Chapter 359

“Are you saying that Name wants to create a clan? Why didn’t you stop her right away? You don’t want to be hated by your daughter for some ridiculous reason, do you?”

“Then why didn’t you refuse her?”

“Well… cough. Hmm…”

Professor Cheon and Headmaster Ku fell deep into thought.

[Here are the Unique Magic Registration Certificate from the Japan Magic Copyright Association and this year’s Mana Collection Payment Certificate. Could you write a recommendation letter to submit to the High Sorcerer Qualification Assessment Team in the first half of 2052?]

In South Korea, there are 50,000 magic practitioners.

The number of high sorcerers is about 1,500, and if we only consider those currently active, it’s not even a thousand.

Among them, around 200 have received the title of “combatant,” which means they can be deployed right away in wartime. These individuals appoint and regulate all high sorcerers in South Korea.

Thus, becoming a high sorcerer holds great significance.

It’s a declaration that one intends to completely shed one’s ordinary identity.

Their existence alone assigns a market value, making them subjects of public assessment, and they could be vilified even more than celebrities.

To make matters worse, if she forms a clan, the academy won’t be able to protect Name anymore.

“The reason clans aren’t recruiting Name is entirely because the academy is preventing them. Does Name know this fact?”

“She does.”

“Well, there’s no way she wouldn’t.”

Creating a clan was an expression of intent to reject the foundation’s initial recruitment offer and escape from youth protection regulations.

“Creating a clan is premature for Name. Managing a corporation and a clan is an entirely different matter, and at least the Bio-Academic had a separate CEO.”

Headmaster Ku let out a deep sigh.

He understood that Name was a child with many aspirations.

However, the problem was that she was too hasty in everything she did.

By the time she was determined, it would likely be too late to stop her.

“Name has a very strong sense of pride… hmm?”

“Why?”

“I thought if you put her with other prideful people, it might delay things a little.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Name would probably want to receive a recommendation from us.”

“Of course she would.”

“Then tell her that unless she gets it from someone we designate first, we won’t write her a letter.”

Recommendations are akin to guarantees.

If those who guarantee are not very favorable, that’s a clear reason to refuse.

Professor Cheon narrowed his eyes and asked.

“Who?”

“Kim Woong, Park Tae-seok. Let’s at least include those two.”

* * *

“It felt too easy to get permission.”

I boarded the train heading to Gangwon-do and admired the scenery outside.

Historically, renowned magicians have all been patients in the late stages of suspicion.

Therefore, they conducted bizarre tests when taking in disciples, and even after taking them in, they covered them in all sorts of dark magic cautions to avoid them selling information.

This refers to the story of the Magic Tower.

‘It’s not that I don’t understand their position of guaranteeing, but…’

I accepted the proposal from Professor Cheon and Headmaster Ku to receive recommendation letters from Kim Woong and Park Tae-seok.

They seemed to be people who had been active together as combat sorcerers in the same era.

Kim Woong is the one who donated 15 billion won to Korea University to build the Kim Woong Advanced Sports Center.

Up to this point, one might think he’s a wonderful educator, but one should not underestimate the character of sorcerers.

Especially, this person had a very long career as a theoretical magician after the war.

Those who pursue truth tend to have a high probability of being somewhat skewed.

However, they can flicker out if they meet their own criteria.

Keeping this in mind, I knocked on the door of the secluded villa in Gangwon-do.

“Is anyone there!”

I called out loudly.

They said he was over 60 years old, so he might have trouble hearing.

In the meantime, I sat curled up in a shaded area, enjoying the sound of the cool valley water.

Just as I was fanning my face with a straw hat, an elderly man came out leaning on a cane.

“Oh, so you’re the kid coming over. It’s really hot outside, isn’t it?”

“Ah, yes, hello. I am No Name.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you from various places, heh heh. Coming all the way here alone, your father is quite a bad-tempered guy! I’ve turned on the air conditioning in the villa, so come on in.”

