Preparations

I headed back to the dorm after meeting Felix.

The moment I stepped into a space that was mine alone, the tension finally bled out of me.

I pulled the magic tool I'd smuggled back in my pocket and checked its information.

No wonder he'd handed it over so easily. It was disposable.

If I walked this thing over to the professors, the whole affair would be finished on the spot. He must have let his guard down, convinced I was a Demon just like him.

Not that I had any intention of turning it in.

I was going to be the one who resolved this.

I slipped the sending orb back into the pocket of the cadet uniform hanging on the rack.

"Hmm..."

So how was I supposed to deal with Felix?

Taking on a Felix who had grown unexpectedly strong was going to take serious preparation. There was no convenient setting here where Demons crumpled under light magic or anything so tidy.

"...Ah. If I'm doing this, I at least want to win in style."

Even if I couldn't find a way to beat him myself, it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would sting, but I could always warn the others and then rush in first, soaking hits until I was a pulp to buy time.

Sacrificing myself for Lucy would actually play better that way, atmosphere-wise. But if I had a choice, I wanted to kill him myself and be the one who saved her. The scene wouldn't really land unless I was there to take care of her after it was all over.

"Guess I should hit the training grounds... No, wait. I need to do that first."

I was broke.

My only income was a monthly stipend of three million won, and I had far too much I needed to buy. I racked my brain for a way to make money, and one possibility surfaced.

The Victoria Academy cadet profile.

In plain terms, it was the SNS profile equivalent. Everyday was an anonymous community at its core, but you could register a profile if you wanted one.

The people who did fell into two camps. The first were those looking to elevate their guild or family name — students like Elise, who already had a guild lined up and were confident in their rankings. The second were those hoping to land guild recruitment offers or sponsorships.

Exam rankings and practical class footage were already provided to scouts as a baseline, but scouts couldn't keep tabs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on every single cadet. The desperate ones had to put in the work themselves.

Is that really all I have to put down?

I hadn't done anything, so there was nothing to write. Sorry, Lucy, but I uploaded the footage of our one-on-one spar. I posted the dungeon practical training video as well. Nam Da-eun had outshone me in that one, but a working hunter might still find it worth a look.

I finished filling everything in and hit register.

"It comes off a little mercenary... but that's fine."

My grades hadn't come out yet, so I didn't have much to sell myself with. Still, this was insurance. There was no reason not to take out a risk-free policy.

I knew the original story, so I could have invested in a solid guild if I'd wanted — except I had no starting capital.

"Ugh. Let's just go train."

If I got truly desperate for money, I could always ask Professor Lim Sol to lend me some, right? I'd have to get closer to her first, then feel her out.

The training hall was nearly empty, probably because it was Friday. Didn't matter much, since I was heading for a private room anyway.

Meeting Felix — seeing him stronger than I had expected — had set a lot of thoughts in motion. I had felt the inadequacy of my own combat power. I had felt, viscerally, the situation I was actually in.

I had been so focused on conquering the heroines that some part of me still felt like I was playing a game.

If Felix had snapped back there and tried to kill me, I'd be dead right now.

It was an extremely unlikely hypothetical, but the fact remained that I had gotten careless. I had been taking things seriously so far. From now on I needed to be even more serious. Even more careful.

So today, I was going to establish my combat style.

My problem was low mana capacity. I hadn't been using magic for long, so neither my reserves nor my circuits had had time to expand. The trouble with low mana went without saying. A car without fuel does not move. Without mana, I couldn't cast much of anything.

Narrow mana circuits were a problem when it came to actualizing spells. The pathways mana traveled through were tight, which made it hard to convert mana into magic quickly and harder still to push large amounts through at once.

Until now I had been forcing it with the mana manipulation of Mana Sensitivity, wringing out every drop I could. I couldn't keep doing things that way.

The combat style I considered ideal was a swift, decisive fight. Which was exactly why I coveted Nam Da-eun's spatial acceleration even more.

I called the moment back. The scene of Nam Da-eun using her acceleration ability to take down the cave mole. I had Insight active at the time, so I remembered every last movement of the mana with perfect clarity. On top of that, footage of Nam Da-eun using the ability was sitting right there on Victoria Academy's official SNS.

The more material I had to analyze, the better.

I spent hours watching the footage, retracing my memories, and mapping out Nam Da-eun's mana manipulation.

"God, my head actually hurts."

Nam Da-eun's acceleration was not an ability that sped up the body. She created a spherical mana barrier centered on herself, then accelerated the space inside that barrier. It was far more efficient than simply accelerating a human body — the same principle as how it is easier to send a round soccer ball flying than it is to rapidly articulate a finely jointed marionette.

The basic framework was circulating mana through the body's circuits at high speed to generate force from the acceleration. But that put so much strain on the body that it became a self-destruct technique. Which was why she accelerated the space along with it.

You had to accelerate the mana around the body along the same path and at the same speed, then control it so the recoil was absorbed by the mana outside the body. It was a precise, meticulously constructed skill — accelerating the ambient mana in empty air to give it mass, then diverting the body's recoil into vacant space.

Most people couldn't pull it off even if you explained it to them.

