There comes a time in life when you experience something like this.
When you’re too tired, or on the contrary, when you’ve slept too deeply and wake up.
You don’t want to get out of bed, but you have to, and when you force yourself to sit up.
Suddenly, the world turns purple, and your vision becomes dizzy.
For a moment, your head throbs and hurts, and you feel shaky, but it’s only for a moment.
In less than a second, the world and your vision return to normal, and you realize, “Oh, I was just too tired.”
………But that doesn’t mean I’m feeling that sensation right now.
It’s just that the reality in front of me was too sudden, so I momentarily escaped into other thoughts.
“So……brother?”
“You can call me comfortably, Kyle.”
“No, I mean, why are you doing this?”
It’s been about two and a half years since my eldest brother left for the Academy.
Of course, during that time, I never talked or exchanged messages with him. Unless it was Frederick, who had a bad interest in me, my eldest brother and I were just family who knew each other’s faces.
Thinking about it, it wasn’t just two and a half years; even before my eldest brother left for the Academy, we never really talked. Just a greeting when we passed each other in the hallway?
Looking at it that way, it’s been years since I last talked to my eldest brother.
And back then, my brother.
‘He was just quiet.’
He didn’t speak properly even when spoken to, rarely initiated conversations, and most of his answers were just nods.
The more we talked, the more I remembered the last conversation with my eldest brother, which made me want to explode.
“How did you make Monopoly?”
“How? I just made it, brother. With the help of craftsmen from the royal family. By the way, can you stop using honorifics?”
“How could a lowly person like me address a genius like Kyle casually? I apologize for that.”
“No, why!?”
“Earlier, there were others around, so I couldn’t call you by your name or use informal speech. It’s fine when it’s just us, but if others are watching, it could lead to trouble, so I had no choice. I apologize again now.”
“Brother, it makes me more uncomfortable when you act like this.”
“Even if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do. Would a student really speak casually just because a professor told them to?”
“Sigh…….”
He’s really good at talking. Why did he live with his mouth shut before?
No, actually, that’s not the important part.
There was something in what my brother just said that I couldn’t let slide.
“A lowly person……are you talking about yourself?”
“Yes.”
“And I’m a genius?”
“Very much so.”
“Why……?”
The eldest son of Baron Byron, and at the same time, a once-in-a-generation genius talented in both magic and aura.
Even if you’re ambiguously involved in both, you’d receive higher praise than those talented in only one. Moreover, before my eldest brother entered the Academy, scouts from the Magic Tower came, and several knight orders proposed he become an aura knight.
Of course, he refused all of them because he had to inherit the Byron barony, but in a way, it meant that my brother was such a sought-after talent that they even considered scouting the heir of a noble family.
Normally, suggesting to the heir of a family to not inherit the family but to join the Magic Tower or a knight order is the height of rudeness. Even my father was somewhat displeased, but it also meant that my eldest brother was outstanding, so he was proud.
Wow.
So, I ended up at the Academy, and Lukesil said that of course, the genius took the top spot overall.
What kind of person is that?
“If we’re being technical, the genius is you, and the insignificant one is me, right?”
“Absolutely not!!”
*BANG!*
Oh, that startled me.
Suddenly, the eldest brother, with a twisted expression, slammed the table and stood up.
Even the Water Tiger was startled, but the eldest brother glared at me and raised his voice for the first time.
“Since when has there been a standard for genius in this world? Are only those talented in magic, aura, and academics considered geniuses, and everyone else not?”
“Uh, that’s not what I meant…?”
“Of course, ordinary people might consider magic and aura as the standards for genius. But I think differently. Compared to these insignificant powers, Kyle, you are the true genius.”
“…Because of board games?”
“Exactly.”
What on earth is this…?
At this point, I’m genuinely scared.
Meanwhile, the Water Tiger nodded at the eldest brother’s words. Why are you agreeing?
“Did you really like board games that much? Is it because of Kill the King?”
“That doesn’t even count as a board game.”
“Then… because of Monopoly?”
“Of course, Monopoly is my favorite board game, but it’s not just because of that.”
“Huh?”
“Yacht, Kyle Galli, and Abracadabra.”
Oh.
How does he know about those?
“I played Yacht before, received Kyle Galli in a letter from the Head of the Family, and I recently went to the Gias Territory to experience Abracadabra myself.”
“Really…?”
“And I realized. Kyle, you are the true genius. In front of your board games, my magic and aura are nothing but a handful.”
No way. I like board games too, but I don’t think that much of them.
But the eldest brother’s words seemed to be filled with sincerity. After finishing his speech with a strong voice, he finally sat down on the sofa, catching his breath.
“So, I ask you once again.”
“Huh…?”
“Please, give me your autograph…!!”
The eldest brother bowed his head and pleaded earnestly. Along with a Monopoly deed that I have no idea where he got it from.
Honestly, it was so unexpected that I felt disconnected from reality and didn’t even know how to give an autograph.
I just scribbled the name Kyle Byron.
“Ah…!!”
Seeing the eldest brother so happy.
I started seriously wondering if this was a dream.
Maybe the eldest brother is attacking me with mind magic.
I was hesitating whether to ask the Water Tiger to hit me.
While the eldest brother was carefully storing the Monopoly deed with my autograph, casting all sorts of magic on it, he bowed his head again.
