Chapter 40: Episode 40

The moment our eyes met, Yeon bolted.

’What does she want from me?’ Provoking me, spying on me, and now running away? I chased after her.

’She’s gone.’ When I reached the spot where she’d been, I found only an empty lot behind the gym.

’Ea! Track that red-haired girl for me.’

-Departing in the ten o’clock direction. She is moving at incredible speed.

So she wants to play, does she? I summoned and activated Leaf Boots under my feet and soared into the sky.

’Whoosh!’

A cold wind rushed past. In an instant, I was high enough to see the gym’s roof, looking down on the people passing below.

-Shortest route secured. That way.

’On my way.’

I stepped on the mid-air shields Ea deployed, leaping over several buildings before landing back on the ground. I had covered several hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

-The target is around the corner.

’Okay.’

I stealthily peeked around the corner.

It was almost embarrassing that I’d gone to the trouble of tracking her. Yeon was sitting there with a peaceful expression, as if nothing had happened. At her gesture, a stray cat was wriggling out from a narrow gap.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

My appearance startled the cat, and it ran off. Yeon let out a disappointed, “Ah.”

“Can we talk for a moment, Ms. President?”

At my words, she stood and approached me hesitantly, putting on an act like a nervous freshman summoned by a senior.

It was all an act.

“Why do you keep spying on me? If you have something to say, say it now.”

She lifted her head, her eyes meeting mine. “…Curiosity.”

The atmosphere around her changed in an instant.

“I heard your Unique Ability changed recently. It’s not widely known, but it’s the first case in Korea.”

’Aha. So that’s what this is about.’

“Your new ability is a mana manipulation type. A power that uses mana to cause a wide range of supernatural phenomena.”

“You’ve done your research.”

“But,” she said, turning her head to avoid my gaze, “seeing it today, it doesn’t seem all that impressive…”

’…Damn it.’ She was provoking me again.

“If you were disappointed, you could have just moved on. Why keep spying?”

“Actually, there’s something I was personally curious about.” I flinched. Her deep, dark eyes, which seemed to pull you in, stared straight at me. Her gaze was unmistakably fixed on my right eye—the one with the contact lens. “About how you came to possess that power.”

’…How should I take this? Does she know something?’

“If you’re that curious about another person’s hand,” I said, meeting her gaze without flinching, “shouldn’t you show yours first? Right?”

After staring at my face in silence, she finally looked away. “My apologies.”

Despite having shown her fangs, she went back to playing the part of a polite first-year, bowed, and turned away. I thought she was leaving, but she didn’t go far. Instead, she sat on a nearby bench and watched me.

“Is there something else?”

She pointed. “Weren’t you about to start practicing your Swing?” Her finger was aimed at the ball bulging in my pocket.

“…Fine. You can watch me.”

To be honest, I was a little inspired by her method. If a move like that counted toward the record, I’d show her what I could do. I equipped Gauntlet on my right hand and tossed the ball into the air.

’Ready, Ea?’

-Ready!

I grinned and threw a punch. ’Pow!’ With a burst of blue sparks, the ball shot forward in a straight line. I raised my index finger.

<Ice Javelin>

A spear of frost erupted from the ground, knocking the ball high into the sky. And waiting in the sky where the ball ascended was a series of magic circles I had created with Ea’s precise calculations.

<Shield>

<Ice Javelin>

<Shield>

<Ice Javelin>

The spears of ice and shields appearing in the sky at my command continuously deflected and twisted the ball’s trajectory. From a distance, it looked like a game of pinball, with the ball zipping and bouncing around endlessly. While Yeon stared blankly at the spectacle, I brought the ball down for the finish.

’Thwack!’

The ball slammed into the ground between us, creating a fierce gust of wind. I walked over and picked it up. “Well, it’s more accurate to measure this with the proper equipment, but the reading on the ball itself is…”

The ball’s self-measured value was 389,452 PHH.

Seeing it, Yeon slowly broke into a smile. She stood up from the bench and strode toward me.

“Yusin.”

“…What?”

“It seems this won’t settle things.” She grinned. “If, by any chance, I were to challenge you to a duel, would you accept?”

* * *

I returned to the Magic Tower.

A duel request? Of course I refused. I was busy enough as it is. She was an interesting person, but clearing the third-floor Trial was my priority.

“Welcome back, Yusin!” Bora waved as I entered the Magic Tower.

“I’m challenging the boss tonight,” I announced.

She flinched. “Isn’t that too soon? Devastar is—!”

“It’s solved. I got an important hint.”

In the end, I was glad I went to the academy. I’d realized something from today’s class and my encounter with Yeon. During the swing test, my thinking had been too one-dimensional. I had to throw the ball, so I just threw it. But seeing what Yeon did allowed me to break free from that linear mindset. As always, enlightenment doesn’t come from grand contemplation but pops up in a single moment of everyday life.

The point was that I didn’t have to do everything at once.

“I’m ready.” The hint I’d gotten was the division of the magic circle.

