Chapter 48.

“Huu . ”

Standing in front of the classroom, I took in a deep breath .

Today was Friday . Cadets who had gone home or on vacations had all returned by now, and Cube was back to normal after all the chaos . Cube was continuing its normal routine .

I opened the classroom door, holding in my nervousness . Immediately, several meaningful gazes fell on me .

For now, I sat down on my usual seat . I could hear everyone whispering about my bet with Chae Nayun .

I tried my best to ignore them as I opened my textbook . I was at least happy that blatant bullying stopped after I beat up Kim Horak .

“Guys, grades are out for the written exams . ”

At that moment, Yi Yeonghan appeared, carrying large scrolls in his arms . He put them up on the wall one by one . The results for each theory class were listed along with a ranking of the combined results .

Everyone stared at the scrolls while groaning .

Not long afterward, everyone turned towards me .

===

Rank 1 . Kim Hajin

Rank 2 . Rachel

…

…

===

My name was on top of every exam and the overall rankings .

Not just in Veritas class, but in the entire academy .

“Kuhum . ”

Feeling awkward, I let out a dry cough as I stole a glance at Rachel . She was sitting behind me with her face buried on her desk . I could faintly hear her sigh and murmur in English, ‘I should have worked harder . ’

“Also, I hope everyone knows that we have new classes . ”

Yi Yeonghan added .

“Look at the first year announcements if you haven’t . Starting from today, Fridays will have two classes . ”

For first-year cadets, classes changed after their first semester midterms . It was Cube’s way of giving cadets a diverse selection of classes .

In addition, magicians would join in from the second semester and cadets would be able to choose the classes they wanted to take . In reality, they were taking classes that fit their roles .

I turned on my smartwatch .

The new class today was [Practical Magic and Intermediate Rank Magic Power Control]

Drrrrk—

The door opened and the Phenomenon Realm Analysis professor walked in .

The noisy classroom instantly fell silent .

“Take your seats . ”

The Phenomenon Realm Analysis professor peeked at the scrolls on the wall and grinned .

“I’m sure you’ve all seen the exam results . ”

The cadets groaned slightly .

“Now, now, your tests were easier than the ones I give to college students . Also, Kim Hajin cadet . ”

Suddenly, the professor pointed at me . Others also followed his finger and turned towards me .

“An unconventional outlook and logical judgment, I could see true ‘wisdom’ from your answers . Frankly, I can’t believe you’re only 16 . You’re good enough to be writing thesis papers for graduation . ”

If the professor’s praise ended there, I would have simply been happy . After all, it was the first time I was being praised for doing well on an exam .

“Since today is the first class after exams, I will give a quick lecture using Kim Hajin cadet’s answer sheet and call it a day . ”

But for some reason, he put up my answer sheet on the screen .

I was caught completely off guard .

“Now, take a look at this answer . He wrote, if monsters had linguistic abilities…”

The class continued . I put my hands over my face, feeling it heat up and ready to explode .

**

It was now 3:30 in the afternoon and the time for Friday’s second class . 98 cadets of the Veritas class were gathered at the Magic Library .

The chief magician in charge of the class was waiting in an empty lecture room, which only had desks and chairs in case of a magic accident .

“Hello, I am the chief magician from Seoul Magic Tower, Kim Hyojun . Every Friday, from 3:30 to 6, I will be teaching you practical magic and magic power control . But of course, today’s class will only be 30 minutes . ”

The chief magician introduced himself with a gentle smile . However, I couldn’t help but furrow my brows .

Kim Hyojun was a prick .

He led a successful life as the third generation child of a magic clan, but his talent wasn’t good enough to land him the chief magician seat . Although he ended up becoming one thanks to his clan’s lobbying, that was the limit of his career .

In the end, he acknowledged his limits and turned to education .

But his poor character – arrogance, jealousy, and perverseness – would cause problems in the future . Eventually, he would even fearlessly touch Chae Nayun while pretending to teach her .

The only good thing about him was that he didn’t form a contract with a devil .

[Kim Hyojun – Currently considering a contract with a devil . ]

…But he might soon .

“You might be thinking, ‘why should I learn magic when I’m not a magician?’ That’s a valid question, but as I’m sure some of you know, qi reinforcement and sword qi are an extension of magic . ”

Kim Hyojun released his magic power into the air as a demonstration . The soft and jellylike magic power he emitted instantly hardened when he concentrated .

“Now, if you simply use your ‘physical power’ to reinforce your magic power, that becomes qi reinforcement or sword qi . But if you refine your magic power with some calculations…”

Immediately, a pink flame rose up from his magic power .

