Ch.1414 – The Demonstration Instructor Moves Forward

“Thank you all for your hard work on the exams.”

Groans erupt from all around.

Some let out sighs of relief, others breathe despair as the eventful major course finally comes to an end.

“Though this was a makeup class, I’d like to ask for another round of applause for our TA who helped us through these ten weeks.”

After sending the students’ final evaluation tests to his office, Professor Cheon contemplated how to conclude the session.

“Thank you for your hard work as well, Professor. Do you have any courses scheduled for next year?”

“Unfortunately not. Moreover, I’ll be on sabbatical starting next year, so I’ll only return after you all graduate. That is, if you manage to graduate safely.”

With that small joke, the students began to relax their somewhat tense minds.

“We started this lecture with 50 students, but now only 28 elite remain.

Don’t worry too much. I’ll grade including those who dropped, so if you performed at least average, you’ll receive a satisfactory grade.

Thank you all for your hard work during this winter makeup semester. This has been Professor Cheon Kyu-jin of Micro-Nano Soft Material Analysis. Thank you.”

With thunderous applause, students begin logging out one by one.

Though it was a brief time, he takes a moment to reflect as he bids farewell to students whose names he’s memorized from calling attendance.

That student who always sat in the back row dozing off, yet somehow aced the midterm evaluation.

And that one whose curiosity was so boundless that they bombarded him with questions even after class ended. The sense of fulfillment that came with it was only natural.

The initial grading of the exams was the TA’s responsibility.

With little time left until the grade submission deadline, considering potential claims, grading needed to start now.

The TA also excused himself and left the room before Professor Cheon.

In the end, the last one remaining was the mysterious child he had met during the previous summer semester.

At first, he thought it might be a retired professor friend trying to tease him, but as the lectures progressed, it became clear she was genuinely attending his class.

“How did the exam go?”

“Well, more or less…”

“Haha. I’m looking forward to seeing your grades. Our students are all outstanding talents, but I’m worried they might fall behind Nam-hee.”

“It’s not Nam-hee, it’s Name. NoName.”

“Name?”

“Yes.”

“I apologize for the misunderstanding. As you can see, kids these days practically live in virtual reality. This is only my second time teaching in VR, and it still feels awkward.

If it’s not too presumptuous, I’d like to meet Name in person outside of virtual reality. Would that be alright?”

The girl wasn’t an undergraduate at his university. Nevertheless, he was curious about the identity of this child who attended every class and showed outstanding performance.

“I don’t have much time. If you insist, let’s meet during the claim period. You said it would be in person, right?”

Still curious about her exam results, after all.

Professor Cheon smiled brightly at her response.

“I’ll be going then.”

“Do you know how to get there?”

“…”

“If you don’t, I can tell you now.”

* * *

After Arin was adopted, I left Merlin Orphanage without looking back.

For several months, I slept at “Palace PC Bang” almost every day.

Thankfully, the shutdown law was abolished two years ago, otherwise I might have ended up living among the homeless at Seoul Station.

Sister seemed unconcerned, as if my case wasn’t uncommon, and sent me off with 150,000 won that was originally mine.

It was no time for playing around. I needed to earn 30,000 won daily just to solve the “shelter” part of food, clothing, and shelter.

But my stubbornness about not playing games lasted a long time, and I ended up running a somewhat peculiar stream where I solved homework for snot-nosed kids for money, with my category set to “Just Chatting.” It was the only talent I had.

With a minimum charge of 1,000 won, even after fees, the money accumulated quickly after answering a few questions.

[‘HoYaMuYaHo’ donated 1,000 won!]

-I have vacation homework due tomorrow but haven’t finished it all! Please help!

“Thank you for the donation.”

I open the attached photo in the donation window.

Being naturally taciturn, only the Berceuse melody from my background playlist quietly filled the air.

I set up a digital blackboard next to the donation window and begin explaining.

“Although this problem uses soft materials as a base, it’s ultimately not about soft material science but mathematics.

So we don’t need to analyze the soft material itself.

We just need to find the angle the problem is asking for. See how this line is unnaturally bent?”

