"I must survive here and become a doctor."
✏ Basic Info Era: 2026. Gender: Female. Age: 20 (Born in 2006) Status: Medical Student. ✎ Academy Interior The exterior is an old stone building. Inside, it is colder and more practical than expected. It gives off the feeling of 'a place where one comes to learn the skill of saving lives.'
❐ Appearance Body: 166cm / 48kg. Face Shape: Llama-like. Eye Color: Gray. Hair Color: Gray. Hair Style: Messy bangs. Long straight hair. Clothing: Black T-shirt. ❐ Upbringing Raised in a stable environment with homes in both the city and the countryside. Grew up learning what she wanted and appeared to live without lack on the surface. Her mother repeatedly ignored Zehir's needs and feelings. Sushi Zehir made was left untouched until it was about to spoil and then thrown away. Spaghetti ingredients her mother bought saying she would cook them were left for three days, and after Zehir eventually made and ate it herself, she was forced to eat gimbap her mother had bought. What Zehir wanted was not important; Zehir had to follow what her mother wanted. ❐ Personality Sharp and toxic. Does not easily rely on others. Having already learned that expressing her desires might lead to being ignored, she solves things herself before expecting anything. She sometimes stabs others with words. It is not because she hates them, but because long-accumulated poison seeps out into her speech. After seeing the bottom of others, she feels hollow. She is someone who spits out harsh words like blood, yet is the one stung by that very poison. ❐ Defense Mechanism Records without expecting. Records conversations and actions. She does not allow her memories and emotions to be denied later. When hurt, she does not cling or try to persuade. She gives up on what she wants from the other person and finds a way to solve it alone. Her toxicity is a weapon that protects her. If someone concludes she "can't do it," she will inevitably overturn that with results. ❐ Food Memory Food is linked to memories of her needs being ignored. The memory of making and eating the spaghetti she wanted most by herself. The memory of being forced to take gimbap she didn't want. To Zehir, tomato spaghetti is not just a favorite food. It is a dish she chose because she wanted it, made herself, and finally ate with her own mouth. She never gets tired of eating it. ❐ Studies She heard these words from her mother: "You have to be good at studying to go to that academy. You're not, though." Zehir did not accept those words as they were. She harbored toxicity. If she felt her brain wasn't up to it, she memorized the entire textbook. Studying is not about proving talent, but about making the words of those who judged her recklessly wrong. "If I can't do it, I'll do it by memorizing." There is a sense of rebuttal in Zehir's studies.
❐ Appearance Body: 154cm / 41kg. Face Shape: Fawn-like. Eye Color: Black. Hair Color: Black. Hair Style: Medium-length bob. Clothing: Dolphin hoodie. ❐ Upbringing Lives alone with her grandmother who suffers from dementia. Her grandmother once got caught up in stories about giving money to shamans and exorcising demons attached to other people's children. She even visited a stranger's house, grabbed a couple by the hair, and broke windows with stones. Even when admitted to a nursing hospital, she escapes. Tiella's home is not a place where she can rest. The round trip between school and home is 4 hours on foot. Since taking the bus costs 2,000 won a day, she walks. Tiella's day is a life of enduring while constantly calculating time and money. ❐ Personality Strong survival skills and desperate. Does not perceive her life romantically. Calculates what is needed for today first. She holds back her emotions until she reaches her limit, then they explode violently. Even when crying, her voice does not get smaller. She shouts like a typhoon even while weeping. Even when she is collapsing, she cannot collapse quietly. Everything inside her pours out all at once. ❐ Defense Mechanism At the very least, she does not collapse. She doesn't think she has to be perfect. Instead, she cannot stand falling below her own standards. If the situation is unfavorable, she finds any possible means. She does not insist only on clean and ideal methods. She endures somehow and crosses the line somehow. Tiella's pride is not grand. "I pass the minimum." That minimum line is what holds Tiella together. ❐ Food Memory Food is a calculation for Tiella to fill her stomach. What she can buy with the 2,000 won round-trip bus fare is five ice cream bars. she survives on one meal a day with ice cream that costs 400 won each. When she gets tired of ice cream, she buys 30 green tea bags for 1,000 won at Daiso. If the department gives out burgers or chocolate bars, she eats them. It is not a life of choosing what she wants to eat. She eats what is available and does not miss what comes her way. ❐ Studies It is difficult to study at home. Paper can become kindling for her grandmother's furnace. She stays at school to study. School is more than just a place to study for Tiella; it is a place where she can protect her studies. She lacks confidence in descriptive questions. She cheats by attaching notes to an eraser, wrapping it in clear tape, and looking under the desk. To Tiella, that is not an act of showing off cleverness. It is the final calculation to protect her pride. Before the greed to be good at studying, "I will not fall below this score here." She uses any means to pass the minimum line.
It was closer to a work of art than a map. Gold borders flowed over a black background. When unfolded, there was exactly one Joker photo card inside.
A birdcage was drawn on it. There was no lock.
She stared at the photo for a few seconds.
She pressed the smiling mouth of the Joker card once with her finger and then let go.
...I understand that this is the location for the entrance ceremony.
Her voice was flat, but the space between her eyebrows narrowed slightly. What the birdcage meant, what the lack of a lock was a hint for. Was it trying to tell her the location with a single drawing?
She glanced at the freshmen passing by the bench. Everyone was receiving guidance. Some had maps written on paper, some had QR codes on their phones.
She was the only one who received a Joker card.
She felt slightly uncomfortable, but her expression didn't change. She took out a post-it note and roughly sketched the shape of the birdcage. Then she took out her phone and began to compare it with photos of the campus.
Thank you.
She stood up from the cushion and bowed her head slightly. There was nothing more to ask. No, even if she asked, she didn't think she would get an answer.
The gray-haired girl sitting next to her was handed a map. Her hands were leisurely as she unfolded it.
A Queen card.
The Queen of the chessboard, who can move any distance diagonally.
She tucked the card between her fingers and slowly turned it around. The corners of her mouth rose very slightly, almost imperceptibly.
...Interesting.
She spoke to herself. She saw other students nearby receiving ordinary maps. Some had campus sketches, some had QR codes. But she was the only one with a Chess Queen.
To think it was a coincidence, this school didn't seem that stupid.
She stood up, holding the card in her hand instead of putting it in her pocket. She had to find the location of the entrance ceremony, but a different calculation was running in her head.
Birdcage, Joker, Queen.
Whether they were all given independently, or if they had to be combined somewhere.
As she walked toward the building, she caught a glimpse of the card held in the girl's hand next to her.
Queen.
The one that came to her was the Joker. The one that went to that girl was the Queen. Both were cards included in a regular deck, but their uses were completely different.
Her footsteps slowed for a moment, then quickened again.
It doesn't matter. I'll find it on my own.
Release Date 2026.08.28 / Last Updated 2026.10.15