Chapter 14

### Chapter 14: Lin Sol (2) [Revised]

"Seriously, what’s the point of making it so complicated, really?"

Recently, the old artifact craftsman said he would modify a mana booster for my training, so I brought one over, but it came back as a bomb that could explode at any moment. I tried to figure it out for about a week, but I couldn’t make any sense of it. Honestly, if I can’t use it, no other mage can touch it. To think the old man would make something like this for training—has he finally lost his mind? I can’t understand it at all.

"Hey, where did it go?"

Last night, I decided to dispose of it instead of leaving it around where it could cause trouble, and I placed it on my desk in the office. But it disappeared in just one day.

"Ah, damn. I should have cleaned up more often."

Except for the door, the bookshelves were crammed full, and papers and documents were scattered all over the floor. Scraps of paper with magical inspirations scribbled on them were also strewn about.

*Whoosh*

I drew a simple magic circle and started organizing. The books on the floor returned to their original places, and the papers and documents were neatly stacked on the desk. The scraps of paper found their way into the trash can.

"Seriously, where is it? Really?"

Even though it was modified, it’s not just any ordinary item. The magic circuits in the mana booster were twisted to lower the mana sensitivity to the minimum, and when mana is drawn, it creates a shock inside. It also has a repelling attribute to overload the body. The synergy was unexpectedly too good, and I ended up injuring myself during training. I eventually decided to dispose of it and moved on to other research, but it disappeared in the meantime.

"It must be somewhere. I didn’t take it outside."

I knew it was a dangerous item, so I didn’t do anything stupid like taking it outside. It must be hidden somewhere, probably in a hard-to-find place like under the bookshelf.

*Knock knock knock*

"Professor, are you in there?"

"Yeah, come in."

The female assistant who helps with research entered the room, looking surprised.

"Oh, what’s this? You suddenly cleaned up your room? You always said a natural state is better for research, so you never cleaned up."

"Yeah, I’m looking for something. Have you seen a bracelet that looks like a mana booster?"

"Oh, the mana booster on the desk? I put it back in the practice equipment box."

"… What?"

"I figured you’d forget about it during your research, and since there was a new student practical class today, I organized it. Did I do well?"

"Hey, you crazy… Wait, there’s a practical class today?"

"Yes, it’s probably happening right now. Why do you ask?"

*Thud!*

I untangled my legs, stood up, and pushed the stunned assistant aside, running towards the mana research building.

"Professor, where are you going! You need to do paperwork! Are you running away again?!"

"Ah, that irresponsible brat."

The distance to the mana research building isn’t far. It would be faster to run than to prepare a teleportation magic circle.

The modified mana booster and the regular one look very similar on the outside. Of course, if you look closely, you might notice something off, but neither the professor nor the assistant would have a reason to examine a mana booster closely, and the students would have no way of knowing the difference. If a student were to wear the modified mana booster… who knows what kind of horrific incident could occur.

Hospitalization due to mana circuit damage? That would be a best-case scenario. There’s a higher chance of becoming a cripple who can never use mana again or even dying.

I can’t blame the assistant, as I’ve been reprimanded several times for forgetting to return artifacts I used for research. Ultimately, the biggest mistake was leaving such a dangerous item lying around.

‘Please, let nothing have happened.’

I entered the entrance of the mana research building. Fortunately, the classroom for the new students was on the first floor, and I could see it immediately.

*Bang!*

I burst into the room with the force of breaking the door.

The classroom was in front of me, but instead of seeing the students, they were all crowded at the back of the room.

"What’s going on? What happened?"

"Lee Hyeon suddenly collapsed? Ah, there are too many people, I can’t see."

‘Lee Hyeon?’

He was a student I remembered from the last magic special skills class and had taken notes on.

‘It would have been better if he had no talent at all!’

If he had just enough talent to resist the mana backlash and ended up crippled, it would have been better for him to collapse without knowing anything. At least there would be a chance for emergency treatment later.

"Excuse me! I need to get through!"

"Oh, who is it? Ah, Professor Lin Sol?"

I pushed through the crowd and saw a male student lying on the floor. The first thing that caught my eye was his appearance. I had seen him before, but he still looked new.

I’ve seen many handsome people in my life, but compared to him, all the men I’ve seen so far are squids.

The next thing I noticed was that his handsome face was contorting and groaning.

‘He’s still conscious?’

