Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 232

Chapter 232

Start of the Semester (6)

***

A late-night incident of a female student sneaking into the boys’ dorm could easily spark rumors, but neither Flame nor Baek Yu-seol were the type to care about such things.

“What’s up?”

Baek Yu-seol, looking utterly exhausted, asked as Flame squeezed her way into his dorm room.

Flop.

“Ughhh!”

Flame flopped onto his bed and flailed her arms and legs.

“Is this an S-Class bed?”

“You’re in S-Class too.”

“I share a dorm with the F-Class girls, though. Didn’t you know that?”

“How would I know?”

“Well, I’ve occasionally borrowed beds from A-Class or D-Class dorms, but this is the first time I’m trying an S-Class bed. This is the best.”
Th i s wa s c op ie d f r om kin g mt l . o rg

Baek Yu-seol stirred the porridge Flame had brought. A lot of students had come to check on him, and while some of the girls had brought homemade dishes, Flame had brought a cheap instant porridge from a convenience store.

“…Why?”

“It’s not like I can just waltz into the S-Class dorms. The girls here are all nasty, and if I go into the boys’ dorms, it’s a big deal. Besides, A-Class has double rooms, while S-Class has singles, right?”

“And I’m not a big deal?”

Even though he didn’t have much of an appetite and nothing really appealed to him, Baek Yu-seol figured that porridge would be manageable, so he placed it in the microwave.

…Except, he didn’t know how to use it.

Unlike the microwaves of the 21st century, the machines in Aether World were operated by magic circles and rune characters, making them quite complicated to use.

Of course, for an ordinary Aetherian, manipulating the magic circles was as simple as pressing a button, but it wasn’t the case for Baek Yu-seol.

Since he had never used anything in the dorm before, he had no idea how to operate it.

‘Bulbul Glasses…’

T his w as c o p i e d fro m ki n g mt l .o r g
As he rummaged through his pockets belatedly, Flame approached and pressed the magic circle buttons with her fingers, activating the microwave on his behalf.

“By the way, are you sick or something, old man?”

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“I’ve been through a lot lately.”

“Hmm~ Is it related to the Starcloud Trading Company issue?”

T h i s w as c opied f r o m k i n g m t l . or g
After returning to Stella, Flame had seen the news article about the Starcloud Trading Company’s chairman, who had gone missing and then returned dramatically. The article had prominently mentioned Baek Yu-seol’s involvement, so there was no way she wouldn’t know about it.

“Not really. It’s about something else.”

“…I see.”

Beep! Beep! Beep!
This wa s c o p i ed f ro m k in g m tl . o r g

The microwave beeped as the porridge finished heating.

Baek Yu-seol took it out and started eating it slowly with a plastic spoon. Meanwhile, Flame, lying on his bed with her legs crossed, glanced at the pile of bread and snacks on the table and nudged them with her foot.

“Aren’t you going to eat these cotton cookies?”

“You can have it.”

“Thanks!”

Flame grabbed the candy box with her toes, making Baek Yu-seol look at her in disbelief. But then he thought, ‘That’s just how she is,’ and went back to eating his porridge.

“By the way.”

With a candy in her mouth, Flame spoke softly to Baek Yu-seol, who was eating the porridge in silence.

“Aren’t you overdoing it lately?”
T h i s wa s c o p i e d f rom k i n g m t l . o r g

“…What do you mean?”

“I mean, just… well… you haven’t rested at all in Stella during the entire summer vacation, have you?”

As soon as summer vacation started, he had disappeared somewhere. Then, when the Incident of the Seventh Main Tower broke out, he had returned to resolve it, only to disappear again to Adolevit right after.

Not only had he gotten involved in the royal succession battle, but he had also prevented a disaster at Leviang’s Coast and then immediately rushed to Haoya Plains to resolve the disappearance case of the Starcloud chairman.

For an ordinary student, even juggling vacation homework and study would’ve been exhausting, but Baek Yu-seol had been involved in major incidents all over the world. How could he not be tired?

Moreover…

‘This probably isn’t even everything I know…’

Just look at the time-traveling incident. If she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to interfere with the past alongside Aiselle, she would have never known what Baek Yu-seol had done.

There were probably countless more incidents like that, with Baek Yu-seol running around the world, dealing with all sorts of crises…

“If you keep burning yourself out like this, you might really collapse from exhaustion later.”

She felt awkward being serious, so she threw it out as a lighthearted joke, smiling sheepishly. Baek Yu-seol, however, paused his spoon mid-air.

“…What? Why?”

Feeling embarrassed, Flame responded, and Baek Yu-seol chuckled softly.

“It’s just… that wasn’t something you should be saying.”

“Huh?”

Baek Yu-seol had played Aether World Online and knew about the ‘character Flame.’

In the game, many male protagonists were drawn to her, leading to numerous incidents, but Flame had always tried to resolve everything on her own, never relying on anyone’s help.

The line that the male protagonists commonly said to ‘character Flame’ was eerily similar to the words the real Flame had just uttered.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve been living a pretty busy life.’

In his past life on Earth, he had never really worked hard at anything and thought of himself as an ordinary, lazy person.

If the Baek Yu-seol of the past could see him now, struggling so desperately for something, what would he think?

“You’re right.”

After muttering dryly, Baek Yu-seol resumed eating his porridge. Flame, licking her lips still sticky from the candy, spoke casually as she passed by him.

“If something happens next time, I’ll help out a bit. So, don’t do everything on your own, okay?”

