The Overpowered Cult Leader at the Academy Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Prologue

At this point, I almost felt sorry.

There had been a total of 120 boss battles, and in the end I still couldn’t defeat the final boss. Leaving my favorite character collapsed on the ground, I buried myself in bed.

Staring at the moldy ceiling, I desperately searched for a thod. Just making it to the final boss with a notoriously trash-tier character had already been an incredible feat.

“It’s such a sha.”

It felt wasteful to end it like that. Countless challenges had uncovered a tiny possibility. My fighting spirit flared up, but I decided to rest for a bit. I had gone through too much today.

With the rising drunkenness and dizziness, I rummaged through my desk. Auto―Brewery Syndro. Suffering from a disease abbreviated as ABS, I took dicine for my aching stomach.

“That’s a damn lot of pills.”

Recalling the convenience store owner I’d t at an interview, I swallowed the foul-tasting dicine with all my strength. When he’d said, ‘Oh, so when you eat food it gets broken down into alcohol? Then your alcohol tolerance must be insane!’ my vision had gone red.

I replied, ‘You must not eat protein at all. You don’t have a single hair on your head,’ and got kicked out on the spot.

As the dicine kicked in, I forced myself to shake off the sudden wave of depression and ennui. My wavering vision gradually began to return.

I pushed aside my gloomy thoughts and decided to focus on the ga. A character especially dear to , one who resembled , was waiting.

“A happy ending really is hard.”

[Difficult Dungeon] was a difficult ga. Among them, a character nad Davide Duhein was ant only for hardcore veterans. Even I, with 6,000 hours of playti, hadn’t cleared the ga with him.

Low potential and poor stats could be overco. The problem was the character’s unique trait: the setting that ancient magic flowed through his body. Because of that, the character moved on his own as if he were drunk.

A status ailnt called Insensible. It drastically lowered accuracy and, with a certain probability, even attacked allies on the sa team.

‘It was absurd.’

The number of tis I got a ga over while playing exceeded 700. Half of those were due to team kills caused by Insensible.

The thod I chose was to raise him as a perfect supporter who didn’t attack at all. Even when I was drunk, I couldn’t walk properly without dicine, and Davide was even worse.

But that, too, was blocked by the final boss battle, which was a one-on-one fight. I needed the minimum stats required to make use of control.

I steeled my resolve. Unlike reality, a ga could be restarted. If it was a ga, it could be overco.

I deleted the data and created a new character. The attributes and traits were the sa. What I could do was limited to choosing new skills within a fixed cost.

“I think I saw a decent skill last ti.”

I turned on my phone. I entered a strategy site and skimd through the skill list. Previously, I had invested in skills that increased buff and debuff efficiency.

I had to choose skills with the final boss battle in mind. At the very least, sothing that could compensate for the drawbacks of the trait.

“Still, it feels off.”

That was when I found a skill called [Remnant of Anaye, the Thunder Deer]. A passive skill that borrowed the power of an ancient god nad Anaye.

It greatly reduced water- and lightning-attribute damage. According to the guide, for so reason, if Davide took this skill, the activation rate of Insensible decreased.

On top of that, it was the best possible choice against the final boss, who had a water attribute. However, there was a reason others didn’t use it.

Upon activating the skill, it consud 30% of current HP. In other words, after three seconds, my HP would already be cut in half. The real problem was that Davide’s HP was only half that of other characters to begin with.

It was a fatal drawback that swallowed up all of its advantages.

“This dog-shit thing eats up all the cost.”

Coming from soone playing a dog-shit character, I didn’t really have the right to complain. Even as I pouted at the unfairness, my hands kept moving.

A character created without much thought. It didn’t seem like it would go well, but I could always start over. I could think of this run as gathering information.

“What the hell is this.”

The mont I finished creating the character, the ga froze. The screen wouldn’t move at all, stuck on the image of Davide with a large tattoo carved into his chest.

“I knew it felt off.”

