Chapter 22

My birthday was June 11th.

I’m not sure how significant that is.

It’s just that the date marked my first record of connection to virtual reality, so I decided it would be my birthday.

In reality, it could have been earlier, but it wouldn’t make much difference.

Coincidentally, the exact day I was rescued from the capsule was also June 11th. In other words, I was able to see the light of the world exactly seven years later.

However, the date of June 11th didn’t hold any special significance just because it was my birthday.

[Sulah: 2022. 2. 21 ~ 2045. 6. 11.]

Since I couldn’t estimate the exact date of Seol-a’s death, I aligned the date of her soul’s departure with my birthday, even if only through my own hands.

So that I could remember her forever while living on.

The memorial hall was filled with jars containing remains.

The fact that everyone housed here is no longer in this world makes my heart uncomfortable.

Do their souls exist forever in the memories of their families? Or is death simply the end in itself?

Well, if I’m lucky, maybe I can be reincarnated in some fantasy world.

I think I stood there for a long time, praying that Seol-a could simply receive eternal rest.

“There are no pictures.”

The other compartments housing the deceased were beautifully decorated with flowers or family photos, in addition to the jars of ashes.

It felt a bit sad that only Seol-a’s compartment was so desolate.

“I’ll bring a gift next time.”

Thinking about what Seol-a might like, I left the columbarium with a heavy heart.

Before I knew it, a full moon hung high in the sky. Professor Cheon Kyujin got out of the car to greet me.

“Your mother will be happy. After all, she has such a brave daughter.”

“Do you think so?”

“Of course.”

While I was meeting Seol-a, Professor Cheon Kyujin had stopped by a nearby street vendor and brought me a hot steamed bun.

“It’s hot. Blow on it while you eat.”

“It’s delicious. I could use this as dinner.”

“I forgot to order lunch. Have you not eaten anything all day?”

“How did you know…?”

Did he hear my stomach growl just before getting into the car?

“I didn’t get a confirmation text for the order. I thought there might have been an error, but I guess you really haven’t eaten anything.”

“I usually don’t eat much. Just a potion is enough to fill me up.”

“I know it sounds like an old man’s saying, but you need to eat properly to grow up healthy. By the way, what you’re drinking isn’t medicine, it’s a potion, right?”

“Yes, would you like to try a sip?”

“I thought potions were only for veteran mages, but I see they sell them at pharmacies too.”

Right? But downing it all at once…

*Cough! *Cough! *Huff, cough cough!

Given the x potion’s strength, it shouldn’t have had that much of an effect.

Thank goodness the driving system was AI; otherwise, thirty years ago, we would have been in a major traffic accident.

Professor Cheon Kyujin was coughing so hard he could barely breathe, and the effects seemed to linger on his tongue as he continued with a few dry coughs.

“Ahem… Do we have to drink something like this every day?”

“Professor, you’re being overly dramatic. It’s not that bad, is it?”

“No matter what, it’s a bit much…”

It’s true that it tasted harsh, but the potion’s efficacy did provide a certain uplifting feeling.

I agree that it was hard to swallow the aftertaste, but beyond that, Professor Cheon Kyujin displayed a strong aversion.

“I suppose I’ll need to find a better potion. Ahem.”

When we arrived home, it was already 8 PM.

Since neither of us had eaten dinner, we stopped by a chicken restaurant on the way and brought back a whole fried chicken.

He set two plates and cups on the table and took out a very cold-looking beer from the refrigerator.

“Pour me some too.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, is there a drinking age limit in Korea?”

He was selfishly pouring it into his cup, so I asked for a cup too, but it dawned on me that I vaguely remembered the laws here.

“Have you ever had alcohol before?”

“No, not at all. I meant water.”

As I smelled the alcohol for the first time in a while, I started to crave it.

Memories of the past flooded back. Still, I had to focus on the scrumptious chicken right in front of me.

“Were you not bored all day?”

“Well, I kind of had fun. I used the capsule a bit in my room, what about you, Professor? No special events?”

