Chapter 22: Push and Pull (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 22: Push and Pull (1)
“That’s right, just one more.”
“Nngh…!”
This… bitch is like a drill sergeant.
“Alright, that’s enough for today.”
“Hah, hah….”
Three weeks had passed since I nearly died at the hands of that orc.
Shin Yu-jeong ran me ragged, completely ignoring the fact that my arm was fractured.
Her reasoning? Just because I couldn’t use my arm didn’t mean I couldn’t move my legs.
“Alright, get on.”
Unable to refuse her urging, I dragged my exhausted body onto the scale.
The numbers fluctuated.
After flickering back and forth, they finally settled on 99.8.
“Whoa!”
The moment I saw it, I let out a cheer without thinking.
My weight had finally dropped from three digits to two.
Shin Yu-jeong, who had been watching the display intently, let out a smirk and nudged my arm with her elbow.
“Hey, you got taller, too.”
“Really?”
Oh, she was right.
The display read 161.3 cm.
In a way, it was an expected development.
About two weeks ago, I’d invested most of the mana I’d gathered into my still-open growth plates.
If you had to pick the most important things for a young man, wouldn’t they be his face, height, and the size of his package?
I’d already taken care of the package, and my face was beyond my control, so I passed on that.
It was only natural to go all-in on the one thing left: height.
It had only been two weeks, but I was already seeing significant results.
“Damn, you bastard. You look a little better now that you’ve lost some weight.”
Still on the scale, I looked at the mirror in front of me.
I was still overweight, but the facial features that had been buried in fat were starting to emerge.
My eyes, which had been squeezed by the fat above and below them, looked a little bigger.
My nose seemed a bit more defined now that my face had slimmed down.
It was like… I’d gone from a squinty-eyed pig-man to a cute piglet, maybe?
I turned my head to look at Shin Yu-jeong.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
I could have lost the weight without her.
But no matter how diligent a person is, it makes a huge difference whether or not someone is there to meticulously look after them.
Thanks to her glaring at me from the side, I lost it much faster.
“Hmph! Well, at least you know.”
She got all shy after hearing me thank her.
It made me doubt if this was the same Shin Yu-jeong who had tormented this body so much in the past.
“I-If you’re so grateful… you could treat me to a meal or something. I heard you got a hefty reward from the Association last time.”
Wow, surprising.
The girl I’d only seen at the gym for the past three weeks was asking me to buy her food.
Had she grown fond of me in that time, or was this just another tactic to tame me?
Either way, it didn’t matter.
“Sorry, I have somewhere to be today.”
I didn’t have time today.
Shin Yu-jeong’s face soured.
“…Where the hell does a shut-in loser like you have to go?”
Oops.
I could see her mood worsening in real-time.
It seemed she really didn’t like being turned down by a loser she still considered far beneath her.
But I had a card up my sleeve that could instantly turn her foul mood around.
“The Association is enrolling me in a magic academy today.”
“What…? The Association?”
The Association card.
“Yeah, did I not mention it? They said they’d arrange for me to attend Korea University starting the second semester. They told me to learn basic magic before then.”
Her furious expression softened as if it had never been there.
She was so easy to read.
“So… the Association is going to have you taught magic and send you to university? Through special admission, no less.”
“Yep.”
Uh-oh, look at that. I could clearly see her trying to suppress a smile.
“Ahem! So you’ll be my classmate, then. Hah, seriously. For a loser, you’ve come a long way…?”
“Haha, I guess so…”
As I scratched the back of my head and replied awkwardly, she slapped my back.
“Come on, if that’s the case, you should get going. Don’t keep the people from the Association waiting.”
“R-Right.”
Hustled along by her, I entered the changing room.
I quickly rinsed off the sweat, changed, and came out just as Shin Yu-jeong was emerging from the women’s changing room, shaking her wet hair.
“You didn’t dry your hair again.”
“Ah, it’s a pain. You do it for me.”
I showed her once, and now she pesters me to do it every time.
With no other choice, I used Dehydration magic to dry her hair until it was soft and fluffy.
“I really wish I could use this magic. It’s so damn convenient.”
“Just say the word anytime. I’ll cast it for you.”
I subtly asserted my usefulness to the disappointed Shin Yu-jeong.
“Hah, you bastard. Look at you, subtly making a move.”
Shin Yu-jeong curled one side of her lip and shifted her weight to one leg.
I acted flustered and quickly waved my hands in denial.
“N-No, it’s not like that… It’s just because you said it was convenient.”
To pull the rug out from under her spectacularly, the prep work is more important than anything.
I had to give off the impression that I was slowly growing closer to her, becoming dependent on her.
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, she slung an arm around my shoulder.
“You heading out now, bastard?”
“Yeah. It’s not too far from here.”
“Ah, must be that magic academy over there.”
She removed her arm from my shoulder and stepped back.
“Well, I’m off. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you.”
Like an obedient puppy, I waved lightly until she was out of sight.
“Phew.”
Being with Shin Yu-jeong felt like having all my energy drained.
It was all this body’s fault.
Just seeing her face made my whole body tense up.
It had gotten better than before now that I was used to seeing her, but it would probably take a while for the feeling to disappear completely.
I mean, it’s not like three years of being her gofer would be forgotten in just one month.
I turned and walked in the opposite direction she had gone.
They said the magic academy I’d be attending was near here.
“Let’s see…”
I followed the path while looking at the map sent to my smartphone.
I walked for about five minutes.
“Oh, is this it?”
A flashy five-story building, incomparably larger than the others around it, came into view.
A sign reading ‘Park Cheol-su Magic Academy’ was plastered right on top of the building.