Cadets instantly exclaimed in awe .

“It becomes magic . ”

Kim Hyojun smiled .

“Even if you can’t wield magic of this level, you will learn to use more practical magic, or learn to wield things like qi reinforcement and sword qi more naturally . Since today is the first class, we will only go over what we will learn in the future . ”

Suddenly, a blue sphere the size of a ping-pong ball shot up from his palm .

“This is a necessary magic to learn before entering a Dungeon . It’s called Light Sphere . It will be your light source in many dark areas . It may look simple at first glance, but to wield it skillfully…”

Kim Hyojun gave a complicated explanation .

To simplify things a bit, we had to compress magic power and air into a spherical shape that lights up .

“Now, before I teach you where to begin, try doing it yourself . ”

Cadets began to emit their magic power .

I stared at my desk blankly before joining my hands and thinking, ‘Appear, sphere of light . Appear, sphere of light . ’

Stigma’s magic power didn’t require intense focus or complex calculations . Soon, Stigma’s magic power flowed down into my hands and formed a white sphere of light . The cute sphere floated around on my palm .

Wiing—

At that moment, my smartwatch vibrated . Startled, I canceled the Light Sphere .

“Please turn off your smartwatches during class . ”

Kim Hyojun’s disgruntled gaze fell on me .

“Sorry . ”

I bowed slightly and checked my smartwatch .

It was a message from Yoo Yeonha .

[Um, we can’t do something like that yet . If you show people what you just did, they’re going to misunderstand~]

“What . ”

I quickly scanned the room and found Yoo Yeonha sitting diagonally from me . When her eyes met mine, she smiled sweetly and mouthed silently .

‘Amazing . You did that after listening to his explanation once?’

After hearing her sarcastic remark, I glanced at the cadets around me . Less than half of the cadets were able to compress their magic power into a sphere, and even those who succeeded couldn’t maintain the form for long . No one was even close to being able to make the sphere shine .

“W-Whoa!”

At that moment, a nameless cadet suddenly shouted .

In the frontmost seat, blue light was shining from the Light Sphere in his hand .

Other cadets exclaimed in shock, while Kim Hyojun’s face stiffened . After staring at Kim Suho’s Light Sphere for a good minute, he suddenly snapped .

“Stop . ”

Oh right, this was the reason Kim Hyojun came to be jealous of Kim Suho .

Kim Hyojun scowled for a moment but he quickly straightened his face before continuing in a kind tone .

“…If you make it like that, you’ll be overburdening your magic power . Now, pay attention everyone . I’ll give a more detailed explanation . ”

Kim Hyojun then began to give Kim Suho a private lesson . It seemed he wanted to test Kim Suho’s limits .

While I was watching them quietly, Yoo Yeonha sent me another message .

[It must look like child’s play . You can easily make brilliant white light, while someone else is being praised for what’s really only a faint glow . ]

“…What is she saying . ”

I ignored Yoo Yeonha’s alien talk .

**

The next day, 12:30 P . M . on Saturday .

I arrived at the traveling club’s meeting place . Most of the others were already here . They seemed excited it was an overnight trip .

“Hajin-ssi is here too . Alright, let’s form our teams before setting off . ”

The club leader, Oh Hanhyun, took out a box for drawing lots just like before . According to the original story, Kim Suho would be paired up with Yoo Yeonha . I didn’t care about the rest .

“First, Suho-ssi? Please step out . You’ll be drawing lots first . ”

I was still a bit nervous . Hopefully, everything was the same as in the original story .

Now, who will Kim Suho pick?

*

France, Paris .

I stepped foot in this European country for the first time ever . Thanks to Seoul-Paris Portal, we only needed ten seconds to arrive .

“So it really is a bit different . ”

Paris’ scenery looked like what I saw in pictures, but it was also different than what I had seen in the old world . Around the Eiffel Tower were buildings built with state-of-the-art technology, and Paris Hero Academy’s cadets were around the streets with swords and spears .

For the record, France was the leader of the European Union in my story . It just showed how well-operated France’s Hero system was .

“Korean cadets, over here!”

When we were looking around Paris’ scenery, someone called us over . Turning to the direction of the voice, we saw a limousine . The club leader, Oh Hanhyun, walked up to the limousine with a hearty laugh .

“Nice to meet you . You must be Raymond . ”

“Yes, nice to meet you . ”

“Can we drop off our bags real quick before we take a look around the city?”

The man name Raymond nodded with a smile . We stuffed our bags into the limousine .

