Chapter 364
Chapter 364
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 365
Chapter Title: The Price of Mystery
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Under Lee Pil-hee’s guidance, Han Se-yeon sat in the chair across from him and quietly stared at his face.
No matter when she saw it, his melted face exuded an eerie feeling.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine how it had ended up like that.
It didn’t look like the aftermath of a simple burn or a mage accident.
Lost in her own thoughts like that,
Lee Pil-hee smiled and spoke.
“My face is a bit red, isn’t it?”
“Ah, sorry.”
Had she been staring too intently?
Realizing her mistake, Han Se-yeon immediately apologized. Lee Pil-hee waved it off as if it were nothing.
“Haha. It’s fine. I’m used to it now, so it doesn’t bother me.”
Han Se-yeon fidgeted with her fingers before asking,
“...Would it be okay if I asked how it happened?”
“It happened due to a major mistake during my research. You could call it a kind of punishment.”
“Punishment?”
The sudden remark left Han Se-yeon puzzled. Punishment?
Lee Pil-hee let out a small chuckle before continuing.
“I can’t explain the details. Talking about it could lead to more trouble.”
She wanted to ask more about the incomprehensible words, but since he said he couldn’t explain,
Han Se-yeon had no choice but to nod.
“More importantly, you wanted to ask about dimensions?”
“Ah, yes. The concept of dimensions doesn’t quite click for me from a formulaic perspective. I was wondering if things like traveling to the future or past are possible.”
“Hmm... Travel to the future or past...”
Lee Pil-hee exhaled softly and opened his mouth.
“Time travel is theoretically possible. That said, even if you go back to the past,
you can’t change the future... But why the sudden interest?”
Instead of answering, Han Se-yeon slid the photo of the formula she’d received from Kim Jin-woo toward him.
Lee Pil-hee looked at it, his expression stiffening for a moment.
“This is...”
“It’s a formula I found by chance at a ruin site. It seems to contain content related to time and dimensions, so I was hoping you could help interpret it.”
Lee Pil-hee stared at the photo blankly, his face deep in thought.
After pondering for a long while, he finally spoke.
“I’ve seen a formula with a similar structure before.”
“A similar formula?”
“Precisely, during my research on external dimension intervention theory, I came across one by chance.”
“External dimension intervention theory?”
“Well, to put it simply, it’s the theory that beings from dimensions similar to our reality are hiding and intervening. Think of it like parallel universes.”
“Ah, I see.”
She wasn’t entirely sure, but she nodded for now. The world of formulas was full of mysteries she didn’t understand.
At that moment, Lee Pil-hee set the photo down.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you anything about this formula.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t have the qualifications, Ms. Han Se-yeon.”
“...Qualifications?”
Qualifications out of nowhere?
“What kind of qualifications are needed? Explain it in a way I can understand.”
Lee Pil-hee tapped the desk with his fingers—tap, tap—before speaking.
“...Qualifications mean uncovering the hidden laws of this dimension that aren’t known to ordinary people. By the way, carelessly revealing those laws brings punishment.
My face is the result of violating one such law.”
Something like that existed?
She wondered if it was a joke, but his words carried sincerity.
“In fact, even telling you this much is quite burdensome for me. If I didn’t owe a debt to the late Chairman Han Dae-hyun, or if you weren’t truly seeking knowledge, I wouldn’t have said a word.”
Han Se-yeon fell silent.
Lee Pil-hee stared straight at her face before adding one more thing.
“You have to uncover the laws on your own.”
Laws....
Han Se-yeon engraved the word in her mind.
“Is there no small hint about these laws?”
Lee Pil-hee pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Pursue the mystery.”
“Mystery?”
Han Se-yeon tilted her head at the abrupt statement.
“Yes. If you pay the mystery its due price, you’ll find the answers you seek.”
With that, Lee Pil-hee rose from his seat.
“And one more thing—that formula. Is someone else investigating it?”
“...Yes. How did you know?”
“Hmm. As expected. That person... There’s a good chance they’re a regressor from the future.”
At those words, Han Se-yeon’s eyes trembled slightly.
The schedule for the Wizard Academy’s second midterm exams had been set.
From the 11th to the 14th. Four days.
And as announced, the third-years’ midterms were greatly scaled down in scope and weight to prepare for the ‘Professional Wizard License Exam.’
Whether they did well or poorly, it wouldn’t heavily impact their grades, so the students’ minds were much lighter.
Of course, completely bombing it would still tank their scores, so they had to be careful.
“Now, now, student in the front row! Smile brightly!”
Today was the day for graduation photos at the Wizard Academy.
It was a promised event for the third-years nearing graduation, so they had gathered in front of the academy park to take a class photo.
“Now, now! Student on the left, smile!”
The photographer kept chattering loudly to coax smiles from the students.
Behind him, the first- and second-years watched with curious eyes.
Following the photographer’s instructions, I forced the corners of my mouth up into a smile.
But it didn’t come as naturally as I’d hoped.
Perhaps it was some inexplicable bitterness.
I’d taken countless graduation photos in my original world and even before regression, but this time felt strangely off.
Flash!
The camera’s blinding light flashed.
I was captured in the photo with my forced smile.
“Thank you. Let’s take a short break!”
