ALL NOVEL Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Group Project (2)
T h is w a s c o p i e d fr om ki n gm t l . o rg
Time flew by quickly, and several weeks had passed.
“Baek Yu-seol. How many times have I told you? Do not synthesize using materials I haven’t taught.”
Bubble, bubble, bubble! Professor Maizen Tiren pointed out the antidote placed on my experiment table.
“I slightly modified your formula, and the result was much better.”
“…What?”
“Look, instead of red iod juice, I used tomato ketchup, and the detoxifying effect nearly doubled….”
“You…”
Maizen checked the antidote I made, bit his lip as if searching for words, and then shouted.
“If you’re going to do whatever you want, why do you even attend school!”
Hmm. He had a point, so I had nothing to say.
However, my objective was to provoke Professor Maizen Tiren’s emotions, so I had no intention of changing my attitude.
He was, after all, the boss of [Episode 8: The Dark Mage’s Corruption], which occurred much later.
Although we hadn’t even started the fourth episode yet… it was better to prepare in advance. He was that powerful and dangerous of a boss.
[Maizen Tiren]
*Dark Mage Corruption Progress: 21%
(Inferiority Complex, Jealousy) Dark Mage Contractor
Alchemy Professor
Episode 8 Boss
Dark Mage Transformation Confirmed
Maizen was one of the villains who succumbed to his dark emotions and became a ‘Dark Mage.’
When the corruption progress of ‘Dark Mage Corruption’ exceeded 90%, one would become a complete Dark Mage, but when the corruption progress was below 50%, it was impossible to detect through magical means.
I could know thanks to the Bulbul Glasses, but there was no way to prove it, making it impossible to report to the ‘Dark Mage Extermination Squad’ that hunted down corrupted mages.
So, I deliberately provoked her. By quickly raising her corruption rate to over 50%, I could immediately deploy the Dark Mage Extermination Squad.
‘If it were a typical Dark Mage Corruption, there would still be ways to turn back before complete transformation…
There were countless ways to reverse it before the corruption reached 70%, such as using drugs, magic, or coming to one’s senses by willpower.
However, she was a ‘Dark Mage Contractor.’ She had voluntarily made a pact with a Dark Mage, throwing her body into darkness.
A seed of the Dark Mage was already sprouting within her, making it impossible to turn back.
Thi s w a s cop i e d fr o m k i n gmt l . o r g
That much was understandable.
But the problem was that she didn’t just turn into a Dark Mage alone; she also affected other students, making them Dark Mages and posing a serious threat to Stella.
Since I was already on Professor Maizen’s bad side, I figured I might as well use this to draw attention to myself and prevent additional damage.
Of course, it was a far-fetched hope.
But since this episode could cause significant harm to many characters, or in the worst case, lead to an immediate ‘bad ending,’ I planned to do my best.
“…Your attitude hasn’t improved at all. You can forget about getting high grades in alchemy.”
Talking about grades was a natural punishment. As a professor, how could he not take action when a student was being so disobedient?
T h i s wa s c opi e d f r o m k i n gm t l .or g
Still, my goal was just to graduate without receiving an academic warning, so I didn’t care about my grades.
Wait a minute.
If I wasn’t going to get good grades anyway, did that mean I didn’t have to do the alchemy assignments?
‘Oh, I should use that time to build muscles.’
But things didn’t go as planned.
“There will be a practical exam next week. The item you will be making is the ‘D Vitality Potion.’ While you can easily make it by combining all the knowledge you’ve learned so far, the ingredients are numerous, and the process is complex, making it difficult to do alone. Therefore, this practical exam will be conducted in groups of four. Now, form groups with your friends.”
I was slightly taken aback by Professor Maizen’s words.
Group projects. One of the greatest punishments a professor could give. However, my surprise stemmed from something else.
‘A group project? Was that in the game’s story?’
No matter how much I thought about it, there wasn’t. Perhaps because the game needed to progress quickly, trivial stories like group projects were omitted.
Was this the disparity between the game and reality?
‘Do these exist in the original romance fantasy?’
I glanced at Flame, but her face full of discontent made it impossible to read her thoughts.
‘Ugh, a group project…
Looking around, I saw students avoiding my gaze.
“Snicker, snicker. Isn’t he going to do it alone?”
“No way. Even if he has no friends.”
I heard low snickers. They were from the students of Jeremie’s faction. Since I beat up Morso in a duel, their vigilance had intensified, and with Professor Maizen starting to use his connections to harass me, they were getting more blatant.
No one would approach me because they were afraid of the professor and the crown prince’s group.
Students started forming groups, and as they busily moved around, I had nowhere to go.
“Most of the groups are complete.”
After about 10 minutes, Professor Maizen spoke. There were a total of 11 completed groups, and 4 students were left out.
“Students who couldn’t form a group, gather together.”
*Sigh*
As I moved stealthily to the desk at the back, other students who had no friends gathered around.
There were the brown-haired boy with freckles, Kasahun, the shaggy-haired boy Malivan, and Aiselle along with me.
‘Come to think of it, Aiselle has no friends either.’
Aiselle’s father, Grand Duke Isaac Morf’s death, didn’t leave a good impression on the public.
Rumors widely spread that Isaac Morf, once the hero of mages, had betrayed the magic world and turned to the Dark Mages.
Of course, they were false rumors, but no one could uncover the truth, so Aiselle was firmly branded as a ‘traitor’s child.’
It was natural for her to be alone.
‘The other two… just have personality issues, I guess.’
I had no idea who this boy named Kasahun was. Judging by his demeanor, he was probably a noble from some remote area, and he must have been ostracized for his arrogance about getting into Stella.
