I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 70

Occasionally, Flame dreamed.

Dreams where she soared on pure white wings through gardens blooming with iridescent flowers.

She wandered hand-in-hand with cherubic baby angels.

She slid down rainbows like playground slides, bounced on fluffy clouds, and swam in lakes brimming with jewels.

— Flame! Do you want this too?

— Um...

With vacant eyes, she received a gift from someone. It was a golden ring that seemed to radiate its own light as if it contained the sun.

— Wear this on your head.

A man smiled, revealing his snow-white teeth.

Another man beside him gently placed the golden ring upon Flame’s head.

Flame continued to gaze at it with vacant eyes.

"...You bastards! Are you trying to get yourselves killed?!"

Snapping out of her trance, she flung the ring to the ground.

"Hey! If you talk crap like that one more time, I'll pluck all your wing feathers and make a down jacket out of them! Didn't I tell you that?”

"W-Well, our wings aren't made of duck feathers..."

"This punk's talking back? Get over here, you're about to catch these hands."

"Eek! S-Sorry!"

The baby - no, adult - angels quickly retreated. Most of them were male, with three pairs of wings on their backs and golden rings on their heads.

Angels.

The most noble race that always looked down from heaven. They bowed their heads deeply at Flame’s shouting.

"Ugh, I almost fell for it..."

Flame touched her own head, hoping that the angel ring wasn’t donned on her.

Occasionally.

More precisely, once a month.

This would happen during the magical day when her body and mind became weak.

The angels tried to put the ring on her and take her to live as one of their kind in heaven.

She would let her guard down, thinking it was just a dream, and end up experiencing it for real.

"Flame... Instead of this, can't we live together in the sky?"

"That's right. The earthly realm is boring."

“But you guys are even more boring."

‘What’s so fun about a mundane life, pretending to play musical instruments and eating fruit?’

"Don’t even dream about it until I’m dead."

Upon hearing that, the men hung their heads with gloomy expressions. Despite her slightly weak heart due to their extremely good looks, Flame was not easily swayed.

"Hey, didn’t I say I’d visit after I graduate?"

"So wait until then. If you mess around, I’ll never go."

"That's not fair!"

"I'm sorry!"

"We were wrong!"

She couldn’t understand their obsession. Even in the novel, angels made appearances, but their detailed backstory was left vague.

Roughly speaking...

Maybe they were like that because there were no female angels.

Not once had she seen a female angel since arriving here.

But they said angelic blood flowed clearly in Flame’s veins.

Though they didn’t know why, if she wore the angel’s ring, she would transform completely into one of them and ascend to heaven.

‘I get that you guys are desperate for a girlfriend, but I still prefer being human.’

She wasn’t thinking about dating either.

Unless she committed some grave sin on earth, she had no intention of coming to such a dull place willingly.

"Anyway, send me back quickly. I have to go to the academy."

"Okay..."

The angels quietly approached Flame and extended their palms. Then, everything became hazy, and the world began to feel distant.

They smiled brightly and waved their hands at her.

— Remember, Flame.

— No matter what happens.

— We will always protect you.

***

During the morning class.

Flame stared blankly at the blackboard. The restless dream had left her unable to concentrate on the lesson.

"Are you okay?" A friend sitting next to her asked cautiously.

It made sense.

The lingering weight of the grand funeral the night before still hung in the air.

At the academy for training magic warriors, elaborate funeral ceremonies were held for students who died on missions.

The same was true when Jecky died.

Though Jecky wasn’t particularly liked - some even hated her - tears still flowed when her death was announced.

Many students cried during the funeral and sincerely mourned her.

Flame didn't cry.

She didn’t cry because she knew the truth about Jecky’s death.

The incident involving the persona gate was kept a secret. Only a handful knew what had truly happened.

As a result, most believed Flame was exhausted, struggling with grief for her fallen comrade.

But it wasn't true at all.

Fortunately, the somber mood on campus didn’t last too long.

The second round of exams loomed on the horizon.

Life was already hard enough, leaving no room for distractions.

Around this time, Stella's students would turn into zombies.

With bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair, they could easily be mistaken for the undead.

"Now, let's try to solve the next problem."

The students groaned, their faces resembling those of prisoners on death row.

Their brains already felt overloaded from everything they’d studied, yet the professor mercilessly piled on more material for the exam.

‘Why do I have to learn attributes I don’t even use…’

Flame sighed softly as she calculated the trajectory needed to hit a flying monster with an earth-elemental spell at a specific speed.

Though she had a general grasp from the novel, she hadn’t been able to anticipate every mathematical detail and thus had to study like everyone else.

Fortunately, there were many similarities between the mathematical formulas of her old world and the ones here, allowing her to learn faster than most students.

Flame combined magical formulas with techniques adapted from her hometown’s mathematical equations. Whenever she demonstrated them, it was groundbreaking… enough to shake the academic world.

