Chapter 22

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Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 022

Chapter Title: Assessing Scroll Value

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That evening.

Park Ha-jun returned home and immediately plopped down in his workshop chair.

Though Kang Eun-ho hadn't quite unlocked 2-circle magic over lunch...

He'd gotten a text saying that a bit more thought might just do the trick.

'Well, it wasn't urgent anyway.'

He'd gone to see Kang Eun-ho in the first place out of curiosity about those 'numerical values.'

How safe were these numbers? And how much more punishment could it withstand if they went up...?

That was all he wanted to figure out.

'Yeah... I can look into that after boosting these values higher.'

In truth, he'd gotten a report from Kim Ji-seok on the way home. It had been a while.

To sum up the key points, all the big incidents had been more or less resolved.

The gate spawned from the elemental golem's core ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was still around, but the Association President had declared a personal subjugation, turning it into a top brass matter...

With the President being Korea's strongest mage and confident in success, there was no need for major worry.

'So that's how it is...'

A direct commission from the Association President would demand a very high-level Barrier.

Even without the commission, maxing out the [Barrier]'s performance was necessary anyway.

Besides, analyzing the [Barrier] circuit was just plain fun.

"Ugh..."

After a quick stretch, he eyed the mid-grade parchment on the workbench.

The [Barrier] circuit gave the maker total freedom. Freedom in solutions, in imagination.

The system example was bare-bones: just 3D space and graphs.

One condition to uphold: the target's safety.

Precisely, embed a 'shield' against external attacks into the circuit.

How to structure and design that shield was entirely up to the maker.

His first attempt? A 'honeycomb structure.'

A realistic design using only basic geometric elements.

Naturally, its performance was lackluster.

The structure's efficiency was top-notch, but it was just a single layer of flat realism.

'The shield's material is mana. I can get bolder with the design.'

For instance, leveraging homotopy from topology basics.

Or using vector fields to detect external shocks like noise cancellation, generating an instant counter-phase internal shockwave to nullify it.

Or channeling superstring theory to shunt attack energy into invisible 'extra dimensions' beyond our 3D space.

'The Barrier circuit's freedom opens endless possibilities.'

Thrilled, Park Ha-jun gripped his quill.

'Awakening sure has its perks... Why didn't mages dig deeper into this fun stuff?'

It was understandable, though.

His ideas were all insanely complex.

Especially the superstring one—even for him, it'd be a months-long project.

Maybe impossible solo.

'Anyway, gotta try them one by one.'

First up: homotopy, the simplest direction.

'If the Barrier perfectly absorbs shocks, next challenge is a topological structure unbreakable by any attack...'

In topology, homeomorphic relations hold unless torn or glued.

Like molding a coffee mug into a donut.

'Define the Barrier as a closed topological space...'

Continuously deforming its topology could efficiently absorb shocks.

'Oh...'

Direction set, he slowly moved the quill.

First, draw the base 3D space.

But the 'surfaces' here follow non-Euclidean geometry. Keep that in mind.

Mana-less 3D matter doesn't obey continuous topological deformation.

But this world brimmed with mana.

With [Geometric Interpretation] and intuition, Park Ha-jun defined surfaces mana-based.

3D space successfully drawn.

He sipped coffee, organizing thoughts on the 'special shield.'

'External attacks as continuous functions on the Barrier. Counter with another continuous function g(x) deforming its shape...'

Other mages would freak at the equations he neatly sorted—'What are you doing to magic?!'

They had to manifest flawlessly in his mind to support the 'shield.'

That'd set it apart from his prior 'realistic shield.'

'The resulting Barrier deforms like rubber—hard to shatter, absorbs shocks efficiently...'

Mind sorted, he dipped the quill in magic ink again.

The ink traced a simple hemispherical shield.

But intent embedded complex equations.

'A continuum smooth enough for differentiability everywhere...'

Yet he didn't stop at one 'special shield.'

'This absorbs shocks efficiently but not perfectly.'

