Chapter 11
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 011
Chapter Title: First Disciple
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After sending his team members out of the gate and remaining alone, Kim Ji-seok recalled the moment Shin Ye-ji had nearly failed to contain the rampage.
"...Even with the Corrupted Awakener's interference, Ye-ji's magic almost didn't stop it."
This meant the B-rank gate had exceeded its bounds.
It seemed he had no choice but to hand the elemental golem's core over to Lee Dong-gyu. An ominous aura emanated from it.
As Kim Ji-seok picked up the elemental golem's core, his eyes caught the two remaining scrolls.
"That aside... asd123's scrolls were truly the perfect choice."
In fact, Shin Ye-ji had been spurred by her smooth success in containing the rampage with a 1-circle scroll earlier,
which fueled her with venomous determination to succeed in stopping it.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this entire outcome was asd123's doing.
Now, how should he repay the favor?
Soon, he'd submit a report on the subjugation to his superiors, which would draw more attention to asd123.
And Kim Ji-seok himself would likely have plenty of requests for asd123 in the future.
But would that just become a nuisance?
"...Don't overthink it. There aren't many things I can do anyway."
Kim Ji-seok wasn't someone with grand authority like the Association President.
His repayment would have to be simple gold sponsorship.
He couldn't falsify the subjugation report to his superiors, so all he could do was give advance warnings about future events.
It would be woefully insufficient, but he had to do what he could. To repay this grace.
After tidying up the area, Kim Ji-seok exited the gate.
His waiting team members' faces were beaming with joy.
Kim Ji-seok joined them, feigning sternness as he spoke.
"Everyone, have you decided where we're going for the afterparty?"
Anyone who drank moderately and slipped away early today would not be forgiven.
The next day, a [Mail] arrived from 50 Billion Farmer.
[Sender: 50 Billion Farmer]
I'll gratefully devour them if you list them!!!
This was the reply from him after Park Ha-jun had asked if he was interested in buying the scrolls he'd made as practice for achieving "Power 1" on attribute scrolls.
His enthusiasm was palpable, so Park Ha-jun sold them cheaper than planned.
The purchase speed was beyond imagination, just like the Kim Ji-seok brothers.
Thanks to that, he'd earned nearly 900,000 gold in profit.
💰 Held Gold: 8,312,000G
Unlocking 2-circle magic was right around the corner. He'd have to register as an Awakener soon...
Lately, he'd been feeling the need for information on Awakeners.
[Unread Mail: 17]
Mails with bewildering content had been arriving for Park Ha-jun.
It probably started when he listed the "Power 1" Neutral Magic Bullet on the Auction House.
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[Magic Scroll─Neutral Magic Bullet]
[500,000G]
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[Sender: S-sang]
How'd you do it?
[Sender: S-sang]
Who are you?
[Sender: Famous Scroll]
Hello~! Your skills seem impressive. Would you be interested in joining our group...
He got the general idea, but he couldn't reply hastily.
A clumsy response would be worse than none.
With full-fledged Awakener activities in mind, the nickname "asd123" would soon become his reputation, directly tied to scroll sales.
When selling scrolls with overwhelming specs, what image should asd123 project?
Moreover, what did active Hunters think of scrolls? How to avoid disadvantages during Awakener registration...
...Park Ha-jun knew far too little about this world.
It would be great if student Kang Eun-ho could help here, but he couldn't just wait on uncertain prospects.
Park Ha-jun looked through his professor contacts for someone useful.
Preferably among his students.
As he selected a few candidates,
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the lab door. He answered while tidying up.
"Yes, come in."
The person who entered was Kang Eun-ho. Park Ha-jun immediately stood with a gentle smile.
"You've arrived."
Ten minutes earlier.
Kang Eun-ho finished his 1-circle magic training in the Magic Department's exclusive training room.
"...Damn it."
The results weren't great.
High grade and excellent support skills.
But the problem was they were all skewed toward intuition.
He learned new magic quickly and manifested it at overwhelming speeds, but the power and accuracy were nearly random.
A dice-rolling mage. Worse than a weak mage. Team play impossible.
