Chapter 75

“Can you use magic in the game? That’s really amazing!”

“Um… It definitely seems like it would help with studying magic.”

“Do we have to study even in the game? Ugh, I don’t want to play such a game… Ah, I’ll head to Class A. See you at lunch later.”

“Yes, late sleeper Ji Hye!”

“I’m not a late sleeper!”

Ji Hye went into Class B first, and I entered Class A with Seori and Yuna.

Since I walked at a slower pace than usual, I ended up arriving much later than expected.

Seon Si Hoo, my seatmate, was already there, quietly reading a book. He truly was a model student.

Even after I sat down, he didn’t even glance in my direction.

Well, since everyone has different people they want to get close to, there was no need to be too concerned.

However, as soon as I noticed Yuna following behind me, his eyes subtly lifted over the book.

“Hey, Seoyuna!”

“Uh? What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Suddenly? I’m fine.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Yuna answered nonchalantly, and Si Hoo, confirming this, sat down again with a slight frown.

It felt awkward just listening to this. If that was the case, why did he even start talking?

After a brief attendance check and roll call by Teacher Jackie, we had a short break before the first period started.

“By the way, is that really hard?”

Yuna prodded my back as she asked.

“Yeah, I can’t just become strong on my own. It seems like cooperation is fundamental.”

“Cooperation?”

“It means we need to join our strengths.”

“Oh… I see. So, Na-Me helps that person?”

“That’s how it seems. If they don’t become stronger, they’ll perish.”

Even though the Nightmare difficulty was a game too early for Yuna, she was genuinely interested in the story of the game I was playing.

“Oh, right! I need to bring the textbook for the first period!”

Remembering the first-period subject a bit late, Yuna dashed to the lockers.

As I was trying to adjust my chair back into position, Seon Si Hoo turned his head awkwardly to the other side.

“Were you listening to us?”

“Ah… no? I wasn’t, not at all?”

“What? You were totally listening.”

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t!”

“Why are you getting mad? That’s surprising.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Wait, could it be…?”

Considering that Si Hoo was the only friend in our class who looked after Seoyuna, and that he usually didn’t show such interest in other kids, my guess was solidified.

“Do you like Seoyuna?”

“Eh? No way!”

Look at his lips drying up and tongue flicking. It’s true.

Since I hit the nail on the head, Si Hoo hurriedly slammed the desk in embarrassment.

While it wasn’t exactly romantic admiration at their age, there was definitely some level of fondness as a friend.

Usually, people who don’t talk much are skilled at reading others’ emotions. I fit that category perfectly.

Though Si Hoo denied it vehemently, in my heart, his arrow was clearly aimed at Seoyuna.

By the way, I remembered I had something to ask Yoon Si Hoo and just now recalled it.

“Si Hoo, do you go to an academy?”

“What… why do you want to know about my academy?”

Is he being stingy about not telling me?

“Then you should just tell everyone you like Yuna.”

“I’m seriously not! I go… to a Taekwondo academy.”

“That’s convenient. Can you tell me what you learn at your Taekwondo academy?”

“You learn Taekwondo at a Taekwondo academy, not English!”

“Uh? Well, yeah…”

It’s true, but still…

I was sure there were places that taught various subjects, so I asked.

“Do they teach anything like knife fighting? You know, like with knives?”

“Knife fighting? What would you want that for…!”

“I have a friend I need to teach. Do I have to find a dojo instead of an academy?”

“Ah… Anyway, I don’t know, so don’t ask anymore! And I don’t know what you’re doing, but don’t drag Yuna into it.”

“Come on, look at you already taking care of your future girlfriend.”

“@%##@ @!^@##!”

* * *

Si Hoo’s little tantrum was quelled as Yuna returned to her seat.

The first class was ‘Magic Infusion.’

Last year, we learned about ‘Magic Records,’ so just like we call it ‘mage,’ the kids refer to this class simply as ‘Majoo’ time.

Sometimes I wonder how they could name classes so half-heartedly.

I remembered that when I was in first grade, I thought the textbook names ‘Autumn’ and ‘Winter’ were misprints.

However, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that ‘Majoo’ class was the most important subject in the second-year curriculum at Seviron Academy.

You could tell just from the fact that it was conducted twice every day without fail.

“Let’s start the class! Please open your textbooks to page 23.”

Teacher Jackie’s cheerful voice echoed throughout the classroom.

The sound of kids flipping pages could be heard from various directions.

As expected, the textbooks were quite organized, befitting the magical nation of South Korea.

Rather than diving straight into the theory, they kick off each chapter with hands-on activities to pique the kids’ interest.

For example, they allow the children to compare the differences between light magic infused with a small amount of mana and a lot of mana, prompting them to realize the distinctions themselves.

