Chapter 13

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Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 013

Chapter Title: Purification

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It had been two days since he started receiving reports from Kim Ji-seok.

The world's attention was even more intense than he'd imagined. It hadn't stopped at just the Korea Awakener Association headquarters—it had made headlines in the news.

- B-rank Gate Subjugation Involving a Corrupted Awakener. The Key Was a Magic Scroll.

- New Possibilities for Scrolls Emerge: "It's More Convenient and Better Than I Thought."

- Who Is asd123?

...

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In this situation, unexpected things were happening as well...

Including Famous Scroll, various scroll maker groups had sent sponsorships.

Park Ha-jun decided to register as an Awakener and respond to them.

And then.

As interest in asd123 and scrolls skyrocketed, overall scroll sales had risen.

Thanks to that, Park Ha-jun had been making minor scrolls in his spare time.

Now that he had a decent grasp of the Awakener world, he registered them all in the Auction House at prices above their worth.

The result?

They all sold.

Even the ones that hadn't sold for ages.

The 0-circle Magic Scroll he'd priced at 500,000 gold out of laziness—he'd never lowered the price, but it finally sold.

'Researching my circuit... I'm curious about the results.'

He'd have to meet them if the chance arose.

Anyway, Park Ha-jun had been steadily making and listing scrolls in the Auction House.

But satisfying the current demand wasn't easy.

- When's asd123 uploading more scrolls? Wanna try one out of curiosity.

- I'm checking the Auction House every day too.

- How long you all been waiting?

...

It was like a shortage—people were willing to buy regardless of price.

The result directly boosted Park Ha-jun's gold holdings.

Unlocking 2-circle would still leave him with over 3 million gold.

'This is insane...'

Still, Park Ha-jun didn't rush.

You can't skip differentiation and jump to integration in math, right?

For now, he focused on perfecting the Purification scroll.

Separate from this social phenomenon, Park Ha-jun had been steadily analyzing the Purification scroll.

Impressive results. He stretched.

'...Finally hit target designation rate of 0.8.'

The Purification circuit was just repetitive calculations. Tedious grind, in layman's terms.

Coordinate-izing the "world," mapping "mana flow" to a vector field, designating the "target" with a space-filling curve.

Reality, mana, target... The goals were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inherently complex, so pure computation dominated over elegant solutions.

Of course, for a geometry professor like Park Ha-jun, coordinates and vector fields weren't hard...

But expressing 3D space at drawing precision 3 felt lacking.

In layman's terms, glitches happened often. About 1 in 3 times.

'...Still, not enough to prevent perfecting Purification right away.'

He wouldn't buy one now. But for unlocking 2-circle later, he'd need the next-grade quill.

...Anyway, this meant dozens of low-grade parchments were used drawing Purification.

Target Designation Rate: 0.8

He'd finally raised the space-filling curve's target designation rate to 0.8.

For reference, 0.8 is the limit for low-grade parchment.

This meant perfect implementation of coordinates, vector fields, and space-filling curves.

Now, the remaining task was the "purification effect" on the designated target.

In other words, understanding the shapes involved in the purification effect and drawing them as circuits.

'That shouldn't be hard.'

From a glance, those shapes were knots (attribute forms).

Purification applied knot—attribute—mysticism. A somewhat simplified knot form.

It seemed structured to purify the target sequentially: earth, water, wind, fire.

'No idea how that purifies...'

Geometrically understanding and perfectly circuiting this shape was no issue.

Since he'd handled it before, it would take less time than previous work.

"Ugh, my neck."

As Park Ha-jun stretched briefly, a mail arrived.

'I was planning to figure out the approach and send it first.'

Kim Ji-seok had mailed first.

Things had gone awry—could he make it by tomorrow?

An unreasonable demand. But.

'Unreasonable? Let's try...'

The remaining work was just understanding the knot anyway.

More importantly, the reports in the mail were serious. Matters threatening Korea's survival.

This time, he'd have to take it seriously.

An hour earlier. Hwang In-su gulped down water to soothe his burning gut.

He couldn't understand the Association's direction at all.

'The reason the Association President approved that absurd plan was because of the scroll Kim Ji-seok's team had...'

