Chapter 97 - - 97: The Second Game

Chapter 97: Chapter - 97: The Second Game

"Why does it concern me, you ask?" Kajol’s expression became considerably more serious "Why does it not concern you?!"

Her voice rose slightly as she continued "For your little affection, you are risking the safety of this whole damn world!"

*What?*

I stared at her for a moment. That was not the answer I had expected.

Instead of explaining why she had been behaving strangely around Elena and me, she had just introduced an entirely different problem.

The safety of the whole world?

What does that have to do with the events of the game?

I had changed the storyline before, and while some of those changes had obviously affected individual characters and events, the original game’s plot was never anything on the scale of a catastrophe capable of destroying the world.

At most, students were supposed to be placed in danger. Elena was supposed to become an evil magic user.

Hina and the other characters were supposed to confront her. That was dangerous, certainly, but it was not something I had ever considered a threat to the entire world.

"What do you mean?" This time, there was no hidden intention behind my question. I genuinely did not understand what she was talking about.

Kajol looked at me as though she believed I was pretending "Are you still trying to act ignorant? Don’t you understand that stopping Elena from becoming an evil magic user will just prepone the chaos?"

*Chaos?*

What kind of chaos is she talking about?

And more importantly, what does Elena becoming an evil magic user have to do with something on that scale?

Before I could ask, Hina spoke "...What does Elena not becoming an evil magic user have to do with all that?"

It was exactly the question I was about to ask.

Kajol frowned. For a moment, she said nothing and just looked at Hina. After that, her gaze shifted toward me.

Something seemed to click in her mind as her expression changed from frustration to realization.

"Has neither of you played the second game?"

*The second game.*

The words struck me harder than I expected as I remained still for a moment.

Of course I had not played it. How could I have? I died before the sequel was released.

I remembered hearing that it is going to be released, but that was all.

In fact, I have always found it strange that an otome game would receive a sequel that apparently changed into an RPG, but I had simply assumed that the developers had decided to expand the world because the original game had become popular.

There were plenty of games in my previous world that introduced characters or settings from earlier titles, and sometimes sequels changed genres completely.

I had therefore assumed that whatever happened in the second game had little to do with the actual story of the first.

Apparently, I was not completely right.

Kajol has played it and judging from her reaction, the second game was not merely some unrelated continuation.

It is connected to Elena.

"What happens in the second game that concerns Elena?" My expression became serious. This is no longer about some hidden item inside a dungeon.

It is not even simply about the original game anymore. Kajol’s answer could potentially explain something I have never understood about the world I am now living in.

She remained silent for several seconds.

Then she sighed "...Forget it."

Her tone had lost some of its earlier frustration "If two of you don’t know about the second game, then I will not blame you for creating this mess."

She looked toward the circular formations in the chamber. "Now just let me handle things."

My expression did not change "Handle what and how?"

Her words did not sound reassuring.

In fact, they suggested that whatever she is planning is something I would probably not like.

Kajol looked directly at me "Don’t worry. Thanks to you, it is hardly possible to follow the original route anymore, so I will not involve your fiancée in this. Just let me get this item and handle the rest myself."

She paused before looking toward Hina.

"As for you, Hina, you have a really important role to play."

I remained silent.

*This is troublesome.*

I do not know whether I can trust her. There was no reason to assume that everything she has said is true simply because she is another reincarnated person.

She could have been telling us only the parts of the story that benefited her.

And this item is obviously important. If she wanted it badly enough, there is always the possibility that the story about the second game is simply another method of convincing us to step aside.

Hina seemed to reach a similar conclusion.

"You said that I have an important role to play, so should not I be the one who gets this item?"

She looked toward Kajol "After all, it belonged to the heroine in the game."

*That actually makes sense.*

If this item was originally meant to belong to Hina, then why is Kajol trying to take it?

Kajol does not seem particularly surprised by Hina’s argument. Instead, she gave Hina a somewhat tired look.

"Hina, just look at what you have been doing until now." Her gaze briefly shifted toward me. "He has been causing all these changes while you were just going with the flow without even realizing that it was his doing."

Hina’s expression tightened.

Kajol continued "Do you really think I can trust you with this?"

I could not completely disagree with her.

Hina has clearly been trying to follow the events she remembered from the game, but she has not realized just how much I had already altered them.

At the same time, Kajol’s argument does not mean I trusted her either. She is essentially asking us to hand over something valuable simply because she claimed to know what would happen afterward.

