Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It wouldn't be wrong to assume that Yuder isn't the type of person to be obsessed with games, even more so an otome game. He was the top ranked student in his class who always wore the same black hoodie and pants during lectures. After all, using his brain just to pick an outfit for everyday usage was a waste of time.

He technically has no life outside of college, a well known fact just by looking at his appearance, asides from when Kanna and Gakane would forcibly drag him out of his apartment to hang out with them.

Yet here he was, finally completing the most difficult romance path that the game has created, in the middle of the night.

[Turning: Love Overload!] was a well known otome game set in the Guideverse world, where there were two roles in a world filled with dungeons and rampant monsters: Espers and Guides. Espers were those who fought against the monsters with their unique powers, but the strain of their power brings them closer to corrupts them and brings them closer to a rampage. Guides were those who used their energy to purify Espers, guiding them away from a rampage

This game focused on the main character, Ever Beck, as she navigated her way thorough life as an S ranked Esper after the unexpected dungeon break claimed the life of her friend and changed everything.

As soon as the game was finally released to the public, it got famous overnight. Not only did it become well liked for the breathtaking character designs, but also because it was the type of game to not shy away from only having male romantic interests available, making the players who first started this game without any prior knowledge buzz even more with excitement as they saw female leads available to romance.

Although it was an otome game, the world building and the main storyline was more then enough to pique Yuder’s interest, who hadn't touched a video game ever since middle school. He found out about this game through both of his friends, who always begged him to play it every time they met up.

If Kanna and Gakane, who always talked about the game when they met up outside school, knew that he was even more of a hardcore player then they were, they would have burst in laughter before instantly sending him to a therapist.

And that's how he managed to complete every single ending in only a month and three weeks without telling them, an accomplishment that no one was crazy enough to do. Yuder sighed, the screen's bright light glaring [Kishiar La Orr — Secret Ending ❤︎⁠❤︎⁠❤︎⁠⁠ !!!] at 2:30 AM when he had classes in only a few hours. Brushing his unkempt bangs back, he wondered if his competitive spirit moved from academics to this game after realizing that Kishiar's ending was the only one he was missing.

After all, playing almost 4 weeks straight just to get his ending…

'Maybe I should book a therapy session…. I finally went insane.'

If he was completely honest, he would have just completed one character’s route and closed the game, saving hours worth of sleepless nights. Those were the thoughts he first had when he completed his very first ending, a decision that was meant to be final.

But in a blink of an eye, 3 weeks had passed and he already completed all the endings but one because of how absorbed he was. Remembering the memory, where he saw that there was only one ending left, he decided todo it for the sake of his sanity. If he left it on (25/26) endings, it would have haunted him forever.

❤︎

Clicking his tongue, he had scrolled down all the way to the bottom of the gallery for the endings. A black photo with a question mark in the middle was in the very bottom, alone compared to the other endings that were in a row. When he hovered his cursor towards the photo, he clicked the [More details!] button that appeared beneath. Immediately, he only saw one line worth of a hint as he barely spun the wheel of his mouse.

[Requirement: Complete all endings! (25/25)]

'That's it?'

Weren't there gonna be more hints? Like going to the Commander's office for a mission, or going to a specific area? Or to interact with a specific quest given by the Association President? For the first time in his entire life, the man who never reacted even in the face of his friend's antics found himself dumbfounded. As he tapped his mouse rhythmically, he found himself in a stump.

'Usually.. there would be more then a sentence for a hint… Just how difficult is this ending?'

Curious, he decided to search up the contents of the secret ending online. But instead of readily posted information he could utilize to complete the ending, all he saw was endless frustration and harsh words towards the developers.

— Ah, f*ck! I only talked to Commander La Orr once and I died?!? Died?! Ha??

— ㅎㅎㅎ this man is crazy…. crazy in looks and in requirements….

— What the… Is this an April fools prank? Or a bug? Dev-nim…?

⤷ ㅇㅅㅇ No~pe! Kishiar La Orr is just gay lolololol

⤷ Damn what kinda hc is that? lololol ㅗ

— No one talk to me. I tried to get 100% this entire month but I only got to 9.5478%

⤷ Wtf. I don't play this game but why is there decimal places lololol

⤷ Wow, you'll be featured in the account! Congrats lolololol

⤷ Ah, what account? (Translated to Korean by TurningAI)

⤷ @Kishiar-rankings. Made by the official devs to see who got highest % (Translated to Korean by TurningAI)

'Kishiar La Orr?'

