บท 1: Prologue
There is a 99.9% chance that the world of this game will be destroyed.
There is only one happy ending.
However, not a single user has seen that happy ending.
It's dead end game for every user who played this game
And... I was dropped into this game as an extra.
* * *
The morning at Celtrin House was unusually bright that day.
From the gatekeeper at the main gate to the maid in the kitchen, every employee of the Celtrin family had a bright, barely hidden joy on their faces.
They say happiness has its own story, but this time, everyone's joy came from the same source.
Max Celtrin.
That was because it was the day the human scum known as "Count Celtrin's Trash" was returning to the academy.
"Ahhh... This day has finally come."
A maid's voice floated through the air.
"Yeah. I've been so suffocated for so long that I can't even breathe properly…"
Another maid sobbed.
"Oh, come to your senses and don't act rashly until the very end!" the head maid scolded.
But even on her face, there was a joyous look that couldn't be completely hidden.
This series of conversations and reactions was enough to tell how a man named Max Celtrin was treated in his family.
* * *
I looked in the mirror.
There was a man's face there that I had only seen in the game.
Relatively neat facial features. One thin, sharp, and venomous-looking eye made the entire expression feel tense.
An impression that made people reluctant to approach.
"...Hah."
As I sighed in disbelief, the man in the mirror sighed as well. It was natural because the man in the mirror was me.
But it's also true that it was a face I had only seen in the game.
Because I never had a face like this in the first place.
Yes, that's right.
I think I've been transmigrated.
No, I was confused. At times like these, I have no choice but to admit it calmly. That I was transmigrated into body of the character in game world.
"Damn it."
The curse slipped out.
I stopped looking at the unfamiliar, tense face and threw myself onto the leather sofa, which looked very soft at first glance. It seemed necessary to take a sober look at the situation I was in.
First things first.
I knew this world. It was natural because I had played this game hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
**There is no happy ending for that hero.**
That was the point of this game.
* * *
"...I failed again today."
I muttered as I looked at the corpse of the familiar protagonist. As if it were a habit, analysis of this failure was already taking place in my head.
"The power was sufficient."
Yes, there was enough power. And in a normal role-playing game, I could handle 70% of it with just enough power. But this game wasn't normal.
"The strategy was fine too."
A bold strategy to lure the protagonist with bait and then annihilate the enemy by attacking them all at once with ambush units hidden on both sides.
It was risky, but if properly executed, it was almost certain to finish off the enemy. The lure was successful.
But…
"The left side was loose."
As if the commander didn't want to give their all to the enemy. That's why the pressure was relieved, and eventually, the enemy's blade ended up falling on the protagonist.
That's exactly why it failed.
"The commander on the left was Regina."
The protagonist's companion and one of the best knights.
That was why I trusted her and entrusted her with this important mission. But that very trust backfired, hitting me hard in the back of the head. It means I failed in managing interpersonal relationships.
On the surface, it may have seemed like the protagonist had a good relationship with her, but inside, it meant their relationship was already rotten and twisted.
No, maybe she was secretly involved with the enemy leader, betraying the protagonist.
"This is ridiculous."
This was precisely the problem with this game.
Human relationships exist, but there is no system to kindly indicate affection like in other games. So, I can only guess at the relationship based on superficial conversations or reactions.
That's why countless players who tried this game got stabbed in the back.
"Where on earth…"
I frowned, going back through the games I had played so far, trying to figure out why the protagonist and Regina were at odds.
But I soon gave up. Not only was it hard to find, but I knew that even if I did find it, it would take a long time.
It was already well past dawn. I needed to get some sleep for tomorrow. I turned off the game and checked the internet for the last time.
**Game bulletin board that cannot be cleared.**
It was a bulletin board on a gaming community site that I visited at least once a day. The game we're talking about here is, of course, *There is no happy ending for that hero.*
It has long been known as the worst role-playing game on the market, with the difficulty level so high that it's impossible to clear.
The successive failures of popular game broadcasters also contributed to its fame.
[**I just started, and the main character is super strong, but why is this game so hard?**]
\- At first, I was surprised because he was so talented
\- No, not talented. He matured early and reached his full potential during his teenage years and stopped growing.
\- You can get out quickly if you only go to Chapter 2.
----
[**Should I raise my main character as a water dealer or a magic dealer?**]
\- It's a piece of crap anyway, so raise it however you want.
\- I said the main character is trash.
\- Seriously, no matter how you raise him, there's no answer. I raised him as a healer, so he just heals from behind.
---
[**Hey, is the protagonist's childhood friend a psychopath? She just stabbed me to death.**]
\- She is two-faced bastard.
\- She's really nice, but the only way to make her mad is to confess and then cheat on her.
\- This game needs to be well managed. No matter what I do to complete this, It won't enough. This is the dead end game.
---
[**Ah, sh*t, I chose to wait for a colleague at the branch, but not a single colleague showed up. I keep fighting alone and I'm dying. I'm going to swear.**]
The bulletin board was filled with trial and error posts, as befitting a game with the highest difficulty.
"It's a good time, it's a good time."
As I read the posts on the bulletin board, I chuckled like a seasoned veteran looking at a newbie. I had already experienced this level of trial and error long ago.
So, to put it bluntly, that's not even a problem. The real problem is that there is no clear answer.
People who don't know will think, "There's a guide for every game, so what's the big deal?"
But hardcore players like me, who spend every spare moment playing this game to the limit, know better.
There is no such thing as a model answer in this game.
This is the game where if it seems like it's going to get tangled up, it's bound to fail, and if it seems like it's going to work out well, it's still bound to fail.
The latter case was particularly troubling because I couldn't figure out where or what I did wrong.
The bottom line is that this game is just going to fail no matter what you do.
So far, not a single person has been able to clear this game. Since no one has cleared it, there's no way something like a strategy could exist.
Even the developers, the only ones who know the answer, have disappeared as if they were dead.
But…
"It's not like there isn't anything at all."
There is no perfect strategy, but there is something that the very few players who have passed the 10th chapter, known as the Wailing Wall, have in common.
The growth of the main character and human relationships.
Only by mastering those two things could one break through the 10-chapter wall of despair.
Yes, that's right.
Those two things are the core of this game. I could say this with confidence.
As one of the few players in the world who has broken through Chapter 10 countless times, I am fully qualified to say so.
"Let me just give you one tip."
I was thinking about posting a short tip for the poor beginners when a new post popped up on the bulletin board.
[**The human who complete this game is a god.**]
\- yep
\- right
\- Okay, okay
\- I can never complete this game.
\- It's easier if you give up.
Comments were running in real-time. I added one of my own.
**\- I'll beat it. I'll finish this dead end game.**
Honestly, I had no confidence.
But I was confident that I was qualified to clear this crazy game. I invested a lot of time, studied like crazy, and replayed it from the beginning countless times, just like no one else.
"Well… If I fail hundreds more times, I'll see the way."
That's when I lost consciousness and blacked out.