As the photographer called for a break, the clustered Class A students dispersed.
Yoon Ha-young, who had been pressed close beside me, let out a tired sigh.
“Whew... Taking photos feels harder than field training.”
I chuckled softly in agreement.
“Yeah.”
As we walked toward the park benches, Choi Seo-yoon, who had been mingling with the onlookers, approached us with cheerful steps.
“Sunbae!”
“Huh? Seo-yoon.”
Yoon Ha-young greeted Choi Seo-yoon warmly too.
She even clasped hands and intertwined fingers in an overly excited(?) reaction.
It was always nice to see them getting along, but weren’t they a bit too close now?
Choi Seo-yoon soon released the clasp and approached me with a smile.
“Sunbae, I saw you during the photo earlier. Your expression looked stiff all by yourself.”
“Hm. Did it?”
“Yeah. You were just smiling with your mouth, but your eyes looked mysteriously sad~. What’s wrong?”
My wandering thoughts had made it hard to manage my expression during the shoot.
If Choi Seo-yoon noticed that much, it must have been obvious.
Maybe I should’ve used [Overimmersion].
“Just... Thinking about graduation made me feel a bit regretful.”
Unlike my previous school life, I’d built up a lot of good memories this time.
Unlike before regression, when I treated this as just a novel world, I’d formed real bonds now.
“This guy’s at it again. We’ll keep meeting after graduation too.”
I gave a small smile at her words.
Graduation wasn’t a farewell. Nor the end of relationships.
If anything, graduation meant a ‘new beginning.’
As long as no one died, there were no true goodbyes.
And yet, the word “farewell” kept surfacing in my mind—probably because I still saw myself as an outsider in this world.
I had a place to return to. So for me, a complete farewell existed.
That made me suddenly curious.
“What if one day I just vanished without a word?”
After all events and stories concluded.
If, against my will, I returned to my original world.
How would the people left behind in this world carry on?
Yoon Ha-young furrowed her brow at the question. It was an expression of displeasure rare for her.
“Why ask that? ...You’re not planning to disappear after graduation, are you?”
“No, nothing like that. Just curious.”
Yoon Ha-young pondered alone, then pouted her lips.
“...I don’t really want to think about it. Why ask something like that anyway?”
“No real reason. Don’t worry about it.”
Then I turned to Choi Seo-yoon.
She was gazing at me with unreadable eyes.
Meeting that gaze gave me an inexplicable tension.
“I’d find you.”
She continued without hesitation.
“If you suddenly vanished without a word, who knows if you were kidnapped or something bad happened? Of course I’d search.”
Come to think of it, that made sense.
I’d do the same if someone close to me disappeared.
Realizing that brought unnecessary worry.
What if I returned to my original world without any farewell,
against my will—and they spent meaningless time searching for me?
It was still far in the future, but the thought sparked strong concern.
“...If.”
I opened my mouth heavily.
At my brief words, Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young focused on me.
“If I vanished without a word, don’t look for me.”
Yoon Ha-young narrowed her brow in an instant.
She glared at me with eyes furrowed in what seemed like anger.
I hadn’t known she could make that face.
“...What did you just say?”
“If I go missing, don’t search for me.”
“No, what the hell are you talking about all of a sudden.”
Frustrated, I scratched my head vigorously.
I was annoyed at this situation forcing me to say such things too.
Looking to the side, Choi Seo-yoon stared at me with panicked eyes.
“Sunbae? What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“So what...”
“...Ah, whatever. Just don’t search.”
With that, I started walking away.
“Kim Sun-woo!”
After school, at the Wizard Academy physical training grounds.
“Hey, Kim Sun-woo. You fought with Yoon Ha-young? Is that for real?”
Shin Young-jun, lifting weights, asked me bluntly.
I answered while lifting my own weights.
“Yeah, it’s real.”
Shin Young-jun squinted at my nonchalant reply.
“What were you thinking saying that? Yoon Ha-young was super pissed earlier.”
She did seem really angry.
My desk mate spent the whole day face-down on her desk.
Choi Seo-yoon hadn’t shown much reaction yet, which worried me more.
“More than that, were you serious? About not searching if you disappear.”
“Yeah. I’m serious. If I go missing, you don’t search for me either.”
“...Hah. Look at this guy.”
Shin Young-jun let out an exasperated laugh. It felt more comfortable than Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young’s reactions earlier.
Then Lee Seo-jun approached, wiping sweat with a towel.
Having heard the news, his gaze toward me wasn’t friendly.
“Kim Sun-woo.”
“Yeah.”
“Why say something like that? Whatever your intent, you messed up this time.”
“I know.”
From their perspective, it was bound to feel upsetting.
I couldn’t explain the situation, but I had been too hasty.
I needed to make excuses somehow. How?
Lee Seo-jun sighed deeply as he looked at me.
“But why did you say it? There must be a reason.”
As I stayed silent, Lee Seo-jun stared at me and let out a hollow laugh.
“...Don’t tell me it’s that restriction again?”
“Restriction?”
Shin Young-jun tilted his head, and Lee Seo-jun explained.
“There’s something like that.”
Then he asked me again.
“It’s because of the restriction, right?”
I turned to Lee Seo-jun and nodded.
“Yeah.”