Whether by natural causes or through artificial means—
They were beings who had replaced their hearts with unique crystals resembling the magic stones embedded within monsters. Having transcended their human limits, they were now known as Demonics.
Bound solely by instinct, their minds devoid of ideologies, beliefs, or any sense of moral compass, they congregated into an organization known as the Demonic Society.
In the game, these were recurring adversaries that players frequently encountered as they advanced through the storyline.
Among them was Yi Ga-hyeon, the Doll Demoness.
She was counted among the Six Devils who symbolized the Demonic Society, notorious for frequently appearing as an especially troublesome antagonist.
「Yi Ga-hyeon」
“So, you’re the disciple of Two-Fanged Demon. I was so curious about what you might look like that I even snuck into the entrance exam to catch a glimpse of you—but sadly, I missed my chance. Seeing you now, though… I’m delighted. Your face is exactly my type. I expected you to be fierce-looking like your master, but you’re surprisingly different. Ahhh… I want you for my collection.”
Yi Ga-hyeon was infatuated with beauty, taking great pleasure in turning beautiful people into dolls, dressing them up to suit her twisted preferences, and keeping them as possessions.
Fascinated by Gang Han-byeol’s appearance, she developed an obsessive fixation, always looking for an opportunity to possess him.
‘An enemy who continuously appears just because the protagonist matches her taste in appearance… When I first played the game, I thought such an absurd plot point was unbelievable.’
Moreover, Yi Ga-hyeon’s abilities were as formidable as expected of one of the Six Devils.
She could fragment her soul, embedding pieces into others and thereby seizing control of their bodies. This allowed her to conceal her true identity, infiltrating Gang Han-byeol’s party and creating danger from within.
After numerous confrontations throughout the plot, players eventually face Yi Ga-hyeon’s true form.
「Yi Ga-hyeon」
“Too bad for you. Unlike my fragments, I am extremely powerful.”
Players inevitably struggled in fierce battles against her main body. Her original form showcased overwhelming strength, often consuming all the potions players had painstakingly collected or causing the death of party members.
‘Or worse, Gang Han-byeol himself might die, and the Game Over screen would appear.’
In the game 『Brave Hearts』, losing a party member was irreversible, restricting the attainable endings or triggering specific scenarios caused by that character’s death.
Thus, for someone like me who wanted to avoid a Bad Ending and live a happy life in this world, confronting Yi Ga-hyeon was a major hurdle looming in my future.
A most unwelcome development indeed.
If Gang Han-byeol ever died…
‘It would be straight into Yi Ga-hyeon’s Ending.’
That route led directly to annihilation.
Yi Ga-hyeon would seize control of the Demonic Society, turning anyone with beautiful features into her dolls—soulless collectables.
Given that all the characters allied with the protagonist possessed striking looks, none would escape becoming her playthings.
「Yi Ga-hyeon」
“My beautiful dolls. Which doll’s body shall I wear today?”
In the game’s ending scene, Yi Ga-hyeon wandered through a grotesque gallery where humans, packaged like dolls in toy boxes, were lined up neatly for display.
She walked nude, calmly inspecting each figure. Among these captive dolls, I, Do Gyeon-woo, was also displayed.
Eventually, she stopped before Gang Han-byeol’s closed eyes, trapped inside a toy box.
「Yi Ga-hyeon」
“Alright, I’ve decided. Today, I’ll wear Han-byeol’s body. Don’t worry, Han-byeol, your big sister will dress you up beautifully.”
The screen then darkened, and messages appeared:
[A world emerged where the beautiful became dolls, and the unattractive became slaves.]
[Yi Ga-hyeon ruled that world, and upon feeling herself aging, she slaughtered all living beings.]
[“Unattractiveness has no right to live.”]
[“Aging is not beautiful.”]
[After leaving those words behind, Yi Ga-hyeon transformed herself into a doll.]
[She became a doll.]
[Now, only Yi Ga-hyeon and her dolls remain in the world.]
[The world has ended.]
[─ Bad Ending ─]
The catastrophic ending was caused by Yi Ga-hyeon.
As someone determined to avoid that future, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to lower the difficulty of our inevitable confrontation.
