I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 29

Students in Class S were entitled to have a dormitory to themselves. However, not everyone followed this rule.

Take Flame, for example.

She chose to share her dormitory with four others, preferring the company of peers her age.

Flame enjoyed socializing and got along well with everyone, from Class F to Class A, so her dorm was often bustling with students from various classes.

Currently, seven kids were crammed into the small, 66-square-meter dormitory, chatting happily as they savored desserts and coffee.

“Flame, are you okay?"

Someone approached Flame who was trembling with her head pressed against a pillow.

It was Jecky.

“... Uh."

“What is it? Tell us.”

"That’s right."

“Are you worried about something?”

“It’s just menstrual cramps, so don’t worry about it.”

"Really?"

The other girls quickly stopped paying attention to Flame and resumed talking amongst themselves.

‘How can I say anything? I’m not supposed to tell anyone. I have to suffer alone.’

'Baek Yu-Seol... He said that he’s forgotten his purpose...'

A side effect of regression was the loss of one's most precious memories and purpose.

He was walking forward with a sense of mission while leaving behind everything in the process.

Also, he said he wanted to live. Those words were heartbreaking, drilling a nail straight through Flame’s heart.

‘He wants to live.’

She would have dismissed it if someone else had said that, but Baek Yu-Seol was different.

If it was true that he returned with the power of the Silver Autumn Moon, he would disappear immediately after fulfilling his mission, and his existence would be erased entirely from this world.

No records, no memories, no traces… he would be completely erased from this world.

Flame thought she might not even remember this conversation they had today.

If he were a regressor, he had to have an aim that would make him fearless even under the threat of being wiped off.

But no. 

He had returned with a mission to save the world, yet he still wanted to live.

Even knowing his eventual fate, and despite his fear, he continued on this path.

Didn’t his words essentially mean, ‘Let’s only share part of the truth with each other’?

She had so easily made a promise that should never be broken.

‘From now on, all of his secrets…’

She resolved never to pry into them.

And if his purpose aligned with hers, she would do everything in her power to support him.

Beep!

The alarm magic rang on the dormitory door.

[Hae Won-Ryang: Flame]

One of the other students stood in amazement as she checked the automatically engraved letters.

"Flame? Uh… Hae Won-Ryang is here to visit you.”

"...Press the 'not available' button for me."

"But..."

"This is Hae Won-Ryang…"

But Flame pulled the blanket completely over her head, as if too bothered to respond.

After looking at her for a while, Jecky looked at everyone's expression.

'Then, by any chance, if I... go out, would it be alright?'

Her heart raced. The idea was foolish, but she couldn’t bear not seeing him.

If Flame continued to ignore him, wouldn’t his attention eventually shift to someone else?

“I’ll be right back, guys.”

Jecky quietly snuck out of the dormitory and soon reached the ground floor.

In the distance, Hae Won-Ryang was blankly staring at the night sky.

She saw him under the hazy light. Even those indifferent and cold eyes appeared beautiful to her.

"Excuse me..."

When Jecky shyly called out, Hae Won-Ryang looked back. 

‘I just came to tell you that Flame is not here. In the meantime, it would be nice if we could have a conversation, even if it’s only one word…’

But reality was harsher than her hopes.

“Who are you?”

“H-Huh?" Jecky stammered at that, genuinely embarrassed.

She often accompanied Flame and had seen Hae Won-Ryang several times. Surely, he’d noticed her name tag at least once.

“I-I'm Flame’s friend...”

"Where’s she?"

Even now, Hae Won-Ryang’s attention was solely on Flame. Despite her disappointment, Jecky managed to respond.

“She’s resting because she’s not feeling well...”

At her words, Hae Won-Ryang blankly stared into the air.

‘Is she really this upset because she confessed to a trash and got rejected?’

A deep sense of defeat pierced his heart.

'What on earth is so great about such an incompetent guy?'

What was the point of being considered a successor of the Full Moon Tower? 

He was an inferior student who could not beat even Ma Yu-Seong, who only learned magic as a hobby, and he was pathetic enough to be unable to express his feelings to a woman.

Even as he fooled around, Ma Yu-Seong would soar to unimaginable heights with his genius, and Baek Yu-Seol could move Flame’s heart with his glib tongue.

In the meantime, all he could do was envy and resent them.