But I was a talent officially recognized by the strongest mage in this world. I might not look like much, but I was on a completely different level from the other freaks of nature.

"Hahh—"

I drew a deep breath, then let it out. Mana began to accelerate along the circuits of my body.

I started slow, circulating mana while I waited for the circuits to adapt. Once they grew accustomed, I increased the speed. Once they adapted again, I increased it further.

Vmmm—

I let the space around me hitch a ride on that current. It was my first time manipulating mana this way, but it came as naturally as water flowing downhill. I brought the mana outside my body up to the same speed. I kept that momentum going, and the moment I had complete dominion over a spherical pocket of space, I pushed it to the maximum output I could produce.

Shuuuung—

Wind whipped around the barrier encasing my body. My mana circuits screamed. This was no longer a control problem. It was a physical one. Even the best engine in the world has a speed limit if the car is too small.

Any faster and I would take internal damage.

I transferred the accumulated acceleration and recoil to the mana circulating behind me, and launched my body forward.

BAAANG—!

In an instant, I had crossed several dozen meters.

"Hoo..."

"Learning a skill this easily almost feels like cheating."

Skills in this world were not something you just picked up with a snap of your fingers. You had to fully comprehend the method, master it, and repeat it until you could use it reliably and stably... and I had done it in a single attempt.

I felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a little bad about it. But what was I supposed to do?

"Let's see... Accelerates the space around the body and uses the recoil to grant an instantaneous burst of explosive speed... Huh?"

That was not what I had been thinking. I had learned this skill imagining I would outpace an opponent's spellcasting and blow them away from a distance. Looking at this, though — wasn't it a close-range skill?

"Ah."

Come to think of it, every video and memory I had analyzed so thoroughly had been of Nam Da-eun closing the distance on an enemy.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. It was a completely different skill to begin with."

And so, after hours of brutal effort, I had acquired the ability to run really fast.

I finished training and stepped out of the private room.

"Well, it's not bad. I can just run away faster."

I was walking back to the dorm, consoling myself as I went.

"Or I could sprint over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I ever sleep through my alarm. Hmm. Actually, that's pretty decent?"

Wasn't that genuinely useful?

Beep-beep—

My smartwatch chimed, as if telling me to cut the useless thoughts. The sender was Mun Su-rin.

Saturday was tomorrow. Was she finally following up on that dinner promise? I didn't have any plans, exactly — I just had a lot to do.

I couldn't lie to her. The only thing I had lined up was training, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and if she found out later it would be a pain to smooth over. All in — even if I went hungry.

I had gotten ahead of myself again. But the misunderstanding was only natural. Why wouldn't you lead with the important part, noona?

She was pretty sharp. Had a little disappointment leaked through in my reply?

The PR department, huh. I was finally going to live the life of a good-looking person. Nice. Never thought I'd end up doing model work.

"Hold on."

Wasn't this just them using my and Elise's likeness for free under the guise of PR work? Someone at my and Elise's level could start a stream and watch the donations pour in. These people were straight-up highway robbers...

Beep—

As expected of Victoria Academy, the finest institution in the world. They never disappointed.

"Come on in~. Watch the money roll~."

I checked my account, feeling pretty good about things.

I had about 120,000 won left to begin with, which meant they had deposited five million.

"A 'small amount,' she says. Even their scale is on a different level from mine."

From a commoner's perspective, five million won was a lot of money. Either way, I was the type to gratefully accept whatever was given, so I figured I would go shopping this weekend.

Saturday.

I was here to do influencer work for the first time in my life.

My heart was pounding. The whole way to the PR department, my chest would not stop fluttering. A shut-in gamer, becoming a model. I was genuinely moved.

"Hello~."

"Hey, hey~ Long time no see, underclassman!"

"Oh my god, our PR department junior is impossible to get a look at!"

The student council's female officers greeted me with enthusiasm.

No matter how much you flatter me, ladies, there are no seats available next to me. My apologies.

I returned their greetings halfheartedly and headed into the PR department. This was only my second visit — I hadn't been back since they first showed me around — but seeing the place packed with people was a novel sight.

It wasn't just Elise and Su-rin noona. Quite a few other women were gathered as well. I looked toward Elise and Su-rin noona and offered a greeting.

"President. Good morning. Who are these people?"

I asked carefully, gesturing toward the unfamiliar women.

"Hey there, junior. These are the makeup artists. You're going to be the face of Victoria Academy, so we have to send you out looking as good as possible."

The moment Su-rin noona introduced me, the makeup artists started chattering among themselves.

"Wow, so that's the male model? He's insane."

"I know, right? But I don't think there's anything for us to even touch. He's already perfectly put together."

"...?"

I looked at Su-rin noona with a face that said I had no idea what they were talking about. She gave a wry smile.

"Mmm. That's his bare face. No makeup."

"What? No — what? Come on, that can't be right."

"..."

"...For real?"

"...Yes."

"..."

The makeup artists' motivation seemed to die on the spot.

Well. Even I had to admit I was pretty handsome. We would be lucky if they didn't make things worse by slapping product on my face.

Yeah. I should just stay quiet.

The makeup artists didn't look happy, so I decided not to say anything.