I Realized It Was an Academy Game After 10 Years

Wow, so soft. Is this what a person feels like? Or is it just because she’s a woman? I stare intently at her face, faintly breathing in my arms. Beautiful. I’ve never seen someone so beautiful up close in my life.

“Hmph. Lucky or unlucky, I wonder?”

With her cradled in my arms, I head home, lost in thought about the game called Survival Academy.

It’s been ten years since I could play games, but I still remember quite a lot about Survival Academy. On this deserted island, there’s nothing to do but daydream and reminisce about the good times.

Survival Academy was the game I relived the most.

I realized it was right when the True Ending DLC came out and I logged in. Thinking back, I should have caught on sooner. I ended up stranded on a deserted island with not a soul around, struggling for survival, completely missing the thought of being in an academy.

With just the sea, jungle, and a dungeon-like cave surrounded by monsters, how could I think I was reincarnated right into that game? The status window I was given suited a survival game, too.

The genres are completely different!

Survival Academy doesn’t have any survival system or the tentacle monsters that pop up in dungeons. Despite the insane difficulty, it was a game that enjoyed academy life as an open-world RPG!

“Ah, I should write down everything I remember when I get back.”

Unless I manage to escape this deserted island, it’s pretty useless knowledge, but if I can get out with Karina’s help, it might become invaluable information. Assuming I can escape, that is…

…Can I?

It’s not like I haven’t tried to escape. This island is surrounded by whirlpools, and I can’t get out by ordinary means. Seeing them whirl every day for 365 days, I guessed I must meet certain conditions to escape…

Those conditions are probably in the dungeon at the center of this island. Honestly, there’s nothing else particularly special about this island. Other than beasts and monsters—aside from the two monsters that divide the area with me—most are just random creatures.

Huh, I’ll think about that later. Any conclusions I come up with right now would just be vague guesses anyway.

It’d be far more productive to think about Karina instead.

Karina… to be honest, I’m not sure how much information I really have about her.

First off, she has no surname.

The saint isn’t a child of humans, so I think the logic is that a surname isn’t necessary. If I had to attach one, I could call her Karina Kalon, named after the religion she belongs to, Kalon Church, but you hardly ever hear that. After all, it’s rare for her to be called by name anyway.

Anyway, Karina awakens as a saint just before the story begins and enrolls in Kalon Academy. And as she connects with the protagonist, she must struggle to protect a rapidly decaying world—a sweet yet bittersweet school life… except no, she ends up fighting for her life instead.

Why did it decay again?

Thinking about it, they released that as the True Ending DLC, but I never got to play that. Anyway, I remember the main enemies being monsters and the invasion of intelligent human-like monsters called “The Abomination.”

The Final Boss changes for each route, so it’s hard to say right now.

Even Karina, who’s in my arms, appears as a Final Boss in some specific routes. Of course, that route is the traitor of mankind’s route, so escaping there is not an option.

In short, it’s a multi-ending game.

“Why does it feel so far to get home?”

The journey to my house feels unusually long today. I’m not even carrying a heavy load like usual, but the weight of a living person is indescribable. A living person, especially a woman, might be why. And a beautiful one at that.

I’m a man, so there’s no way I wouldn’t be tempted. But succumbing to a moment of lust and missing out on valuable information and cooperation would be utter foolishness. Plus, with her help, I might be able to conquer the dungeon at the center of this island.

The very dungeon that has threatened my survival for the past ten years.

With that thought in mind, my familiar front yard came into view.

It’s my humble abode, built brick by brick by my own hands.

I kicked the door open and laid her gently on my bed. Her frail appearance pulls at my heartstrings. I throw some fresh logs into the brazier and fan the fire. As the hidden embers ignited upon meeting the wood, they began to crackle softly, gradually growing in size.

“Ugh…”

While blankly staring at the flame consuming the air, I suddenly hear a moan and turn to look at Karina’s face. Thinking back, this isn’t the time to be dazed. I should be preparing the porridge for her and removing her wet clothes to prevent heat loss.

