After ending my stream last night, I received an email from God knows who.
---
Sender: devs@wmail.cool
Subject: Congratulations, Mr. Legion
> Good evening, Mr. Legion,
We are pleased to inform you that you are the only player who has successfully triggered a new ending in the last 10 years...
As such, you have been chosen as the perfect candidate.
You will soon receive a mission. Kindly provide your address so we can deliver it directly to your home.
May the blessings of the Primordial Flame be with you.
---
That was it.
No explanation. No follow-up.
At first, I thought it was some kind of sick joke my fans has been working on lately.
Why?
Because I had just discovered a new ending in Atlas Online—something no one else had pulled off in over a decade.
See, Atlas Online has this insane feature called Infinite Variable. It lets you shape the story however you want. Turn the protagonist into a villain, marry one of your instructors, hell—even become an adult film star if that's your thing. It was wild.
But no matter how crazy things got, the story always led to one final destination: the End of the World Ending.
Every. Single. Time.
Ten years, and no one had ever broken that cycle.
Until I broke it.
Last night, live on stream, I took down a hidden boss buried deep in the game's lore. The fight was brutal, but the moment I landed the final blow, the story… ended. Not with destruction, but with the world resetting itself.
Just like that, the credits rolled.
My chat went nuts. People started calling it the Reset Ending.
Then came that creepy email.
And not long after, I stood up… tripped… and cracked the back of my head against the corner of my desk.
Hard.
The next thing I knew, I woke up here.
In this giant auditorium, surrounded by 2,000+ people, listening to some instructor welcome the top cadets of the year.
The instructor stepped forward to the mic. His voice echoed through the hall, crisp and controlled.
"Now, please give a round of applause for Cadet Han Seora."
The auditorium erupted into polite applause. The kind that's rehearsed. Controlled. Polished. Like the crowd wasn't cheering for a person—they were honoring a brand.
I glanced up as Han Seora climbed the stairs with scholar precision. Calm. Confident. Eyes shining with determination.
The star of the story herself.
She stood on stage like it was built for her.
Then the applause died down, and another name was called.
"Cadet Seo Ji-Hye."
More applause. Not as thunderous as Han Seora's, but still respectable.
One by one, the names came.
Cadet Elana Von Herana.
Cadet Victoria Astermont.
Cadet Wei Lian.
Cadet Ryuma Kento.
Cadet Ekaterina Volkhova.
Cadet Nabila Zahra al-Nasir.
Cadet Malik Danton.
And finally… Cadet Noah Seongvale's name got said again by someone in the back, even though he was already standing there.
Wait, no—that last one was just the kid behind me mumbling. Never mind.
Anyway.
Ten names in total.
The top ten cadets of the new year.
They all stood on stage like characters posing for a key visual. Each one with their own aura, their own presence, their own weight. Like someone intentionally arranged them for dramatic tension.
And me?
I was just one more face in the crowd. Just another seat filler.
The instructor let the silence hang for a moment, like he was giving us time to admire the ten chosen ones. Or maybe he just wanted the camera drones to finish getting their shots.
After a moment, he cleared his throat and stepped forward again.
"The first semester will started tomorrow. Now you can leave the auditorium and immediately follow the instructor right in front of the auditorium."
I leaned back in my chair, still trying to process the situation. One moment I was wrapping up my stream, the next I'm being told to attend school once again.
How am I supposed to go to school with my current age (31 mentally).
But still nothings really changed from the game's story.
The instructor kept going, still sounding like a game tutorial trying to be serious.
"Tomorrow, you will also receive your cadet identification tags, maps, starter funds, and orientation quests via your assigned terminals. Until then, rest. Prepare. And remember—this academy is not just a school. It is the frontline of humanity's hope."
Dramatic much?
The crowd gave a stiff round of applause, clearly unsure whether to clap for the speech or the fact that they just got a week of free time.
I stayed silent. My head was still spinning.
No menu. No logout button. No UI. No chat overlay.
No viewers.
Nothing.
Just me, in a stranger's body, holding onto someone else's memories, inside a story I thought I knew like the back of my hand.
But this wasn't just a game anymore.
It felt too real.
The air. The lights. The people.
I wasn't a streamer playing Atlas Online anymore.
I was a cadet at Atlas Academy.
I think I might die from confusion.
◇◇◇
Immediately after walking out of the auditorium we was greeted with a bunch of instructor wearing clothes with different design that came from all over the world.
In their hand they are holding a sign up high in the sky, the sign says [Cadet from rank 1-101], [Cadet from Rank 102 - 300], yadda yadda all that's stuff, and at the very last instructor a woman instructor holding a sign that says [SAS cadet].
My aunt's grabbed my hand from behind and says to me with worried expression. "If anything happens don't forget to call me with the smartband okay!"
"Don't worry about me, I can handle that much."
She then left me here with a suitcase and backpack, she goes to the entrance gate while waving her hand, I waved back and immediately lined up behind the instructor with the sign.
"Wait which category am I in?"
I'm checking my pocket to see if there's any id that I bring with me, but I find an Id card instead, a Blue id card labeled SAS.
___
CADET: Kylen Noor.
Age: 17.
___
"So I'm back being a poor person again huh?"
I pull the suitcase tightly and quickly lined up behind the instructor.
The number of SAS candidate is exactly 11, with 7 of them were woman.
