Ch.1313 – A Suspiciously Sleep-Inducing Broadcast

I definitely had a time when I loved gaming.

It was my only way to connect with the outside world given my physically limited mobility.

A fair world. Even when insults flew around, they weren’t usually directed at me.

My character absorbed all the vulgar language, so I simply enjoyed gaming.

It’s funny – back then I hated studying with a passion. How ironic.

In my first life, I barely played any games, and studying was my entire existence.

But now? How things have changed.

When I’m forced to play games to avoid death, I get chills just looking at avatars.

I’d rather study at this point.

I can only conclude that I’m quite a fickle human being.

Past memories get beautified, and time heals pain.

But at least when it comes to gaming, my wounds haven’t healed enough to make it my profession, so I had no plans to play games on my stream.

“How did you get in here?”

“I just walked in. Is it okay for me to be here?”

“Ah… well… yes.”

But I have no idea what people in this world enjoy in virtual reality besides gaming.

They probably don’t just gather to chat idly. So I decided to check out a random channel for research.

The space resembled a university lecture hall.

The broadcast host appeared to be an older professor, probably in his late 50s.

“Oh, Professor, I’m sorry! I forgot to set a password. What should we do about this person?”

“Since our guest is already here, wouldn’t it be rude to kick them out? They’ll leave when they’re ready. It’s not like this is particularly entertaining anyway.”

While I found a seat, he wrote the same title as the broadcast on the blackboard.

[Micro-Nano Transmutation Circle Hermeneutics Make-up Class #2]

Has personal broadcasting expanded into private education these days?

Or maybe it’s the other way around.

As the professor cleared his throat, the teaching assistant diligently printed handouts and distributed them to each seat.

After fiddling with what looked like settings, multiple avatars suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Unlike the unique avatars you’d see in games, everyone here had the plain appearance of young adults in their 20s.

If anything, my avatar, which was an exact replica of myself, seemed out of place.

The viewers seemed to already know each other, as some whispered about me.

Regardless, the teaching assistant kindly distributed a handout to my seat as well.

Being short, I settled into a seat near the front.

With the professor’s attendance check as background noise, I flipped through the handout to examine its contents.

Micro-transmutation circle hermeneutics, huh.

Today’s class was about introducing the benefits of applying semiconductor lithography processes to transmutation circles.

While I was hearing about lithography for the first time, the content was quite interesting to me since it could dramatically improve the resolution of transmutation circles, which was a chronic problem.

I guess you need to offer this level of content to make money.

Society remains harsh as ever.

Plus, this channel seemed professionally set up, giving off the air of a professional broadcaster.

But how do they make money? I couldn’t figure out the revenue model for this channel. Donations were blocked too…

The professor began the lecture.

Clearing his throat seemed to be his habit, as he did it repeatedly throughout his speech, even in virtual reality.

But the content was much more substantial than I expected.

If anything, the handout failed to capture all the information, which was a shame.

The other viewers’ heads were already drooping, but perhaps they already knew the content since this was a make-up class.

Everything was new to me, so I tried drawing transmutation circles in the air with my finger and looked up unfamiliar terms online.

What a waste that such a talented person is working as an internet broadcaster. In my previous life, he would have been guaranteed a position as a Magic Tower Lord.

“In the end, we scientists and engineers are always challenging the limitations of materials. When the tunneling effect exceeds a certain probability, it greatly affects not just the efficiency but the very operation of transmutation circles, so we can never ignore it. Excuse me, friend, what’s your name?”

“Me?”

“Yes, the student with the cute little girl avatar.”

The professor suddenly pointed at me without warning.

“NoName.”

“Namhee? That’s a nice name. I noticed you were paying close attention, so I wanted to ask. Among the materials I introduced today, which do you think would achieve the highest resolution for transmutation circles?”

All eyes turned to me as the sudden question woke up even those who had been dozing off.

I’m not used to this kind of pressure.

I tried to recall what the professor had covered.

Was there similar content in my previous world? There were definitely efforts to increase resolution.

The lithography method was truly unique in that regard.

“I don’t think we need to be constrained by materials.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we ignore efficiency and focus solely on increasing resolution, using interference waves as you explained would be the wisest approach currently.”

“Would you like to come up and explain?”

A piece of chalk was placed in my hand. It’s amazing how they recreated the exact feel of chalk.

I drew a simple dual transmutation circle that generates incident and reflected waves, modifying some equations at each vertex.

“If you connect a dual transmutation circle that generates interference waves in parallel to a lithography transmutation circle like this, it maintains a stable state because they’re topologically equivalent. This way, instead of searching for materials in the real world, it might be faster to find the constant values for the transmutation circle material in this blank space through trial and error.”

It’s a simple idea. The time investment is similar, but the effort per trial is different.

The former requires searching through all materials on Earth and beyond, including compounds, while the latter just needs computer calculations that will eventually yield results.

Gaming has similar aspects.

It’s much better to master one champion through hundreds of practice sessions than to find the perfect champion among hundreds of options.

My thoughts drifted to gaming again. I returned the chalk to the professor and prepared to leave.

The PC room timer showed only 5 minutes remaining.

“I need to go now. Thank you for the great lecture, though I’m sorry I can’t pay you.”

“Pay? Are you not a student at this university?”

* * *

‘The password is SatireV321. I lecture at this time every week, so feel free to drop by.’

The source of my unease during the class was rather disappointing.

I suspected it, but it really was a university lecture.

