Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Kids These Days...
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Startled as they were, the interview still had to proceed.
The Academic Affairs Director stretched out his arm, pointing to the chair in the center.
"Please have a seat in the chair up front."
"Yes."
Without a hint of tension, the boy walked forward and planted himself in the empty chair.
This made his already small stature look even smaller.
The Academic Affairs Director's brow furrowed.
A grumbling voice came from the side.
"This doesn't match the resume at all..."
The interview atmosphere couldn't even be called decent by the politest stretch.
They usually kept things stiff to apply pressure anyway.
But today, it was even more so.
Was this boy really the talent they were looking for?
The professors' gazes sharpened.
The Academy was especially sensitive to falsified information on applications.
In the tense air thick with suspicion of fraud...
The boy lifted his head.
The basics of an interview start with making eye contact.
So the Academic Affairs Director glared straight ahead...
And met calm eyes that didn't ripple in the slightest.
Having conducted countless interviews, the Director knew.
Normal kids would be trembling by now, stammering or with shaky pupils from the pressure.
But the boy before them showed none of that.
It wasn't a lack of emotion so much as the numbness of someone weathered by vast experience.
'What kind of eyes are those?'
Just the eyes alone made him look like a battle-hardened veteran of ten years on the front lines.
The boy's demeanor gave the Academic Affairs Director an indescribable sense of wrongness.
Then, he realized the silence had stretched too long.
"Ahem. Thank you for coming to the Academy."
The Director broke the ice.
"Yes."
"The interview will be in Q&A format. Professor?"
"Ah. Yes. Let's proceed."
The professor glanced unnecessarily at the blank paper before asking.
"You mentioned you can use spatial magic. Where did you learn it?"
"From a friend I know."
"A friend?"
"There's a mage I have a personal connection with."
"Is this perhaps a ranker-level mage?"
"I'll decline to answer that."
It was a probe into his background, so the Director was about to frown and intervene...
But the boy drew the line first.
'Ah. I get it now.'
Watching the exchange, the Academic Affairs Director realized the source of the unease he'd felt.
An interview inevitably creates a hierarchy between interviewer and interviewee.
Yet the boy treated the professors as equals in the back-and-forth.
"Understood. Moving on, you submitted that you can use spatial magic, but the video source turned out to be from League of Worlds."
"Yes. That's correct."
"Why did you record the video in the game?"
"It was convenient."
"As far as I know, League of Worlds has a game buff system that allows performance beyond personal ability. What are your thoughts on that?"
"It's executable without game buffs. Many mages use League of Worlds to test hypothetical theories, right?"
"Correct."
The professor readily affirmed the counter-question.
Just a few days ago, every professor in the room had been working on a semi-permanent artificial sun project in League of Worlds.
"Regarding spatial distortion, why did you use Minkowski theory? Couldn't it be defined in Euclidean space?"
"Because it's literally a magic that folds space to beat."
A plain, succinct statement.
Not wrong at all.
Just too brief.
"Could you explain in more detail?"
At the professor's request, the boy pondered how to elaborate.
-Spatial magic all shares similar basic principles, so it's easy to distinguish...
-Cool...
Pow!
-Ow!
-Hey. Listen up.
-Why? I can use it without knowing.
-You at least need to know how your magic works! Otherwise, how will you adapt it later?
The boy wasn't a mage; he was a swordsman.
He'd used magic in his past life but never delved deep into it.
Still, he remembered what he'd been taught back then.
What did that guy say again?
-Magic doesn't erase space; how could you erase space itself? That's god's domain. But you can fold the space between.
-So that's spatial distortion?
-Right. To elaborate in more detail...
Ah.
He remembered.
Mixing in some theories unique to this world, he explained.
"In Euclidean-based 3D space, mana flow is defined and handled only on straight, flat structures. But spatial distortion doesn't erase space; it merely folds and distorts it. This inherently involves folding space, exhibiting local nonlinearity. So I used curvature-based Minkowski theory and Riemannian geometry. Using the Riemann curvature tensor to measure space's bend, I calculated the critical energy for mana convergence in space—the local elasticity condition—which required adopting Minkowski theory."
Even professors have their specialties.
"Hmm..."
The professor knowledgeable in spatial magic swallowed a groan.
'It's correct, but something feels off.'
There were slight theoretical inconsistencies.
Of course there were.
The boy wasn't a mage to begin with.
He could answer like one, but not discuss magic as deeply as one.
