Chapter 07
Phew. After reading the entire first chapter, I set the diary down for a moment and leaned back against the chair.
‘Literally, a diary written in blood.’
I could tell just from the feel of the paper against my fingers. Countless hands must have read and recorded in this diary over the years.
How many of them had managed to escape the Citadel? Over this long stretch of time, just how many Amelies had been replaced?
But there was no time to dwell on sentiment. I kept turning the pages.
“I still have no clue at all about the escape conditions. No word from the administration office either. For now, all I can do is work hard to earn credits.
Below are the methods I’ve found for obtaining credits:
- Attend lectures and earn a grade of D or higher.
- Request additional assignments from faculty members.
If there are any other methods, please add them below.”
And below that, a different handwriting continued:
“3. You can also do volunteer work in the city.
I’ve heard that some shops are participating in programs for students. But I’m not sure if that’s a wise choice.
I still don’t have a way to go into the city alone, and I don’t really want to take a bus or anything either.
Still no word from the administration office. They said they’d help with all sincerity one day, but you just can’t trust civil servants.”
I turned the page. A folded, printed document was tucked inside.
Hello, students of Gwangryun University.
Below is the course registration procedure prepared by the administration office in response to ongoing student inquiries.
Please be aware that details may vary depending on the time of application.
The course registration method for this semester is as follows:
- Obtain the relevant form from the administration office and fill it out carefully and without error.
- Submit the form to the professor whose lecture you wish to take. Obtain their signature and seal.
- Submit the signed form to the administration office.
※ All forms must be submitted without error before the deadline, and all students are required to take at least one lecture per semester.
※ We reiterate that any student found not to be enrolled in any lecture after the semester has begun may be expelled immediately upon discovery.”
I tilted my head instinctively.
“That’s a bit strange…”
At first glance, the procedure seemed simple enough.
Having to get a professor’s signature in person was a little unusual, but considering how many students might actually be staying here, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
But what on earth did that bit about being “expelled immediately upon discovery” mean?
Putting aside the warning tone for a moment, did that mean that if you weren’t caught, you didn’t have to take a lecture at all?
No, why would anyone even do that in the first place? If you don’t take lectures, you can’t graduate.
But as I turned to the next page of the diary, the question was answered.
“Here’s the list of confirmed lectures so far.
I’ve crossed out the ones I’ve already taken.
○ The Grand Premise
└ Failed. I don’t think it’s possible to complete this course.
└ I’m someone who’s learned enough already, and even I failed, so unless you’re very confident, don’t even try.
○ Advanced Search for Recurring Persons
○ Pruning the Clustering Sprouts
└ I lost two fingers because of this one. I don’t know if there’ll be a successor after me, but you’d better be grateful.
○ Unmentionable
○ Krampus March, 10,054th
└ Just barely dropped it. Don’t even glance at it.
○ 42
└ I know it’s the lowest-difficulty class. But the competition is so fierce that it’s better not to even try.
└ Who’s the professor? (◕‿◕)
└ This record is being left in a personal diary, not an internet bulletin board, Amelia.
└ Even if you ask, no one can answer, and even if a kind successor does answer, you won’t be able to check it.
└ And yet you’re here replying one by one—that’s hilarious lol
○ The Little Theater of Draconopides
○ Light of Life
└ It wasn’t crossed out, so I asked the administration office and was told I had already completed it last semester.
└ Apparently, all students who took it were replaced immediately upon completion.
└ They say it’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime lecture. Anyway, it worked out well for me.”
I flipped through the following pages, but the lecture list didn’t continue.
I don’t know for sure, but this couldn’t be all the lectures required for a four-year university course. Of course, it was possible that the later Amelies had stopped recording, but even so, the number of completed courses was far too few.
‘Course registration… was it a week from now?’
Kwon Tae-hyun had said I’d better be fully prepared.
Maybe the Amelies hadn’t chosen not to take courses—maybe they simply couldn’t. If both registering and completing courses were that difficult…
Then that bit about immediate expulsion upon discovery made a certain amount of sense too.
As for other ways to earn credits besides registering for lectures… well, “volunteer work in the city” did seem the most approachable.
In any case, I had someone to find. And for that, I’d eventually have to look around the city as well.
I tried searching the diary for information about the city, but since it was a messy collection of records from various people, it wasn’t easy to find what I needed.
Sarak. I turned to the next page. This one contained the most important information I’d seen so far.
※ Food Supply Source Summary ※
Getting food inside the school isn’t easy. Secure as much food as possible when an opportunity arises.
You can use the refrigerator on the first floor of the dormitory. Apparently, anything stored there is preserved permanently. (But don’t put anything alive in there. You won’t like what happens.)
○ The juice and desserts sold at the café next to the student center are all safe foods.
Except for one thing: the lychee smoothie.
All I can tell you is that the white, round things in it are not lychees.
The café is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM to 2 PM.
The door may be open at other times, but you won’t be able to communicate with the part-timer. Avoid it unless it’s an emergency.
○ I hear that some of the food in the student cafeteria is edible too.
But in my opinion, it’s not worth braving that hell to go eat there.
└ Why? I think the cafeteria food is the best lol The new menu item they added recently is really delicious (◕‿◕)
└ If you go after lunch rush, you can minimize combat with the “students” too!
└ I’m going again tomorrow! (•̀ᴗ•́)و (•̀ᴗ•́)و
└ This Amelia’s records end after this note.
└ I can’t pinpoint exactly when she was replaced, but just know that the new menu item “Cheese Tonkatsu” at the student cafeteria is not cheese tonkatsu.”
Today was Tuesday. The time was 7:20 AM. The student center, where the administration office was, wasn’t far. So then, should I head to that café first…?
“Ah.”
I had no money.
The small amount I’d had until yesterday morning had been taken by the loan sharks, and it was questionable whether that money would even be valid here anyway.
I needed to find a way to earn money. But how did college students usually make money? I wouldn’t know, having only graduated high school, but I’d heard of something like work-study students…
First, I decided to head down to the first floor of the dormitory. It was possible that the previous Amelies had left something in that permanently preserving refrigerator.
It was ironic that the most trustworthy people in this world were past predecessors whose very existence—alive or dead—was unknown.
I opened the closet door. Neatly arranged on hangers and in drawers were clean clothes. Most were plain, colorless everyday outfits. I took off the grimy T-shirt I’d been wearing since yesterday and pulled on a thick hoodie.
Had the previous Amelies worn these clothes too? How many of them had managed to escape this place alive? Thinking that way made my feelings a little complicated.
I opened the door and stepped back into the hallway. Through the window, I could see the campus scenery that had been too dark to make out yesterday.
It had a promenade, a plaza, and four lecture buildings—a fairly respectable-looking college campus. But beyond it, dense forest surrounded everything, blocking any view of the outside.
Come to think of it, I recalled that somewhere in the rulebook there had been a section about the origin of the Citadel.
Most of it had been unfounded speculation and rumors, and I’d skipped over it since it didn’t seem immediately useful for survival.
From what I vaguely remembered, it said that most of the buildings existing in the Citadel were imitations of reality. That real-world places from across the country had been gathered here in slightly twisted and distorted forms.
‘But… is there really no one here at all?’
