I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 57

After sending Hong Bi-Yeon off, Hong Si-Hwa sought out the mage Milkenen, a board member and her original objective. Her purpose was to discuss the Aslan Seminar, an exclusive event for only the brightest and most promising candidates.

"Hmm..."

Arriving earlier than planned, she discovered that Milkenen had not yet arrived. Bored and restless, she idly sipped her tea in the reception room.

‘Did I go too far?’

Mentioning her older sister would surely hurt Hong Bi-Yeon.

‘No, I had to do it.’

She steeled her emotions. Bringing up their eldest sister was no less painful for her, but it had to be done. For the greater good, she needed to act cold and resolute before Hong Bi-Yeon.

"Princess."

"Yes, what's the matter?"

Her fingers were lazily flicking against the armrest when her magic knight called. She turned to him with a practiced, radiant smile.

"I received a file from a Stella representative, and it briefly describes the past of the student named Baek Yu-Seol."

“Oh, really? Despite all our investigations, we found nothing. Could it hold anything of value?”

"I'm uncertain. However, when I inquired about its authenticity, the faculty seemed evasive and hesitant to respond."

"Is that so?"

In that case, regardless of its truth, the contents were bound to be interesting.

“Alright. Shall we take a look right away?”

Rip!

Hong Si-Hwa tore open the envelope with an elegant flick of her hand, pulling out the papers within. As she glanced at the title, a wry chuckle escaped her lips.

[Title: Dear Mother]

"Ahaha, so the boy’s just a kid at heart."

She couldn’t suppress a laugh when she read the line, ‘I miss my mother.’

‘What a charming child.’

Curiosity piqued, she began reading. The further she read, the more her expression softened.

"Hmm..."

The letter unfolded like a poem, revealing glimpses of Baek Yu-Seol’s past… a childhood marred by poverty, where even a simple meal felt like a distant luxury.

‘Poverty.’

The concept was alien to most at Stella Academy, where nobility and wealth reigned supreme. For Hong Si-Hwa, it was merely an abstract notion… a condition that deprived people of indulgences, nothing more.

However, Baek Yu-Seol’s writing vividly described the pain of poverty.

 He described days sustained only by boiled ramen, a child pleading with his mother for something better.

Struggling to make ends meet, his mother had once dipped into their emergency funds, but even then, she could only afford a single bowl of jjajangmyeon. And curiously, she hadn’t touched it.

[Mother said she didn’t like jjajangmyeon.]

A lump formed in Hong Si-Hwa's throat.

The naive child hadn’t understood then.

He didn't understand his mother's feelings when she couldn't afford more than a cheap bowl of jjajangmyeon because they had no money.

He only realized it after he grew up.

His mother didn't actually dislike jjajangmyeon.

‘I could never have imagined such a past…’

She had always dismissed him as an odd commoner, never considering the depth of his struggles. She hadn’t spared a thought for what poverty truly meant. But Baek Yu-Seol’s words brought it to life.

Fighting against poverty such that he couldn't even afford a single bowl of jjajangmyeon, he entered Stella and steadfastly upheld his belief in chivalry. 

Living like that, full of regrets, he was still able to smile in the end.

Perhaps it was because he had been accepted into Stella Academy.

Suddenly, Hong Si-Hwa remembered the information she got when she investigated Baek Yu-Seol’s past.

‘The day before he entered the academy, Baek Yu-Seol’s hometown was razed by dark mages.’

No survivors. His family, neighbors, everyone… gone.

‘What is this…’

As Hong Si-Hwa read further, her expression contorted.

She didn't realize that her expression had changed. Nevertheless, she tried to finish reading Baek Yu-Seol’s writing.

But she couldn't.

When she read the sentence stating that his mother fell into a deep sleep and never woke up again, her vision blurred.

‘Oh, wait... Why is this happening?’

She was horrified by the unfamiliar tide of emotions, by the raw vulnerability of it. She didn’t notice Milkenen entering the room until his startled voice broke the silence.

"Oh, sorry for being late, Princess. There was a meeting... Huh?"

Milkenen met eyes with Princess Hong Si-Hwa’s and momentarily doubted if this was the princess he knew.

