Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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257th Chapter. Devil Road Academia (2)

Destruction God Endless.

The final boss of Devil Road Academia, one of the strongest beings in the world, rivaling Lyman.

As befits the ultimate villain of the main story, even an overpowered protagonist doesn’t find it easy to deal with this monster.

He belongs to the faction of ancient evil gods and is said to exist in another dimension, not in the current world.

Three hundred years ago, Makia had once summoned Endless into the world.

He sought not only the power of the Demon King but also the power of the Destruction God.

Utilizing the deceased evil god’s corpse previously recovered by the Empire as a vessel, he temporarily descended and granted minor special bonuses based on that vessel.

Although he didn’t possess the power to dominate the world, Makia was grateful that he could be reincarnated even after dying.

‘That was the reason for the curse to arise.’

But Dantia, the Great Sage, wouldn’t just sit idly by.

She joined forces with her friend, the Thousand-Year Fox, to prevent the Destruction God’s complete descent, while Makia opposed them for the full summoning of the Destruction God.

At the same time, other evil gods gathering across the continent began to assist Makia, worsening the situation entirely.

The Thousand-Year Fox and Dantia began to falter. Eventually, Dantia squeezed out her last bit of power and revealed her true form.

What was once considered a human was now transformed into the visage of a demon.

‘But her heart was still human.’

Together again with the Thousand-Year Fox, she opened a massive gate in the sky, imprisoning all the evil gods within.

Simultaneously, Endless was sealed back beyond dimensions, and Makia also lost his life.

However, Makia had acquired a special bonus, and as long as his soul existed, he would reincarnate once more.

The Thousand-Year Fox, realizing this, summoned the Black Coffin to seal Makia inside. He enclosed Makia with the wicked weapons spread by the evil gods.

Makia would sleep inside until someone found the coffin many years later.

A monster that had once drained the lives of the legendary Thousand-Year Fox and Dantia.

That existence is now… before my eyes.

“Where am I?”

– Ah, I neglected to explain.

Though in a reduced form, it resembled the appearance from the memory scene.

It looked like a stick figure from a flashy animation, but that made it all the more mystical and bizarre.

– This can be called a sort of Illusory World. I guess you could say it’s the point where your mind and mine overlap?

“Illusory World?”

Am I talking about that mental plane often seen in the ‘Do you desire power?’ cliché?

The place where you contract with another version of yourself or the monster inside, powering up.

– But don’t let your guard down. If you get hurt here, it will affect you mentally in reality. If you die…

You die in the real world. Not a good situation at all.

I wanted to try using my mana or spirit power, but it wouldn’t manifest.

The spirits were unresponsive too.

– It’s useless to try using any power. You have no strength left.

“….”

– But that doesn’t mean I can relax. My main body will be getting beaten up by that guy. It’s been about 300 years since I’ve experienced this.

“So, why did you call me here?”

– Didn’t I mention before? You were summoned to this world as a tool.

A question mark automatically popped up in my head.

From my standpoint, there was no way I could let that slide without asking.

“Do you know who summoned me here?”

This guy is the final boss of the game.

The chief of the evil gods sealed beyond dimensions by the Great Sage, possessing various powers.

The ‘Mana Eye’ I hold is originally his power.

And there isn’t much known besides the final boss pattern.

– I have nothing to lose in telling you this. I’ve recently taken an interest in you.

“….”

– Three hundred years ago, I was trapped in another dimension by the collaboration of the Great Sage and the Thousand-Year Fox. But that Great Sage was one of my kind. When I inflicted a fatal wound on her, I infiltrated a small thought fragment into her body.

Thanks to that, even though I was trapped in another dimension, I could see her current condition.

Dantia, incapacitated by a fatal wound, wouldn’t be able to live much longer.

She kept peering into the future with the assistance of the Thousand-Year Fox.

[Before long, darkness will periodically descend upon humanity.]

That content was terrifying. It foretold that a Demon King identical to Makia would appear in the future.

Moreover, someone would destroy the continent.

Upon realizing who that destroyer was, Dantia fell into despair.

‘It was her own son.’

She had to hurry and prevent this.

Dantia and the Thousand-Year Fox decided to create a being opposite the Demon King to mitigate the threat.

Where there is yin (陰), there is yang (陽); where there is darkness, there is light.

Dantia absorbed half of the darkness spread across the continent. Absorbing half was her limit.

She was also a demon, a member of the evil gods.

However, as she had a clearer sense of self than the other evil gods, she could transform the darkness into its opposite nature.

That was nothing other than light.

However, converting darkness into light broke the world’s taboo. Because she broke that rule, a curse was cast upon her descendants.

‘The curse of immortality. That’s what made Lyman hate his mother.’

As a consequence, the exhausted Dantia borrowed the power of the Thousand-Year Fox and spread it across the continent.

Due to the huge flash of light, the earth was disturbed, creating a massive volcano.

That became the birth of what would later be called Purgatory.

From then on, not only Demon Kings cloaked in darkness would be born, but beings with light would also emerge periodically.

However, as it was incomplete light, there would be restrictions on the gender that could accept it.

The girls who accepted it became known in today’s terms as ‘Saints.’

– I see a group called the Holy Cross Sect exists these days. They were a group that praised the deity who bestowed light. Hahahahahaha! It’s honestly laughable!

Endless suddenly burst into laughter while explaining.

Honestly, it was a situation one could laugh at if they were in my shoes.

In fact, there’s no deity in this universe.

It’s merely that a Saint is born from the light sown by someone.