The professor pressed further.
"Minkowski space is fundamentally a flat spacetime model with zero curvature. Why adopt Minkowski theory for curvature-based distortion?"
"Riemannian geometry and Minkowski theory serve different roles. Minkowski confirms temporal flow changes from space folding, while Riemann curvature maps local nonlinear path structures."
"From what you're saying, space folding affects the time axis too. Do you think it allows connection to past or future coordinates? Or the possibility of causality collapse from spacetime interference?"
The professor referenced a specific theory.
A theory twisting time via space.
Time magic, still researched in modern society.
He mentioned the possibility of 'time regression.'
The boy cut it off flatly.
"Impossible."
With a firm expression, he asserted.
"Magic cannot twist spacetime to reverse the time axis and create a time paradox."
-What? Regression? If that were possible, would I be suffering like this?
-Can't make that spell?
-Nope.
If magic could do it, he'd have tried it long ago.
"Understood. Time-wise, this will be the last question."
The professor glanced at the timer.
"This follows from the earlier one."
He flipped through the printed attachments.
"Looking at your submission, the perspective seems vastly different from what we're seeing now. Can you verify it's really you?"
The Academic Affairs Director thought the crucial moment had arrived.
This question decided the transfer admission.
If the boy couldn't prove it properly, the application would be rejected.
And they'd hold him accountable for deceiving the Academy.
"Understood."
The boy spread his fingers wide.
Space Distortion was made for defense against attacks.
In other words, a magic letting any object pass through the body.
But there were no other objects here.
They'd cleared everything for the interview.
So the boy pushed his own hand into his own body.
To show what the magic was for.
The bizarre sight unfolding before their eyes.
"Gasp!"
As the professors collectively gasped...
The boy casually waved his hand.
Space Distortion was made to deflect enemy attacks.
Thus.
The hand piercing through his side emerged from the opposite side, waving.
A greeting.
"That's it."
* * *
"Yes. Good work. You're free to go."
The Academic Affairs Director wrapped up the interview.
Click.
As soon as the boy closed the door behind him, the professors spoke up.
"Doesn't seem like a proxy."
"You think?"
"Did you see that magic skill? No way it's a proxy."
"Professor Wi even approached and poked the boy himself to check for illusions."
"Exactly."
Professor Wi confirmed.
It could have been advanced illusion magic, so he'd verified by inserting his finger.
The result.
"Definite spatial magic."
A talent beyond belief.
He felt guilty for even suspecting.
However.
There was one lacking area.
"One suspicious thing: his knowledge of magic theory isn't deep."
His terminology and phrasing screamed shallow magical knowledge.
The other professors agreed.
But they didn't see it as a major flaw.
"Sigh... Even if someone else wrote the theory for him, that monstrous skill alone qualifies him for the Academy."
Practical demonstration was enough for passage.
"Then let's approve the transfer exam."
And so, the transfer exam passed.
"The Academy gains a new talent."
"Where do these kids keep coming from? This is already the fifth genius this year."
"It's the golden age."
A boy handling spatial magic at age 8.
Incomprehensible, but.
Not spatial magic, but plenty of gifted boys and girls in other fields had entered the Academy this year too.
Thinking of them and how to teach, the professors sighed in unison, already weary.
The Director checked the time and proposed.
"Class assignments and departments next week. Head home for today, everyone."
"Agreed."
Coming in on the weekend—what a waste.
Griping, the professors prepared to leave.
Through the window, students heading home after club activities caught the eye.
Professor Wi muttered watching them.
"I hope he becomes a good stimulant for the Academy."
He wished the boy they'd just interviewed would stand as a new rival to the current students, spurring growth.
'Should've told him to tour the campus since he came all this way.'
The Academy's scenery on the way out was breathtaking.
Too beautiful to enjoy alone.
A tour would let him see how great the Academy was beforehand.
* * *
Dismissed, I stepped out.
Did I do well?
They kept eyeing me suspiciously, so I showed and explained everything.
Honestly, not sure if it was good.
But I showed all I could, so I'll pass, right?
Exiting the interview building, the sun was just setting.
"I'm already at the Academy—might as well look around."
Interview done, I wandered freely to sightsee.
Then.
Hearing noise from a secluded corner, I approached.
And.
"Hey! What's this? Not backing off? If you don't drain your mana, you'll be the one hurt."
"Oof..."
This is.
The school bullying I'd only heard about?
I'd stumbled on a school violence scene.