For some reason, his name sounded quite familiar. Tilting his head, he continued scrolling down the comments full of resentment towards Kishiar. When he finally saw a tweet with a photo of the man in question inside the game, he stared intensely at it. Red eyes playfully twinkling beneath golden eyelashes, blonde hair that seemed to be as radiant as the sun, and an aura that exuded royalty and power even in the most unserious situations. With a smile hanging on his lips, it gave a lasting impression to those who even scrolled carelessly by.

Ah, he snapped his fingers, remembering where he had heard that name from after trudging through his memories. Kishiar La Orr, the Arcane Legion's Commander and one of the few SS+ ranked Espers. A character that briefly appeared before disappearing as quickly, working behind the scenes. Ah, he snapped his fingers, remembering where he had heard that name from after trudging through his memories.

'As far as I remember… He never had a romance path, did he?'

He did remember thinking that he was too handsome to be a side character, but his curiosity naturally faded after seeing his face for the umpteenth time. A handsome visage with barely no dialogues will just turn to a head with eyes, nose and mouth after seeing it numerous times. Yuder hummed, scrolling back up to click the account dedicated to Kishiar's ending. He clicked it, and was surprised to see the instructions on starting the ending pinned.

'No wonder the developers made a separate account… Who is crazy to think a secret ending could start by talking to Kishiar while doing the daily mission of petting Nipollen?'

Yuder read the entire tweet from top to bottom, but the only things he picked up was how to activate it and that two people, [Reve] and [Yudrein01] had already completed it. He had tried searching for a tutorial but there wasn't even a definite tutorial to get to just 10%, so Yuder had to start his own impromptu experiment with Kishiar's dialogue options, restarting the scenes multiple times.

It was frustratingly inconsistent to the point where he had to write down the patterns on a piece of paper. Yuder frowned, seeing the array of cluttered paper covering his table. He was using this game to rest his brain, but it seemed like the game no longer served its purpose.

Yuder:

this game is crazy

Gakane:

?? Crazy in a good way or

Yuder:

Kishiar's romance path

is annoying

Yuder:

[A image of multiple blurry papers scattered on the table. Kishiar 's name is clearly written on top of the paper]

Kanna:

WHAAA u play it too????? since when???

Gakane:

Ohh I thought you were talking about another game lololol

Kanna:

Me 2!

Wait so ur doing his path rn? ㅇㅅㅇ @Yuder

Yuder:

Yes. Im on 98.5% Might quit ㅇㅅㅇ

Kanna:

?! who are you?! are you okay?!

Isn't it too late to quit tho? Ur so close!!!!!!!! („• ֊ •„)੭

Gakane:

omg Yuder got infected by the T:LO virus ?!?!?

how difficult is the kishiar ending? i only did Nathan's endings

Kanna:

Gakane Zuckerman

its hard. ah my blood level is rising just recalling it…

its like convincing yuder to go to another country for a decade. u got to get all 25 endings before starting that…

Gakane:

im not that obsessed with nathan zuckerman ? anyway

Did you hack Yuder's phone? Who are you? Whats your purpose? @Yuder

should we send you to the mental hospital? do u need medicine for addiction symptoms :( ??

Yuder:

?

'If this could have been cured by medication, I would have consumed it immediately.'

Removing his gaze from his phone, he finally focused back on his laptop screen. Kishiar La Orr was smiling as always, three dialogue options in the bottom middle of the screen. The sky inside a game was light blue, with clouds slowly passing by the borders of the screen.

He clicked the second option, judging it the correct answer. It seemed to be correct, as there were stars and a bright light surrounding him, along with his percentage going up by 1.5%.

He was expecting something to happen. Maybe a time skip to where Kishiar, in a white tuxedo, was happily holding Ever, flower petals dancing behind them. Or a scene where Kishiar dances with Ever under the moonlight, both of them stuck in that moment forever. But instead, all he saw was the screen dimming until it became pitch black.

'…No way its a true route?'

A route that would appear only after one completed all the routes. It reveals the plot's ultimate lore, secrets and official conclusion of the game. No one mentioned Kishiar's ending was a true route. If this was truly a true route, Yuder would go crazy. Blinking, he finally saw words appearing from the black abyss of his laptop.

[Kishiar La Orr — Ending ❤︎⁠❤︎⁠⁠❤︎⁠ !!!]

'…Hearts?'

He had never seen hearts beside the title of the endings. Not even for the main route, which the game so avidly pushed for. Finding it suspicious, he decided to search it up on Turntweet. However, instead of finding a picture of the ending, he found new tweets and hashtags emerging from his home page.

