Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Persona Gate Practice (2)
9th Star Tower, Starcloud Cafe Terrace.
While, by school rules, any student of Stella could use this space, the expensive dessert prices and the nobles’ sense of entitlement made it a place primarily used by nobles.
Especially the terrace, which was frequently used by nobles with their own factions to hold gatherings. Despite having club rooms, they chose this place to flaunt their power.
Hong Bi-yeon was no exception. If she didn’t regularly showcase her abilities, other fools might underestimate her, so she couldn’t afford to show any weakness.
‘Tastes terrible.’
Forcing herself to drink tea that didn’t suit her taste, she listened to the girls’ conversations.
“Oh my, really?”
“Absolutely. Baron Koden’s son gave me a bouquet of flowers…”
“How romantic!”
“Is that so? I found it burdensome.”
“I’m so jealous as a woman. I wonder if there’s a man like that for me.”
It was the typical conversation of noble girls. The topics were always similar.
What clothes were in fashion. What jewelry was in fashion. What foods were in fashion.
Who was dating whom.
Who got into some trouble.
Who confessed and got rejected.
Boring, unproductive conversations. She disliked this gathering, but Hong Bi-yeon sat straight and listened.
Each person here was a child of a powerful family. There was a reason for gathering them all in one place.
“Princess, you’ve been reading the Divine Beast Encyclopedia since earlier?”
T h i s wa s c o p ie d f r o m k ingm tl. o r g
“Oh, right, after the second exam, there was a familiar contract ceremony, wasn’t there?”
“Aha! You’re already preparing in advance. That’s amazing. I couldn’t understand half of the Divine Beast Encyclopedia.”
“Exactly. The princess is truly extraordinary.”
The topic suddenly twisted to flatter her, but she didn’t mind. It happened often. However, it was still boring, so Hong Bi-yeon responded perfunctorily.
The conversation naturally shifted again.
“Oh, did you hear? My father told me to keep it a secret…”
“What is it?”
“Recently, Stella’s assistant solved the Random Aeration Cross Formula, causing an uproar. But you know there’s a co-author, right?”
“Of course.”
“I heard the co-author is actually a student of Stella.”
“No way, really?”
Suddenly, Hong Bi-yeon’s hand, which was holding her teacup, stopped. Finally, an interesting topic had surfaced.
“Seriously? It’s a 300-year-old unsolved problem. Could a student really be the co-author?”
“But my father was confident.”
“Oh… If Lady Richel’s father is the head of the Intelligence Department, it must be true.”
“But who could it be? A student capable of solving an unsolved problem. It must be someone from the Alchemy Department, right?”
Exactly.
Despite being the head of the Intelligence Department, it seemed they hadn’t delved deeply into the matter of the ‘co-author.’
However, Hong Bi-yeon had learned about it by investigating someone coincidentally.
Baek Yu-seol.
T h is w as c o p i e d f r o m ki n g m t l . o r g
She discovered that he was the co-author of the Alchemy Magic Engineering.
T h i s w a s c o p i ed fr om k i n g mt l .o rg
“But why did they keep his identity a secret?”
“Who knows? Maybe he didn’t actually help and was just given credit?”
“Oh, that could be. If that were the case, I’d be embarrassed and want to stay anonymous too.”
“Hohoho.”
The girls’ curiosity matched Hong Bi-yeon’s.
Why? What was his purpose? Why did he do it?
“Princess? What are you pondering over?”
Suddenly, one of the girls addressed her, snapping her back to reality.
“…It’s nothing.”
“Oh, is it because of the upcoming Persona Gate practice?”
“That’s right. You must be confident about it, right, Princess?”
To their remarks, Hong Bi-yeon slightly nodded.
‘Persona Gate practice, huh…’
The Persona Gate is a space entirely detached from reality.
Unlike simple dungeons where you clear them by defeating the boss or destroying the core, the Persona Gate required understanding the patterns and gimmicks to clear it safely. This necessitated extensive preparation and study.
From analyzing the concentration of the Persona Gate, spatial deformation rates, topological geometry, soul isolation techniques, and mathematical knowledge, the preparation was immense. Understanding and memorizing thousands of patterns and possibilities was essential, but…
The most crucial aspect was combat ability.
Without the ability to fight properly, no amount of intelligence could clear the Persona Gate.
Since the primary purpose of training magic warriors was to thwart the Dark Mages’ Persona Gates, it was arguably the most important subject.
This Persona Gate practice would group students in teams of 4 to 18. How they cooperated to clear it was key.
The average level of Stella’s first-year students was around Class 2, and it would be their first real combat experience. Despite being elites, clearing a Class 3 Persona Gate would be difficult.
Most would likely fail.
However, the grading would focus on understanding the Persona Gate’s gimmicks, teamwork, and response to enemy attacks or emergencies, so success wasn’t necessary.
Despite the probable failures, Hong Bi-yeon intended to succeed.
She needed to prove her superiority.
To be recognized by her mother.
‘I hope I get matched with useful people…’
After the cafe meeting ended, on her way back to the dormitory.
Someone called out to Hong Bi-yeon, who was walking alone.
