ALL NOVEL Chapter 1
I just heard a rumor.
I needed a break while preparing for the civil service exam. I like games, but I can’t spend a lot of time on online games.
So, I just bought a rumor-worthy indie game with decent reviews.
It was a medieval fantasy game divided into three parts, called Dark Kingdom.
After playing through the Academy part, which is the first part, I found it to be just an average indie game. Decent graphics, decent story, decent content.
But it was no wonder it got buzzed; the difficulty was quite high. It took me over 10 hours to clear the Academy part, which was supposedly the easiest.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
As a civil service exam aspirant, I couldn’t just keep playing, so I decided to save the next part for tomorrow’s part-time job.
I closed my laptop and fell asleep.
And then.
“Damn.”
“F-Finance Director? Why all of a sudden…?”
“It’s nothing, Headmistress. Just reminiscing for a moment.”
“If that’s the case…”
I had never met a so-called god or received an email from some unknown game company.
Suddenly, I found myself transported into the world of Dark Kingdom.
And thus, five years flew by.
In the beginning, it was a constant state of panic. Was I dreaming? I had told my landlord that I wouldn’t be able to pay rent, and was I chased out of the goshiwon in the middle of the night?
I tried shouting for a status window in the air and even said “log out” just in case, but it fell on deaf ears.
Where I woke up was a secluded cabin, and when I stepped outside in my pajamas and grabbed anyone I could find, a few familiar words came through.
Kingdom, Mage, Dark Sword…
Only then did I realize I had arrived in the game’s world. After playing the Academy part, I remembered various settings and proper nouns.
“F-Finance Director? Finance Director?”
But the good news was that I had no intentions of going back to my original world. After my parents divorced, they fled, and I barely passed the GED exam living off government aid and part-time work while I was preparing for the civil service exam.
Challenging this second life in another world seemed more promising than getting chased out of the goshiwon again.
I sold my noticeable pajamas for a decent price and gathered some new clothes along with a tiny bit of spending money. The trader said it was a good fabric and bought it for a high price, but I didn’t know the market price, so I could only thank him. Looking back, I realize I got scammed. What a dog.
“Finance Director? Are you seriously underestimating me?”
Then I started doing odd jobs around nearby villages and towns, making up my mind to go to the Academy.
I didn’t particularly want to see the protagonist or heroine or get involved in the story. It was just that the tuition fee in the game’s academy was absurdly cheap, and they handed out all sorts of scholarships and grants.
How much attachment could I have to characters from a game I had barely played for 10 hours? Just to be safe, I checked, and the actual tuition fees and scholarships at the academy were indeed the same as in the game.
Honestly, I didn’t want to just live doing odd jobs, and since I was preparing for civil service, I wanted a reasonably decent administrative position. Wouldn’t that be a successful life?
After various twists and turns, I studied hard for a year and eventually got accepted into the Academy. Frankly, a lot happened during that year, but at least I got accepted.
“Ah, come on! I admit I made a huge mistake this time, but to outright ignore me is too much!”
If there was one regret, it was that I received the lowest rating possible: Rank 1.
I wanted to try using magic now that I was in a game world, but being Rank 1 meant I was just a regular person. Well, I wasn’t too hung up on it since I was majoring in administration anyway.
I studied hard at the academy for three years, received scholarships, was selected as an outstanding scholar, and had a pretty good academy life.
Graduates majoring in administration at the academy receive a special privilege upon graduation.
The chance to secure an administrative position at the academy.
Unlike other applicants, graduates majoring in administration can almost guarantee a job if they’re in the top five ranks. I was in the top five too, so I decided to just take the job at the academy.
After all my efforts, I landed a job at a prestigious private academy, living a life almost akin to that of a civil servant, thinking I had achieved success in my second life.
But then.
“Finance Director!!!!!”
“Headmistress, my ears are going to burst. The squawking of a Rank 8 can easily shatter the eardrums of a Rank 1, you know?”
“That’s because you suddenly stopped talking and ignored me! Who screamed like that…!!”
“Maintain your dignity. If other employees see this, their illusions about you will be shattered.”
“There’s only you and me here!”
Bang! Bang!
Hmm, seeing her hit the desk with a shotgun, she must be quite peeved. As I rifled through old memories, it seemed the headmistress mistook my intentions.
The owner of this private academy was the headmistress of Rank 8 strength. If that playful-looking shotgun hit my Rank 1 body, I’d be a goner.
‘But what can I do?’
I was just quietly listening, having zoned out into my past, which was my own fault.
Seems like the headmistress had momentarily forgotten.
“Alright then. Let’s get back to the original topic.”
