I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 35

After the incident was resolved, thirty knights from Stella's Order of Magic Knights immediately flew to the Marthevis Cemetery.

The Magic Investigation Unit recovered the necromancer's body, and the Marthevis Cemetery underwent a purification process.

“We're doomed! How are we supposed to make a living now?”

“Oh, we’re all going to die! Us ordinary citizens are all gonna die!”

The merchants stood stubbornly, shouting at the top of their lungs, but it was futile.

“Would you still be able to shout if your heads had fallen into the hands of skeletons? If it weren't for those cadets, you’d already be dead!”

“Uh, I mean...”

“I hope no one else is ever harmed by those kinds of selfish thoughts. We'll start purification today.”

“Oh, please give us a little time…”

"Right now!"

Baek Yu-Seol hadn't known this, but it seemed Stella's influence extended to public authority.

The cadets safely returned home on an airship operated by Stella. As soon as they arrived, Baek Yu-Seol received a stern reprimand from Instructor Lee Han-Wol.

“A certain someone said he was going to practice in a place with beautiful mountains and fresh air. The air in the cemetery must've been pretty rejuvenating, huh?”

Baek Yu-Seol had no retort to the heavy sarcasm. "Well… something seemed to be happening on the way, so we stopped."

"I see,” Lee Han-Wol said, turning around to leave. “You’re hereby penalized according to the rules. There are no exceptions.” Pausing, he added, “However, even though you violated the school rules, the fact that you jumped into the battlefield without hesitation to protect your friends is commendable. I’ll give you a corresponding reward. Please wait.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.” 

‘Thank goodness. It would’ve felt awful to only get demerits for doing a good deed.’

"Sigh, I’m so tired."

It was nearly dawn, and although the purple night sky was really beautiful, it was time for the sun to rise.

His thigh still hurt. Despite receiving emergency treatment from Flame and an excellent healer, the pain would persist for a few more days.

Luckily, it wasn't a serious injury, and his recovery rate was surprisingly faster than average. He was told he could return to classes soon.

Due to the influence of Mana Leakage Delay, his recovery ability also improved.

‘I don’t want to return to class so soon… Can’t they just hospitalize me instead?’

Thinking such thoughts, he hobbled along until someone approached with light steps and tapped his shoulder. It was Flame.

“Old man, I owe you one.”

"Do you? Then treat me to a meal sometime."

"Mooching off a broke student?"

“I’m a student too.”

"Fair enough."

Baek Yu-Seol let out a small laugh. Contrary to his initial thoughts, he was starting to think that Flame wasn't such a dangerous person after all.

In the game, players manipulating Flame often caused her to rob Eisel of her talents and opportunities, but the real Flame wasn’t like that.

Afterward, Dok Cheol-Gwang, Ban Di-Yeon, Hong Bi-Yeon and her group members, as well as Kashif Derek, thanked him one after the other and disappeared.

Last was Eisel.

However, her expression was quite dark. Seeing that, Baek Yu-Seol had an ominous feeling.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

Eisel was a person who always had a bright smile on her face. No matter what burdens she carried, she stood firm and overcame all hardships and adversity. She was such a great character.

“I am really thankful for today.”

"Uh. Buy me a treat later,” Baek Yu-Seol jokingly replied.

Watching his nonchalant expression, Eisel thought silently.

There was one fact that she knew from this incident. No, even before that.

'There are many outstanding people besides me in this world.’

She considered herself a genius. That thought had not changed even now. However, there were plenty of geniuses who were just as good or even better than her.

It wasn't until after entering Stella Academy that she truly realized.

The world was wide, and there were many geniuses.

She had entered the academy with the intention of becoming the best, but she soon realized that it could never be achieved easily.

She had to be the best.

So she had been working hard to be the best.

But now, doubt began to creep in.

‘Can I really succeed just by trying?’

With so many geniuses her age already ahead of her, could she truly revive her family?

Such depressing thoughts kept running through her mind, and Eisel struggled to rein them in.

She suppressed all the anxiety in her heart.

Anxiety was more terrifying than fear.

Fear was a response to perceptible and real danger, whereas anxiety was derived from the inner subconscious.

‘I can do it,’ she reassured herself internally. Yet, her limits were clear. No matter how much medicine you apply, if you don't treat the fundamental wound, the blood will always find a way to seep out.

