Chapter 2: Admission test (1)

The Demon Realm.

Land of the demon race beyond the eastern mountain range, far from the continent’s center.

This land, called the Demon Realm, is not an entirely different world.

Nor does the Demon Realm not exist at all.

The Demon Realm strictly exists as another world.

However, the Demon Realm also exists in the Mortal Realm.

The Demon King opened a dimensional gate, crossed into the Mortal Realm, and conquered the land beyond the eastern mountain range.

Although it was about 20% of the continent’s total territory, the various kingdoms there were destroyed.

People were either murdered, enslaved, or corrupted by the demon race’s curse.

Humanity erected massive city walls along the eastern mountain range.

The mountain range and city walls, stretching long from north to west, became a defensive stronghold like the Great Wall, and humanity is protecting this eastern mountain range while nurturing talents to defeat the Demon King’s army.

One of the strongholds for nurturing such talents is the Magic Academy.

Among various magic academies, this particular Magic Academy, which only admits women, possesses the Philosopher’s Stone that the Demon King so desires.

Why does the Demon King covet the Philosopher’s Stone?

The first reason is that the Philosopher’s Stone is an ancient artifact that grants immense magical power just by possessing it.

And the second reason, a background setting revealed after clearing the game, is that the Philosopher’s Stone is needed to open the gate to transcend the Mortal Realm and enter the Celestial Realm.

For the Demon King, the Mortal Realm is merely a bridgehead for invading the Celestial Realm.

Therefore, he is trying to conserve his full power as much as possible for the invasion of the Mortal Realm, and is desperate to secure the Philosopher’s Stone, which, if obtained, could wipe out 70% of the continent in a single strike.

Thus.

[Witch Liliana. Infiltrate the Magic Academy and gather information about the Philosopher’s Stone.]

This mission, to infiltrate the Magic Academy and become a spy, was given to ‘Liliana,’ a human mage who had become a s*ave to the Demon King’s army.

[Do you understand?]

“…Yes.”

It was such an important mission that the Demon King sent his own avatar through a mirror to give the command.

[Find out if the Philosopher’s Stone is still at the Magic Academy, or if it has been moved elsewhere, and if someone possesses it, who its owner is. You must find out.]

“I will find it, even if it costs me my life.”

[Good. Investigate and investigate again for as long as you can remain at the Magic Academy. If you fail to find it by that deadline….]

*Crack.*

[Upon graduation, you will die.]

A crack appeared in the mirror.

The fiery avatar quickly faded, and I rose from my kneeling position.

“……Do I have to become a graduate student to survive?”

I can stay at the Magic Academy for a total of three years.

If I’m expelled for poor grades, or kicked out of this ‘young ladies’ school for accumulating demerits, or if I graduate without achieving any results, the Demon King will tear me to pieces.

“So many people have failed so far, why would I succeed?”

The Demon King couldn’t hear.

The Demon King vanished the moment the mirror shattered, and I had purposely cast a Silence spell before uttering those words.

“Haa.”

I’m not the only spy.

The Demon King sent several other spies besides me, and there are probably a few more beyond those I identified in the game.

In the game, they were merely extra characters, but in this world, they exist as human beings.

“This is absurd.”

It’s unfair.

I just transmigrated into a game character, a female one at that, and now my life is in danger.

If I were to become a graduate student and claim to need more time to find information, I might be able to prolong my life, but that wouldn’t truly be living.

‘There are two ways to survive.’

One. Do my best as the Demon King’s lackey.

Maximize my knowledge of the original story to either steal the Philosopher’s Stone myself and offer it to the Demon King, or inform him of its location.

–Kiheheh, here it is.

–You’ve worked hard. I’ll let you rest forever.

–Khaack?!

…The Demon King is a cruel being.

The characters who guide the Demon King to the Philosopher’s Stone always change depending on the story, but all of them were discarded by the Demon King after serving their purpose.

Liliana was no exception.

“Ugh. I don’t want to die.”

If there was one Liliana death scene that came to mind as the most gruesome, it was the one where the Demon King bound Liliana to an invisible cross in mid-air before the protagonist’s party, then exploded her into seventeen pieces.

Offering the Philosopher’s Stone wouldn’t guarantee the Demon King would spare me.

So.

‘I need to find a spy to die in my place.’

Since I know all the information about the Philosopher’s Stone, I’ll find another spy and make them inform the Demon King.

The Demon King will obtain the Philosopher’s Stone, and I’ll just be relegated to an ordinary Witch A who worked hard on the mission but didn’t succeed.

Even though the demon race rules the world, I can at least survive.

And the other way.

“…The Hero.”

The one who always defeats the Demon King is the Hero, and that Hero is the protagonist of this game.

