0.
Prologue
“I want to get transported into a novel.”
Some people actually say that.
Kim Ilyong, a novel editor with ten years of experience, has only one answer for them.
“Please don’t.”
If there’s a novel you desperately want to enter,
make sure it’s a bright, cheerful story overflowing with happiness.
Pick one where you become an absurdly overpowered monster with a cheat ability.
Pick one where people praise you even if you piss yourself in the middle of the street.
But if the novel you’re reading—or writing—is a hopeless apocalypse story with no dreams and no future,
do not get transported into it.
Ilyong knew that from experience.
“There’s seriously no winning.”
The world Ilyong experienced was a place where there truly was no winning.
Demons lurking everywhere tried to bring hell down upon the earth.
Other demons worked to destabilize a vast empire and tear it apart from within.
An evil god prepared to resurrect after countless human sacrifices.
A cult finally succeeded in summoning an alien deity.
The World Tree became corrupted, wiping out half the continent.
A sealed Demon King resurrected and invaded the human realm.
Someone even tried to crash the moon into the planet and end the world.
It was an apocalyptic gauntlet with a 99.9999 percent human mortality rate.
And for some inexplicable reason, you would end up possessing a nameless extra with absolutely no abilities.
No powerful family. No talent. No cheat.
“A status window? Sure, you get one.”
You might think the status window itself is the cheat.
At least until it starts attacking you.
“A protagonist? Sure, there’s one of those too.”
The protagonist was the author’s chosen safeguard against the end of the world.
A legendary hero reincarnated after a hundred years.
The Hero was powerful.
Powerful enough to stand beside the gods.
“But he was the only one who survived.”
The world became such a disaster that he ended up surviving alone.
That was the kind of rotten hellscape an apocalypse novel was.
If you ever get the chance to enter a novel, stay far away from the apocalyptic ones.
Throw your hero complex and adolescent delusions straight into the garbage where they belong.
“But if you do end up inside an apocalypse novel…”
If you realize the entire world is actively trying to kill you…
“Good luck.”
Apparently, you could survive.
You just had to struggle like a madman every second of every day.
1.
“Author, everything else is great, but the story’s getting a little dull. Let’s destroy the world.”
Kim Ilyong had spent ten years working as a novel editor.
Those were the first words he said after receiving the final manuscript of his career.
And just like that, the apocalypse began.
[Th-The apocalypse? Are you telling me to kill everyone?]
“That’s correct, Author.”
[The Hero’s party failed to defeat the Demon King, reincarnated a hundred years later, and reunited at an academy. And now you want an apocalypse?]
“Yes. Exactly.”
[Have you lost your mind?!]
The novel under Ilyong’s supervision was called [Save This Academy].
It had a vibrant, breathing world.
A colorful cast of distinctive characters.
A straightforward yet satisfying heroic narrative.
Everything about it was good.
But something was missing.
The problem was probably the lack of genuine danger.
Fortunately, creating a sense of crisis was Ilyong’s specialty.
Of course, his solutions tended to be agonizing for the author.
[Why do they have to die?! They don’t deserve that!!]
“Author, the problem is that the story has become too peaceful.”
[And that’s enough reason to slaughter the entire cast?!]
Their war of words lasted an entire month.
In the end, Ilyong won.
Even against an author overflowing with love for her own work, Ilyong possessed an unbeatable weapon.
The devastating phrase, ‘That’s the current trend.’
It was complete nonsense.
Fortunately, Ilyong had a gift for making nonsense sound perfectly reasonable.
‘It’s my last project anyway…’
And so, an apocalyptic storyline was added.
A story in which most of humanity perished.
The protagonist ultimately succeeded in defeating the Demon King,
but countless friends, companions, and even his lover died along the way.
The story ended with an unknown figure handing a country boy the Holy Sword, which had been disguised as a cheap iron blade.
That was how a simple academy novel became a story where the cast was massacred at every available opportunity.