No matter how hard he tried, he did not have the confidence to match up to Ma Yu-Seong or win Flame’s heart like Baek Yu-Seol.

Hae Won-Ryang’s head was filled with chaos.

He felt the pain course through his soul.

'Jealousy? An inferiority complex? Why am I feeling like this…?'

This was strange.

The old him would never have entertained such thoughts.

Why were these negative, filthy, and despicable thoughts swirling in his head?

'I must snap out of it. It shouldn’t overwhelm me.’

It had to be the stress, he reasoned.

Turning to Jecky, Hae Won-Ryang said, “I understand. I’ll head back. Tell her to take care.”

"Yes...”

After leaving those words of concern, Hae Won-Ryang disappeared toward the men's dormitory.

Jecky, staring at him, gritted her teeth and clenched her fist so hard that her fingernails dug into her palms.

‘It's annoying.’

She was in a bad mood. 

‘I am annoyed, so fucking annoyed.’

It had always been like this.

'Why? Why? Why always Flame?'

Anytime, anywhere, with anyone.

Everyone only looked at Flame.

Flame was always the one in the spotlight, always the one who received all the love.

She was as beautiful as an angel, had a warm and friendly personality, and possessed extraordinary talent, even mastering the magic of other races.

She had everything.

Even Jecky's first crush had a thing for her.

Jecky stared blankly at the night sky, her gaze endless and unfocused.

***

The First Main Tower, 79th floor.

Vice Principal's Office.

Stella Academy's vice principal and Class 8 mage, Archie Hayden, stood before Professor Maizen Tyren. “I heard you were humiliated by a student this time, Professor Maizen. How shameful. How do you feel?"

Maizen bit her lip. "...I have no excuse."

"Yes, you shouldn’t. How do you feel?" he pressed.

“... I feel wretched.”

“Is that all?”

Bewitched by his persistent questioning, Maizen answered honestly. “I feel horrible and angry. Why would such a bastard be given so much talent? I can’t understand it.”

"Yes. Very good. Haha."

Archie Hayden stood up, patted Professor Maizen on the shoulder, and whispered quietly, "Keep going with that mindset. How is the 'Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique' research going with the ‘doctors’? Is it doing good?"

Professor Maizen smiled for the first time. “Of course.”

She was conducting a very special type of research. In collaboration with the Moon Shadow Church - a secretive organization filled with brilliant ‘doctors’ - she was studying the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique, a fusion of alchemy and magic engineering.

It was an almost impossible endeavor.

Alchemy, which dealt with the essence of matter, and magic engineering, which gave attributes of magic itself…

Numerous geniuses had tried so far, and all had failed.

But this time, it would be different.

“Does your head feel a little clearer? The time has come for the effect of the special blessing I placed on you to expose itself.”

"Yes. Thanks to that, research is progressing rapidly.”

At those words, Archie smiled.

'Stupid woman…’

‘She probably doesn’t even know who’s deceiving her right now. Maybe even if she did, she wouldn't care.’

‘She’s a woman who would make a deal with the devil if she could obtain power and honor. A magic warrior to fight against the dark mages, who works for the dark mages...'

‘How much will the world laugh when they find out?’ 

Just thinking about it made him feel giddy with excitement.

‘The time is drawing near.’

Forced into hiding by the power of the mages, the dark mages had only one option left.

To develop a technology that outpaced anything the mages currently possessed, creating chaos in society.

'It’ll be possible if alchemy-engineering is completed...'

‘Soon, the time will come. Until then, I will wait quietly with bated breath.’

***

Alterisha had nothing that she could call a private laboratory. She only temporarily used the warehouse attached to Professor Maizen Tyren's laboratory.

Baek Yu-Seol had to submit the report for the group assignment. When he visited her, Alterisha greeted him with a puzzled face. “Haha. I didn't expect students to come even on weekends. Is that a report? Leave it here.”

He almost asked, "Where should I put it?" but he held back.

It was chaos incarnate.

‘Why’s the coffee cup hanging from the ceiling? What are those wads of paper flying everywhere?’

Baek Yu-Seol wondered if it was merely artistic flair. He thought hard as to why the fluorescent lights were dancing around on the floor.

“I’ll just leave it here,” he said, eventually choosing a thick book on the desk.

As soon as he dropped it, the entire support collapsed with a loud crash.

“Was that… my fault?”

"Hehehehe... It's alright. I can clean it up right away! It's okay! Don't worry!"

