Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 12
"Hey, what are we gonna do about these performance assessments? Six of them overlapping in a single week? Is this for real?"
"What do you mean, what? We've gotta do them all."
"Honestly, wouldn't just the major subjects be enough for getting a job?"
The students huddled together, chattering away.
Judging by their fresh-faced innocence, they had to be first-year freshmen.
They'd formed a group for the assessments and were sticking together to build some camaraderie.
"You guys are all talk. The exam scopes haven't even been announced yet. Just study, duh."
"Oh yeah, the second-years went to some uninhabited island for midterms, right? Six nights, seven days, I heard."
Their conversation naturally revolved around schoolwork.
Of course, at Chilseong Academy, even that had a grand scale.
"For real? I thought that was just a rumor."
"It's true. Our professor dropped a hint during lecture yesterday. No second-years around starting today, so don't go causing trouble."
"Oh, and a bunch of third-years left for guild seminars or whatever. This is basically our world now."
As they talked, something felt a bit off.
Second- and third-years both out on external activities at the same time? That would leave only first-years on campus. Had that ever happened in academy history?
A normal adult might suspect something fishy.
But to these kids in their prime, it just meant first-years had the run of the place.
A golden chance to explore spots they'd normally avoid due to upperclassmen stares. They jumped at it without hesitation.
"Wanna check out the third-year grounds? I hear the facilities there are insane."
"They say the second-year lecture halls have mana barriers installed. Let's hit that too!"
"Ha, have you ever seen such childish brats."
Amid the excitement, one guy snorted.
The bespectacled student pushed up his glasses with a finger.
"Do you have any idea how huge the academy grounds are? Wandering around aimlessly like that, you'll collapse from exhaustion."
"S-Sure, but we can't miss this chance! If not now without the second- and third-years, we'd have to wait a whole year."
"Yeah, I wanna scope out all the spots we couldn't before because we were worried about eyes on us."
"That's why I came prepared!"
The guy pulled out his phone from his pocket and held it up.
All eyes locked on it as a photo popped up.
It was a drone shot of Chilseong Academy.
"Isn't this just a map? We all have something like that on our phones."
"Heh, take a closer look."
"What? It looks totally normal to me..."
"Guys! There's a thin line drawn here!"
"A line...?"
At the girl's shout, everyone squinted.
Sure enough, faint red lines traced across it.
The lines connected ten spots in sequence.
All of them famous landmarks that had popped up on SNS or news at some point. Now the red lines made sense.
It was the optimal route to avoid backtracking.
"Ooh, pretty clever. Didn't expect that from you."
"I thought you were just some jerk with a smart mouth, but you've got your shit together."
"Hey, I can hear you assholes."
"Alright, let's follow the route! Closest from here is the second-year lecture hall."
They set off right away.
Sneaking into second-year lecture halls, checking out hole-in-the-wall shops hyped on SNS.
When hunger hit, they grabbed a bite at a snack bar known as a third-year haunt.
Click!
The girl snapped pics of the whole adventure and posted to SNS.
The guy walking beside her peeked at her phone and shook his head at her hardcore addiction.
Sunset crept in before they knew it.
They'd hit all the planned spots, so dinner time.
The academy grounds were massive, packed with every kind of eatery imaginable.
"How about some hearty gukbap? I hear there's a spot nearby."
"Gukbap? That's old-man food. Let's do pasta, yeah?"
"Chicken sounds good to me. What about you, Kyle?"
With so many people, opinions clashed.
As suggestions flew, the chicken proponent spoke up.
"Uh, me...?"
"Yeah, you. You've gotta have something in mind."
"Hey, Kyle! Your turn. Gukbap? Sounds good, right!"
Kyle scratched his head at his friends' prodding.
This whole scene made him uncomfortable. Kyle struggled with social interactions.
He'd only come this far because he'd gotten dragged along during group work.
Tedious as it was, he had to answer. He said what he wanted most right now.
"Well... um... eel...?"
"..."
"...Uh. Yeah, eel..."
The group fell into an awkward silence.
Kyle, oblivious, was about to specify eel rice bowl when
Boom!
The ground trembled.
Not an earthquake. The feel was totally different.
Like something massive was approaching
"Hey, check that out."
"Why all of a sudden? You finally get the appeal of gukbap or what...?"
"...What the hell is that?!"
A colossal something lumbered toward them.
It sniffed the air, crimson eyes gleaming with a grin, closing in slowly.
The shocked girl dropped her phone. It shattered on impact.
* * *
The monster assault hit without warning.
An ordinary evening, red sunset painting the horizon. That's when Chilseong Academy began staining with crimson blood.
"Run!!"
"Everyone in the dorms and cafeteria, get out! There's a shelter in the auditorium basement!"
"Professors! Where are the professors?!"
"M-Mommy! H-Help...!!"
Screams echoed from all sides.
Mixed in were alien howls.
Ker-ruk.
A grotesque noise no human throat could make.
Something quadrupedal and swift snatched a male student by the waist. Black-furred, body like a baby elephant.
It shoved his lower half into its massive maw.
As it clenched to crush him a sharp spear flew in, shredding its jaw muscles.
A powerful javelin throw.
Shin Young followed up swiftly, hurling the dangling student to the ground. Soaked in monster saliva, the boy stared up blankly.
"Ah..."
Crunch!
A girl about his age swung her spear.
She mercilessly hacked its joints, murmuring low.
"...Die."
As if her word was a spell, the beast collapsed.
