Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 92

Enrollment

The next day arrived.

After having taken in the overall layout of Arniel the previous night, Harang was able to start his day without any burden.

‘I’ll have to continue scouting for a while.’

Arniel was excessively vast, with too many places to explore. It was hard to even get a sense of where Estelle might be hidden.

‘For now, let’s just focus on today.’

Standing in front of the mirror, Harang brought Arniel’s uniform up to his body.

Arniel’s uniform was known for being quite stylish.

Both male and female students wore well-fitted black pants, a white shirt, and a cloak draped over their shoulders.

In summer, the cloak was a short cape that came down to the shoulder blades, while in winter, it transformed into a coat that reached the knees.

Since it was currently summer, Harang wore the short cape.

The final piece was the tie, which symbolized gender. Male students wore a tie, while female students wore a bow tie.

The name tag indicated both the grade and rank, with the rank reflecting how many years one had been enrolled at Arniel.

In other words, even though Harang was in the 8th grade, he was a 0th rank, meaning that while he was technically a peer, he was practically a junior to the 8th grade 1st rank students.

‘Not bad. This is what school is like.’

Because of his heart condition, Harang had never properly attended school, nor had he ever worn a school uniform. Seeing himself in the mirror, he liked what he saw so much that he almost forgot this was all part of a mission.

Who would’ve thought he’d experience school life in such a way, like a spy?

‘Not bad. It’s actually quite fun.’

Harang smiled widely. The reflection in the mirror showed him smiling genuinely. He was enjoying this moment.

Even if his cover was blown, it didn’t matter.

So what if the world found out that Harang of the Kaladan family had posed as a mage? Even if the rumors spread and people mocked him, who cared?

He was having fun right now.

‘Enjoy the moment.’

Harang had engraved those words on the inside of his cloak. Draping it over his shoulders, he left the dormitory.

Starting today, his real school life was beginning.

* * *

Arniel’s classes were based on a credit system. In addition to the required subjects, students had to take several additional courses.

Each grade consisted of four semesters, and if one failed to earn the required credits in two consecutive semesters, they would immediately receive an academic warning.

Two warnings, and you were expelled.

In other words, if you were unlucky, you could be kicked out before even finishing a single grade.

For this reason, most students didn’t take classes to gain knowledge. Instead, they strategically selected courses that were easier to earn credits in and had more convenient schedules.

Naturally, such courses were highly competitive right from the registration stage, and the “class trial” system, which allowed students to experience a class for a week before changing courses, held no real meaning.

However, Harang was different.

He had no intention of sticking around at Arniel long enough to graduate. He figured he’d stay for no more than two semesters, so he only chose the classes he genuinely wanted to take.

After all, if you were going to attend the world’s best magic school, wasn’t it only right to soak up the knowledge you truly wanted to learn?

“Wow… is that your schedule?”

After orientation, each student received a personalized schedule, which was stored on the back of their Arniel student ID necklace.

While Harang was reviewing his, a curious classmate glanced over and stuck out his tongue in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen someone take so many classes. And aren’t all of those fringe subjects?”

Harang had deliberately shown his schedule to the other students.

Rather than hoarding information, it was more beneficial to blend in and spread false information among his peers as part of his espionage activities.

“You’re really taking all these strange classes. Hey, you’re that genius commoner who just enrolled, right? You’re… unique.”

“Forget the rest. Why on earth are you taking Magic Crystal Refinement?”

“Isn’t that a dead subject ever since Mana Breathing and Crystal Staffs were developed?”

Magic Crystal Refinement involved condensing one’s magical energy into crystals to use as a kind of auxiliary battery.

It might sound impressive, but these days, it wasn’t very practical.

With each family developing their own mana breathing techniques, it was more efficient to focus on breathing rather than refining magic. Moreover, the invention of crystal staffs, which could store mana crystals, rendered it even less useful.

Harang didn’t particularly want to learn Magic Crystal Refinement either. However, in order to use his skill Tangakhyang Descent, which he had learned but never used, he needed to personally refine a high-grade magic crystal. So, he had no choice but to take the class.

Still, Harang decided to neatly package the truth.

“Do you know who introduced Magic Crystal Refinement?”

“Huh? No, who?”

“It was the hero of Ainglass, Rielz.”

As soon as Harang mentioned Rielz, a famous hero from Ainglass, the students’ ears perked up.

“The reason Magic Crystal Refinement is still taught at Arniel is to honor Rielz’s legacy. I’m taking the class to carry on his spirit and will. I believe that Magic Crystal Refinement is still valuable and efficient.”

