Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

[Episode 5]

[Mock Monster Battle]

The mock monster battle had begun. Baek Yu-Seol was a bit nervous at the thought of confronting an intermediate monster, but there was no other choice.

He knew it was an illusion, so he tried hard to suppress the dread inside his heart.

Eisel slowly followed him. Somehow, her steps looked gloomy, but choosing a destination was the priority, so Baek Yu-Seol said, “First, we need to decide which monster to catch. I’ll make the decision, okay?”

She nodded in response.

When Eisel affirmed, Baek Yu-Seol continued, “I’m a non-attribute, and you use ice and lightning, so it’d be nice to pick a match that suits you, but…”

Normally, a Class 1 mage could face a level 1 monster alone.

If three Class 1 mages joined forces, it would be possible to destroy the level 1 ‘Persona Gate’, and with five Class 1 mages, it was possible to deal with a level 1 intermediate monster. 

However, that was in normal cases.

If compatibility, experience, and environmental factors were added, it was possible for him to kill a monster several levels higher than him.

In fact, the Dark Mage Extermination Squad boasted the strongest one-on-one combatant in the Aether World, dealing with a level 7 dark mage alone with only Class 3 abilities.

It was the result of differences in compatibility and experience, as well as environmental factors.

Considering Eisel’s attributes, it was right to head for the swamp. Even though she could use lightning, that was only secondary, as her main proficiency lay in ice.

“Then are we going to the swamp…?” she asked in a very reluctant voice.

Obviously, it would be very easy to kill a level 3 intermediate monster with two people if they chose the right match.

However, Eisel was aiming for extra points. If she won against a monster she was incompatible with, she would be rewarded with additional points.

“Well, I think you’ll like whatever I choose.”

“…?”

Eisel didn’t seem to understand, but it didn’t matter.

In the first place, he teamed up with her not for himself, but to help her score high.

What was the story like in the original?

Because of Hong Bi-Yeon and her faction members’ suppression, Eisel couldn’t train properly or even form a team.

Monster hunting was one of the most important subjects.

Eisel was unable to win her scholarship because she failed the mock battle performance evaluation, and while working part-time jobs to make up for the lack of money, she suffered all sorts of humiliation and contempt.

In the process, her mentality was severely shaken, and instead of increasing her magical achievements, a catastrophe occurred.

In the original novel, she would later be revived somehow with the help of a secondary male lead. Unfortunately, because of Flame’s existence in the game, Eisel was pushed to the limit without anyone’s help.

Facing those adversities, she always had a helper.

However, Flame and Baek Yu-Seol’s presence had changed everything.

Hae Won-Ryang showed strong interest in Flame, and Ma Yu-Seong seemed to want to get closer to Baek Yu-Seol.

Although Ma Yu-Seong and Hae Won-Ryang had twisted personalities, their hearts were warm toward their loved ones.

Without their help, Eisel would eventually walk the path of ruin.

She would be left all alone.

And on a cold winter night, she would freeze forever like her own magic.

So he reached out to Eisel because he didn’t want to leave her like that.

Eisel had the natural talent to become the Empress of Ice, and if she could display that ability against the dark mages, they could get one step closer to a happy ending.

Baek Yu-Seol was sure of that.

‘I never intended to intervene this far, but…’

They had somehow gotten close enough that he didn’t make her uncomfortable, so he kept helping.

“…”

The air was filled with a heavy silence as Eisel quietly walked through the valley of flames, enduring the scorching wind. 

Suddenly, she broke the silence. “Hey,” she said hesitantly.

Baek Yu-Seol turned to look at her. “What’s wrong? Having a hard time keeping up?”

Eisel looked around, watching the smoke swirling around them and the distant explosions leaving showers of sparks high up in the air.

The structure of the canyon was either meant to train stamina or was intentionally made difficult. It was quite challenging for her. 

“No, I just… have a little question,” she said.

Baek Yu-Seol raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

Eisel hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes tightly and blurted out, “Why did you choose me as a team member?”

Baek Yu-Seol went silent. The longer he remained quiet, the more anxious Eisel became. 

‘Why the hell did he choose me?’ 

She had been troubled by this question since Hong Bi-Yeon’s earlier insult. There were many mages who were more talented than her, so why her?

“There are many great mages out there,” Baek Yu-Seol said, breaking the silence. 

“There will be no mage who can match Hong Bi-Yeon in terms of firepower, and there won’t be a mage as talented as Flame in utility and control.” 

He spoke calmly, and his words made Eisel’s expression darken even more.

“Ma Yu-Seong, the strongest among the first years, goes without saying. Shin Hwaran, who specializes in single-target destruction, or Adalyn, who uses curses, would also complement me well.”

“Then why…”

Eisel was about to ask why Baek Yu-Seol had chosen to team up with her, but he interrupted her.

“But,” he continued, without even looking at Eisel’s face, “I drew up an estimate, and it seems like working with you will be better than working with them.”

Eisel was taken aback by his words. “Huh?”

“I just thought it would be better to work with you. There’s no big reason for it,” Baek Yu-Seol said nonchalantly.

Eisel couldn’t help but wonder what he meant. 

‘What the heck? What does that mean? Does he think that working with me is better than working with other geniuses?’

‘Was it just a casual remark?’

‘It must be. With Baek Yu-Seol’s skill, he can easily hunt monsters with anyone in his team.’

‘But what kind of monster are we hunting?’

In a typical monster simulation, a team of six students would face an intermediate monster. Most students would aim for that level, but elite-level students would go after special monsters.

Thinking that far, Eisel’s eyes lit up with excitement as she asked, “Are you planning to hunt a special intermediate monster?” 

Unfortunately, Baek Yu-Seol wasn’t an elite-level student capable of hunting such creatures, He had other ways of approaching the challenge as a player.