"Ah, yes."

Alterisha smiled shyly and hurriedly tidied up the lab.

She was a teaching assistant whom Professor Maizen constantly scolded, and even the students mostly ignored her because she wasn’t from Stella Academy.

To make matters worse, she wasn’t a Stella graduate but came from a street alchemist group.

Fortunately for her, she was able to join Stella Academy as an assistant. Unfortunately, she was assigned to work under Maizen. 

"Ugh, this is a bit heavy..."

"Let me help you."

When Baek Yu-Seol picked up a box and moved it, Alterisha revealed a surprised expression.

‘What are you so surprised about? It makes me want to show off my muscles.’

When he put all the boxes aside, a blackboard that had been hidden came into view.

"That's..."

It was a magic pen. A pen that would be developed in the future and used worldwide by all mages. He could not believe they already had a beta version.

“Oh, that? Professor Maizen said it’s the formula she’s been studying with the ‘doctors.’"

‘A formula?’

He had not even known such a thing existed. However, Alterisha seemed very interested in it, so she kept talking about it.

“That’s called the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique. I... I wanted to see it too, but the professor told me not to touch it, so I stopped. Maybe it's because I'm lacking? I wish I could study a formula like that someday. The professor always calls me an idiot and curses at me, but..."

"Is that so?"

‘That formula… It’s kinda familiar.’

Hazy memories floated through his mind like illusions, but he could not grasp them.

“Can I take a look?”

′′Please feel free to, but if you get caught by the professor, you’d be in big trouble. Well, he already hates you and me anyway…”

She mumbled under her breath, but Baek Yu-Seol was already deep in thought.

'A flower of hope that bloomed on a handful of dry and desolate land.’

This phrase had always been used to describe Alterisha.

After Professor Maizen's descent into darkness, Stella Academy would face tremendous upheaval.

There was a dark mage in the academy.

In addition to the loss of reputation, material and human losses were great because of the rampage.

Furthermore, led by Professor Maizen Tyren, the dark mages completed alchemy-magic engineering, the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique. The addition of this technology allowed the dark mages to go on a rampage for a while.

Yes.

Alchemy-Magic Engineering Studies.

Baek Yu-Seol had been waiting patiently, hoping that someday, Alterisha would acquire the technology of alchemical-magic engineering and develop an invention for him.

But now that he thought about it, it wasn't Alterisha's technology in the first place.

It was the technology of the dark mages.

'It wasn’t a day or two I was annoyed by hunting dark mages in the game due to item monopoly. Why didn't I think of this?'

Those items had made the already powerful dark mages even more dangerous.

At that time, the gap in technology had already widened, so it was judged that they would never be able to surpass the technology of the dark mages, but...

Alterisha.

As she stepped in, everything changed.

With her genius intellect, brilliant ideas, and unique, innovative approach, she mass-produced countless 'items' that the dark mages could never have even conceived of.

‘What if…’

What if Alterisha got her hands on this technology first?

“Assistant Alterisha?”

"Yes? Do you want some coffee?”

"No, that's not it..."

Baek Yu-Seol looked into Alterisha's eyes. She was like an immature girl who now looked erratic for her age, but the moment she was given the slightest chance, she would immediately spread her wings and fly away.

From now on, he would give her every little chance.

“Could it be that Professor Maizen is bullying you? Isn’t it annoying?”

"Huh? Why would you ask such a question…?"

“If there was a way to get revenge very refreshingly, what would you do?”

“Ehehe, I'm only an assistant, and if I try to go for revenge and get cut off, I’d really be kicked out into the street! Hmm, being homeless is its own fun, though.”

“So, how about this? You’ll become a better alchemist than Professor Maizen. No, better than all the alchemists in the world.”

At his words, Alterisha looked at him blankly and laughed like an idiot.

“Yeah, then… That would be great.”

With that said, Baek Yu-Seol was convinced. Alterisha was already tired of being tortured by Maizen. By the reality of being stuck in a dusty storage room, doing nothing but supporting the professor.

By her resentment, lamentation, and anguish over her own talents rotting away without ever being able to spread her wings.

At some point, Alterisha must have dreamed of becoming an alchemist who could create inventions freely... a true scientist.

Though she may have had to temporarily shelve that dream out of despair over reality.

'That dream... I'll make it come true for you soon.'