The Eccentric Professor's Hidden Dream
Gi Juseon could, in practical terms, be considered the most outstanding professor at the academy. He wasn't just a representative mage for his year—he was the undisputed pinnacle of the magical engineering field for the entire school. Yet despite that, not many people knew his name. Part of it was his reluctance to step into the public eye, but the biggest reason was his personality.
The quintessential eccentric.
Even after making a groundbreaking discovery or invention, he would simply publish a paper on the process and call it a day. He was a bizarre figure who never followed up with any notable activities after his announcements. No one could tell what he was truly pursuing. All they knew was that he gathered talented individuals, shut himself away in his lab, and buried them in research. No one understood his real goal. Not even his own research assistants. They were too busy solving the problems right in front of them to grasp the ultimate objective that tied everything together.
Because it's such an absurd dream.
Originally, I had planned to approach him only after his research had progressed to a certain point. I would "coincidentally" drop a hint that would spark his interest and offer advice. How much future knowledge I could safely reveal without affecting the ending was a massive dilemma. That's why I had decided to be extremely cautious in the early stages, slowly building my strength. But the game refused to allow such a leisurely pace. If it demanded that I charge forward alone, then I had no choice but to oblige.
Knock knock.
The moment I arrived at Gi Juseon's lab, I knocked immediately. The door slid open on its own with a smooth whoosh, even though no one had come to open it. It was an automatic door system I was very familiar with from Earth, but in this game world, it was cutting-edge technology that was years ahead of its time.
It's quiet.
It seemed he hadn't yet received news of the student's death. The inside of the lab was still a chaotic mess from ongoing research.
"Does anyone know how to calculate this spell formula?"
"Huh? I worked on that recently. Hang on a second."
"No, the environment this time is different from back then. Last time we used 23 grams of a mid-grade mana stone, but now we're using 12 grams of a high-grade one, so the reaction is completely different."
"Ah... Then it looks like you'll have to research that one on your own."
"...Ah."
A remote island. Despite Gi Juseon's aggressive recruitment of outside talent, his lab felt incredibly isolated. He never explained what they were researching. He simply scouted anyone who seemed talented, then immediately threw urgent tasks at them. It was like a ghost ship sailing madly forward even after losing its destination.
"Hmm, as expected, my instincts were right. You came."
I carefully made my way toward where Gi Juseon was, trying not to disturb the research. That's when Professor Gi Juseon, who had spotted me first, waved his hand in greeting. The fact that he was even clapping lightly suggested he had been expecting my visit.
"Hello, Professor. I'm—"
"I know! I know very well! You're Lee Seokhyun, correct?!"
"Yes, that's right."
"I sent you a love call once, but you slipped away quite cleanly. Our research assistants are all magic-obsessed shut-ins, so their physical stamina is pathetically weak. You exploited that weakness perfectly!"
As I listened to words that could have been either praise or resentment, Professor Gi Juseon slowly approached me.
He's huge.
When I had seen him on the game screen, he just looked about a head taller than the average character. But seeing him in person, he had to be around 195 centimeters tall. And even that was while he was slouching with his back and shoulders hunched. If he stood up straight, he would easily clear two meters.
Disheveled hair, thick-lensed glasses, skin pale as if it had never seen sunlight, and a skeletal frame. He was the living embodiment of the mad scientist cliché from old comics.
"I valued those qualities highly, but I decided to give up on recruiting you. Because forcing someone who clearly dislikes it into the lab won't produce proper results anyway."
His height was so extreme that it seemed like he could touch the ceiling if he stood on his toes. When such a giant slowly approached me, it created its own kind of pressure. Even though I knew there was no malice behind it, this was the moment I truly understood what it meant to form prejudices based on appearance.
"So I had no choice but to let you go. Other professors were desperately after you too... and Akasa even publicly declared you as her disciple. Obviously you'd be busy, right? That's why I gave up. I gave up! But! Now that you've shown up like this, I'm truly delighted! Even if you don't join my lab, it's always a joy when a student comes to visit their professor!"
His words bordered on mania, so I couldn't easily bring up my main purpose. In fact, I could barely open my mouth.
His condition seems way too good.
I didn't know what had happened, but Gi Juseon was in an exceptionally energetic state. I had known he was an odd person, but not to this extent. The most fascinating part was how the research assistants continued working without even glancing at him, even as their professor spiraled into this frenzy. It looked like they would keep calculating spell formulas and deriving results even if the world ended. I realized the entire lab was a den of madness.
