Chapter 0 : Prologue - No Kidding, I’m an Extra

— Find you! Seo! O-E-O! "Oh, damn it." Another day begins. I suppose this is what it feels like to come back from the dead. How do these zombie bastards manage to get back up after crashing to the ground? With one of my arms barely moving, I managed to shut off the alarm and lifted myself to a sitting position with great effort. Is this a bed or a damn coffin, seriously? "Ah." I'm so damn tired, honestly. Back when I was about to finish my military service, I swore to wake up early and live diligently every day. But now that I'm discharged, getting up like I did in the military isn't easy at all. There's no night watch, so why am I this exhausted? Now that I think about it, today marks exactly one year since my discharge. Whatever, I still need to head to my part-time job later. After that, I'll study a bit, play some games, and then head to sleep. A day in the life of a young man in his early twenties with military service is quite busy. Anyway. I habitually grabbed my phone and launched the community site I visit daily. BC-inside. Once I'm up, I need to browse through the galleries and check the highlighted posts to fully wake up. If I don't do this, I can't get out of bed. What kind of posts went up overnight, I wonder? With that thought, I clicked on the highlighted posts of the gallery I visit every day. -★ Did the War Hero DLC in the Academy drop??? (388) What the hell, three hundred comments this early in the morning? The post caught my eye immediately, it was so overwhelmingly popular. Even the likes hit over a thousand. I clicked on it right away. [Unfold all hidden images] [Unfold hidden image (1)] [Unfold hidden image (2)] - IT'S OUT YOU BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was greeted by a massive red Comic Sans font with a crazed, muscular frog meme charging towards me, red eyes blazing furiously. The comments were all filled with praise. "Academy's War Hero?" I heard it's a game that came out a while ago. Two years, maybe? That's fairly old for a game. I remember it was released when I was in the military. It seemed popular, but I'm not particularly interested in this genre, so I never bought it. Yet seeing everyone going crazy over the announcement of a DLC, it appears to be a masterpiece. "Is it any good? I've asked seven times now." After dropping a meaningless comment, I got out of bed. I turned on my computer. Lately, I didn't have any games to play after work, so should I give it a try? "Viral marketing, huh." I should download it and take a shower. I made the purchase, clicked the download button, and headed to the bathroom. While brushing my teeth, I searched the game's name on a wiki to check out some information. — Brush brush. — Rinse rinse. So, this game is about superpowered minors enrolled in an academy fighting against creatures and monsters. You raise your character, live academy life, follow the storyline, gather friends, and eventually fend off some impending dimensional invasion. That's the type of game this is. In short, the protagonist enrolls, develops their character until the end of the third year in-game, refines their control skills, and then annihilates the final boss to reach the ending. Looking through it, there's a lot to do, and it seems the gameplay time is insanely long. With multiple branching paths, it seems like once you start, you'll be playing through to complete all the different endings. "Kids these days, why do they live so damn hard?" You could say it embodies the essence of a Korean game. Do a lot, grow, and destroy—it's the perfect fit. Even kids are living fiercely, and what am I doing with my life? After skimming through a rough profile of the characters, I turned off my phone. Now it's time to shampoo and wash my face. I usually only look up about 5% of information for a game, just enough to skim through, and I play the rest without any guides, learning on the go. That's just the right amount to enjoy it lightly. Ironically, I didn't even check what the DLC, the very reason I downloaded the game, was about. Of course, looking it up now would be nothing but spoilers. Best to save the surprise for later. "Oof." After finishing my shower, I returned to the computer. "It's done." The game download was complete. Let's boot it up and check it out before getting dressed and heading out. I can do the rest after my part-time job, study a bit when I get home, and play some more before bed. It’s been a while since I picked up a new game; there's a bit of anticipation. — Click. I sat down, finished installing, and started the game. Suddenly. "Hmm?" — Sway. "Huh?" A sense of dizziness overwhelmed me. It felt like I was paralyzed… what is this? I tried to move, but my body wouldn’t cooperate, damn it! "What the hell?!" What’s happening here?! — Flash! A blinding light burst forth from the monitor! I couldn’t escape it…! "Oh." Am I having some kind of sudden seizure?! "Oh, no…" I need to let someone know…! I can't die like this! Living alone, if I collapse now, I'm truly screwed! "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed with all my might, hoping someone would notice. I felt all the strength drain from my body. And closed my eyes.