Who would hire and treat well a mage who might accidentally hit allies?
"Should've read more books as a kid..."
Others envied him, saying mastering magic logic would open his growth path.
But that was the hard part.
"Seriously, if only someone could proxy my brain!"
He just needed to handle the theory somehow, the theory...
Letting out a deep sigh, Kang Eun-ho left the training room. The Magic Department TA was at the entrance.
"Hey, Kang Eun-ho! What's with that look? Did you pull an all-nighter here?"
"Ah... somehow..."
He gave an awkward smile.
"It's great to see you working hard, but condition management is priority one for mages."
But when C-rank peers occasionally cast more accurate magic than him, how could he sleep?
Kang Eun-ho suppressed his needless frustration and replied.
"...You're right. I'll take it easy from now on."
"Good. You just need to solve the logic part, so don't rush."
"Yes..."
He let out a faint sigh as he walked away.
"That logic's nowhere in sight, damn logic."
At this rate, while others graduated and lived well-treated, he'd be stuck scribbling in a corner.
He was taking Topology, said to help mages, out of sheer desperation.
Honestly, no clue. Too hard. The prof seemed fine though...
Mathematics Professor Park Ha-jun. Kind and passionate. Better lecturer than Magic Department profs.
But that was it. A professor of an outdated field. More indifference and pity than respect.
Kang Eun-ho didn't think that harshly, but most probably did.
"...Why does that prof want to see me? It's personal business."
Not some excessive request, right?
"Hard to refuse though."
Ridiculously, university grades mattered for Awakeners too.
For mages, it determined if you could join the Mage Association, your starting line, etc.
Thus, Kang Eun-ho had no choice but to head to Park Ha-jun's lab.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
"Yes, come in."
Opening the door, he saw the shabby interior compared to the Magic Department.
Researchers' desks and chairs were all-in-one units. Old equipment everywhere.
"...The science building is pretty dated."
Without showing his shock, he sat in the seat Park Ha-jun offered.
Park Ha-jun excused himself to Kang Eun-ho, then handed cards to the researchers.
"It's about lunchtime. Go eat."
The researchers hesitated, aware of Park Ha-jun's financial situation.
"It's fine, don't worry about the price. I'm serious."
"...Really?"
"Yes. Really."
A heartwarming scene, but what kind of life made the researchers hesitate like that?
"Does the prof have money issues? Because it's Math Department?"
Seeing this made him more worried about Park Ha-jun's personal business.
"Then, shall we get to the talk?"
"Ah... yes."
Kang Eun-ho straightened his back, waiting for Park Ha-jun's next words.
But what came from Park Ha-jun's mouth was somewhat what Kang Eun-ho had feared.
"If it's not rude, could I know your awakening grade and circle, Eun-ho?"
He'd expected it, but was disappointed.
Using hierarchy for unfair demands? No time for that.
"Pretend to listen then refuse? Or just stand up now?"
Still, he was an A-rank mage. Once in society, all would praise him, wealth and fame incomparable to a prof...
"Damn, that's impossible now. Need good grades at least."
No good getting on the prof's bad side.
"...A-rank. Entered 1-circle, but achievement isn't great."
Wonder what request. Hope poor achievement disappoints and drops interest.
But Park Ha-jun said something unexpected.
"At 1-circle, does that mean poor achievement in attribute magic?"
"Uh... yes... right?"
He seemed to mutter something like "So the circle system for magic and scrolls is similar..." barely audible.
Then, out of nowhere, he stood and started drawing strange shapes on the blackboard.
Kang Eun-ho watched oddly.
"What's with this prof?"
Too awkward to ask what he was doing. Park Ha-jun was deeply focused.
He watched silently. About 3 minutes passed. The shape's framework emerged. He could tell what Park Ha-jun was drawing.
"Scroll circuit?"
Furthermore, Kang Eun-ho's intuition grasped the circuit's identity.
The basics of magic. The circuit for Neutral Magic Bullet.
From then, Kang Eun-ho forgot his bewilderment and seriously examined the circuit.
He didn't know the intent of showing him a circuit instead of a magic formula.