It probably didn’t an anything, but the inexplicable unease kept bothering . With no choice, I stood up and fiddled with the console this way and that.

When tapping it a few tis got no response, I held down the power button to reboot it. A rattling sound rang out.

In that instant, everything flashed before my eyes. In the blink of an eye, static electricity ignited the dust that had built up and swallowed the console whole.

With the explosion and the flying fragnts of the ga console as the last thing I saw, I lost consciousness.

***

As if possessed, I woke up. To think I’d die from a ga console exploding. The pain of it hadn’t been a lie.

I sat there blankly and touched my face. For so reason, nothing hurt.

“It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Of course it wouldn’t. You’ve never once said sothing hurt since you were a kid.”

“Now I’m hearing things too.”

“Well, well.”

Only then did I lift my head. I saw the face of the person who had been curtly adding comnts to everything I said.

I saw a girl with healthily tanned skin and navy-blue hair that reminded of the sea. Her familiar appearance made tilt my head.

“I’ve seen you sowhere before, haven’t I?”

She didn’t answer my muttering. Instead, she deeply furrowed her brows and suddenly swung her hand.

Bang.

Had a person really hit ? When I blinked once, the ground filled my entire field of vision.

Even so, I was dumbfounded by the complete lack of pain. As I sluggishly got up, I saw a rather terrifying expression.

“I get that you’re shocked, but could you get a grip?”

“So you’re Bereninche?”

“That—! Hoo. Of course I am, you damned older brother.”

I knew exactly who the woman in front of was. The final boss who had given 120 defeats. Bereninche Duhein. And there was only one person she would ever call older brother.

I roughly rubbed my face as a throbbing sensation set in. What in the world was this situation? The ga I played was definitely 2D.

“Have you co to your senses now? Seriously, why would you do sothing so stupid?”

Even while I was trying to grasp the situation and organize my thoughts, Bereninche’s mouth didn’t stop moving. Her constant yapping was getting on my nerves.

“Be quiet for a second.”

“Huh?”

“Shut u— ugh!”

Before I could even finish my sentence, a leg slamd into my side. I was sent flying through the air by a picture-perfect push kick.

A single kick sent flying at least ten ters. I thought my ribs had to be shattered. I lay sprawled out, playing dead, without moving. The sound of angry breathing only disappeared after quite so ti. Only then was I able to have so ti alone.

―Hey, that’s him, right?

―Yeah, that’s Davide Duhein.

―Look at him lying there like a ss.

―Guess he got beaten by Bereninche. Still, he’s got so nerve. Wasn’t he suspended?

―After pulling sothing like that, being only suspended is lucky. So carefree.

The sunlight pouring down on my body felt real, and the murmuring voices felt real too. The small garden with a fountain was a place many students passed through.

Lying on the ground in a corner of it, I stared blankly up at the sky. Everyone was calling Davide. That alone put a bit at ease. The shock of being dropped into an unfamiliar world quickly faded, pushed aside by the fact that my body was intact.

“Heh heh heh. Hahahaha!”

In reality, my body afflicted with ABS always staggered. I fell often and was covered in bruises. But now, there was nothing. The severe depression and mory loss that ca with taking dicine were gone too.

An ordinary life and a complete daily routine I was experiencing for the first ti. Laughter naturally spilled out.

“This is actually pretty good.”

I even liked the warm sunlight pouring down on . I had gone to interview after interview just to live with a body like this. The cold treatnt I’d always received after would probably be gone now.

Despite the ancient magic flowing through Davide’s body, which should have clouded my mind, my ntal state wasn’t bad. Just a slight haze and a tingling sensation running through my body.

When I lowered my head, I saw a familiar tattoo between my shirt. ‘Remnant of Anaye’ caught my eye.

“Damn, my chest.”

As I started to feel the chill of the ground, I got up. I frowned at the sharp, tingling sensation that replaced pain. The area around my ribs felt numb, but since I didn’t feel pain, I couldn’t tell if I was seriously injured.

