NOVEL NEXT Prologue
Prologue
Tap Tap…
The steady rhythm of hard shoes striking the floor reverberated through the hallway.
'My last day, huh…'
Even though it was my last day as a professor at the academy, I didn’t feel a single emotion of agitation.
It was as if watching something happening to someone else from afar… right, that’s exactly how I felt.
One might call it an escape from reality, but I genuinely felt nothing other than that level of sincerity.
Tap. Tap. Tap…
I walked some more and at the end of the long hallway, by the entrance, a woman stood waiting for me with her arms crossed. She had blonde hair that was tied at the ends in a ponytail, which rested over her shoulders and coming down to her bosom…
...Looking closely, it seemed the warm sunlight shining down on her was a play of nature solely to further enhance her already beautiful appearance.
“Erica Bright.”
I spat out her name as if vomiting.
Erica crossed her arms and put on a twisted smile that was close to ridicule on her lips.
“How do you feel?”
“Hmmm.”
I was a bit troubled; What kind of answer would satisfy her?
But Erica, who still had her arms crossed, spoke again, tapping her fingers on the sleeve of her dress.
“How do you feel about being fired from the academy? That, too, because of your fiancée.”
“Yeah, that’s it-”
I felt sorry for not finding the right words to satisfy her. But as the emotions were so worn out, it would be difficult to describe my feelings so clearly other than this:
“-I feel relieved.”
I smiled slightly and said so.
Grind!!!
Erica, twitching her lips, gnashed her teeth and exhaled a hot breath
“Oh, you even know how to have fun?”
“…….”
“Good; smile a little in the future. Maybe then you wouldn’t have to be betrayed by a woman like me.”
With her arms undone and her fists clenched, as she said that and walked past me, the refreshing scent of oranges hit my nose.
“Get out of my way, and… please don’t ever come into my life again.”
I nodded at Erica as she walked away while turning her back on me.
"I'll try."
Tap. Tap. Tap…
Again, with the rhythmic sound of shoes hitting the floor, I left the academy.
Perhaps because the vacation was still going on, the usually crowded academy was quite calm.
Slowly turning around, I stared blankly at the place I had spent 3 months in.
But unlike the calmness I just spoke of, dozens or hundreds of demons were roaming chaotically around the huge academy.
They all started waving at me in unison, giggling and laughing.
[Ugh!! I wanted to eat your eyes! No!! I should have made your cursed black eyes mine!]
[Someday I will cut off your limbs and drink your blood like wine!]
[Finally!! It’s freedom! Liberty! Haah. So, that's how it feels!!]
[Kihehehe!]
[Someday, I will dig out your intestines with my six hands, put them in my mouth, and then chew them with one hundred and eighty teeth!]
[Finally! This place will finally become a dwelling place for ghosts, a resting place for the dead!]
“What a pitiful place.”
'Robern' Academy… A famous place where the game - [Retry] - took place. It was the place where the game’s protagonist, other main characters, and supporting cast came together for the first time.
Unfortunately, it was built over the cemetery of those who passed away and were buried without a name, and now the same nameless ghosts haunted it.
According to what I’d heard, such a strange place was chosen to teach students to not be bound by the past and always strive toward the future...
“Tskkk.”
My tongue got cold as I recalled how much I'd struggled to stop those evil spirits... and the game’s main story hadn’t even started yet.
“Whatever.”
Hearing the demons’ curses, I turned around and left.
“Yeah, with every choice comes responsibility.”
As soon as I stepped outside the main gate of the academy, I heard the screams and laughter of the evil spirits from behind.
As someone who had memories of playing [Retry] before, I knew how the game would have properly expressed this situation;
[Event unsuccessful: The restriction on the demons is broken.]