Without even realizing it, Eisel asked him, “Do you think… I can do that too?”

Hearing that question, Baek Yu-Seol’s expression grew somber. 

It wasn't a good question. 

Not because the question itself was difficult, but because it was a question she shouldn't have asked. 

In the original story, Eisel experienced every trial imaginable for a protagonist and somehow overcame them. 

The necromancer's attack should have been no different. 

She would have worked hard to overcome the ordeal with her own strategies, and eventually, her efforts would have led to a positive outcome.

However, due to Baek Yu-Seol’s intervention, Eisel only faced trials without overcoming them herself. 

Like a damsel in distress, she merely depended on others around her and was saved—that was the limit of her role. 

Therefore, despite going through several episodes, she still had a fragile heart. 

Initially, she endured the light drizzle, got used to it, endured the downpour, and eventually endured the waterfall and even the tidal wave. 

Yet her resilience to trials themselves had completely vanished.

'... What shall I do?’

Half-hearted consolations are useless.

Empty words were meaningless.

They would only hurt her more.

Instead, he said from the bottom of his heart. "I don’t think you need to ask me. You’ve already achieved things others said were impossible."

“... Huh?"

A girl who lost her parents at a young age and was abandoned as the child of a traitor.

However, she did not give up on life in the end and immersed herself in her magic.

During a blizzard, she hid her body under a cave and trembled, but she studied with a magic book she used her last penny to get from a used bookstore. 

Even when she had to starve, she would prefer a pencil to a loaf of bread. She would sleep for two hours a day, and in the midst of toiling labor, never let go of her pen. 

And, miraculously, she entered the most prestigious academy called Stella Academy.

What else could this be, if not a miracle?

“So, you’ll create more miracles in the future too.”

Eisel closed her lips tightly and looked at him without saying a word.

A cool breeze blew and brushed past her hair.

“How do you… know that for sure?”

“Because I’ve been watching you all along.”

"Huh?"

He instantly snapped back to reality. 'Wait a minute. Does that sound like I'm a stalker?'

Saying he had been watching her all this time made him sound like a pervert. 

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Baek Yu-Seol quickly turned away. 

Luckily, his face was shaded by the setting sun.

“I should get going.”

As Baek Yu-Seol hurriedly left, Eisel stood there for a while, mulling over his words. 

'He's been... watching over me...' 

No one had ever shown interest in the traitor's child. 

Even if they did, it was to mock and throw stones at her, not out of any genuine concern.

However…

Today, that idea had been shattered.

'You’ve already achieved things others said were impossible…'

Those words traveled through her heart, coursed through her veins, and pierced her mind like a refreshing breeze.

Her heart started beating slowly. Her passion for magic and her goal that seemed to be lost were waking up again.

Before she knew it, dawn broke in the distance.

A new morning unraveled itself.

***

The world's best mages were gathered in the city of Camelon, the home of magic.

In a certain place.

The Magic Elders’ Council had people who had fallen so deeply into magic that they could no longer get out of it.

Curiously, among those present, there were very few people in their 40s or older. Most of them looked to be in their 20s and 30s.

“What? A necromancer? In this day and age…”

“They don't really die. They just keep coming.”

The elders of the Council of Elders heard the news from an agent of the Dark Mage Extermination Squad who appeared to be older than they were.

“Tsk, they’ll retreat on their own eventually.”

It wasn't once or twice that necromancers couldn't forget the old days when they ruled the world and made a fuss.

However, there was one piece of information that surprised even the elders who didn't pay attention to the necromancer.

The Class 8 mage, Rudrick, asked with his eyes wide open, "What? Stella's cadets defeated the Class 5 necromancer?" 

"Yes. Thirteen cadets participated in the fight and came out unscathed. Even I can't believe it, but it’s said that only one cadet took down the main body of the necromancer."

“That doesn’t make any sense. Even if he was about to die soon, a necromancer is still a necromancer. What, are you saying that some of those cadets were at Class 4 or higher?”

"No, sir."

‘Well then, that’s simply impossible, isn’t it?’ Rudrick couldn’t believe it.

He couldn’t have imagined it. That was why it appeared even more strange.