“Just signing the final grades for my university students and writing the budget report. I made sure to check if the research in our lab was running smoothly.”

“This chicken is really delicious. Thank you for treating me.”

“Oh, there’s no need for gratitude. It’s nothing special!”

Why is it that the food like this never existed in the world before?

I started to think humorously about whether the advancement of culinary arts was inevitable with the fall of the royal family and the rise of the bourgeoisie.

If I had known this would happen, I should have expedited the fall of the Kaizen royal family by at least a day.

“How was your previous school, Nameya? Are you not sad about parting from your friends?”

“Not really… I had a close friend, but he moved away, and I spent most of the time alone. Do I really have to attend school?”

“Unfortunately, that is compulsory education. If you’re okay with it, I would like you to enroll in the academy. What do you think?”

“Academy?”

What does the academy mean? Isn’t it just a school?

Seeing my bewildered expression, Professor Cheon Kyujin explained about the academy in Korea.

“It’s a magic-focused school compared to regular schools. As you know, you couldn’t learn various subjects of magic at the elementary school you attended, right?”

“All I learned was writing runes on paper.”

“Magic is a discipline that truly requires a lot of money. So, schools established by the globally famous magical foundations are specifically called academies. The most famous one here in Gangnam is Seviron Academy, established by the Seviron Foundation.”

“That’s interesting. So there are academies like that nationwide?”

“There are a total of eight in our country.”

Based on the knowledge from my previous life, does that mean each magical tower established an academy directly in the capital?

Thinking back, even the powerful Kaizen Empire could only establish two academies due to budgetary reasons. They were always filled with talent gathered from all over the world.

“Well, if it’s essential to go… I guess the academy would be better.”

At least on the academy grounds, I wouldn’t have to pay for using magic every time, right?

I should search about it later.

“I think so too. Plus, Nameya, you use a rather unique syntax when drawing magic circles, right? Last time I graded, even with the AI running, it was really hard translating everything, but I believe you could learn the international standard rune syntax at the academy.”

“That’s true; while it doesn’t matter much, I should definitely familiarize myself with it to read specialized textbooks.”

“Exactly.”

“Did you attend the academy too, Professor?”

“I, well…”

Professor Cheon Kyujin briefly set down the chicken he was eating and fell into thought.

“I attended Seviron Academy until the middle school level. However, I didn’t feel suited for it, so I left the academy and graduated from a regular high school.”

“Considering you didn’t feel suited for it, you’re now a professor at Korea University.”

“Haha, I suppose so. You never know what the future holds.”

It seemed there was something underlying in there, but I decided not to pry further.

Moreover, I recently learned that Korea University was the most recognized educational institution in Korea, enough to prominently feature its national name in its title.

Professor Cheon Kyujin held positions beyond that, serving as the Dean of the College of Magic and the Director of the Institute for Theoretical Conjuration, making it feel like he was unexpectedly high-ranking.

*Cough! Ahem!

Now, even as he noisily picked at the chicken neck, he seemed like a genuine person.

“Academy… modern magic…”

All of it stirred my curiosity.

I wondered just how advanced magic was compared to my previous life.

Are there any of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins of the Mage Tower’ that have been solved here as well?

After all, the humans who spend their days merely drawing magic circles were truly racking their brains.

The suggestion from Professor Cheon Kyujin about enrolling in the academy lingered in my mind for a while.

* * *

“What do I need to do to enroll in the academy?”

“Huh? You want to go to the academy? Hey, a jungle gank is coming, bail out!”

“Technically, it’s a transfer, and since they said no preparation is needed…”

Since last week when Professor Cheon Kyujin recommended that I enroll in Seviron Academy, Nameya had been unable to shake the thought of the academy from his mind.

After a moment, Sia and I sighed as we entered the fortress.

“How tough is it to transfer to the high school level? I know they require three recommendation letters and an interview.”

“So, what about the middle or elementary levels?”

“Well, it’s a bit less competitive, but in any case, transferring to the academy requires recommendation letters. Are you going for yourself? Or is it for a friend?”

