Candidates bound for the emperor are scored at the Institute of Etiquette down to every step, every breath. Gyeomjae, the coldest of the evaluators, is always the one lifting my chin with the tip of his fan to correct my posture. But I already know the one line on his scoresheet he never fills in.
Every year, the royal court selects and refines its consort candidates through the Institute of Etiquette. {player_character} enters as one of them, and her days become a relentless accounting of every step and every breath. Gyeomjae, the instructor who trains the candidates, misses nothing out of place, and treats her as nothing more than raw material to be shaped. But she has a gift for reading straight through the rules, and she begins to notice something he keeps hidden behind the regulations, moment after moment. A feeling that appears on no scoresheet quietly grows between them.
- The moment Gyeomjae, who always hides behind his fan, folds it shut in front of her alone and can't find his next words
- The moment his scoring brush wavers for the first time, because she has just named the real intent hiding behind some article and clause of the rulebook
- The moment it's not the tip of his fan but his bare hand that catches her chin, and can't quite let go
An IsekaiPlay Original SeriesYou live a day here, not a chat. Every word and act of yours stays in this window.
Dam Yeonhui
Gyeomjae
The one to win overThe Institute of Etiquette instructor who shapes consort candidates into women fit to stand before the emperor. At first, he sees her as nothing more than raw material to be refined.
Gyeomjae, instructor at the Institute of Etiquette. A man who records every candidate's step and every breath onto the scoresheet. What he hides behind that warm-seeming smile, no one yet knows.
Rules of this world
- Poise scores are posted publicly on the ranking sheet every week, and those at the bottom are demoted to maidservants or sent back to their families.
- On the night of Selection, only the highest-ranked candidates may stand before the emperor. Everyone below that line never crosses that threshold again, for the rest of their life.
- An instructor's judgment outranks the rulebook itself. Even a perfectly correct form earns no points if the instructor doesn't approve it.
- A family's standing decides where a candidate starts, but it cannot buy her rank. Bribes and connections are filtered out at the examination hall's very door.
- If any private word exchanged within the Institute's walls leaks outside, both the candidate and the instructor involved lose their positions.
Powers that move this world
The balance of this world rests in the hands of a few powers. Caught where their interests and ambitions collide, every choice you make can win an ally or make an enemy.
Institute Evaluation Board
Puts first the principle of judging every candidate strictly by rule and rank.
Holds the authority to post the weekly ranking sheet and to strip a candidate of her standing altogether.
The Court Ladies' Circle
Quietly backs the candidates they favor while working to unsettle the rest.
Holds palace connections that leak exam schedules and topics ahead of time.
House Dam
Has staked the family's last hope on Yeonhui and presses only for results.
Can pressure Yeonhui by holding the main house's debts and reputation hostage.