A friend beside her leaned over and whispered, "We’re doomed. There’s a problem I can’t figure out. What should I do?"

"You should ask the professor."

When Flame casually suggested it, the girls gave her a look of frustration.

"Ugh... That damn magic professor. Do you know how pompous he gets when you ask him a question? Why does he want to show off his knowledge like that? We're just students."

“Right? And his condescending attitude is the worst. I really can’t stand it.”

"Sigh... Flame, I’m so jealous of you. You’re smart."

“What are you talking about? I get stuck on lots of problems too.”

"But still, you have someone you can comfortably ask, right?"

"What?"

‘Who?’ 

"Baek Yu-Seol, of course. He’s really smart. I don’t even get how someone with a brain like his ended up in last place."

"Maybe he deliberately ended up in last place? I heard getting zero points is harder than getting a perfect score for geniusess."

"Could be. Ah, I wish I could get closer to him."

"Actually, I heard Baek Yu-Seol has a crush on Eisel. That’s the rumor going around."

“Hm... Yeah, I can see that. But honestly, Baek Yu-Seol seems way too good for her. Eisel, that girl...”

As soon as they were about to say something negative about Eisel, Flame gave them a warning look.

And they immediately got the message.

Anyway, since the opinions of the female students were the same as the overall academy opinion, a few words of conversation were enough to find out what rumors were circulating within the academy.

‘Baek Yu-Seol has a crush on Eisel.’

‘But Eisel is an outcast at the academy, and Baek Yu-Seol is secretly popular.’

‘In conclusion, Baek Yu-Seol is too good for her.’ 

The story practically wrote itself once you paid a little attention.

Baek Yu-Seol clearly cared too much about Eisel.

Just recalling the development of the story that only Flame knew was enough to confirm it.

All the hardships and struggles Eisel should have faced had been mostly blocked by Baek Yu-Seol. Somehow, he made sure she lived an unusually comfortable life at the academy.

‘By now, she should have been struggling to find a part-time job again.’

But Baek Yu-Seol had meticulously manipulated the situation so Eisel’s wallet never ran dry.

He planned everything without her ever realizing it, shielding her from financial troubles completely.

Thanks to him, Eisel sailed through her academy life without ever tasting true hardship.

"Oh, by the way, where does Baek Yu-Seol study?"

The girls glanced at Baek Yu-Seol, who was quietly dozing off in a corner. He was always nodding off during class, and no one knew what he was up to at night.

"Does he quietly study in the Class S self-study room?"

"Yeah, sometimes there are students in Class A or Class S who do that. They become so elitist that they don't study with students of lower ranks."

"Oh, but Baek Yu-Seol doesn't seem to be like that."

“Yeah. He just doesn’t have many friends, but he doesn’t act snobby or anything.”

"Yeah, and he’s cool. He’s got guts when he talks back to the professors."

"Maybe it’s because he voluntarily keeps his distance that he doesn’t have many friends?"

"But why does he keep his distance from people?"

Why indeed?

In the end, he was destined to be forgotten by everyone as time passed.

‘So, maybe that's why.’

Flame smiled wryly. "Alright, here's the next problem."

The elemental theory class dragged on endlessly.

The students struggled to keep their eyes open as they listened.

"An arc stone ball spell, which requires an investment of 316mf of mana, is racing toward the northwest direction. The earth sphere forms a perfect sphere with a diameter of 3.2m and rotates at a speed of 5,700rpm."

Another bizarre, mind-bending problem. The professor ignored the students’ collective sighs and presented the problem.

"The mage enchants the acceleration spell by investing an additional 109mf of mana in magic and the weight amplification spell by using an additional 87mf of mana. In order to reach a target 715km away, how much time will it take?"

At first glance, it seemed like an easy problem, but her head started to hurt because of the 316mf of mana acting as variables.

With an investment of 316mf of mana in earth-attribute magic for acceleration, the speed would increase.

However, using weight amplification as an additional spell would increase the destructive power but slow down the speed again…

What did it mean?

It meant the calculations were maddening enough to make steam come out of Flame’s ears.

"Uh-oh..."

“Ughhh…”

“Ughhh…”

As the students groaned, the professor suddenly pointed at someone who had been asleep the whole time.

"Alright, Cadet Baek Yu-Seol, you give it a try."

"..."

"Baek Yu-Seol! Wake up and come forward."

"Uh… Yes?"

Baek Yu-Seol, still half-asleep, stood up and stared blankly at the board before yawning.

As wrinkles formed at the corners of the professor's eyes, Baek Yu-Seol, who had just woken up, asked hesitantly, "Um… but..."

"Can’t solve it?"

When the professor smirked as if to say, ‘Well, that's expected,’ Baek Yu-Seol asked in confusion, "Can you tell me the conditions for the calculation environment?"

"Conditions?” 

“What about the acceleration due to gravity?"

"What?"

