Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 280

Chapter 280

Shadow Cast by the Wind (1)

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The first-year students were carefully finishing the phenomenon analysis of the Persona and were about to begin their strategy, but Rudrik’s words made it impossible.

“Something’s coming.”

Rudrik and Bandiyun, who had already completed their phenomenon analysis, quietly stepped back.

‘My analysis is around 79%.’

This was a fairly high level of analytical ability.

With an analysis of 50% or more, one could receive the ‘guide line message’ of the gate, which dramatically increased the success rate.

The second-year students, having stepped back, kept their eyes on the first-year students.

Due to the fluctuating wave of mana, most of the phenomenon analysis was interrupted.

However, as expected of Class A elite students, only three remained to continue the analysis, while the rest divided their roles to guard the surroundings.

‘In the meantime, Baek Yu-seol…’

Rudrik frowned.

‘What is he doing?’

He wondered if Baek Yu-seol had even done the phenomenon analysis, as he had been staring blankly into space since earlier.

“Huh? Th, that…!”

Then, one student shouted and pointed his wand into the air.

Heeheeheeing…!

A pale blue, semi-transparent ghost crossed the road and disappeared somewhere.

“A ghost…”

“Is ghost hunting the theme?”

“Cr, crazy! What do I do?”

“Get a hold of yourself! We’ve learned enough about dealing with ghost-type monsters!”

They had learned enough about dealing with undead, skeletons, zombies, and other necromancer summons at the magic school, and they had even had some practical training.

However, they had almost no practical training with ghost-type monsters, which had no physical form, because it was technically impossible to implement.

Ghost-type monsters with spiritual abilities were a mystery even in their creation, making them the natural enemy of mages who had to calculate everything mathematically.

In ancient times, Taoist priests and shamans used to hunt ghosts.

However, in modern times, when ghosts had almost disappeared, Taoist priests and shamans had also disappeared.

When a ghost appeared, it was common for an entire city to be thrown into chaos.

It was understandable for the students to be frightened by the appearance of a ghost-type, but Rudrik scoffed from behind.

‘Foolish freshmen. That’s not the real thing.’

Soon, the students who were conducting the phenomenon analysis also noticed something, and their eyes widened.

“Wait! Hold on. This, the theme here isn’t ghost hunting or anything like that…”

Then, from afar, the cry of a fox echoed.

The students hurried back and looked up at the sky.

A pitch-black sky, and a huge, silver full moon hanging like a tray.

Against it, a nine-tailed Gumiho cried out to the sky.

“Crazy, I thought it was a wolf…”

“It’s a Gumiho, worse than a wolf! Get a grip!”

“H, how do we deal with a Gumiho?”

“I don’t know. But it’s classified as a yokai, so we need to strengthen our mental fortitude.”

“The Gumiho’s cry has the effect of scattering mental strength. Focus!”

Then, the students who had finished their phenomenon analysis stood up and waved their magic circles into the air, and the ‘guide line message’ appeared, finally revealing the true theme of this place.

[Shadow Cast by the Wind]

[In the Poong Empire, countless tales and legends are intertwined.]

[Some stories are so famous that everyone knows them.]

[Some stories are unknown to anyone.]

[Here lies a sad story unknown to anyone.]

[Please, find the one story forgotten by the world and resolve its grudge.]

The students stared blankly into space, momentarily stunned after hearing the guide line message.

“A, a tale…”

“Yes. A tale.”

Hong Bi-yeon interjected into the students’ conversation for the first time.

“The entire capital of the Poong Empire has been transformed into a tale set. It seems each area has a designated tale. That building’s rooftop is probably the Gumiho legend. We need to split up and find the tales.”

“W, wait. Split up? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Dangerous? Moving together is more dangerous. The longer we stay here and get consumed by the Persona, the worse it is for us mages. Finishing this quickly is the only solution.”

Rudrik nodded in agreement with her words.