— So, I was gonna start the Kishiar ending. where tf is it lol?????????? 25/25 only???

— wtf i was doing the ending and then it black screen. weird sounds came out and then it kicked me back to starting screen… i almost pissed my pants f*ck #kishiar_route_gone

— no way its an april fools prank i was so close to 100% :(

⤷ how close?

⤷ i was at 2.9483%

⤷ maybe ur eyesight is the fool lolol

'Strange… I'm too tired to care.’

Remembering how difficult romancing Kishiar was and how many tireless nights he was attached to the game, he decided to lay on the bed and complain about it face to face to his friends tomorrow. Yuder sank into the comfortable bedding, clutching his blanket close to his freezing body. As if he was given sleeping medicine, his eyelashes quickly fluttered close.

As his breathing relaxed, he didn't see the ominous system window in front of him, nor the countdown slowly ticking to its end. The faint noise of buzzing slowly filled the room, which had been eerily silent from the start.

—

‘…Did my alarm not ring?’

Yuder squinted, the sunlight hitting his vision harshly. He stretched his arms to his bedside table, his hands searching around for his phone. When his hands fumbled the spot where his phone was supposed to be, only for him to hit an empty spot, he finally forced himself to crank his eyes open.

He hadn't even seen the floor of his bedroom yet when a system window appeared directly on his face, jolting him awake from the harsh blue light welcoming his eyes.

‘What the hell?’

Immediately, he pinched his arm. Feeling the familiar sting, he immediately realized that it wasn't a dream. He was in an unfamiliar room, with an unfamiliar entity somehow giving him his personal information in the air… like the game he had just played last night.

So, he had transmigrated into another universe like how many other webtoons start. If he transmigrated, then he transmigrated. His body relaxed, although his eyes narrowed. The only problems he had were where and who he transmigrated into.

'Well, there's only one place where I could possibly transmigrate to.'

Since he was a shut-in college student who only focused on his grades, he immediately knew where he was. He was more surprised about the information listed more than the fact he had been transmigrated, he had no clue who this guy even is.

'The last name sounds quite familiar?'

Aside from it being close to his own name, he wasn't sure if it might had be one of the side characters names, or maybe he transmigrated with his name brought into the game. For now, he would figure out what he needed to do. He could set aside figuring out his identity later. Glancing at the last spot where the system window was, Yuder opened his mouth.

“System, what do I do?”

“...What do I do?”

If this system window ignored his question again, he would really find a way to smack it. If they dragged him here,it should know that Yuder has no tolerance for unnecessary questions. As if the system window read his scary intentions hidden behind his face, it flickered again before sending a message.

“…"

What was up with the punishment being unsure? And why was Enon excluded?

Yuder was confident that Enon was one of the male leads in Turning: Love Overload. He was also one of the chillest romance paths, although some complained that reaching 100% on him was just the same as a talking stage. Yuder touched the back of his neck, his brows furrowed.

Amidst the blinking system window, Yuder blinked confoundedly. He stared at the first few words, his brain working overtime scouring through all the various lore and storylines that entered his mind unconsciously when he played the game.

‘Enon had a younger brother?’

It would be understandable if Yuder didn't remember it; Enon's romance route was the first one he completed by pure accident But he felt like something was wrong with the system's answer, though he couldn't place his finger on what was actually bugging him. He focused again on on the blue system window, his mouth hesitating to open. He was going to ask for more details, before finally remembered the information on Enon's brother that was thrown here and there in the game.

Enon Ail had a younger brother, although he wasn't mentioned that much. Mostly because he wasn't relevant to anything at all, having died at the same dungeon break where Ever awakened at the start of the game. Damn, if this was before the dungeon break, then he could…

'…die.'

If Yuder was being realistic, it was almost certain he would die when the dungeon break happens. He knew nothing about Enon's younger brother, and his death? He knew even less. Just because he completed every ending, all the innate knowledge he acquired does not mean he could prevent it.

"…System, what date is it today?"

'Oh?'

Yuder's eyes gleamed. So it seems he could use the system window to ask any type of information. He was quite satisfied, as if he found a cheat sheet. The answer provided was unexpected and expected: It was the same date as when he finished completing Kishiar's ending, excluding the crossed out year. but it was at least almost a month before he was supposed to die.

After storing the information away for now, he looked away from the system window, scanning his new room. Besides the occasional papers stacked here and there, it was definitely tidier and more bigger compared to his college dorm. A black laptop was neatly shut on the table with an ID laying on top of it.

‘Well, I guess I can stay here.’