“No, we’ll hunt an intermediate monster.”

“I see.” 

Eisel’s defeated look didn’t go unnoticed by Baek Yu-Seol, who chuckled mischievously.

“But we’ll hunt five intermediate monsters at once.”

“… What?”

Eisel abruptly stopped walking and looked at Baek Yu-Seol in astonishment. He would have taken it back quickly had it been a joke, but it wasn’t.

“W-What do you mean…?”

“Well, I want to get a high score. This way, it’s guaranteed.”

“Do you even know the saying, ‘haste makes waste?’ If you challenge five intermediate monsters for the sake of getting a high score and can’t even hunt one in the end, you’ll end up with nothing.”

“But if we catch all five, we’ll get a lot of points, right?”

“That’s easier said than done!”

Eisel, who had been sulking just a moment ago, suddenly burst into anger. But Baek Yu-Seol just laughed it off.

“It’s actually easy.”

“Ugh…”

Eisel let out a deep sigh, but Baek Yu-Seol was confident. Hunting five intermediate monsters wasn’t that difficult.

In the community of gamers who played Aether World, there were those who loved unique challenges and those who didn’t even pass trivial quests.

Perhaps wanting a different challenge from everyone else, they first proposed tackling two intermediate monsters simultaneously. 

However, it was still the very beginning of the episode, so even with their sub-characters, their stats and items were too low to successfully execute the strategy. 

Even if they controlled the characters with the strongest skills and magic like Flame and Ma Yu-Seong, they judged that it was impossible to defeat two intermediate monsters with their Class 3 abilities.

One day, while a veteran player was observing the challenge, he successfully defeated two intermediate monsters using a very unique strategy. 

After the strategy was revealed, many veteran players analyzed and modified it to suit them, ultimately succeeding in defeating as many as nine intermediate monsters at once. 

Although he saved the information at that time in his archive folder, allowing him to defeat nine monsters with ease if he ever wanted to, the preparation process was quite cumbersome and required teaming up with a few special students, so he compromised on five monsters.

In other words, the fact that he could defeat nine monsters made it easy to defeat just five. 

“Five monsters… Five monsters…”

Eisel, who had no idea about this, could only groan in agony. 

“Well then, let’s choose the first monster.”

Meanwhile, Hong Bi-Yeon was wading through the icy sea with Ma Yu-Seong.

“That won’t work. The monster is ice-attribute.”

In the icy sea, there were two types of intermediate monsters: ice- and water-attributes.

Ice-attribute monsters were weak against fire, while water-attribute monsters were strong against fire.

Hong Bi-Yeon insisted on facing a counter attribute monster.

“Do we really have to?”

“Yes, we do. Baek Yu-Seol will definitely do the same. I can’t afford to lose.”

She thought of the types of monsters that Baek Yu-Seol and Eisel could hunt.

Baek Yu-Seol was a neutral type. If she had to categorize him, he would be a physical type that handled blades.

The best counter to Baek Yu-Seol she could think of was a hard-shelled monster that was difficult to penetrate, and since Eisel’s ice attribute was weak against fire, only inferno golems came to mind.

“Well, I don’t think Baek Yu-Seol would do something so boring.”

“Hmph, you don’t know him, do you? By the way, what’s your main attribute? You claim to handle three attributes, but you probably don’t even have a main one.”

“Hmm…”

Ma Yu-Seong had three attributes: earth, lightning, and fire. But he had a separate main attribute that he was hiding; the other three were just auxiliary attributes.

Ma Yu-Seong couldn’t reveal this fact, so he talked about the attribute he was most confident in.

“I think I’m earth-attribute.”

“You think? You don’t even know your main attribute?”

“Sorry,” he apologized.

“It’s fine. If you’re earth, you’ll be vulnerable in aerial battles. But it seems like you won’t get any extra points for lightning in aerial battles.”

She rolled her eyes as if annoyed.

“Seriously, why did you learn so many useless attributes?”

“I learned them as a hobby…”

‘What kind of crazy mage learns three attributes as a hobby? To be fair, Ma Yu-Seong has never been normal.’

After that, Hong Bi-Yeon struggled for a long time to find the right monster. It seemed like they were spending more time searching than training.

While searching, they coincidentally witnessed other students screaming and running away in terror.

“Wow, why is that thing here?”

“I-I got scared even though I knew it was fake…”

“Ugh, let’s turn back.”  

However, Hong Bi-Yeon, feeling curious, slowly approached the source of their fear.

“Oh, that’s…”

Surprisingly, Ma Yu-Seong’s eyes flickered with interest. 

The monster in front of them was covered in a smooth and hard shell with a layer of slimy substance all over it. It was flying in the air using two fin-like wings, and it had arms and legs, with a head that resembled a carp, giving it a bizarre appearance.

Hong Bi-Yeon had read about this monster before in her monster encyclopedia. They were once an intelligent species that dominated the sea with a large population, but they were cursed centuries ago and lost all of their intelligence. 

Now, they had become nothing more than mere monsters.

“The monster, water king fish.”

It was an aquatic-type monster, yet it could fly in the air.

Thanks to its water attribute, it was completely immune to lightning attacks, which was considered a weakness of flying monsters. 

It had perfect inverse compatibility with all of Ma Yu-Seong’s attributes. 

Hong Bi-Yeon quietly turned to him. 

As he nodded silently, she raised the corners of her mouth. 

The difficulty level of the monster itself was already brutal, and with inverse compatibility on top of that, tackling it would be extremely difficult yet equally rewarding.

“You are not going to back down, are you? I don’t intend to lose to that commoner.”

“Me neither.”

Although the two had nothing in common, at that moment, they felt a sense of camaraderie.

They would collaborate on their strange desire to crush a common enemy.