Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Snow House (1)
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The moment Seol Ye-eun finished speaking.
I froze in place, unable to say a word.
There was just too much information flooding my mind, and the fact that it was all about me—but a completely different person from a past life—pressed down on me strangely.
'...This is the life I lived? What about the original Kang Hyun-sol?'
The me from two years ago—no, Kang Hyun-sol.
He had jumped into the heart of a catastrophe where two Lord-class demons descended to protect people, only to suffer severe injuries and lose consciousness...
He had lived with that trauma etched into him, without even understanding its meaning.
For a moment, all surrounding sounds seemed to fade away.
Of course, there were still a few puzzling points left.
If his mana circuits were damaged and he barely survived a near-death injury before recovering...
It somewhat explained why Kang Hyun-sol had below-average stats.
But how had he even gotten into the academy with those stats?
How had I awakened and used the Mana Sensitivity Genius trait in this body with damaged mana circuits?
There were more than one or two questionable things.
Still, there was no more information to uncover here right now, so all I could do was harbor my doubts and mull them over silently.
It might have been a few minutes later.
Suddenly, Seol Ye-eun's calm voice flowed into my ear.
"...Hyun-sol."
Her tone was peculiar.
Not cold, yet not warm either—a strangely resonant way of speaking.
I barely pulled myself together and lifted my head.
"...Sorry. I got lost in thought for a moment."
Seol Ye-eun stared at me for a long while before slowly nodding.
"That's understandable. It wasn't a story you'd want to hear again."
I forced a smile and replied.
"It's... better than I expected. I think I've sorted it out for now."
Even as I said it, my mind was still a jumble, but I tried not to show it.
Seol Ye-eun carefully observed my demeanor—then, contrary to my expectations, she gently lifted her hand with soft eyes to tidy the teacups.
"Good. If you're okay now, that's what matters."
She paused for a moment before letting out a deep breath.
"In any case, it's truly heartening that you've restored your mana circuits and become a mage again.
Many were convinced the injuries from back then meant your mana would never return."
"...Really?"
"Yes. That's why it's all the more impressive.
Getting back into the academy,
and even coming to the Snow House during break to train under Yu-bin—
None of those were easy decisions."
I could feel her sincerity.
At the same time, that sincerity hit me heavier than expected.
Seol Yu-bin grinned happily beside me.
"See, Mom? I told you. Hyun-sol's a real hard worker."
"Sigh, you keep praising him, and now he looks even more exhausted."
"...Huh?"
"Just kidding."
An awkward laugh spread lightly through the room.
In that atmosphere, Seol Ye-eun lifted her teacup one last time and tilted it gently.
She set down the empty cup and quietly concluded.
"Keep training diligently under Yu-bin from now on. Whether it's ice magic or whatever path you choose, make sure you never waver like before."
"Yes. I will."
"Good."
Seol Ye-eun nodded in satisfaction—and then, for the briefest moment.
A silence so short it could only be called an instant, her nearly expressionless face turned playfully as she whispered.
"Finally... you haven't forgotten that promise to marry our Yu-bin when you become an adult, right?"
"......"
"...What?? Mom!!!!"
Seol Yu-bin nearly jumped out of her chair in shock.
"That was ages ago! Why bring it up now—!"
"Why? I still think it's valid."
"It's not valid!! He was a kid back then and just said it without thinking—! Ugh, seriously, why!!!"
Beside the mother-daughter duo, I could only gape, managing nothing better than an awkward 'hahaha' sound—not the worst, not the best, just... lame.
Not quite laughing, not quite responding.
Just bewildered laughter spilling out on its own.
In the end, Seol Ye-eun waved her hand dismissively at her daughter's over-the-top reaction, leaving only a small smile.
"Kidding. I'm not expecting an answer right this second."
"...Not this second or ever!!!!"
"Oh, come on. We'll see about that, won't we?"
"There's nothing to see!!"
Their bickering seemed to end, then started up again, and in the meantime, I cautiously stood and bowed.
"...Then I'll be going now..."
"Yes, rest up. You must be tired enough today."
"Thank you."
I bowed as naturally as possible and headed for the door.
Seol Yu-bin looked like she was about to follow me with her face bright red, but Seol Ye-eun pushed me out of the family head's room and shut the door.
The moment the family head's room door closed.
"Haaa..."
I let out a long breath, unsure if it was relief or release from tension.
Leaving that room felt like the lightest thing in the world.
And beyond the door—
"Mom, seriously, why?! Why bring that up out of nowhere?!"
"Why? I still think it's fine."
"What do you even mean by that!!"
The mother and daughter's squabbling voices echoed down the hallway.
"...What a mess."
I thought about intervening for a second, but with all the new info crammed into my head today, any more would overload me and make my brain explode.
I glanced back one last time, silently cheering on Seol Yu-bin who was still fiercely arguing beyond the family head's room, then headed to my own room first.
That happened ten days ago already.
The day I talked with Seol Ye-eun, and Seol Yu-bin flushed red and chased me out.
Since then, I've been through brutally intense training—scary intense.
...Well, honestly, the entire Snow House was enforcing that atmosphere.
Ice pillars made of snow rising anew every day, icy floors repeatedly laid down in the mana training room.
