Chapter 356
Chapter 356
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 357
Chapter Title: The Time Travel Puzzle
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"......Hmm."
The morning at the Wizard Academy, before homeroom had even started.
I sat at my desk, flipping through the photos of the 'spell formulas investigated by Kim Chang-hyun' that Yoo Ah-yeon had sent me.
They were spell formulas excavated from the ruins Kim Chang-hyun had visited, all jumbled up like a puzzle, and no matter how I looked at them, I couldn't decipher them.
Even forcing them together yielded the same result.
I could see fragmentary information and keywords, but I couldn't grasp exactly what they meant.
Dimension, portal, time, soul, causality......
These were the pieces of information clearly visible to the eye......
Eyeballing them wasn't getting me anywhere, so I copied the spell formulas from the photos into my notebook.
Then I tried connecting the broken parts with other formulas and piecing together the scattered puzzle fragments one by one.
"......Huh?"
As I fiddled with them, one small part of the spell formula came together.
I blankly read the information on the completed section of the spell formula in my notebook.
［Time Movement］
Time movement......?
Did this mean Kim Chang-hyun was planning a new regression?
Or did it mean something else?
I examined the other spell formulas more closely.
If it was time movement, there should be something about the destination time or coordinates.
But even scouring with fresh eyes, nothing like that appeared.
"Hmmmmm......"
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
As I racked my brain staring at the spell formula in my notebook.
Yoon Ha-young, sitting in the seat next to me, spoke up.
"......I've got a spell formula I want to solve, but it's not working out, so I was thinking about it."
At my words, Yoon Ha-young looked surprised.
"Wow, Sunwoo. You have spell formulas you can't solve? Is it one of the world's nine great spell formula conundrums?"
I chuckled at that.
The world's nine great spell formula conundrums.
Like the Millennium Prize Problems in math, these were ultra-difficult spell formulas that countless spell formula scholars had failed to solve over hundreds of years.
Only two had been solved so far. The remaining seven were still unsolved.
But in my previous life, I'd already deciphered three of them on a whim.
It was an achievement that could have turned the world upside down, but at the time, I kept it quiet to avoid any potential changes to the future.
"It's way harder than the nine conundrums."
"No way, something like that exists?"
I meant it sincerely, but Yoon Ha-young took it as a joke.
It didn't matter much if she believed me or not, so I shrugged it off.
That was when.
The classroom front door slid open, and our homeroom teacher, Lee Hee-young, walked in.
The noisy classroom atmosphere went silent in an instant.
Lee Hee-young smiled brightly at the students.
"Good morning, everyone! Did you all get a good rest?"
Lee Hee-young continued with her usual bright energy.
"Today, there's an important announcement, so listen closely!"
"......An announcement?"
A puzzled voice rose from among the students.
"We're about four months away from graduation, right? So what should you all be preparing for now?"
"Job hunting!"
One student shot their hand up and shouted. Lee Hee-young smiled and shook her head.
"You do need to prepare for jobs. But there's something you have to do first."
"Ah......"
A small sigh escaped from the students.
They'd caught on to what Lee Hee-young was about to say.
"Yes, the 'Pro Wizard License' exam!"
The Pro Wizard License.
As the name implied, it was the exam to obtain professional wizard qualifications.
Passing this exam determined your wizard rank from D-grade up to a maximum of A-grade.
For reference, S-grade required not just 'mana capacity' but also achievements as a pro wizard, so it was impossible to get on the first exam.
Well, reaching A-grade purely on ability without achievements was next to impossible too.
"The Pro Wizard License exam is a very important test. The grade you achieve will greatly affect how companies evaluate you for jobs."
The students listened to Lee Hee-young with serious faces.
"So, what do you need to get a high grade on the Pro Wizard License exam?"
One student raised their hand.
"You have to take the Basic Magic Proficiency Exam."
"Correct. To take the license exam, you must pass the Basic Magic Proficiency Exam. There are four parts: mana utilization, spell formula interpretation, emergency response, and monster subjugation clearance. You must prove your worth through these exams."
The students grew tense at the realistic talk.
Of course, those who already had job offers and just needed the license looked relaxed.
I was confident about my job prospects too, so I wasn't too worried.
I'd already shown quite a bit of prowess during my internship at the Special Task Force.
But Yoon Ha-young next to me looked more anxious than usual, her expression stiffer.
Lee Hee-young looked around at the students and smiled brightly again to ease the tension.
"Come on, everyone, relax. You'll get results proportional to your effort!"
After all classes ended, in the academy's multipurpose training ground, I met up with the main characters, including Lee Seo-jun.
The reason for today's gathering was simple.
A study group had formed for the upcoming Pro Wizard License exam.
"You need to make it sharper and colder."
"L-like this?"
"......No, use more imagination. You've practiced adaptation training, right?"
And right now, I was basically giving Yoon Ha-young one-on-one instruction.
Her basic magic skills were the weakest in the group, regardless of her potential and talent.
Of course, she'd do well on the exam on her own without my help, but I wanted her to fully showcase that potential—like a parent's pride.
Yoon Ha-young dispelled the ice lump hovering over her hand and let out a deep sigh.
"......Ugh, will this get me mana utilization grade 2?"
"If you work hard from now on, it's plenty possible. Come on, try again."
At my words, Yoon Ha-young manifested the spell again.
The air over her palm froze, quickly forming an ice arrow.
The first manifestation was always perfect, but the problem was manifesting multiple ones at once.
And as I expected, when she increased the number of ice arrows, the mana intensity visibly weakened.
"No, what are you doing? The front's too strong now. The balance is wrecked."
