The Misunderstood Ploy

What the hell is going on? Professor Lee Hwaryeong's words made me want to cut in immediately, but I held my tongue.

'Could she even imagine that the only person without it is standing right in front of her?'

Even commoners who had never received any education were normally born with a speck of mana the size of a millet grain. And, as if by some cruel joke, Lee Seokhyun was the sole existence in the entire Final Destiny world who had been born without mana. A completely broken trash character who had lost everything for the single merit of monopolizing hidden skills.

'If it weren't for the natural mana, I would have been forced to take a ridiculous detour.' Thanks to the bear's inner core, the brutally difficult path had become at least somewhat manageable. If I hadn't had even that, I might have failed to complete the first-year basic magic course and actually been held back a year. All over a task as simple as feeling the flow of mana, responding to it, and circulating it through the body once. It was the kind of wall I might never have broken through in my lifetime.

'Of course I won't let that happen, but the fact that the possibility even exists is hilarious.' What kind of character couldn't even use basic magic and therefore couldn't advance? It was truly a playable route that only Lee Seokhyun could pull off.

"So what I'm about to show you is the basic operation of mana. Class president, please step a little closer to me."

"Yes, ma'am."

Completely unaware of my inner turmoil, Professor Lee Hwaryeong beamed and gently pulled me forward. What she was about to demonstrate was exactly that—basic operation. In other words, the same internal mana circulation I had achieved by stabbing myself with mana needles. It was an absolutely vital step; you had to know how to move mana inside your body before you could hope to use it for anything.

'But I don't know how to circulate mana.'

My natural mana was still at the absolute bottom of the beginner stage. It wasn't anywhere near the level where I could move it by will alone. If she demonstrated and then told me to replicate it, a problem was guaranteed. On top of that, after the demonstration she would definitely give me feedback and continue the lesson based on my performance. I had to escape this situation no matter what.

"All right then..."

Right before Lee Hwaryeong could begin her demonstration, a flash of inspiration struck me.

'What if Lee Hwaryeong circulates my natural mana for me?'

Since I couldn't do it myself, I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forcibly created the right conditions to circulate the bear's inner core. Maybe the same principle would work here if I borrowed external help. Embarrassment lasted only a moment, but the benefits would last forever. I put the idea into action immediately.

"Professor, I'm sorry, but I'm still clumsy with mana operation. Could you possibly assist me?"

"Oh my, of course! I completely forgot about that part."

The fixed idea that S-class students would naturally be capable of mana operation on their own. What shattered that notion so cleanly was the incompetent body of Lee Seokhyun. It seemed I really was the only one in S-class who couldn't handle it myself; everyone was staring at me with shocked eyes.

'I can't help that my incompetence has been exposed, but this is the only method I have.'

The S-class representative who can't even perform mana operation. It wouldn't have been strange for whispers to spread, but what I heard was completely different from what I expected.

"Is the class president really unable to do basic operation?"

"That can't possibly be true. The commoner is obviously pulling some trick."

"A trick?"

Huh? They seemed to be misunderstanding something. The situation was flowing in a strangely different direction than I had anticipated.

Velos Velon put on an extremely sharp expression, pointed straight at me, and continued.

"It's obvious at a glance. He's trying to copy the professor's mana operation technique by doing this."

"Copy it?"

"Exactly. Does it make any sense that someone skilled enough to give all of us feedback can't use mana? That's clearly a scheme."

His words were so full of conviction that Benras, who had been sitting beside him, asked a couple of questions before offering his own opinion.

"He just looks genuinely flustered to me."

"Benras, you still don't know how to read people. And are you arguing with me right now?"

"Ah, n-no, sorry."

With Velos speaking so confidently, Benras wore an expression that said 'Maybe it really is like that?' From there, Velos's words spread through the class like a contagious disease.

"Well... does that even make sense? Someone in S-class who can't operate mana?"

"He might be deliberately using an obvious trick. It's an indirect appeal."

"It has to be, right? He's really not ordinary."

"Yeah, our class president has to be at least this level."