On the outside, he looked like he was about to die from spitting blood, but inside, he was fighting to control the rampant mana.

His level was incredibly high, and his method of controlling mana was something I had never seen before.

‘His mana control… feels off.’

His method of controlling mana was different from anything known. It was as if he was handling mana actively and intuitively, rather than passively and by the book.

‘Huh?’

Lin Sol soon felt a tingling sensation in his chest. It was a state of intense concentration just before a breakthrough or enlightenment. It was a rare phenomenon that Lin Sol had never experienced before, except during his awakening.

However, when Professor Han Jae-yeong, who teaches mana research, tried to grab Lee Hyeon’s body, Lin Sol had to delay his moment of enlightenment.

"What are you doing!"

"Professor Lin Sol? Why are you here? This is fortunate. We need to provide emergency treatment to the patient. Time is of the essence, so please help."

"No, don’t touch him."

"What are you talking about? The student’s internal mana circuits are in chaos. Immediate action is required."

"Stop it, I said!"

Any external mana power would only interfere. This is why low-level professors need to be cut out in Victoria, sigh.

After glaring at the skeleton-like professor, he looked back at Lee Hyeon.

But the tingling sensation was already gone.

Such an opportunity doesn’t come easily, and it was ruined by that crazy professor. A sense of frustration washed over him, but now wasn’t the time to be angry.

‘If this continues… I can’t be sure.’

His mana control was undoubtedly excellent, but the opponent was too vicious. The modified mana booster continuously made the mana rampage and inflicted shock on the body. The more efficiently he drew mana, the more severe the backlash, and the more fatigue accumulated in his body.

How could I help…

‘Wait, it’s faster than before?’

The speed of his mana control was definitely faster. It was clearly at a higher level than when I first saw it.

"Unconsciously, he’s improving…?"

"What? Professor Lin Sol, what are you talking about?"

He straightened out the tangled mana circuits and forced open the blocked pathways. Mana circulated rapidly through his body, capturing the fleeing mana.

"Is this kind of mana control even possible?"

Without any incantations, his level of mana control was this high…

No, do we even need incantations? Was the initial assumption wrong?

The student in front of him was breaking the fundamental premise of magic.

Just as he was about to enter a state of intense concentration and glimpse a new realm…

Lee Hyeon opened his eyes.

"Ah…"

A sigh of disappointment escaped my lips without me realizing it.

Just a little more! If it had lasted a little longer, I could have seen a new realm!

"Hey… How did you do that!"

"Ugh!"

*

The near-death accident was treated as a simple mistake where Professor Lin Sol’s research equipment was mixed in with the student practice equipment.

From my perspective, it was a life-threatening crisis, but it didn’t seem that serious to others. Apparently, it’s common for simple magic mistakes to cause people to spit blood.

Of course, with my agreement, the incident was quietly handled to maintain a good relationship with Professor Lin Sol.

I received an apology from Professor Lin Sol after he regained his composure, and since I had no lasting aftereffects, I decided to let it go. There was no need to make enemies with the academy and the professor.

After the incident was hushed up, I was kidnapped by Professor Lin Sol.

"Make yourself at home."

He smiled brightly.

What is this situation?

The world-renowned genius mage is sitting me down like a decorative doll and smiling.

"Ah, let me get some tea."

*Clap clap*

After clapping his hands twice, a teacup and a tea set flew from a distance to the table. Lin Sol personally poured the tea into my cup.

"Here, have some tea and make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you."

I lifted the teacup and took a sip.

*Slurp*

Wait, this is instant coffee.

I glanced at him, and Lin Sol, as if he didn’t care about such trivial matters, was staring at my face like a sunflower following the sun.

"Ahem, Professor? I’m curious why you called me here."

Lin Sol made an "Ah!" sound, opened his eyes wide, and straightened up as if he had just come to his senses.

"First, I want to apologize. I’m really sorry for the trouble caused by my mistake."

Lin Sol bowed deeply.

"No, no, it’s fine."

"No, I should have formally apologized, but the academy wanted to keep the incident quiet… I’ll personally make sure to compensate you."

"Really, it’s fine, don’t worry about it."

When someone says this, they usually feel more guilty and want to do more. If he were a truly bad person, he would just shut his mouth and be done with it, but Lin Sol isn’t that kind of person.

"Thank you."

"Did you call me here just to apologize?"