As I walked closer to the building, I saw Yoon Ji-an, dressed in the same outfit as last time.
“Hello.”
“Ah, you’re here.”
I followed her lead and entered the academy.
Looking around, I saw quite a few people milling about inside.
“Wow… are all these people Awakened?”
“Yes, they are.”
“The prestige of being a magician must be incredible.”
Not everyone gathered here came to the academy because they had a talent for magic.
They were people who came with the hope of ‘Maybe I have a talent for magic…?’
After all, becoming a magician was like becoming nobility.
I wondered how many of them truly had the makings of a magician.
I figured even two or three would be a lot.
We took the elevator to the top floor, the fifth floor.
“This is the place.”
A door with a sign that read, ‘Director’s Office’.
Yoon Ji-an opened the door for me, and as I stepped inside, I saw a middle-aged man with graying hair.
That must be Director Park Cheol-su, whose name was plastered on the building’s sign.
Yoon Ji-an, who followed me in, greeted him politely.
“Good day, Director.”
“Welcome, Ms. Yoon Ji-an. Ah, is this the one…?”
The director’s gaze flickered toward me.
“Yes, that’s right. This is Mr. Kim Do-jin, who will be taking the special lecture.”
Yoon Ji-an’s eyes turned to me as well.
Taking her cue, I immediately bowed my head to Director Park Cheol-su.
“I’m Kim Do-jin.”
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Director Park Cheol-su.”
We shared a light handshake.
“Well then, let’s have a seat.”
Park Cheol-su sat down first, and Yoon Ji-an and I took the chairs opposite him.
“So. I heard you succeeded in casting magic through self-study…”
“Yes, I managed to cast Earth Needle.”
“Hoh… To think you succeeded with an elemental spell, not even a common one.”
Common magic refers to spells that only use mana arrangement without any elemental change.
Spells like Magic Missile or Shield fall into this category.
Since the strokes in the magic circle responsible for elemental conversion are omitted, they tend to be a bit easier.
“May I see it?”
“Yes.”
At his request, I immediately drew in the surrounding mana.
I overlaid the image of the earth that came to mind onto the mana, then gathered and shaped it.
This time, I manifested it in the exact form I had seen on Mitube.
Soon, sharp brown needles materialized before my eyes.
“Here you go.”
I presented the result right in front of him, and upon seeing it, Director Park Cheol-su’s jaw dropped.
What’s with him?
* * *
It was night.
It had been afternoon when I entered the magic academy.
I realized it once again.
There are no normal people among magicians.
“I should have cast it slower…”
There was only one thing that surprised Director Park Cheol-su.
The speed at which I created Earth Needle.
He said that for beginners who were just starting to learn magic—people you could hardly even call magicians yet—it took around 20 seconds to create an Earth Needle.
For a novice magician, it was about 10 seconds.
But the time it took me to create an Earth Needle was a mere 5 seconds.
It was an absurd speed that an Awakened who had never learned magic should not have been able to display.
That’s when it started.
Director Park Cheol-su’s courtship.
“Ugh, gives me the creeps.”
He practically begged me, on the verge of grabbing my pant legs, asking if I would be his personal disciple.
The position of a magic academy director isn’t easy to obtain.
Only magicians who pass a thorough verification process by a government agency are permitted to establish an academy.
In other words, Director Park Cheol-su was a skilled individual vouched for by the state.
Anyone else might have accepted immediately, but I refused.
If I use my abilities well, I could get an offer from someone at the very top of our country’s magician hierarchy. So why settle?
“Well… it still feels good, though.”
Thanks to Director Park Cheol-su’s reaction, Yoon Ji-an had an expression of utter astonishment.
She, who had just dropped me off at home, would report this directly to the Association, and my stock would rise even further.
I bet if I casually requested something, they’d grant almost anything.
I was smiling contentedly as I walked up the stairs.
“Ah… Do-jin.”
Just then, I ran into the Ajumma, who was coming out of her apartment.
An awkward atmosphere enveloped us.
“Ah, hello, Ajumma…”
I greeted her, trying to look as simple-minded as possible.
“Y-Yes.”
It had been almost three weeks.
Since I’d seen the Ajumma face-to-face like this.
Morning workouts? I hadn’t been going.
Even after we parted ways like that, the Ajumma had come looking for me every dawn without fail.
I refused, using the excuse that my arm hurt too much to work out.
And yet, I worked out with Shin Yu-jeong every afternoon.
She must have heard from her at some point that I was exercising.
Was this to cut ties with the Ajumma? No.
Think of it as one step back to move two steps forward, to deepen our relationship.
A highly calculated move to make her keep thinking about me even when we weren’t seeing each other.
I don’t have any advanced techniques for dealing with men and women.
I just intend to handle it my own way.
In a way, aren’t they similar?
Dealing with monsters, and dealing with women.
Both involve grasping the opponent’s psychology and behavioral patterns to seize a more advantageous position.
“Um… Do-jin.”
The Ajumma called out to me, breaking the silence.
Her expression was strange.
Awkward, yet tinged with some kind of dissatisfaction.
“Your arm… it’s all better, right?”
“Ah… yes.”
“Then you can… go for the morning workout.”
“Well…”
Of course I could. I absolutely could.
But I didn’t answer ‘yes’ right away.
I kept giving off the impression that I was hesitating, as if something was bothering me.
At that, the Ajumma spoke again.
“Do you have something else to do tomorrow morning?”
“No, nothing like that, but…”
“Then, you can go.”
The Ajumma’s tone became a little more forceful.
“I’ll come up in the morning, so be ready.”
A fearsome energy seemed to boil off her.
So I decided it was impossible to drag it out any longer.
“Uh, yessir.”
I was a little spooked.