I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 15

A few days had passed since the semester began in earnest.

If there was one thing that Baek Yu-Seol felt while attending Stella, it was that high schools and universities in Korea could not even be compared to it.

If his stamina were not superhuman, he might have long collapsed.

“As you all know, 90% of the world’s population learns magic, but less than 20% can use offensive magic. Offensive magic should never be used without a license. Do you know why?”

“Isn’t it because offensive magic is dangerous?”

“Yes, that’s pretty much the answer. If there’s a bigger problem, it’s the precision of the magic.”

Magic was inherently dangerous.

It was incomparable to the Earth’s firearms. The wrong use of flame-attribute magic could burn down an entire village, while the mis-manipulation of water-attribute magic could cause the collapse of an entire building.

There was even an unfortunate incident where a passerby was killed instantly by shockwaves from earth-attribute magic.

“Offensive magic requires more precise control than any other type. That’s why studying Mana Orbitology is mandatory.”

Mana Orbitology's Professor Karleim wrote three words on the blackboard.

“Offensive magic is divided into three main categories.”

Shooting: the magic is directly fired from the caster’s body.

Target: the offensive magic is well-controlled with the option to attack specific coordinates.

Area: it targets a wide range.

“Each type has its pros and cons. Shooting magic instantly locks its trajectory and allows you to fire at the enemy quickly, but the enemy can see, dodge, or block it. Target magic can hit unconditionally if the enemy fails to recognize it early. Still, its offensive power is weak, and the coordinates are very difficult to control, so the casting time is very long. What about the characteristics of the area magic?”

“It attacks an entire area, hitting multiple targets at once.”

“However, the mana efficiency is very poor, so mages with low amounts of mana cannot use it well. There are downsides. Starting today, you’ll be focusing on shooting and targeting in interpersonal battles. You were bored of studying formulas in middle school, right?”

"Yeah!!!"

The students were tired of studying and now wanted to see some real action.

“Unfortunately, you have to memorize the orbit formula today.”

Groans of disappointment filled the room, but there was no avoiding it. The professor had to follow the curriculum and train the students step by step.

“Then, shall we solve this formula?”

Professor Karleim wrote the problem on the blackboard.

[At a distance of 760 meters from the north, Charles is running at 12.6m/s to the south. Find the trajectory and expected observation distance for Yeonghee to hit Charles with the water-attribute magic, Water Airforce.]

Yes, Orbitology Studies was essentially mathematics.

“Is there anyone who wants to answer this question?”

The students frowned at the mention of water attribute magic.

Water-attribute magic required fluid mechanics and complex formulas, making it notoriously difficult. Most mages avoided it unless they specialized in it.

As a reason, only basic knowledge was known, and it was hardly touched unless one majored in water-attribute magic.

To throw them this problem, it wasn’t just annoying. It was straight torture.

“I feel like I’m going to vomit just looking at the problem…”

“What kind of superhuman is Charles? How can a person run at 12 meters per second?”

Most of the students turned their heads and looked away.

Baek Yu-Seol, meanwhile, stared blankly at the professor’s back.

‘His hairstyle is so fucking amazing.’

Professor Karleim was bald with a distinctive hairline on the back of his head, similar to that of a ruler. 

To describe it more precisely, it was in the form of a y=ax (a>0) graph.

To put it another way, it looked like a quadratic graph with a positive coefficient.

Expressing individuality with a hairstyle that mirrored a math graph, he was clearly born for mathematics.

“Student Baek Yu-Seol?”

“Y-Yes?”

For a moment, Baek Yu-Seol was stunned and stuttered in response.

'Don’t tell me Stella’s professors can even use mind-reading magic?'

Fortunately, it was not a problem. Karleim said as he patted the blackboard, “You’re the only one who made eye contact with me. Come up and solve it.”

“… Yes.”

***

“Well, good job. You solved it so easily. Are you majoring in water magic?”

“No, I’m not.”

“I can’t believe you’ve arranged the Redinburg Equation so simply. It’s simply great.”

“Yes.”

Baek Yu-Seol solved the question much more easily than he expected.

Professor Karleim, on the other hand, was visibly embarrassed but did not hide his admiration. Baek Yu-Seol had solved it so quickly that it was almost mental arithmetic.

Even in Stella where geniuses gathered, it was an unusually quick solution to the problem. At that point, it was almost comparable to the speed of a college student, if not a professor.

“Well… Alright. Then, please complete these problems as homework by the next class.”

As soon as the lecture ended, Baek Yu-Seol quickly left the classroom.

Eisel, who had been silently observing him, followed suit.

After days of watching him from the shadows, she was certain of one thing.

Though he entered as the lowest-ranked student in his year, his brain worked quite well. …Maybe even too well.

“Excuse me.”

“…?”

When Eisel called out to him, Baek Yu-Seol stopped. He turned to face her, his expression crumpling in annoyance.

“What?”

