chapter 33
33 – 1st Year Dalian Test
”Who, who…?”
Daeun Song, a girl with black hair, raised her head and looked at me. Her hobby is mechanical engineering. She is easily accessible even in modern times, so you can have a rough conversation.
Ironically, she is also a member of the Magic Research Club. It wouldn’t be strange if she pretended to know.
“Ah. Same club, same year. Do you not know me?”
When I showed her the knife she wore around her waist, she nodded her head as if she knew who it was.
“Ido Kim, class president of Class 1 B…”
She didn’t know being known throughout the school would help her like this.
“Isn’t Choi Yoo-eun really too much? Still, I should let her use magic a few times. I was curious about how to combine magic with machines.”
“!?”
Her eyes widen. She added that she had heard from the Ministry of Magical Research, lest she be misunderstood.
“That’s right. That’s what the seniors said… At least you, you must have come to play.”
“No. It can’t be. I think it’s pretty interesting.”
“…Really?”
What experiences should I tell her to get her attention? Could she tell me about a setting in the game that she felt was novel? No Come to think of it, she’s been through something terrible the last time.
“Did you know it’s an ice bomb? It’s used by people who can’t use magic to freeze slime.”
“Really? Is there such a thing?”
Okay. She managed to get attention.
“Yeah. It’s different because I put a bundle of ice inside the bomb, but think about it. What if it’s not a bundle of ice, but ice magic?”
He seemed to be very interested in me and stole my words.
“Ice magic exploded with the explosion and it must have become much stronger magic. The so-called magic science, which increases the power of magic with science. It is similar to that.”
Then he kept repeating that he was sorry.
“Oh, I’m sorry I took your words away.”
“Never mind. The science of magic, after centuries of research by wizards and scientists, never succeeded.”
I remembered what the artist said to Tmi.
“But that doesn’t mean you won’t make it either, does it?”
“…”
I’m not good at consolation, so I don’t even know what I’m talking about. Talking about more often seems to only take up time, so I left this last word.
“I’ll cheer you on.”
To be honest, even if he suddenly appeared in 222nd place and cheered, would he change his mind? I tried to say that I was SS, but the risk was too great to do so, so I didn’t go that far.
I don’t want to set high expectations since it’s even better if I’m below it.
***
It was the first time.
The person who supported my dream, not ridiculed it.
When I was very young, I told my parents about my dream. The answer that came back was a mocking laugh.
‘Genius is an oddball. It really was.’
‘Dae-eun. If you have time to think about that, read at least one more book. Who do you look like to have useless thoughts?’
From then on, I knew that my dreams would be laughed at, and I thoroughly hid them.
When I entered Delaon Academy, I asked the seniors of the Magic Investigation Club to see if there might be a clue.
‘Senior manager? He’s not here today. Because he’s always busy like this.’
‘…Well, over there then. What do you think about magic science? Combining magic and science…’
But the answer that came back was the same.
‘Puhahahaha. What bullsh*t are you talking about?’
A mocking laugh, sarcastic. And continued failure.
As I was slowly losing my dream, I heard a sweet whisper from the devil. If you use the magic beast’s power, you might realize your dream…
‘The 190th place in the school beat the 30th place as soon as he received the magic beast’s power? Isn’t this the power of a dream?’
While she was immersed in her thoughts, a student who had the power to mine came to visit her. Her voice and identity were difficult to discern as an ominous current surrounded her.
“Anyway, isn’t Choi Yoo-eun really pissed off? You only know that you were born with a golden spoon and that being number one in the school is only your own efforts. I think you’re even more amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“So have you thought about it? What do you want to do?”
She was overcome with a sense of defeat until just now, and was thinking of becoming a Mine. But she has changed her mind now.
“Sorry. I want to try my dream one more time. On my own.”
“What?”
“Finally, I have someone who supports my dream.”
The only thing that’s odd is the knife… No, what am I talking about. What’s wrong is the same for each other.
***
At the same time H practice room.
Seonyoung was getting angry while reviewing today’s Dalian with Yueun.
“No! Who would humanly think of using a knife there?”
“Poohup.”
“Are you laughing? Are you laughing now?”
“Still, it went well. What if today’s event wasn’t just a simple sparring test, but a fight against demons, monsters, or villains?”
Seonyeong was silent for a moment, then she said in a serious tone.
“My neck must have been blown off.”
“Are you going to say “Does it make sense even then?”
“…Anyway, it’s annoyingly poking at the core. Isn’t it enough to kill your personality?”
“I’ll cheer you on.”
“Cheering? Cheering isn’t enough. You need to practice sparring with me all day today.”