‘And now this is over too.’
Since this was the final task of his final project, Ilyong reviewed the manuscript even more carefully than usual.
While he was working, one of his colleagues approached him.
“Hey, forty-year-old geezer. You planning to spend the night here?”
“Oh, it’s you, Seongtae. I’m finishing this as fast as I can so they can hurry up and fire me.”
A troubled expression crossed Seongtae’s face.
“Ilyong, are you seriously going to let them push you out like this?”
“You already know the executives have never liked me.”
“The recent results weren’t your fault. What happened was—”
“That’s enough, Seongtae. I’ve already buried that accident in my heart.”
Seongtae stared at Ilyong with a pained expression before noticing something.
Ilyong’s desk had been completely cleared in preparation for his departure.
The only thing left was a family photograph.
As it happened, today marked exactly one year since ‘the accident.’
“Today’s the anniversary, isn’t it? Your wife and your daughter. I’ll talk to the department head, so let’s go. I’ll come to the cemetery with you.”
“Oh, come on. What’s gotten into you, Team Leader Lee? Keep this up and they’ll cut your salary. You know what a bastard Department Head Kim is.”
Ilyong brushed him off with his usual easygoing humor, but Seongtae couldn’t hide the heaviness in his expression.
He knew that despite the way Ilyong talked, the man’s heart had been burned black inside.
Kindhearted as he was, Seongtae changed the subject.
“They say authors get transported into their last novels. You think it might happen to you too?”
“Don’t say something so horrifying. I’m an editor. That doesn’t apply to me.”
“Well, if it does happen, accept it as karma. Just think, ‘So my time has finally come.’ You apocalypse-obsessed old man. Seriously, though. What would you do if you actually got transported? Everyone imagines it at least once.”
“I’d run like hell.”
Many of the novels Ilyong had worked on had, in fact, been transformed into apocalyptic stories.
But those choices had always been unavoidable.
He had done it to keep the stories alive.
“I’m heading out first. Don’t stay too late. Call me if it gets lonely later. I’ll buy you a drink.”
“You know I can’t hold my liquor, punk… Yeah. I’ll call you.”
After seeing Seongtae off, Ilyong returned to the manuscript.
Before he knew it, the clock had passed one in the morning.
“Finished. Whew…”
At last, he had completed the entire edit, including the ending.
By his standards, it was perfect.
Despite the late hour, he sent the completion email to the author and prepared to leave the office for the last time.
The family photograph remained on his otherwise empty desk.
When he picked up the frame, his wife’s and daughter’s voices seemed as vivid as ever.
So did their warmth.
He felt pathetic for failing to visit their graves, even on the first anniversary of their deaths.
Maybe he would be able to go next year.
“So this is the end of my office life.”
He finally stepped outside the company building.
As he exhaled into the cold night air, a reply to his email arrived.
— Ding
Sender: 「Elysia」
It was the pen name of the author whose final manuscript he had just completed.
But the contents of the email were deeply unsettling.
[I’ve been waiting for this moment, you apocalypse-obsessed bastard.]
[Do you have any idea how many of my children died because of you?]
[If you love the apocalypse that much, go live through it yourself!!]
‘Live through it…?’
HOOONK—!
A horn screamed through the night.
Ilyong instinctively turned his head.
A truck was barreling straight toward him at a terrifying speed.
For some reason, the driver’s face was twisted with murderous rage.
It was also a face he recognized.
‘Author?’
That was Kim Ilyong’s final memory.
***
The instant he regained consciousness, a harsh voice thundered down at him.
“Freshman 「Ex」! Get on your feet this instant!” (TL Note: His name is 엑스, which is Egseu. It's literally X. But having a single letter name just seems… Wrong. So he will be called Ex.)
A foreign middle-aged man glared down at him, his face twisted with anger.
The man was dressed like someone from a Western fantasy story.
Judging by his expression, he was only seconds away from throwing a punch, so Ilyong hurriedly stood.
