I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 60

Leaving Flame standing there in confusion, Jecky positioned herself in front of one of the four corridors.

"Since the professors clearly intended this situation, we just need to face it without losing our cool. Got it, everyone?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"So, I'll go first."

With that, Jecky stepped into the corridor without hesitation. The other students froze, staring after her as she vanished from view.

If this was indeed a test, then any moment spent wavering would likely count against them.

"I... I'll go in too."

"Well, I've always been prepared for situations like this."

Hong Bi-Yeon sighed as the students rushed toward their respective corridors.

‘No one’s thinking this through.’

Without any clue about what lay ahead or where the passages led, they were simply choosing at random.

What’s worse, based on what the NPC mentioned earlier, monsters were almost certainly waiting inside. Even if the points were awarded individually, teaming up with a few others would make it easier to earn higher scores.

‘Why can’t they see that?’

She glanced sideways at Baek Yu-Seol.

If anyone here was capable of strategizing and interpreting the situation, it was him.

Back during the necromancer’s attack, he had stayed composed and taken charge of the situation.

In the simulated battle against the monsters, he demonstrated his wit and exceptional tactics by defeating five medium-size monsters.

If there was anyone worth following, it was Baek Yu-Seol.

"Where are you headed?"

Several students had the same thought as Hong Bi-Yeon. When Eisel approached Baek Yu-Seol with her question, the others subtly leaned in to hear his answer.

‘Does it even matter which path we take? They probably all lead to the same place… No point overthinking it.’

In reality, Baek Yu-Seol didn’t think much about it. Once they entered the passage, everyone would be randomly scattered anyway. So he just chose one casually.

"I'll just go this way," he said, standing by the leftmost corridor. Eisel followed behind him.

"Then I'll go this way too."

"Why?"

"You seem to have a better sense of what’s going on."

"No, you go the other way."

"I don't want to."

"Oh, come on."

Baek Yu-Seol gave her an incredulous look, but before he could argue further, he sensed a presence behind him. Turning around, he found several more students trailing after him.

"Ahem."

"Ahem."

Even Hong Bi-Yeon had joined the group, keeping a watchful eye on him.

‘These guys… They can’t even think for themselves.’

Noticing the mood, a few other students quietly drifted closer as well.

“Ahem, then I’ll just… join too.”

And so, with the exception of Jecky, who had already set off alone, fifteen students ended up in the same corridor.

Though it was ridiculous, there was no meaning in making a fuss, so no one said anything.

Baek Yu-Seol was the first to step inside the corridor.

Whoosh!

The air grew thick, as if pressing down on them, and a damp, dimly lit hallway stretched out before them.

"Uh, what? Where did everyone go?"

"They disappeared..."

The latecomers gasped in surprise. Despite entering together, most of the group had vanished.

‘Huh… Didn’t expect to end up in the same corridor as Hong Bi-Yeon.’

Sixteen students had been divided into groups of four, scattered across the corridors. Eisel and Flame were likely in the same group.

"Looks like we can’t regroup for now. Let’s keep moving."

The hallway had an ominous air. Beyond the shattered windows, only solid walls could be seen… no sky, no horizon.

Baek Yu-Seol wondered why windows had been placed here at all. Most of the lights overhead were broken, and the few still working flickered weakly.

"There’s some kind of statue up ahead."

“You can see it?”

Thanks to his mana leakage delay, Baek Yu-Seol’s physical senses were sharper than most. Combined with the new infrared function in his Sentient Specs, he could see clearly even in the dark.

But it was different for the other students.

“Light a fire.”

At his suggestion, a few students conjured glowing orbs. Light magic wasn’t their specialty, but even basic spells were enough to push back the shadows.

Still, their field of vision remained limited. They couldn't see the statue mentioned by Baek Yu-Seol.

Still, their vision remained limited. It wasn’t until they moved closer that the statues came into view.

"You saw it from so far?"

"Wow, how do you have such incredible vision?"

The students murmured in awe. Even Hong Bi-Yeon looked mildly impressed, though she stayed silent.

"But… are these really just statues?"

There wasn’t just one statue… they lined the hallway in rows. Each one depicted a dancer, frozen mid-motion, clad in the same elaborate dress.

The figures were so lifelike, the students instinctively tensed as they passed by.

At the end of the hallway stood a door, firmly locked and sealed with an unknown force.

"I know unlocking magic, but will it even work here?"

"Hard to say. We couldn’t analyze the gate, so this is probably out of our depth."

Hong Bi-Yeon tightly shut her mouth and looked around.

‘This feeling…’

‘Something’s not right.’

Her instincts warned her that the statues held the key to unlocking the door.

Without being able to analyze the persona gate, they had no choice but to rely on observation and intuition.

"Hey, commoner. Any ideas about this gate?"

Hong Bi-Yeon asked directly, and Baek Yu-Seol blinked before replying. "No."

His answer was slightly disappointing.

"But I think I know how to get through it."