“Now, we’ll travel in the pairs we formed . ”

I was paired up with Chae Nayun . I didn’t know why, it just happened that way . It was good that Kim Suho became paired with Yoo Yeonha like in the original story, but I wasn’t too comfortable being Chae Nayun’s pair .

“Alright, it’s 1 P . M . right now… so meet back here at 7 . ”

Then, Oh Hanhyun left with the girlfriend he brought on the trip using his authority as the club leader, as she wasn’t a member of the traveling club . They were likely going to the masquerade party happening later today .

“…”

Chae Nayun stared at Kim Suho with a wistful look before walking up to me .

“Hey, where do you want to go?”

She asked me .

“I’m getting lunch . ”

Since I was in France, I had to try its gourmet food . I had already researched several places since I was excited for my first Europe visit . After looking through several pamphlets, I even used the Book of Truth to find the best place to eat .

“Lunch? I guess it is about that time . Where are you going?”

“…You’re coming with me?”

Chae Nayun didn’t seem to mind coming with me . It was surprising, considering there were rumors that she practiced archery with pictures of my face on the target .

“We drew lots and what’s done is done . What, do you want to split up?”

“…Oh right . ”

Come to think of it, Chae Nayun had no sense of direction . She would get lost as easily as a five-year-old in a forest . She could find her way home from desolate places using her magic power and scent, but places she visited for the first time were like mazes to her .

“What’s right?”

“Nothing . Just follow me . ”

Chae Nayun crossed her arms as though she doubted my manliness . She pouted and spoke curtly .

“And how do you know where anything is?”

“I know better than you . ”

Book of Truth showed only two restaurants – a cheap and delicious restaurant and an expensive restaurant that was worth its cost . I was okay with either, but the latter should fit Chae Nayun’s taste more .

I turned on the GPS guide to the more expensive restaurant .

“Follow me . ”

“Hm… Okay, but I’m letting you know, I’m a really picky eater . ”

“I know . ”

She acted like a tomboy but because she ate only the highest quality food from a young age, her palate was nobler than that of most nobles .

“…How do you know that?”

I ignored her question and walked to the restaurant . Chae Nayun followed after me like a cat .

After walking for about 15 minutes, we arrived at the restaurant .

[Goût Céleste]

I had no clue what it meant, but anyone could see at first glance just how fancy it was .

“Oh, this is the place?”

“Yep . ”

“Ooh~”

Chae Nayun and I walked to the entrance . Immediately, a man in a suit stopped us .

“@!#[email protected]#[email protected]#$”

He was speaking in French, so it only sounded like gibberish .

Chae Nayun tilted her head and asked .

“What?”

The man cleared his voice and asked again in Korean .

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Oh, he speaks Korean . Hey, you didn’t make a reservation, right? Don’t you know you need to make reservations for high-end restaurants?”

I opened my laptop silently . I didn’t make a reservation, but I could hack into their reservation list .

Using the laptop’s internet function, I accessed the restaurants’ reservation list . Because I only needed to access a restaurant’s private server, I only had to pay a cheap price .

I found the reservation list and put my name down around a 1 P . M . slot .

“Hey!”

Chae Nayun shouted into my ear . I took my eyes off the laptop and saw Chae Nayun right in front of me . Even up close, I couldn’t see a single flaw in her smooth skin . I swallowed hard .

“Eh? W-What?”

“Reservation . Did you make one?”

Chae Nayun asked again, and I nodded .

“Yeah, I did . ”

“…Really?”

“Tell him my name . ”

Chae Nayun still looked doubtful but approached the man nonetheless .

“Kim Hajin . Is his name there?”

The man checked his smartwatch .

It seemed he found my name as he let us through with a smile .

“Yes, Kim Hajin and one companion . Welcome . ”

“…Oh wow . ”

Chae Nayun looked at me in surprise . Then, we walked in together .

“I like the atmosphere . ”

I agreed with Chae Nayun . The inside of the restaurant was just as imposing as the outside . A calming classical piece flowed beautifully, while each and every decoration was delicate and elegant .

Customers inside were also wearing dresses and suits, despite it being lunchtime .

“Follow me . ”

We followed the waiter and sat down next to a window .

“Welcome to Goût Céleste . Do you need help with the menu?”

“You handle it . ”

I let Chae Nayun take over . She took the menu and skillfully finished ordering .

Once the waiter left, silence descended . We were staring at each other but didn’t have much to say . Feeling a bit awkward, I turned to the side and looked out the window .

“…What?”

At that moment, I caught sight of an unexpected individual .

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