That scroll had stably stopped the Elemental Golem's rampage. (Even with the Corrupted Awakener's interference.)

Thanks to it, Kim Ji-seok's team had been promoted to A-rank.

"What the hell..."

Hard enough to accept this flow.

Now the Association buzzed about asd123, a mere Magic Scroll maker.

"Check if asd123 posted anything on the Hunter community!"

"Check the Magic Scroll maker groups too......"

The Awakener Management Team was desperately trying to find asd123 and figure out registration and Association enrollment.

"Kim Ji-seok's team used asd123's Magic Scrolls to slash the subjugation budget to miraculous levels. Going forward......"

Operations Support and Admin Team discussed scroll utility for subjugation costs.

"Eh... this performance is meh? How did Kim Ji-seok plan to take this into a B-rank Gate?"

"Idiot, it's not just any scroll—it's asd123's that's special!"

Subjugation Team leaders who bought ordinary maker scrolls and got disappointed were lining up to commission asd123.

...And though Hwang In-su denied it, he'd spent the day thinking and talking about asd123 too.

The Association's implicit cartel—the Mage Alliance—had no choice but to wary of asd123 stealing Mages' privileges.

Stopping the Elemental Golem rampage: Hiring a Mage would've cost at least 30 million gold.

asd123's scroll solved it for a mere 3.2 million in sales.

Reactions even said it was more stable than hiring them.

"...Just what the hell is asd123?!"

Thus, asd123 instilled tension in the Mage Alliance.

Meanwhile, newly promoted A-rank Kim Ji-seok sank into the sofa of his assigned office.

"...I'll be using this place a lot."

A-rank perks weren't just this.

Enhanced Gate selection rights, tax reductions, expanded Association system access...

Most impactful: command authority over lower-rank teams.

Kim Ji-seok was A-rank team leader, Hwang In-su B-rank.

'I can summon that Hwang In-su. Not unfair orders, though.'

Grinning slyly, Kim Ji-seok shot up.

A message from Item Analyst Lee Dong-gyu.

- Please come urgently.

"...!"

He hurried over. The remote mountainside was sparsely populated.

Association's main Hunters guarded strictly; at the center, Lee Dong-gyu eyed the Elemental Golem's core.

"Just as the Association President said."

Lee Dong-gyu spoke, sensing Kim Ji-seok.

An ominous Gate rippled over the Elemental Golem's core.

Clearly, the core powered the Gate.

"...What happened."

"Who knows. Can't tell exactly due to the corruption. But..."

The Gate's mana density was rising in real time.

"We need to start purification ASAP. It's D-rank now, but at this rate, it'll hit S-rank in under two days."

Corruption even prevented entry. They could only watch.

"Damn."

This was what the Association President predicted.

He'd mailed about the core; told to move it to a remote area and guard.

Association President would return after A-rank Gate subjugation abroad and purify personally...

Yes, the President was still overseas. Thorough prep needed for Corrupted Awakener-involved A-rank Gate.

Expected entry in two days.

But in two days, this Gate would exceed S-rank. Massive damage inevitable.

Lee Dong-gyu asked grimly.

"Can't commission that maker, asd123?"

Association Mages would try purification, but low expectations.

Lee Dong-gyu's gut said only 5-circle Purification could solve it.

"...Got it. I'll mail again."

Kim Ji-seok lacked confidence. Previous reply was vague.

Unpredictable person—might not care about their plight. Especially an unreasonable ask.

Reading Kim Ji-seok's troubled face, Lee Dong-gyu said.

"Official commission pay set at 10 million gold. If it works, personal reward too."

Truth was, Lee Dong-gyu was a similar type of Awakener.

He'd briefed beforehand, but knew demanding "by tomorrow" was awkward.

Given the stakes, this investment was natural.

Eyes widening at the amount, Kim Ji-seok nodded.

"...Understood. Sending the mail."

As Lee Dong-gyu advised, Kim Ji-seok wrote the mail.

Detailed commission and prior promised matter's progress report.

The next day.

After finishing his administrative work, Park Ha-jun headed to the Magic Department’s training room.

Students glanced curiously at the math professor entering the Magic area.