'How can cadets defeat a necromancer?'

A properly raised necromancer could command thousands of troops. Even if he were only Class 5, it would not be strange if the actual danger was judged to be Class 6 or higher.

Yet 13 cadets defeated the necromancer.

"I can't believe it."

“But it’s true. In particular, among the cadets was Princess Hong Bi-Yeon of Adolevit. Hae Won-Ryang, the successor of the Full Moon Tower; Flame, a genius mage who commands light, nature, and matter; and Eisel, the successor of Morph, were among them.”

"Hmm. I see. Then they must've had some kind of plan."

All four of them were geniuses.

Rudrick had to omit the latter part. In this magical society, the existence of a real genius had a mysterious power that made nonsensical phenomena understandable.

“Then it must be one of the four who killed the necromancer.”

“Again, that's not it."

"What? Who could it have been?”

The knight hesitated for a moment, then slowly parted his lips.

“It was a cadet named Baek Yu-Seol.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard the name.”

“Yes. He’s a very unique cadet with a strong sense of chivalry. I hear that Stella’s principal, Elthman Elwin, is keeping an eye on him...”

“Well, well. You live long enough, and you see all sorts of interesting things.”

‘Baek Yu-Seol, huh? I’ll remember you.’

He had a feeling they would soon meet…

***

Many people thought that the flow of time was constant, but that was an illusion. There were as many as two factors in this world that could give a variable to the speed of time.

First, according to Einstein’s theory of relativity, extremely massive objects can distort spacetime, causing time dilation.

Second, time flows faster on weekends.

That was right.

In the blink of an eye, it was Monday. The weekend was gone. 

'I didn't do anything on Sunday...'

Still, today was a special day. 

When an ordinary mage did something momentous, he was invited to the Mages Association of Camelon and was given a reward. Stella was different. If there was a need for a reward, they did it by themselves.

This was only possible because the Principal was a Class 9 mage, one of the few ten such people on the entire continent.

Thirteen cadets stood in a line on the platform, and behind them, the entire student body was arranged in neat rows. 

Baek Yu-Seol, the star of the show, did not care much for the fanfare. In one corner, mage dispatched from the Ministry of Magic and the Mage Tower buzzed around, reporters snapped photos, and a few nobles milled around.

‘Couldn’t they just quietly summon us and give a commendation? I don't know why people of such high rank like showing off.’

"Hmm…"

Contrary to his thoughts, Hong Bi-Yeon seemed to be in a great mood. Without even realizing it, her lips were curled up in a smile that almost reached her ears. 

She had spent her whole life trying to earn her mother's approval, and now she was being awarded for being a model student. She must have been showered with praise.

"What are you looking at?"

Hong Bi-Yeon caught Baek Yu-Seol staring and her expression suddenly hardened. However, a slight smile still played at the corners of her lips.

‘Do you enjoy it that much?’

He then took a close look at the faces of the cadets lined up beside him: Hong Bi-Yeon, Flame, Hae Won-Ryang, and Eisel. 

He had intended to stay out of the main characters' way and quietly do his own thing, but within a few months of entering the school, he ended up involved with everyone and even became one of the most notable cadets.

"And what are you so happy about?"

"Huh? W-What do you mean? I fought too, you know?"

"Yeah, right. You’re pretty good at talking for a troll."

"A troll..."

In one corner, Ban Di-Yeon talked down on Kashif Derek as if she were genuinely disgusted.

Until now, it isn’t apparent that when she scolded Dok Cheol-Gwang, there was a hint of affection in her tone. But when she genuinely berated someone, her expression and tone transformed into something truly frightening.

Eisel wasn't very friendly to Kashif either, so he ended up being bullied alone.

‘You don’t have to be so angry.' He wondered if there was a need for that. 

‘By the way, Dok Cheol-Gwang’s muscles are no joke.’

Dok Cheol-Gwang was one of his favorite characters in the game. Although he seemed to be constantly bullied by Ban Di-Yeon, it was still nice to see.

'I'd like to get to know you a little more, but now isn’t the time.’ Baek Yu-Seol idly wondered if he could become friends with him.

While everyone was chatting…

Thump!

The noisy hall suddenly became quiet.

After a long wait, the true protagonist of the event had finally appeared.