He seemed to have started off his plan by insulting Professor Cheon.

I quietly followed him without getting involved in the snark.

The man was on the short side.

Having decided to live like a natural person, his beard was unkempt, and the half of his hair was covered in gray since he hadn’t dyed it.

‘His balance is perfectly maintained. Is he surprisingly a user of enhancement aura?’

However, his bare thighs and calves, exposed below his shorts, were considerably thicker than those of ordinary people.

“How’s school life treating you?”

“Yes. I’m adapting well at the Academy.”

“The kids aren’t bullying you?”

“Everyone is a nice kid.”

When we opened the villa door, an artificial cool breeze rushed out.

He sat down in front of a low table and handed me a peach iced tea with ice.

I sat opposite him and accepted the drink he offered.

“Nice to meet you, kid. I’m Kim Woong. I’m a lot older, but I’m called ‘dad’ even by Byeong-ho.”

“Uh, well…”

“Hahaha! You’ve got a cute daughter! I’m really envious of you!”

Kim Woong cleared his throat twice and adjusted the glasses placed on the table.

“Your name and age.”

“No Name, 9 years old.”

“And you want me to write you a recommendation letter for high sorcerer?”

“Yes.”

“Huh! Hahaha! You’re braver than you look! Alright, I’ll write it for you.”

“Really?”

“Isn’t it because you have a plan to achieve what you want? You’ve even made an A-rank spell; what more qualifications do you need?”

“…”

“Now, what should I write? Yeah, this looks good.”

He scribbled four characters in a brush on A4 paper.

[National Genius]

“Do you know about Mahjong?”

“I don’t really know.”

“It means an outstanding talent that is second to none in the country. In Mahjong, there’s a tile called ‘Kokushi Musou.’ Its appearance frequency is 0.043%, so you have to at least fall within this range to be called a genius. Here, take this.”

He abruptly handed the paper to me.

Although Kim Woong smiled, that smile looked hollow and empty.

“How can I receive this recommendation letter?”

“What are you talking about? I told you to hurry and take it! I’m going to lose my arm here.”

“You don’t intend to give it to me right now.”

[Cast: Barrier Visualization]

I performed the release spell of a simple magic circle.

Then, a spherical barrier manifested, rotating around the recommendation letter.

“With sodium carboxymethylcellulose polymerization, as soon as it touches my hand, this recommendation letter will disappear.”

At that, the smile lines around his eyes straightened out, and he resumed a serious expression.

“Did your dad tell you in advance?”

“There’s no way.”

“Even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. What I want is for Name to enjoy this forest and valley, not to walk this thorny path.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my will, kid! Why are you prying into adults’ affairs?”

“Then please tell me how to disable this barrier. Is it something that can be easily disabled if I know how?”

“Darn it… I feel like if I don’t tell you, you’ll be a nuisance, so I’ll tell you in particular. It’s a kind of puzzle.”

“A puzzle?”

“Yeah. It’s a puzzle to place 50 two-circle magic circles in overlapping dimensions. If you solve it all, you’ll get the recommendation letter.”

“What if I can’t do it?”

“What’s so hard about a two-circle puzzle?”

“Not hard, but there are many of them.”

2 to the power of 50 is 1,126 trillion.

Even if I solved one per second, it would take 35.7 million years.

Are you kidding me?

“Or you could kill the caster as a solution.”

His sardonic remark made me glare at him.

‘His aura capacity is roughly seven times mine, the output is 1.8 times, the external manifestation seems possible, and the usable circles are between 6 and 7…’

At that moment, Kim Woong stood up, lightly patted my head, and walked past me.

“What kind of killing intent do you have to be radiating, kid? Just give up early and enjoy your summer vacation. There are arcade machines on the second floor, and you can use them as much as you want. Kids today probably aren’t interested in it since they play only with capsules?”

I snorted at his nonchalant demeanor.

“I think Haru would wake up though?”

