Chapter 57: Entrance Ceremony (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57: Entrance Ceremony (6)
The moment the teleportation magic circle activated, we were as good as dead.
No, maybe death would be a mercy.
I looked down at the mana stone in my hand.
Streams of blue light were still pouring out of it, feeding mana into the teleportation circle drawn on the floor.
“Professor.”
“…Yes.”
I held the mana stone out to the pale-faced female professor and asked, “What would happen if I shattered this right now?”
Her face turned even paler, and she frantically waved her hands.
“D-don't! If you do that, the magic circle will lose its power source and malfunction!”
“Malfunction? What exactly would happen?”
When I pressed her, she answered, gasping for breath.
“In the worst-case scenario, the magic circle could explode.”
“Ah.”
That won't do.
There was an incident in the past where a magic circle powered by an A-rank mana stone overloaded and exploded.
The explosion had decimated everything within a 100-meter radius of the circle. It was a total disaster.
And the one in my hand right now is an S-rank mana stone.
An explosion wouldn't just kill everyone in here; it could also catch the people fighting outside, and even any students passing nearby, in the blast.
“This is a problem.”
What should I do?
With no other choice, I asked the professor again.
“In your opinion, what's the best way to get out of this situation?”
She replied.
“…Time-wise, the magic circle must have nearly finished its activation sequence. Stopping it right before it triggers is practically impossible at this point.”
She spoke in a rush, then took a breath before continuing.
“The best option we have right now is… to get outside the magic circle's effective range.”
I glanced down at the floor.
When I read the flow of mana, I could see the magic circle encompassed the entire auditorium.
Which meant we had to get out of the auditorium…
“So, in terms of difficulty, it's easier to open that sealed door than to dismantle the magic circle?”
“…That's right. Both are difficult to achieve in a short time, but if I were advising a Hunter as their Operator, I'd tell them to find a way to break through the door.”
Operator or manager.
Both roles are similar, but an Operator is a class that specializes in using their extensive knowledge to advise Hunters on dungeon raids.
The professor before me was likely an Operator whose skills were recognized enough to land her a teaching position at Korea University.
That was reason enough for me to listen to her.
“Professor, please take the mana stone.”
“Wh-what?”
I placed the mana stone in the bewildered professor's hands, leaped off the stage, and headed straight for the door.
A red magic circle was sealing the door shut.
The gist of sealing magic is this:
The caster twists the mana that forms the magic circle in a unique way only they know, creating a complex pattern.
Then, they add a powerful defensive spell to that security pattern.
It's designed to be impossible to open unless the pattern is undone.
“Can I do this?”
My eyes can see the flow of mana with perfect clarity.
If a spell were cast in front of me, I could copy how the mana moves to form it down to the last detail.
But the sealing magic before me was already complete.
Could my eyes really read the unique pattern hidden within it?
“…I just have to try.”
There's no time to weigh the odds.
I coated my eyes with mana.
Lines that were invisible moments ago appeared over the visible red magic circle.
“Is this the pattern?”
I can see it.
The chaotically intertwined mana pattern inside the magic circle.
For a brief moment, a flicker of hope that I could open this door ignited.
“…Damn it.”
A problem arose.
The mana pattern I was seeing wasn't the whole picture needed to break the seal.
I was only seeing the topmost layer of a stacked pattern; the layers below were obscured as if by a thick fog.
“Just a little, a little more…!”
I gradually increased the amount of mana coating my eyes.
My eyes began to ache as if they were about to burst.
It felt like I could see it if it just got a little clearer, but no matter how much mana I pushed in, it didn't improve.
It was as if a line had been drawn, telling me this was my limit.
“Kugh!”
The unbearable pain finally forced me to shut my eyes.
Tears streamed down my face. After blinking a few times, my blurred vision slowly started to return.
Any longer and my eyes might have suffered permanent damage.
“Hoo.”
The frantic beat of my heart pulsed through my entire body.
When your life is on the line, it's hard for even a veteran to stay calm.
I was no exception.
I took a deep breath to calm my anxious heart and looked up at the stage.
The mana stone, carefully placed by the professor, was still pouring out mana.
What do I do?
What can I…
Just as I was racking my brain for a solution.
Thump!
“Ugh…”
My already racing heart suddenly pounded so hard my whole body staggered.
What was that?
I straightened my slightly hunched shoulders and was about to lift my head when—
Thump! Thump!
My heart hammered again.
What the hell is happening all of a sudden?
As a strange sense of unease from the unknown phenomenon began to envelop me.