"Hmm, did I talk too much? Right, why did you come? It's different from when I sent you that love call."
He seemed to hold a bit of a grudge.
"I have a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
"Yes. It seems like something only Professor Gi Juseon could do."
"Oho!"
Gi Juseon showed great interest upon hearing that, out of all the countless professors at Mirinae Academy, I had specifically sought him out. If it had been an ordinary student saying this, it might have been different. But coming from me—the one who had answered all five theoretical exam questions perfectly—his curiosity skyrocketed.
"What is it?! Speak quickly! Dragging it out won't do!"
"It's a bit difficult to say openly... Could we talk somewhere private, just the two of us?"
"That won't work. If I leave the lab, I won't be able to respond to any sudden situations."
"Then would whispering be acceptable?"
"Ah, sure, go ahead!"
Having amplified his curiosity enough, it was time to get to the main point. Gi Juseon bent down to match my eye level out of consideration for our height difference, and I whispered into his ear.
"...?"
A whisper between Professor Gi Juseon and me in the middle of a crowded lab. No matter how focused the research assistants were, this was something that would inevitably draw their curious glances. With each word I spoke, Gi Juseon's reaction changed in real time. At first his eyes widened, then his legs began to tremble, and by the end he was clenching his fists so tightly that crescent marks formed in his palms.
"That is my request."
"...Who told you about this?"
"It was a thought that came from my own mind."
"I see."
After those words, Gi Juseon fell silent for a long time. His eyes darted around as if he were thinking deeply. He ruffled his hair wildly, then chugged an entire pot of coffee in one go. After continuing these bizarre, ghost-possessed actions for several minutes, he suddenly clapped his hands three times.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
At the attention-grabbing sound, both I and all the research assistants turned to look at him. He immediately got to the point.
"Everyone, I'm giving you all a chance to step out for a short break! Of course, Lee Seokhyun, you stay behind."
"Huh? What do you—"
"Vacation! That's right! They call it a half-day off, don't they? I'm using one right now! And I'm doing it by spending the half-day free coupon I just distributed!"
The research assistants realized this was his roundabout way of saying "get out because you're in the way." They hurriedly began organizing their research materials. They knew from experience that he would never say something like that lightly. Even though he acted like a madman, he was a madman who kept his principles. That was Gi Juseon.
"Everyone, rest well and I'll see you tomorrow! You can sleep in! Sleep as much as you want! And give your thanks to Lee Seokhyun, who gave you this opportunity!"
"Ooh, Lee Seokhyun truly is my other father."
"Wasn't Professor Gi Juseon already our father?"
"...Ooh~ Then he's our third father."
"SeokhyunGod! SeokhyunGod! SeokhyunGod! SeokhyunGod! SeokhyunGod! SeokhyunGod!"
"Take me! Take me! Take me! Take me!"
After the research assistants' incomprehensible praises died down, Gi Juseon dragged an empty desk over and placed it between us.
Bang!
It was a somewhat rough action that could have seemed violent, but I recognized it as uncontrollable joy bursting forth from his excited state.
Scrape. Tap.
Gi Juseon sat silently at the desk until every last research assistant had left. The moment the door closed, he opened his mouth immediately.
"Doesn't it seem childish?"
A question thrown out abruptly. I understood the true meaning behind it.
"No, it doesn't."
"Don't you think it's absurd?"
"No, I don't."
"Do you truly believe it's possible?"
"Yes."
The questions continued without even stating the exact topic. But I kept answering with eyes full of conviction.
"...To think there's a student who shares the exact same dream as me."
"Were you dreaming the same dream, Professor?"
"Yes. What do you call it?"
It took about four years for a student to become a fully capable individual. Even if they bloomed quickly and got scouted by a guild with full support, it took two years. Even with brilliant talent, it still took one year. Gi Juseon considered this time incredibly wasteful. Even at this very moment, dungeons could suddenly appear or monsters could emerge and kill people. How long did the powerless have to live under protection?
But it wasn't as if the powerful always saved the weak. Some fought for honor, others for greater wealth. Salvation was often nothing more than an incidental byproduct. It was simply true that drinking wine while guarding a noble was far sweeter than protecting the lower classes for a few scraps of bread.
That's why Gi Juseon threw himself into research.
A way for even the lowest citizens to protect themselves. If the environment didn't allow them to build strength, then he would create something that granted them power automatically. An object that could let an ordinary person instantly wield the strength of a knight.
"I call it Magic Armor."
Magic Armor.
"It's better than the name I came up with. Let's go with that."
It was time to properly ignite the spark of this research.