But to Park Ha-jun, there was an inexplicable pull to the circuit he drew.
It was clean without excess. So pristine that those lacking insight might not see its greatness.
But Kang Eun-ho had outstanding intuition and was a hard worker sparing no means to fill theory gaps.
Lacking insight, but through memorization-based realization, he grasped what this scroll circuit was specifically...
"No way... is this the Association President's formula circuitized?"
The perfect textbook version: the Association President's Neutral Magic Bullet formula.
The circuit Park Ha-jun drew seemed to be that formula circuitized.
Since scroll circuits were magic formulas circuitized from the start, it wasn't impossible.
"But this guy's a Mathematics professor."
Not even Magic Department—a Math prof, why and how was he doing this?
Suspicion of "Awakener?" alone didn't suffice. The circuit was that perfect.
After finishing the scroll circuit, Park Ha-jun asked Kang Eun-ho.
"Do you recognize this?"
"...Isn't it a scroll circuit? The Association President's formula circuitized into a scroll circuit."
Park Ha-jun nodded, but furrowed his brow at the latter explanation. Association President? That's a grand mage. What's the connection?
5-circle grade circuit perfection and 5-circle realm Association President. Not unrelated?
Park Ha-jun organized his thoughts and replied.
"Roughly, yes."
"But how does the professor..."
The wary Kang Eun-ho fearing excessive requests was gone.
Circuitizing the Association President's formula without degradation meant fully understanding it intuitively and logically.
Kang Eun-ho wanted to know. If there was a secret technique, he wanted it taught. Any hack would do, please.
But Park Ha-jun just smiled softly and drew another shape on the blackboard.
One of the shapes from the Neutral Magic Bullet circuit.
To Park Ha-jun, it registered as a "2D spiral," but to Kang Eun-ho without [Geometric Interpretation], it was just a complex circuit part.
Surprisingly, as Park Ha-jun drew it, infusing the concept of a “power-assigned shape,” it became not just a simple 2D shape but part of the circuit.
After finishing that part, Park Ha-jun asked.
"Do you know what this part means?"
"You mean the power-assigned part, right?"
"Can it be expressed more simply?"
"Uh..."
Can this even be put into words?
To Park Ha-jun, merely a 2D shape, but to Kang Eun-ho, something more complex.
"Uh... a shape with tangled overlapping lines?"
From that answer, Park Ha-jun grasped the gap between himself with [Geometric Interpretation] and other Awakeners.
True to a mathematician and fine educator, he'd probed Kang Eun-ho's level through questions while slowly extracting the answers he sought.
And Park Ha-jun began subtly stirring Kang Eun-ho's desire for theory.
" Yes, the power-assigned part, and in a way, a ‘shape.'"
Park Ha-jun snapped his fingers.
"Do you remember the Topology OT content, Eun-ho?"
"The donut and coffee cup...?"
Park Ha-jun grinned and replied.
"Yes, roughly speaking, if a shape's essence doesn't change under continuous deformation, it's considered the same shape."
Beside the perfect spiral shape, he drew the imperfect spiral the system had shown.
"These two handle power. They look different, right? Correct?"
Kang Eun-ho nodded.
Though it was about circuits not formulas, his keen intuition grasped it immediately.
"So if you can grasp the essence defining these two, and modify the formula while preserving that essence, you can manifest a perfect formula."
Park Ha-jun set down the chalk and sat again.
"Seems Topology helping magic isn't nonsense, right?"
"......Yes. Really."
Kang Eun-ho's expression was exhilarated as he answered. Like discovering a ray of light.
Park Ha-jun was thought to be a non-Awakener—if a non-Awakener could do this, then he without logic support skills could reach that level too.
That is, if Park Ha-jun was a non-Awakener.
"...But I thought you were a non-Awakener, Professor. How do you know this so deeply?"
"Because it's my current research topic. Correlations between geometry and magic."
"Ah..."
Park Ha-jun started looking different. More wondrous than an alien. A Math professor was such a being?
To the nodding Kang Eun-ho, Park Ha-jun spoke politely.
"Eun-ho, would you like to join my research project?"
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