Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

Chapter 13

The Dropout of Class S (5)

Late evening.

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After finishing Hong Bi-yeon’s ‘special lecture,’ I immediately left the academy grounds and headed to Arcaneum.

I needed to visit a bookstore.

“Does she really believe that…”

Thinking about what I had just done, I felt a wave of self-loathing and guilt.

Hong Bi-yeon. She was undoubtedly an excellent mage with a brilliant mind but had a rigid way of thinking.

And I exploited that weakness.

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‘Does it matter since she’s a villainess anyway?’

I had no choice. The magic sword Terivon was just within my grasp.

I needed to convert Terivon into a magic sword as soon as possible to increase my capabilities at school.

‘Whatever. I need to buy some books.’

Starting tomorrow, I’d be attending practical classes and lectures, so I needed to purchase some textbooks.

As I strolled through the streets of the magical city Arcaneum, I was greeted by the sight of colorful magic towers and numerous prestigious magic schools.

Carriages pulled by winged horses floated in the sky, along with small floating islands, and the streets were bustling with students like me who were hurrying to buy books. Some were already paired up, making me feel a pang of jealousy.

Fresh young couples everywhere.

The streets were beautifully paved, and colorful, illuminated buildings lined the roads. As soon as I entered an alleyway, I swiftly used Blink to move quickly.

‘Is it around here? I can’t quite remember.’

In the game, I could just click ‘auto-attend lecture,’ but in reality, I needed actual textbooks.

What’s ridiculous is that the type of textbook you used could affect your grades.

Initially, I bought books from a well-known bookstore in the city, thinking it was better because it had a large selection and many customers.

But that wasn’t the case. Later, players discovered that certain books hidden throughout the city could boost your grades.

One such bookstore with many of these valuable books was called the ‘Nameless Bookstore.’ It got its name because its sign was blank.

After wandering through the alleyways for a while, I finally found the nameless bookstore. It was quite run-down.

The creaking wooden door of the dilapidated bookstore opened to the musty smell of old books.

An old man was dozing off at the counter. This weirdo pretended to sleep while scanning customers with mana. Well, long-lived mages always had some peculiar traits.

I walked inside without hesitation.

This place had the old, worn ‘Maela’s Lecture Notes,’ from a graduate who had topped Stella Academy ten years ago.

I didn’t know why it was being sold here, but holding his lecture notes during the magic engineering class almost guaranteed a perfect score.

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With the Bulbul Glasses, grades might not matter much, but the hidden recipes stored in this notebook could be useful later.

‘If I have this, I can study the rest with ordinary books.’

Thanks to the glasses, a perfect score was guaranteed.

‘Let’s see…’

Found it. No one had touched it. ‘Magic Engineering Theory Notes’ by Maela, with his name clearly written. The book was well-worn, which might bother some, but I liked it. Old books and notes looked cooler after all.

As I reached for it, a pale wrist appeared from the opposite side, grabbing the book I had chosen.

“…?”

“Huh?”

Turning my head slightly, I saw a girl with sky-blue hair, slightly shorter than me, retracting her hand as if she had been burned.

When I also pulled my hand back and met her eyes, I was honestly taken aback.
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“Eh, Aiselle?”

“What? Do you know me?”

“Uh, yeah, I do. You’re famous.”

Aiselle Morf, also known as the ‘Fake Heroine,’ was standing there, clutching a worn-out second-hand book to her chest and staring at me.

She brushed her flowing blue hair back, staring intently into my eyes.

“Oh, you’re that guy from earlier?”

“Yeah.”

She remembers me now, but not the previous two times we met?

Aiselle stood there for a moment, then shook her head.

“I watched your discussion earlier. It was impressive… though it was a pity you didn’t finish explaining.”

Come to think of it, Aiselle hadn’t solved those questions, right? There was a story where she tried to solve them and formed a connection with Ma Yuseong or something like that.

“Anyway, it was nice meeting you.”

Aiselle coolly turned and walked away.

But why was she in a second-hand bookstore?

I hurriedly grabbed Maela’s notes. At least I didn’t lose these.

As I pulled out other books, I glanced at Aiselle from the corner of my eye.

She was picking out books, but seemed oddly concerned about the price tags.

‘Oh, right.’

This bookstore primarily dealt with second-hand books, so only students as poor as me came here.

However, only the wealthy could generally afford to attend one of the five prestigious schools in Arcaneum. Students like me, whose parents had saved their entire lives to pay the tuition fee before passing away, were rare.

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In other words, coming to such a rundown bookstore meant she was as poor as me.

‘That’s a bit sad.’

