Academy Genius Extra Chapter 1

As I looked up, the sky was ablaze.

It wasn’t a metaphor.
Instead of clouds, flames roared, and venomous smell seeped through the torn heavens.

If the sky is burning…
then the ground below is bound to be in an even more desperate state.

As if to prove it, the massive mountain ranges began to melt one by one.
Plunge, plunge—
The mountains collapsed from afar, sinking into a crimson sea incapable of sustaining life anymore.

Earth and sky.
At this final battlefield where everything was crumbling…

One man stood.
Amid the ruin, there was Han Taepyeong. His eyes glinted coldly.

“This is the end.”

Han Taepyeong raised his cursed sword. The long battle was finally over.

“…”

Meanwhile.

Han Taepyeong’s adversary, kneeling in defeat, said nothing. Instead, they lifted their gaze to the blazing sky, staring at it endlessly.

Their demeanor was far too composed for someone who had brought disaster upon the world.

“I shall cut you down.”

Han Taepyeong delivered his sentence.

He was too exhausted to wait for his opponent’s final words.

And… no, there was no other reason.

He was simply too weary.

“You…”

The dark figure, who had been staring at the fiery sky, finally spoke.

The ultimate adversary opened their mouth.

“Han Taepyeong. You know nothing.”

A tired voice echoed out. Again, the calmness was uncharacteristic of a villain facing the end.

“Is that so.”

Without hesitation, Han Taepyeong swung his sword.

Three years.

It had been three years since he graduated from .

Three years for his humanity to wear down, for his kind nature to turn into cold ruthlessness.

Three years was enough. More than enough.

Boom!

A thunderous strike fell.

No, even the god of thunder would retreat before such an attack.

As the earth-shaking sound faded, a message appeared.

[You have defeated the final boss.]

Han Taepyeong looked up at the sky.

The same sky the dark figure had been gazing at. He stared at it for a long time, silently and patiently.

The dark figure has vanquished.

Every trial was overcome.

At last, he reached the moment he had longed for, the one he believed would bring an end to it all.

Yet the sky still burned.

It was only natural.

The idea that defeating evil would bring peace to the world was something out of a fairy tale.

There are things that, once lost, can never be regained.

There are things that, once torn apart, cannot be mended.

Like the burning sky.
Like the melting mountains.
Like the sea turned into hell.
Like his fallen comrades.

There are countless things that cannot return.

“Everyone…”

Han Taepyeong bitterly reflected on all that had vanished, gazing into the empty void.

The desolation in his eyes… was fixed on me.

That’s right.

Han Taepyeong was staring at me beyond the monitor. And I was looking back at Han Taepyeong in the game.

[You have cleared Hell Mode.]
[Bonus points will be determined based on growth.]
[Additional points will be awarded for the number of hidden pieces collected…]
[Additional points will be awarded for the number of secret achievements unlocked…]
[Additional points will be awarded for the number of sub-episodes resolved…]

The score calculation continued briefly.

[Your final score is as follows.]
[999 / 1,000 points!]
[You have cleared .]

As the simple message faded, the ending credits began to roll. I threw off my headphones.

“I did it!”

Tick, tick.

The clock on the wall pointed to 3 o’clock. Obviously, it wasn’t 3 PM.

“I did it! Did you see that? Ah, you saw it!”

The semi-basement studio I rented came cheap because it was poorly built.

The walls were so thin you could hear the sound of dishes being washed next door. You could even guess the size of the plates.

But if you scream like this at 3 AM?

You’d probably get stabbed.

“I cleared Hell Mode in Superhuman Chronicles!”

Still, I didn’t hold back.

I’m fine, after all.

The soundproof booth I installed with a hefty price tag worked like a charm.

Even if a heavy metal band performed here, it wouldn’t be an issue. I danced around and checked the stream info.

[Stream Title: 900+ Attempts at Hell Mode]
[Viewers: 10,000+]
[Stream Time: 11 hours 32 minutes 52 seconds]

Kim Seungtae, a game streamer, had just cleared Superhuman Chronicles.

On his 999th attempt.
The first in the world.

• Kim Seungtae! Kim Seungtae! Kim Seungtae! Kim Seungtae!
• Is he a god? Is he a god? Is he a god?
• Just got here. How many minutes of my life did I lose?
• You should just reincarnate, lol.

The chat flooded in real-time.

With over 10,000 people talking, the stream itself was lagging.

“Alright~ Calm down, everyone. You all knew I’d pull it off, right?”

My energy dropped. My heart wanted to do flips, but my body was already at its limit.