However, I knew the name Malivan. Though not a main character and having no direct connection to the storyline, I remembered he later gained fame in alchemy.
I greeted them as brightly as possible.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Baek Yu-seol.”
The two boys became even more sullen.
T h i s w a s c op i e d f r o m k i n g mtl . o r g
They realized they were in the same group as me.
Just being in the same group as Baek Yu-seol would somehow cause them to be deducted a lot of points, making it meaningless to try hard. They must have been aiming for good grades and working hard, but they ended up stepping on a landmine.
‘How do I deal with this…’
I became uncomfortable with the awkward atmosphere I disliked the most. Unexpectedly, it was Aiselle who broke the ice.
“Are you just going to stand there awkwardly? At least introduce yourselves. You all know my name, don’t you?”
T h i s w a s c o p i e d f ro m kin gm t l.or g
The two boys nodded awkwardly.
“Ugh, so annoying. Are you being so petty because of grades? If you do well, you’ll get good grades anyway, so stop being so pathetic.”
“…What do you know? Our group is already doomed. Let’s just do our own tasks and call it quits.”
T h i s w a s c o p ie d fr o m k i n g m t l . o r g
Kasahun bravely retorted, but Aiselle just snorted.
“Surrendering before even trying. How did you get into Stella? You’re hopeless.”
“What did you say?”
“I know that this guy is a big nuisance in this group.”
Sorry about that.
“But it doesn’t matter. For the alchemy practical test, at least three alchemists from the ‘Alchemy Castle’ will come to judge. Professor Maizen can’t ruin our grades on his own.”
“Oh…”
I had no idea. The other boys seemed equally surprised, and Aiselle proudly flicked her sky-blue hair back.
Indeed, I seemed to have heard somewhere that the one thing Aiselle, who had lost everything, valued most was ‘information.’
As Kasahun fell silent, Malivan, who had been quiet, slowly opened his mouth.
“So, we’re really going to do the assignment properly?”
“Do I have to say it twice?”
“Thank goodness… I really wanted to make this…”
“At least this one has some motivation.”
Then she gave me a dirty look. What. Just because I’m quiet doesn’t mean I’m unmotivated. I’m also observing you guys intently. As the elder here.
“Ahem, so how will we divide the materials?”
“Of course, we’ll each take a part.”
Alchemy materials were difficult to acquire, and the processing was quite complex. Now, the teammates had to divide and gather them.
“So, what are the materials?”
I decided to show off a bit and searched for the ‘D Vitality Potion’ ingredients using the Bulbul Glasses, but Aiselle spoke up first.
“Twenty severed tails of Firemane Lizards, 300mC of io solution, 7g of pure silver, 10g of fairy grass, pine needles…
She listed the ingredients smoothly. Unlike me, who had to search, she had memorized everything.
Indeed, one of Aiselle’s traits was [Versatile].
Whether it was magic, alchemy, politics, business, or stocks.
She knew everything and did it all well. In a way, she was even more versatile than Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang.
“Honestly, these materials aren’t difficult to find in the Arcaneum market. You can all get them, right?”
The boys nodded, but no one volunteered to get a specific material.
There were some difficult ones among them.
“Then, who will get the ‘Firemane Lizard tails’?”
That’s it, the ‘monster corpse’ category.
Even if you memorized the textbooks, it was hard to choose the best monster corpse. If you picked the wrong one, it would affect the quality of the final product, so everyone avoided it.
T h i s w a s co p i ed f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
I raised my hand without hesitation.
“I’ll get it.”
Aiselle narrowed her eyes, unsure of my confidence.
“You know monster corpses are the most important in alchemy, right?”
“Of course.”
“…You seem so confident. Can I trust you?”
“No problem.”
T h i s w as c o p i ed f r om ki n g m t l. o r g
Aiselle reluctantly nodded.
Geez, this kid doesn’t trust people.
It’s true that selecting materials is difficult. Without the Bulbul Glasses’ analysis function, I couldn’t have chosen correctly.
But I didn’t think much about using the glasses’ function.
‘Firemane Lizard. I could catch one myself.’
I was thinking of direct delivery from the source.
* * *
“Herik. Can you deliver this note to the first-year alchemy students in Group C?”
Maizen Tiren handed a note to a student named Herik. The note wasn’t anything special.
[Notice. The practical exam assignment has been changed from the ‘D Vitality Potion’ to the ‘Tiren Point Potion.’ Students, please take note.]
It was a simple announcement about changing the exam topic. The Tiren Point Potion, developed by Maizen Tiren, was an energy supplement that students could easily practice with the available materials.
“…Except for Group 12.”
“Yes?”
Herik looked puzzled for a moment at Maizen’s words, then smiled.
Th i s wa s c o p ie d f ro m k i n g m t l. o r g
He quickly realized that Baek Yu-seol and Aiselle were in Group 12.
“Hehe, of course.”
T h i s w as c o p i e d f r o m k i ng m t l .or g
Since Herik was a member of Jeremie’s faction, he quickly grasped Maizen’s intentions.
‘He plans to make them fail the exam entirely.’
The practical exams for Stella’s alchemy course were always judged by professional alchemists from the ‘Alchemy Castle.’
Because Stella was not a professional alchemist training institution, if exceptional alchemical talent was spotted in a student, they would be given opportunities for transfer or employment after graduation.
If utilized positively, it could be a chance to gain wings as an alchemist…
But it also meant that showing an unsightly performance before them could greatly hinder one’s path as an alchemist.
‘Yes, your alchemy might be impressive, but students should act like students.’
No matter how great a student was, they were ultimately playing in the professor’s hands. This was something Maizen intended to teach thoroughly.
End of Chapter