Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Masked Ball (1)

The next morning.

It’s rare for students to be active at dawn, just as the sun begins to rise.

That’s why Hong Bi-yeon preferred this time.

Splash-!

Hong Bi-yeon submerged herself into the S Class exclusive swimming pool, diving deeper and deeper. The cold water enveloped her body, evaporating her burning emotions.

Puhah! After swimming underwater for a long time, Hong Bi-yeon finally emerged from the pool as her breath ran short.

Drip, drip…

She could distinctly feel the water droplets falling from the tips of her hair and trickling down her cheeks.

She rubbed her pale skin reflectively.

Memories of her skin, once marred by burn scars and loathsome, flickered through her mind.

Childhood.

She was engulfed in flames.

No, she had to walk through the fire.
T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r o m ki ngmt l . o r g

‘You are blessed by fire.’

Mother, it hurts.

‘So, you can endure this, right?’

Please, it hurts too much.

The child cried. She had to burn her body, live within the flames, and swallow the fire.

‘You can do it.’

I can’t.

‘This is all for you.’

It’s too painful.

The child screamed, begging for salvation, begging for forgiveness. But her mother didn’t stop.

Whoosh!
T h i s wa s c op i e d fr o m k in g m t l . o r g

The dreadful red scars from her memories consumed her mind.

“Ugh.”

Feeling dizzy, Hong Bi-yeon lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the floor.

“Haa, haa…”

With trembling hands, she rubbed her skin. She felt the clean, milky texture of her skin.

Although the burn scars had fully healed, the horrific memories remained, deeply etched in her heart like scars that would never heal.
T hi s w a s c o p i ed fr o m k i ng m tl . o rg

Perhaps, she enjoyed diving deep underwater because of that past.

When she swam, it felt as if the unhealed burn scars within her were being washed away.

After taking off her swimsuit and entering the shower booth, she stood under the water, seeing her swollen face reflected in the mirror.

The result of crying her heart out last night.

‘It still hasn’t gone down…’

She tried to recall Baek Yu-seol’s memoir titled [To Mother] but quickly shook her head to forget it.
T hi s w a s c opie d fro m k i n g m t l . o rg

After finishing her shower and returning to the dormitory, she dressed neatly in her uniform and turned to her vanity.

T h is w a s co p i e d f r o m k i n g mt l . o r g
Although it was filled with various high-end cosmetics, she rarely used them.

But today, her face… no, her appearance was too awful. Annoyed, Hong Bi-yeon sat at her vanity, thinking it was all because of that damned commoner.

She sighed, applying blush to her cheeks, something she usually never did. She couldn’t blame anyone else; she had brought it upon herself.

While lightly touching up her face, her gaze fell on her hair.

A faint red tint appeared at the tips of her hair. It was so subtle that it could only be seen under the light, but it was a bothersome change.

After quickly finishing her makeup, she checked the time and confirmed she had some time before class, so she headed to the class bulletin board.

It was time to choose the Persona Gate team.

Many students had already applied, and some practice gates were fully booked. However, there was still some room in several practice gates.

‘Hmm…’

She slowly looked over the registration lists of the practice gates.

[A-3 Team List]
T h is w a s co p i e d fr om k in g m t l .o r g

[Hemila, Amila, Karujin…]

T hi s w a s c o p i ed f r o m ki n g m tl . o rg
The A-3 Team included Hemila and Amila siblings. With Hemila from the second-year S Class and Amila from the first-year S Class, the duo had a high chance of clearing the gate. However, their positions overlapped.

Like Hong Bi-yeon, they both used fire-focused magic, so teaming up would only end up lowering each other’s scores.

[B-6 Team List]
T h i s w a s c o p i ed f r o m k in g m t l. or g

[Feng Hwarang, Dale Rak, Pa Chaeryong…]

Here, the student named Feng Hwarang stood out. As a knight from the first-year S Class, he used a very violent and dominant wind attribute magic, unlike Ma Yuseong who calmly pressured the enemy.

Honestly, he wasn’t a reliable knight. From a bishop’s perspective, he fought too freely, making him a burden.

Other mages reportedly had an immense number of followers who were fascinated by the beast-like Feng Hwarang, but Hong Bi-yeon couldn’t understand it.

She was also somewhat interested in the teams with Kyle from A Class, who efficiently used strategies and tactics, and Hae Wonryang from S Class, but her thoughts halted abruptly upon seeing a certain list.

[C-7 Team List]

Flame, Aiselle… and Baek Yu-seol.

‘…Here again.’

That boy oddly followed Aiselle wherever she went.

Recently, he had even created a club with Aiselle, ate meals with her often, and shared many classes. They frequently teamed up for group projects and practices. By now, Hong Bi-yeon was convinced there was something between the two.

She was uncomfortable with that fact.

Of all people, it had to be Aiselle from the Morf family.

Baek Yu-seol was a desirable talent, and if he fell into Aiselle’s hands, it would be troublesome to reclaim him. So, Hong Bi-yeon quickly chose the gate.