Solution: layer them thickly for full absorption and durability.

1 hour, 2, 3...

Time-intensive. But repetitive layers helped.

Proficiency rose over time.

Next scrolls might use [Accelerated Creation].

Thus, he completed the [Barrier].

Infusing mana:

Perfection reached. Maxed for mid-grade parchment.

"Nice..."

One beer tonight wouldn't hurt.

But layering shields had one issue:

Mana cost was absurd.

'Right answer, but not efficient.'

Park Ha-jun grinned slyly.

Problems embracing solution diversity were the best.

They didn't stop at the answer—endless pondering.

And oddly:

Circuit completion unmeasurable.

5-circle level numerically, but unconventional expression.

'Anyway... good enough for today.'

Peak happiness now.

Already midnight.

As he wrapped up contentedly:

A mail from Lee Dong-gyu.

'Oh...'

Fake Awakener ID meant gold-to-cash conversion unlocked.

Gold piled from donations and minor scroll sales!

Save most for 3-circle unlock and better quills, but...

'Need cash? Just earn more gold now.'

Past major commissions and no cash option kept [Accelerated Creation] sidelined.

Time to use it.

Grindy, less fun, but...

'Money-making thrills.'

He bought more mid-grade parchment from the [Exclusive Shop].

'Since I'm at it, draw the highest-circle Barrier.'

Barriers didn't sell well ironically.

Expensive, yet most maker scrolls sucked.

Avg price 1.5M gold for C-monster shattering junk.

Hunters hated burning 15M won on flawed disposables.

But asd123's rep and overwhelming stats? Different story.

'Let's burn bright tonight.'

Sleep later. Activated [Accelerated Creation], drew Barrier circuits.

This time, 'target designate' over 'area output' for utility.

Matching prior [Purification] vector-tracing envelopment.

Result:

50 minutes per sheet.

3D space, vectors, topological wizardry in shields...

All grindy.

'Need 3 hours sleep, so 5 more today.'

By 4 AM, Park Ha-jun had 7 perfect [Barrier] scrolls.

"Ugh..."

Eyes dry, neck stiff.

But satisfying.

Long-overdue [Auction House] market check.

Something like this.

"Hm."

After a moment's thought, he listed one.

His first realistic Barrier. Mediocre 0.3 stats.

Still beats average.

'Wake folks up with this, gauge community reaction.'

[List] pressed.

Price: 3,000,000G.

Not too high.

Just to draw eyes.

Instantly:

Sold in 10 seconds.

Park Ha-jun searched 'asd123' on hunter forums.

Not glowing reviews.

Yet asd123's name carried weight.

One meh scroll under asd123, and forums exploded.

Satisfied, he timed the next listing—not too early, not late.

Who'd expect such godstats on the 'tricky' Barrier? Overwhelming.

Priced carefully: 30M gold.

'...This is the hard part.'

Post-21, holed up with math books and papers.

Bored? Chat other mathematicians. That was his 20s.

No wonder pricing felt alien beyond ramen and basics.

Hence clinging to this professor gig.

Sold in 10 seconds again.

Forums went nuclear.

Park Ha-jun lacked monetary sense.

However.

Not dumb—just fresh from shell, reality-lagged.

Forum check, then relist identical perfect scroll.

A tad slower, but sold.

Forum take?

Park Ha-jun kept going.

Initial negativity.

Then:

Sold.

Four left.

Meanwhile, Lee Dong-gyu dragged himself back to Association HQ from bed.

'...Messaged about fake ID, and he's farming gold like mad.'

What it meant? Obvious even to kids.

Cash needed.

'To win asd123's favor, prep cash.'

Meeting soon. Clean laundered money over gold exchange? Perfect.

Gold's vital for growth.

Even asd123 wouldn't crave conversion so bad with ample cash.

"How much to prep though..."

How much does he need to go this nuts...?

4 AM. In the item analysis room, Lee Dong-gyu gnawed his nails.