After her family’s downfall, Aiselle, who once lived luxuriously, had to live a life far removed from her past.

She, who used to dine on steak every meal, was now checking the price tags of old books in a second-hand store because she couldn’t afford new ones.

Moreover, in the original novel ‘Don’t Love the Unfortunate Princess.,’ she met a tragic end. In this world where Flame had taken the protagonist’s place, she was fated to die even before reaching her tragic ending, making it all the more pitiful.

Eventually, that woman would walk a path of misfortune until she faced destruction, ignored by everyone.

‘Sigh, whatever.’

I picked out all the books I wanted from the bookstore, piling up over ten of them.

When I slammed them onto the counter, the old man woke up, startled.

What? He can open his eyes after all.

“How’d you carry all that?”

“I’m quite strong.”

I noticed Aiselle narrowing her eyes and scrutinizing the textbooks I had chosen.

“Why?”

I asked casually, and surprisingly, Aiselle responded.

“No reason, it’s just… you picked some peculiar… I mean, interesting subjects.”

She almost insulted me there.

“Like what?”

“Everything. For example, why are you taking Advanced Sealing Studies?”

“Oh, this? It’s not a very promising subject.”

Sealing Studies was an ancient magic discipline that manifested magic through objects. However, with the development of alchemy and magic engineering, which led to the invention of ‘enchantment,’ it had become obsolete.

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Its only notable achievement was the invention of the staff, people said.

The magic government had cut funding for Sealing Studies, leading to a chain of job losses for sealing scholars. Few students were willing to take it, so the course was on the verge of being phased out.

But I knew the course wouldn’t be discontinued and would survive as players’ ‘grade shuttles.’ It required the least time investment but guaranteed high grades.

“You know it’s not promising.”

“That’s why I’m taking it.”

She looked at me like I was talking nonsense. I couldn’t exactly say I read it in a game, so it was awkward.

“Everyone thinks like you. So it’s easier to get good grades.”

“Anyway, I’m off.”

Finding it hard to continue the conversation, I quickly left the bookstore. When I glanced back, Aiselle was curiously inspecting the Advanced Sealing Studies textbook.

Her expression didn’t seem very satisfied, though.
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* * *

The next day.

Today was the first day of full-fledged classes.

‘First class is…’

Aiselle checked her schedule. The first lecture at Stella Academy was ‘How to Look Into the Void.’

Although it was a non-mainstream subject, it had gained a reputation for being easy to get good grades in, so she hurriedly signed up.

“You’re taking Void Studies too?”

“Really? Oh… I’m screwed. You study better than me.”

“You signed up for it to get good grades too?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I thought only a few people knew, but there are so many. My first semester is ruined…”

Despite the rumors about it being easy to get good grades, a surprisingly large number of students had gathered. Even those who didn’t make it to the top tier and couldn’t get scholarships were flocking, determined to ace the course.

‘Hmm… This is troublesome.’

Aiselle always needed to stay in the top tier to secure scholarships, so this wasn’t good news.

‘I’ll just have to work harder in other subjects.’

Time was short, and there was a lot to study. She didn’t have time to dwell on the past.

As Aiselle walked down the corridor, she overheard students chatting about lunch menus.

Grr, her stomach growled in hunger. She pulled out a bundle of 60 meal tickets from her pocket.

These tickets allowed her to eat 60 meals at the academy, but they wouldn’t last the entire semester, so she had to be frugal.

‘I guess I’ll buy bread at the store for lunch today.’

She’d barely be able to afford plain bread, which cost only 1,200 credits.

On her way to the store for a quick meal, Aiselle suddenly paused as she passed a lecture room.

It was the Advanced Sealing Studies room, the course Baek Yu-seol had signed up for last night.

Curious, she peeked inside and saw Baek Yu-seol listening to the lecture with a blank expression. His black eyes looked so transparent that she couldn’t guess what he was thinking or looking at.

Aiselle looked at the other students.

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‘What? There are hardly any students.’

There were just enough students to keep the lecture from being canceled, and the professor seemed anxious, biting his nails as he conducted the class.

The attending students were also just randoms.

If, just if… she had signed up for Advanced Sealing Studies?

‘…I could have earned high grades without much effort.’

If she saved time on this course and studied other subjects… maybe her ranking would have improved, and she could have received more scholarships.

‘Did he know that this course was easy to get good grades in?’

Aiselle looked at Baek Yu-seol. His eyes were still inscrutable, as if he were either sleepy or meditating.

Could it be that he had a meticulously planned course enrollment strategy?
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That thought flashed through her mind, but Aiselle quickly shook her head to dispel it.

‘What am I thinking? It must be a coincidence.’

End of Chapter