EP.4 Aizel Ludwig
Aizel Ludwig was a pretty unique character.
The first line she utters when she meets a player is always the same.
‘I’ve never seen this face before…’
It may not be a very special line.
‘You’re also a freshman. What are you talking about?’, it’s bound to be such a reaction.
Since then, she has been a character full of suspiciousness that disappears leisurely, leaving only unique lines.
However, things change by the time the player gradually progresses to the fact that she’s a regressor.
The word “first-time face” means that the player has never appeared in her return, and the unusual words she uttered were hints about the future stories.
This unique characteristic has come as an attractive element for users who play multiple episodes, and a guide for beginners.
A slightly different line from the past
In fact, the story is slightly twisted after that.
It was a powerful set up that led the player to play the next episode.
I wasn’t much different as a player either.
In a way, I should say that I was attracted to her more.
A regressor who tries to change the future through numerous regression.
The player could be the only ‘understander’ of such a regressor.
The seductive relationship had a fascinating knack.
I was such a fan of hers.
Many players, not just me, would have been her fans.
All of us were purely attracted to the character ‘Aizel Ludwig’.
But even though I’ve played so many times…
‘…Nothing could prevent her death.’
In the middle of the story, Aizel Ludwig dies in an episode related to the purpose and reason for her return.
The player should also be considered a regressor
There was even a way to proceed with a new round, as the system’s save and load could be reversed as much as possible.
However, nothing could change the outcome of her death.
Because of this, the game company was criticized a lot.
‘We can’t save Aizel no matter what we do?’
‘You said we could do anything, motherfuckers. But why can’t we save Aizel?’
‘I know how she died, and I know why she died… I’ve prevented everything I can, but she’s still dead.’
‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do about this. The person who made the game said that, so what more can we do?’
It should have been seen as a game with such a high degree of freedom within the academy, so these reactions should have leaked out.
On the other hand, the game company took a silent attitude toward questions related to Aizel.
Someone agreed to that, someone denied.
Because Aizel boasted unrivaled popularity in the game, there are many aftermaths in the process.
Quitting the game or making fun of Aizel for being an incompetent returner.
Or not giving up foolishly and continuing to try and save Aizel.
I was the latter.
In fact, I couldn’t let go of Aizel even before I entered this game.
At some point, it was because I was proceeding to come halfway rather than because I like Aizel.
At that point, it wasn’t just persistence, but stubbornness.
I thought there would be a clue now that the game has become a reality.’
Aizel, whom I had just encountered, passed me without saying anything.
This has never happened in the game.
‘Should I say that I’m not a player right now?’
In fact, I don’t know much about Aizel from a non-player perspective.
In the game, the strong fate force called ‘system’ worked, so it was made to be related to her.
“Hmm…”
I can’t find an answer even if I try to work my brain.
To be honest, she should be considered a more subtle person to be a returner to reality, not a set line like the game.
I’ll try everything I can.
My desire to save her still hasn’t changed.
Not her death that I stared into the monitor screen.
It’s so painful to imagine seeing the warmth escaping from her body with my own eyes.
***
I couldn’t even say a word.
It wasn’t easy to see him again.
I didn’t commit a crime, but I hid in an alleyway as if I was running away from him.
‘…May I help you?’
I had to admit it.
He is now a different person from the ‘Zetto’ I remembered.
The memories I shared with him no longer exist.
…He doesn’t know me anymore.
The uncomfortable and frightening truth rips through my head.
‘This thing… I thought that I already got used to it.’
I guessed not.
He may have been secretly keeping away.
To be deeply involved with people.
That guy… Zetto was special.
He was the only ‘variable’ that occurred in repeated regression.
I was worried about him.
But it seems like I wasn’t the only one who minds.
He approached me so comfortably.
I once had a deep conversation with him.
He had an ‘understanding’ that I couldn’t imagine.
Maybe that understanding… I might have been craving it.
He squeezed into my empty heart and inflated the size.
Before I knew it, his existence, which grew as big as the void inside me, was a clear “poison” for me, a regressor.