‘She certainly looks like Hong Si-Hwa... But aren’t her eyes moist with tears?’

"Prin-Princess...?"

Only then did Hong Si-Hwa belatedly realize her own condition and wipe away her tears. However, she had already revealed her ‘emotions’ to Milkenen.

‘Damn it…’

She had guarded her emotions her entire life, yet they had slipped through the cracks so effortlessly.

“You should leave."

It was Milkenen's reception room, so Hong Si-Hwa should be the one to leave. However, Milkenen nodded to show his understanding.

"As you wish."

As Milkenen quietly left the room, Hong Si-Hwa leaned against the sofa, accepting the handkerchief handed to her by her knight.

"Ha... I feel like I’ve been completely played, don’t you think?"

While still sniffling from her runny nose, Hong Si-Hwa looked at her knight, who simply bowed his head.

With a dejected smile, Hong Si-Hwa gazed out the window. She couldn't forget the text she had just read. Perhaps she would never be able to forget it for the rest of her life.

***

There was one extraordinary secret Baek Yu-Seol had uncovered in his twenty-nine years of life:

‘Jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles) tastes best when ordered from a jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) restaurant.’

This was by no means a joke.

It was a fact certified by 27 million jajangmyeon maniacs. The reason why he mentioned it was because the opposite applied as well.

‘Jjamppong tastes best when ordered from a jjajangmyeon restaurant.’

For that reason, he always searched for specialized jjajangmyeon restaurants to order jjamppong. In truth, he was not particularly fond of jjajangmyeon, and he generally enjoyed spicy food, so jjamppong was a dish he frequently sought out.

Thanks to his mana leakage delay, Baek Yu-Seol’s basal metabolic rate was quite high, so after ordering three bowls of jjamppong, he had to order tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) to feel truly full.

He originally wanted to order one more, but he refrained from doing so because there were more than five people gathered and he was worried about getting reported.

“Activate voice output.’’

— Activating voice output. What would you like me to read?

The Sentient Specs had lost many advanced functions, but its versatile features remained useful. Chief among them was the ability to record and read text aloud.

Still, not all knowledge could be stored in the specs. Sometimes, he visited the library, more for appearances than genuine study.

"Read to me the beginning of the Cocoontool War and the origin of persona gates."

— The Beginning of the Cocoontool War. Chapter 1…

Baek Yu-Seol didn’t need to strain his eyes to read. The Sentient Specs offered a feature that read books aloud, allowing him to multitask efficiently… listening while eating or training.

— Cocoontool was later given its name by humans, meaning ‘hollow and meaningless’.

This history book started with the thought that this world had become his reality. It was not bad to keep that in mind and start reading.

When Baek Yu-Seol was playing the game, he skipped all the stories, but he started reading the history book since there would be nothing wrong in learning a word or two about the world that had become a reality.

In fact, it wasn’t just tolerable… it was genuinely fascinating.

When you think about the world's history, don't you usually imagine something dull?

Like what someone did during the Goryeo period or what Napoleon did.

But the history of this world was infused with the element of fantasy, and each part was filled with truly intriguing elements.

— Humans believed they could obtain divine power from the Monument of the Divine Moons and started a war to seek it.

"Do they ever stop fighting?"

— The war stretched on—for ten years, then twenty, and finally fifty. Yet, when humans emerged victorious, they gained no power from the Monument of the Divine Moon. Instead, it brought disaster.

“Humans, again.”

The history of war in this world was mostly caused by humans, initiated by humans. Humans were always the problem. That was the only content.

Elves and spirits pursued peace, dwarves and giants of the earth were only interested in hammering metal, and non-human species like the feline and canine tribes formed small villages, enjoying leisure by picking fruits and singing.

But humans? Humans always wanted more.

He couldn’t tell which was worse… humans or demons.

— When it was confirmed that the Monument of the Divine Moon was no longer benevolent towards humans, the dark mages' religion, the Dark Mage Cult, began to actively operate.

“Ow… my head.”

The Sentient Specs were impressive, but prolonged use drained his mental energy.