When he looked around, he saw rows of foreign students dressed in unfamiliar uniforms.
For some reason, they were all glaring at him as though he had personally offended them.
‘What is this? What the hell is going on?’
Before he could even begin to understand the situation, the man barked at him again.
“Freshman! Pay attention to the entrance ceremony!”
The shouting man gave Ilyong one final glare before turning away.
Only then did the rest of his surroundings register.
The interior of a building resembling a massive auditorium.
Foreigners with every imaginable hair and eye color filling the space around him.
The solemn atmosphere of what appeared to be an entrance ceremony.
A voice rang through the hall, neatly explaining the situation.
[We will now begin Elyon Academy’s fiftieth entrance ceremony. Everyone, please rise from your seats.]
‘A dream…?’
Had he finally fallen asleep after going too long without rest?
‘…There’s no way!’
Reality crashed into him in an overwhelming flood.
He quietly pinched his arm where no one could see.
It hurt.
This definitely wasn’t a dream.
[We will now hear the pledge from the Freshman Representative. Freshman Representative ‘Leon Brave,’ please come to the stage…]
‘Elyon Academy? The fiftieth entrance ceremony? Leon Brave? Those are all from the novel I was just editing!’
He suddenly remembered what Seongtae had joked about earlier, and an impossible possibility he desperately wanted to deny took shape in his mind.
It was an explanation that shattered the boundaries of reality.
And then he remembered the words that confirmed it.
[If you love the apocalypse that much, go live through it yourself!!]
“B-Bullshit!”
Ilyong shouted as he clutched his trembling body.
The foreign students around him frowned at his bizarre outburst.
The man who had shouted at him earlier marched over from a distance and seized Ilyong’s arm.
“Freshman 「Ex」! What do you think you’re doing?!”
That was when Ilyong looked down at his arm.
It wasn’t the hairy arm of a forty-year-old man.
It was the smooth, slender arm of a boy, without so much as a single strand of body hair.
It wasn’t his arm.
The primal sense of wrongness only made his reality feel more certain.
Goosebumps spread across his body, and a scream surged all the way up his throat.
“What the hell is this?!”
A boy’s scream—not his own voice—filled the auditorium.
“N-No way!”
“Freshman! Where do you think you’re going?! Freshman!”
Ilyong tore his arm free and sprinted toward the building’s doors.
He threw them open, raced down the corridor, and ran toward the sunlight outside.
Then he came face-to-face with the world.
The sun and moon were both visible in the sky.
An entirely different world stretched around him.
There was no mistaking it.
This was the world of the novel [Save This Academy].
His head went light.
Then something suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.
『Original Story Disruption! You ruined the sacred entrance ceremony with a scream.』
『Title [Screamweed(F)] acquired.
100 Editing Points acquired.』
Anyone who had read even a few webnovels would recognize it.
A status window.
Only then did he truly understand the situation he had been thrown into.
『Core Objective: Survive until the novel’s conclusion』
Kim Ilyong had been transported into a world destined for destruction.
Faced with an impossible reality his mind couldn’t withstand, his vision went dark and he lost control of his body.
“Ghhrrk—”
And so, with his first collapse, his struggle to survive the apocalypse began.
***
On the sacred day of the academy’s freshman entrance ceremony, a student had suddenly screamed and caused a massive disturbance.
Elyon Academy was shaken by an unprecedented incident that should never have been possible.
The disturbance itself was brought under control quickly, but someone still had to take responsibility for such a catastrophic embarrassment.
And when responsibility had to be assigned, it usually fell upon whichever unlucky person happened to be in charge.
‘Damn it. Why should I take responsibility for a problem caused by some brat I’ve never even met?’
The man assigned to become the student’s supervising professor stormed down the corridor.
His expression and every furious movement radiated indignation.
‘Still, this may not be entirely bad.’
Even as he vented his anger, the professor assessed the situation coldly.
‘If I use this properly, I can get rid of one of them today.’