A drop of hot liquid flows down my cheek.
His last moment still lingers in my head.
His body, which was barely supporting himself against the broken wall, was bleeding heavily.
The bandage around his eyes dropped helplessly, and his deep, wide-sea-like blue eyes, which had been covered so far, shone softly.
With a gentle smile that has continued from the first moment.
He said while swallowing the surging blood.
‘Always…’
‘I was looking at the same place as you, Aizel.’
‘The sea that you liked… I hope we can go see it together next time.’
At the end of the sentence, he closed his eyes with a smile on his lips until the end.
The world was silent as if to honor him.
Even though she achieved her long-cherished goal with his help.
She didn’t want it to end.
‘Where’s the next one…?’
There’s always been a ‘next’ for Aizel.
He didn’t have a ‘next’.
To see the sea with him now.
It doesn’t mean much to him as a blind man, and he doesn’t even remember… It was a selfish wish.
It became my new purpose.
I went back for him.
With the repeated regression, I completely changed my behavior, which had been steadily organized.
The previously reluctant method was good as long as it could achieve its purpose.
Be strong with anything that comes.
Use whatever I can.
“In this life…”
I will never repeat that experience again.
Never.
Ever.
***
Something happened that bothered me, but time didn’t just wait for me.
Time went by and it’s already the day of the class assignment test.
I was worried that I might be in bad shape.
I wasn’t in such a bad condition.
It may have been helpful to eat and sleep after eating ‘Special Salamander Rice’, which had a great effect on recovering physical strength.
For your information, it didn’t taste good.
‘I thought it was rice with grilled eel.’
The class assignment test was already actively happening.
All the freshmen, including me, were looking at a large screen located in front of the test site.
The cadets who had finished the test or were waiting for the test were able to see through the transmission magic screen inside the space created by the illusion magic.
“What’s… that…”
Yuri, whom I don’t know how she found me, was somehow standing next to me and relaying to me the progress.
Thanks to her, I was struggling to pretend that I couldn’t see the contents of the test, but I’m just grateful that it was an act that came from her good heart.
“It’s pretty good…”
“Is it that much?”
“She… I don’t want to admit it, but… I think she already easily surpassed the cadet level.”
Then who is taking the test right now that Yuri is making such a fuss.
The girl’s white golden hair on the screen flutters in the wind.
It was Aizel.
I totally agree with Yuri.
It doesn’t make sense to emit that much power already.
‘…That’s too strong, though.’
Aizel in the game, of course, topped her group, but she wasn’t this overwhelming.
Now Aizel smashed all nine people, except herself, who would have been scattered on stage in about three minutes.
The screen shows Aizel cutting off the last surviving cadet.
With a creepy, emotionless face, she stood there as if she had finished everything she had to do.
The image was clearly known to all the cadets watching it.
Even if her class is different, she’s so much further from others.
The sudden magic she usually used remained the same, but other skills and abilities that couldn’t be seen in the game were noticeable.
She was extremely strong, even considering her special ability, ‘regression’.
‘I can’t keep up with what’s going on.’
I managed to endure a sigh that was about to burst.
After the long-awaited meeting with her, I feel like my headache won’t go away.
“I will call out the next participant.”
Of course, I wasn’t even given time to look at Aizel and think about it.
“…Aamon Caligus.”
“…Zetto.”
My name can be heard quietly from the lips of the instructor who was conducting the test.
Since then, the names of the remaining members have been called one after another.
Okay.
I’m going to take care of myself first.
It’s only after I become strong that I can think about how much I can influence others.
Oh, and by the way.
“Aamon Caligus…”
“From the four-element family,
It’s the Caligus who’s responsible for the earth. I used to run into him at meetings when I was a kid, but how can a big, distracted guy be so vicious… Even if he only took over half of his father, his personality is not very friendly.”
Yuri, who was next to me, snatched my murmur and frowned as if she was displeased.
It happened to be a four-element family during the class assignment test.
Even in the game, this kind of start was not easy.
‘Nothing is going well.’
