Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

In the game, the transition between the scenes was very simple.

[After escaping from the pursuers, you have arrived at the magical city of Arcanium.]

It usually happened just like that.

But it was different in reality. Whether it was a change in the scene or something else, Baek Yu-Seol had to go through it himself.

Fortunately, the setting was closer to the modern era than the medieval period, so there was no need to go through the troubles of riding a horse.

Trains were operated only in safe cities where the monsters were judged to be completely eradicated, and Warp Holes were installed in airships and certain other cities to facilitate ultra-long-distance movement and travel.

‘I’m glad there are no other pursuers.’

Baek Yu-Seol was familiar with the identity of those pursuers.

The media had reported news of bandits running amok and raiding the nearby villages. Later, it turned out that this incident was the work of the ‘Dark Mage Cult’ as they sought sacrifices in the early days.

However, from the moment one exited the cliff, it was completely the domain of mages.

The dark mages would no longer pursue him. They were only looking for a sacrifice in the first place, and since they did not know his real identity, there was no need to worry about the future consequences.

Thanks to this, he was able to let go of his worries for the time being.

With the help of those mages, he was able to travel in an automatic wagon, which was a bit shakier compared to modern cars.

“Huh, is this your first time in a city?”

“Where the hell did you learn that kind of magic skill?”

Baek Yu-Seol did not know how to respond, so he just smiled.

There was an unspoken rule among mages that if one smiled softly when asked about magic, it meant he had a hidden master and no further questions should be asked.

“Well, that’s alright.”

“Anyway, I’m glad that our destination is the same. We are on our way to Rezoica, one of the 12 satellite cities of Arcanium City.”

The Stella Academy was located in Arcanium. He was really glad that he saved himself from the trouble of going there alone.

On the way, he asked them a few questions about this world, from small details to the local culture.

He even heard them say, ‘Tsk, you’re a country bumpkin, aren’t you?’ when he asked for the currency unit, but it did not matter.

It was better to be treated like a peasant for a short time than to be bullied for not knowing later.

“Well, why don’t you sleep a little bit? The airship to Arcanium will depart at eight o’clock tomorrow, and we’ll be able to make it to Rezoica before that.”

“Eh I’d feel too guilty to sleep.”

“Look, she’s sleeping just fine.”

When Baek Yu-Seol turned around following the mage’s finger, he saw the gray-robed girl who was on board as a guest. At that moment, she was crouching in the corner, trying to sleep.

“Haha… Well then, I’ll take a short nap too.”

“Sure. You’re going to be someone great, so we’re being nice to you. Don’t forget us later, okay?”

“Of course, I won’t.”

Baek Yu-Seol was able to lie down in the back seat due to the careful consideration of the mages. Before drifting to sleep, he looked at the boundless sky.

He could not do it before because of the frantically progressing episodes and continuous influx of new information, but his priority now was to check his physical condition.

‘…These muscles are no joke.’

According to his age in the game setting, his body was almost ten years younger, and he had a fairly youthful appearance.

As if it was not enough, he also had a strong body which was quite different from his original body. The original Baek Yu-Seol never exercised.

His current body had strong chest muscles and engraved abs.

Since he was still young, he was still far below his original 180cm height, but if he ate well, he was sure he would grow again.

Next, he checked the skill window.

[Mana Leakage Delay Lvl.1]

Strength: +3%

Agility: +5%

Senses: +10%

Sixth Sense: Activated by consuming the user’s mental power. Effective within a radius of 12m.

[Once mana is faintly detected, cognitive acceleration will activate. It is automatically triggered when it is judged that the user is facing a crisis.]

The character Baek Yu-Seol’s Mana Leakage Disorder was the reason why he turned to a magicless mage.

Ironically, he was only alive thanks to it.

‘Cognitive Acceleration and Sixth Sense. Without them, I would have died earlier than expected.’

Sixth Sense made it possible to know the origin of an attack without needing to look, and Cognitive Acceleration increased his thinking abilities, allowing time to pass at a slow pace when a threat of an attack exceeded the human cognitive speed approach. They were passive effects resulting from his Mana Leakage Delay.

However, it seemed that sixth sense could not be used for a long duration.

Maybe it was because of the exhaustion of mental power, but he had a severe headache right after the battle.

‘Still… I’m glad Mana Leakage Delay amplifies my overall stats.’

Next, Baek Yu-Seol checked his entire status.

Baek Yu-Seol

Abilities

[Physical Strength: 1 star (59%)]

[Sense: 1 star (97%)]

–

[Agility: 1 star (81%)]

[Stamina: 1 star (51%)]

[Endurance: 0 star (97%)]

[Mental Strength: 1 star (43%)]

[Mana: ~]

Remaining EXP: 10

Skills

[Flash Lvl.0]

Trait

[Mana Leakage Delay Lvl.1]

As one of the peculiarities of the Aether World, there was no separate character-level system, but the abilities and skills were divided into levels.

Skills were divided with ‘Level (Lvl)’ and abilities were denoted with ‘Star’.

In the game system, the ability could be raised to 9 stars, but it was said that very few such characters existed in the history of Aether World.

He had been playing this game for over 10 years, but 8-star strength and 8-star senses were the max he could upgrade.

The 9-star was a divine realm that could only be achieved by those who had received the blessings of heaven.

‘But how come my abilities are so good as a starter?’

On average, the muscular strength of an adult male was [1 star (0%)].

When one reached [1 star (20%)], they were advised to continue exercising. Hearing that, if one exercised a little and reached [1 star (40%)], his body would become a bit muscular, prompting him to receive comments like, ‘Wow, he’s in shape’.

On the other hand, if one was demoted down to [0 star], it would be the very definition of a weak body.

While most mages began with [0 star] for abilities such as strength and flexibility, the character Baek Yu-Seol started with [1 star (10%)], which was higher than average.

However, for him, it was even higher than the usual starting point of the character.

‘It seems that I have received a small portion of my original body’s abilities that I had raised in the past, judging how high my sensory ability is.’

The original Baek Yu-Seol had a very low sense stat, and for ten years, he worked his ass off in raising it.

Although the effect of inheriting slightly better stats seemed worthless, he was fortunate that it was better than the original starting stats.

After thinking about the allocation of EXP for a while, he invested all of them in Sense.

Sense could increase Sixth Sense and reaction speed which were essential in the game because it determined how fast a character reacts when he presses the button.

However, in reality, its importance increased more because it was directly linked to his reaction speed.

[Sense: 2 star (07%)]

There were many ways to raise muscle strength and flexibility, so there was no need to use EXP for them. However, it was difficult to upgrade sense unless it was through EXP.

Baek Yu-Seol let out a deep sigh as he looked at his status and Mana Leakage Delay alternately.

As mentioned, his final goal was to defeat the final boss, the Demonic Black Dragon, and save the world. If he could also achieve the true ending this way, it would be an added bonus.

After that, whether he transmigrated back to Earth or had a happy ending here would not matter.

Was it possible to use the game system in this other reality? That’s what mattered to him.

On Earth, Baek Yu-Seol succeeded in raising stats only because it was a game where he could earn EXP and farm items through a lot of hard work (hunting, crafting, etc.). Sometimes, he got as far as intentionally breaking human relationships for some items.

He even died a couple of times to earn ability-enhancing potions and cleared dungeons with a survival rate of 0.01%. Since in reality, he could not afford to die, trying to clear them was impossible.

Therefore, it would be a pipe dream to restore his original strength even if he died trying.

Despite the fact that it was possible to restore all of the game character’s stats, there were people stronger than him in the setting.

The future seemed bleak.

‘What are some hidden loopholes that I can use for the future?’

Many things came to mind, but unfortunately, there were many more that he could not remember.

He was not smart to begin with and his memory was limited due to the long span of ten years.

Since the destruction of this world seemed like a certain fate, Baek Yu-Seol thought of giving up and settling in the countryside. He thought of finding a good woman, growing beans and potatoes on a farm, and growing old together. 

However, such optimistic thoughts were impossible.

In the first place, Mana Leakage Disorder was close to an incurable condition. Thus, if he did not treat it with proper training, he wouldn’t be able to live long and would die anyway.

To survive, he would have to upgrade to the natural divine body as soon as possible. Moreover, the methods and hints to cure Mana Leakage Disorder existed in Stella Academy.

To prevent the destruction of the world and cure his incurable diseases, it was his destiny to head to the Stella Academy.

‘Uh-huh… What should I do next?’

Baek Yu-Seol was in a gloomy mood when a message suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.

[The Constellation Project presents a special reward for you.]

[1. A downgraded version of an item used in-game.]

[2. A downgraded version of skill acquired in-game.]

[3. EXP.]

“… Wow.”

It seemed those gentlemen who dragged him all the way here had some morals.

[Would you like to select a reward right now?]

He thought about it for a while, but it was late at night, and he also felt like sleeping now.

‘I’ll do it tomorrow.’

Baek Yu-Seol’s first day in an unfamiliar world.

Perhaps because it had been really tough on him, he fell asleep more easily than he thought.