He had been in too much of a hurry to examine the student’s personal information carefully, but nothing important had stood out during his brief review.
The student responsible for the incident was a simple commoner with no background and no remarkable abilities.
He was so utterly unimpressive that it was difficult to understand how someone like him had gained admission to Elyon Academy in the first place.
In a way, that made things easier.
‘A few threats and a convenient excuse should be enough to make him leave on his own. Whatever happens with the others, I’ll make certain you’re expelled.’
The professor soon arrived at the room where the troublesome student was being kept.
His intention could not have been clearer.
He planned to drive the boy out of the academy.
***
When he opened his eyes again, the first thing to greet Ilyong—now Ex—was the damned status window.
『Warning! You have enrolled in the empire’s most prestigious academy despite possessing no family ties, no financial resources, and no abilities. This setting lacks plausibility.
A Plausibility Penalty will be imposed accordingly.』
『Plausibility Penalty acquired: Base Stats reduced to the minimum level, Infamy greatly increased』
『Base Stats
Stamina: 0.1
Intelligence: 0.1
Agility: 0.1
Magic Power: 0.1
Luck: 0.1
Charm: 0.1』
His body felt heavy.
More than heavy, it hurt.
It reminded him of the time he had woken up after a car accident.
It was an absurd change considering how his body had felt before he lost consciousness.
It wasn’t as though another truck could have run him over during the few minutes he was unconscious.
“Wh-What happened to me…?”
“Ah, you’re awake.”
As he mumbled like a half-dead zombie, someone approached him.
It was a girl with radiant silver hair and a benevolent smile.
She looked strangely familiar, but he couldn’t remember why.
The girl blinked her pure white eyes and asked,
“Are you feeling all right?”
“Where am I…?”
“This is Elyon Academy’s infirmary. You fainted during the entrance ceremony, so they brought you here. Fortunately, you don’t appear to be injured.”
“Elyon… Academy…”
He had hoped everything before had been a hallucination.
It wasn’t.
The moment he faced reality again, tears streamed helplessly down his face.
‘How does it make any sense that I got thrown into another world without even receiving ten years’ worth of severance pay? If I had to possess someone, couldn’t I at least get a cheat ability? What cheat? My own status window is attacking me.’
No further explanation was necessary.
He had possessed an extra with no established background whatsoever.
Even his name was Ex.
The Ex probably stood for extra.
‘I can’t even process what’s happening. How is anyone supposed to stay sane in a situation like this?’
Whether he managed to remain sane or not, however, the world had no intention of leaving him alone.
Clatter—
The infirmary door slid open, revealing an androgynous figure with sharp, severe features.
His hair was long enough to require tying back, and his features were beautiful enough that, at first glance, he could easily have been mistaken for a woman.
A closer look revealed a prominent Adam’s apple and the unmistakable build of a man.
In a high, cutting voice, he addressed Ex.
“So you’re Ex, the Screamweed? What a revolting sight. Even minced orc meat would be easier on the eyes.”
“Who are you…?”
“Roxwell. I’m the man who’ll be responsible for your class. Take this.”
Roxwell threw a stack of papers at Ex, who was still lying in bed.
“Ghk!”
The impact knocked the breath from his lungs and sent pain through his chest.
It wasn’t that the stack of papers was particularly heavy.
His body was simply pathetic enough to find it crushing.
“That’s the freshman guide you should have read before coming here. I can hardly believe I was forced to waste my time because of an ignorant fool like you.”
Roxwell clicked his tongue and leaned against the door.
The silver-haired girl beside the bed rose to her feet.
It seemed she intended to give them privacy.
She addressed Roxwell, who was blocking the doorway.
“Professor Roxwell, may I pass?”
“…My apologies, Saintess Candidate Frey. Thank you for personally helping a student from my class.”
“There’s no need to thank me. It was only natural for a member of the clergy.”
‘Frey? That reincarnated Saintess, Frey Marten?’