So, right now…
‘I must kill her at least once.’
Before the main storyline could begin—
I would destroy part of Yi Ga-hyeon’s soul.
That was my firm resolution.
[You have entered the Gate.]
[Yellow: Spiritfall Island V]
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dense forest.
Surrounded by lush vegetation, glimpses of blue sky peeked through the gaps in the thick canopy above. An occasional breeze blew gently, refreshing against my skin.
Rustle.
The wind carried with it the distant sound of waves. It seemed the sea was nearby.
[This Gate has already been conquered.]
‘I must be at the island’s outskirts.’
I brushed aside the floating notification and assessed my location.
Since the sound of waves indicated the island’s edge, I chose to head in the opposite direction—toward the interior.
‘Everyone else is probably getting settled right now.’
For the next three days, examinees would fight fiercely to seize and protect their entrance exam cards. Safety wasn’t guaranteed, making caution essential.
Those adept at ‘hunting’ would already be planning ambushes and securing advantageous positions, preparing swift escape routes, and establishing bases.
Being early conferred clear advantages.
Yet, I had no intention of adopting such strategies.
‘I must find Yi Ga-hyeon, so I can’t afford to stay in one place.’
Since I didn’t know Yi Ga-hyeon’s exact whereabouts, constant movement was my only option.
Moreover, I didn’t even know what face she wore now.
Not that I didn’t know Yi Ga-hyeon herself—but rather the face of the examinee whose body she had commandeered.
It couldn’t be helped.
In the game, it had merely been mentioned briefly by the characters. An eccentric examinee had infiltrated the entrance exam posing as an evaluator, passed successfully, but mysteriously never appeared afterwards. Yi Ga-hyeon herself later revealed her identity as that examinee.
‘Heading deeper into the island increases my chances of encountering examinees and uncovering rumours.’
I decided my best bet was to move toward the island’s centre, where examinee activities would undoubtedly be concentrated.
Even if Yi Ga-hyeon herself wasn’t there, someone might have encountered her.
‘Did Yeon Ha-neul land elsewhere?’
Meanwhile, I scanned the surroundings, searching for Yeon Ha-neul, who’d entered the gate nearly simultaneously with me.
Unfortunately, she seemed nowhere nearby. I reluctantly gave up the search.
Just as I resolved myself—
Crack.
A faint sound of movement reached my ears.
I halted, stretching out my senses to detect any presence.
‘It doesn’t feel human…’
The presence was weak, rough, lacking precise flow—clearly the aura of a small monster, no real threat to me.
Yet, I couldn’t simply ignore it.
“Mana Bullet.”
I pointed my index finger toward the shrubbery where the creature hid, concentrating mana at the tip.
With a simple gesture, four bullets of mana shot out.
Squeak!
The creature couldn’t evade. Its faint cry signalled my attack had struck true.
When I approached, I found the tiny monster unconscious, sprawled flat on the ground.
[Monster encountered.]
[Pikatail (Rank. 01) x 1]
A Rank-1 monster, the Pikatail—a creature resembling a cross between a rabbit and a rat, with short ears and a long, rat-like tail. Considered among the weakest monsters.
“It seems luck wasn’t on your side today.”
Though pity rose briefly at its convulsing form, monsters were still monsters.
I fired another mana bullet into its small head, causing it to vanish into particles, leaving only a small magic stone behind.
As I pocketed the stone, reminding myself of potential rewards, my instincts screamed suddenly—
A sharp electric sensation rippled down my spine.
My instincts screamed at me, and I twisted my body sharply aside.
From the forest behind me—
Whooosh!
“…Shit.”
Something spun fiercely through the air toward me—a massive scythe.
The scythe sliced cleanly through the place I had just stood, carving straight into the trunk of a thick tree behind me. Had I reacted a heartbeat later, I would have shared that same fate, my body neatly divided into two halves.
Whooosh!—Clang!
Having soared upward after cleaving through the trunk, the giant blade curved gracefully, returning like a boomerang to its wielder.
I narrowed my gaze, expanding my mana senses towards the direction it had returned.
‘This time… it’s definitely a person.’