* * *

[Moving to the save point.]

I stepped onto the portal to the third floor again and entered the trial. When I opened my eyes, everything was exactly as I had left it: the shattered black golem, the massive skull shape still etched on the wall. I looked back and saw that the blue save point portal was gone, leaving only the green exit portal. It seemed I only got one save.

“Then there’s even less reason to back down.”

-Are you certain you will be all right, Tower Master?

“I’m fine. I’m confident.”

In the end, the problem was Devastar. If I could perfect this skill, I was sure I could defeat whatever monster appeared as the boss. I walked toward the black portal leading to the boss room.

[Moving to the Trial’s final boss room.]

[Once you enter the boss room, you cannot leave.]

[Do you wish to enter the boss room?]

’Haah.’ Taking a deep breath, I steeled my resolve. “Enter.”

Once again, my body was sucked into the darkness. This was the most nerve-wracking moment of the trial. I calmly waited for my vision to return.

’VROOOOOM!’

After a loud noise reminiscent of an engine, my surroundings slowly began to light up, starting from my position.

The moment the light filled the dark temple, I gasped. A giant eye was embedded in the far wall. The trembling eyelid, the wrinkles, even the blood vessels were so realistic that it was horrifying. Disgusting optic nerves clung to the eye, branching out in all directions. And above all else…

’Slither, slither.’

’Slither, slither.’

Hundreds of tentacles of indeterminable length were undulating through the air.

“Good thing I didn’t eat before coming here.”

-How horrifying.

Ea and I shared our impressions as I gathered my mana. I had to defeat that thing to escape.

“Any information on the monster?”

-Search complete. Name: Elder Tentacle. Rank: Unknown. Records indicate it was discovered in the ancient ruins of the Great Desert, where it preyed on adventurers and merchants. It attacks by whipping its hundreds of tentacles or stabbing with them like spears.

“Alright. First, let’s test if magic works on it.”

I immediately created and fired five Spin Guided Arrows. The irregularly rotating mana arrows all struck the Elder Tentacle’s pupil. But the moment they touched its soft eye, they simply bounced off like toys hitting a cushion and clattered to the floor.

-As expected, it’s ineffective.

“Hmm.”

It seemed the immunity to magic attacks was a theme throughout this Trial. If so, then Devastar was the only answer.

The boss monster, having now detected an intruder, began its attack.

’ROOOAR!’

The sight of hundreds of tentacles surging toward me was chilling. Despite the considerable distance, they stretched to reach me. I had no choice but to stop chanting Devastar and throw myself aside.

’CRASH!’

A tentacle from above slammed into the floor, leaving a deep crater. Its power was no joke. I tried putting up a shield, but as expected, it shattered without buying me any time. I narrowly dodged attacks from both sides by bending backward, then used a Leaf Boot that Ea had just completed to leap away.

“Ugh!”

The moment I landed to catch my breath, tentacles rained down from above.

’Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!’

I moved frantically to avoid the storm of attacks. At this rate, I couldn’t possibly cast a high-order magic circle like Devastar.

-Tower Master! Are you alright?

“Yeah.” I pushed myself back, scraping the floor, and looked up. The Elder Tentacle fought like me, overwhelming its opponent with sheer numbers. But still…

“This is more manageable than I thought.”

-…Pardon?

It came at me from the front, then aimed at my head. I tilted my head, and a tentacle flying like lightning grazed my cheek. Again, from the front and side. I kicked off the ground to dodge one, then planted my foot on a mid-air shield and tumbled in the opposite direction. Two tentacles sliced through the space where I had been.

’Whoosh!’

As soon as I landed, I bent my back to an extreme degree. A tentacle cut through the empty air. As I straightened up, panting, countless status windows popped up.

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

-Tower Master! How…!

“It’s manageable once you see the pattern.”

The hundreds of tentacles were certainly a threat. They weren’t slow, nor were they weak. But their patterns were fixed: they either whipped or stabbed. In other words, it was hundreds of the same attacks repeated very quickly. If I could predict them, I could dodge them by actively using the space around me.

’Slither, slither, slither.’

’Slither, slither, slither, slither.’

The boss increased its attacks. Over thirty tentacles were now rushing me. I activated the Sage’s Eye, read their trajectories, and placed four shields in the air. Then I threw myself forward.

’Thwack! Crash! Crash!’

I jumped frantically, stepping on the shields in mid-air. Tentacles waited in the air too, but by using Leaf Boots to escape, I could shake off dozens at once.

From the front, it’d whip.

From the right, it’d try to stab.

From above, a stab would come down.

My body began to dodge the attacks in a trance-like state. This was a truly special experience. The more the tentacles threatened me, the more my agility rose and my experience grew. Each subsequent attack became easier to dodge. As these crises and experiences piled up, the unnecessary movements in my own actions began to disappear.

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[You have acquired the trait: Predictive Evasion.]

’Finally!’

I finally got my first physical trait. Since I was already in this Trial, I was going to squeeze every last drop of potential out of this boss fight.

* * *

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