Ch. 75.1 - Chaos (4)
Professor Gerald took the exam paper of Baek Yu-Seol and immediately went to find Vice Principal Archie Hayden.

Teaching a student who had written an excellent paper was not only a matter of raising Stella's reputation, but also a matter of his own honor and achievement, so Gerald was pleased as if it were his own work.

"... You're recommending that Baek Yu-Seol attend the Aslan Seminar?"

"Yes."

Of course, whether it would be possible or not was uncertain.

Aslan Seminar gathered numerous prodigies from around the world, so breaking through their fierce competition would not be easy.

However, considering that Baek Yu-Seol’s paper was of a decent doctoral level, Gerald believed it was sufficiently competent.

But, Archie Hayden slowly lowered his gaze and furrowed his brow.

"That's troublesome, Professor Gerald."

"Yes?"

"Currently, Stella has many candidates for attendance besides that student. Especially the freshmen this year, they are promising candidates who would stand out no matter where they go."

"That's true, but..."

"In one academy, the maximum number of students who can attend Aslan, excluding prestigious individuals with 'fixed attendance rights,' is two."

In truth, it was rare for all two slots to be filled. It was not an easy task for an academy to produce two outstanding students who could attend Aslan.

However, because it was Stella, there were a lot of exceptional students who could attend the Aslan Seminar.

"But... you're recommending Baek Yu-Seol for that position?"

"..."

From Gerald's perspective, it was quite reasonable.

Although Baek Yu-Seol was a commoner, he was proving his abilities as a mage with his skills.

"No, it's not right. A magic warrior who doesn't use magic? That is an act that insults Stella, as well as all magic institutions, magic academies, and all mages around the world. Don't you think so?"

"Yes."

It was the Vice Principal's words. They shouldn't be denied.

However... Eltman Eltwin, the principal, had personally approved Baek Yu-Seol’s admission in the first place.

Gerald had no idea that the Vice Principal would have objections to it.

"If you knew, you should have left immediately. I absolutely cannot permit Baek Yu-Seol’s attendance at Aslan."

"... I understand."

It was truly regrettable that a talented student couldn't even have the opportunity to spread his wings under the harassment of a narrow-minded old mage.

But, what could be done? This was the reality.

Gerald slouched his shoulders and left the Vice Principal's office with a weary expression, while Archie Hayden clicked his tongue and tore apart the copy of Baek Yu-Seol’s exam paper, burning it.

"To think they were trying to insert such a worthless worm into Aslan..."

——

From the first to the tenth, none of the Stella mages were pleasing.

After the second round of exams, they would undergo proper training in the 'Magician Duel.'

In fact, magic warriors didn't specialize in duels. Dueling was the specialty of magic knights, while the Dark Magic War was the specialty of magic warriors.

However, that didn’t mean that magic warriors never engaged in combat with humans.

Just as magic knights learned basic tactics for the Great Dark Magic War, dueling was an essential subject for magic warriors as well.

While Baek Yu-Seol hadn’t received proper training in dueling yet.

No, couldn’t he really go on like this without even learning it?

Honestly, he couldn’t win.

So far, he had managed to handle situations well by borrowing the power of the protagonists.

During the necromancer's attack, the protagonist's companion was holding off the enemy's main power technique, Skeleton, and during the demon siege, Eisel did everything alone.

The same goes for the Persona Gate, where the three female protagonists took care of it themselves, but for some reason, most of the credit came to him.

That was why he seemed to be strangely overestimated...

Honestly, when he was alone, he was just a scarecrow that moved quickly.

He could infuse some magic power into his sword, but he lacked decisive destructive power.

If the duel was 2v2 or 3v3, he could somehow win.

Given the fights he had so far, his position was closer to a close-range dealer rather than a "tank."

He seized the enemy's openings, swiftly struck and exploited their weaknesses, and then retreated.

But 1v1 was a bit difficult.

In terms of experience and theory, he might be much better than a second-year student, but his offensive power, which could determine the outcome, was low.

Well... if he poured all the knowledge and concentrated as much as possible to deliver precise and effective damage, he might be able to win somehow.

The difference in experience shouldn't be ignored.

But, was it really necessary to go that far? Honestly, he didn't want to go through unnecessary hardships just to win.

It would be better to practice using 'items' instead. Yeah, that sounds good.

Standing in the middle of the dueling field, which was a vast plain, Baek Yu-Seol gazed into the empty space.

Due to the spatial transformation of Stella Dome, the dueling field consisted of fields such as a dry desert, a forest, a cold icy land, and cliffs filled with rocks. The width was roughly equivalent to a soccer field.

Outside the boundaries of the dueling field, there were not concert halls or amphitheaters, but rather, tiered seats arranged in a staircase fashion.

Both seniors and fellow students could observe from there during the special training for junior development. It was like saying, "If you make a mistake, you'll receive this kind of training, so behave yourselves."

It used to be a breeding ground for corruption coming down through the generations, but many things have disappeared, and yet, this was one of the few remaining.

Why does something like this still exist in a prestigious academy? Even the egalitarian 21st-century democratic South Korean military sometimes committed more severe absurdities with just a few months of seniority.

In an academy where nobles and commoners coexisted, it was rather fascinating that only this much remained.

But, putting that aside...

"Why are there so many people gathered here?"

Ch. 75.2
"Why are there so many people gathered here?"