“That’s right. The city is vast, so moving together is inefficient. There are 12 of us, so let’s form 3 teams of 4.”

However, Hong Bi-yeon shook her head.

“No. Two teams of 5. I’ll work with the Commoner.”

“What? Wait a minute! Even if you two are strong, two people is dangerous.”

“That’s right. Plus, we don’t even know the exact goal yet. At least until we figure out the true ending, we should move together…”

As the students protested, Hong Bi-yeon glared at them, silencing them.

Her red eyes, usually burning hotter than the sun, felt colder than ice.

“F, fine.”

“I don’t know who the real Gumiho is…”

“Shh. She’ll hear you.”

Eventually, the students grumbled but split into three teams as Hong Bi-yeon instructed.

“Rudrik. I’ll follow Team 1. Where will you go?”

Bandiyun pointed to five students and asked, and Rudrik looked back and forth between Baek Yu-seol and the other five.

“I’ll follow Baek Yu-seol’s team from behind. It’s best to support the smaller group.”

“Alright then. See you later.”

At Rudrik’s words, Hong Bi-yeon glared at him, but she didn’t interfere with the decision of the second-year Senior.

Within Stella, the relationship between seniors and juniors was strictly hierarchical.

“Are we really going alone?”

“Yes. Don’t you want to?”

Baek Yu-seol, separated from the group, looked at the other students with a worried expression.

He wasn’t worried about being alone with Hong Bi-yeon, but rather about the other students.

“I wonder if they’ll be okay.”

“Commoner.”

“Huh?”

“They’re not children anymore. They are mage cadets, each capable of fighting, who don’t need your constant protection.”

“Huh? I know that…?”

Hong Bi-yeon walked forward without looking at Baek Yu-seol’s face.

“Those kids, we, I. We are not someone you need to protect. I want you to remember that.”

“Uh, um… Okay.”

Hong Bi-yeon’s serious tone made Baek Yu-seol mumble instead of his usual playful response.

‘What’s wrong?’

Perhaps it was her tone or personality, but Hong Bi-yeon always seemed to be in a bad mood, making it hard to gauge her current feelings.

‘Well, she doesn’t seem particularly upset…’

After observing Hong Bi-yeon for half a year, it seemed like she was actually in a good mood right now.

“I’m annoyed.”

Maybe not.

“What is it?”

“That Senior following us from behind.”

Baek Yu-seol glanced back at Rudrik, who was following about thirty steps behind.

“He’s a teaching assistant. It can’t be helped. Besides, he’s covering our rear. It’s reassuring, isn’t it?”

As expected of a second-year Senior, Rudrik had drawn his wand, concealed himself, and was guarding their surroundings.

Baek Yu-seol was grateful for his efforts in blocking threats from behind, but Hong Bi-yeon apparently didn’t feel the same way.

“Just…”

Hesitantly, unlike her usual self, Hong Bi-yeon was struggling to say something when a sudden chill made her stop.

“Wait a minute.”

Baek Yu-seol drew his Terivon Sword, emitting a light.

The beautiful white blade revealed itself, softly illuminating the surroundings.

Hong Bi-yeon added a pure white flame, but suddenly a blue flame appeared, swallowed it, and disappeared.

“…What was that?”

Hong Bi-yeon bit her lip as her flame was extinguished.

“It’s a Dokkaebibul (Will-o’-the-wisp). It’s a troublesome monster with a will of its own in its flame. It’s best to avoid it by taking a detour.”

Hong Bi-yeon nodded in agreement.

“This way.”

Leaving the road that cut through the city, they entered an alleyway.

This time, semi-transparent pumpkin-like objects floated in the air, spreading an orange glow in all directions.

“That’s…”

“Ignore it. There’s a Hobak-gwishin (Pumpkin Ghost) nearby. The small ones don’t harm people, so we can pass by.”

Baek Yu-seol took Hong Bi-yeon’s hand and led her.

“W, wait… Why are you in such a hurry?”

