Beyond Phantasia

“Why am I being punished?” I said.

Unfortunately, since I broke Gallagher’s nose, I had to do community work at the library next weekend to make amends. Shouldn’t I be thanked for dealing with an out-of-control student? As a proper student, I just gave him some physical advice. Wait. Wouldn’t I have to deal with Novian’s older brother if this gets out? I did injure one of his lackeys.

Tsk.

No, I shouldn't have to worry. Novian will take care of it…hopefully. If anything, I'll use my counter plan.

“Hah…There goes a week of relaxing for me.”

The next few days were rather normal — or should I say, busy. Now that I’m a student, I need to balance my free time with academics. I started with cardio and training to strengthen this weak physique of mine, followed by meditation to enhance my affinity. In the evenings, I worked at Ronya’s, and unfortunately, I had to study. It was a pain, but it had to be done, or else I'd risk failing and being dropped.

"How do students have time to do anything?"

I haven't even been here for a week, but I'm slowly losing my mind.

Eventually, Friday arrived, marking the day of the Socrilium Trials. I was on my way to class.

“Status.”

==================

— {[Lucien Crow]} — +

Goal: Defeat the Primordial Giant of Destruction

Age: 16

Affinity: 0.7%

Silvion Academy Rank (Year 6864): 4000/4000

Overall Rating: E

Skills:

Jack of All Trades Lvl 1

==================

I’ve been meditating for a couple of hours every day for the past week, but this progress is awfully slow.

The best solution would be to find some sort of cheat item. However, I don’t remember the exact location of anything. So, the next best option would be to simulate the mentor system in Beyond. It was essential for anyone falling behind in the game. The teachers would personally train and coach you to help with your stat progression, but you needed to reach a certain level of likability and form a bond with the mentor before you could ask.

I pulled out my notebook labeled 'BP,' which contained my notes about the game, and after a quick glance at the table of contents, I flipped to the character page.

“Here we go, Melusine Kossi.”

She’s arguably the strongest technomancer in the world, with an affinity for spatial magic. She also has a love for sashimi. Stubborn.

"It’s not much to go on, but it should be enough to convince her," I said, checking my backpack.

Ding! Dong! Ding!

The bell rang.

I closed my notebook, tucked it away, and continued my way to class.

<><><><><>

Kaeygo’s POV

Tiresome.

That was my first thought coming here.

I haven't been able to sleep. The chieftain knew our tribe were nocturnal, yet she still sent a group of us to represent the Lakertans.

My body has yet to readjust to this.

The sun was so bright it felt like it was killing me. That's when I noticed a familiar figure in the distance.

“Him.”

A purple-eyed boy was making his way to the S-class building, yawning. He was the reason for some of my troubles. I had been sleeping peacefully until he started picking a fight with some trash noble. I even had to deal with that annoying human princess because of him. This weak trash.

He yawned again.

The audacity…

And yet…I still lost to him in the individual rankings. How could someone so weak rank first? He has been nothing but a problem for me.

“Just you wait…” I said. “The moment my body adjusts to this planet’s climate, I will thoroughly crush you and take over as Legacy Star.”

<><><><><>

Again with these random headaches?

I pinched the area between my brows.

Must be from the lack of sleep.

Clap!

“Today is the day, S-Class,” Instructor Cefin announced. “I know you’ve all been eagerly awaiting this moment. As S-Class students, you will have the privilege of entering the trials first. Take this opportunity as a privilege to gain a powerful socrilium. We’ll depart immediately after roll call. Let’s begin.”

Everyone was quick to respond to roll call, as today marked one of the most significant events in Beyond Phantasia for students.

“Perfect. Everyone is present,” Instructor Cefin said. “Please make your way to the academy's warp gates in sector W in approximately thirty minutes. The location has been sent via datachron. I will see you all there. Good luck.”

Cefin snapped and disappeared from the room compared to his usual exit.

Show off.

Melusine’s spatial affinity has been perfected to the point where she can manipulate teleportation and portal technomancy to a high degree. She even contributed to the improvements of the warp gates and the teleportation facilities around the academy.

{Location Received.}

I looked at my datachron along with everyone else, hearing the voices of excitement and cheers for the trials. While the trials were relatively easy for the majority, I couldn’t shake off this uneasy feeling I had.

What was it? There was something I’m missing here.

I opened my BP notebook as everyone began to leave.

Where is it… no, no, no… here. How could I forget?

I was reading through the bosses and battles section of my notes when one line stood out at the beginning: “Socrilium Trials, warp gates malfunctioned, boss fight.”

Fuck. There was a minor boss fight that I had to do during the trials.

I remember everyone on the forums complaining that the first boss was too difficult. The devs even had to post a message online claiming it was a skill issue, which divided the community between casual and hardcore players. Luckily, people got over it, especially since Novian, an insane cheat character, was the playable main character. If everything follows the story progression, Novian should still come out on top, regardless.

Alright, everything should be fine. Maybe.

Getting up, I pulled up the navigation to the warp gate on my datachron and made my way to the location.

I could understand why Instructor Cefin gave us thirty minutes now. I didn’t realize how far the warp gates were since I was always fast-traveling in the game.

I think I’ll be there in about ten minutes.

Ten minutes passed, and I finally made it to sector W. Although I had to go through several security checks and clearances, the process was relatively fast overall. We were directed to a designated changing facility to swap out our school uniforms for our Silvion’s combatant uniforms — armor with a futuristic design featuring a white and black color scheme and a cape.

This armor was the signature look for all of Silvion Academy's students. Designed to withstand extreme temperatures, it was a high-class piece of gear. The cape functioned as both a shield and a deployable helmet, activated by touch on the collar.

“Not Bad.” I said, admiring myself in the mirror.

I left the changing facility and finally made my way into Sector W.