[First-year S Class, Rank 5, Hong Bi-yeon]

[You have chosen the C-7 practice site.]

Satisfied, she turned around. Her action didn’t have any significant meaning.

It was just an effort to recruit more competent talents for her kingdom as a princess.

* * *

The day of the gate practice arrived.

All first-year students gathered at Stella Dome. The Stella Dome was a vast field, with fissures in the space around it.

Those fissures were the gates leading to the Persona Gates. The cracks in the space made it look eerie at first glance.

All those Persona Gates were fake, except for one, C-7.

Flame took a deep breath.

‘Phew, I’m nervous…’

In the original romantic fantasy, Aiselle faced a crisis. In a situation where everyone was hostile to her, she had to clear the ‘real’ Persona Gate without anyone’s help.

But now, it was okay.

Aiselle wasn’t alone.

Flame glanced at Baek Yu-seol.

T his wa s c o p i e d fro m k in g m t l . o r g
Standing next to him was the tall Ma Yuseong.

“It’s a pity. I wanted to go to the same gate.”

“You need to know your place, man.”

“Still, it’s fortunate. I made a bet with Hae Wonryang in the same gate.”

“Do you know you’re seriously addicted to gambling?”

“Haha, really? I can bet money that I’m not addicted to gambling.”

“Crazy bastard.”

From their conversation, it seemed the story of Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang making a bet was proceeding as planned.
T h i s wa s c o p ie d f r o m k in g m tl . or g

Ma Yuseong might achieve more in defeating the boss monster, but Hae Wonryang would score significantly higher in the end.

Pure combat power favored Ma Yuseong, but Hae Wonryang excelled in leading people and devising strategies.

The best combat mage, Ma Yuseong.

The best strategic mage, Hae Wonryang.

That was a given in the ‘original romantic fantasy.’

But this world wasn’t the original romantic fantasy. Baek Yu-seol, a significant irregular, had entered the scene.

‘Hmm…’

She wondered.

With Baek Yu-seol’s presence, could Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang still reign supreme in their fields?

His intellect already surpassed Hae Wonryang’s, and his individual skills were presumed to be on par with Ma Yuseong’s.

A knight combining both martial and literary qualities.

‘He’s really a character from a romantic fantasy.’

Thinking so, she found it quite amusing and chuckled.

“All right, everyone, move to your positions!”

The assistants bustled around, guiding the cadets to their respective gates. Flame saw a familiar friend waiting quietly in front of the C-7 gate and approached her.

“Jackie, we’re in the same team? Let’s do our best.”

The tall girl with short black hair, resembling Flame, briefly made eye contact but didn’t respond, turning her head away.

Flame looked at her back, bewildered.

“What the hell…”

Recently, Jackie had been unusually quiet, even distancing herself from her usual commoner friends. Asking others about the reason only brought frustration and unhelpful answers.

‘I don’t know. She’s really annoying me now. I’m thinking of excluding her.’

‘She probably thinks she’s something special. It’s quite ironic that she doesn’t mess with you, given you’re in S Class.’

‘Why don’t you stop caring about her?’

‘Geez, Flame, you’re too nice for your own good.’

As her friends said, Flame’s tolerance for annoyance had reached its limit.

‘I really want to ignore Baek Yu-seol’s words and pretend not to care about her…’

But her ‘intuition’ strongly warned her not to. She couldn’t leave Jackie alone.

-First-year cadets, we will now begin the Persona Gate practice.

-All cadets, please enter the Persona Gates.

It was time.

As Flame and the C-7 team stood in front of the Persona Gate, the assistant activated the gate.

Whoosh!

As their bodies slowly got sucked into the gate, an odd sensation, like the world collapsing, swept over them.

Clang, clang-!

The sound of bells colliding.

La~ lalala~

Mechanical singing.

When she opened her eyes.

The vast field of the Stella Dome had vanished, replaced by a ballroom in a grand mansion that greeted Flame.

“Welcome to the Aiharen Ball.”

Before her stood an old butler, bowing respectfully.

Indeed.

This was the Persona Gate.

A world detached from reality yet so closely resembling it that even wise mages could lose their way and become enchanted, a very dangerous place.

One must remember.

‘The person before me seems real but is fake.’

Recalling that fact, Flame took a deep breath.

By now, other mages would be analyzing the Persona Gate’s patterns to determine the keywords.

The discovered keywords would line up, literally ‘guiding’ the way to clear the Persona Gate.

But Flame didn’t need to do that.

“Is my dress and shoes prepared?”

She spoke confidently, her head held high, and the old butler nodded.

“They will be to your liking.”

“Lead me to the dressing room.”

Soon, the butler escorted Flame to a luxurious dressing room, followed by four maids.

‘Ballroom of Temptation.’

She already knew the way to clear this place, but even if she didn’t step up, Aiselle, as the protagonist, would cleanly clear the Persona Gate.

Her role here was one: to minimize the friction between Hong Bi-yeon and Aiselle.

If she could manage that, they would clear this episode without any issues.

End of Chapter