The cadets receiving awards were not the main characters. The reporters weren’t there to take pictures of them. The officials from the Mage Tower weren’t there to see them either.

Standing at the pinnacle of humanity, the master mage of Class 9, Elthman Elwin.

They had gathered just to catch a glimpse of his face, as he was famously reclusive.

'Wow.’

In the game, Elthman Elwin appeared quite often as he was one of the characters with the possibility of being included in the main character's reverse harem.

Unfortunately, due to some real-world restriction, like the Youth Censorship Committee or something, he wasn’t romantically involved with the protagonist in the game.

His age was set to 300 years, but his handsome teenage facial features were perfectly framed by his silver hair.

He always had a bright smile, but he was the world's strongest magic warrior with a destructive nickname of 'slayer'.

That was the true identity of that boy walking with a wobbly gait.

Gulp.

The sound of someone next to him gulping reached him.

Even though Elthman wasn’t exuding any mana, an indescribable pressure gripped Baek Yu-Seol’s heart and bladder. He suddenly needed to pee.

He instinctively wanted to lower his eyes and bow his head, but he forced himself to keep his head up.

Elthman Elwin didn’t pay much attention to cadets who couldn’t withstand his aura and lowered their heads.

For his plans in the future, the Principal need to pay a fair bit of attention to him.

“Oh, you guys are freshmen? Nice to meet you!”

“Principal, that’s idle chatter. Please follow the order of events.”

"Ah, I understand. You nag a little too much."

When the assistant secretary who followed Elthman quietly whispered, he complained like a boy his physical age who was bothered by his mother's nagging. He then picked up the letters of commendation.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Hmm, I’ll skip the formalities."

All the rehearsals that took at least three hours were condensed into just four words.

“Oh my.”

“Ugh.”

While everyone was shocked, Elthman patted the cadets on the shoulder as he walked past them.

“You all did well. Really impressive. Keep up the brave work moving forward.”

It seemed like a greeting, but he made eye contact with the cadets one by one. It was probably his version of a ‘test.’

Most of the cadets averted their gaze or lowered their heads, but Baek Yu-Seol stared back, pretending to be in a staring contest. 

When Elthman finally reached him, he smiled enigmatically. “You’re still working hard. Just as expected.”

‘Still working hard? What does he mean?’

But Elthman moved on, and Baek Yu-Seol couldn't figure out the meaning behind his words.

Regardless, once Eltman passed, he let out a sigh of relief. 

He had been so nervous, he thought he would die. His eyes were so dry from staring that they were almost tearing up. 

He decided to eat some blueberries when he got home.

Just like that, Elthman Elwin offered encouragement - or something like it - to the thirteen cadets and handed out the commendations, wrapping up the ceremony in an instant. Or so it seemed.

“Oh, right. The cadet who defeated the dark mage will get a ‘reward.’ Buy yourself some tasty snacks.”

Reward. Someone noticeably flinched at that word.

It was Eisel.

“And that concludes the award ceremony! Thank you!”

With that, the event truly ended. 

As the cadets and officials began to disperse, Baek Yu-Seol hurried to avoid getting caught in the crowd. 

As expected, a significant number of external mage tower representatives approached him.

“Did you say your name is Baek Yu-Seol? Cadet, have you chosen any mage tower to enter after graduating? 

“Do you have any thoughts of joining our company as a combatant?”

It was to be expected. Ma Yu-Seong and Flame had gone through worse things than this.

Ideally, Baek Yu-Seol wanted to accept all the offers. They were from famous magic towers he had heard of even in the game.

However, he couldn’t join any of them. He wasn’t a real mage. If they knew he was a half-baked mage who couldn’t truly use magic, would they still cling to him?

No, he didn’t think so.

“No. I’ll have to decline.”

So, he turned down all the offers. If, in the future, a mage tower still contacted him after knowing he was a half-baked mage, that would be the place that genuinely wanted him.

Until then, he planned to reject all the tentative offers thrown his way.

“Now, hold on a second. Could you please tell me the reason?”

‘Reason?’

He couldn’t say he was a crippled mage, so he gave another reason.

“Because it’s trending these days.”

"What...?”

In modern stories, protagonists thrived on their own without relying on guilds or anything else. That was the trend.

Right?