Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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"Phew... I already feel completely exhausted, and this is truly just the beginning of the ordeal."
Luna let out a long, deep sigh as she finally crossed the threshold and entered her assigned examination room. Just moments before, while she had turned her head to offer a sincere word of encouragement to Louis, he had suddenly glared at her with a terrifying intensity and started spewing a torrent of low-quality curses under his breath.
(S-Sorry, Luna! That wasn't... that wasn't directed at you at all...)
(Sigh... I understand. I'll head in now, then.)
(Luna, wait...)
Louis had frantically tried to apologize to her in a state of visible panic, but Luna could immediately and accurately guess the dark reason why he was acting in such an unstable manner.
"At this rate, I fear I won't be able to get the two of them to make up even before our graduation ceremony..."
It was a moment when she truly and deeply realized that the position of a mediator is often far more difficult and draining than that of the people actually involved in the fighting. It was the stark difference between the luxury of hurling open hostility and being the responsible one who had to find a way to diffuse the tension before it turned into a catastrophe. Luna glanced around the spartan room with a rough, clinical eye and settled herself lightly into the wooden chair, murmuring softly to herself.
"...Should I perhaps try that specific method I heard about?"
Luna had never really paid much attention to the affairs of men or the intricacies of romance before meeting Suho. But even she, with her noble background, had been semi-forced into countless social gatherings and subjected to hours of gossip about men she had absolutely no interest in. And those vulgar, detailed stories she once thought would never be useful in her life were suddenly starting to shine here at Schutra Magic Academy.
Now, in this high-pressure situation, some vaguely helpful advice from her past came drifting into her mind.
"...They say if you do it just once and then ask for a favor while the sweet afterglow still lingers, a man will listen to almost anything you say, right?"
The concept known as pillow talk was a tale that circulated even in the far reaches of the Levin Kingdom. Luna chuckled at the sudden, scandalous thought, then quickly shook her head to clear it.
"What on earth am I even thinking about right now... I need to focus entirely on the exam first."
Snapping out of her daze, Luna began inspecting the room to check which facilities suited her needs and which did not. Compared to her personal dormitory suite, the furniture and the overall space here were of a significantly lower level of quality. There were no grand chandeliers or luxury furnishings like the ones in her own room—just simple lanterns with a single, glowing mana stone hanging in the hallway style, and ordinary, functional furniture. But nothing majorly uncomfortable caught Luna's sharp eye. If anything, this kind of humble place reminded her vividly of Seong Suho's own dormitory quarters.
"...They mentioned that the dorm assignments change based on the semester rankings, didn't they?"
Dormitory changes based on grades had always been outside of Luna's concerns because she was already at the top, so she hadn't paid much attention, but now she started to care quite a bit for Suho's sake. Unlike her lavish room, Seong Suho's current dorm room truly served only as a basic, cramped sleeping space. It was undoubtedly the place holding Luna's most cherished and intimate memories with him, but she couldn't deny how poor and outdated the facilities actually were.
"If his room gets a proper upgrade this time, it will certainly put my mind at ease."
No matter how little material desire Luna possessed for herself, she couldn't stand the idea of the man she loved living in a cramped, single room while she enjoyed luxury. With those troubled thoughts swirling, her gaze naturally drifted to the stone wall separating her from the next room.
"..."
Luna found herself feeling curious about the construction.
"I wonder exactly how soundproof these walls are intended to be."
Just in case he was there, she pressed her ear lightly against the cold wall, hoping to catch even the faintest sound from the opposite side.
"Hm?"
Thud... Creak, rattle...
No human voices or clear sounds came through the thick stone. But an ominous, low-frequency vibration transmitted directly through the wall reached her skin with startling clarity. She tried listening again, her heart beginning to race with worry...
"...Nothing?"
The strange, heavy vibration from moments ago had stopped as abruptly as it had started. But since that vibration had felt so fundamentally 'off', a sense of deep worry began to creep into her mind.
"...He didn't happen to trip or get himself hurt in there, did he?"
While Seong Suho's first impression had been one of a cool and composed mage, lately his image in her mind included a bit of clumsy playfulness. Worried for his safety, Luna confirmed that the exam hadn't officially started yet and stepped back out into the quiet hall.
"Um, Professor, excuse me."
"Yes? Is there an immediate problem with the room's facilities?"
