Chapter 219
Chapter 219
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 220
Chapter Title: Rebound Demonstration
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To my question about whether he’d show me the rebound, Choi Il-hyun nodded.
“Yeah, go ahead and show me.”
At Choi Il-hyun’s words, I raised one hand.
Magic use was prohibited in the open area of the magic academy, but rebound wasn’t an attack spell, so it wasn’t a big deal.
I immediately manifested the rebound.
Blue mana swirled above my palm.
Soon, the mana formed a circular shape, transforming into a magic circle inscribed with complex formulas.
I had succeeded in the first stage of magic: manifestation.
“......Hah.”
Once the rebound was complete, Choi Il-hyun let out a hollow laugh.
“Even when I only taught you the theory last time, you picked up the magic circle manifestation, but I didn’t think you’d actually perfect it.”
Choi Il-hyun muttered in an admiring tone.
I shook my head.
“I’ve barely managed to complete just the manifestation. With my mana control, it’s hard to properly activate the magic circle.”
“Activation will come naturally with time. The hardest part of learning rebound is manifestation in the first place. Magic circle manifestation is a matter of talent—most people can’t do it even if you give them time.”
Choi Il-hyun looked at me with wonder, then asked again.
“How did you master it so quickly?”
“I got lucky. I’ve always been confident in interpreting magic circles and formulas.”
I made up a vague excuse, since I couldn’t say it was thanks to the Outsider’s Privilege.
Choi Il-hyun fell deep into thought with a serious expression.
“Rebound isn’t a spell you can learn just through luck. It seems you have an innate talent for formula interpretation.”
Innate talent, huh.
I wasn’t sure about that, but it was true that the Outsider’s Privilege gave me formula interpretation skills unmatched by anyone.
And lately, I’d felt like my formula interpretation ability had improved even more than before.
Especially since mastering Mana Downpour.
Before, I’d only been confident in interpreting and analyzing formulas, but now I had some confidence in creating and manifesting them too.
Of course, activating the manifested magic circle with mana control was a whole different story.
“At this level, shouldn’t you just switch to a formula scholar? Or change your specialization to support magic.”
I shook my head.
“No. Manifestation is my path.”
Not all support magic uses magic circles.
In other words, switching to support wouldn’t expand my options much.
Choi Il-hyun looked displeased but nodded.
“Well, if that’s what you think, fine. Still, it’s a waste to let that talent rot. With skills like that, you could make huge contributions to the advancement of formula studies.”
Choi Il-hyun spoke in a regretful tone.
“Pass. What’s the point of sitting at a desk researching formulas all day? I’m busy enough as it is.”
“You’re too young to understand the importance of formulas yet.”
Choi Il-hyun’s voice suddenly grew serious.
“Formulas are like the code that constitutes the world.”
“I know that much.”
The mysteries contained in formulas were something we learned endlessly at the magic academy.
Formulas were a kind of mathematics and language.
They could describe the laws of nature that human language couldn’t express, and even powers like mysteries that humans couldn’t comprehend.
Of course, humanity hadn’t figured out how to write those formulas yet.
That’s why some called them the origin of all things, since everything in the world could be described with formulas.
“Humanity’s progress, the discovery of new magic—it’s all thanks to long years of formula research. Especially when studying mysteries, you feel the wonder of formulas even more.”
I had something to say, but his tone was so earnest that I kept quiet.
“Name one great wizard who was called a legend without researching formulas. Even Jin Cheon-woo got sidetracked from mystery research midway and dove into formula studies. Huh?”
I hadn’t expected Jin Cheon-woo’s name to come up.
It seemed my words had struck a nerve with Choi Il-hyun.
“Got it. I take it back, so calm down.”
Choi Il-hyun cleared his throat with a hem-hem.
“......Damn. I got worked up without realizing. Anyway, my point is that formula research is essential for humanity’s advancement. It’s not for nothing that they say the moment you fully understand formulas, you can alter the world’s laws with human will.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I didn’t really, but I answered anyway.
“I’ll think about studying support magic.”
“......Hey. Did you even hear me?”
“I did. That last part was just me thinking it might be worth dipping into support personally, separate from formulas.”
“......Well, if that’s the case, no argument. And if you want, I can assign you a teacher who’s an expert in support. Her personality is a bit...... no, very prickly, but among the support wizards I know, no one matches her.”
I knew who he meant.
Jeong Yun-seol, the head of the support magic guild [Rune of Enlightenment].
By the way, Jeong Yun-seol lived right next door to my apartment.
I dreaded running into her in the elevator.
“......I’ll think about it slowly.”
Getting involved with Jeong Yun-seol right now wouldn’t do me any good. Plus, I had a sneaking suspicion about her relationship with Kim Jin-woo.
“If you’re interested, just say the word anytime. Oh! Right. And you’ve been hanging out with Lee Seo-jun lately?”
“Lee Seo-jun?”
Why bring him up out of nowhere?
“That guy’s been poking around everywhere lately, saying he’s looking for his past. That’s why I asked.”
“Oh.”
He must have meant chasing traces of Jin Cheon-woo.
“I help him out sometimes.”
It was more like monitoring him to prevent any accidents, but close enough.
Choi Il-hyun nodded and said,
“Make sure he doesn’t cross any lines. He seems to know quite a bit. Digging too deep beyond his station could get him wrapped up in something bad.”
Lee Seo-jun didn’t know that much, though.
