The morning after the conquest of the Primal Labyrinth, the atmosphere at the academy had shifted fundamentally.
The suffocating tension that had gripped the school before the operation was gone, but it hadn't been replaced by celebration. Instead, a strained, heavy silence hung over the grounds.
Elysia and I walked side-by-side along the cobblestone path leading from the student dormitory to the main school building.
The morning sun spilled into the courtyard, which was already crowded with students. Their appearance, however, was a far cry from the norm. Nearly every student we passed was wrapped in bandages.
Some had their arms in slings.
Others held white dressings to their foreheads.
Many were limping or leaning on their peers’ shoulders just to stay upright.
Faint traces of residual mana clung to their bodies—the telltale sign of someone who had recently received recovery magic.
"There are more than I expected," I murmured.
Elysia caught my whisper and looked over. She likely guessed from my gaze that I was talking about the sheer number of wounded.
Her expression darkened, and she spoke with a heavy voice.
"I’m told the Medical Wing is currently at capacity. The Recovery Mages are working around the clock, but frankly... they can’t keep up."
"I see," I replied shortly, turning my eyes back to the path ahead.
Further down the cobblestones, I could see more bandaged figures scattered about.
It had been a Labyrinth Conquest on a scale of five thousand people. If that many people were injured simultaneously, it was only natural for the medical staff to be overwhelmed.
"We’re burning through recovery potions as well. We’ve exhausted the academy’s stockpiles and bought out the local alchemists, but it’s still not enough. Apparently, emergency orders have been placed with all the surrounding cities."
Elysia trailed off. She looked at the bandaged students passing us, a flicker of pain crossing her face.
"Potions can handle minor wounds, but for broken bones or deep lacerations, we have to rely on recovery magic." She let out a weary sigh. "Consequently, the Recovery Mages have to focus entirely on the severe cases. Those with minor injuries just have to make do with basic first aid and wait their turn."
"That makes sense," I said, nodding.
Recovery magic was incredibly potent, but it was far from common. There were very few mages capable of casting it to begin with, and it drained mana at an alarming rate. It required a high degree of innate aptitude; it wasn't a skill just anyone could pick up. Even for someone like me, healing anything more than a minor scrape would be a struggle. It was a high-difficulty art, not a convenient tool for mass production.
Even so... I thought to myself.
The scene before my eyes was a world apart from the one I remembered from the game.
In the original story, the academy was also shrouded in a heavy, suffocating gloom after the conquest. But the reason was different. In that version of events, the courtyard wasn't filled with the injured.
It was a sea of corpses.
In the original timeline, the front lines collapsed once the B-Rank and C-Rank squads were broken. Because they were the ones responsible for the spawn clearing of monsters throughout the labyrinth, their failure caused the dungeon to overflow with beasts.
The students were caught in a pincer attack between the monsters in front of them and the swarms surging from behind. The Conquest Squad was effectively annihilated, and the D-Rank students who had been handling logistics near the entrance were wiped out to a man.
In the ensuing chaos, students who couldn't escape in time were slaughtered one by one.
The final tally: of the five thousand students who entered the labyrinth, roughly sixty percent lost their lives. In a battle that was technically early-game—a point where the monster difficulty should have been manageable—countless young lives were snuffed out. That was the "true" ending.
Naturally, there was no shortage of recovery magic back then. There was hardly anyone left to heal.
But this time, things were different. Though the wounded were many, I heard there hadn't been a single fatality.
Because I had acted as a decoy and held the labyrinth’s malice, the fighting had been decentralized. And as a result—
Everyone made it back alive.
That was exactly why we were in this mess. The Medical Wing was overflowing, and the mages were exhausted. It was a bitter irony—the aftermath was only this chaotic because the casualties were so low.
"Regardless... it truly is a miracle," Elysia murmured, still looking straight ahead. "There is no precedent for a Primal Labyrinth Conquest Battle where not a single student was lost."
She turned her head slowly to look at me.
"The injuries are many. Some students might even have to leave the academy to recover. But even so... no one died. That alone is an incredible success."
"I suppose you're right," I agreed.
Elysia blinked at me, looking momentarily stunned by my casual tone. Then, a small, genuine smile broke through her tired expression.
"You speak as if you had nothing to do with it," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "This outcome is undeniably thanks to you."
Her deep violet eyes locked onto mine.
"You volunteered for the role of the decoy and kept the labyrinth's attention on yourself the entire time. Honestly, I didn't think anyone would actually take on such a reckless gamble."
A flash of reproach flickered in her eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. She let out a soft, exasperated huff.
"But because you did, the other students were able to operate in relative safety. Everyone came home because of you." Her voice softened, turning warm. "Thank you, Rai. If you hadn't been there, we wouldn't be standing here like this."
"It wasn't a big deal," I said, shrugging.
Elysia gave a wry chuckle, looking at me as if she could tell I was just being modest. I picked up my pace to get away from her knowing gaze, and I could see her smile widening out of the corner of my eye.
I let out a quiet breath.
I really didn't mean for it to be some grand heroic act, Elysia. I didn't do it because I had some noble goal of saving every student like you did. I just...
I stole a glance at her profile.
When she had looked at the injured students earlier, a shadow had crossed her face. It was the look of someone drowning in responsibility. As the Student Council President, she was already blaming herself, wondering if she could have led them better.
If the deaths had happened as they were supposed to in the original game, that shadow would have consumed her. She would have been subjected to the vitriol and blame of the survivors and the families of the dead. She would have been buried under a mountain of funeral notices, anger, and despair.
In the original game, she would have carried that burden alone until her heart shattered. Depending on the worldline, she would eventually lose her last remaining support and die alone in the depths of the labyrinth, with no one to mourn her.
I knew that hopeless end. And I wanted no part of it.
It wasn't that I wanted to be a savior or a hero to five thousand people. I just didn't want the girl walking next to me to face an ending like that.
That was why I became the decoy. I kept the labyrinth’s eyes on me so that everyone—including her—could walk out alive. That was the whole story.
Well, it's not just Elysia, though.
There were others in this world still headed for tragedy. The heroines from the game who were destined for misery. Those who worked themselves to the bone only to be discarded.
I intended to flip every single one of those scripts.
That was my entire reason for trying so hard in this world.
"Rai?"
Elysia’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up to see her watching me with a curious expression.
"Is something wrong? You look like you’re trying to solve a very difficult puzzle."
"No," I said, shrugging again. "Just thinking."
"I see." She watched me for a second longer but didn't pry. She turned her gaze back to the school building and let out a small sigh. "Let’s keep moving. We still have to report to the Headmaster. He said he wanted to hear a detailed account of the conquest—and that he had something to report to us as well."
I nodded and matched her stride. I already knew what the report would entail: the combat data, the advance routes of the various squads, and the events that transpired in the innermost depths.
Specifically, the battle with the Labyrinth Core and the mysterious white-haired girl we found there.
Bathed in the morning light, the school building loomed closer with every step.