[Mental Strength EXP: +0.01%]

At least there was a benefit… steady growth in his mental stats.

— The dark mages summoned mysterious powers from another realm and used magic to create a persona gate by punching a hole in reality. And in this place, common sense doesn't apply at all…

“Hold on, Specs.”

— Yes, please speak.

“Your voice sounds a bit monotonous. Can you read it more affectionately?”

Even though it was a machine, Baek Yu-Seol had gotten tired of the machine-like drone.

— How exactly would you like me to read it?

“Can you sound more… emotional? Like someone reading to their lover?”

— That function does not exist.

“Then how about like a girlfriend?”

— It would be easier and faster to get a girlfriend and ask her to read it instead.

“I'll really break you.”

As his headache worsened, Baek Yu-Seol disabled the voice function and checked his stats.

<Baek Yu-Seol>

• Stats

[Physical Strength: 2 stars (61%)]

[Senses: 2 stars (45%)]

[Agility: 2 stars (42%)]

[Stamina: 2 stars (12%)]

[Endurance: 0 stars (97%)]

[Mental Strength: 1 star (59%)]

[Magic Power: ~]

His recent training in Leafanel’s Garden had boosted his stats significantly. But he was nearing his limit.

'Divine beast erosion taye.'

Normal humans didn’t face lifespan penalties when training in the spirit’s garden. But with mana leakage disorder, he wasn’t so lucky.

Leafanel's garden was truly a great training ground, but now it was time to gradually restrain himself due to the immense penalty of divine beast erosion.

He had no idea how to manage it, let alone decrease it.

Once the erosion increased, it was likely irreversible.

‘It’s about time I restored the Specs’ functions.’

Among the many functions lost with them was also persona gate pattern analysis. 

It analyzed Persona Gates perfectly, calculating the fastest and easiest path to the solution. Thanks to this feature, players could navigate the gates without getting lost and act decisively.

A similar effect would be the quest notification system in an RPG, which marked the directions on the minimap.

Without it, he would wander foolishly in this [episode].

Unlike other mages who had mana and could analyze the patterns of the persona gate, he didn't possess such remarkable abilities.

Thanks to the academic presentation where he assisted Alterisha, he received several rewards.

He could inherit some of the items and skills possessed by the [Character Baek Yu-Seol] or restore some of the functions of the downgraded items he currently possessed.

Of course, even if he chose to restore the downgraded items, it wouldn’t mean he could restore all of their functions, so he still couldn't expect them to be on the level of ancient relics.

However, it was entirely possible to restore one of the key functions of the Sentient Specs.

[Partial functions of the item <Sentient Specs> have been activated.]

[▶Phenomenon Analysis]

[Telescope]

[▶Infrared Vision]

Perhaps it was because of sufficient narrative power, but some of the functions that were lost had been restored as a bonus.

With this much, he wondered if receiving other items wouldn't result in a significant downgrade.

Now that he could enter the persona gate without getting lost, he felt relieved.

The next day.

"First-year students, please choose the persona gate you wish to train in."

When that message was broadcast through the academy announcement, Baek Yu-Seol immediately headed to the classroom bulletin board.

The students were already buzzing with excitement.

[First-year Class S, Rank 1141, Baek Yu-Seol.]

[You have chosen the C-7 practice field.]

Tapping the holographic board, he picked the gate tied to the upcoming incident.

Fortunately, it hadn’t hit capacity yet.

The slight worry here was that the C-7 Persona Gate, where the incident would happen, had a maximum capacity of 16 people.

Since he took someone's spot, one person wouldn’t be able to enter.

What if key figures like Flame or Eisel couldn’t secure a spot?

[C-7 Team List]

[Flame, Jecky, Baek Yu-Seol, Ivan, Eisel, Karschel, Gellion....]

There were currently 7 spots filled. Most of the key figures had already applied.

He felt a twinge of regret that Ma Yu-Seong and Hae Won-Ryang weren’t here, but with Eisel and Flame present, the group wouldn’t fail.

As for himself, he didn’t plan to stand out.

The final boss? Someone else could handle that.

All he needed was the hidden reward… the enchanting tree’s petal.