I couldn’t understand why they would conduct such lectures on the Twissy platform.

Perhaps because Twissy and VTube have monopolized virtual reality platforms?

The poor infrastructure of national schools is truly unfortunate.

It seems I entered while the teaching assistant was setting up the room.

The professor hoped to see me next Wednesday, but I decided to think about it.

Unless they paid me, my reconnaissance mission was a complete failure.

Despite it being summer, the sun showed no signs of setting even as evening approached.

I admired the reddening sky as I returned to the orphanage where Arin was surely waiting impatiently.

“Why are you so late…?”

“Baek A-rin?”

Just as my tired body was about to give out, Arin rushed toward me again.

Normally I would have gently pushed her away, but her voice was filled with tears.

“I don’t want to be separated from NoName.”

“What happened?”

I wiped her eyes, which were now brimming with tears.

“I’m getting adopted tomorrow… by the same person who took Minwoo oppa.”

“Isn’t that good news?”

“But you won’t be there! I wanted to go with you! But… but the man said… two children… isn’t possible… *sob*… *waaah*… I don’t want to go. I’ll stay here forever.”

“Don’t be stubborn.”

“Why are you talking like that…”

“This might be your last chance to leave Merlin Orphanage. We’ll only be apart temporarily.”

Arin is a loner both at school and at the orphanage.

It would be such a waste for such a pretty, kind, and diligent child to be stuck in a place like this.

A swan among ducks never gets the recognition it deserves.

“They said the man is wealthy… but you’re prettier and smarter than me, so why does he only want to take me…”

“Do you know where you’re going?”

She shook her head.

“Listen carefully, Arin. I was planning to leave the orphanage anyway. I won’t be going to school either.”

“Huh…? Why not?”

“The doctor said I need to rest at home for a long time because my body is weak.”

“So you really are very sick?”

“I just want you to eat well and attend school in a good home. When I eventually return to school, will you help me adjust, just like I helped you?”

“…”

“Don’t worry too much about me. I have somewhere to go.”

“But… how will we stay in touch…”

“Didn’t you say the man is wealthy? I’m sure he’ll have a VR capsule just for our Arin. Let’s meet there when we both have time.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes.”

“If you break your promise, you’ll be struck by lightning a thousand times.”

“Of course.”

Well, I’ve actually been struck by lightning a thousand times before, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience, so I’ll try my best to keep this promise.

When dinner time came, our conversation paused.

Arin seemed unsettled and barely touched her food.

Feeling sorry for her, I forced a banana into her hands.

Fortunately, she accepted it readily when I offered, just like a puppy by nature.

Somehow, today became our last tutoring session together.

I enjoyed teaching her, and it would be a lie to say I won’t miss it at all.

“I learned something interesting on Twissy today.”

“So you were late because you went to a PC room?!”

After a brief commotion, I managed to calm her down and took out a slate I had secretly brought from a career fair.

Since this would be my last lesson for her, I needed to give it my all.

“Have you ever seen mana?”

“Mana? I’ve seen blue air when the principal uses magic at school sometimes.”

“I don’t mean mana flow. I’m talking about mana particles. Today, I’ll show you mana.”

I begin by drawing a large circle on the slate.

Since I’m drawing a magic circle rather than a transmutation circle, I need to be extremely careful.

Even I make calculation errors sometimes.

“Mana can’t be seen with the naked eye. Not just because it’s small, but because mana itself isn’t a particle. It’s not a wave form either.”

She probably can’t grasp the difference between particles and waves at her age, but I continued my explanation.

I made sure to fill the slate with runes.

“Mana is, well, possibility. In other words, probability. For example, how would you express your feelings for me?”

“Hmm… as much as the sky, as much as the earth, as much as the universe?”

“Right, we end up explaining it by comparing it to similar concepts. Time, space, qualities, and so on… You assigned the attribute of ‘size’ to your feelings and matched it with the most appropriate ‘concept’.”

“I don’t really understand.”

“To show those feelings, you hold my hand and hug me, right? Mana is the same. If you want to see mana, first you need to make sure mana is definitely there. Then you hold mana’s hand, like this.”

I add another dimension to the slate.

While researching this, I discovered an interesting property – it had a built-in function to deploy 3D magic circles if needed.

With my current mana capacity, I can deploy up to 4 magic circles simultaneously, which is exactly what I need.

“This shape is called a tetrahedron. It’s made by combining 4 equilateral triangles. The bottom is a lithography transmutation circle for observing mana, and these 3 sides are each magic circles.”

From here on, I quickly write down formulas for magic I’m familiar with.

“The first magic circle refines mana. For mana to gather, its properties need to be similar.”

“The second concentrates mana. When mana exceeds the Necessite critical point, its probability approaches 1 and it takes on particle properties.”

“The last one is a secret. It wouldn’t be fun if I told you everything, right?”

Mana flows from the vertices of the tetrahedron and begins to gather in the center. It changes from red to yellow, and finally to white, creating a small but powerful luminous particle.

I adjusted the brightness variable in the lithography transmutation circle to partially block the light.

A blue icosahedral particle, somewhat resembling hail, floated in the air.

Arin stared at the mana particle with wide eyes.

“This particle is 10,000 times smaller than the width of our hair. Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yes… it looks like snowflakes falling in winter.”

“The shape changes depending on the caster’s emotions. When it has this many faces… well, I guess it means I’m just as sad about parting with you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”