Chapter 6. The Rift (1)
March 26th, Friday. It had already been ten days since the "Classroom Chaos Incident," which started as an academy story and ended as a family drama.
A few things had changed in that time, and I'd learned some new facts. First and foremost, there was a change that made me incredibly happy.
Weeeeng—
The loud whine of a hairdryer echoed from inside Sea's room. Seizing a brief lull in the noise, I raised my voice slightly.
"All done?"
Weeeeng—
The hairdryer roared back to life without a word. Not done yet, then.
"What's with her? Does she dry her hair all day long...?"
Of course, it wasn't that long—twenty minutes at most—but to me, who just ran a comb through, shaped it roughly, and called it good, it felt like an eternity.
I hadn't planned to say anything else, but I found myself yelling at the door anyway.
"If you're not out in five minutes, I'm heading out without you?"
Finally, click. The door swung open.
Sea stepped out, her uniform neatly pressed, giving her long hair one last brush.
"All done."
"Great. We're gonna be late—let's go."
"...At this hour, I could roll there on the ground and still make it on time."
She grumbled her retort, but it was so funny that my lips twitched upward. Not just because of that, though—going to school with Sea made me happy in itself.
Ever since she'd called me "oppa" for the first time in years the day after, we'd been commuting together in my car.
She seemed a bit worried that I was giving her rides even on days I didn't have to go to school myself... but that wasn't the case.
These days, I had my own reasons to head in every day.
The car halted at a red light, and Sea suddenly asked,
"How's the paper coming along?"
"Pretty good. It's progressing faster than I expected."
The second change in my recent life: I was co-authoring a paper on magical mechanics with Professor Seo Sang-wook.
The title was Research on Universal Defense Constructs. My name was on it as a co-author, but Sang-wook was handling all the actual writing.
I just provided leads based on what I knew and set benchmarks using my Peeping Eye trait... and he insisted that was more than enough, so no need to feel bad.
"That professor might slack on lectures, but he's not a bad guy at heart. Make sure you greet him properly whenever you see him on campus."
"...So to me, he's just a slacker, then."
Sea shot back in a tone that brooked no argument.
The school wasn't far, and soon the gate loomed in the distance. I dropped her off in a quiet spot with few people around.
I'd love to drive her right up to the building entrance to minimize walking... but she said it'd be embarrassing if other kids saw her brother heading inside.
"Study hard. Text me when club service ends."
"Today's the last day, so it might run late. Don't wait, just—"
Sea hesitated, cutting herself off. Hiding my grin, I prompted,
"Go on without your oppa?"
"...No. I'll text you later."
She turned primly and hurried toward the gate.
Weird, right? We eat the same meals, sleep under the same roof—how is she the only one this cute?
Mulling over the question someone might call sappy, I entered the campus and headed to Professor Seo Sang-wook's lab. He'd arrived early and greeted me warmly.
"Dojin, you're here."
"Yes, Professor. You look unwell—what's wrong?"
He really did: dark circles under his eyes, disheveled like he hadn't properly washed up. But his eyes sparkled with excitement, and I soon understood why.
"Last night, as I was drifting off, a brilliant idea hit me. I wanted your take on it, so I pulled an all-nighter pondering it alone."
"You could've called."
"Nah, you'd be tired too. That wouldn't be polite. I've got that much sense."
A fact I'd recently learned: Professor Seo Sang-wook wasn't just some half-hearted nylon professor who skimped on classes.
Put nicely, he was a genius scholar; put harshly, half-mad.
He didn't think he was slacking on lectures either. He'd learned everything from books alone, so students should too. If they couldn't, they just lacked the brains for magical mechanics—that was on them.
Whether that mindset was right was beside the point, but spending the past month with him confirmed his intentions.
Kids like Jin Yu-ri got detailed explanations when they asked about class material.
"So, here's the thing: the upper linkage formula here. Expanding or altering its scope could influence the entire defense construct lineage. Isn't that in line with Jeong Se-bin's views...? Did I nail it?"
How the hell would I know...? All I'd heard was that mastering barriers meant you'd never get pummeled by magic anywhere.
I couldn't fully grasp the issue he'd raised, but I had an ace up my sleeve.
"Shall we inject some mana as you described?"
"Yes, take a look. Methodologically, we're on track, but this part's the snag."
Professor Seo Sang-wook moved his hand. The mana, lingering in a small tetrahedron linked to the barrier's full circuit, tried to flow downward... but then.
Pzzt—
A sharp crackle, and the entire construct vanished.
> Manual Activation Trait Peeping Eye active. (Rank A)
"Leave circuits 4 and 7 as-is—"
"Oh, you spotted something?"