“Right! I’m the headmistress, and you’re the subordinate. Minimum courtesy should be maintained──”
“To facilitate smooth communication, let me go back to the conclusion.”
Not that it would matter on a regular day, but who was the boss and who was the underling in this meeting?
Why on earth did the headmistress and I end up alone in her office like this?
“I’m speaking as the Finance Director. After considering the budget and costs for nearly five years, if we maintain the current trend, our academy will go bankrupt in three years.”
“………Three years, you say?”
“Originally, it was supposed to be around five years, but the conclusion was reached because you, madam headmistress, independently decided to conduct that gifting trade a week ago and lost about half of the surplus funds.”
“…………….”
“You didn’t even come clean about it immediately, but hid it for a week, didn’t you? The conversation just now was me discovering that in the ledgers and pressing you on it.”
“……Well.”
“I’ll give you five seconds.”
“Uh, wait?! I can explain! I swear!”
Yeah, I should be able to explain. Please let it be so.
The headmistress I know is reckless, ignorant, impulsive, and stubbornly proud, yet annoying all at the same time.
But she’s not someone who would gamble recklessly. If she had, the academy would have collapsed before I even enrolled.
As I stood there with my arms crossed waiting in silence, the headmistress stuttered a bit.
That’s when I pulled out the corner of the resignation letter I had been carrying with me.
“I-I did this for the academy’s sake!”
“Three seconds.”
“I swear! Even before the Finance Director came, I knew that if it continued like this, the academy would fall! I needed a big win instead of small changes!”
“Two seconds.”
“I’m not proud of it, but you know I have zero interest in gambling! Still, when I heard about the potential benefits if it succeeded, I got tempted! If it were successful, we could stretch the bankruptcy from five years to ten!”
“One second.”
“L-Let’s be honest. This private academy is all funded by me! It’s built and nurtured from the money I’ve earned my whole life!”
Oh, of course. That’s absolutely true.
Unlike most academies in the kingdom, which are public, this one is private, quickly becoming the top-tier academy in the kingdom thanks to the headmistress’s vast fortune.
Hiring the best faculty for a premium, tuition fees so low even I could afford them working odd jobs, and every single student likely receiving scholarships at least once.
With top-notch facilities and staff keeping the academy clean, all thanks to the headmistress’s wealth.
But there was one critical issue.
It ‘could have’ been.
“How much of your wealth do you currently have left?”
“………Half.”
“You’re saying you still have half?”
“Half of half of half of half of half… um… left….”
So essentially, she has about 1% left.
Before the academy was established, the headmistress was among the wealthiest in the kingdom, but decades of running the academy have shown the bottom line.
If you think about why other rich folks don’t establish private academies, the reason is clear. Academies, and universities, are places that drain money, not earn it.
Sure, even taking that into account, the headmistress was particularly severe. She thought this level would be enough, but reality was shockingly dire.
Should I be astonished that we can maintain this massive academy for three more years on only 1% of her wealth? Or should I focus on securing my severance before bankruptcy hits?
While I seriously pondered this, the headmistress stood up from her seat, walking toward me.
“F-Finance Director! I know you’re the only person I can trust with this! The financial situation of the academy is a secret shared only between you and me!”
“What a touching secret.”
Though I’m called the Finance Director, there’s no finance department — it’s just me! If I hadn’t stumbled upon the financial documents in the headmistress’s office, the finance department wouldn’t even exist.
She maintained budget management directly, hiding the financial situation to keep up appearances. Frankly, from the professors’ and other departments’ perspectives, as long as salaries were being consistently paid, they didn’t care much.
So the possibility of bankruptcy in three years was a secret that only the headmistress and I knew. Damn it.
“I’ll do anything! I swear, anything!”
“…Anything, you say?”
“I don’t doubt the Finance Director’s abilities! Thanks to you, the previously dire situation has improved a great deal! I trust you!”
Let’s not mention if that improvement allowed for the luxury to conduct gifting trades. That would crush the delicate heart and conscience of the headmistress.
But what was more significant was the headmistress saying she would do anything.
With a look on her face as if she had made a decision, she grabbed onto my pant leg.
“To keep the Finance Director in this academy…! I’ll even offer my own body!”
“Well, that’s perfect. Then do go and use that body for something useful.”
“Excuse me!? I mean, doing that right here is… wait, what?”
“You’re an 8th-grade martial artist. As far as physically demanding work goes, I’ve already made a shortlist. You could work on a deep-sea fishing ship, in a mine in the southern mountains, or even at a salt mine on that island. There are many other options where you can earn a relatively high wage in a short time, so choose wisely.”
“…………….”