Sunyoung thought while holding the staff tightly. Kim So-hee, there’s no way that kid learned swordsmanship out of the blue. She must have been thinking of Kim Yi-do, who used to hang around next to her, right?
Swordsmanship.
She thought it was pathetic, but maybe not. Shall I ask Kim Yi-do to teach me too?
***
Time flies and it is 3:50 in the afternoon. Finally, it’s my turn to take the Dalian exam.
“I thought I was dying of boredom.”
So-hee said that today’s victory in Dalian was all thanks to me, she bought me lunch, and she followed me saying that she would attend my exam.
“Lee Seong-jin, ranked 190th. Didn’t you say you deal with fire magic? If you’re the class president, there’s no problem, but don’t be careless.”
“Of course not.”
He’s a madman who will turn into a demon during sparring. Ah. The tiger was walking towards us from afar, saying that it would come when I said it.
“Asshole. I clearly told you what kind of powers I have, but seeing that you came, you must be lacking in intelligence, right?”
The words he said as soon as he saw me were vulgar words just like they sounded.
“Hey, since I don’t have enough intelligence, I guess I’ll just carry a double sword.”
“Hey. Did you receive the devil’s power through your mouth?”
My words startled him, and he looked around.
“What?! Mi, crazy man talking nonsense… Huh. Ha! Yeah f*ck. See you later.”
He fled to the arena as if he were running away. On the other hand, Sohee said as if she was interested in what I said.
“Wait a minute. Class president. Witchbeast’s power? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Mine. Haven’t you heard of it too?”
“Ah. Yes. Actually… I’ve been invited.”
I know. Even the lines of refusal appear in the original.
“So what did you say?”
“Don’t think about relying on that kind of power, I told you to grow your own power.”
“Great. Cool.”
I couldn’t help but feel admiration when I heard the lines of the original script in this way.
“Ah, no… What. I just said it for granted. Would it be better than that? If the opponent uses the power of the beast as you said…”
She didn’t finish her words any more and laughed.
“The opponent is pitiful.”
At that time, the sound of the microphone resonated loudly in the Z arena.
-A little later, 4:00 PM. The match between Lee Seong-jin, who is ranked 190th in the school rankings, and Kim I-do, who is ranked 222nd, begins. The two students, please come to the player entrance room by 3:50 pm and wait.
“Then I’ll be back.”
“Yes.”
Five minutes later.
Standed on top of the arena.
“I’m tired of waiting. Let’s finish quickly.”
“Crazy. On the subject of #222…”
Bang!
The sound of the game starting rang out.
***
During the start of the match, Kim Yi-do never used magic, just avoiding Lee Seong-jin’s magic.
What kind of situation is this?
190Th and 222nd. Only the number difference is 32nd. But you can’t even hurt him a bit?
“Huh. Huh…”
What kind of a wizard is this nimble. With my skills, a guy like this wouldn’t be even a fist away. Why?!
My life took a complete twist when I entered Delaon Academy. I was always ranked first in the entire school, but here I am only ranked 190th. I argued with the school, but this was the word that came back.
A frog in the well.
It’s crazy and crazy.
However, as I went through my day-to-day school life, those words touched me deeply.
This place is full of monsters.
If I managed to get a result of 1 through hard work, there were also other guys who achieved 10 or even 100 with the same effort.
But it is.
You can’t even defeat Kim, who is only ranked 222nd? The mind becomes impatient due to anger, lack of qualifications, etc. The demon inside my body must have felt it as well, and it started wriggling on its own.
“…”
As if the devil were whispering, his seduction was sweet.
‘Yes. Good.’
The next thing is to kill the annoying guys one by one without thinking. There’s nothing you can’t do with this power.
“uuu!”
With my roar, the stadium was instantly covered with fog. The power of the Black Dust Wolf obtained through forbidden magic.
“Whoa… Whoa… You can’t run away anymore, you bastard.”
However, he wasn’t taken aback for a single second, and instead was smiling nonchalantly.
“Thank you.”
“What?!”
“Thanks to the fog, I won’t be seen.”
***
At the same time, the spectator seat was Honbibaeksan.
The principal jumped up to storm into the stadium immediately.
“Wait.”
The head of her association reached out her hand to stop her.
“What’s wrong? We have to save you right away!”
“Isn’t it really unlucky? The opponent…”
“That’s right. Mine.”
He smiled at the principal’s words and said,
“No. I just said that mines are out of luck.”
“Yes?”
The fog disappears as soon as he finishes his words.
Puff!
I turned my head and looked at the stadium, and saw Mine Lee Seong-jin collapsed and was being reduced to ashes.