Chapter 1: Prologue (2)

Early morning. The time when people wake up and prepare for their day.

Inside an ordinary-looking house, one girl was waking up another.

“Sister, wake up!”

“Mmm, five more minutes…”

“You’ll be late again and get nagged.”

It was the same routine. Lucia was curled up in bed, and I, as usual, was trying to wake her.

‘I’m supposed to be the younger sister…’

Despite our similar looks, she was the older one. Yet, all I saw before me was a human-sized pill bug wrapped in blankets.

Ironically, despite her current state, she still managed to look cute. Her looks really were something.

‘Same pattern today, huh…’

The choice was hers. No more mercy.

I approached the bed as if it were second nature and grabbed the edge of Lucia’s blanket.

“Huh?”

Lucia let out a surprised sound as I pulled on the blanket. She squirmed and pressed her whole body against it, making her unwillingness to get up clear. However, still half-asleep and lacking any regular exercise, she was no match for me.

With a swift yank, the blanket came free.

“Ugh!”

The contents within, momentarily airborne along with the blanket, landed on the bed with a strange sound.

Oops, my bad… that probably hurt.

“Ow… Be a little gentler with your sister.”

“I am being gentle.”

Sleepy eyes, rubbing at them with her hands, revealed bright blue irises, like jewels. Her white hair shimmered in the sunlight, as if glowing from within. She looked far too put together to have just woken up.

Any boy at this age…no, scratch that, any male of any age would be captivated by her appearance.

But I simply reached out, as if accustomed to this charade, and…

“Well, good morning…”

Smack

A crisp sound echoed.

Of course, this didn’t absolve her from the consequences of making me work so hard to wake her.

“Yelp?!”

“That’s for waking up late again.”

“Ugh… Sometimes I feel like my authority as the older sister diminishes when you do this…”

“Maybe try acting like the older sister then?”

Lucia, still sitting on the bed, rubbed her reddened forehead. Her teary-eyed expression would have evoked sympathy from anyone else. But for me, having witnessed this scene countless times over the years, it was just routine.

After all, aside from our hair and eye color, we were practically identical.

“Hurry up and wash up! We’re going to be late!”

“Okay~”

Still half-asleep, Lucia shuffled towards the bathroom like a mollusk. I just sighed, watching her go.

‘This will be the last time…’

I glanced at the mirror. Staring back was my reflection: the same features as Lucia, but with black hair, red eyes, and a slightly sharper, more cat-like gaze. The face of an eighteen-year-old girl named Aria.

My mature features could easily be mistaken for someone older, but every time I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help but sigh internally.

Because ‘Aria’ was a character from the game I used to play, one of the final bosses.

My past life was that of an ordinary twenty-year-old Korean man.

My name… I don’t even remember it anymore, so let’s skip that.

Besides, maybe ‘ordinary’ isn’t quite right?

“
! Finally beat it!”

An ordinary person wouldn’t spend 2000 hours trying to unlock a single hidden ending in a game.

Well, maybe that’s where it all went wrong.

“Those crazy developers. How were people supposed to find this?”

[Academy Hero Party]

A.H.P. for short.

This game, a blend of visual novel and RPG, put you in the shoes of the Hero, tasked with saving the world.

[TL Note: RPG = Role-Playing Game, a game genre where players take on the roles of characters in a story-driven world, making choices and often leveling up through battles, quests, or dialogue.]

Despite its classic premise, the game boasted a vast world, a well-crafted story, and high-quality illustrations. It had held the top spot as the most popular game of the month for two years straight.

Millions of players worldwide. A legendary masterpiece where everyone who played it was hooked.

And I was a player with 2,371 playthroughs and over 20,000 hours logged. For a game released only three years ago, that record spoke for itself.

‘Guess there was still some hope left for me.’

A voice flowed from the computer speakers. My monitor displayed an illustration of a girl with black hair and red eyes, the end credits rolling behind her.

She was Aria, the hidden heroine, the reason I’d poured 2000 hours into this game.

Since the game’s launch, thousands of guides had been written for conquering the other heroines, but Aria remained elusive. Some even speculated she was a developer oversight. But the developers’ silence only fueled players’ curiosity.

However, that curiosity often waned as players encountered the unexpected hurdles in Aria’s route.

Why?

Aria was one of the Demon King’s commanders, a spy sent to monitor the Hero.

That alone wouldn’t have been a problem, but the Demon King’s brainwashing, curses, and her antagonistic position amplified the difficulty, not additively, but exponentially.

For example, if you confronted Aria about her true identity…

‘I don’t know how you found out, but I’ll have to eliminate you here.’

…she would kill the player to silence them. Trying to lift the brainwashing or curses first was impossible, as defeating her at that stage was out of the question for an under-leveled player.

If, somehow, the player managed to become strong enough to challenge her, she would mysteriously vanish from the academy.

The only way to meet her again was as a boss. And thanks to the
Demon King’s curse, if she was about to lose, she’d go berserk, leaving the player with no choice but to kill her.

Yet, despite these obstacles, some players persevered, searching for a way to conquer this route.

And finally, today…

HIDDEN ENDING: The Saint’s Sister

[Ending Collection Rate 100%]

[Congratulations! You are the first player to achieve 100% completion!]

[Look forward to future updates!]

A triumphant fanfare blared from the speakers, and a victory message appeared on the screen. I was the first player to complete Aria’s route.

“I’ll clean this up later.”

Empty energy drink cans piled up from weeks of playing, takeout containers stacked high because I didn’t have time to cook. My room was a disaster, but that didn’t matter.

“First, upload to the gallery…”

Screenshot the ending, post it on the forums. The thought of bragging to the other players sent shivers down my spine.

Crackle

And then, it happened.

“A power outage now of all times?”

The lights went out, plunging the room into darkness. The game had autosave, so I wasn’t worried. The curtains were drawn, so the sudden darkness wasn’t too alarming…

…until I saw the monitor, still glowing despite the power outage.

A chill ran down my spine. I turned to leave, but then I saw something unbelievable on the screen.

[I never thought anyone would actually achieve a perfect clear…]

“…”

They say you can’t speak when you’re shocked. Seeing words appear on the previously blank screen was definitely enough to render me speechless.

[Having seen all endings, you’re the perfect candidate to change the future.]

“Who…who are you?”

I stammered at the monitor. Static filled the screen.

Even without a face, I felt like it was smiling.

[Finding that out yourself might be fun… but for now, let’s just say I’m a god.]

“A god?”

The situation was too surreal to laugh off.

[Well, I can’t explain more than that. Anyway, I’m counting on you.]

“A god? What does that even…”

The screen went black before I could finish my question. No light, no sound. An ominous feeling crept over me. I lunged for the door.

But…

KABOOM!

An unexplained explosion engulfed me and the room. My vision faded to black.

When I opened my eyes again…

“Ugh…mmm…”

“Aria! Are you alright?”

I was in Aria’s body.

A twelve-year-old Aria.

“Is this a dream…?”

“…Aria?!”

The feeling of Lucia hugging me… It was too much for a shut-in, forever-alone gamer like me. Ten seconds after waking up, I passed out again.