From within the shadowy thickets, someone slowly emerged. The approaching presence felt calm, disciplined, and heavy—undoubtedly another examinee.
‘The question is, who exactly?’
As the figure gradually drew closer, I drew out my indigo sword cautiously.
Among the examinees holding black exam cards, only one came to mind who wielded a giant scythe like that. I wished it could have been anyone else, but her presence had already carved itself deeply into my memory.
Soon, the shadowy figure took a clear shape from the darkness.
‘What rotten luck. Of all places, why did I have to run into her here?’
A female silhouette, wielding an enormous scythe. As strands of grey hair glinted briefly through the shadows, my suspicion was confirmed.
The one emerging from the woods was unmistakably—
“I threw my weapon as soon as I sensed another examinee nearby, but… oh, hey, look! It’s Gyeon-woo, Gyeon-woo!”
“…”
“What a pleasant surprise! Fancy meeting you in a place like this!”
It was Nam Yu-ri, from the Yeonseong Nam family.
Holding the oversized scythe casually beneath her arm, she greeted me with a disturbingly cheerful grin. But I couldn’t share her enthusiasm—I knew exactly what she was like.
‘This is bad. She’s going to attack me any second now.’
Nam Yu-ri lived for the thrill of feeling alive, and for her, nothing compared to the exhilaration of fighting for survival. She took pleasure in killing or deliberately placing herself in danger. Given our current circumstances—competing for exam cards—her intentions were predictable.
She was definitely itching for a fight with me, craving the stimulation of risking everything in battle.
Naturally, I had no intention of obliging her.
“…Right. Funny seeing you yesterday, and again today. What an incredible coincidence… almost too incredible.”
“Right? Maybe we really are connected by fate. Or perhaps we’re destined? I wouldn’t mind that at all!”
“Hahaha…”
“Hahaha?”
“You must be looking for a base camp too, right? Good luck with that, and let’s both pass so we can see each other again at the Academy. Anyway, I better go find myself a base now.”
I attempted to smoothly guide the conversation away, acting as naturally as possible, turning away to leave.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“…”
Unfortunately for me, Nam Yu-ri wasn’t buying it.
Her voice stopped me in my tracks. When I reluctantly turned around, I saw her violet eyes staring intensely, as if ready to devour me.
“Aren’t you going to do it with me?”
“…Do what, exactly?”
“Won’t you try to steal mine? Won’t you take it?”
“Again… what are we talking about?”
“My exam card, silly. We’re in the middle of an exam, aren’t we? Yet you want to meet and then just walk away without fighting? Without even trying? Isn’t that boring?”
Nam Yu-ri puffed out her chest deliberately, prominently displaying her black exam card.
I opened my mouth carefully, attempting one last persuasion.
“Didn’t we make a promise yesterday?”
“Oh! Do you mean our bet on who’ll buy dinner once we meet at the Academy? Don’t worry, my memory’s great—I haven’t forgotten!”
“But if we fight here, one of us might fail to make it to the Academy. Then our promise would become meaningless, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh, come on, Gyeon-woo, is that what you’re worried about? You really are quite cautious, aren’t you? Don’t worry about trivial things like that!”
Yu-ri smiled brightly, gripping her scythe firmly, pulling it out from beneath her arm as she continued.
“Even if you lose your exam card to me now, I’m sure someone as skilled as you could easily steal enough cards from others to make 200 points. So there’s no reason to worry about failing!”
“…Why exactly are you assuming that I’ll be the one losing? Have you never considered that you might be the one to lose?”
“Huh?”
My exasperation was met with confusion, as Yu-ri tilted her head curiously.
“You really are funny, Gyeon-woo.”
The bright smile vanished from her face, replaced instantly by an icy-cold gaze, violet eyes sharp and piercing. A sinister grin stretched slowly across her lips.
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I’m stronger. No matter how strong you might be, Gyeon-woo, I’m the one who’ll win.”
She immediately dropped into a combat stance.
It seemed this fight was unavoidable.
Resigned, I prepared myself as well, adjusting my own posture into readiness.
“Fine. We’ll see clearly enough once your card’s in my hand. You’d better get ready to collect those 200 points yourself.”
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