erdo Magic Crystal can only really be used as a neutralizer for some potions, right?”
Ain shook his head.
“Besides, this guy has so much crap going on...”
“With Erylin’s personality, if this guy could just talk to people properly, he wouldn't have ended up like this.”
Ain had a very deep impression of the first act's boss.
Even with the heroine Erylin as a support member, he still couldn't beat the boss in his first playthrough.
Because this boss had a second phase.
What do you mean he turns into a Tier 4 monster after entering the second phase?
What do you mean he automatically drains the mana of the player and the support characters?
Ain had complained plenty about this broken stat-monster back then.
He had even played through it several times, only to trigger the bad ending of the first act every time.
Because it was fundamentally a scripted loss!
The sequel to the first act involved the professors stepping in to help, which was how everyone survived the magic wolf's claws.
“It seems the current situation is... the original soul has already vanished, and I just happened to transmigrate before fusing with the first act's boss.”
Ain picked up the portable wand tied to his waist and shouted lightly.
“Akvo! (Water!)”
The magic circle he imagined didn't manifest, and the wand didn't change at all.
“As expected, I have no mana...”
Ain muttered to himself as he looked at the white paper in his hand.
Name: Ain Aldric
Gender: Male
Rank: Tier 1 Mage
Enrollment Status: Enrolled (x) Provisional Student (✓)
...
Evaluation: Publicly used taboo magic in the teaching building. Although there were no casualties and the individual was in a state of mental confusion, not constituting the crime of malicious use of high-risk magic, the circumstances are severe. The final verdict will be delivered next month! If the final assessment score is below 60, expulsion will be processed!
Ain remembered that this final assessment consisted of three parts: Daily Points, Practical Points, and Test Points.
And Daily Points happened to account for 40% of the total.
In other words, he had to get a perfect score in both the Practical Points and Test Points to escape expulsion?
“The condition for getting a perfect score in this upcoming practical exam seems to be hunting a Tier 3 magical beast?”
“And the only Tier 3 monster in the exam seems to be that magic wolf...”
“Doesn't that mean I have to defeat the final boss of the first act?!”
Ain felt a headache coming on.
They basically have no intention of letting me stay in the academy!
He had originally thought about just running away, but now it seemed that if he wanted to stay in the academy and continue the game's main plot, he had to defeat that magic wolf?
Ain remembered that this practical exam also required students to form their own teams.
“Heh, team up? Who would want to team up with a shut-in like me?”
Ain couldn't help but feel a bit of despair.
Wait, what’s this?
【Player ID: Will I Win? I Will!】
【Current Character: Ain】
【Class: Mage (Master of all Schools)】
【Server: Offline】
【Magic Compendium Completion: 100%】
【Elemental Magic (All Spells Unlocked)】
【Proficiency: Promax】
【Current Status: Unavailable】
【Enhancement Magic (All Spells Unlocked)】
...
Looking at the familiar panel, the player ID, and the rows of magic marked as fully unlocked below, Ain suddenly remembered.
Isn't this his max-level account from his first playthrough?!
“Hurricane Blade, Holy Judgment, High-Pressure Water Blade...”
Reading the names of the spells he was more than familiar with, Ain grew more excited the more he looked, until he saw that grey mana bar. Ain’s face instantly collapsed.
【Character Status】
【HP: Healthy】
【MP: 0/0】
【Negative Effects: Mana Leakage, Loss of Mana Core】
...
Because this first-playthrough account followed a pure mage build, Ain hadn't bothered with points for Strength or Agility. This resulted in the account having no other skills besides magic!
And now he just happened to be in the body of someone with absolutely no mana!
The good news: total magic mastery.
The bad news: can't use any of it.
Ain really wanted to snap that 0 in the MP bar into a 1.
If he had even a tiny bit of mana, even the most garbage Tier 1 magic could be unleashed with the power of Tier 2 thanks to the Promax proficiency!
Unfortunately, it was a 0, not a 1.
Just as Ain was feeling distressed, a pleasant voice entered his mind.
“Ain, Ain Aldric.”
“I, Erylin Lorenz, hereby sincerely invite you. Team up with me!”
Rate on N.U.
