By the time we reached the surface, the sky was the color of burnt copper.
Not the blue I remembered from Earth.
Here, in this world called Liora, the sun always looked like it was either rising or falling. An eternal twilight that made everything feel just slightly… off.
Serin winced as she climbed out of the tunnel, her injured leg dragging slightly. I glanced back down at the mossy opening we'd crawled from.
The Tutorial Dungeon.
Most players barely remembered it.
But for me, it had just become the moment I'd escaped my first death.
> [Tutorial Cleared: You have survived past the scripted death trigger.]
Hidden Quest Activated: [Change Your Fate]
Objective: Survive for 7 Days
I didn't smile.
Because I knew what came next.
The tutorial wasn't the end. It was a filter—to separate the useful from the dead weight.
---
"We should rest," Serin said, already settling on a nearby stone.
The field around us was quiet. Open plains with scattered rocks and rusted signage from an old railway line. I could see the remains of the Mana Engine Track, one of the first tech-magic projects this world had tried. It hadn't gone well.
"...That dungeon. You knew all of it, didn't you?" she asked quietly.
I nodded.
She looked at me, really looked at me, for the first time.
"You're not normal. You know things no one your age should."
I met her gaze. "I'm not lying when I say I've seen all of this before."
She tilted her head. "You're saying you're from the future?"
Not quite.
"Something like that."
She didn't press. Maybe because she was tired. Or maybe because she knew what it was like to carry secrets.
Instead, she reached into her coat and pulled out a faded pamphlet.
I frowned.
> [Liora National Hunter Academy: Enrollment Trial Invitation – Year 479]
Location: Liora Central Fortress
Note: Sponsored applicants report by week's end
A shiver ran through me.
This was the first time the Academy had been mentioned in the game.
---
In the original timeline, the Academy was introduced around Level 20. Mid-tier content.
Most players treated it like a glorified tutorial for spell fusion and artifact use.
But what no one realized—
Was that it was one of the last bastions of resistance before the world's descent into chaos.
The place where all surviving major characters gathered before the system broke.
The place where the real story began.
And I'd just been handed a shortcut.
---
"How did you get this?" I asked.
Serin shrugged. "My master arranged it. Before she… disappeared."
She didn't explain. I didn't ask. Not yet.
But I stared at the invitation like it was a glowing lifeline.
In the game, Academy Arc was the last "peaceful" chapter before the destruction started. If I wanted to stop the world from ending, I needed to get in early—make connections, understand the fault lines, dig deep.
The Academy wasn't school.
It was a battlefield disguised as one.
---
> [Side Quest: Enter the Academy before Term Start]
Time Limit: 5 Days
Reward: Status Upgrade / New Trait Path Access
Figures.
This world really didn't want me relaxing.
"Let's head toward the town," I said, pointing to the smoke trail in the distance. "There's a registry point and inn there. We can rest. And get you treated properly."
Serin nodded.
As we walked, she leaned on me slightly. Not just from pain.
But because—against all odds—I was someone who hadn't abandoned her.
Not yet, anyway.
---
We reached the outskirts of Reinhal, a town built on salvaged tech and post-dungeon scrap. Steam ran through copper tubes. Glowing sigils buzzed weakly on rusted poles.
It wasn't pretty. But it was alive.
As we checked into the inn, I glanced at the map on the wall.
Beyond the next few towns… lay the Central Fortress, and beyond that—the Academy.
A plan began to form in my head.
A real one.
---
Step 1: Survive the next few days without attracting attention.
Step 2: Get Serin into the Academy safely. She was rare. A "cut" character who shouldn't exist—she might hold secrets the game never showed.
Step 3: Investigate the system cracks. Why were my status windows different? Why did the hidden logs mention "admin override pending"?
And most important—
Step 4: Get strong enough to prevent the Game Over ending that had haunted every playthrough I'd ever seen.
---
This world was counting down to destruction.
And only I could see the clock.