I reached out to her body. My fingers brushed against her garments, feeling their dampness, and then I felt her skin, soft as the fur of a kitten. That addictive sensation made my heart race wildly.

“What the hell am I doing in front of a patient? Get it together, idiot.”

If I don’t take care of her, even a saint could find herself on the verge of death.

I pulled her clothes off again. Thankfully, her outfit was not a complicated dress but a relatively easy-to-remove one-piece. So, it didn’t take long to hang her clothes on the line.

“I don’t need to touch the underwear, right?”

Ah, just talking to myself. Living alone for so long makes me talk to myself more often. Anyway, I covered her with the blanket I salvaged from that shipwreck and sat down in front of the brazier. Now it’s time to make her some patient food.

Porridge would be best, but there’s no grain like rice or wheat on this deserted island. All I have are the wild plants, fish, various meats, and fruits I’ve personally verified. After much thought, I decided to crush some plants and larvae together and boil them.

Those are the most nutritious ingredients I can find on this island.

“Hmph. I was gathering these as snacks, too.”

I filled a pot with water, poured in the plants and larvae, and stared blankly at it, lost in thought.

What do I say to someone just waking up after ten years?

It’s been a whole decade since I last had a conversation. I don’t want to be seen as a weird person, at least. No, considering I live in a place like this, being seen as strange is practically guaranteed, right? My head is spinning. In my frustration, I scratch my head.

…When was the last time I washed?

After living alone for ten years, I could hardly prioritize hygiene. In a place where if you have water, you better drink it, how could I afford the luxury of a wash? If I washed with seawater, I’d end up saltier than I already am.

“I should at least shave.”

My beard had grown out enough to cover my face, at least to the width of a finger, so it needed some tidying. I couldn’t give the impression of a primitive native from the first glance. I took a stick to fan the flames and made my way to the small well in the backyard.

——————–

[Karina! Get inside!]

[What about Renny?!]

[I’ll find a way to survive, but you need to get in now! The ship is going to sink soon!]

The final cries filled the ship instead of air. People floundered in despair. Karina could only watch that horrifying sight. Despite being a saint, she was just a helpless girl against the tyranny of nature.

All she could do was clasp her hands together inside a small barrel and pray.

‘Oh, Almighty Kalon, have mercy on us and show us your compassion…’

The barrel shook. The whirlpool devouring the ship started to mercilessly shake the barrel as if trying to pull her out. Amidst the dizzying hell around her, she desperately chanted her prayers but ultimately lost consciousness.

[Kalon…]

Every time she regained consciousness, she would survive on the little food left in the barrel, but it finally ran out, and having lost the will to hold on, she lost consciousness again.

When she finally opened her eyes…

‘What’s this ceiling…?’

It was an unfamiliar ceiling. She blinked her eyes. After being caught in a whirlpool and the ship sinking—after taking refuge in the barrel to survive—Karina only realized she had been rescued quite some time later.

“Where is this…?”

She tried to get up, but her body wouldn’t respond. After not eating properly for so long, her body was weakened to its limits. If her sacred power hadn’t been desperately clinging to life, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she had been found as a decomposed corpse by now.

In the end, all she could do was observe her surroundings with the little movement she could manage, making use of all her senses. Among them, her excessively sensitive nose caught a delightful scent.

“Food…”

A savory smell. Turning her head, she spotted the pot over the brazier and involuntarily swallowed. Right before her eyes lay a mouth-watering meal. How could she not be captivated?

‘I need to eat…!’

If she doesn’t eat, she will die. Her instincts swallowed her rational mind, and her body began to move. She desperately wriggled her body to survive. The brazier was close. Just a bit more, and a meal awaited to fill her empty stomach.

The saintly little worm crawled towards the brazier. Since she couldn’t stick her face into the brazier, she propped herself up against the bed and shivered, reaching out to the pot.

And then it happened.

“You need to wait a little longer while I let it boil.”

Karina turned toward the voice that came from behind her. Their eyes met, and she involuntarily muttered,

“A, abomination?”

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