“The big one is dangerous. Have you heard of the pumpkin-headed serial killer ‘Wolly’ ghost?”

“…When I was a kid.”

“It targets the neck with a sickle. We could die if we let our guard down, so it’s better to get out of here.”

As he hurriedly pulled Hong Bi-yeon, the alleyway disappeared, and a dark, shadowy slum appeared.

“Let’s decide on a direction here and move.”

Scanning the surroundings with his Bulbul Glasses, he found that there wasn’t a single place that seemed less dangerous.

“Let’s wait here for a bit. When the tale moves, we’ll move then.”

“Hey, Princess?”

“Ah, yes. I’m listening.”

Perhaps he had pulled her too quickly, Hong Bi-yeon was absentmindedly rubbing the wrist Baek Yu-seol had held.

“The tale moves?”

“It seems so. They’re moving without encroaching on each other’s territory. I don’t know what the target tale is, but it’ll be hard to find.”

As Baek Yu-seol spoke casually, squinting his eyes and expanding his vision, she asked.

“…Commoner. Have you been here before?”

“Huh? No. Of course not.”

“Then how do you know so much?”

“I did the phenomenon analysis.”

“I see…”

Hong Bi-yeon had also done the phenomenon analysis.

However, she couldn’t see as much as Baek Yu-seol.

‘By the way, where is this thing?’

The Bulbul Glasses continuously detected the wavelength of the Amulet of the Vengeful Spirit, but he couldn’t pinpoint its exact location.

“Let’s move that way for now. There’s a brief opening.”

The phenomenon analysis of this Persona was long finished, and he had a general idea of how to clear it.

However, finding the amulet was more urgent for Baek Yu-seol.

‘Without that, I can’t turn Anella back into a human.’

Since there were hardly any eyes watching, Baek Yu-seol moved quickly and efficiently along the shortest route without hesitation.

He lightly skipped unnecessary tales, quickly found shortcuts, and chose to ignore dangerous legends without engaging.

“Wait, aren’t you rushing too much?”

“Why?”

“We haven’t even properly checked the stories.”

“This is the tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon. The grudge of a sister and brother who drowned in a pond…”

“…Not that.”

Hong Bi-yeon bit her lip slightly and spoke as if she didn’t want to say what she was about to say.

“Just a little slower, let’s move more carefully. We can do that, right?”

Baek Yu-seol felt a bit strange at her words.

For Hong Bi-yeon, who was obsessed with scores and grades, it would be better to take shortcuts and reach the destination quickly.

Clearing the Persona Gate quickly would also earn additional points.

The words “carefully” and “slowly” didn’t suit her.

So he was puzzled.

“There’s no harm in hurrying. You can trust me, there’s no danger. You know that.”

Baek Yu-seol had already shown Hong Bi-yeon many things, so he had no intention of hiding his knowledge like the Bulbul Glasses anymore.

He trusted her.

If she just trusted and followed him as usual, he was confident he could give her whatever she wanted.

“…There’s no reason.”

“What? Then isn’t it better to be fast?”

“No. You don’t know anything.”

Hong Bi-yeon said this and her expression turned cold…

That look was so unfamiliar that Baek Yu-seol couldn’t find the words to respond.

As if she was dejected, as if her energy had drained.

This was completely different from her confident self earlier, so Baek Yu-seol reluctantly approached her and said.

“Alright. Let’s go slowly. Carefully.”

“If there’s a stone bridge, let’s tap it a few times. If there’s a door, let’s knock a few times.”

At those words, Hong Bi-yeon looked at Baek Yu-seol with an expression that said he was being ridiculous.

“We don’t need to go that far.”

However, her mood seemed much better than before, and a bright, radiant aura emanated from her expression.

It was strange.

It used to be so difficult to distinguish her expressions, which always seemed the same as if she were wearing a mask.

But now, it was easy to tell her mood just from the atmosphere emanating from her face.

“Let’s go. Slowly, carefully.”

End of Chapter