“Why do you make that face when you see me?”

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“Looking at my face makes all my stress disappear.”

“Well, you stress me out.”

He had his reasons. For the past few days, he had been sensing Eisel secretly watching him.

“Okay, enough of that. Which lecture are you going to attend next?”

When Eisel shamelessly asked again, he was rather dumbfounded.

“Why do you keep asking me that? Are you interested in me?”

“What? It's rather offensive.”

“I’m even more offended.”

After saying that, Baek Yu-Seol ignored her and turned around to walk away, but Eisel hurriedly blocked his way.

“Come on… Wait a minute.”

“Why again?”

“Well, um, I’ve looked into some of your classes.”

“You’re investigating me now? I’m not into clingy kids like you.”

“You’re also a kid, right?”

'I forgot.'

When Baek Yu-Seol recalled his vulnerability, he remained silent while Eisel continued.

“Anyway, when I looked at your classes, they all provided easy grades.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

It required minimal effort to earn good grades, so he enrolled in those classes. As a bonus, he also took alchemy and magic engineering courses to improve his skills.

“Where did you learn such a strategy?”

“Learn? What’s there to learn? You looked into mine, so just copy them.”

Eisel frowned and sighed heavily.

“It’s okay to listen to something like Divine Moon Studies because it’s an A+ anyway, so that won’t affect you, but… If I take other courses, it might hurt your grades, right?”

“What?”

Baek Yu-Seol was a little surprised inside.

She was already overburdened herself, yet she still worried about how her decisions might negatively impact someone else’s grades.

“Hmmm, your grades are already low, so would it be fine for me to lower them further?”

Eisel’s thinking was quite mature, but she would not be able to digest it if she had too much on her plate.

“Anyway, can you recommend just one lecture to me? Something good for my grades.”

“Why do you want me to recommend a lecture?”

“I knew you’d say something like that, so I prepared a price.”

“Price…?”

'Kids these days must really love stuff like this. Where did they all learn to be this materialistic?'

‘As far as I remember, Eisel in her early days must have been a penniless beggar who had nothing…?’

Knowing Baek Yu-Seol’s confusion, she hurriedly continued the conversation.

“Do you know the secret of the academy's abandoned tower rumor?”

“Huh?”

However, she mentioned a story he was familiar with.

“I… know a bit about it.”

“Oh, really? There are very few people who know about it. It’s an abandoned building surrounded by a barrier preventing entry. I can’t go in there because it’s closed, but the truth is…”

“Wait a minute.”

Realizing this information could be dangerous in the wrong hands, Baek Yu-Seol hurriedly stopped her.

As she said, it was valuable information. Depending on who heard it, it could lead to massive benefits, or serious misuse.

In the game, Flame had used this very information to greatly increase her relationship points with the main male protagonist.

In other words, Flame knew Eisel had this valuable information in the original romance fantasy novel.

If Eisel shared this with the male protagonist, it could significantly impact the story. But sharing it with someone like Baek Yu-Seol, an extra, wasn’t ideal.

“It’s a scary story, isn’t it? I don’t want to listen. I don’t think it’ll be fun.”

“It’s not a scary story. Are you afraid of ghosts? You don’t even look your age.”

“Fine, I’ll just tell you for free.”

'Don’t waste that valuable information in vain.' Baek Yu-Seol swallowed those words back.

Anyway, just the thought that Eisel was sincerely trying to trade something was enough for him.

Despite the hardships and schemes she faced, he knew she was fundamentally kind-hearted, righteous, and tragically unfortunate.

“Hmm, you acted like you weren’t going to tell me anything earlier, but you suddenly changed your mind?”

“Yes. I don’t usually do this, but I’m telling you because you’re pretty.”

"Uh. Are you saying I wasn’t pretty earlier?”

“Just take it as it is.”

“Hmph. So, what are you going to recommend?”

“It isn’t directly related to your grades, but it’s really good for you. Take Meditation to the Abyss, that elective course.”

At the time, the importance of meditation wasn’t well understood, so Eisel’s skeptical reaction was natural.

Meditation was crucial for mages in the bishop position, who wielded destructive magic over wide areas. While understanding formulas was essential for accuracy, ultimately, the mind - which controlled mana - was the key.

“Meditation? That’s not a popular elective. First Divine Moon Studies, and now this? Do you have a thing for spiritual practices?”

"No, it's not like that."

At this point, meditation’s importance was still unknown, but it would soon become a daily routine for most bishops. It was an essential course for any mage aspiring to reach their full potential.

Reflecting on this, Baek Yu-Seol felt his head ache.

‘Wait, come to think of it, I’m also a mage, right?’

His growth had stalled recently. With no events or monsters appearing at the academy, there was no way to gain experience points.

He had been training to build his physical strength, but that had its limits.

‘Why didn’t I think of training like other mages?’

