<Academy Swordmaster>
A game boasting incredible immersion, with each character possessing the charisma of a main character, literally dominating the 2030s gaming world.
Released simultaneously with the rapidly advancing Full Dive Capsule, a new gaming device, concerns were rampant about the game – whether dying in it could kill you in real life, or whether the pain sensors being activated would make it an ordeal. Despite all the talk…
[Full Dive Capsule overtakes PlayStation in sales!]
With its dating sim-style choice elements and RPG strengths, let alone the dream machine Full Dive Capsule and VR surpassing freedom of movement, this game perfectly rendered another world with spatial accuracy, quickly hooking numerous players.
-Swish!
[You have perished.]
“Man, this girl is hard to keep alive.”
Of course, I was among them.
As the red “YOU DEAD” letters flashed with the black screen, curses involuntarily spilled from my mouth.
The reason for my cursing was, of course, Yoon Se-ah, a character from Academy Swordmaster.
Until the mid-game, she was a kind, beautiful, and all-round capable student council president with a “gap moe” appeal due to her frail health setting.
In the early to mid-game, she appeared as a supporter of the protagonist, helping to procure items for the main character. However, all that turned out to be her performance, a charade designed to gain the protagonist’s affection.
When users expected her as a heroine due to a full-body illustration, a shocking twist awaited them…
[-Thud!]
[“What can I do? Unfortunately, I can’t stay with you.”]
To steal the protagonist’s special skills, she acts on the orders of the final boss, plunging a knife into the protagonist’s heart.
At this point, Yoon Se-ah, who was once the student council president, transforms into mid-boss Yoon Se-ah, the antagonist bent on killing the protagonist.
Attempting to assemble a party to capture her resulted in a mad disaster triggered by the main item, the Eye of Hypnosis. Using this item causes everybody except the protagonist, the playable character, to fall into a hypnotic state and attack the player.
Players had to either apply equipment with mental resilience or proceed alone in the boss battle, making for an incredibly difficult challenge.
Compounded by instant-death attacks coming at a rate of three times every two seconds, she was truly an arduous boss.
Even after the exhausting struggle to capture Yoon Se-ah for anticipated rewards, the spoils were meager—a powerless Eye of Hypnosis and an old revolver, hardly worthy considering the difficulty.
Naturally, Yoon Se-ah’s reputation plummeted from an attractive student council president to a character notorious for being unbearably difficult with rewards as minuscule as mouse droppings. But then…
It was revealed that she had been brainwashed by the final boss since childhood and continued to resist even as she was dying during the protagonist’s encounter. Users, moved by this tragic backstory, began attempts to craft a happy ending for her.
First, a plan to incapacitate Yoon Se-ah quickly before her awakening, preventing her from acting and then liberating her from the brainwashing by defeating the final boss.
This failed; as soon as the final boss died, Yoon Se-ah did too, as if her life were tied to his.
Second, carefully selecting choices to max out her affection rating and prevent her from stabbing the protagonist.
This also failed; increasing her affection rating only made the protagonist lose more health during the mid-boss battle.
<>
<Swordmaster Gallery>
[Don’t max out Yoon Se-ah’s affection rating, you bastards!] (Views: 1,678 times)
[Image of health at 10,000 remaining]
[Wow, starting with 99% health drained.]
<><><><><><><><<<>
According to posts in the gallery, maxing out Yoon Se-ah’s affection rating starts battles with 99% of the protagonist’s health already gone.
Gallery reactions were mostly along the lines of “What kind of affection manipulation is this, you son of a bitch?”
However, is it entirely impossible? A resounding NO. And the last method is the solution.
If Yoon Se-ah’s affection is maxed out, at 99%, and the player enters combat with only the playable character, the patterns become crueler.
In this combat, if you endure within the time limit without landing a single hit on Yoon Se-ah, in the last phase, she will accuse you of mocking her and start to go berserk.
At this moment, the reason for her psychosis and the final boss’ brainwashing tool, the Eye of Hypnosis, changes into a destructible object. Removing the Eye of Hypnosis will free her from the brainwashing, rescuing Yoon Se-ah in her state of maxed-out affection.
She will then perfectly recover from the brainwashing and join the party.
The problem arises when the Eye of Hypnosis is removed; Yoon Se-ah becomes no more than an average individual with slightly better physical capabilities.
The final boss, knowing her information, continuously dispatches assassins to kill her. Moreover, Yoon Se-ah herself, memories of her brainwashed state resurfacing, attempts self-harm. Real-time mental care is essential to keep her safe.
That is to say, if you let your guard down for a moment, Yoon Se-ah will either be killed by assassins or succumb to self-harm.
Even by repeatedly saving and reloading through infinite saves, if you manage to protect her somehow…
[“Take care of my sister, Eun-ha…”] (Crash)
During the final battle with the boss, she shields the protagonist from an unavoidable divine attack, her body splitting in two.
The frustrating part is that if you choose another heroine as the main heroine, this divine attack doesn’t occur.
This attack only happens when Yoon Se-ah is chosen as the main heroine during the final boss battle, immediately unleashing an unavoidable assault against the protagonist.
No matter how much you try to reload and prevent Yoon Se-ah from blocking this divine attack, it’s impossible to stop her death. The protagonist had already received debuffs to protect Yoon Se-ah, making it impossible to change the outcome no matter what.
<><><><><><><><><><>
<Swordmaster Gallery>
[Why the hell did Yoon Se-ah get the full-body illustration, then?] (Views: 8,000 times)
[Game screen snapshot showing Yoon Se-ah’s split death message]
[Wow, it’s really absurd. Even after saving her, you are forced to watch her die helplessly due to debuffs.]
[Comments 99+]
[This is insane!]
[Thought I could solve it by increasing her stats, but the movement speed debuff was 99%, as well as defense and attack debuffs. No matter how much I tried, she couldn’t move.]
[Why did you choose Yoon Se-ah as the main heroine? Just go for Eun-ha, her sister!]
[What? Who’s Eun-ha?]
[Eun-ha is someone who automatically becomes the main heroine with just one choice selection and annoyed me while compiling character profiles.]
…
…
[Why do Yoon Se-ah and Yoo Eun-ha have different surnames if they are sisters?]
[No idea.]
[Yoo Eun-ha is an adoptive daughter. That’s why Yoon Se-ah envied her so much.]
[Oh!]
[Stop spoilers!]
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
“Man, I really want to make a compendium.”
Even though it’s a death ending, collecting all endings is essential for the “100% Ending Collection” achievement.
While browsing the gallery, a certain phrase caught my eye.
[Wouldn’t it be possible to save her by using a bug-mod tool to adjust stats and block attacks before the boss battle?]
“Hmm, no matter what, I don’t have the intention to use a bug version…”
-Click
And yet, my hand was already downloading the tool that allowed me to use the bug mode.
-Cling!
“Alright, blocked it!”
Using the bug fix mode, I managed to block the attack headed for the protagonist, but…
Despite the visual effect of blocking the attack, the game simply froze afterward.
“Ugh, that’s it. Just blocked and froze.”
With the intention of sharing the content that attempting to save Yoon Se-ah via the bug mode only results in a frozen screen, I tried to exit the capsule…
<Forced synchronization is beginning.>
<3...2...>
-Crackle!
“Urk?!”
A strong electrical current surged through my body.
<Synchronization complete. Have a pleasant journey.>
And just like that, my vision faded instantly.
