Chapter 11

There is no hierarchy of jobs, but the preference for certain occupations reflects the spirit of the times.

There are worlds where doctors and judges are treated as the highest professions, and there are also worlds where being a war mage is seen as the ultimate profession that can even challenge the royal family.

These were typically jobs held by those with wealth, honor, and social influence as perceived by the public.

Doctors and judges were able to accumulate significant wealth compared to other professions, and their honor was not lacking either. As for war mages, there was nothing more to say.

If you were to ask what the top profession is in this world, nine out of ten would say it is theoretical magician.

In fact, theoretical magicians existed in previous lives as well, but due to their eccentric atmosphere, heavy workloads, and meager salaries, they were not particularly popular.

However, this world was entirely different.

If we delve into the reasons, it ultimately comes down to mana.

Unlike the past, mana here exists in a state of probability overlap, being present everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

It is not a clear explanation, but you can think of it as a feeling of borrowing from another dimension.

Thus, the realm where mana exists is referred to as “Idea,” and in order to use magic here, one must undergo a process of connecting to Idea. It is natural for efficiency to decrease during this process.

And those who strive to increase that efficiency are the theoretical magicians.

As a result, that is also where the money gathers.

To operate factories, mana is required, and mana is also necessary when handling weapons.

Mana boasted overwhelming efficiency compared to electricity and became an essential element in modern industry.

There were countless people willing to pay billions just to increase efficiency by 1%, or even 0.1%.

“Everyone, please hold hands so you don’t get separated from your buddy. Got it?”

“Yes!!”

In the second semester, Arabel Elementary School planned a career experience fair for the lower grades around the end of August.

About 500 students from grades one to three boarded the bus.

Since it was located within the same city of Seoul, the travel time was relatively short.

“Where should we start looking?”

“Anywhere, as long as it’s cool…”

Arin had already declared to me that she wanted to try every profession at least once.

It would be a lie to say I had no interest at all, but the sweltering heat was, unfortunately, sapping my energy.

So we headed to the nearest building 2.

“I think we can learn cooking over there! Namé, do you like cooking?”

“Not really.”

After all, one could survive just by consuming mana potions.

And the unique feeling of nausea that comes from overeating made me dislike food.

I had a hard time eating even in my previous life due to the risk of poisoning, and this life was no different.

“Hmm… then where should we go… sports will surely be disliked…”

Groups of boys rushed toward the AI goalkeeper to challenge in a penalty shootout.

It was an impressive shot curving perfectly into the goal, but the robot goalkeeper leaped from its position and mercilessly struck the ball away.

“There’s just too many people over there… I heard a famous Twish streamer is coming today, so everyone seems to be going to see them. Namé, aren’t you interested in this stuff?”

“Let’s go somewhere with fewer people.”

“Okay, I’ll look for one!”

[InSert Catch-Up Challenge! – Letterbox] Dozens of children gathered at the booth.

Unlike most booths replaced by augmented reality, it seemed this one had brought actual capsules to offer proper virtual reality content. Truly the financial power of a large corporation.

“Since you’re good at magic, how about a magician experience?”

There is no profession called a magician. It’s like referring to researchers as engineers.

Well, it’s better than soccer, I guess. As soon as I showed a bit of interest, Arin dashed over there.

“Hey, everyone! Is there room for two to experience drawing magic circles?”

Twenties welcomed us with warm smiles.

By their robes, they appeared to be university students conducting a practical program.

“Yes!”

“Then sit here. Be careful, the chair is high!”

Arin and I safely settled down, and each of us was given a slate.

One of the older female students sat across from us, holding the same slate we had.

“Hi! What’s your name?”

“I’m Arin. This is Namé.”

“Nice to meet you, Arin and Namé! My name is Da Yeon. Today, we’re going to create light magic!”

This is the first magic that beginners encounter when learning.

It’s like printing ‘Hello, World!’ in programming.

The reason for learning light magic first is simply that it is the easiest.

“But just light magic isn’t very interesting, right? So we’re going to create a mini firework!”

“Wow! Can I choose the colors?”

“Of course! First, wanna put your hands on the slate?”

So this is what a modern slate is.

In the past, they used to draw magic circles on marble, but this is a type of artificially made alloy.

A cold sensation ran up my hand.

“Do you know the five stages of magic?”

“No! Please tell me!”

“The five stages of magic are record-inject-activate-store-cast. You can also divide it into three stages: write-store-cast, but we’re going to go through all five today in detail. Shall we try following along?”

Arin slowly recited the five stages in rhythm with her.

“Would you like to try, Namé?”

“Namé is a genius, so she probably already knows everything.”

“Oh, really?”

Da Yeon completely ignored me after that and continued explaining to Arin one-on-one.

I had no words if they thought that a kid ten years younger was showing off just for knowing a bit more.

To a university student, it probably looked trivial.

To be honest, I was a bit annoyed by her enthusiasm, and if she thought that, it was for the better.

“Cast: Light! Wow, I did it! Look, Namé!”

Yellow and white sparks burst overhead in concentric circles.

Except for the help Da Yeon provided during the mana injection, Arin completed most of the process on her own.

Moreover, I think the color selection seemed to have been made according to our initials.

It didn’t seem like a coincidence. Arin was beaming with a sense of accomplishment.

“Hehe, isn’t it pretty? Make one for me too, Namé.”

Arin tugged at my arm. I couldn’t refuse. I was definitely weak to a child’s charms.

Having learned the principles by watching Da Yeon’s explanation from the corner of my eye, I roughly grasped it.