It was a flawless lie with not a shred of truth! The fourteen-year-old boys were instantly moved, their faces full of admiration, completely fooled.

“So that’s the reason…!”

“I didn’t know who introduced magic crystals.”

“Wow, I’ve heard a lot about Rielz. He’s the hero who saved Ainglass from disaster, right?”

“Deis, you truly respect Ainglass, don’t you…?”

Respect? Not at all. He didn’t even care who Rielz was. He had simply accumulated a lot of knowledge. However, Harang nodded earnestly, pretending to truly admire Rielz.

“Of course.”

The commoner genius mage, Deis, respects and admires the hero of Ainglass!

He even attends unnecessary classes, wholeheartedly!

The rumor spread quickly.

And this was exactly what Harang wanted.

‘To get close to Estelle, I need to fully blend in with the ideals of Arniel.’

One of Arniel’s mandatory subjects was studying the history of the Five Great Magic Families, including Ainglass, and praising them in the subject called ‘History of Magic.’

The Five Great Magic Families wanted to erase and cover up their past misdeeds, then brainwash the rising generation of geniuses as much as possible.

Harang decided to play along.

‘If I become a devoted dog worshipping Arniel and the Magic Families, I should be able to approach Estelle legally.’

Building this image came with several advantages.

One of them was the ability to win favor from professors of noble families, who tended to dismiss commoners.

“A commoner, you say? Just take one of the textbooks from the back.”

“…”

Of course, it wasn’t a perfect solution. No matter how much a commoner praised Arniel, some professors hated them to the end.

‘Is this a book or trash?’

Harang stared intently at the old, worn-out textbook.

While the nobles were given brand-new books, it seemed they didn’t care to do the same for commoners.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

This was something he’d prepared to endure since deciding to pose as a commoner.

When Harang casually accepted the old book and sat down in the back, the professor’s face twisted in annoyance.

‘What’s with that guy?’

Typically, in these situations, commoners would show some sort of emotion, either a sad or angry expression.

If a commoner showed even the slightest frustration, the professor would gladly sacrifice part of the lesson to harass them.

He planned to do the same today.

He particularly disliked the fact that a mere commoner was getting more attention than the noble descendants of the Five Great Magic Families. On top of that, there was an implicit order from higher-ups.

[The noble ladies have expressed their displeasure with that commoner.]

Arniel was originally founded on the ideals of peace and equality, with the noble idea that even commoners would be taught as long as they had talent to advance magic.

But that was the will of centuries past.

Modern investors didn’t think that way.

They wanted their own children to stand out and excel more.

So, they subtly raised and bribed certain professors with wealth and honor, occasionally issuing orders.

[Isolate him appropriately.]

It wasn’t a difficult command.

Professor Sael, who specialized in Psychokinesis, had handled such tasks frequently, making it an even simpler matter.

“Can someone define psychokinesis?”

Professor Sael smiled faintly as she picked up a feather pen. She waved it gently across the chalkboard, and as if by magic, the word “Psychokinesis” appeared.

“Telekinesis. A magic that allows you to move objects from a distance without physically touching them. It’s considered a very basic form of magic. However, very few have mastered its pinnacle. Does anyone know why?”

When someone raised their hand, Sael pointed to them.

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Because it’s not suitable for offensive use!”

“That’s right. If I had to compare telekinesis to something, think of it as using a very, very long pair of chopsticks to lift objects.”

Imagine trying to lift a bowl from far away with extremely long chopsticks. It would be hard to even grasp it, and whenever you try to lift it, it keeps slipping. To compensate, a mage would need to invest a significant amount of mana to transform the chopsticks into tongs or a support to keep the object in place.

“Since it’s difficult to control objects precisely, it’s almost impossible to use telekinesis for physical attacks. Additionally… while it’s easy to use on inanimate objects, using it on living beings is extremely difficult.”

Professor Sael waved her staff, looking around at the students as she asked, “Does anyone know why that is?”

“Because all living beings contain mana.”

When one student raised their hand and answered, Sael smiled in satisfaction and nodded.

“Yes, that’s correct. And for mages or warriors who have trained their mana… it’s nearly impossible to use telekinesis on them, right?”

Sael smiled brightly as she looked at Harang.

“But… what do you think would happen if there was an overwhelming difference in mana?”

She narrowed her eyes and sized up Harang.

‘His body weight seems to be less than 50 kg, and his mana is at about a 2-core level, so… something like this?’

Deeming him light enough, she waved her staff.