In this place far colder than outside, where even breaths turned white, I was now on day ten of circulating mana.
Thankfully, my body had gotten used to it—whether that was a blessing or just adaptation.
Still—
"I've been wondering about this for a while, but is it okay to keep changing the mana training room's environment like this?"
I scanned the surroundings as I spoke.
Ice crystals.
Ice pillars.
Snow crystal decorations hanging like icicles.
And a magical chill that no air conditioner could explain.
'It's too damn cold in here...'
Mana is trickier than expected.
Sensitive to environments, heavily influenced by climate.
For example, Middle Eastern hunters' unique traits tending toward sand, earth, and stone affinities.
But... training in a space packed with ice like this—doesn't it distort mana flow instead?
I couldn't wrap my head around it and turned to look at Seol Yu-bin.
She was leaning against the wall with arms crossed, met my gaze squarely for a moment, then glanced around the ice crystals before quietly speaking.
"Fair question."
"Yeah. Honestly... it's way too cold."
"Can't be helped. This training room's structure is completely different from the standard academy ones."
Seol Yu-bin lightly raised an eyebrow, flicked her fingertip, and made one ice crystal ring softly.
A clear, cold metallic chime spread out.
'Why does ice make that sound...'
"This is part of the eternal frost ice crystal."
"...The eternal frost ice crystal...? The Snow House treasure?"
"Yes, and more precisely, it's a reproduction of its mana structure mimicking its power.
Our family has trained in mana like this for generations, creating as similar an environment as possible for whenever the true inheritor of the eternal frost appears."
"...Inheritor?"
"Yeah. Someone who can fully wield that power. Ice magic's performance fluctuates wildly based on emotions, temperature, mental strength, you know?"
Seol Yu-bin rested her hand on her chin and continued explaining.
"So this environment is... a form of optimization. The harsher the conditions, the more precisely you can handle mana flow's subtleties,
and secure stability so your body doesn't waver even in the chill."
"So... it's not about making it cold, but becoming precise because it's cold?"
"Spot-on summary."
Seol Yu-bin nodded, satisfied with my words.
"And one more thing."
She held up a finger.
"That mana-related trait you awakened. It's just my hunch for now, but training in this extreme environment should subtly help."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. From what I've analyzed, your trait is close to perceiving mana flow as a whole.
In a warm or unstable space, it'd be harder, but here where one attribute dominates extremely orderly, you can achieve much more stable resonance."
"...So that's why I felt like I was dying here for ten days straight."
"Yep."
I let out a sigh at her blatantly saying 'yeah, you nearly died' with her expression.
'Can I survive this family...?'
Seol Yu-bin flashed a smile as if reading my mind and turned around.
"Alright, shall we get into the real thing now?"
"Starting now...?"
"Of course. Two things for today. First, complete 2nd Circle stabilization. Second... reaching the threshold of the 3rd Circle."
"Wait, 3rd Circle? It's only been ten days—"
"Your trait itself has a rapid recovery structure. Your 2nd Circle mana ring is nearly complete, and circulation speed is way faster than average students."
Seol Yu-bin drew a small mana diagram in the air with her hand.
Blue lines overlapped into circles.
The inner one was the 2nd Circle structure.
The next layer, the 3rd.
"You can't enter the 3rd without stabilizing the 2nd. So today, we'll use this training room's ice crystal vibrations to fix your circulation."
"...Fix it?"
"Yeah. Think of it like rooting it in place."
Seol Yu-bin touched the floor with one hand.
The entire floor slowly froze over, intricate patterns rising up.
Like living snowflake designs.
"Sit here."
"...."
I hesitated briefly but accepted her guidance and stepped into the center of the snowflower formation.
The first sensation was cold.
Insanely cold.
As mana rose from my feet and burrowed into my whole body, Seol Yu-bin slowly raised her staff.
"Close your eyes. Maximize your mana sense and follow my mana waves."
I closed my eyes.
And then.
With a chilling aura—delicate white threads of light began intertwining with my mana.
"Good, keep breathing steady. If it flows too deep, your circuits shake. Feel the 2nd Circle's central axis. Hold that sensation. Yes, now. Maintain for 10 seconds—no, 8 seconds!"
"Urgh..."
My breathing grew ragged, fingertips numbing.
But oddly—a sensation of something clicking perfectly into place flashed through my body.
"Done."
As Seol Yu-bin spoke, the patterns at my feet melted away like frost.
I gasped for breath, hands on the floor.
"Haa... damn... thought I was gonna die..."
"You're fine. Good job."
Seol Yu-bin patted my head as I slumped on the floor and smirked.
"Now it's truly complete—2nd Circle stabilization."
"Stabilizing my 2nd Circle in just ten days... impressive."
"Yeah. And—"
She tapped her staff under her chin.
Her eyes glinted playfully, just a bit.
"Now let's properly start entering the 3rd Circle."
"Can't I rest a little first?"
"No way. Gotta form it while your mana circuits are sensitive!"
Her slowly smiling face somehow looked scarier than Seol Ye-eun's 'walking disaster' description.
"That Sophia Litwell? You learned from her, so you know the basics, right?"