"Really? Without analyzing it?"

"You don’t always need analysis to figure things out."

Baek Yu-Seol gestured toward the statues.

"Look closely. Each one has a different pose, but they’re all performing the same kind of dance."

There were nearly ninety statues in total, each intricately carved to capture a specific movement.

Hong Bi-Yeon studied them and nodded thoughtfully.

"The Requiem of the Dead Serena. It was a dance that Serena, who couldn't bear her own tragedy, performed right before she died."

"That's right. You know it well."

"Dance is an integral part of etiquette."

"Then you must remember the steps clearly, right?"

"Well… uh."

Finally understanding Baek Yu-Seol’s intention through his smiling words, Hong Bi-Yeon hardened her expression.

‘No way…?’

Her eyes swept over the statues with renewed urgency.

That’s when she saw it. The movements of the statues weren’t random… they were sequential.

What she had first dismissed as a chaotic display of dancers was actually a seamless choreography frozen in time, each statue capturing a single moment of the performance.

But there were gaps.

There’s exactly four missing steps.

The same number as the people in their group.

"So... if we fill in those empty movements with our own, will it work?"

"Uh, yeah? That seems to be the case."

That was the puzzle of the first gate.

With the movements before and after each gap clearly defined, it wasn’t too hard to deduce the missing steps.

"Alright, let's each take a movement starting from the end. No need to actually dance, just imitate it."

"I'll take this one."

"I'll take this one..."

Even without Hong Bi-Yeon explaining the steps, the students found their positions and performed the corresponding movements.

There was a reason this dance was so famous… dancing had long been considered a vital aspect of noble etiquette.

As all four of them took the vacant positions, gears clicked into place!

With the sound of the grinding, the door at the end of the corridor opened.

"We did it!"

"Wow... It was easier than I thought. I'm glad to be on the same team as Baek Yu-Seol."

"Let’s go. There will be more puzzles ahead."

Baek Yu-Seol stepped through the doorway, sparing one last glance at the statues. They were fortunate this time. Had they hesitated or failed, those statues might not have remained so lifeless.

As they crossed the door and moved forward, a large room appeared.

The elegant space, roughly 100 square meters, contrasted sharply with the decaying corridor. It radiated luxury and warmth, as though it belonged in a grand ballroom.

Knight-shaped statues were arranged throughout the room. Some held swords aloft, others stood in solemn poses, while a few appeared to be looking toward unseen targets.

"Perhaps these knights are the riddle this time?"

"I think so too."

Indeed, the statues seemed a little suspicious. The previous riddle was also related to statues, so the students focused their investigation on them.

Minutes passed in tense silence.

"It's the carpet."

"Huh?"

Baek Yu-Seol spoke up. Until then, Hong Bi-Yeon had been observing the statues.

"Look at the pattern engraved on the carpet. They’re all dancing. When I partially interpreted the gate, the keyword 'dance' came up. Perhaps this time, the dance on the carpet is the problem."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Pay attention to the figure in the design. See how their fingers form different gestures? Matching those movements might solve the puzzle."

Hong Bi-Yeon felt a flash of realization at those words.

She had examined the room thoroughly but missed the most crucial detail.

'Why didn't I think of this...?'

For the second time, she found herself lagging behind.

Assuming the statues were key had been her mistake.

Rigid thinking - the very flaw she’d struggled to overcome - had clouded her judgment once again.

"Here, rotate this piece. Do you see the pattern now? It’s Serena’s Serene Tango."

"Oh, yeah. I know that."

"That's right. Does everyone remember the movements?"

"It's such a famous dance, so we've tried it many times."

"Good. Then match the carpet pieces to align with the movements."

As the students busied themselves with the task, Hong Bi-Yeon stole a glance at Baek Yu-Seol.

He worked methodically, his focus unwavering.

‘He’s definitely different.’

Since the moment she was taught the concept of unique thinking, she had known it, but now that she directly experienced the difference, he somehow felt distant.

The ability to grasp the secret of the statues in such a short time, to observe and think from a different perspective than others…

Surely, given enough time, Hong Bi-Yeon could have figured it out too.

No, anyone could have figured it out.

However, the persona gate inherently had a time limit.

The longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became.

Baek Yu-Seol, however, was never bound by time. The moment he saw the puzzle, he had already found the answer.

Strategy, creativity, observation, calculation, deduction—

In every field that required intellectual prowess, Baek Yu-Seol was undoubtedly a natural genius.

However, a question arose.

'A natural genius?'

No… something about the term felt wrong.

Baek Yu-Seol’s insights weren’t just intuitive… they were deliberate, calculated.

In other words, what distinguished him was not just a difference in raw creativity but a depth that stemmed from his experiences.

It felt as though Baek Yu-Seol had explored persona gates dozens, if not hundreds of times, allowing him to view things from a perspective different from that of Stella's first-year students.

‘Hmm, a difference in experiences…’

And with every step they took, Hong Bi-Yeon’s suspicions only deepened.