Bathed in blood, tongue lolling, no breath left. Dead for sure.
The watching boy staggered up, shouting.
"You run too! The shelter has powerful protective magic!!"
The girl shook her head.
She swung her spear wide, flinging blood from the blade.
"Not yet."
Not yet?
What did that mean?
No time for deep thought. Every second counted now.
As the boy grabbed her hand to drag her away
Crack!
The spear blade sliced like a guillotine toward the monster's neck.
A crescent arc, and its huge head tumbled free.
In that instant, its facial flesh twitched. Not postmortem rigorproof it'd been alive moments ago.
"...What the...?"
The boy couldn't hold back his awe.
No, it was outright shock.
What was this girl?
Still on campus meant she was a first-year like him.
Yet her spear mastery, spotting the feigned deathit didn't look like any peer's work.
His eyes drifted to her chest.
Her name tag bore her name.
Seeing it clicked everything into place. One name tied all the loose ends.
"Seo Ye-rin..."
On enrollment day, a rumor had swept the academy.
The high-ranker, granddaughter of the Divine Spear, had enrolled at Chilseong Academy.
It was big news back then; his class spent days hunting for her. But pinpointing one among 2,000 first-years? Impossible. They gave up quick.
The rumor faded to hearsay.
He'd dismissed it as baseless too.
But that elegant spearwork, instantly reading life from deathit screamed that rumor.
Then Seo Ye-rin approached him.
"You okay...?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."
"Good. That's what matters."
As long as he wasn't hurt.
Seo Ye-rin scanned him, then bolted the opposite way.
Away from the auditorium shelter. Toward the second- and third-year lecture halls and dorms.
The boy watched, dazed.
He couldn't bring himself to call her back. The resolve in her eyes wasn't something words could sway.
Meanwhile, Seo Ye-rin sprinted full tilt, fiddling with her phone in her left hand.
The screen showed a colorful SNS feed. She wasn't the social type, but her best friend was an addict.
Biting her lip at a recent post.
[youra01]
[Sneaking around the academy while profs and seniors are away lol. Hanging with my group project peeps rn. Gonna grab food near the third-year lecture hall soon.]
[#Sneaky #Exploring #TouristMode #ChilseongAcademy]
[470 likes]
"Why go there of all places...!"
Frustrating. Absurd.
Why sneak into other years' lecture halls or eateries? Especially now, in a crisis!
Worst timing ever.
Chilseong Academy's top forcesthe professorswere all off-campus. Veteran guards had followed for merits.
That alone might've been manageable.
The third-years could've handled it.
But most third-years were gone for guild training. A handful remainedfewer than ten. Not enough to turn the tide.
Even second-years were absent.
All off to an uninhabited island for midterms.
Only first-years left. Freshmen without proper classes or training.
"This is the worst."
A few guards and TAs held the fort, but really? Could they cover the whole grounds?
She knew it was a pointless question.
Of course not.
The grounds were vast. Bigger than most universitiespractically a small city.
Not enough TAs and guards to cover it.
They'd prioritize key points. Likely first-year dorms and halls.
And that meant...
'Yu-ra'll be isolated...!'
Couldn't even ask for help.
Begging random first-years? They'd refuse or drag her down. Guards wouldn't budge either.
Securing nearby dorms saved more lives than chasing uncertain distant few.
'Only I can do it!'
Impatience surged.
Seo Ye-rin fought to calm her burning heart.
Steady. Crises always strike unexpectedly. Why else did I swing this spear every dawn without sleep?
She desperately held her clear mirror stance.
A technique honed swinging her spear in silence for hoursmental composure. Past training flashed in her mind.
"Yeah. After all I've done."
Replaying her regimen kept her rational. If not for that incident two days ago.
Brushing past that parasite-like TA, floor exploding, ruining her pricey uniform.
That shock created a split-second opening in her movements.
And a monster appeared. Slipping like a shadow, targeting only her gap.
Smack!
Its long tail whipped her leg like a lash.
She tumbled, ankle twisting from the roll.
The monster pounced atop her.
Kyaack! Maw gaping to swallow her whole.
She jammed her spear into its mouth, but it had the mount.
"Ngh...!"
Pain groaned from her lips.
Leg stung from the tail, ankle sprained from the fall.
Worse, pinned under the beast.
Blocking its jaws with her spear for now, but...
'Bad position...!'
Off-balance from rolling, awkward angle.
Strength contest like this? She'd lose.
She scrambled for options, but the fishy monster's stench dizzied her.
'...Huh? Strength's fading.'
The more she inhaled, the weaker her spear grip.
Its stink was a paralyzing ability. Panicking, she thrashed, but it loomed closer, jaws wide.
One wrong move, death.
As Seo Ye-rin steeled for desperation
Whoosh.
A massive flame approached from behind the monster.
Flickering unclearly, but hand-shaped. The fiery hand twisted the beast like squeezing fruit.
Billowing flames cooked its flesh, chunks dropping limp. White fish meat.
Stunned by the sudden intervention, Seo Ye-rin froze.
A man dashed to her side. Looking up, she couldn't hide her shock.
"Why are you...?"
Seo Ye-rin stared blankly upward.
Same pose as the boy she'd just saved. But reversed.
This time, a man had saved her.
Red eyes like a monster's yet gem-like sparkle. Fluffy fox tail and ears.
Nam Hwa-yeon's newbie TA, Baek Seung-woo, stood there.
"...Who knows."
He wore a troubled frown.