Ex belatedly tried to study her face more carefully, but Frey had already left the room.
His wandering gaze met Roxwell’s instead.
“What are you staring at? Read the guide. Assuming you know how.”
“…Yes.”
With trembling hands, Ex began reading the material.
The writing looked strange and unfamiliar, yet he understood every word.
‘These letters are completely foreign… Wait, I was talking to them just now too, wasn’t I?’
Now that he thought about it, he had been naturally speaking a language that wasn’t Korean and that he had never seen before.
It felt as familiar as his native tongue.
‘Is this some kind of adjustment for plausibility? Fine. At least I got this much. Not being able to communicate would cause endless problems…’
The instant that thought crossed his mind, Roxwell spoke suspiciously.
“…You seem surprisingly comfortable reading the imperial language.”
Then the status window appeared.
『Warning! Natural mastery of the empire’s common language is generally limited to nobles and upper-class commoners. It would be extremely difficult for a destitute commoner with no background to learn it so easily.
A Plausibility Penalty will be imposed accordingly.』
『Plausibility Penalty acquired: Severe false accusation generated』
‘What? A false accusation?’
How could reading a few words result in a false accusation?
Roxwell answered that question for him.
“Where did you learn the common language?”
Wariness gleamed in Roxwell’s eyes.
No, it was more than simple wariness.
There was open hostility in his gaze.
Just looking into those eyes sent a chill through Ex’s entire body.
So this was how it worked.
Ex finally understood.
‘This status window is a goddamn bastard…!’
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Click—
Roxwell pushed his sword from its sheath with his thumb.
Ex could already imagine the future.
One brief flash, and his head would be rolling across the floor.
His survival instincts forced his sluggish mind into motion.
There was only one piece of knowledge he needed to find.
‘A setting that makes it reasonable for a commoner to know the imperial language!’
He immediately forced himself to calm down and searched through his memories.
When necessary, he had always been capable of suppressing most emotions.
Right now, he needed to remember something from the setting materials he had reviewed for plausibility.
But there was a problem.
‘I can’t remember…! Why can’t I remember?!’
Even in his previous life, Ex had always possessed an excellent memory.
He was certain he had retained most of the novel’s setting in detail.
Yet his memories were strangely clouded, riddled with holes and gaps.
It didn’t take long to discover the reason.
‘Is this what an Intelligence score of 0.1 does…?!’
At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to answer.
Ex had no idea what kind of person Roxwell was,
but the man was clearly deciding whether or not to draw his sword.
Ex didn’t know whether an academy professor was permitted to behave like this.
Either way, a vague answer would only make things worse.
The best outcome was the one where his head remained attached to his neck.
At the academy, powerful nobles could kill a worthless commoner and ensure that the incident disappeared without a trace.
‘Think. Think…!’
A panorama of memories began flashing through his mind like the final moments before death.
Even that supposed life review was full of holes.
It was enough to drive him insane.
Drip—
His head throbbed, and blood ran from his nose.
His Intelligence was so low that merely using his brain appeared to be overworking it.
When Roxwell saw the blood, his eyes hardened dangerously.
“I ordered you to answer. I don’t recall telling you to harm yourself.”
‘He thinks I did this to myself…?!’
“Your silence has gone on long enough. This is your final warning.”
Roxwell finally drew his sword.
It was the worst possible development.
“Where did you learn the common language? I have no intention of accepting a student with an unverified identity into my class. Depending on your answer, I will use my authority to expel you from this academy.”
Just as Ex tried to invent an excuse, something appeared before his eyes.
『Brutal mental training! Intelligence permanently increased by 0.1!』
At that moment, one small portion of his clouded memory returned.
Just as raw force was about to crush him,
Ex made the greatest gamble of his life.
“The basic education program provided under the empire’s welfare initiative for the lowest class! I completed the program when I was a child!”
Roxwell’s hostility froze before it could intensify any further.
Ex’s answer wasn’t entirely implausible.