But from Choi Il-hyun’s perspective, it made sense, so I let it slide.
“But is that you worrying about Lee Seo-jun?”
I teased him playfully.
Choi Il-hyun smirked and replied,
“Why would I worry about him?”
Three days after the chaotic start to the semester, on Friday the fifth day.
“Hryaap—!”
“Whoa! Awesome!”
As Lee Seo-jun leaped high on the magic academy’s sports field, a huge cheer erupted.
“Lee Seo-jun, first place!”
An overwhelming distance gap.
Lee Seo-jun, with reinforcement as his specialization, took first in the standing long jump test.
“Phew......”
Lee Seo-jun smiled in satisfaction, as if he’d expected it.
Seeing that smile, a few female students shot him admiring glances.
“Next, Kim Seon-woo!”
At the teacher’s call, I stepped out from the shade.
I felt the surrounding students’ eyes on me as I appeared.
There weren’t any excited gazes like with Lee Seo-jun, but there were plenty of admiring ones.
Then, by chance, I spotted the first-year group training in the shade of the field.
As I scanned them, my eyes met those of the girl who’d confessed to me two days ago.
She looked flustered and averted her gaze, but then my eyes met Eun Seol-ah’s.
Eun Seol-ah stared at me before giving a faint smile and bowing her head slightly in greeting.
I nodded back lightly.
Her friends next to her looked shocked and started chattering with her.
From their lip movements, it seemed like they were asking, ‘You two close?’
Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I ignored it.
“Alright, begin.”
I took a slow deep breath and jumped as the teacher instructed.
“Hup!”
Whoosh!
Thud!
“Wooow!”
Not quite Lee Seo-jun level, but a pretty good record.
This should put me around second or third.
Considering most of the students in today’s class were reinforcement types, it was quite satisfying.
“Kim Seon-woo. Third place by a razor-thin 2cm margin.”
“......So close.”
Looks like second was Shin Young-jun.
A reinforcement third-year ranking third overall—unbeatable.
“Kim Seon-woo~ You could’ve gotten second, too bad? Heh heh.”
Shin Young-jun approached me with a teasing grin. Lee Seo-jun cut in.
“Hey. Seon-woo’s manifestation, right? It was basically even with you—what’s there to brag about?”
“Oh, right. Kim Seon-woo’s manifestation, yeah?”
Realizing there wasn’t much difference with a manifestation user, Shin Young-jun gave an awkward laugh, embarrassed.
Then he wandered off to tease other students.
“Whew.”
I trudged back to the shade and sat down. Lee Seo-jun followed and sat beside me.
A cool spring breeze blew gently.
Even though I hadn’t exerted myself much, I felt my spent stamina recovering.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
A message alert rang from the Outsider’s Privilege.
......Who could it be?
I immediately checked the message using the Outsider’s Privilege.
[I asked a junior on the special task force to look into the Seonhyeon family’s experiment site. Need permission for secret documents, so it’ll take time.]
It was from Yoo Ah-yeon.
A few days after meeting Yoo Ah-yeon, we’d started sharing necessary info.
I didn’t know why she wanted to team up with me, but it was probably because I was close to Lee Seo-jun.
I’d asked her about the location of the Seonhyeon family’s experiments.
I figured visiting the site myself would give clues to the connection between Jin Cheon-woo and Kim Chang-hyun.
As I pondered how to reply, Lee Seo-jun spoke to me.
“What’s the next plan?”
His sudden words made me look at him.
“Next plan?”
“Chasing Jin Cheon-woo’s traces. You’re planning to keep helping, right?”
At those words, a subtle change flickered across Kim Seon-woo’s face.
Fluster. Then hesitation.
Soon, as if nothing had happened, he returned to his usual nonchalant expression.
But Lee Seo-jun caught that faint emotional shift.
“Yeah, I’ll help. I’ve gotten personally curious about this Jin Cheon-woo guy too.”
It was a plausible answer, but Lee Seo-jun could tell it was fabricated.
Kim Seon-woo wasn’t helping him.
Kim Seon-woo had his own reason to chase Jin Cheon-woo, just like him.
Investigating the Seonhyeon family in secret surely meant that.
So, how long had Kim Seon-woo been after Jin Cheon-woo?
A bold guess: probably even before him.
Kim Seon-woo had been acting suspiciously—hiding his skills and all—long before showing interest in Jin Cheon-woo.
Did that mean Kim Seon-woo was a victim of Jin Cheon-woo, like Yoo Ara?
But there were a few inconsistencies that nagged at him.
“......Kim Seon-woo.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Like I said before, if you’ve got troubles, tell me.”
“Troubles? What troubles......”
Kim Seon-woo chuckled with a relaxed expression.
“Not now, but someday you might. Tell me then.”
“Whatever. Let’s plan the next move after the Seongmu Festival. It’s not far off.”
Come to think of it, the Seongmu Festival was soon.
No exact date yet, but since it started before the first midterm, high chance within three weeks.
“Sounds good?”
“Yeah. Forget everything else and focus on the Seongmu Festival for now.”
Lee Seo-jun sank back into thought. Now that he considered it, Kim Seon-woo had been obsessed with entering the Seongmu Festival from way back.
The point when Kim Seon-woo revealed his full power lined up with deciding to participate.
Lee Seo-jun fell into deep contemplation again.
A reason he absolutely had to enter the Seongmu Festival......
He’d find out soon enough.