Streaming for hours every day had wrecked my condition lately. Still, I hid my fatigue and played along.

“Ah, didn’t I tell you? I had a feeling this time I’d really clear it. Just look at the ending credits. Something big is bound to show up, right?”

The black background of the game’s ending credits scrolled endlessly.

Han Taepyeong (Survived)
Shin Ohyul (Deceased)
Young Master (Deceased)
Auror Khan (Deceased)
Principal (Deceased)
…

 

Yoo Eunha (Deceased)
Marie Caulfield (Missing)
Lee Baek (Deceased)
…

Father Johann (Deceased)
Ahn Eunhoon (Deceased)
…

 

Everyone deceased (Varied causes)

“This company really went all in on the grim theme.”

I muttered to myself.

Like other packaged games, Superhuman Chronicles displayed staff credits after the final stage.
But its credits were… peculiar.

“If you’re just listing characters, why bother?”

Instead of the developers’ names, only the characters were listed, along with their fates: dead, dead, and more dead.
Even after beating the game, it left a strange, hollow feeling.

• You’re the one who killed them all!
• Not a single line for the programmers who poured their souls into this, lol.
• This ending is as underwhelming as ever.
• It’s identical to Easy Mode.
• Everyone wiped out except Han Taepyeong, again.
• Kim Seungtae probably hates the devs now.

The chat grew restless.

Nobody had stayed up until 3 AM just to watch a regular stream.

They had sacrificed their sleep to witness the Hell Mode ending.

“Why hasn’t anything changed?”

Superhuman Chronicles has four difficulty levels.

Easy, Normal, and Hard all share the same ending:

Everyone dies.

No, to be precise, Han Taepyeong survives alone.

Even after defeating the final boss, the world ends. A totally unhinged ending.

But any seasoned gamer could guess the twist.

Ah! There must be a True Ending.

Hell Mode must unlock the True Ending.

It’s a classic setup to encourage multiple playthroughs.

I thought the same and kept retrying Hell Mode…

But once again, everyone was dead.

No, Han Taepyeong was the sole survivor.

“What’s going on? Where’s the True Ending?”

“Ughhh.”

“Anyway, that’s it for today. My fingers are toast.”

Over 10 hours of streaming.

Playing that long turns gaming into work. I held my trembling fingers up to the camera.

• Please put them away.
• Our Seungtae, Esports legend, injured hands. 😭
• Presenting the Medal of Honor to Kim Seungtae, who saved the world at 3 AM…

No one understands my struggles.

As I squinted at the chat window with a sideways glare, I caught sight of some compliments.

• Kim is pretty good at Superhuman Chronicles.
• Isn’t he the first to clear Hell difficulty in the world?
• Nobody else has beaten Hell difficulty?
• Nope. Since there’s only one person who cleared it, he’s officially ranked number one in the world. LOL.
• News outlets are already reporting that someone cleared Hell difficulty…

I was startled.

“Really? The news? Which one? Guardian? No, it’s got to be Time magazine, right? Time, for sure.”

After searching, I found it. A gaming community post.

Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be international news?

Still, the bold headline, “Korean Streamer Mr. Kim Sets World’s First Clear Record”, gave me a sense of pride.

“Wow, Superhuman Chronicles really is a hit game. Were they watching my gameplay in real-time?”

Need I say more?

Superhuman Chronicles is undoubtedly a hit.

The all-time number one concurrent player count for a packaged game!

Thinking back to its release, when people called it “not even a game,” it’s amazing how far it’s come.

Of course, back then, “not even a game” wasn’t meant as a compliment.

It was harsh criticism, aimed squarely at its brutal difficulty.

• Excuse me, this game is assaulting me.
• The enemies are terrifying….
• Guys, how do I get a refund for this?

Upon release, the game was flooded with bad reviews across all communities, maintaining a dismal score of 2.2 out of 10.

That was Superhuman Chronicles.

A trash game praised only for its decent graphics.

But the criticism didn’t last long.

• The wildest game of the year.
• Dark Souls with an academy theme.
• YouTubers collapsing mid-play.
• Not safe for the elderly or children.

The insane difficulty attracted moths to a flame.

The claim that it was an “unbeatable game” drew in the cyber masochists.

When rumors spread that Superhuman Chronicles was akin to “Cyber UDT training,” even YouTubers joined in.

Internet broadcasts featuring the game sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

Celebrities shared videos on social media of themselves passing out after a taste test.

Totally trash….

It was garbage, but its sheer dominance as garbage set it apart somehow.