Th i s w as co p i e d f r om k in g m t l. or g
“Bi-yeon!”
Stop.
An overly familiar voice that grated on her ears. Yet, the voice she feared and loathed the most in this world.
Slowly, she turned her head.
There stood a woman with red hair tied back, wearing a leisurely smile.
“…Princess Hong Si-hwa.”
“Oh my, call me sister.”
Fated to be rivals due to their status as legitimate and illegitimate daughters, her half-sister, Hong Si-hwa Adolevit.
She had come here.
“What brings you here?”
“Well… I just came to see my sister’s face. After all, something interesting happened recently.”
Lies. She never moved without a reason.
“Don’t glare at me like that. Actually, there is a reason. Recently, there’s a very interesting commoner at this school. A commoner who upholds the now-extinct ‘knighthood.’”
How she knew was a pointless question. Hong Si-hwa knew everything.
So, when Hong Bi-yeon’s expression hardened, Hong Si-hwa covered her mouth and laughed, pretending to be an elegant lady.
“Oh my, it seems our sister is also interested in that knight? Well, it’s understandable. A knight who dedicates everything to his liege… truly, the dream of all ‘princesses,’ isn’t it?”
The dream of princesses. It might sound like she hadn’t lost her childhood innocence, but it was clearly baiting.
Both Hong Si-hwa and Hong Bi-yeon were princesses, and to become the ‘queen,’ they needed outstanding talents like Baek Yu-seol.
Moreover, a commoner with no country, no hometown, no parents, and no affiliation possessing such overwhelming talent…
There was no reason to hesitate.
“Anyway, I’m a little, just a little interested in that commoner. Could you introduce me?”
“If you want to see him, find him yourself.”
“Oh, but isn’t he already popular with the Magic Tower officials? He doesn’t seem interested at all.”
As she said, Baek Yu-seol was strange.
Recalling the aftermath of the necromancer incident.
Many Magic Towers and companies had sent love calls to him. Yet, oddly, he had declined them all.
At the time, she didn’t think much of it. But it was happening again.
Whether embarrassed or not, simply revealing his name would greatly elevate his status. Why was he avoiding the limelight?
Baek Yu-seol was undoubtedly a commoner.
He should be desperate to grasp that golden opportunity, yet he was actively avoiding it.
The problem was that no amount of investigation revealed anything about him.
It was as if he had thoroughly erased his existence from the world, shrouding his past in mystery.
“It’s scary to be outright rejected. Do you know anything?”
When Hong Bi-yeon didn’t answer and turned away, Hong Si-hwa quickly popped her head into her line of sight.
“So, you’ll introduce me to him! You’re classmates, right? You must be close!”
“Forget it. Handle it yourself.”
T h is w a s c op i ed f ro m k i n g m tl . o r g
“My sister is so cold.”
T h i s wa s c o p i e d f r o m ki n g m t l . org
Playfully pouting, Hong Si-hwa’s complaint fell on deaf ears. She then, with a slightly sarcastic tone, spoke.
“Princess Hong Bi-yeon, why are you so difficult?”
Hong Bi-yeon’s expression immediately soured.
Th i s w a s co p i e d f r o m k in g m tl .o r g
“…I am not a princess consort, but a princess with legitimate rights to succession.”
“Of course, since ‘big sister’ is dead.”
At Hong Si-hwa’s blatant provocation, Hong Bi-yeon’s eyes filled with bloodshot rage but quickly subsided.
T h i s w as c o p i e d f r om k in gmt l . or g
She was used to it.
That psychotic woman, devoid of any feelings, would use even the death of their kind and caring big sister, who treated them like parents, as mere provocation material.
‘…Stay calm. I’ll deal with it once I become queen.’
Resolving herself, she left the place, and Hong Si-hwa didn’t follow. She stood afar, smiling brightly but somehow lacking, like a lively child.
After walking for a long time to completely get away from Hong Si-hwa, Hong Bi-yeon collapsed onto a nearby bench.
“Phew…”
“Princess. Are you alright?”
“Rin.”
Approaching with a cold beverage, Yetherin, dressed in a dark suit, offered it to her. Only then could Hong Bi-yeon relax. Next to Teacher Hameril, Yetherin was the only one she could lean on, having been with her since childhood.
“…It was annoying. But I’m fine. You shouldn’t deal with crazy dogs.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”
“It’s fine. What could you do?”
As Hong Bi-yeon tried to stand, Yetherin, as if recalling something, pulled an envelope from her pocket.
“Oh, right. While investigating that commoner you mentioned… I found this.”
“That’s…”
The envelope bore Baek Yu-seol’s name.
“It’s an assignment Baek Yu-seol submitted. They say it contains information about his past. Since it’s a Stella assignment, I couldn’t get the original, but here’s a copy.”
“Really?”
An assignment. Indeed, there was a class where such content was to be written.
T hi s wa s c o p ie d f r o m ki n gmt l .o r g
“Hmm…”
A little anticipation arose. Despite extensive investigation, not a single piece of information had surfaced about Baek Yu-seol.
What was his past like?
With curiosity, she opened the envelope.
T hi s w a s c o pie d f r o m ki n g m tl . o rg
End of Chapter
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