Chapter 3

What stood before me was the grand front gate of the Academy.

All the various incidents and accidents that would occur in the Academy flashed through my mind.

Had the gates of hell just opened?

For now, I consoled myself with the fact that the world was still intact.

Yeah, even if meteors start falling again someday, I’ve bought at least 20 days of time, right? Hahaha!!

“Please be careful at the Academy. The Lord will always watch over you, young master.”

The nanny, who had packed my belongings to the brim and accompanied me, gripped my hand tightly and recited her prayers over and over.

I just let her words go in one ear and out the other.

After five straight minutes of prayers, the nanny spotted someone standing at the Academy gate.

“Could that be another transfer student like the young master?”

Even without her saying it, I had already recognized him.

Our eyes met squarely, and it was too late to ignore him.

Without thinking, I flinched and looked down.

“Probably.”

There was no need to explain who he was—I already knew.

The Hero, Lucian.

There was no way I wouldn’t recognize a face I’d seen to the point of exhaustion in the game.

‘Wait a sec.’

There’s no rule that says I’m the only possessor in this world.

Lucian could be one too. Or maybe he reincarnated.

It’s definitely worth checking.

And conveniently, a method no Korean could possibly fail to recognize came to mind.

I stepped forward and spoke to Lucian.

“I’m Theo Lisitoel. I transferred in this term.”

“Oh… Nice to meet you. I’m Lucian.”

Seeing Lucian in real life was different from seeing him on the monitor.

Blond hair, green eyes—he looked every bit the classic hero you’d find in novels, yet he still had a fresh, youthful vibe.

Like a new bud touched by sunlight—pure and vibrant.

But his voice lacked even a hint of confidence, and he trailed off at the end of his sentences.

Typical. A legendary “frustrating protagonist” of gaming history.

I extended my hand to Lucian and smiled brightly.

“Ya, you too?”

The rule is, you respond with “Ya, me too!”

But no reply came.

Lucian just stared blankly at my hand, as if deep in thought.

Nope. Dammit.

I just spouted some weird nonsense.

My face burned with embarrassment.

As I subtly tried to pull my hand back, Lucian suddenly grabbed it tightly.

“Let’s get along!”

The moment our handshake happened—crack! A sound that definitely shouldn’t come from a hand rang out.

Agony tore through my spine as the bones in my palm shattered.

“Young master!!!”

Huh? Why is my vision blurry? Why am I seeing the sky?

I must’ve collapsed from the pain.

The nanny, who rushed over, pulled me into her arms and burst into tears.

“Uh, uhuhuh…”

I couldn’t even scream. Like a broken machine, all I could do was shed endless tears of pain while being held in the nanny’s arms.

‘This is insane…!!’

Why is the protagonist so strong?! This is basically a bug…!

***

Magic truly is amazing.

It only took three hours for a hand with completely shattered bones to heal.

As I stared at my fully healed hand in awe, Professor Artemia in the infirmary gave me advice.

“You’ve used up a lot of stamina during recovery, so make sure to eat properly for a while.”

Her voice was terribly indifferent.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Try to sleep by nine if you can.”

Does she think I’m some kid in a bedtime story?

Sleeping late and waking late is best. Especially for a hardcore gamer like me.

When I stayed silent and looked away, Professor Artemia’s gaze sharpened.

But no way a possessor like me would cave in to a glare like tha—

“Yes, ma’am.”

I obediently shut my mouth and grabbed my discarded Academy uniform jacket, ready to leave the infirmary.

Ding.

A cheerful chime rang out.

A system window, shaped like pure white parchment, appeared before my eyes—commonly called a “system interface.”

[System activation successful.]

[‘LapidemyBunnyPrincess’ ID activation successful.]

[Class activation successful.]

[Stats activation successful.]

[Quest activation successful.]

[Inventory activation successful.]

[Character synchronization successful.]

[Game difficulty adjusted based on the character stats linked to your bound ID.]

[Lapis Academy Difficulty: Extreme]

[Welcome! ‘LapidemyBunnyPrincess’!]

Even after going through possession and regression, I never once believed in God.

But just this once, I thought maybe I could believe in a higher power.

And then God abandoned me. Spectacularly.

Screw this.