A message appeared before my eyes.
[Time Remaining: 00:00:10]
“…Ah.”
A countdown that appeared out of nowhere.
The moment I saw it, I understood.
I knew what it meant.
At the same time, the inexplicable, violent trembling of my heart also made sense.
“You sure kept me waiting.”
In the middle of this urgent crisis, I had momentarily forgotten.
Today was the day the trait, which had remained blank in my status window, would finally awaken.
“What uncanny timing.”
[Time Remaining: 00:00:06]
A trait awakening right at the crossroads of life and death.
It felt like it was forcing me to bet my life on this.
I'm not particularly fond of gambling.
However, I do enjoy a gamble forced upon me when my life is on the line.
Why?
Because I've never lost one of those.
[Time Remaining: 00:00:05]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:04]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:03]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:02]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:01]
The moment the final number reached 0.
My external senses began to shut down, one by one.
The roar of battle in my ears, the feeling of the ground beneath my feet, even the strange smell carried on the air.
“Guhk…!”
The only thing I could feel was the change within my body.
My entire body grew scorching hot.
It felt as if every nerve was on fire.
Is this the pain someone feels as they burn to death?
“Aaargh…!”
A scream escaped my lips involuntarily.
But I didn't know if the sound had actually made it out.
My consciousness, focused entirely inward, wasn't relaying anything from the outside world.
The fire gradually spread.
My eyeballs melted, my heart was crushed.
Eventually, all my internal organs were pulverized into an unrecognizable mess.
Is this really the process of a trait awakening?
Isn't it more like someone is just trying to kill me?
As I writhed in the fiery agony, another flame began to rise.
Not a flame of annihilation that melted everything, but a symbol of rebirth.
Within my sturdy bones and muscles, the things that had collapsed began to reform.
They took on an ideal form, incomparably stronger and more active than before.
It was like the Secret Art of Metamorphosis.
Just as I had once shattered my bones and muscles to dust and rebuilt them, the parts of me I couldn't change before were now transforming.
The nerve bundles and mana circuits, burned to their very ends, laid new paths within my body.
Incomparably stronger and wider than before.
New eyeballs settled into my empty sockets.
And finally.
My distant external senses reconnected, one by one.
The roar created by warriors and mages, the feel of the auditorium floor against my body, the dark red blood pooling around me.
And.
“Please, open your eyes, Mr. Kim Do-jin!”
Yoon Ji-an's desperate cry and her sorrowful face as she held me, shaking me violently.
I struggled to open my eyes and met her gaze.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“M-Mr. Kim Do-jin! You're awake! Thank goodness, I'm so, so glad…!”
Tears dripped from her wide eyes.
I asked her, “How long was I out?”
“…About five minutes.”
Only five minutes.
It felt like I'd been in agony for at least a few hours.
Lying with my head in her lap, I slowly tested the strength in my arms and legs.
Light, and effortless.
It had been like this ever since I used the Secret Art of Metamorphosis, but now I felt even more… sharp.
Was it because the nerve bundles that had melted and reformed were now transmitting my will faster?
I tensed my whole body and sat up.
I rose smoothly, without any recoil, like a ghost getting up.
Seeing this, Yoon Ji-an asked with a surprised look, “A-are you okay?”
“I'm fine.”
In fact, I was more than fine; I felt like I'd been reborn.
Everything I saw was sharper, more vivid.
The sounds I heard were clearer, and my sense of smell was more acute.
I could now see and feel things that were invisible to me just moments ago.
For example, how long it would take for the magic circle hidden beneath the floor to activate.
“…Five minutes.”
This was less a trait awakening and more of an evolution.
I wanted to check what kind of trait it was, but I decided to hold back for a moment.
There was something more important right now.
I stood before the door once more.
The red magic circle was laid bare before me.
The lower parts of the pattern, which had been hazy and obscured by fog just moments ago, were now starkly visible.
“Ugh, my eyes hurt.”
It was so dizzying and chaotic that just looking at it made my head spin.
I could feel the villain's firm resolve to let no one out.
It was so complex that I could never memorize it in one go, but I didn't need to.
Unlike others, I could see it continuously, so all I had to do was trace it in reverse, right?
“Alright.”
Let's do this.
I gathered mana in my fingertip and traced the pattern I saw, but in reverse.
From top to bottom.
The layered locks began to click open.
Finally.
Kaaang!
A small, but clear sound.
With it, the red magic circle covering the door shattered like glass and scattered into the air.
I grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open.
Click.
“Oh, it worked.”
It opened easily.