In the game, he successfully trained the character's constitution, whereby its mana would constantly travel back and forth between nature and the body, awakening the Mana Leakage Delay skill.

In the game, this was simply a mechanic where you clicked a button in the training ground to passively earn experience points…

Now that it had become reality, couldn't he do it himself with this body?

In the game, if he just grinded, his skill level would go up. 

However, it was slow, and there was a serious lack of content to acquire skill points.

If so, repeated training like this was the answer.

As soon as he thought about it, his mind felt clear.

‘I’m a mage, too. So, I need to train like a mage.’

He came to this conclusion and somehow felt better.

“My mentor was a bishop, and he greatly increased his magic power through meditation. I wouldn’t normally share this, but since it’s you, I figured it’s fine.”

“Hmmm, a mentor, huh. See? Being good-looking gets you places. Thanks. It’s a shame it’s not grade-related, but I’ll give it a try. I do have one elective slot left anyway.”

When the conversation was over, Eisel suddenly disappeared somewhere.

‘It was worth teaching her…’

Baek Yu-Seol was scared to think about how this action would affect the future. 

However, leaving a girl destined for misfortune without trying to help also weighed on his conscience, so he didn’t regret his choice.

‘Besides, you never know, do you?’ 

He wondered what expensive rewards he would get if she meditated and gained enlightenment.

‘… Well.’

He did not think that was gonna happen.

‘She’s practically a beggar like me right now.’ 

He quickly gave up on that thought.

***

After class, he returned to the dormitory and stared blankly at the empty room.

“The dormitory is very spacious.”

At Stella Academy, all students lived in dormitories which were graded and divided from Class F to Class S.

For players, this dorm system was like a ‘decorate your room’ feature, but for him, it was his only actual home. Baek Yu-Seol’s backstory was that his hometown had burned down, so he had nowhere to return to.

Class F and Class S dorms weren’t significantly different in structure. The rooms were identical, and the furniture was nearly the same. The main difference was the number of occupants. Classes F and E had four students per room, Classes D and C had three, and Classes B and A had two.

Class S students enjoyed single rooms on the highest floor.

The academy’s system of ranking mages by floor number was already well-established.

‘I’m lucky to be assigned to Class S and have a room to myself, but it’s a little lonely.’

Nonetheless, there were benefits as a result of it.

Baek Yu-Seol reflected on his earlier encounter with Eisel as he sat cross-legged in the middle of his room.

‘Meditation.’

Meditation was very important to mages. And although he could only use one kind of magic, he was still a mage.

Why did he still consider Flash and Mana Leakage Delay simple skills?

While it was possible to enhance abilities by earning EXP through hunting or completing episodes, stats and skills could also be improved through consistent training.

Having hardly exercised in real life and using mana for the first time here, he realized that he needed to familiarize himself with it. This wasn’t an issue that could be resolved by skill levels alone.

‘Simple stats are not important. This is reality, so I must adapt myself to my body.’

He still did not know much about his body. He couldn’t know everything just by looking at the status numbers. He had to move and feel it himself.

‘Activating Flash with a mouse and keyboard was very different from activating Flash in reality.’

Likewise, he would have to use auxiliary skills related to Mana Leakage Delay by relying on his instincts. Compared to other geniuses, he fell behind in many aspects.

He couldn’t handle magic, his abilities were among the weakest, and his control over mana was comparable to a newborn learning to walk.

In the game, Baek Yuseol used his Mana Leakage Disorder to circulate mana continually and successfully created sword qi by explosively releasing that energy. Although it wasn't emphasized due to his lack of presence, the fact remained that he was the first sword master to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship in a world full of magic. He had to walk the same path he - the other he - had once taken. 

‘Breathe in… Breathe out.’

Baek Yu-Seol could feel the mana entering his body as he breathed in and out.

The total amount of mana that entered in one breath. 

And the total amount of mana that escaped again.

The circulation of mana was determined solely by his breathing rate.

In other words, breathing is similar to the controller that handles mana.

If he gradually increased the amount of mana he inhaled with each breath, he would eventually achieve greater efficiency.

Initially, the mana he absorbed was just a spoonful, but with every breath, it began to grow. The increase was minuscule - comparable to a grain of millet - but it was still more than before.

‘Skills are not simply raised by accumulating EXP.’

'The more you use the skill, the higher the skill level increases.'

'Then wouldn’t it be possible to train and raise skills?'

Even skipping dinner, he closed his eyes and concentrated on meditating, maximizing the sense of Mana Leakage Delay.

***

Early morning. 

BaekYu-Seol opened his eyes as the sun rose and felt a new sense of change.

Mana Leakage Delay had a different feeling from when it simply existed as a skill.

Baek Yu-Seol, who had lived his whole life accepting the Mana Leakage Disorder since childhood, felt this sensation.

Baek Yu-Seol felt it, at least to some level now.

[The skill level of Mana Leakage Delay has increased.]

[The skill level of Flash has increased.]