"Is it assumed to be under the conditions of 1 magical force pressure and 1 atmospheric pressure? What about air resistance and friction?"

Upon hearing that nonsensical question, the professor sighed and shouted, "Ignore all of that. Assume there is no friction, air resistance, and no acceleration due to gravity. Just solve it!"

Hearing this, Baek Yu-Seol pondered for a while and cautiously spoke with half-asleep eyes. "Um..."

"What's the problem now?"

"If there is no friction, the arc stone ball would stay in place and rotate in the air, so it wouldn't be able to move forward..."

The professor grabbed his forehead in frustration.

***

After the lecture, Baek Yu-Seol was about to leave the classroom, but the expressions of some students changed.

It was lunchtime.

They approached him subtly, intending to have a meal together.

Study groups that combined meals and revision were the trend, and many students were eyeing Baek Yu-Seol, hoping to drag him into their circle and soak up his knowledge.

Despite his indifferent behavior in class, his grades were consistently high.

Before they could, Eisel hurriedly approached him.

‘I've been struggling a lot lately, too!’

Though she felt a little bad about cutting them off, she figured she had a better chance of getting him to study with her since they were closer.

She reached out, ready to tap his shoulder.

"Do you have any lunch plans, commoner?"

Hong Bi-Yeon, who had been waiting outside the classroom, approached him.

The students who had been closing in on Baek Yu-Seol froze in place, as if time itself had stopped. Even Eisel stood motionless, her arm still outstretched toward him.

"It's not for personal reasons. I want to talk about something important."

"Something important?"

"Yes. If you’re uncomfortable eating with me, I’ll leave."

"Well, it’s not exactly uncomfortable."

‘Something… important?’

Eisel remained frozen, staring blankly at Baek Yu-Seol’s back. He stood there, locking eyes with Hong Bi-Yeon, and then finally parted his lips.

"Special black pork lunch set."

It was a mischievous voice filled with humor, not much different from how he usually treated her.

"I'll treat you."

"Let's go."

Just like that, their plans were settled in an instant. The other students turned away with regretful steps, disappointment clearly etched on their faces.

However, Eisel found herself unable to move.

There was a peculiar emotion bubbling within her chest.

It was a strange, embarrassing sensation.

‘A sense of loss.’

Until now, she had taken his presence for granted.

He had approached her without hesitation, easily dismantling the walls she had built, and before she knew it, he had settled into a significant place within her heart.

For the longest time, she had assumed Baek Yu-Seol’s presence by her side was a given.

Just as she followed him, he led the way.

But had that been nothing more than her own delusion?

Had she ever truly responded in kind to the hand he had extended toward her?

‘What am I thinking?’

Ashamed of her sudden thoughts, Eisel shook her head and turned away.

‘For today’s lunch... I’ll just eat at the school cafeteria.’

She gathered her books and was preparing to leave when someone blocked her path.

"Hello?"

"Yes?"

It was a girl with wavy, chestnut-brown hair that cascaded beautifully like ramen noodles. Her name was Hariren, a name Eisel had heard from time to time.

Though not a famous student, she had a particularly distinct charm. Unlike the political battlefield-like atmosphere of Class A to S, the lower classes, starting from B, felt more like an ordinary school.

Hariren, from Class B, came from a noble background, but she didn’t seem to care much about social status.

Because of that, she was well-known for getting along with just about everyone.

Eisel had often observed her with envy.

She seemed like an ordinary high school student.

With plenty of friends and a carefree life revolving around studies and socializing.

"I've been hearing a lot about you lately."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. My friends want to get to know you. Would you like to have lunch together?"

"They want to get to know me? That's..."

"It’s true! Ahem, some have ulterior motives, wanting to hear from you directly and... also because you’re great at studying, right?"

"Well, yeah... I suppose."

"We'll have lunch and form a study group. It's more comfortable studying with peers than asking teachers, right? I want to learn from you."

"Oh..."

Eisel hesitated, and Hariren immediately fixed her with a sharp, determined look.

"If anyone talks crap or acts crazy, I’ll deal with them. Can’t you trust me just once?"

"You… Using such aggressive language isn't good!"

"Huh? Ahaha! So you have a cute side that's different from the rumors? Anyway, let's eat together, okay?"

Faced with such persistence, it was hard to refuse.

Eisel’s gaze drifted back to the empty seats where Hong Bi-Yeon and Baek Yu-Seol had vanished.

What could they possibly be talking about? What exactly did ‘important conversation’ mean?

Eisel’s heart twisted in annoyance. Seeing Baek Yu-Seol with the woman she despised the most stirred up a storm of irritation and unease.

Still, she forced herself to stay composed as she turned back to Hariren.

“Th-then… just this once… I’ll go with you.”

“Knew it! Come on, let’s go! The others are waiting!”

And so, Eisel found herself swept along, joining Hariren and her very ordinary (?) friends for lunch.