"Need fine-tuning to confirm, but yeah, somewhat."
Just adjusting mana distribution and range might do it...
We skipped proper lunch and ran through countless trials and errors.
"Oh... ohhh...."
"Whoa...."
Professor Seo Sang-wook and I gasped in unison.
The barrier magic's construct was subtly transforming.
"Phew... Test it with an attack."
His face flushed with barely contained excitement, he urged. I unleashed a faint burst of mana.
Pew, shooo....
The barrier absorbed my mana as intended. But the next instant—
"Let's see... like this?"
Ting!
A strand of mana shot from the barrier's surface—the exact mana I'd just fired.
A hybrid construct with simultaneous absorption and repulsion, adjustable at will. A revolutionary magic had been born.
I was stunned, but Professor Seo Sang-wook was huffing like he might pass out.
"Dojin, you...."
"Ah, stay back."
Having been through this before, I waved him off and backed away. But he lunged anyway, grabbing me in glee.
"This is all thanks to you! I'm so grateful, Dojin."
If you're that grateful, let go of my collar...
Once he calmed, Professor Seo Sang-wook rambled on.
"Experiments wrapped for now—paper'll be done soon. Oh, you don't have to lift a finger on the writing."
"Then I'll focus on data verification."
"Perfect, I'd appreciate that."
Stretching grandly, he beamed with visions of glory.
"Not sure how far it'll scale, but even limited to C-rank defenses below, you and I are set for life. Not that we're hurting for money."
"I'd guess A-rank is feasible with polishing."
My Peeping Eye was A-rank, after all. It was guaranteed up to that point; just a matter of time.
He chuckled.
"If so, money won't even matter anymore. Anyway, if we wrap up quick, we'll present at next month's regular conference—Thursday, perfect. You'll come with, show your face... so lectures that day are canceled."
"If it looks like a full cancellation, we should notify the students."
No big deal if I handled classes alone while he was gone, but both absent meant automatic cancellation.
"And from what I know... guilds send big shots too. Eternal Guild's Han Tae-gang always attends personally; others send heavyweights. They swarm any promising research to claim it. Why bring this up? Overheard something— you okay with it?"
"Yes, no issue."
The rumors hadn't spread widely, but those in the know were aware.
Han Tae-gang of Eternal Guild. Father of my fiancée, Se-ra.
He thoroughly disapproved of me; our engagement was doomed. Such whispers circulated, not far from the truth.
It'd be awkward meeting him, of course... but I hadn't done anything wrong that day, so I'd stand taller than before.
But Professor Seo Sang-wook suddenly frowned in confusion.
"Strange, really. You're such an outstanding young man from what I've seen. Rumors from folks who don't know better can't be trusted, right?"
"Uh, well...."
Knowing my sins all too well, I stayed quiet. He stood.
"Gonna hit the restroom. Back soon to tidy up, then we're off."
With a satisfied tone, he left the lab.
Alone, I checked the hologram.
The progress spike from the classroom brawl had crept up steadily since, nearing 60% now. About 40% left—not safe yet.
Progress didn't scale linearly with time. A single event could end Volume 1.
My name floated around school lately, but without visible metrics, hard to gauge against the protagonist.
So, if no big change post-conference... I'd stir things up myself.
An event dubbed "self-imposed cancellation"—a surefire attention-grabber.
Conference or not, classes would cancel anyway.
Lots to do, either way. Being the final boss was work too; end-of-month piled it on.
Deadline looming: settle Birth of the Demon God rewards, finish paper, attend conference, maybe spark a school incident, bond more with Sea, keep Phantom members in line, set next op's date...
"My head's killing me."
Ding, ding.
The wall clock chimed six. Afternoon six o'clock. Sea's club service meant an hour more; I'd tidy with Professor Seo Sang-wook, then wait in the car.
And right then—the hologram flickered.
...Yoo Hae-bin? Why's she in a quest?
Deeply puzzled, shocks kept coming.
Rumble...
A thunderous boom shook the lab like an earthquake. Earsplitting noise from outside.
Shriiiiek—
A chilling scrape, like something sharp tearing flat surface.
Then the lab door burst open.
"Dojin! Outside!"
Professor Seo Sang-wook rushed in, pale as a ghost, pointing.
Toward the curtained window.
With a foreboding hunch, I approached and parted the curtains.
Looking straight up from Jeil High grounds.
The twilight sky was ripping apart.
And from the fissure... black mist billowed out.
Professor Seo Sang-wook named the phenomenon in dread.
"A Rift..."