After easily accepting something that most people would have great difficulty with, he chose to talk to the system window again. With the weight of being in a world where carelessly spewing knowledge of the future could get him killed hanging over him, he stood up and massaged his neck.

"So…"

The system window immediately expanded when Yuder found his voice, as if trying to silence him. When his brain paused at the unexpected answers flooding his vision, he belatedly realized the freezing temperature prickling his pale skin, making him flinch.

Using the action as a moment to gather his thoughts, he opened the wardrobe, getting what seemed to be his uniform. After fixing himself in the bathroom and changing his clothes, Yuder came out. Tugging the uniform sleeve closer, he casually asked the system.

“Where does… Where do I work?”

‘A skill?’

He nodded, making the system window flicker in reply. Finally, the blue window disappeared, replaced with yellow exclamation marks hovering above several highlighted objects in the room. He gathered the wallet, phone and laptop. Then, he slipped the ID around his neck and slung his his bag on his shoulder. He made sure to abuse the system window again as he grabbed his shoes placed in front of the door.

“System, what time does my job start?”

“…So you do feel guilty about dragging a college student to a world where he has to work?” Yuder sighed, walking out of the apartment. At least they changed the time somehow?

The yellow arrow lit up momentarily before fading away, the arrow head facing a large building. Yuder glanced around, noticing how desolate the area looked with no one entering or leaving the building. Perhaps because it was quite late in the morning, or people had already arrived in the building before he did. Still, the lack of people didn't concern Yuder, as he was more distracted by the sight of seeing the building looming over him, the same building that was only a image in the game even more larger then he had expected. Yuder was slightly taken aback before pulling his attention back. He didn't have the luxury to stare when he needed to go in and start work.

"Welcome, please scan your ID here."

The person at the security desk smiled with a natural customer service tone. Yuder scanned his ID, and was allowed in. The view inside looked exactly what the game entailed. Even the fact it was a comfortable temperature and was spacious enough to the point no one would accidentally bump into eachother.

First… He should probably go to the elevator. He saw a girl anxiously waiting for the elevator, but Yuder didn't feel like it wasn't necessary to speak here. As the elevator let out a ding, the door finally opening, Yuder walked in without hesitation. The girl flinched and rushed inside as though it would quickly close on her. Once she was inside, she finally lifted her head, gasping as if just realizing there were another person there.

“Ah, hello!”

“Good morning, Kanna.”

The girl with short brown hair waved shyly. Yuder nodded, recognizing the character who had as much potential to be a female lead as Ever. She also looked identical to his friend. who was probably attending her lectures by now. Kanna let out a shaky smile as she made small talk with him, her blue eyes sparkling with numerous emotions as the elevator slowly crept up to the 4th floor

“Really, I'm so scared to guide a person… What if I don’t guide them enough, or I do reverse guiding…!?”

‘What the heck are these options?’

Right, Kanna was also a guide. He didn't know her rank, but the fact that someone who felt familiar would thread the same path as him once again made him feel an unexpected warmth. The loosened tension he hadn't realized he was feeling suddenly felt more noticable. Yuder pressed on a option, and his mouth opened automatically like he was possessed.

“I don’t think we would heavily guide Espers right away.”

“That's true! Okay…”

Kanna nodded, patting her chest as she shut her eyes closed. It seemed like no matter what world, Kanna would always act the same. Yuder leaned against the elevator wall, his lips twitching. After a long silence, Kanna, who was fidgeting the hem of her shirt, looked at Yuder with amazement.

“How are you not worried? Its like you experienced this before?”

Yuder unconsciously looked at the numbers, which already arrived at four. He opened his mouth, hearing the elevator mechanically ding signaling their arrival.

“I trust the Commander and his plans.”

He didn’t consider the circumstances around his words: A newbie, who barely worked here for a week, trusting the Commander fully like he knew him from the start. Yuder could only act like that because he saw how Kishiar acted in the game, a blind devotion that Yuder happily followed. Perhaps to others, the level of confidence seemed strange, almost prophetic.

Even though he only saw him through Ever's eyes, the feeling he was trustworthy tugged at his mind. Yuder walked out, only to pause after a few steps to glance back at Kanna, who was staring at him blankly.

“Not coming?”

A smile rose from his lips. Kanna, who saw Yuder as a cold handsome man, widened her eyes at the sight before stumbling out the elevator, stuttering as she followed Yuder to their seats. Only the blue system window, which was supposed to follow Yuder, stood behind the closing elevator doors.

Blink… It glitched, flickering like a broken light before disappearing behind the elevator doors like it never existed.