“I don’t know… Sia, we’re diving now. The enemy mid has come too.”

“Huh? Are you really going for a four-man dive at this timing?”

– Are we sniping the other team? LOL. It’s like a fan meeting.

– I’m a fan ^^.

– I’ve failed all admissions to the academy’s elementary, middle, and high school T_T.

– There are so many academy wannabes these days; you can still get into college from a regular high school.

– There are only eight academies, and over half of the top universities come from academy students.

[Manager: Hey, this is a gaming broadcast. Stick to game talk, please.]

– But they brought it up first!

– (Chat has been blocked – 600 seconds.)

– Wow, they just took down three of them in reverse. The game ended in eight minutes.

– No Name is truly a legend.

– HyeBam only plays support, so I would believe her if she said she was a local; she doesn’t seem to have any Challenger force.

– These days, supports just can’t carry.

– It just can’t work; are you stupid?

“Wow. These guys are really crazy! They must be assembling troops, but there’s no one to defend; did they really just dive?”

“Anyway, you said there’s nothing else to prepare for transferring besides the recommendation letters?”

“Uh? Uh… Actually, I don’t really know much about the recent admissions. I went to the academy myself, but I never saw a transfer student in three years.”

[‘Ggggwen’ donated 5,000 won!]

– HyeBam, you went to the academy? Why didn’t I know?

“Eh, you didn’t know? Did I never mention it? I didn’t really keep it a secret or anything.”

– So that legend of HyeBam attending a prestigious university is real then?

– Could it really be reevaluated like this?

– You’re not a veteran female high school student, are you?

“The academy is great. It’s fantastic, but it’s way too hard. In exam periods, if students sleep only six hours a day, they all get failed. I’m not lying. It was actually easier at university.”

[‘Misolrasido’ donated 3,000 won!]

– But your grades… Ah, here we go.

“Do you want to die?”

“Looks like the game is over.”

[Triple Kill]

Sia was the last to join and surveyed the battlefield that hadn’t been very fierce.

“Is this really the diamond master tier? If you hide the rank, it looks like they’re stomping in the Gold rank.”

Nameya agreed with her.

It seemed that calling the opposing team all Masters felt a bit of a stretch.

“It’s because Arsteria is broken.”

Still, Nameya wanted to slightly represent their position but…

– The enemy Caitlyn has a current win rate of 76%. Grandmaster 812 points from last season. What a disaster, LOL.

– Can’t even breathe, this is the dignity of Challenger?

– No Name is crazier than HyeBam.

– No Name’s mad movie made Arsteria’s win rate drop to 41%. LOL.

– Is that champion trash, or is it broken?

In the end, it was impossible to turn the tide of public opinion.

“Wow, I’ve never experienced a 47-game winning streak in my life. I think I finally see why Riot removed duo queue.”

Sia scrolled through the recent records.

Her alternate account, ‘HyejiMoonRises,’ originally created to snipe the low-tier streamers, had now shed its shabby attire and had become radiant diamond I.

Now, Nameya was in a situation only looking forward to the Master promotion matches.

[‘DaerongHerong’ donated 100,000 won!]

– If you achieve Master without a loss, I’ll give you 500,000 won!

“Huh? 500,000 won?”

With the appearance of a big spender who promised to pay an additional 500,000 won alongside the initial sponsorship of 500,000 won upon achieving Master, Sia’s eyes widened in surprise.

“If someone had come forward to offer 500,000 won from the start, I wouldn’t have needed to ask for sponsorship at all, right?”

“Hey! You don’t say that out loud!”

Sia interrupted and covered Nameya’s mouth.

“The promotional matches were originally scheduled for tomorrow, but um, Nameya, do you have time today?”

“I can play for another two hours.”

“Two hours might just barely work. Alright, Nameya, let’s go for Master today!”

Sia changed her broadcast title. Her eyes were filled with determination more than ever.

[NoName-HyeBam Unstoppable Chariot Duo: Master Promotion Matches _ _ _ _ _]