The Signboard Problem
Why the hell was the professor here?
And with a notebook and pen in hand, no less.
This was a place for students, not somewhere a professor like her should be wandering around.
If a professor showed up in a place like this, it should only be as a proctor or guide.
But Na Sua’s current appearance matched neither of those roles.
She looked exactly like a student. Literally.
This was all wrong.
It was something that shouldn’t be happening.
The only saving grace was that she, at least, knew this was a problem.
Na Sua wasn’t an idiot, nor was she a foolish woman.
Kang Sian, who had watched her closely over the past few years, knew that better than anyone.
She might seem gentle most of the time, but when it mattered, she got things done.
After a brief silence, her eyes shifted.
His gaze landed on the notebook she was holding.
A fairly simple equation had been hastily scribbled across the page.
It might have been magic-related. It might not have been.
Either way, it clearly wasn’t unrelated to the current situation.
So Kang Sian stared straight into her eyes.
She darted her gaze left and right before tilting it upward.
It was as if she were saying, Don’t acknowledge anything up there.
He lifted his head slightly.
A drone hovered clearly in the sky, basking in the sunlight.
This definitely wasn’t the time to act like he knew anything.
One wrong move and it could look like collusion between professor and student.
Kang Sian gave a small nod, signaling he understood.
Then he borrowed Cheon Mari’s frozen ear.
“Don’t acknowledge her. If anyone thinks we’re acquaintances, we could get penalized. Just ignore her.”
Cheon Mari wasn’t the type to miss something so obvious.
Figuring she had her own reasons, she turned her attention back to the signboard ahead.
Problem 13. Your current location is somewhere in Shareltea. You engaged in combat 14.7 seconds ago and sustained no notable injuries. However, your remaining magic power is only 1 according to the adult standard model. The situation now requires the use of a second-stage wind school magic with power level 2 and range 5. Can you maintain this magic for more than 11.53 seconds? For reference, assume you are a fully awakened individual whose physical condition meets the international hunter standard (as of 2050).
[(Main Road) ← ‘Cannot maintain.’ | ‘Can maintain.’ → (Small Road)]
“W-what is this?”
“Looks like a math problem.”
It wasn’t particularly difficult, just annoyingly tedious.
No one had expected to encounter something like this on the street, so they all just looked at each other.
Soon they began exchanging glances, silently asking if anyone had seen this problem before.
Of course, no Korean problem book sold in bookstores contained anything exactly like this.
‘It’s the kind of advanced question that shows up occasionally.’
While the exact problem didn’t exist, similar types were common enough.
Kang Sian had already grasped the concept while preparing for the academy.
It wasn’t unsolvable if he tried.
“Ugh, this is such a pain. Obviously the answer is ‘cannot maintain,’ right?”
“Hmm……”
The real tragedy was that they were standing under direct sunlight.
Using your brain in this blazing heat felt like a crime against existence itself.
It was the kind of terrifying act that could make a water-cooled human brain stop cooling altogether.
Water cooling only existed in two states: already burst, or about to burst.
Since their brains couldn’t actually explode, the team decided to think shallowly instead of deeply.
They would base their judgment on past examples they had encountered.
“Ah, but doesn’t this feel kinda suspicious? The earlier ones were easy, and now the difficulty suddenly spikes.”
They had reached a judgment, but hadn’t acted on it yet.
The reason was simple: the whole situation felt like a deception.
It was as if the sign were tempting them to take the main road.
Only Kang Sian felt that way, but he couldn’t shake the sense of unease.
“If it feels ambiguous, why don’t we just solve it? I feel like we could finish it quickly with the Castillo-Ruiz formula.”
“That formula only works if you haven’t been in combat. We already fought, remember? We have to use the Myers formula and calculate everything properly.”
“Oh, right. That’s gonna be a huge pain.”
The names of true superhumans who had been mathematicians, mages, and hunters all at once started flying around.
Still, the magic swordsman girl’s point wasn’t entirely wrong.
Spending this time agonizing was less efficient than scribbling down a few more numbers.
After repeated deliberation, Kang Sian decided to risk his water-cooled brain overheating.
He immediately pulled out a notebook and pen and began calculating.
“……? Aren’t you guys going to calculate?”
“Huh?”
“What if I get it wrong doing it alone? Everyone, take out your notebooks or notepads and try solving it.”
“Uh, got it.”
Hunter academy freshmen doing math.
And so they sat down on the road and started scribbling numbers instead of swinging weapons.
A few minutes passed.
A gentle breeze blew by.
In this weather, wind was like sweet rain.
Just as they were enjoying the combination of water cooling and air cooling—
Thud.
Footsteps sounded behind them.
When they turned around, familiar figures came into view.
‘Those martial artists from earlier?’
The idiots who insisted magic was martial arts.
They had climbed mountains with the mindset of tigers, used lightness skills, and finally arrived here.