Every process was the same as what I knew, and only the ‘store’ process was special.

The reason for distinguishing between activation and casting was due to the fourth stage, ‘store.’

The principle itself was closer to ‘link,’ but in terms of application, it seemed to create a similar feeling of storing magic in a dimensional space, which is probably why it was named that way.

Even if the magic circle is correctly drawn, magic does not naturally occur in this world.

A process is necessary to convert irreversible transformations back to a reversible state.

Although there were downsides of inconvenience, effort, and time inefficiency, I believed that such efforts made this world safer.

After all, it’s not a world where anyone can just copy a drawing and start firing ice missiles.

Since light magic consumes a lot of mana, shall we try something easier?

I drew an asymmetrical arc on the slate.

Around it, I inscribed the same patterns of the arabesque formation I had taught Arin before and filled in runic characters representing the color, rotation direction, coefficient, and degree around the operation symbols.

As I infused a tiny amount of mana, the arc spun around its vertical axis, transforming into a three-dimensional heart shape.

Then the inside filled with a reddish light and floated up from the slate until it reached Arin.

“Cast: What… I love you?”

With the casting, the three-dimensional heart exploded, and dozens of small heart-shaped sparks erupted.

Even if we ended up parting someday, I wanted to give Arin at least one unforgettable memory.

[I am not an angelic being.]

[But… who else other than someone who distributes bread to my brothers every day in this hell could be considered an angel?]

[I am someone who is filled with hatred because you starve, because of illnesses, and because you lose your family to war.]

[Are you leaving here?]

[The hero will come soon. The merciful hero will take care of you.]

[Don’t go.]

[I must go.]

[Then please come back.]

[I can’t promise that. But I’ll give you this. It will become a more precious asset than a piece of bread. In our world, we call this charity and hope.]

Unnecessary memories returning are just a matter of feeling.

* * *

A slate that has activated magic cannot be recycled. Objects used as mana circuits cannot function in the role of ‘magic pathway’ unless they undergo a complex purification process, so it was believed that as long as you sorted it well, you could throw it away.

Woo Da Yeon, a theoretical physics major at Korea University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, recalled the little kid she met earlier in the morning.

“Whoa, this finishes everything until the last day. Da Yeon! Will you be attending the company dinner today?”

“… Oh, what? Sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?”

“I asked if you’d be coming to the dinner later. Are you really thinking of skipping it, of all things?”

“No, of course I will go.”

“What’s that slate you’re holding? You’re still not throwing it away? The recycling truck will depart soon. If you miss the timing, you’ll have to carry it all the way back, and it’ll be heavy!”

Subin, a fellow club member, recalled last year when she forgot to throw away about ten slates and ended up carrying them to the dinner location.

“I just… thought there really are geniuses out there.”

“Oh my, if our second-in-command says that, what does that make us?”

“Do you want to see it? The Arabel kids used it today.”

Subin lifted the slate, weighing about a kilogram, with both hands and carefully examined it.

“This is the rotation transformation matrix, right? I learned this from that bald professor in my first year, what a memory. What’s this here?”

“This is a special form of the Baker-Campbell formula.”

“Bacon what?”

“What do you think? Do you think I’d believe it? This magic circle was created by an elementary school first grader all by themselves.”

“…”

“…”

“Oh, don’t tease me! I’m already immune to those kinds of jokes. What first grader would… is it real?”

“Yep.”

“That’s amazing! Can I take a look?”

I think the name was Namé. She was indeed a unique child.

Even if she still attended kindergarten, I could believe she was tiny and cute.

Her black hair, reaching down to her waist, was styled in low twin tails that swayed wildly as she walked.

From the moment she first entered the booth, the pale-faced child had been frowning with wide eyes.

I had initially thought she was a bit cocky, but looking closer, it just seemed to be because of her distinctive strong gaze from being cross-eyed.

“Wow. Everything is solved with the Jacobian matrix, and the expressions have come out this short. It was a more complicated magic circle than it looked?”

As Subin had said, it was indeed so. However, what shocked Da Yeon the most was when that child muttered the casting words.

‘She definitely hadn’t even set the casting words in the dictionary before solving it.’

When recording the magic circle, the magic goes through the activation process correctly by specifying variables and stating their values by re-mentioning the variable names.

Why do we designate variables at the beginning?

Because it is the easiest way to simplify a problem.

Even when solving linear equations, we can designate a variable called x.

However, as we grow older, we don’t really need to do that because we can figure it out just by adding and multiplying values a few times in our head.

But it didn’t make sense that she solved all the dizzying expressions without variable designations.

Essentially, doesn’t that mean she filled in the runes that corresponded to those words back in?

It’s a miraculous process of having already worked out the answers and then using variables.

If it were that easy, there would be bizarre phenomena occurring in magic duel practice when anyone could simply shout “Ice Arrow!” and shoot a hot fiery arrow.

What a different world it must be.

Da Yeon also acknowledged the fact that she was smarter than her peers.

Denying that she couldn’t have reached this position solely through effort would be deceitful to someone.

But there were also those who were top players, like the valedictorian of her high school who never missed first place, and the club president who sometimes considered herself even superior to the ordinary geniuses.

Comparing herself to others would only lead to endless unhappiness.

After all, the only one who can propel me forward is myself.

Da Yeon decided to set aside complicated thoughts and instead planned to enjoy a fun time with her fellow members today.

“Da Yeon! You need to carry this! You gave it to me on purpose to pass it off to me, didn’t you! Hey!!!”