Yoon Ha-young clamped her mouth shut at my words and manifested the spell again.
"Idiot. Now the back's too strong. Can't you even do this?"
[You have achieved the 'Spartan Educator' accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 3,000 points as a reward.]
What the hell is this?
I was baffled by the sudden accomplishment when Yoon Ha-young's cry rang out.
"......Waaah!"
Yoon Ha-young suddenly started sniffling.
Then she smacked her forehead as if self-reproaching.
"I'm...... I'm an incompetent idiot fool!"
Then she started mumbling to herself, 'I can't do anything. I'm a stupid shitty dog sea cucumber jellyfish sea slug......'
Seeing that made me flustered for no reason.
"......No, you don't need to beat yourself up like that."
"No...... I'm stupid...... I'm a worthless idiot who can't do anything......"
Her mental game's completely shot.
Yoon Ha-young plopped down in front of me and hung her head.
Lee Seo-jun, who had been sparring intensely with Shin Young-jun, saw us and stopped, chuckling softly.
"Sunwoo, aren't you scolding her too much?"
I scratched my head.
On second thought, yeah, the one-on-one might have scraped her mentality too hard. She was actually doing plenty well already.
Feeling unnecessarily sorry, I crouched down in front of Yoon Ha-young and said,
"No, you're doing great already. I just got greedy without realizing."
I patted her shoulders comfortingly. Yoon Ha-young, who had kept her head down for a while, slowly lifted it.
"......I'll try again."
She sniffed, then stood up.
She spread her hand and manifested the spell again.
Crackle......
Ice arrows began forming over her palm once more. Honestly, it wasn't much different from before.
But to boost her confidence, I clapped as if impressed.
"Yeah, yeah, that's it. Good job. Wow, our Ha-young is doing great."
[You have achieved the 'Carrot and Stick' accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 3,000 points as a reward.]
At my continued praise, Yoon Ha-young stared at me with a blank face.
"......You don't have to force the praise. I know it hasn't changed. It just makes me feel more pathetic."
"......Oh, really?"
Right then.
I'd forgotten about it for a moment, but something came to mind.
I hurriedly checked my smart student handbook.
8:10 PM.
......It's already this late?
"I gotta head out."
"Already?"
Lee Seo-jun said to me. I nodded while packing my stuff.
"Yeah, I've got an appointment today."
At the word "appointment," everyone looked puzzled.
"An appointment? With who?"
"It's a secret."
Then Shin Young-jun grinned and butted in.
"What? Kim Sunwoo going to meet his girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend my ass...... Don't talk nonsense."
I said it seriously, but Shin Young-jun still had a playful look as he asked,
"Hmm. Then it's a girl?"
I shut my mouth for a moment. Well, it was a woman, technically.
"You don't need to know. Drop it."
"Whoa...... Hey, Seo-jun. Did you see him flinch just now? It's gotta be a girl for real."
Lee Seo-jun responded with a wry smile instead of words. I sighed deeply at them.
"......Think whatever you want."
As I prepared to leave, Yoon Ha-young grabbed me.
"Sunwoo."
"......Yeah?"
"Your appointment's a lie, right? You're just sick of me?"
What's wrong with this girl?
After barely calming down the mentally broken Yoon Ha-young, I headed to a high-end bar in central Seoul in the guise of Kim Jin-woo.
As I entered, a staff member greeted me.
"Good evening. You're Kim Jin-woo, correct?"
"Ah, yes."
"This way."
I followed the staff down a long hallway. It was surprisingly spacious for a bar—more like a luxury restaurant.
Following the staff's guidance, I opened the door to the room, where Han Se-yeon sat in a chair, greeting me with a radiant smile.
"Jin-woo."
I smiled back and sat across from her.
"Feels like it's been forever."
"Hehe. We've both been busy. Here, take this."
Han Se-yeon handed me a glass of liquor she'd poured.
I took the glass with a small smile.
Man, how long has it been since I had a drink?
"Cheers first."
"Sure."
I lightly clinked glasses with Han Se-yeon and downed it.
The sweet, bitter, cool liquid slid down my throat.
As I savored the long-awaited drink, a sudden curiosity struck.
"But didn't you say last time you got your hands on some good liquor?"
She'd definitely mentioned it during the school trip.
I'd been looking forward to it.
Han Se-yeon chuckled at my words.
"I'll show you that later. More importantly......"
Han Se-yeon set down her glass with her long fingers and pulled some documents from her pocket, handing them to me.
"The documents you asked for."
"Ah, thank you."
I took the documents from Han Se-yeon.
They were the materials I'd requested from her last night to help decipher Kim Chang-hyun's spell formulas.
Opening them revealed photos of various spell formulas.
"These are ruins with spell formulas that match 95% of the pattern in the ones you sent me, mixed together. I compiled and added them myself."
"Thank you. You got them faster than I expected."
"Yes, I've recently gotten interested in spell formula studies...... and got to know some spell formula scholars."
Han Se-yeon trailed off suspiciously.
By the way, there was no setting where Han Se-yeon was interested in spell formulas.
It felt off, but this world was full of undisclosed settings from the original story, so I let it slide.
I examined the contents of the documents.
They contained information on other spell formulas showing patterns similar to the ones Kim Chang-hyun investigated.
The puzzle-like fragmented spell formula info had been broken down into fine keywords.
Skimming through, aside from the info I already knew like 'dimension,' 'time,' 'portal,' a few unfamiliar keywords caught my eye.
Specifically, 'future' and 'soul movement.'
The Regressed Extra Became a Genius