The special training for underclassmen development wasn't a separate episode in the original game.

He searched a bit with his spec, but even at most, it was said that there were about twelve people.

But look at this. It easily exceeds a hundred people.

There were not only the student council president, vice president, and various noble students, but also seniors from the second and third years.

And Edmon Atalek, who originally intended to take a break, was also looking at him from a distance with his faction members.

Hong Bi-Yeon, who was sitting right next to Edmon, looked uncomfortable for some reason.

"Hey, brave junior! I don't know much, but do your best!"

Denmark came along with Ben and shouted at Baek Yu-Seol.

‘It's good to be enthusiastic, but aren’t I in a bad position… To cheer on a junior in a situation like this.’

Some seniors gave Denmark a stern look, but seeing his muscular physique, they averted their gaze again.

Ben silently watched over Baek Yu-Seol, and he couldn't tell what he was thinking. In addition, there were quite a few indifferent fellow students gathered. Whether it was good or bad.

"Huff, that brat is finally coming to his senses."

"Ugh, I couldn't stand that commoner guy's attitude all this time, but finally, some proper education."

"If you're caught by the seniors, that's the end of it."

Those who disliked him were whispering among themselves, hoping to see him embarrassed in a public place.

Thump!

Someone entered through the entrance on the opposite side of the dueling field.

A second-year senior slightly taller than Baek Yu-Seol, with a bulky body and a gray staff longer than his forearm.

What was his name again?

[Kalivan Kadarum from Class 2-C]

Class C.

It might seem funny, but in terms of rankings, he was in the top 300.

And Baek Yu-Seol’s ranking was in the top 400 of the first-year students.

He might say he was in Class S, but there was no difference from Class C if they only considered pure combat power.

Even this was thanks to using a perfect score cheat in the written test. There was no information about that in the nerdy glasses.

Of course, players couldn’t confirm the existence of characters who hardly appeared in the original game.

However, there was a record of a family with the name "Kadarum."

The Aether World had so many settings that it could be called a sea of settings in the reference book.

"Family inheritance magic" was one of them. Each mage family was said to manipulate unique magic, so if one knew the family name, he could guess what kind of attribute they primarily dealt with.

Adolveit was fire, and Morph was ice, for example.

[Kalivan Kadarum]

[The 77th unheard descendant of family.]

[An name that you might barely see if you participate in local noble parties or Stella's on-campus "Be friends with me!" event, but it is recommended to pass on it since there is no magic to learn and nothing really worth seeing... (omitted)]

[Primary attribute: Earth]

[No bloodline magic, no inherited magic]

As seasoned veterans of a 10-year-old game, even his mediocre family lineage was documented.

While it might seem gloomy just by reading the settings, in reality, he was at or above average in Stella.

Families that possessed bloodline, inherited, or visionary magic were extremely rare. Despite that, he could proudly say that he maintained a high ranking in the middle to upper range.

"Hey, junior. Are you ready?"

… The problem was that he was Baek Yu-Seol’s opponent, but it was okay.

During his time playing the game, he had faced countless mages, so he had that experience.

If the opponent didn’t have any bloodline or inherited magic, there were no variables to worry about.

As a third-class earth magic user, all the spells were stored in his head without even needing to glance at the textbook.

"Well, yeah. I think I'm ready."

"... You're arrogant to the end."

Baek Yu-Seol adjusted the bag hanging on his lower back.

The bag that looked like a travel bag was called an "Alchemical Bag," which contained various alchemical potions and tools.

Originally, the use of alchemical items and external objects in duels was prohibited.

But, there are exceptions.

Magic users who directly manifested magic through spellbooks rather than wands or staves, as well as those who mainly handled talismans or magical tools, were allowed to use special tools.

Additionally, alchemy majors were allowed to use tools under the assumption that they developed them themselves, as they couldn’t demonstrate their abilities without them.

Officially, he belonged to the Department of Magic, but alchemy was his minor, which allowed him to use some alchemical tools.

And inside this bag, there were brand-new items that he designed and Alterisha crafted.

Baek Yu-Seol had no intention of defeating his senior or fighting seriously.

"I'll just use some disposable items and make a PPL video out of it."

Since he needed a promotional video for the sponsor anyway, it worked out well.

"Now I will explain the rules," said the duel supervisor, Professor Jo.

"The minimum duel time is 15 minutes. The duel will continue until one side is knocked out, and if it is deemed life-threatening, the spatial control magic of the Stella Dome will automatically stop the duel. In addition, either side can declare 'forfeit' after 15 minutes, and the duel will immediately be halted. Are both sides ready?"

They nodded their heads.

"We will begin the duel right away."

With that, Professor Jo, who was standing between us, took a step back and signaled the start of the duel.

"Today, I'll make you come to your senses! Earth Field... Uh, uh?"

[Flash]

[Flash]

[Flash]

Immediately, Baek Yu-Seol flashed consecutively towards the back and simply escaped.

"What, what is this! You, why aren't you coming back immediately?!"

He heard Kalivan shouting from behind, but he didn't look back and kept running.

"Who would come back just because you tell them to?" Baek Yu-Seol was a gamer. That was why he understood the essence of winning.

'The purpose of the game is not to win. It's to drive the opponent crazy.'

Yes. He might not win today, but he planned to use items to infuriate his senior.