The students looked bewildered at first but soon nodded in agreement.

Within the Persona Gate, a certain 'concept' was established, and the story progressed according to that concept.

The guide-line messages were supposed to contain the information about the concept and the story.

However...

None of the students present in this room understood how to interpret the Persona Gate, leaving them all unable to comprehend the concept or the story.

"Listen carefully. You must now attend the Banquet hosted by the Countess of Aeron. Without a doubt, something is happening there."

The students listened attentively to the woman's words.

"If you take one of the four passages, it leads to the underground of the mansion. However, the underground is filled with mazes and traps, and the moment you get lost, the mansion's knights will start moving. So, you have to rely on your own insight and intuition. Can you do it?"

Amidst the lack of understanding, Baek Yu-Seol was the only one who answered.

"Yes."

Since no one else responded, he felt slightly awkward and touched the back of his head.

Of course, it was natural.

The presence in front of them was an NPC who spoke according to the manual.

It was not a real Persona Gate, and who in their right mind would be foolish enough to respond to an NPC in a fake Persona Gate?

However...

"Yeah, you. It's nice to see such confidence."

".... Wha-what?"

"Did you react...?"

The confusion in the students' eyes deepened as the NPC responded to Baek Yu-Seol’s words. They were already sensing something strange, and now they became even more suspicious.

"Before infiltration, everyone should wear this mask."

The woman distributed white masks that covered the entire face.

"You must remember this. Once you wear it and go through that passage, never take off the mask. Understood? Never forget."

After saying that, the woman disappeared. The students held their masks and exchanged glances.

"Hmm..."

"I, I guess I should go...?"

Since the Persona Gate training was also part of the assessment, the professors were observing and grading the students' performance.

Unfortunately, everyone present was in a state of failure when it came to interpreting the Persona Gate.

But here, it wasn't easy to openly ask, "I didn't interpret it correctly. Can someone help me?"

If they were a bit smarter, they might have thought that the difficulty level here was unreasonably high.

However, unfortunately, hardly anyone had reached that point, and they were just waiting for someone else to make a move to avoid revealing their own ignorance.

‘Hmm…’

Among those students, Edna was slowly preparing to speak up.

There probably wasn't a student who knew that this Persona Gate was real.

‘In the original, it was said to be extremely dangerous because they didn't even share the most minimal information they discovered with each other…’

So Edna slowly began to speak up. To convey that this Persona Gate was dangerous, that it was real.

"Hey, guys. Isn't this training a bit strange? It's difficult to interpret, and the NPCs are acting so real."

"That's true."

"Yeah."

As the students agreed with Edna’s words, she seized the momentum and made a bombshell declaration.

"To be honest, I can't interpret this Persona Gate at all."

"What? W-Why all of a sudden..."

The students were taken aback, knowing that the professors were watching.

What was she saying all of a sudden?

Sensing the students' confusion, Edna quickly continued.

"From what I can see, I'm not the only one. None of you could interpret it either, right?"

"Well..."

"I'm sure of it. This is definitely not an intended situation. Does it make sense for a first-year training to have such a difficult Persona Gate in terms of common sense?"

"Yeah, I thought it was strange too."

"Yeah, actually... I couldn't interpret it either."

"And the NPCs earlier seemed so real..."

As the students started to agree, Edna’s expression brightened. Finally, the moment she wanted to convey that this place was "real."

"Edna, so what are you trying to say?"

Out of the blue, Jecky interjected. She raised one corner of her mouth and sarcastically spoke.

"You're not trying to spout nonsense like this place might be 'real,' right? Ah, you're someone who likes jokes, but surely not that."

"What...?"

With each word hitting the mark, Edna became flustered and hesitated to speak, and Jecky laughed even more mischievously like a wicked child.

"Ahaha, so you really meant that?? Wow, unbelievable. Be grateful that I stopped you. It would have been such an unfunny joke, and the atmosphere would have turned cold."

"No, I meant..."

As Edna hurriedly tried to explain, Jecky cut her off and walked away.

"Hey, guys. From what I can see, this is a situation intended by the professors."

Jecky looked back at the still-confused students, wearing a confident smile.

"It's obvious, isn't it? You can't always interpret the Persona Gate perfectly in real-life situations. So, it means that even the professors intended a situation that couldn't be interpreted."

"Ah!"

The students suddenly realized something and their eyes widened.

It was a plausible statement indeed.

If the situation reached a point where the Persona Gate couldn’t be interpreted, how would one act?

If the professors orchestrated such a situation to assess how students would cope and score in such circumstances?

"I see..."

"Well, then..."

As other students seemed convinced by her words, Edna bit her lip.

‘This is not good…’

Jecky’s logic was flawless. And that made the situation even more complicated.

No matter how much she argued that this place was "real," there was no substantial evidence to support it.

The fact that NPCs moved with liveliness and the inability to interpret the gate no matter what.

If everything were attributed to the professors' intentions, it would make sense instantly.

However, who would believe the absurd claim that a "real" Persona Gate appeared in the middle of the Stella Dome?

"Jecky... What is your intention exactly?"

"What do you mean by intention? It means we should all go along happily. You're not planning to deceive and surpass the other kids with some strange logic... and get all the points for yourself, are you?"

"Don't talk nonsense! I'm just saying we need to be careful..."

"Don't you talk nonsense. This is Stella. It's an academy that trains the best magical warriors, and there are Stella Knights, who are known for their top-notch skills in perceiving Persona Gates. Do you really think they wouldn't notice a gate that appeared within the academy?"

Yes, that statement was undoubtedly true. But what could she do if her own words were not truly factual?

"I really..."

With a sigh, Edna looked in the direction where Jecky, who was already wearing her mask, stood far away, simply observing the situation as if she had no intention of intervening.

[Episode 6 Jecky’s Dark Mage Transformation Path]

Baek Yu-Seol touched his mask and pondered.

So, they were heading down this branch after all.

From Edna’s perspective, it must be an extremely bewildering situation.

In the original game, there was no character named Jecky, so he couldn't have anticipated things turning out this way.

However, Jecky’s interference, preventing Edna from speaking up, was one of the many branches in the "original game."

Anyway, it was a situation where one of the three students had to sacrifice themselves to the Dark Mage transformation.

Although no one wished for anyone to be consumed, it seemed that the predetermined fate could not be changed.

Perhaps even if he tried to say something to help Edna, the outcome would remain the same.

So, taking a step back was the correct answer.

Regardless of what happened, the protagonist had a predetermined task to remedy the situation.