“Really? Give it your best shot. By the way, that’s something even Ham Cholong couldn’t do in her lifetime.”

“You keep mentioning Ham Cholong…”

I took the entire barrier surrounding the recommendation letter using external manifestation and left the villa.

“Don’t you dare compare that inept person to me. I’m starting to get a bit angry now.”

“What’s this little brat doing…!”

I slammed the villa door shut as I left.

The frogs at the bottom of the well think that the sky they see is the entirety of the world.

Humans aren’t much different.

South Korea hasn’t been able to escape the boundaries created by Ham Cholong.

How long must I continue to be compared to her?

Hearing it over and over, I’m also starting to get exhausted.

I climbed a nearby mountain, searching for a suitable open area.

The terrain surrounded by trees, where no one could see outside, was just right.

Carefully, I set down the barrier I had taken with external manifestation.

A barrier is a kind of knot.

So do I need to untie the knot?

Alexander the Great resolved his challenge by cutting the knot cleanly.

However, with a barrier, the opposite must be done.

You overlay a larger barrier over the original barrier to disrupt its spell structure.

[Cast: Le Kaizen Familia]

The 88 national land magic circles that protected the Kaizen Empire are summoned.

They are human civilization’s achievement and masterpiece that dropped flying wyverns and mercilessly burned to death death worms destroying buildings.

Various animals flew from the sky, opening their mouths vertically and collided with the barrier.

First, wolves, then lions, sharks, leopards, and crocodiles.

The 88 divine beasts pressed tightly against the barrier, increasing the density of the circuit spell.

The barrier, compressed beyond its critical point, began to emit light on its own.

This is the process where the structure of the barrier breaks down and transforms into energy.

Crack-!

As soon as a fissure appeared, the mana divine beasts quickly sank their teeth into that part.

Eventually, the barrier, having lost its original structure, began to transform into a gooey mess.

Is it surprising that it hasn’t broken?

In that state, I wrapped my hands in aura and stretched the barrier left and right.

There’s still some elasticity left.

“Ugh!”

Pushing harder, it did stretch even more.

I inserted my tongue through the gaps to grab the rolled-up recommendation letter with my mouth.

“Ha. I got it out.”

Why not just give it casually if you were going to give it anyway?

Anyway, I can’t comprehend the twisted mindset of these sorcerers at all.

I immediately purchased a train ticket for my next destination.

It was time to meet Park Tae-seok, Principal of the Busan Aspen Academy High School.

* * *

“That kid has quite a temperament.”

After sending No Name off, Kim Woong enjoyed a leisurely cup of tea.

“Anyway, the way geniuses think is really hard to understand. I don’t even know why they got angry.”

The barrier that Kim Woong proposed was nearly impossible.

This is because it was a model that reduced the current South Korea’s 50-layer national defense barrier according to the principle of dimensional homogeneity.

In the presence of the national defense barrier, ordinary missiles or tank shells could never breach the territorial waters.

Such national defense barriers, introduced to advanced countries in the mid-20th century, marked the end of attrition warfare and material conflict.

If someone could provide an idea on how to breach the model, that alone would greatly contribute to South Korea.

“There’s no reason to not recognize someone like that as a high sorcerer. Slurp.”

It was then.

BEEP BEEP BEEP—!

A red alarm sounded throughout the villa.

“Ugh! What the hell!”

Spilling tea all over my knees was not the problem.

This was a warning that South Korea’s national defense barrier had been breached.

Kim Woong dashed down to the basement and connected to the Ministry of National Defense hotlines.

[What? What are you saying? There is no anomaly, Colonel.]

“What?”

He checked his phone in disbelief.

The breached barrier was not South Korea’s national defense.

[1NDC-4 is out of order]

[1NDC-38 is out of order]

[1NDC-24 is out of order]

…

[1NDC-50 is out of order]

[Model001: Completely destroyed]

This had happened only three hours after Name left the villa.