With the same cold expression, Roxwell began his interrogation.
“Explain.”
From this point onward, Ex would have to invent the rest of the story.
There couldn’t be even the slightest flaw in its plausibility.
His lie would determine, quite literally, whether he lived or died.
“When I was young, I was raised at Yol Orphanage in the Kingdom of Vesta.”
It was a real location from the setting.
One of the supporting characters in the original novel had grown up there.
At this point in the timeline, however, the orphanage had already gone bankrupt and disappeared.
“Evidence?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t provide any. The orphanage shut down a year ago. If you insist on evidence, then the fact that I know the name of an obscure orphanage in a remote kingdom—one that no longer even exists—should count for something. You’re free to investigate it.”
The empire’s administrative records should contain some trace of it.
Even if they didn’t have precise information about every child, the name of a region involved in official administrative processing would probably remain.
Roxwell remained doubtful.
“You’ve merely assembled a convenient story. That proves nothing.”
“I learned the imperial language at the orphanage. I was fond of books.”
“Name some books you remember.”
“Merlin’s Introduction to Arcane Studies, Justia’s Twilight and Farewell… They’re both bestsellers in the Imperial Royal Library.”
“…It seems you have read a few books, at least.”
Even so, suspicion remained in Roxwell’s eyes.
“That still doesn’t explain how an ignorant commoner like you entered the empire’s finest academy. I reviewed your admission record and personal information. No matter how I examined them, I could find no reason you should have been allowed through these gates. The only way that could be possible is…”
“My parents, whom I never knew, left me a single inheritance. A Special Admission Recommendation. That should explain everything.”
“…Yes. A Special Admission Recommendation.”
A Special Admission Recommendation.
It was issued to someone who had rendered a great service to the empire or the academy—or to someone judged to possess equivalent value.
Under special admission, the academy accepted the student unconditionally.
Their social status, origin, and level of ability were all irrelevant.
It was the same premise used for the protagonist of the original novel.
The original protagonist, however, came from a fallen noble family.
‘I’m making this up as I go, but…!’
Naturally, every word of Ex’s story was fabricated.
It was a dangerously fragile explanation that would collapse from the foundation if Roxwell found even the smallest inconsistency.
But it was the best Ex could do.
His survival depended entirely on this precarious lie.
And the result was—
“…Tch. You certainly know how to talk. Someone who had never opened a book wouldn’t be capable of defending himself this well.”
Click—
Roxwell’s sword slid back into its sheath.
His expression remained cold, but the hostility had clearly vanished.
He turned toward the infirmary door and spoke as though the matter no longer interested him.
“Consult the freshman guide for the location of your dormitory and the list of supplies required for your studies.”
Before leaving, Roxwell added one final remark.
“My suspicions have not disappeared. I sincerely hope you make a mistake that allows me to turn those suspicions into certainty.”
Roxwell opened the infirmary door.
Frey stood perfectly still on the other side.
Her posture made it look as though she had been pressing her ear against the door.
Frey gave them an awkward smile and laughed sheepishly.
“Ahaha. I suppose you caught me.”
“Eavesdropping… What a distasteful hobby, Saintess Candidate.”
“I’m sorry!”
Frey fled down the corridor, and Roxwell disappeared after her.
Only after Ex was left alone in the infirmary did the tension finally drain from his body.
Somehow, he had survived.
He had managed to prolong this worthless life for at least a little longer.
The moment he realized it, something appeared before his eyes.
『First Survival! You escaped a false accusation through deception.』
『Title [Con Artist(E)] acquired.
500 Editing Points acquired.』
‘This is seriously too much.’
Overwhelmed by pain and mental exhaustion, Ex lost consciousness again.
Just before he blacked out, one final line from the status window burned itself into his mind.
『Core Objective: Survive until the novel’s conclusion』
This academy was destined to fall.
–TL Notes–
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Not a bad start,Remind me a bit of Zero and Caron