I lay down on a nearby bench and let my happy imagination run wild.

Running, taking walks, eating whatever I wanted. I could do it all. Without any cost at all. I could live the comfortable daily life I had always dread of.

‘It won’t be easy, though.’

Trash from a violent great family. A monster who was always drunk on alcohol and ancient magic, committing all kinds of atrocities without hesitation.

Knowing Davide’s story inside and out, I realized that my current situation wasn’t all that good.

Stabbing a classmate and getting suspended for a year. To cover it up, the family excommunicated Davide. A fallen delinquent reduced to penniless ruin—that was my reality.

“Status window.”

[Davide Duhein]

Gender: Male

Grade: 2nd year

Title: Apostle of Anaye

Trait: Ancient Magic

Skills

[Trace of Anaye] [Lv. 2] [Religion]

A trace of the ancient god, Anaye the Thunder Deer.

Born in a lake and raised drinking lightning, Anaye controls water and exhales lightning.

―Blessing of Paillet Lake: Increases water-attribute resistance. Recovery increased by 52%.

―Thunder Horn: Increases lightning-attribute resistance. Consus 30% of current HP to leave a ‘Thunder Horn Mark’.

‘Remnant of Anaye, the Thunder Deer’ had changed into a different skill. I didn’t think it was like this in the ga.

On top of that, its level had increased. A religion skill that was difficult to level being at level 2 from the start was fortunate, even if I didn’t know why.

“I don’t think I can beat Bereninche.”

Even if I could keep myself alive for now, I was nowhere near enough to defeat Bereninche.

“You dare say that to ?”

A chill ran down my spine. When I slowly lifted my head, I saw Bereninche looking at like I was utterly pathetic. If she’d already left, why did she co back?

“This.”

Without saying much, she handed sothing. Letting out a sigh of relief, I reached out. What I received was a letter wrapped in luxurious packaging, and I stripped it open.

―We express our deep regret regarding the incident involving injury to a fellow student.

After reading the first line, my gaze imdiately dropped to the very bottom of the letter, to the Duhein family crest. The beginning of Davide’s story.

The contents of the letter were obvious. We don’t know why you stabbed a fellow student. But it is a problem. So we will excommunicate you alone and end it there.

I accepted the reality calmly. There was a hidden backstory, but I didn’t care. There was nothing good about being part of a family like Duhein.

“Oh, good work.”

I almost crumpled the letter and threw it away, but stopped. I figured Bereninche might get angry over sothing like that, so I roughly tucked it into my waistband.

After saying good work, I lay back down on the bench, but I could still feel her presence.

“Why?”

“It’s strange. Your reaction is too normal.”

I shrugged. I knew what she wanted to ask. I just didn’t have an answer worth giving.

With the eldest son stepping down, the head of the family would beco Bereninche. Since I had no deep attachnt to the Duhein family, it felt like a story from a distant land.

Right now, what mattered more was whether or not you could beat up.

“Wait a mont.”

Then sothing clicked. The final boss was Bereninche. A story where she fell to corruption due to the existence lurking behind the scenes.

But did I really have to fight Bereninche? If corruption was the problem, I could just prevent it. Wouldn’t it be easier to sow discord and make the two fight each other?

Either way, if I wanted a comfortable life and a peaceful old age, the mastermind had to disappear.

“Co to the eastern village in four days.”

“What?”

“I need to retrieve the family seal. You’ve been excommunicated, after all. I’ll give it to you then.”

Since it ca to mind, I might as well take care of it. Four days after being excommunicated, the tutorial began. An invasion of corrupted monsters. The tutorial was about surviving monsters that were hard to handle.

With these stats, I normally wouldn’t even think about going. But if Bereninche was there, it was different.

I could do it. During the early tutorial, I could take down a monster that was absolutely impossible to defeat at that stage. And of course, the reward would be a big thank you.