“I’m sorry, Kyle, but I have one more humble request.”
“What is it…?”
“This Academy is wrong.”
…What?
Huh?
“Huh?”
“The Academy teaches knowledge, aura, and magic. But this is a wrong classification. Shouldn’t the Academy also teach board games?”
“…………”
“I’m not being extreme. Other fields should coexist, but knowledge, aura, magic, and board games should be divided into four fields. The Academy is so wrong.”
“But realistically, that would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, bro, you’re right.”
“That’s why I want to start with a club first.”
Maybe it’s just my mood.
But this seems like the first normal topic we’ve had since I started talking with my older brother.
“A club? You mean a board game club, bro?”
“Exactly. And for the club advisor… I want to invite Kyle.”
“Well, that’s something.”
Honestly, it’s good news for me too. Considering the goal of spreading board games throughout the academy, it’s the best.
But what should I say?
Thinking about having to meet this version of my brother every time makes me strangely reluctant…
“Bro, if you do one thing for me, I’ll agree.”
“Anything, just say it.”
“Play a board game with me.”
“…………”
“Bro?”
“……Sorry. It felt so dreamlike that I forgot to breathe for a moment.”
“………”
“Any board game is fine! Should I go grab the Monopoly set installed in Natura?”
“No. That would just be a nuisance.”
After all, Lukesil might come back anytime, and we can’t leave Sally and Adela waiting outside for hours.
So, there’s only one board game that fits the current situation.
“……Cards?”
“Earlier, you mentioned the board games I made, right? There’s actually one more.”
Spirit Poker.
This is a game I’ve only played at Everts Ducal Castle, specifically in Princess Leisha’s turret, so my brother probably doesn’t know about it.
As I shuffled the cards I always carry with me, my brother started trembling slightly.
“Bro?”
“A board game by Kyle that I didn’t know about… I’m mad at myself, but I’m so happy…!”
“………”
*
That night.
Since I couldn’t sleep, I left Water Tiger lying on the bed and sat at the table with a small light, resting my chin on my hand.
“………”
No matter how much I think about it, I can’t forget my older brother.
The brother I knew before and the one I met today are so different.
I even wondered if I was hallucinating.
But…
The number of cards in the Spirit Poker set I made and carry around is originally 64.
But now, there are only 63.
Because my older brother asked if he could take one card with his signature.
I remember hurriedly handing it over because he looked like he was about to kneel.
The missing card from the Spirit Poker set is proof that the conversation we had today was real.
‘Did something happen?’
Did he have a change of heart after coming to the academy? Did something big happen that changed him?
My brother, who used to look down on his own talents in magic and aura, now considers board games the best.
I don’t know if that’s always been his mindset or if it changed after coming to the academy.
But I can’t just brush it off as “whatever works.”
‘I’m not doubting his sincerity, but…’
There’s something.
The reason my older brother became so obsessed with board games, with me.
And the Spirit Poker we played together…
‘It was fun.’
At the same time, I realized. My brother is indeed a genius.
To master Monopoly to that level in just a week and develop his own strategies…
As if they had planned it.
Even though it was my first time playing Spirit Poker, I got the hang of the game after just one round, and by the second round, I had improved so quickly that I had to give it my all to win.
My brother is a genius. That also means he’s a genius in magic and aura.
And a genius in board games too.
“…What do I do?”
Of course, I agreed to be the advisor for the board game club my brother was creating. But he said he wouldn’t stop there.
He had this absurd dream of teaching board games alongside knowledge, magic, and aura at the academy—something anyone would think was just a joke.
But what if a genius like my older brother really put his mind to it?
‘I guess I’ll be staying at the academy longer than I thought.’
Being the club advisor is one thing, but I also need to figure out what’s going on with my brother.
Originally, I planned to observe the Monopoly trend after the meeting and then head back to Arkhé Magic Tower.
But it seems like I’ll have to stay at the academy a bit longer.
‘Well, whatever.’
Today was a bit overwhelming because of my brother’s antics.
But the board game club is definitely a good thing. It’ll naturally spread awareness of other board games besides Monopoly, and I’ll get to play with various players too.
‘In the original world, five or six people were enough.’
With the Monopoly craze right now, maybe dozens of people will join the club.
Should I ask Adela to create Monopoly through illusions, or should I hastily make a board game myself?
Since I’ve agreed to be the advisor.
Putting my brother’s matter aside, I started thinking about how to make the students who join the club fall in love with board games beyond just Monopoly.
It was a pretty overwhelming day.
But thinking about the fresh board game newbies who’ll join tomorrow made it an endlessly enjoyable night.
*
The next day.
“Hey! Move aside! I’ve been in line since dawn!”
“I’ve been here since last night! Do you know how hard it was to avoid the teachers’ patrols?”
“Kyle Byron is personally advising the club, right? It’s not uncommon for outsiders to advise academy clubs, but still…”
“Seriously, isn’t Kyle Byron the best advisor in the empire when it comes to board games?”
“Now that I think about it, shouldn’t we ban Terra guys from joining the club? They came in last, didn’t they?”
“It’s not last place, it’s 6th! If anything, we should be the ones joining!”
“Yeah, right below Astron.”
“You jerk!”
“…What’s going on?”
When I arrived at the clubroom my older brother had pre-registered, it was already packed with people.
…So much so that students were lined up outside the building.