This way, once all the kids have a clear understanding of the theory, they introduce new experiments to challenge their understanding.

Light magic was really intuitive. When infused with a small amount of mana, it emits a little light, while a large amount releases a lot of light.

But there are certainly non-linear types of magic as well.

Some magic achieves its maximum value at specific points.

A representative example is vector-based magic, which I often use, known for its polar coordinate assignments.

The magic that transforms physical quantities to ensure a selected object reaches the value I set initially doesn’t necessarily require a large injection of mana.

Thus, when you draw the mana-efficiency graph, most vector magic appears as an upward-opening quadratic function.

Of course, they wouldn’t demand elementary school kids to draw such complex graphs; usually, they would simply inform them how to inject mana into the magic circle.

“I’m going to tell you about the first practical evaluation of magic infusion. Everyone, listen carefully!”

After about thirty minutes of instruction, Teacher Jackie stood in front of the blackboard and revealed the eagerly awaited content of the practical evaluation.

At that moment, even the usually playful Seori grew serious.

“First, the practical evaluation will be conducted in pairs. Once you’ve formed your groups, I’ll give each of you five model magic circles. I’m going to demonstrate how to use the model magic circle, just to make sure you don’t forget.”

From a rectangular box, five palm-sized model magic circles emerged.

Teacher Jackie picked one up and raised it high so everyone could see. In her other hand, a box was dangling.

“First, press the safety button in the middle once. Then, make sure the box lid faces the magic circle properly. After that, you can pour mana anywhere onto the magic circle.”

Mana concentrated at the bottom.

Then, the magic circle began to emit a resonant sound as it shimmered.

Beep—

A fascinating sound emitted from the empty box.

Teacher Jackie reminded us not to forget to press the button in the middle again after using all the model magic circles and then showed us the box.

“Can everyone see this number? This number indicates how efficiently the magic was cast. It ranges from 0 to 10. If a 0 or 1 comes up, what does that mean?”

“It means the magic wasn’t cast properly!”

“It means the mana was injected improperly!”

“That’s right. The magic might not have been cast properly, or the mana might have been injected wrong. Starting from the next class, you all will have times to experiment with varying mana injections using these five model magic circles.”

After carefully putting the model set back in the box, Teacher Jackie opened it up and took out several identical products to place on the desk.

“From today until Friday, we’ll spend 20 minutes each day experimenting. Class A students will discuss the characteristics of these magic circles while injecting mana with your partners. Then, on Friday, during the last 6th period, you’ll each write down the characteristics you’ve discovered about the magic circles on the paper I will later hand out and submit it as this practical evaluation!”

The children exchanged meaningful glances with each other.

It was a practical evaluation where they could spend a whole 20 minutes daily in what would otherwise be a boring magic class.

However, underlying their reluctance to cheer was the fear of how difficult it might be that so much time was being allocated.

I pondered over the model magic circle I had seen earlier.

It felt like they put in quite a bit of effort to prevent anyone from solving the practical evaluation outside of school.

They intentionally withheld information about what kind of magic it was and just presented the magic circle alone, making it impossible for kids to search online.

Since the model magic circles could only indicate the results of magic casting by the brightness of the light, they also significantly differed from the actual magic circle in shape.

And since it was a practical evaluation, there wasn’t necessarily a correct answer for the report writing.

Friends who struggled with writing would find their futures looking grim.

Especially kids at this age would undoubtedly panic if there were no grading criteria, so I was curious to see how they would navigate this challenge.

“We’ll take questions about the practical evaluation during the remaining time.”

“Teacher! So, what should we write in the report?”

“You can write about what you learned in the textbook! For example, when I injected a little mana in the center, the efficiency was low; or when I injected a lot of mana on both sides of the magic circle, the efficiency increased. You all did a little experimenting in the last class, right?”

“Yes…”

“You can also analyze the runes or formulas present in the magic circle if you can. By comparing this one with the other four magic circles, you might say this rune has these characteristics and if there’s this formula, it has those characteristics. The content is completely up to you! Got it?”

“Yeah…”

“Discussions are done in pairs, but remember that grading will only be based on the report you submit at the end, so everyone needs to work hard! Understood?”

It’s going to be tough. This is training to figure out the magic circles through countless trials and errors.

Of course, they wouldn’t need to know the precise content yet, but this was also a preliminary step for creating dispel magic, colloquially known as counter-spells.

It’s practical and also fascinating.

The kids were already grim at the thought of the practical evaluation, akin to blind men feeling an elephant.

But if you keep touching the elephant for days on end, wouldn’t you gain some sense of it?

At least the elephant wouldn’t report us for sexual harassment.