It was surprising they had only caught up now despite their mobility.
They probably would have overtaken this place much earlier if they hadn’t climbed the mountain.
Thud. Thud.
Their faces were hidden behind pot-lid hats and face armor.
All that was visible were their clothes and strangely exposed skin.
They approached while concealing every detail of their identities.
Just as the woman who seemed to be their leader cleared her throat—
“……?”
She froze upon seeing the group sitting on the ground.
Especially when her eyes landed on Kang Sian and Cheon Mari.
Her pupils trembled slightly, and her hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
The anxiety from her earlier shameless mistake made her hesitate.
But no matter how frightened she was, she was still a martial artist.
Even if her conscience took a hit, she had enough courage to put on a thick face.
She swallowed hard.
Then she began to speak.
“□□□□□□□□□｡”
“???”
Kang Sian didn’t understand Chinese.
So he seriously wondered if the pot-lid masked woman was demonstrating the dignity of a great Central Plains hero.
It only made her look foolish for trying to show something that didn’t exist.
After hearing more Chinese, Kang Sian concluded that these martial artists were true descendants of Ma Su.
‘Time to pretend I’m deaf.’
He turned back to the front and resumed solving the problem step by step.
The rest of his teammates did the same.
“……”
The woman who had mistakenly spoken in Chinese considered trying to fix it, but since it wasn’t important anyway, she decided to move on.
Just like Kang Sian and his teammates, she checked the contents of the signboard.
Then she stood there blankly for a moment, pondering.
Like the others, she was debating whether to head down the main road.
Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds. Time slowly passed.
“Haa……”
Na Sua suddenly stood up as if the time had come.
She glanced behind her, then shook her head.
Without any further expression, she walked toward the main road.
Seeing this, the martial artists began whispering among themselves.
Words filled with righteousness and chivalry spread in all directions.
Then they followed in the direction Na Sua had gone.
“Void Steps!”
Stepping on leaves.
Cleaving through wind.
Flying through the sky.
They paid no mind to any pangs of conscience.
It was the true spirit of the martial world.
“H-hey, hey!”
“Ugh…… That’s just how Chinese people are, I guess.”
“I’m done calculating!”
Only the four of them remained now, and one by one, his teammates began setting down their pens.
Not because they were tired, though.
“Have you all finished calculating?”
“Yes.”
“Yep.”
“Not sure if this is right, though.”
Calculations complete.
Now they had a basis to follow the others.
They each began to speak slowly.
“I’m taking the small road.”
“I’m going down the main road.”
“Me too.”
“I’m also taking the main road……”
One against three.
Kang Sian found it strange that he was the only one with a different answer.
He had calculated not once, but twice.
And he had even double-checked, so the chance of it being wrong was practically nonexistent.
“Did any of you factor in the natural magic recovery rate based on Shareltea standards?”
“Ah.”
“Oh.”
“Right.”
They made corrections to account for the minor discrepancy.
After rechecking their answers, they all arrived at the same conclusion: the small road.
“Shareltea has a higher natural magic recovery rate than Earth, so it’s just barely possible.”
“Yeah, that does seem right……”
“But even so, is going that way really the correct answer?”
Na Sua and the martial artists had taken the main road.
Yet the signboard’s correct answer was the small road.
“If we go that way, we’ll just end up going backward……”
According to the information they had gathered through scouting, the small road led into the forest behind them.
Coming all this way only to turn back made no sense.
“What do you think their intention is? We’ve only seen main roads until now, and suddenly there’s a small road.”
“No matter how I look at it, it feels like they’re trying to trick us. There’s no other reason for it to be like this.”
“One wrong move here and we’ll drop to the middle ranks. Kang Si, what do you think?”
Kang Sian thought carefully.
About which path was truly best, and how far the decision made here would take them.
In the midst of this reversal situation, something flashed through his mind.
He stared intently at the small road leading into the forest.
“That signboard.”
“Yeah?”
“If the academy installed it, then we have to take the small road. No question.”
“No question?”
Cheon Mari looked puzzled.
Kang Sian, however, pulled a plastic card from his pocket with complete certainty.
“They gave us these cards after the test. They wouldn’t have given them for no reason. Maybe we’re supposed to collect more cards, or maybe there’s a place where we use them for something.”
“But couldn’t there be places unrelated to the cards?”
“There could be. But even then, it wouldn’t be completely meaningless. If it were truly meaningless, the signboard’s answer would have been the opposite.”
There were no meaningless problems.
And there were no problems designed to deceive those who solved them.
“Even if the previous problems felt like they were treating us like idiots, they never felt like outright scams. I’m guessing this one’s the same.”
“Still, it’s a total gamble……”
“Taking the main road is also a gamble. For now, let’s trust our calculations and try the small road.”
After repeated persuasion, their hesitation gradually faded.
In the end, they decided to trust their own calculations.
The thirteenth small road.
They stepped forward toward the forest.
