The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 0

Crash!

A man fell dramatically.

Beneath his snow-white hair was a face that could only be described as handsome.

“Oh my, Lord Vikarmern!”

A woman walking beside him hurried to help him up after he fell.

Her appearance was flashy, from her attire to her accessories, reminiscent of a woman from the pleasure quarters.

But the man, called Vikarmern, didn’t move an inch.

No, to be exact, he couldn’t move.

With a stiff face, he muttered,

“…Vikarmern Niflheim.”

Dot RPG game, Maze Academy Slayer.

The third and final instalment of the series.

The Flame Butterfly arc.

In the scenario, he failed to take revenge on the protagonist in Act 2, Scene 3.

In the end, he was expelled from the academy and even ousted from his own noble family.

After that, Vikarmern used his good looks and former noble status to become a host in the underworld, leading a parasitic life by leeching off women from the pleasure districts.

And now.

In Vikarmern’s body…

I have transmigrated.

Possessing a character inside a game.

A common enough story.

However, there was another problem facing him.

Vikarmern slowly unfolded the newspaper he was holding again.

[Breaking News! Tragic Incident at Jerion Academy]

A student team attempting the labyrinth had been slaughtered by an Apostle.

The royal family, the church, and even the people were questioning the prestigious Jerion Academy’s education, and the list of casualties was as follows…

Xenia Pierne

Ford Neumann

Saia Hacentine

Lucas Fernando

Lucas Fernando.

He is the protagonist of the Flame Butterfly Arc.

But now, no longer.

He no longer exists in this world.

Act 2, Chapter 8.

In The Childhood Friend and the Demonic Palace Arc, the protagonist died.

Currently, it’s before entering Act 3, Chapter 1, during winter break.

In other words, this game has now entered a “bad ending.”

Vikarmern let out a hollow laugh.

In the world after the bad ending, he was not only expelled from the academy and his family but also kicked out of the scenario as a third-rate villain.

Vikarmern Niflheim was possessed.

Unfortunate.

“…Unfortunate.”

The man emphasized it twice.

Twenty-nine.

That’s how many times I cleared the Flame Butterfly Arc.

The Flame Butterfly Arc has 12 true endings and hidden endings.

And behind them, there are 38 bad endings.

The protagonist, Lucas, possesses the unyielding “Flame of Will.”

A protagonist who, no matter what trials come his way, steadily moves forward.

A mindset befitting a protagonist.

But along the path of such a protagonist, there are 38 bad endings.

Depending on how you navigate through these bad endings,
the game’s completion varies.

Act 2, Chapter 8.

The Childhood Friend and the Demonic Palace Arc.

This is the scenario where most beginners die.

Once you understand the solution, it’s not that hard, but if you rush in blindly without knowing the solution, you’ll die 9 times out of 10.

And Lucas was that charging dinosaur.

“****……”

A curse slipped out.

I grabbed my white hair as if I were tearing it out.

In this world where the protagonist died and the bad ending began, this world can never go in the right direction without Lucas.

Lucas’ unique ability:

The Flame of Will.

As the name Flame Butterfly Arc suggests, the scenario is connected to the Flame of Will from the start to the end.

Without the Flame of Will, the “true story is out of reach.”

A long sigh escaped.

On the day I was possessed,

I shook off the courtesan woman who had been enthralled by me and returned to the inn where I was staying.

And there, I constantly pondered what to do about this situation.

“I don’t know how I got possessed. Naturally, I don’t know how to return either.”

This wasn’t possession by choice.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself possessed.

“Will I return to reality if I clear the game?”

This, too, is highly uncertain.

Even if the game follows the true story and is cleared, there’s no guarantee that I’ll return to reality.

Which means, there’s a high chance I’ll have to live in this world from now on.

“Vikarmern has nothing to his name except for his good looks and his inferiority complex toward his younger sister.”

It seems he’s somehow managing to survive in the underworld using those looks, but looks will eventually fade over time.

You can’t live like that forever.

And above all.

“The direction for clearing the scenario is the salvation of the world.”

In other words, if the scenario can’t progress toward the end, it results in the opposite of salvation.

“Destruction.”

I saw snow falling outside the window.

It’s a bitterly cold winter right now.

But a world even colder than this will arrive in the future.

I know the outcome that will come to this world.

Upon reaching a bad ending,

I’ve seen the message that appears on the screen countless times.

[And so the world perished.]

Just one short sentence.

That one sentence filled my mind with chaos.

Originally, you could just restart the game, and that would be it.

But now, I’m a resident of this world.

If the world perishes, I die too.

Since I don’t know how to return,

I didn’t want to die.

I clenched my fists tightly.

If you don’t have teeth, use your gums.

“…If there’s no protagonist.”

I have to lead the world to the true story.

But how on earth?

A feeling of helplessness washed over me.

Vikarmern Niflheim not only has been expelled from the scenario, but he’s also already been expelled from the academy.

The stage of the “Flame Butterfly” scenario is cantered around Jerion Academy.

If you’re not affiliated with Jerion Academy, you can’t progress in any scenario.

No matter how you look at it, this situation is absurd.

Even as an extra, even as a third-rate villain, at the very least, I should have been admitted into the Academy.

There’s a limit to misfortune.

I briefly covered my face with my hands in silence.

And then, a thought suddenly struck me.

“…Is it impossible?”

At that moment, only one thing came to mind.

‘Hidden character.’

Hanon Airei.

A character who transfers to Zerion Academy in the first semester of the second year during Act 3, Scene 1.

However, there’s one flaw with this character.

Although the transfer process is already completed, Hanon won’t actually transfer unless certain conditions are met.

If Hanon doesn’t transfer, he will succumb to wanderlust and roam the world aimlessly.

In other words, he becomes a character completely outside the scenario.

“If I pretend to be Hanon…”

I might be able to enter Jerion Academy.

The problem is how to pretend to be Hanon.

The answer comes from the game walkthrough.

In the later part of the game, there’s an infiltration mission where the protagonist uses an item:

‘The Veil Bandage.’

It allows the user to perfectly change their appearance to someone else.

However, if used for too long, one random emotion becomes defective.

‘There are three types of emotions that can become defective.’

Sorrow, anger, love.

The protagonist, after overusing the Veil Bandage, loses ‘love.’

But later, with the help of the main heroine he chooses, he regains his love.

There’s a way to fix the emotional defect.

The downside is that it’s only possible near the very end of the scenario.

Furthermore, unlike the protagonist Lucas, I don’t know which emotion I’ll lose.

‘But that’s fine.’

Even if I lose one of the three emotions,

It won’t prevent me from leading the game to a clear ending.

Fortunately, Vikarmern is someone who enjoys saving money.

I can rob him and use that money to acquire the Veil Bandage.

“Stay strong, me… …”

I will definitely turn this world after the bad ending into the true story.