A bizarre phenomenon unfolded in which the 'I heard' style of gossip transformed into accepted truth in less than five seconds. I had simply told the truth that I really couldn't operate mana, yet it was being distorted in real time.

"He's no ordinary commoner."

"Mm, I have no choice but to acknowledge it."

The moment Velos and Benras finished their exchange, everyone around us nodded with expressions that said 'As expected.' Since the words had come from the second- and seventh-ranked students, the entire class swallowed them as if they were undeniable fact.

"Oh my, so that's what it was. Class president?"

How could the professor believe it too? Still, the result was excellent, so I acted as flustered as possible.

"Uh... um... haha."

The most important thing here was to avoid giving a proper answer. That way it would look like my shallow plan as a clumsy seventeen-year-old had been exposed.

I glanced at Velos with the face of someone who had been caught.

'Thanks, Velos.'

Thanks to your nonsense, I'm reaping the benefits.

Of course, contrary to my true feelings, Velos was looking down at me with an expression that said he knew everything.

'And for Lee Hwaryeong, one guilty look.'

It was an expression I had improvised on the spot, but given the situation the performance came out perfectly.

The moment Lee Hwaryeong saw my face she opened her mouth with an 'as expected' expression.

"As expected, choosing the advanced magic course wasn't a mistake. I didn't realize you would show such passion."

I'm more than happy to welcome this kind of sly behavior.

Lee Hwaryeong whispered those words and gently took my hand, beginning to inject her mana.

"...?"

About ten seconds after she started sending mana through my hand, her expression began to change—very slowly, very subtly. The bright smile faded into confusion, then into a face that looked completely cornered. Her complexion shifted and beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

The students, who had expected the mana operation to finish in a few seconds, grew puzzled as it dragged on and the professor's expression worsened. They clearly wondered what was happening.

Since I knew exactly where the problem lay, I simply kept my mouth shut.

'Special mana has terrible efficiency.'

Normally a person possessed basic mana, with additional mana carrying modifiers on top of that. These were called special mana, and they were a crucial element that granted extra effects when casting spells.

'Natural mana is one of them.'

Take Yu Sohyun for example. Because she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possesses water mana in addition to basic mana, she specializes in water magic. The method for using water mana involved circulating basic mana, extracting its essence, and converting it into water mana.

But what if the body had only special mana and no basic mana at all?

'You have to start the circulation from natural mana itself, so the amount that needs to be injected is enormous.'

That was why I had used a mana crystal instead of a regular mana stone, and why I had set an intermediate mana crystal as the baseline requirement. Natural mana was so dense that it barely responded even to highly concentrated mana, so it was only natural that Lee Hwaryeong was struggling.

'She probably hasn't even realized it's natural mana.'

Because the basic premise for any person was that they possessed mana to begin with. She was surely wondering why it wouldn't move no matter how much she poured in. In magical academia, the immutable law was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that special mana was generated after passing through basic mana. She couldn't even conceive of the idea that she needed to operate special mana from the very start.

By now she was probably doubting her own condition while continuing to inject mana.

'Am I injecting it inefficiently? Have I suddenly lost my touch?' She would keep blaming herself like that.

The real cause ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lay with the student she was teaching. She would probably never realize it in her lifetime unless I told her.

"Mmm...!"

The millet-sized natural mana forcibly sucked in the incoming mana from outside and swelled. As if making up for all the hunger it had endured, it endlessly devoured Lee Hwaryeong's mana.

It worked.

Lee Hwaryeong must have sensed it wouldn't end easily, because she began pouring in mana in earnest. My proficiency shot up like crazy.

'A little more. Just a little more.'

If it kept sucking in mana at this rate and accumulating natural mana, I could even reach the intermediate stage right away. I felt bad for Lee Hwaryeong, but survival came first, so I continued acting with a blank, stupid expression.

She staggered.

"Mmm..!"

Thud.

Lee Hwaryeong swayed and then collapsed to the floor.

The students had been watching her inject mana for several minutes. When she suddenly collapsed, they were so shocked that no one could speak.

To play ignorant, I kept a thoroughly flustered expression on my face and opened my mouth.

"A-ah, no way. What the hell is going on."

"..."

Silence fell over the classroom.