"I guess man are richer here huh?"
The instructor with the [SAS Cadets] sign gave us a quick once-over, then turned on her heel like a drill sergeant with a clipboard fetish.
"Alright. SAS cadets, follow me. No stragglers."
Her voice was sharp, professional, and completely lacking in patience. The type of person who could probably melt titanium just by glaring at it long enough.
We walked behind her in awkward silence, dragging our bags past more fancy-looking dorms labeled things like [Goldfire Pavilion], [Dragon Crest House], and my personal favorite: [Azure Imperial Dormitory]—which looked less like a dorm and more like a five-star hotel pretending to be humble.
Eventually, we turned a corner, passed a long metal gate that squeaked like it had depression, and arrived at a building that looked… normal. Not run-down. Not glamorous. Just normal.
And that was somehow worse.
The sign out front read:
[SAS Cadet Dormitory – Section B7]
The instructor stopped in front of the door, hands behind her back, and turned to face us like a prison warden about to give a very polite lecture.
"Welcome to your temporary residence for the next three years," she said. "SAS dormitories are self-managed, shared-living quarters. Basic utilities are provided: water, electricity, air-conditioning, and a standard defense field in case of emergencies."
Standard defense field?
"Each room will be shared between two cadets," she continued. "No automatic cleaning functions, no personal attendants, and no spell-tech upgrades unless personally approved by an advisor or obtained through merit."
I heard someone groan softly behind me.
"Laundry facilities are on the first floor. Meals are not provided—you will be responsible for your own food. However, a shared kitchen and basic supply replicator are available in the common room."
I glanced over at a glass door that showed a glimpse of the inside. It didn't look awful, just… very student-housing-core. Beige walls. Basic layout. The kind of place where the smoke detector is probably more of a decoration than a functioning object.
"In addition," she said, her eyes narrowing, "SAS cadets are expected to uphold conduct befitting the Academy. You are the least-funded, lowest-ranked class, but that does not mean you are allowed to slack off or cause trouble. We expect initiative, effort, and results."
So basically—"You're broke, but don't be a problem about it."
"If you hate about the treatment then quickly raise your merits point, if you ranked up high enough you will be able to change to other dormitory."
That easy for you to say.
"Your roommates have already been assigned. Room numbers and partners are listed on your cadet ID chip. You may enter and settle in. That will be all."
She stepped aside and gestured toward the front door like we'd just been dropped off at summer camp. A very judgmental, monster-infested summer camp.
I sighed, dragging my suitcase toward the dorm.
Welp.
Time to see which lucky soul got stuck rooming with me.
I stepped into the dorm lobby, which smelled like a mix of generic cleaning spray, recycled air, and just a hint of despair. The lights flickered slightly, like they were trying to decide whether to work today or not.
Pulling out my ID card, I tapped it against the wall scanner near the directory screen. It blinked once before displaying my info.
---
Room 203 – Assigned Roommate: Seo Ji-Hyun.
Note: SAS Clearance. Shared bathroom. Shared wardrobe space. No AI assistant.
---
"Seo… Ji-Hyun?" I read the name aloud. "Huh. Feel like I have heard that name before, but where?"
I think for a quick second and forgot about it completely later. "Probably one of my sister's boy bands name."
I took the elevator up to the second floor, dragging my suitcase like a dead body and praying to whatever gods were listening that this 'Ji-Hyun' guy wasn't the type to talk about stats and leveling curves at 3 a.m.
Room 203 was at the end of the hall. I swiped my card, the door unlocked with a tired little beep.
The door slid open, and I stepped inside with my suitcase rolling behind me like a loyal pet. The dorm room wasn't fancy—two beds, a window that faced a wall, and furniture that looked like it came from a minimalist prison catalog.
And on one of the beds, already halfway unpacked, was my new roommate.
He looked up as I entered.
…And I froze for a second.
Because wow, that was a pretty face.
Sharp eyes, clear skin, slightly long black hair that curled softly at the ends—framed with a delicate jawline that could probably make half the academy question their sexuality. If you told me this guy was secretly a K-pop idol undercover as a cadet, I wouldn't even question it.
No, seriously. If he wore makeup and tilted his head just right, he'd look like one of those fantasy drama heroines. But the uniform he wore was neat, sharp, and his posture screamed disciplined introvert. His whole vibe was quiet, polite, don't-talk-to-me energy.
"…You must be Kylen Noor," he said, calm and unreadable.
"Uh… yeah. You Ji-Hyun?"
He gave a small nod and returned to folding a set of socks like he was performing surgery.
I squinted.
Man, this guy's so pretty… he must've gotten bullied a lot.
No way someone that delicate survived middle school without getting shoved into at least three lockers.
"Cool. I'll take this bed then," I muttered, pointing to the empty one.
He didn't say anything—just nodded again. The silence wasn't exactly awkward, but it wasn't friendly either. It was like rooming with a polite ghost.
I flopped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling.
Alright. Roommate's not a loudmouth, not a snorer (yet), and not trying to kill me. That's already better than 80% of random queue teammates.
But something about Ji-Hyun still felt… off.
Not bad. Just… like a mystery box with a do-not-open sign on it.
I wasn't sure if we'd end up friends, enemies, or victims of the same terrible cafeteria food.
But for now?
At least the room didn't smell like feet.
That's a win.
To be Continued.