"That's my private training room."

With A-rank Kang Eun-ho accompanying him, no one stopped them—though they still drew odd looks.

He looked around the interior, taking in the results of Kang Eun-ho’s efforts so far.

The floors and equipment were covered in traces of magic.

The theory space was densely filled with scribbled incantations.

'...As expected, a diligent student.'

Park Ha-jun smiled faintly.

"First, I'd like to see your attribute magic, Eun-ho."

...In truth, Park Ha-jun didn’t have the luxury of leisurely observing magic.

Today was the deadline for Kim Ji-seok’s commission.

Even so, he didn’t cancel his appointment with Kang Eun-ho.

'...I’ve figured out a direction for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Purification circuit, but something still feels off.'

Why did Purification work through sequential elements? Was that truly purification?

It might seem trivial, but intuition—his intuition—told him it was worth investigating.

So, he decided to borrow Kang Eun-ho’s A-rank intuition.

But first, he needed to assess his level—to make sure a proper discussion was even possible.

After all, intuition alone would be useless if he lacked a basic understanding of attribute forms.

"My magic... just a moment!"

Kang Eun-ho tapped the central panel, and a steel dummy appeared.

He extended his hand toward it.

Whoosh—

A Fire Magic Bullet was cast in under a second.

But it only grazed the dummy, doing little damage.

Kang Eun-ho mumbled awkwardly.

"Ah, I messed up the calculation..."

Park Ha-jun spoke in a neutral tone to ease his embarrassment.

"I heard you can multi-cast."

At the mention of his strength, Kang Eun-ho brightened slightly.

"Yes! That’s why I’m not completely looked down on. Like this..."

Whoosh—!

This time, flames formed instantly—five at once.

Park Ha-jun admired the sight inwardly.

'So this is the level of an A-rank mage.'

He had a clear grasp of Kang Eun-ho’s abilities now.

'He understands the essence of attribute forms.'

That meant he was capable of discussing the Purification circuit.

"Haha... but this is still pretty bad."

Kang Eun-ho looked dissatisfied.

And it made sense—the five Fire Magic Bullets varied in size and power.

It was only natural, since he was casting purely by intuition without proper calculation.

This habit had left many magic professors at a loss.

Should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they praise his ability to activate spells instantly, or criticize his lack of calculation?

In the end, they chose to scold him.

But they couldn’t be too harsh—their own abilities as both professors and mages were lacking.

After all, this was a lower-tier university in Seoul.

Park Ha-jun was different.

He didn’t avoid difficult problems.

He constantly reflected on teaching methods to better guide his students.

He already knew the root of the issue—the relationship between intuition and logic. It was something he himself had struggled with as a student.

Unlike awakened individuals who gained their abilities by chance, Park Ha-jun understood the value of effort.

'Maybe I can solve two problems at once.'

Both the lingering issue with the Purification circuit and Kang Eun-ho’s growth.

He was curious about the latter as well. Could perfect control over five simultaneous casts be achieved through proper teaching?

To achieve both, he spoke gently.

"It’s not bad."

"...Pardon?"

"You just don’t know yet. You’re still a student—that’s normal. You’ll learn it step by step here."

Kang Eun-ho felt a lump in his throat. It sounded as if Park Ha-jun was comforting the scorn and mockery he had endured.

But he misunderstood it as mere consolation.

Their earlier conversation had given him some vague insight, but truly addressing the core of his problem? Even top professors had failed.

"Thank you for the encouragement... but honestly, I don’t think anything will change, even after two more years here."

He had already spent two years training over twelve hours a day, and this was the result. It was only natural for him to feel resigned.

He expected the same response as before—either silence or empty words of comfort.

That’s what all his previous professors had done.

But then—

"Eun-ho, can you draw the incantations for the five Fire Magic Bullets you just cast?"

Park Ha-jun spoke matter-of-factly, without any hint of comfort or encouragement in his tone.

"Pardon?"

This was...

"I may not be able to help much with magic itself, but we can at least talk about your concerns."

It was the tone of a true educator.

Hearing it, Kang Eun-ho realized something.

Park Ha-jun hadn’t come here just to offer empty comfort.