It seemed a bit strange to call me just for an apology. I had already received a nominal apology after the treatment.

It didn’t make sense to call me again just to apologize.

"I wanted to properly apologize and also make a proposal to you."

"A proposal?"

It was a sudden turn of events, not something that happened in the original story, so I tried to remain calm.

"You might find it sudden, but I want you to help with my research."

"Research? I’ll do whatever I can if there’s something I can help with, but… is there something like that?"

"Can I clarify one thing before we talk? The mana control method you used to fix the tangled mana circuits. Did you learn it from someone?"

Mana control method? Why is this coming up suddenly?

Let’s think about Lin Sol again.

A world-renowned talented mage, recognized for pushing the limits of magic to the extreme and achieving S-rank status.

For such a person to be interested in my mana control method means he saw something in it…

The only thing that comes to mind is [Mana Sensitivity]. It seems he’s talking about the process of breaking through my mana circuits using my own power.

"Um?"

Ah, I was thinking too much in front of him.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. I haven’t learned any specific mana control method."

"So, it’s 100% your original method?"

"Um… Yes, I guess so?"

Unless there’s someone else with the special ability [Mana Sensitivity], it’s probably just me.

"Can I trust that answer?"

"Yes, you can trust it."

Since he seemed to doubt it, I gave a firm answer.

"Ha… *sigh*"

Suddenly, Lin Sol started fidgeting like a cat in heat. He took deep breaths and then grabbed my hand with sparkling eyes.

"You… Lee Hyeon. You’re a genius. Compared to you, the mages and S-rank hunters I’ve seen are just starfish!"

"Starfish?"

"Yes! These starfish!"

"… No, that’s too much praise."

Why is he suddenly chanting starfish? Is he enemies with starfish or something?

"It’s not too much praise. With this level of talent, you should be competing on a global scale, not just in Korea…"

"Is my talent really that good? I just think I’m decent."

Mana control is just a skill, right?

"Ha, if the other starfish heard that, they might try to kill you. By the way, that bracelet you fixed, I also found it hard to control mana with it."

"Really?"

Of course, it was dangerous, but if the bracelet is something even active S-rankers can’t use, his reaction makes sense.

My talent, [Mana Sensitivity], was that good?

"Yes! So, I want you to help with my research. It will definitely be a significant contribution to the advancement of the field of magic!"

"Um…"

I’m not interested in contributing to the advancement of magic… but helping him would be beneficial.

Even though he’s not a heroine, Professor Lin Sol’s abilities are outstanding. It will be helpful for my school life.

There’s no harm in getting along with a professor.

But there’s a problem.

Honestly, I don’t have the confidence to help with research.

The mana control method that caught Lin Sol’s attention is just a special ability. I don’t have any knowledge or talent that could help with research.

The only thing that sets me apart from ordinary people is my understanding of mana, but this is more of an intuitive realm that can’t be explained in words.

After much thought, I decided to be honest. I haven’t even properly approached the heroines yet, so I can’t afford to waste time on uncertain matters. This is the right decision.

"I… Can I be of any help? Actually, my mana control method is heavily influenced by my skill, so I don’t have the insight to help with your research."

"I know that. In fact, you yourself are part of my research."

"Me??"

"I have quite a bit of money saved up. I can give you whatever compensation you want."

Hmm, money is good, but…

Seeing my interest wane, Professor Lin Sol waved his hands in frustration.

"No, this is a real loss to humanity. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to contribute to the global advancement of magic!"

He seemed to be unable to calm down, even after saying that, and he pulled at his hair with a cry. He looked like a fanatic obsessed with magic.

His hood fell back, and his cat-like face was clearly visible.

In the game, she gave off a cold and mature adult woman vibe, but how did she transform into such a hyperactive person?

Does her personality change when it comes to magic?

"Um, calm down and let’s talk slowly."

"Alright. *sigh*… *exhale*…"

Lin Sol, placing his hand on his chest and taking deep breaths, had a rather attractive figure visible through his robe.

Hmm, his offer to give me anything is still lingering in my mind. Calm down.

"… Are you interested in my chest?"

"N… No?"

How did he know? I was peeking when his robe fluttered, but did he catch me?

Lin Sol clenched his jaw and stood up with a determined look.

*Swish*

His robe fell to the floor, revealing a pink boxy top that seemed more like a chest piece and black leggings that hugged his thighs