Anyway, the point is:

“Haha… I’m the world’s first…”

I started to feel good about myself.

One in seven billion.

What man wouldn’t be drawn to such a title?

• The world’s best time-waster LOL
• The gamer with the most masochistic tendencies LOL
• The top-ranked punching bag of the world LOL

I slammed my desk. Bang!

Public opinion was still hostile!

What’s the deal here?!

It was all because of the ending. I was genuinely pissed.

“Why is Han Taepyeong the only survivor again?”

I had hoped Hell difficulty would be different.

Maybe I’d expected too much from this trash game with an unknown publisher and anonymous developers.

• Taepyeong-nim, how about trying Destruction difficulty next?

One chat message caught my eye.

Destruction difficulty?

That’s not even a thing.

“Hey, Otherworld_123. If you don’t want to get banned for trolling, just shut up and praise me!”

I even called out the username (successfully baiting them) and absentmindedly pressed the button.

The difficulty selection screen popped up.

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Hell
• Destruction (New Difficulty!)

“Uh… What?”

Why is it there?

I immediately hit the back button at lightning speed. I gasped.

No one saw that, right?

I’m officially the world’s best player at Superhuman Chronicles now.

So I know.

I can’t do it.

Not talking about Destruction difficulty specifically.

I’m saying I can’t beat Hell difficulty again.

It took me over 900 tries to clear Hell.

And that was with unbelievable luck on my side.

But Destruction difficulty?

I feel like fainting.

• Hey, Kim! We saw it!
• Mr. Kim, are you cheating us here?
• Start Destruction right now!
• De
• Struc
• Tion
• Start
• Start
• Destruction

I shut my eyes tightly.

So they saw it.

What now? What do I do?

“Wait a minute. Otherworld_123. You’re suspicious. Who even are you?”

How did they know about a Destruction difficulty that I didn’t?

I had one plausible guess.

This guy’s a dev, isn’t he?

Otherwise, there’s no way they’d know about the existence of Destruction difficulty….

“You’re busted.”

I scrolled through the chat log. I needed to find out what kind of maniac made such a sadistic game and conduct a serious interrogation.

But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find Otherworld_123’s chat.

“Was it a hallucination?”

Have I been gaming too hard?

But Destruction difficulty really exists.

“…? Whatever. Let’s do this.”

I massaged my temples.

It’s too late to pretend I didn’t see it. The chatroom is on fire, practically melting down.

I know I won’t beat it, but maybe I can give it a little taste.

“Starting tomorrow: Kim Seungtae’s Destruction difficulty! Either Superhuman Chronicles or Kim Seungtae will face destruction! It’s Destruction Showdown!”

• Kim Seungtae initiates self-destruction.
• Seungtae Kim has collected 500 death flags.
• Seungtae-nim, when will you stop rage-quitting?

“Enough! Not today! I’ve streamed too much! I’m exhausted! Everyone, just go to bed.”

• I just woke up. Why are you leaving already?
• I’m having lunch right now….

So cooperative.

The introduction of Destruction difficulty calmed everyone down.

“Well then, thanks for watching the stream! See you tomorrow, if nothing comes up.”

I swiftly ended the broadcast.

Tomorrow’s stream would probably draw an unprecedented crowd.

Destruction difficulty was terrifying, but it might be fun with the viewers.

Besides, I was a little bitter about the game.

“That ending was just… ugh.”

I flopped onto my bed and buried my face in the pillow, mumbling.

“Why did they have to kill off all the characters…?”

Characters I had struggled with countless times. I had hoped, but they all got wiped out again….

ZZzZzz….

My exhaustion dragged me into a deep sleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

[Prepare yourself.]
[Entering Destruction difficulty.]

Just before I fell asleep.

I thought I saw some sort of message, but I was too tired to read it.

Hmm….

Ah, whatever.

I had a funny dream.

Ridiculously, I dreamed I entered the world of Superhuman Chronicles.

“Welcome to the Superhuman Academy, a haven for young heroes….”

Hmm.

I smacked my lips in my sleep.

Isn’t this the Superhuman Chronicles opening?

The Academy’s entrance ceremony.

A cradle for nurturing elite superhumans.

This is where Han Taepyeong meets the friends who will be part of his future.

Of course, in the end, they all die.

“The history of the Superhuman Academy….”

Hmm. Long-winded.

Am I still dreaming?

“…has produced countless heroes….”
“…and let me emphasize to you all….”
“…blah, blah, blah….”

This is dragging on.

Seungtae, you’re not fully awake yet, are you?

I opened my eyes.

(Continued in the next episode)