If you really think about it, the one who sowed that light becomes the deity.

– Was the light bestowed by the evil gods to counter the darkness spread by evil gods? That’s truly absurd. If that was presented as the storyline of a story, it would surely be a massive hit.

Endless uttering something a bit unsettling.

In the main story, he didn’t have many lines, so I couldn’t tell, but was he always this cheerful?

Considering the grandiose presentation of the main story, it felt like a character breakdown.

– There wasn’t any divine light to bestow. In the end, the light itself is merely what the evil gods granted. Every time I see humans praising it, all I can do is laugh.

“Still, the evil god who spread that light seemed quite human.”

– Hmm… that much is true.

“So, how does this relate to why I was brought here?”

I absolutely shouldn’t stray from the main point.

What I asked was simply the reason I got dragged into this game. Not some backstory.

There’s no need to bring up details of a story I already partially know from playing the game.

– Hehe… it relates, so I’m telling you.

“What?”

– There’s likely a secret hidden that even you don’t know.

A secret I don’t even know.

That was tied to the earlier tale.

As far as I knew, Dantia died shortly after receiving a fatal wound from the battle between Makia and the Destruction God.

That was the content of the main story, and indeed, her son Lyman thought so too.

But the undisclosed story was rather shocking.

She had been dreaming for a long time. Based on those dreams, she created various blueprints.

Trains powered by mana, cooking devices, communication tools, airships, surveillance devices, and projection equipment.

And media.

How about that? Elements I seemed to know well.

– Right? Those are things you’d know well.

“Then those dreams….”

For a long time, even before giving birth to Lyman, Dantia had sought to realize what came from those dreams.

But following the technology of her era was challenging, and she predicted it would take hundreds of years to achieve.

Thus, she created the Archive.

‘No wonder I felt a familiarity with the sensation of touching something.’

I recalled the Aligieri student ID.

I could access the Archive through the mirror on the back, and that sensation was undeniably like SNS.

“So you copied and created it? Something present in our world?”

– That’s not all.

Dantia also progressed research on different dimensions.

She believed her dreams weren’t merely coincidence and pursued this without neglect.

After ages of effort, she discovered something called dimensional rifts.

Literally, a phenomenon where space tears apart, connecting to somewhere else.

Based on that, they developed what is known as the Warp Gate.

– In fact, I’ve kind of become a victim of that dimensional rift. Thinking about why I was sealed away in another dimension is what it’s all about.

Now the main point unfolds.

After sealing the Destruction God and spreading light across the continent, she vanished into thin air.

Into that dimensional gate she created with all her might.

What happened afterward… Endless was able to discern through thoughts.

A world where everything operated on electricity. A world without magic or monsters. A world where only ordinary humans managed society and achieved technological advancement.

– That’s your world, isn’t it?

Earth.

The moment I realized that, chills ran down my spine.

It was no trivial matter that the Great Sage Dantia came to Earth… it meant that a game character had jumped into the real world of their own volition.

“Fuck….”

– Seems like you’re quite surprised.

“….”

– In that world, Dantia lost her physical body, leaving only her spirit behind. It would surely be seen as unnecessary since the physical form was already dead.

And she began searching.

For a suitable body and a means to change the future of the continent’s destruction.

Having already tasted the Earth through her dreams, she adapted quickly.

Eventually, Dantia took over the body of a woman who had suddenly died from overwork.

– That woman had hastened her own death due to excessive work.

“What kind of work?”

I thought how great the state of ‘Hell Joseon’ was back then.

– A game.

That single word made me narrow my brow instantly.

It was a very easy-to-understand statement.

At the same time, my mind was spinning enough to understand without needing further explanation.

– I believe they call the profession that creates such things a programmer? Anyway, Dantia thought, ‘This is it!’ She thought it would be great to encapsulate her experiences and the future from the prophecy into a game.

If she sold that worldwide and struck it rich, surely a knowledgeable person would emerge in this world.

That would be none other than the seasoned users.

Of course, creating such a major game would not be easy, but Dantia did it.

Having created the Archive on her own, she was incredibly intelligent.

Moreover, she still retained the power of an evil god that surpassed humans, so working overtime was no issue.

Among the employees, she was the only one with limitless energy and stamina. Additionally, she took on the entire responsibility for the game scenario.

‘So she was pulling off cheat moves while trampling over regular employees. Wait, this could be perfect for a material!’

After going through such disruptive living, the game she created was Devil Aca.

The birth of Devil Road Academia.

She created a game featuring her son Lyman as the protagonist.

– Devil Road… What a fitting name. The Aligieri Academy is a place created by the evil god Dantia.

As expected, Devil Aca became an immense hit.

Prolific seasoned users emerged from various regions, and its popularity soared.

Among the many seasoned users, one person was chosen.

Someone not only skilled but also possessing a high understanding of the game.

That person would surely turn around the desperate future of the main story.

For Dantia, the most painful thing was not the destruction of the continent but the death of her son.

– No matter what future I foresaw, all I could see were futures of the continent’s destruction or the death of my child. So, she must have taken drastic measures.

She needed someone to help her son.

Devil Aca World… An irregular who knows everything about her world.

A true weapon for the final battle.

– You have been chosen as that target. Radon Crawler.

“….”

– No, should I call you Choi Soo-hyun?

In that moment, a cold sensation brushed past me, and I felt all power drain from my body.

It was an utterly unexpected development.

Who would have thought I’d hear my old name from the mouth of the game’s final boss?

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.