“Like this! It should be easy to lift him up… huh, wait—what?”

Vroooom!!

Professor Sael, who had intended to lightly lift Harang’s body with her telekinesis and tease him, was shocked when she found him to be much heavier than expected.

‘W-what is this weight!?’

What she didn’t know was that Harang’s body was equipped with weight bands that easily added several hundred kilograms.

On top of that, though she had skipped over it in her explanation, both mages and warriors possess something called ‘magic resistance.’

Magic resistance isn’t simply something that appears because of having a lot of mana; it’s a defensive mechanism where one finely controls mana, spreading it around their skin to disrupt any magical interference from an opponent.

This technique is commonly used to interfere with mental or telekinetic waves.

This rarely appeared in young students, but Harang was already unconsciously using it.

‘Oh, is this telekinesis?’

Harang, who floated softly in the air, showed a slight change in his expression.

‘If I release a little mana, I think I can stop this?’

While Harang marveled at the sensation of telekinesis, Sael was having a hard time.

‘Ughhh!!’

Initially, Sael intended to lift something light, but the sudden weight she had to bear caused significant strain!

Her arms and forehead broke out in visible veins as she unintentionally consumed too much mana in an instant.

Crash!

In the end, Professor Sael couldn’t hold on any longer and ended up dropping Harang.

Since she had used telekinesis thinking she would be lifting something light, she didn’t put enough force into maintaining it, and her strength gave out.

Harang, who fell to the floor, even broke the wooden chair he was sitting on.

“Oh no, what should I do?”

Sael, flustered, hurriedly ran to Harang. She hadn’t expected the impact to be strong enough to break the chair!

“Ouch.”

Harang, with a face that looked completely annoyed, slowly and awkwardly got up.

“I-I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

“Professor.”

As Professor Sael panicked, someone stood up, raising their hand.

When Sael confirmed who it was, her face turned slightly pale.

Blue hair and blue eyes.

It was Ailka, the young lady of the Willed family.

She was staring coldly at Professor Sael.

“It’s no secret that you discriminate against commoner students, Professor, but using telekinesis to slam a student to the ground? Isn’t that too much?”

“Sl-slam them down?!”

Startled by Ailka’s words, Sael waved her hands defensively.

“I didn’t mean to do that!”

“Look, Professor. The chair is completely destroyed. Do you really think that small child falling could have caused all of that?”

Harang discreetly adjusted his sleeve to hide the slightly exposed weight band he was wearing.

“The student didn’t do anything wrong, yet you were too harsh, weren’t you?”

“I-I…”

“I’ll make sure to report this to my grandmother, who is on the school board.”

“…”

Professor Sael’s face stiffened. No matter how much authority she held as a professor, she couldn’t do anything against the power of the school board. Even the ‘ladies of nobility’ couldn’t protect her from the influence of the board.

She had always tried to avoid provoking the children of powerful families.

But why was Ailka suddenly intervening when she had no connection to that commoner?

“Damn it…”

As Professor Sael bit her lip and returned to the podium, Ailka approached Harang and extended her hand to him.

Harang stared at her hand.

‘Even if I take her hand, she won’t be able to pull me up.’

Out of courtesy, he took her hand, but he stood up by himself.

“That… is anti-magic resistance, right?”

Ailka asked as Harang dusted off his pants. Her expression was full of curiosity, as if she had uncovered some secret. However, there was a subtle, unsettling fakeness hidden beneath her twisted smile.

“Maybe. It seems like it could be.”

“If it’s not anti-magic resistance, then what else could it be? Unless there’s some other unknown power you possess that even you don’t know about…”

Ailka spoke as if hinting that Harang was receiving help from some mysterious source. But, uninterested, Harang pulled over a nearby chair and sat down.

“Like how you’ve contracted with a Guardian?”

Twitch!

Not many people knew that Ailka had contracted with a Guardian.

Though her family hadn’t kept it a strict secret, they hadn’t made a point of publicizing it either.

Only those in the know were aware.

‘How does this commoner know that…?’

Ailka suddenly froze, goosebumps running down her arms.

It was as if his calm gaze saw through her completely, leaving her powerless to act.

“What are you doing? The class is starting again. Go back to your seat.”

“…”

Ailka had intended to dig into him, to pry out some truth or find something to expose.

But instead, one of her own secrets had been discovered by him.

“…”

She stared at Harang’s back for a moment before returning to her seat.

Even as she sat down, her gaze remained fixed on the back of his head.

‘There’s still plenty of time.’