That is simply not enough.

The atmosphere in the chamber became increasingly tense. None of us seemed willing to give up.

Then I heard a faint sound coming from above so I immediately looked toward the ceiling. The circular pattern carved into the stone has begun to glow.

The lines that had previously been nothing more than strange carvings were gradually filled with magical radiance.

*It is finally time.*

I glanced at the watch, there is no need to check it twice, the timing matches perfectly. The hidden mechanism has activated.

Now there is no point continuing this argument. We will get nowhere by standing here and negotiating while the dungeon’s mechanism is already beginning to operate.

*Let’s just do what I originally decided.*

I looked toward Kajol.

"Princess Kajol, I do not know whether what you said is true or not, but just like you can’t trust Hina with this responsibility, I can’t trust you either."

I tighten my grip around my magic staff "So let’s let our capabilities decide this."

The moment I finish speaking, the circular pattern carved into the floor begins to glow as well. The magical radiance spreads rapidly through every line of the formation, filling the entire carving with a brilliant light and the pattern on the ceiling becomes even brighter.

Then the light from the two formations begins moving toward the center of the chamber.

The two sources of radiance converge and a thick pillar of magical light suddenly forms between them, illuminating the entire chamber.

There is no time left for another argument. All three of us move at almost the same moment.

Hina immediately throws herself toward the pillar.

Kajol moves as well, her Flamespirit Eagle following her.

I also stepped forward with Aeris close beside me. The moment my body enters the light, my vision begins to blur.

I hear Kajol’s voice somewhere behind me "Tch. You will definitely regret it later."

Then everything disappears into white. All three people and the two Spirit Beasts vanish within the pillar of radiance.

...

Near the deepest section of the Dungeon of Anastomosis, not far from the chamber where the practical examination’s final battle would eventually take place, Principal Alfred stood silently in the darkness.

To the students wandering through the dungeon, there was nothing unusual about the area.

No figure could be seen or footsteps could be heard. Even the faintest movement of air around him remained completely undisturbed.

Alfred had concealed his presence through magic, making himself effectively invisible to ordinary senses while he continued supervising the examination.

His magic senses had already been spread throughout the dungeon.

Like an enormous invisible net, his perception extended through the countless tunnels, intersections, chambers, and passages, allowing him to monitor the students from a distance without interfering with their examination.

He was not watching every student individually. That would be unnecessary.

As long as the students remained within reasonable danger, the teachers accompanying the examination could handle most situations themselves, while Alfred only needed to intervene if something genuinely dangerous occurred.

Everything had been proceeding normally.

Several had already begun approaching the deeper sections of the dungeon. Nothing seemed particularly unusual.

Then Alfred suddenly frowned.

A strange fluctuation passed through his magical perception. It is so brief that he almost wondered whether he had actually sensed it.

*What was that fluctuation?*

His expression became slightly more serious. Alfred immediately strengthened his magic senses.

The invisible range of his perception expanded further, and he began scanning the dungeon systematically, starting from the location where he was currently standing before gradually extending his senses through the deeper passages and toward the five starting chambers.

He checked the surrounding tunnels, the nearby chambers as well as connecting passages.

But he found nothing.

He continued expanding his perception until his senses had reached all five starting chambers. Yet there was no sign of the strange fluctuation. There was no abnormal magical formation or dangerous creature.

Alfred remained silent for several seconds before finally relaxing his senses slightly.

*Maybe it was just some student using high-level magic.*

That was certainly possible.

There were several exceptionally talented first-year students participating in the examination, and some of them possessed unusual magical abilities that could produce temporary fluctuations in the surrounding mana.

As Alfred continued scanning the dungeon, however, one unusual situation did catch his attention.

Three particularly strong students were gathered in one chamber and two Spirit Beasts were also present with them. The chamber appeared to be a dead end, and none of the students seemed to be moving toward another passage.

Alfred observed them briefly.

He could recognize that all three students possessed considerably higher abilities than most of their classmates, while the two Spirit Beasts also possessed enough strength to make their presence noteworthy.

Still, there was nothing particularly alarming about the situation. Students getting lost inside the Dungeon of Anastomosis is completely normal.

The dungeon is intentionally designed as a complicated maze, and even students who have studied its general structure beforehand could easily make a wrong turn.

Alfred therefore did not interfere.

Unless those students entered a situation where they were in serious danger, there was no reason for him to interrupt their examination.

His magic senses gradually returned to their previous state as he resumed monitoring the dungeon.