***

‘Who am I? Where even am I?’

To that question, I would answer

A fossil-tier player who possessed a character in the game , Theo Lisitoel.

With Extreme Difficulty on top…

‘This damned system!!’

Hey! I spent my money, not yours!

Why is the difficulty going up because of the characters I raised?!

Can’t I just get a power boost as a reward?!

I left the infirmary in a daze, but my shattered mental state showed no signs of recovery.

This just isn’t right.

Even screwing someone over should have its limits!

It’s the protagonist’s job to grit his teeth and declare “No matter what, I’ll overcome!”

Why are you shoving that onto a possessor like me?!

I don’t want to get caught up in a trash game where the protagonist can crush hand bones with a handshake.

Then there’s only one solution left—run! I’m dropping out right now—

[If the player leaves the ‘original storyline,’ the game will reset automatically.]

The moment I tried to put my plan into action, a system message popped up.

In ominous red letters.

By “reset,” the system probably meant destruction.

“Dammit!!”

Where did my dream of the golden-spoon possessor life go?!

Is this payback for enjoying a trash game like Lapidemy?!

“Okay, calm down.”

They say even if you fall into a tiger’s den, you’ll survive if you keep your head on straight.

The problem is, this isn’t a tiger—it’s an Academy full of unpredictable accidents.

But I was a fossil player.

A survivalist fossil.

Let’s start this desperate clown show. Let’s do anything we can!

“Found you!”

Just then, a hand appeared in my field of view.

“You’re Theo Lisitoel, the new transfer student, right? Professor Lisitoel’s son—”

I pulled my head back instinctively, lost balance, and rolled onto the ground.

It was awkward and a bit embarrassing, but better that than getting my skull bashed in.

“Hey, are you okay? Why’d you suddenly fall like that?”

No, I’m not okay.

Clutching my chest to calm my racing heart, I looked at the person who had spoken.

Recognizing them wasn’t hard.

Light brown hair, green eyes.

One of the characters I had raised with a lot of affection.

She had died near the end of the Part 1 story…

Her name was definitely—

“You’re Senior Laurel, right?”

I had loved her magical-girl (physical) concept and raised her diligently.

She had the drawback of being a 1-star unit with abysmally low base stats, and to make her useful, you had to pump all your points into strength—even though her gear was all for mages.

It was a bizarre and extreme leveling path.

So extreme that players used to joke that you could raise three other characters with the resources needed for Laurel—and new players would often quit after picking her just for her looks.

Still, if you trained her well, she could tank and deal solid damage, making her a signature “veteran-only” character.

Of course, I had dumped tons of resources into her and raised her to the max.

That’s what fossil players like me did for fun.

And now that decision had come back to bite me.

Lucian, with his balanced stats, had already crushed my hand.

I didn’t even want to imagine what a strength-maxed Laurel could do.

“Huh? Junior, you know my name?”

Laurel’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s in surprise.

Out of 200+ playable characters, I didn’t forget a single name.

Especially not the ones I’d loved most.

“I heard from my father.”

“Wait—Professor Lisitoel remembers my name?”

Laurel’s face contorted in horror.

I realized too late—having a professor remember your name must be terrifying.

Okay, let’s change the subject.

“You came looking for me. Is there a reason?”

“I was assigned as your guide. Seriously, this Academy really works us student aides to death.

Anyway, I’m in charge of you. I wanted to be assigned to the hero candidate group, but the professor crushed that idea. Said I shouldn’t even dream of it. What a joke, right?”

Chattering while smiling brightly, Laurel was exactly how I remembered her.

Yeah, I still have plenty of complaints about the difficulty, but maybe… maybe this possession wasn’t so bad after all—

“Ah, a bug!”

Just as I thought something that naive, a threatening fist swept past my cheek.

Bang!

A sound like a whip cutting through air.

I felt something wet trickle down my cheek.

So… I just got scratched by air pressure?

“You’ve got to be kidding me….”

Laurel turned to me.

“Huh? Junior, you okay?”

The saddest part was that I couldn’t detect even 0.1g of malice in her cheerful expression.

“I’m not okay…”

Please… could I get possessed somewhere else?

Please, dear System.

[Request denied.]

Why confirm the kill…?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep