Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

Baek Yu-Seol didn’t dream often. When he dreamed, it usually happened when he was extremely tired or unable to sleep properly.

He would find himself back in his childhood days. It wasn’t necessarily a happy time, but at least he had a family. Unfortunately, those times were long gone, unable to be recovered. All that remained in their stead was a void that couldn’t be filled.

“Student Yu-Seol.”

Baek Yu-Seol opened his blurry eyes at the voice.

“Are you okay?”

“Ouch, my back hurts. I must have dozed off for a moment.”

“It’s already morning. Will you be okay for class?”

“I can sleep during class.”

“You shouldn’t do that as a student…”

“But I still study well,” he said, referring to his use of the Sentient Specs.

Alterisha said with a small smile, “You look like a different person when you wear your glasses and stay quiet. You’re usually a troublemaker, but in those moments, you seem like a smart and well-behaved student.”

“That’s my original self, though.”

“Y-Yeah… It’s good to be positive.”

“Yes. Are you doing well with solving the problem?”

Currently, they were in Alterisha’s laboratory. The reason he stayed in her lab until late this late at night was to solve the complex mathematical problem together, but in reality, he only gave her a few hints while she practically solved it all by herself.

“Yeah, there’s progress. After solving the remaining parts through repetitive calculations, we should be able to see the end soon.”

“That’s good. Hang in there a little longer.”

“… Yeah, I’ll do that.”

She smiled as if happy, but suddenly her expression turned gloomy.

“But… Is it okay to do this? This research is something the professor has dedicated half her life to.”

“Huh.”

Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t comprehend if she was kind-hearted or just naive. After having her research stolen, she could still say things like that. If it were him, he would have grabbed the professor by the collar long ago.

“Don’t think about such useless things. What does it matter if she spent half her life on it? It’s not like we stole Professor Maizen’s research. We are genuinely superior to her, and that’s not a crime, right?” Although Baek Yu-Seol said that, he felt a slight pang in his conscience. But he couldn’t help it. He had to calm Alterisha down.

“Yeah… Thank you.”

“Once someone finds out we’re here, we’ll be penalized, so I’ll go before sunrise.”

“Take care, and see you during class. It’s Friday, right?”

“Oh, right.”

‘Come to think of it, today’s Friday.’

Since Baek Yu-Seol had some tasks to do, he took out what he had been keeping hidden.

“A club creation application?”

“Yes. My friends and I want to start a food exploration club, but we need a faculty advisor. Can you do it for us?”

“Of course. How many times have you helped me until now?”

Without hesitation, she signed the form.

“I’ll try not to bother you too much.”

“It’s okay. Include me in the food exploration later.”

The conditions for club establishment were perfectly fulfilled. Baek Yu-Seol tried his best to hide his satisfaction and left the lab.

Since the last incident, the students’ access to ‘special purpose outings’ had been restricted. They could no longer use the airship or warp hole unless they had official permission. Even if one used them secretly, there would be records, and it wouldn’t take long to get caught.

That was why he was so fixated on obtaining the special purpose outing qualification.

“Hmm… Training, you say? Getting an outing permit under the guise of a food exploration club?”

“We’re also training for purposes other than food exploration.”

Lee Han-Wol gave him a suspicious look but didn’t say much.

Even though Baek Yu-Seol made a mistake in the past, Lee Han-Wol knew that he genuinely went to train and took a detour when he heard that his friends were in danger.

“Well, fine. Just don’t cause any trouble.”

Thanks to Ma Yu-Seong’s help, their club was successfully established, and now they were able to go out freely.

Moreover, as the club president, Baek Yu-Seol had no problem going out alone.

‘It’s great.’

He never expected to receive this much help from Ma Yu-seong.

‘I’ll definitely repay the favor later.’

“Sigh.”

After escaping Stella’s estate, he took a deep breath. It was suffocating to be confined within the academy grounds.

If he took a train a little further from Stella, he would reach Arcanium’s Rodeo Street.

This place was bustling with energetic students starting from Friday lunchtime, as young people without afternoon classes would often come out to have fun. There were a lot of couples, probably because it was spring when cherry blossoms bloomed.

Rodeo Street, also known as the street of culture and arts, was similar to Korea’s University Belt. It was a place where various performances like drama and music took place. It had well-equipped leisure facilities like theme parks, magic parks, and arcades.

There were also many walkways and cafes filled with art and music, making it a popular dating spot for students on weekends, resulting in a particularly lively atmosphere.

Of course, Baek Yu-Seol was not in a relationship, and he didn’t go out with the intention of having fun, so he completely ignored those things and went to take an airship.

[Welcome to Angeline.]

Around the floating city of Arcanium, there were a whopping twelve satellite cities. Among them, four were floating cities like Arcanium, while the other eight were situated on mountaintops or built on giant lakes.

Among them, Baek Yu-Seol often passed through the eastern floating city of Angeline because it was convenient to travel to various parts of the world by train from this city.

“Yawn…”

“Student, this is the final stop. Wake up.”

“Mmm.”

Unbeknownst to him, he had arrived at his destination.

“O_O”

The train compartment was properly ventilated, so it was quite a comfortable ride.

Although the distance itself was quite far and the journey was hectic after counting consecutive warp holes before boarding the train, it took less than two hours.

As he slowly disembarked from the train, he opened his mouth in astonishment and gazed at the scenery before him.

“This is insane… It’s unbelievable.”

A gigantic tree called the Third World Tree stood with hundreds of branches spread out like an umbrella, and beneath it, there was a vast garden.

The unique green aurora of the world tree, also known as the divine tree, gently enveloped the world, making everything beneath it seem blissfully happy.

It was a park known as the ‘Orchard of the Dreamtree.’

Anyone could enter, and it was a space where anyone could pick and eat fruit.

The view from the top was incredibly beautiful, making it a popular resort destination. It was even considered a famous spot for in-game screenshots.

‘It can’t be compared to game graphics.’

Baek Yu-Seol walked along the path, mesmerized by the various colorful stems and the feast of vibrant fruits in the orchard.

“Welcome, Stella’s mage. We welcome human mages.”

As he stepped off the train, a man with pointed ears and slightly rough skin approached him and spoke.

He was an elf.

As expected, there were many elves around, as it was their territory.

Baek Yu-Seol greeted him using the elf greeting he had memorized. “I would like to express my gratitude to the Mother of the Earth and the world tree for bestowing such a beautiful garden upon us.”

“May your sincere heart reach the Mother.” With a deep and captivating voice and broad shoulders, he was undoubtedly a “male” elf.

Elves were born without a specific gender. While there were distinctions between male and female forms, they didn’t have reproductive organs.

However, when they experienced true love, they could change their gender to match their partner.

So even if they were born female, they could become male, and vice versa. It was quite common for elves.

Before their gender was determined, male elves generally had different body shapes and slightly androgynous features, making it possible to distinguish them.

Baek Yu-Seol walked slowly, exploring the surroundings.

Many elves recognized his academy uniform and approached him, mostly to express gratitude. In the past, Elthwin had saved the Second World Tree from almost burning out.

The war between humans and different species was now a thing of the past. Stella’s mages had a close relationship with other species. To some extent, they fostered friendship through the annual exchange program between Stella and the elves’ representative magic academy, Astral Flower Magic Academy.

‘Exchange students…’ 

The Astral Flower Magic Academy was also an enormous institution, and a significant event would occur there in the future.

Baek Yu-Seol wanted to visit there at least once, as there might be an opportunity for him to become an exchange student.

“Nice to meet you, Stella mage.”

“Nice to meet you too, beautiful madam.”

“Oh my, hoho.”

He had heard that magic warriors were treated like heroes by civilians, but he wondered if that statement was true.

However, as a student, he was treated kindly by many people.

In reality, there were not many mages who had mastered offensive magic. The test to become a magic warrior posed extreme difficulty, so the numbers were not that high.

By the way, there were definitely a lot of handsome and beautiful people among the elves. Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but admire them as he walked.

Of course, not all elves were breathtakingly beautiful at first glance. They just had a higher proportion of attractive individuals. There were still ordinary looking elves.

If he were to make a comparison, it would be like thinking of Uzbekistan on Earth. There were definitely many attractive people, but there were no individuals who possessed overwhelming beauty compared to ordinary humans.

Even in the game, when describing the appearance of major characters like Ma Yu-Seong or Hong Bi-Yeon, they often used the phrase ‘beauty surpassing that of the elves.’

However, there was one elf who had a unique buff in terms of appearance.

The Elf King, Florin.

She possessed a demeanor akin to a benevolent goddess, captivating the hearts of countless male players.

She had the most fan art among all characters and was also one of his favorite characters, perhaps due to his preference for elegant ladies.

She assumed a female form but had never experienced true love, so she was still without gender. After Flame saved her, she fell in love and eventually chose to be male.

Regardless of the route one pursued, there was no option for Florin to become female, which led to the despair of numerous male fans.

‘Hmm, I wonder how the Elf King looked before becoming a man… But it’s not worth risking my life out of mere curiosity.’

They say that those who met her gaze, regardless of age or gender, had their souls stolen and eventually died from lovesickness.

The cursed attribute [Absorbing Affection] would cause anyone who made eye contact with her to lose their soul and eventually perish.

Anyway, as Baek Yu-Seol reminisced about the past and the romance that he remembered, he wandered around the outskirts of the world tree for a while and finally discovered a small side path.

“Ah, it must be around here.”

He entered one of the countless branches of the world tree and ventured into a hidden passage. Typically, this area was off-limits, but there were no guards anyway.

If someone were to harm him, the world tree would change its structure to defend him and alert the elves of the danger.

Sweating profusely, Baek Yu-Seol climbed for a while until he discovered an unusually spacious area. It was a place where roots grew in peculiar ways.

“Let’s see, it should be around here. No, maybe here. Yes, that’s right.”

He tapped the transparent map hovering in the air with his finger, and his location appeared.

“Hmm, I’ve found it. Well done.”

He took out the Leafanel’s green key from his pocket and approached the tree that had grown gray like stone. It was the hidden entrance to the hidden dungeon, Garden of the Spirit, Leafanel.

For a moment, Baek Yu-Seol hesitated if he should casually insert and turn the key, as the cautionary note on the key bothered him.

[Caution! Opening the entrance to this place may alert someone else who possesses the key.]

Of course, it had been proven through numerous players’ tests that this warning had no real significance.

Even in the game, the key had the same cautionary message, but many players had shared stories of disappointment because no special event occurred.

“Well, what could possibly happen?”

With that thought in mind, Baek Yu-Seol firmly inserted and turned the key.

Clank!

[The door to the Garden of the Spirit, Leafanel, is now open!]