Surviving as a Genius Mage in the Academy

“You son of a bitch!”

A voice loud enough to burst eardrums exploded from the man’s mouth. His face flushed as if it would burst any second, and he swung his fist towards Asel.

With a dull thudding sound, Asel’s head snapped back. His body, having lost its balance, plunged into the mud puddle, and the inside of his mouth was torn, giving off a bitter taste of blood.

He was clearly hit in the cheek, but the world spun around as if his jaw had been dislocated. It felt like his head had gone strange.

No, maybe it wasn’t because he was hit.

Asel shifted his blurry vision to look at the pile of pure white powder spilled beside him.

A drug that, when consumed, causes hallucinations similar to reality and magic amplification. It was an item far inferior to what nobles enjoyed, but in a slum like this, it was hard to acquire and was quite a valuable commodity with a considerable price.

And it was also the item Asel had spilled while transporting it. What’s more, he spilled it right in front of the person who ordered the delivery.

Of course, the man was at fault. If he hadn’t pushed Asel just because the delivery was late, the drug wouldn’t have spilled into the mud puddle and become unusable. But to the man, such things didn’t matter.

“Do you even know how expensive this, this is?! You shitty little brat, fuck!”

Shouting that, the man kicked the fallen Asel with his foot. With each kick, heavy with weight, Asel felt like his breath was cut off sharply. But the pain wasn’t that severe. It was probably because he had accidentally inhaled the spilled drug.

“……”

Asel narrowed his eyes, feeling the faint pain and foreign sensation in his body. Blood flowed from between his closed teeth, but his entire attention was focused on the hallucinations caused by the drug.

A place called Earth. The image of a man born in South Korea, growing up under ordinary parents and living an ordinary life, unfolded before his eyes. The young man’s life, feeling more like a dream than a hallucination, was deeply etched into Asel’s mind.

Sleeping on a bed under a cozy blanket instead of tattered, moldy scraps of cloth. Complaining that he hates food he’d never be able to taste in his life, and laughing and chatting with people his age.

“Die, you son of a bitch! Die!”

-Is there anything you want to eat?

The voices of reality and hallucination were heard simultaneously.

One side of his vision was red. It seemed blood flowing from his head had gotten into his eye. But the hallucination was still vivid. Although it flowed quickly, everything felt as vivid as if he had experienced it himself.

Then, tap.

“……”

It rained in the hallucination. At the same time, raindrops fell on his cheek. The young man in the hallucination took out an umbrella and used it. Meanwhile, in reality, he…

“Asel!”

Along with a familiar voice being heard, the hallucination disappeared.

Asel shifted his blurry vision to look where the voice came from. His only blood relative, Evelyn, was urgently running towards him.

Come to think of it, was this delivery area near their home? It seemed she roughly guessed what was happening here from the man’s voice and rushed out.

-Rumble!

The sky flashed, and soon after, the sound of thunder was heard. The world was momentarily tinted blue. The thin rain streaks began to gain more strength.

“Stop it!”

Just as Asel was gazing spellbound at the blue lightning flashing between the dark clouds, Evelyn, who had arrived nearby unnoticed, struck the man’s back with her small hands and shouted loudly.

“I said stop it, you son of a bitch! Don’t hit my little brother!”

“Ha! Fine, you worms. It was already shitty, let’s just die here. Evelyn, I’ll cut off all your arms and legs and sell you to a brothel.”

Saying that, the man turned his body towards Evelyn. At that, unconcealed fear settled on Evelyn’s face. Seeing that, Asel groaned and barely managed to raise his body, which wouldn’t move well.

The hallucination symptoms had disappeared, but the analgesic effect remained. Asel forced his creaking body to move, picked up a sharp stone lying nearby, and brought it down onto the man’s instep with the weight of his entire body.

“Aah! You bastard!”

The man twisted his face in pain, as if his instep were being crushed, and screamed in agony.

Strength suddenly drained from the man’s body. Acute exhaustion and seizure due to external impact above a certain level. It was a typical withdrawal symptom of an addict who hadn’t been able to take the drug. Asel ignored the curses the man was spewing while collapsed and hobbled towards Evelyn.

Before Evelyn could say anything seeing that, Asel opened his mouth first.

“Sis, let’s run.”

“What?”

“I said let’s run. Quickly!”

Asel frowned, grabbed Evelyn’s hand, and forcefully pulled her up. Only then did Evelyn understand Asel’s meaning, and she began running in the opposite direction from the collapsed man.

“Hah…… hah……”

Asel also ran, following her. Fortunately, the man hadn’t focused his kicks on his legs, so it wasn’t to the extent that he couldn’t run away.

They reached a place far enough that the shouting man’s voice faded. Asel and Evelyn sat leaning beside a half-broken trash can, breathing heavily. A foul smell wafted from the trash can, but both Asel and Evelyn were already so used to this level of stench that they were numb to it.

“Phew…… are you okay?”

After catching their breath sufficiently, Evelyn looked at Asel’s swollen face and asked. Asel was about to say he was okay, but the pain he felt as the drug’s effect gradually wore off made him twist his face. Seeing that reaction, Evelyn wore a tearful expression.