I draw a horizontal auxiliary line in the middle of the bent line.

“So these two are parallel, and this is 30 degrees. Also, these two are parallel as well, so this is 45 degrees. Add them together and you get 75 degrees.”

After teaching a few times, I’ve memorized that this is about a middle school first-year level problem.

After solving problems like this, I would close my eyes and rest again.

The viewers didn’t particularly try to disturb me and entertained themselves, so I was quite satisfied with this situation. Though I was still struggling for money every day.

-Why pay money to ask this?

-lol we could’ve just solved this in the comments for free

-There are only two angles, 30 and 45 degrees, so obviously it’s 75 degrees total, kiddo lmao

-This is barely even math, just basic arithmetic

-She’s really milking this stream, why is everyone watching this?

-Because her avatar is super cute

-facts

[‘SaveMeFromGradSchool’ donated 1,000 won!]

-Do you also take questions about complex analysis?

Just as I was about to fall asleep, another donation sound goes off.

“…Yes.”

My response was delayed as I checked the question again, my mind foggy.

-lol adjust your donation amount accordingly

-What’s the streamer’s real identity? She knows everything

There wasn’t really a set price, but if a problem seemed lengthy, people would naturally donate higher amounts.

If I tried to solve such problems for just 1,000 won, there would certainly be riots in the comments.

[‘SaveMeFromGradSchool’ donated 10,000 won!]

-Is this enough?

More than enough. I carefully examine the content sent by another precious viewer.

-But why is your username SaveMeFromGradSchool?

-So I can get used to it in case no one helps when I fall into the lake in front of school and yell “help me”

-lol you’re not considered human until you graduate

“Just a moment.”

I need help from the internet. I understand the concept itself, but I’m not familiar with the terminology in this world.

Not sure how to search, I just type whatever comes to mind.

-Internet lifeline!

-I just saw the question and it’s brutal lmao

-She’s the real deal

-Does she actually understand this? Is her cover finally blown?

“Ah, here it is. To derive the conclusion, you need to understand what a perfectoid space is. I don’t want to explain it in detail, so just refer to Triwiki…”

-There’s really nothing Triwiki doesn’t have.

I agree with that opinion. Even during my time at the Magic Tower, few people knew about this.

“So we can define an open set like this. If we fix a prime number p and have this field, we can extend the field as follows.”

It’s not particularly difficult content. It’s just that the concept is quite unfamiliar.

“Anyway, the formula you’re looking for can be derived as follows. Let me know if you have any more questions.”

There’s no response for a while, so they must be wracking their brain trying to understand the formulas I’ve written.

There’s no rush anyway, since it’s not going to be erased.

-Why even learn this stuff? Is it really necessary for daily life?

-After bullying kids all this time, now you’re asking what’s the use when it’s something you don’t know lol

-What use is knowing about “perfect” whatever lol

-And figuring out soft material angles makes sense?

The comment section has turned into an arena again. But this time, I don’t plan to remain a bystander.

Mainly because I agree with one side of the argument.

“It’s a fundamental theory that allows free movement between fields and rings, and it’s incredibly important in magic studies too. Like using 3rd circle magic with only 1st circle qualifications.”

Extremely important indeed. Legendary dragon-kin can use 9th circle magic, which is absolutely impossible for humans due to biological limitations, but if you reach the 7th circle and have certain qualifications, you can conditionally activate it.

[‘leviatan’ donated 1,000 won!]

-Talk sense. So in magic games, everyone would be firing guided missiles from the tutorial?

“Why doesn’t that make sense?”

[‘leviatan’ donated 1,000 won!]

-Then prove it. Install WoA and try the tutorial

“What’s WoA?”

[‘leviatan’ donated 1,000 won!]

-You don’t know World of Arsheria? Anyway, when you install it, you can use mana almost exactly like in reality, so you don’t need permissions like in real life

From what I hear, it seems to be a virtual reality program that even implements mana.

I thought replicating mana would be difficult, but the technology of the future is truly impressive.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Since I’m at a PC Bang, most programs should be installed anyway.

As I thought, World of Arsheria was ranked 2nd in popularity.