"Not exactly, sir..."
Luna quickly explained the strange vibration she had felt coming from the next room and asked the professor to perform a safety check. The professor rested his hand on his chin, nodding slightly as he processed her request before finally speaking.
"I understand your concern. I'll look into it immediately, so please go back inside and prepare for your own exam."
"Yes, sir..."
Luna desperately wanted to see Suho for herself, but she followed the professor's firm instructions and returned to her room to begin her mental preparation.
'It'll be fine. Suho is capable. Now, I really need to focus on the task at hand.'
And soon after she settled in...
"...It's here."
The very first flow of mana was detected by her sensitive core.
The moment Louis finished drawing a large, intricate circle on the blackboard along with various complex formulas and ancient runes, he carefully put down the final period with a smirk.
Flash!
The circle on the blackboard suddenly glowed with a vibrant red light, merging cleanly with the mana flowing through the room before dissipating into the atmosphere. Louis leaned back in his chair comfortably, crossing his legs in a triumphant pose as he muttered to the empty room.
"Hmph, this is far too easy for someone of my caliber."
It had taken him exactly 10 minutes to perfectly read and interpret the first mana flow. Other students were likely still at their desks, pens out and brows furrowed, pouring every ounce of their effort into grasping even a single clue to solve the exam. In contrast, Louis had fully comprehended the incoming mana in the room in mere minutes, interpreted its frequency, formed it into a magic circle, and rendered it flawlessly on the board.
But his moment of joy was destined to be short-lived. More than his confidence in solving the problem, a nagging anxiety over taking a full 10 minutes began to gnaw at his pride.
'No way... it can't really be about who solves it fastest and leaves early, right?'
In Louis's tortured mind, an encouraging image of Luna and a taunting version of Seong Suho appeared together in a single portrait frame, harmoniously intertwined and laughing. No matter how much magical talent he possessed, separating Luna and Seong Suho from that mental scene was proving to be impossible after the events of the week. His exceptional magical imagination even made the image sharper and more vivid with every passing second. It was as if even in the depths of his own heart, those two naturally belonged in the same frame together...
Bang!
"Fuck!"
Safe in his own room where no one could watch his descent, Louis slammed his fist onto the sturdy desk and spat out a series of curses.
"Luna is the one I have taken care of and protected my entire life! Fuck... fuck everything!"
Bang! Bang!
Unrestrained by the judgmental gazes of others, Louis continued to vent his primal rage and frustration by pounding the desk repeatedly. If it had shattered under his blows, his anger might have cooled in a satisfying way, but his fists couldn't even dent the reinforced magical wood. After hammering it for a while, Louis grimaced in pain, rubbing his reddened and swollen knuckles.
"Fuck... Seong Suho... I'll destroy you..."
Regaining some level of composure from the sharp physical pain, he recalled a long-standing doubt that had been bothering him.
"Ugh... That guy... did he really manage to ace the written exam? No... no matter how I try to think about it logically..."
Louis had been far too busy writing mandatory reflection essays to chat with the other students lately. But from his occasional encounters in the halls, he'd heard persistent rumors that Seong Suho finished his exams quickly because the material was simply too easy for him.
"It's ridiculous. A guy who entered this school at the absolute bottom—dead last in the rankings—cannot suddenly skyrocket in grades like this. No... but then again..."
He remembered the lightning magic research club incident with a shudder. Clearly, when Seong Suho had first attempted to use a brain attribute magic circle, the circle and the runes had glowed with a pure white light. Seeing that white light meant, by all the laws of magic, that Seong Suho possessed zero natural talent in the brain attribute. Yet right after that failure, Seong Suho had somehow manifested a perfect brain attribute spell.
People could eventually achieve results through decades of effort even without natural talent. But manifesting perfect results instantly without any visible process? That was truly, truly... rare.
Louis rubbed his forehead with his index and middle fingers, muttering with a flushed, angry face.
"That bastard... he actually dares to humiliate me in front of those two?"
That was the decisive reason Louis had come to hate Seong Suho with a burning passion. He could never forget that humiliating day when the magic had burned his forehead with electricity...
"Seong Suho... just you wait. Whether it's after our graduation or before... I am going to find a way to smash a rock into your skull properly."
As Louis continued to mutter his dark threats, the second mana flow suddenly resumed in the room. Noticing that the frequency was significantly more complex than the first, he furrowed his brow in concentration.
