Academy Swordmaster
A game boasting unparalleled immersion, where every character possessed the popularity of a main protagonist. It was, quite literally, the game that dominated the 2030s.
Launched alongside the rapidly advancing Full-Dive Capsule—a revolutionary gaming device—the game sparked controversy. Concerns arose about whether dying in the game meant dying in real life, and debates raged over the implications of the pain-sensing feature being permanently enabled. Despite the controversy...
Full-Dive Capsule Surpasses PlayStation to Claim Top Sales Spot!
With its dating sim-style choice mechanics, RPG strengths, and a level of freedom surpassing even VR devices, the Full-Dive Capsule—this dream machine—perfectly recreated virtual spaces, making players feel as if they had truly entered another world. It was only a matter of time before the masses succumbed to its allure.
Swish!
You have died.
"Ugh, saving this one is such a pain in the ass."
Of course, I was among those people.
As the black screen flashed the crimson words "YOU DEAD," a curse slipped out involuntarily.
The reason for my outburst was, naturally, Yun Se-a, a character from [ Academy Swordmaster ].
In the early to mid-game, she's portrayed as a kind, beautiful, and all-around perfect student council president, with the added charm of being sickly—a classic "gap moe" trope.
Initially, she appears to be a powerful figure who helps the protagonist, providing him with useful items and acting as a reliable ally. But it turns out this was all an act to gain his affection.
Given that she received a full-body illustration—a privilege typically reserved for heroines in the game—players naturally assumed she'd be a main heroine. The moment she shattered their expectations...
Thwack!
"What a pity. I can't join you, after all."
Under orders from the Final Boss, Yun Se-a plunges a dagger into the protagonist's heart, stealing his unique skill.
From that moment on, Yun Se-a transforms from Student Council President Yun Se-a into Mid-Boss Yun Se-a, becoming the villain intent on killing the protagonist.
No matter how the party is assembled to capture her... using the main item, the [ Demonic Eye of Suggestion ], plunges everyone except the protagonist (the playable character) into a hypnotic state, turning them against the player in a nightmarish massacre.
This insane difficulty forces players to either cover their party members in mind-attack resistant gear or attempt the boss fight solo with the protagonist, who is immune to hypnosis.
To top it off, she unleashed instant-death attacks three times every two seconds, making her a truly high-difficulty boss.
Even after struggling to defeat Yun Se-a in hopes of a worthwhile reward, all you'd get was a Demonic Eye you couldn't even use because you were already exhausted, and her worn-out pistol. The reward was utter garbage compared to the difficulty.
Naturally, Yun Se-a's reputation plummeted from "attractive student council president" to "filthily difficult character with rewards as meager as rat droppings"—or so everyone thought.
But then, additional backstory was revealed: she had been brainwashed by the Final Boss since childhood, and even as she lay dying at the protagonist's hands, she resisted to the bitter end. Players, moved by her tragic story, began to experiment tirelessly, determined to craft a happy ending for this doomed character.
First, the plan was to swiftly subdue Yun Se-a before her awakening, rendering her completely immobile and unable to act, then defeat the Final Boss to break her brainwashing.
This plan failed outright. As if her life were mortgaged to the Final Boss, she died the moment he fell.
Second, the strategy involved carefully choosing dialogue options and maximizing Yun Se-a's affinity for the protagonist, preventing her from stabbing him.
This approach also failed. Ironically, the higher her affinity, the lower the protagonist's starting HP became in the Mid-Boss battle.
Swordmaster Gallery
"Don't Max Out Yun Se-a's Affinity, You Bastards!" (1,678 views)
"Screenshot of 10,000 HP Remaining"
"Fucking Hell! Starts with 99% HP Depleted!"
According to posts on the Swordmaster Gallery, reaching maximum affinity with Yun Se-a causes your playable character to start battles with 99% of their health depleted.
The gallery's reaction at the time was overwhelmingly hostile, with comments like "Affinity boosting is cheating, you fucking bitch!" dominating the discussion.
So, does that mean there's absolutely no way around it? To that, I can confidently shout a resounding NO! Because there is a final method.