One rank above League of Legends, which I’ve played to death.

If it’s a world with mana implementation, it should be just like the real world, so I don’t understand why people would bother accessing virtual reality for it.

-Leviatan is on fire lmao

-She’s actually doing it, she’s actually doing it

-That buildup was insane

-Turns out he wasn’t a troll but a high-IQ mastermind lol

[Would you like to access World of Arsheria?]

[The broadcast has been running for 2:17:53. Would you like to continue?]

[May the blessing of the World Tree be with you.]

A tingling sensation dominates my senses, similar to when first accessing League.

After skimming through some annoying terms and conditions, a new world unfolds before my eyes.

[No registered avatar information found. Would you like to proceed with the main avatar?]

[Welcome, User Name: NoName.]

Birds chirp in the lush forest.

Cold chill and damp humidity grip my skin.

When I don’t move for a while, assessing my surroundings, the game’s help system kindly provides an arrow indicating which direction to go.

-It’s the tutorial, so hurry up and go

-If you save a child named Lepi near the lake, you’ll be able to use magic from then on

It felt truly real. The rustling sound of leaves with each step, the sunlight illuminating the forest through gaps. So this is virtual reality.

With no time to be lost in admiration, wolf howls could be heard in the distance.

[Prologue: Child of the Oracle]

As the chat suggested, a small girl lay unconscious near the lake, surrounded by three or four wolves.

-Why is there no tutorial?

-Must have skipped it

-It’ll be hard to catch them without knowing how

The mana circuit seems completely closed, as magic doesn’t operate.

This body doesn’t seem much different from my real one. Anyway, I need to find a way to defeat the wolves.

I was a mage, not a mercenary.

A body with no aptitude for physical force.

One wolf shows interest in me and approaches.

As I step back, the wolf carefully steps forward.

The wolf wasn’t rushing at all.

It must have seen countless prey turn and flee without looking back.

I collapse and fall right there.

-????????

-What is the streamer doing???

-lol what’s this now

-Wolves tear people apart! Bears tear people apart! So you play dead in front of wolves?

-Miraculous three-step logic lol

First, I play dead. Then I observe the situation.

Deceiving predators is the most sophisticated tactic that only humans can conceive.

‘Awoooo!’

True to their pack nature, they call two other companions to surround me from all directions.

They slowly circle clockwise, but the gap narrows.

Just as a wolf raises its front paw to strike my head, having judged that my escape route is blocked, I grab its other leg.

“Cast: Circuit Reconfiguration.”

The soft formula I secretly created using the bare ground as a slate activates.

The wolf jumps in shock but soon staggers and collapses.

There are usually various reasons why one cannot use magic.

Most problems stem from lack of understanding about mana, formulas, or magic itself.

This phenomenon can also occur due to constraints imposed on the caster themselves—the mana circuit might be blocked or destroyed, or a curse might prevent operation.

If none of these apply, it’s likely environmental, but judging by the wolves’ size and horn shape, this forest was rich in mana.

If I had to specify, it would be a curse by the system.

The circuit itself was open, but mana couldn’t pass through the meridian due to some special semipermeable membrane.

The solution in such cases is simple. Just borrow another creature’s meridian.

The moment I grabbed the wolf’s front leg, I induced a synchronization phenomenon connecting earth-me-wolf, and used the wolf’s mana to synchronize its meridian with the earth.

Since it didn’t contain much mana to begin with, it would suffer dizziness from mana depletion, but would regain consciousness soon. Dealing with this quickly was the priority.

The two wolves hesitate before changing their minds and charging at me.

Not wanting to miscalculate mana and suffer depletion myself, I decided to apply the most cost-effective magic first.

“Cast: Friction Coefficient Adjustment.”

Magic that makes the earth’s surface smooth doesn’t require much atomic rearrangement.

Naturally, it consumes very little mana.

It’s a basic magic that elementary academy students might use, but it was perfect against these beasts.

The two wolves rush fiercely toward each other, slip, and slide all the way.

They collide with each other and don’t know what to do.

Well, my goal wasn’t to eliminate them, and since saving that child would allow me to use magic, I bid farewell to the puppies.