As the protagonist, I’ve defeated countless Demon Kings, and the protagonist has the potential to use as much magical power as the Philosopher’s Stone without actually having it.

For three years, I will raise her.

At the very latest, before the graduation ceremony, I will gather her and trustworthy companions and defeat the Demon King myself.

“……I need power.”

It’s not enough for me yet.

Although I do bear the title of ‘Witch,’ it’s not enough to defeat the Demon King.

It is possible for me to use the Philosopher’s Stone, but to do that, I would need to be at least Grand Mage level.

It’s only the Philosopher’s Stone when a sage uses it; if I were to use it now, it would just be pretty trash.

So.

“No matter what, I have to go to the Magic Academy.”

To survive.

To become stronger.

I must enter the stage of this story, the Lily Garden.

“…If I fail the entrance exam, I’ll die immediately, won’t I?”

As a freshman.

****

*Clunk, clunk.*

The carriage jolted violently.

I paid good silver for this, but the carriage shook so much that my back ached with every bounce.

“Haa.”

About a month has passed since I transmigrated, but this body still feels unfamiliar.

*Click.*

I took out a palm-sized, round magic stone.

My face was reflected in the sky-blue magic stone, the same color as my eyes, and it was the face of Liliana, a woman, not me as a gamer.

‘She is pretty.’

She has the appearance of a classic heroine with golden hair and blue eyes, ranking quite high in the ‘beautiful girl zoo’.

A figure with well-defined curves in all the right places.

Furthermore, as a 17-year-old beautiful girl said to be able to make even tanks steer clear, Liliana’s body was truly captivating in many ways.

Honestly, even I found myself smitten.

It wasn’t because I was a narcissist or because it was my own body; it was the inherent charm of the character Liliana herself.

If there was anything that detracted from that inherent charm, it was my expression as I gazed at the magic stone, which looked utterly exhausted and annoyed.

And it was true.

“…….”

The feeling of my stomach, especially my lower abdomen, squirming every time the carriage jolted was utterly unpleasant.

Should I have taken that other carriage instead of lying on a straw mat in this cargo carriage?

But then I’d have to sit upright on a seat, which would mean my backside hitting the floor every time the carriage bumped.

“Uncomfortable.”

Three years until graduation.

If there’s a main quest like killing the Demon King, clearing the game, and returning to my original world, then I just need to endure for three years.

But what if I really have to keep living in this world?

“Do I have to live as a woman forever….”

I have to keep living in Liliana’s body.

‘I need to look into it.’

Magic to return to being a man.

It didn’t exist in the game, but there must be some eccentric person at the Magic Academy.

‘There must be at least one ‘PC’ person.’

If a mage who was born with a female body but has a male mind, and wishes to change their body to male, developed a gender-change spell, I would immediately learn that spell.

And after defeating the Demon King, I would graduate from the Magic Academy and live as a man.

*Drip.*

“…….”

Because living my entire life as a beautiful girl, the kind you’d find in any ‘beautiful girl zoo,’ is simply too unpleasant and annoying with this feeling I get from down below.

*Clunk.*

“We’ve arrived.”

The carriage stopped.

The old coachman turned and extended a hand to me, and I took a silver coin from my pocket and handed it to him with both hands.

“I cannot go any further, so you must walk from here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“…A polite young lady. Unlike the mages who usually enroll here.”

“I haven’t even taken the entrance exam yet. Thank you.”

I bowed deeply to the coachman.

“Ahem.”

For a moment, the coachman’s gaze landed on my chest, and that look made me feel as if insects were crawling on me.

A gaze I had never experienced when I was a man.

It’s awkward to talk about in many ways, but once I step foot into this Lily Academy, I won’t have to encounter such gazes for a while.

“Phew.”

The White City.

Amidst an undeniably grand city atmosphere, there was a magnificent building beyond a long bridge stretching towards the outskirts.

‘It might be bigger than a university.’

It was vast enough to rival any large university, and the bridge leading to the building was also long.

*Clip-clop, clip-clop.*

A few carriages passed by me, but the one presumed to belong to a noble had even a female coachman.

Perhaps she was the family’s only female knight.

“…Then.”

From now on, I will become Liliana, a freshman at the Magic Academy.

Before that, I must become one.

“If I don’t pass the entrance exam, I’ll die immediately….”

On the bridge.

Countless women, commoners and nobles alike, were walking towards the main gate of Lily Academy.

The visible number alone was over a thousand.

“The freshman enrollment capacity is… 108.”

For me.

‘I wish they’d all just clear out.’

Admission is survival.

The entrance exam.

In-game, it was the ‘Combat Tutorial.’

‘Anyone who stands in my way, I’ll kill them all.’

It’s my specialty.