T h i s w a s c op i ed fro m k ing m t l. o r g
Baek Yu-seol just laughed at her words. Flame wasn’t sure if that was a yes or no, and it left her feeling frustrated.

No, seeing as he didn’t outright agree… it probably wasn’t a yes. But why?

T his w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
Could it be…

Is there a reason why I shouldn’t help him?

*…Is it because of our relationship from before the regression?’

In another timeline, Baek Yu-seol had probably gone through countless incidents with ‘another Flame.’

As much as she hated to think about it, had she gotten severely injured or even died in that process?

If not, maybe her involvement had led to the worst possible outcomes in those incidents.

Otherwise, there was no reason for him to refuse all offers of help and insist on doing everything alone.

…That must be it.
Thi s wa s copi e d f r o m k in g m tl .or g

Flame wanted to believe that.

***

A week had passed since the start of the semester.

It was time for practical training to begin in earnest.

Having spent the entire first week lying in his dorm bed, Baek Yu-seol had no choice but to start attending classes.

‘I’m so tired…’

Even though he had rested for a whole week, the weariness still hadn’t fully worn off. It wasn’t just because of the subspace engraved onto his heart, but also due to the grueling summer vacation he had endured.

After running non-stop without realizing the extent of his exhaustion, once the tension finally eased, the accumulated fatigue hit him all at once.

“From now on, you will be training to locate the ‘hideouts of Dark Mages.'”

Lee Han-wol explained to the S-Class students who had gathered in the Stella Dome, which had been transformed into a dense forest.

“Dark Mages create hideouts all over the world, making it difficult for us mages to find them. If they hide, we need to train ourselves to find them.”

One of the mandatory subjects during the first semester was ‘Dark Mage Psychology.’

Why do Dark Mages act the way they do?

How should we fight them?

Where do they hide?

Thi s w a s c o pi e d f r om k i ng m t l. o rg
After studying those numerous theories for half a year, it was time to start putting them into practice.

T hi s w a s c o p i e d f r o m k in g m t l . or g
“Elsewhere in this area, students from other classes are also conducting exercises to find the hideouts of Dark Mages. But since you are S-Class, doing the same training as them would be meaningless.”

Higher classes from A-Class and above always received differentiated education, and S-Class, in particular, was given even more challenging tasks.

This time was no different.

“You will be searching for a special hideout of a Dark Mage.”

Just as mages have different attributes like electric, flame, and sorcery, Dark Mages also belonged to various factions. Some of them had been rejected by the mage community and had walked the path of dark magic.

Examples include necromancers, witches, and curse practitioners.

Unlike common Dark Mages who enter direct contracts with the Other World, these individuals merely accept black mana without being directly connected to the Other World.

Because of this, they are irregular beings, shunned by both the mage community and the Dark Mages.

“It is believed that witches have completely gone extinct, and most necromancers have also disappeared and gone into hiding, so there’s no real need to train against them. However, twelve years ago, a witch’s hideout, believed to have vanished, was discovered, causing a huge uproar.”

The students, who would have been five years old at the time, nodded, as it was a famous story.

Even though witches are few in number, they are extremely dangerous. Not only are ordinary mages incapable of dealing with them, but there were even special hunting teams dedicated to witch hunting.

Although the witches had disappeared decades ago, and the world was believed to be safe, the sudden discovery of a witch’s dwelling shocked everyone.

“As such, the magical community concluded that there must still be a small number of witches hidden somewhere in the world.”

Because of this, witch-related education still remains a part of the curriculum in magic schools.

No one knows when, where, or how someone might encounter a witch.

“From F-Class to A-Class, the students are working in teams. However, you will be working individually, and rather than finding a common Dark Mage hideout, your goal will be to locate the hideout of a special Dark Mage.”

It was no surprise that Lee Han-wol had brought up the earlier topic. As expected of S-Class, it was clear that they would be searching for something more special than the others.

“The results of this exercise will be reflected in your performance evaluations, so do your best. That’s all.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lee Han-wol’s figure blurred and disappeared.

Silence descended upon the forest.

The S-Class students exchanged brief glances before scattering in all directions without a word.

Ma Yuseong glanced at the forest with an intrigued expression before chasing after Hae Wonryang, who had left first. Aiselle and Hong Bi-yeon exchanged quick glances, startled, and then hurried into opposite directions of the forest.

Feng Hwarang stayed behind, observing the movements of the other students. There was no benefit to overlapping routes, so he decided to memorize the positions of the fastest students and choose his search path accordingly.

Then, he glanced toward where Flame was standing.

She appeared deep in thought, unable to take a step, staring blankly into the forest.

Finally, she yawned absentmindedly and ran over to Baek Yu-seol, who was also standing idly, whispering something into his ear.

Feng Hwarang forced himself not to pay attention.

He focused on analyzing the terrain, feeling for magical energy, identifying the most likely hiding spots for a Dark Mage, and tracking the movements of the S-Class cadets.

In order to find the Dark Mage’s hideout faster than anyone else…

“…Really?”

Baek Yu-seol’s voice.

“Haha. I’m serious!”

Flame’s excited voice.

Moments later, the two disappeared into the forest together, and Feng Hwarang, who had been silently monitoring them, couldn’t take it anymore and found himself walking in the same direction.

‘…This path is the most efficient. I’m only following it because it’s the best way to find the Dark Mage’s hideout. There are only seven possible routes to enter, and I just happened to choose the same one with a 1/7 chance.’

Feng Hwarang kept repeating this to himself as he quietly, yet swiftly, followed Baek Yu-seol and Flame into the forest.

He had no idea why he was doing this.

End of Chapter.