"...As I expected. The difficulty is ramping up already."
Harboring a cold rage toward Seong Suho, Louis refocused all of his considerable talent on the practical exam.
The very moment Louis interpreted the final mana flow, drew the corresponding circle on the blackboard, and dotted the final period, he let out a shout of pure victory.
"Done!"
Clunk.
His shout coincided perfectly with the sound of the heavy door unlocking, the metallic noise piercing through the room and burrowing into his ears. Feeling wary, Louis rushed out into the hallway. He was anxious; he thought it was unlikely, but throughout the entire process of solving the last problem, he'd imagined Seong Suho already standing there snickering outside the door.
The sight that greeted him, however, was simply a group of professors wandering the darkened hallway with magical lanterns. His assigned professor spotted him, approached him with a look of genuine admiration in his eyes, and spoke.
"You've finished the entire exam already? That is incredibly impressive, Student Louis."
"Um... excuse me, Professor..."
"...?"
Louis hesitated for a second, then dove straight into his most burning question.
"Am I officially the first one to finish?"
"I am not at liberty to discuss the specific details of other students' exams."
"Th-Then, what about that guy in the next room... did he already leave?"
"No, he has not. We've officially recorded your practical score, so I suggest you leave the tower quickly. And please, do not disturb anyone else on your way out."
"...Understood. Thank you, sir."
The professor, who had admired his speed just moments earlier, now waved him off with a hint of irritability. Despite the feeling of humiliation, Louis obeyed and turned toward the exit.
'Hah... I just have to hold it in for now.'
Muttering inwardly, Louis finally exited the tower. He had spent a total of 18 hours on the practical exam. The sun had set long ago, and the first light of dawn was just about to brighten the world again.
"Hah... there is no way I can just head back to the dorm and sleep like this."
Even as the sun began to rise, Louis couldn't shake the deep-seated anxiety in his chest. Despite the sun shining as if it were for him alone, he felt no joy in his victory. Going back to his room now would only bring on a wave of nausea from the worry. Then, by sheer chance, he spotted someone familiar.
"...TA?"
It was the TA with the chronic dark circles he'd bumped into a few times before, who was always seen rushing about on errands. The TA was currently sitting and dozing in a chair right by the main tower entrance.
'...Perfect.'
Louis nodded to himself and approached the sleeping man with a calculated greeting.
"Hello there."
"Huh?! S-Sorry! I wasn't sleeping!"
"You look absolutely exhausted."
"Oh...? Whew... thank the gods it's not a professor."
The TA jolted awake, letting out a long sigh of relief when he realized it was just Louis.
"Sorry about that, I just yelled because you surprised me."
"No, it was my fault for approaching so quietly. But why are you here all alone at this hour?"
"Haha... work, yeah... it's always work. I've been assigned to monitor the entry and exit logs during the exams."
"Ah, I see..."
Louis smirked slyly and leaned in closer. Confident in his leverage, he asked the TA a favor.
"So, are there any other students who have left the tower besides me?"
"Ah... I'm sorry, Student Louis, I really can't disclose that kind of information to other students..."
"Please. I'm just naturally curious about the competition. If you tell me what I want to know..."
"...?"
Louis offered a chilling smile and whispered to the TA.
"I promise to keep your little nap here a complete secret from the faculty."
"Gasp! Th-That..."
His words carried a clear threat, but the tone he used was sly and avoided giving direct offense.
"I'm really just curious, that's all. I wouldn't actually tell anyone about your lack of diligence, right?"
"Haha... y-yeah, no way you would. Whew..."
The TA scratched his head nervously and eventually gave Louis the information he craved.
"No other students have passed through this gate while I've been on shift."
"...And when exactly did your shift begin?"
"Uh... precisely from midnight."
"...Thank you. I appreciate your help."
Looking as if he had seen everything he needed to see, Louis turned and headed toward the student dorms.
'...Yeah, I knew it. Even if he wanted to bullshit his way through the practical like he did the written, he simply couldn't.'
As the sun rose higher into the sky, Louis was finally convinced. Seong Suho hadn't finished yet, which meant he was officially faster and better.
'I wonder exactly what kind of face he'll make when I officially make him my slave later this summer.'
With a face full of pure ecstasy at the thought, Louis headed back to the dorm to get some well-deserved rest.