If you enter a battle against Yun Se-a with only one playable character and having maxed out her affinity to 99%, her attack patterns become even more vicious.
Survive the entire battle without landing a single hit on Yun Se-a until time runs out. Then, with a cry of "Are you mocking me?!" she will enter her final, berserk phase.
At that moment, the Demonic Eye of Suggestion—the source of Yun Se-a's rampage and the Final Boss's brainwashing tool—transformed from a mere battlefield element into a destructible object. Destroying the Demonic Eye would break the brainwashing she had endured, allowing you to rescue Yun Se-a in her fully maxed-out favor state.
With her brainwashing completely undone, you could even add her to your party.
The problem, however, was that after removing the Demonic Eye, Yun Se-a would become a glass cannon incarnate, her physical condition only slightly better than an average person's.
To silence Yun Se-a, who possessed vital information about him, the Final Boss would dispatch assassins after her relentlessly. Even worse, Yun Se-a herself, apparently haunted by fragmented memories of her brainwashed state, would attempt self-harm at any moment, forcing you to provide constant, real-time mental support.
In other words, one moment of carelessness could mean Yun Se-a would either be stabbed to death by assassins or die by self-harm.
Even if I somehow managed to protect her through endless save-loading and retries...
[ "Please... take care of my sister, Eun-ha..." ] thud
During the final battle against the Final Boss, she would intercept an unblockable attack aimed at the protagonist, her body splitting in half, transforming her into a mere mortal.
What made this even more infuriating was that if you chose a different heroine as the main one, the unblockable attack never came.
Only in the Final Boss battle after selecting Yun Se-a as the main heroine would the Final Boss immediately unleash an absolutely unavoidable attack on the protagonist the moment the fight began.
No matter how many times I tried to retry that part, desperately trying to block the unblockable attack, the protagonist had already taken the debuffs from the Final Boss's minions in place of Yun Se-a. There was truly no way to prevent her death, no matter what I did.
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Swordmaster Gallery
[ Why the fuck did Yun Se-a even get a full-body illustration?! ] (8,000 views)
[Screenshot of the game screen: Yun Se-a's character split in half, dying.]
This is fucking bullshit! After all that effort to keep her alive, I still have to watch her get halved and die because of these debuffs?!
99+ comments
LOL
I thought upgrading my stats would solve it, but the debuffs include a 99% movement speed reduction and 99% reductions to defense and attack power too, ffs. No matter how much I struggled to move, my character just wouldn't budge.
Exactly! Why make Yun Se-a the main heroine? You could just go for her younger sister, Yu Eun-ha.
Come on, there's some romance to it! What's wrong with Yu Eun-ha?
Yu Eun-ha is a fucking psycho who locks herself as the main heroine with just one dialogue choice. Personally, she was the most annoying one to complete in the character compendium.
But Yu Eun-ha and Yun Se-a are supposed to be sisters. Why do they have different surnames?
I don't know either.
Idiot! Yun Se-a torments Yu Eun-ha because she's an adopted daughter, out of jealousy.
Hey hey hey!
Spoilers banned!
"Ugh, I really want to complete the Monster Compendium."
Even if it means reaching a death ending, you need to collect all the endings to complete the "100% Ending Collection Rate" achievement.
While browsing the gallery, a particular comment caught my eye:
Couldn't you save her by using the bug-fix mod to manipulate your stats, block all attacks, and then enter the Final Boss fight?
"Nah, I'd never stoop to using a bugged version, even for that..."
Click
Even as I said that, my hand was already downloading a tool to exploit the bug.
Clang!
"Alright, I blocked it!"
Using the bug fix mode, I managed to block the attack aimed at the protagonist, but...
Though the notification "Attack blocked" appeared, the game didn't progress further.
"Ugh, that's it? Just blocks and nothing more?"
Frustrated, I was about to leave the Full-Dive Capsule to post on the forum that even using the bug mode to save Yun Se-a only resulted in a frozen screen when...
Forced synchronization initiated.
3... 2...
Fzzzt!
"Ugh?!"
A powerful electric current surged through my body.
Synchronization complete. Enjoy your journey.
My vision blurred instantly.
all chapters already translated and ready to read at NovelsHub.org