episode_0136

You know how, when you were in middle school, you’d have thoughts like this at least once?

Magic is real.

Demons actually exist.

…Thoughts like that.

You know, the kind of thing every middle schooler thinks at least once?

You might even memorize all sorts of spells, trying to cast magic just once,

or stab your finger with a box cutter to summon a demon, drawing a magic circle with your own blood, right?

“……”

No.

Now that I think about it, the number of idiots who’d actually do that is probably extremely small.

What kind of lunatic would genuinely believe in demons and draw a magic circle with blood?!

…That’s what I thought as I sealed away my middle school memories.

Time passed, and I became a college student, then an office worker.

Enough time had gone by that I’d completely forgotten about my chuunibyou phase.

Then, I met Dark in the Prophecy RPG community.

And.

My goddamn embarrassing chuunibyou memories came flooding back.

A magic circle drawn in blood?

That was just the beginning.

My chuunibyou phase was a deep, dark abyss in itself.

A memory I truly wanted to forget.

But.

Thanks to Dark, I couldn’t.

Why?

Because this damn high school girl was doing the exact same kind of crap I used to do!

And on top of that!

She was a total psycho who publicly posted her atrocities on the internet!

Wow…

Back in my day, I couldn’t even imagine doing that.

There were no online communities, so I just acted like an idiot alone in my room until it fizzled out.

But this girl? She’s doing that same stupid crap out in the open?

How the hell do you plan to deal with the fallout later?!

When you finally snap out of it and see the garbage you posted online, you’re gonna want to kill yourself.

…That’s what I thought as I gave her all sorts of advice.

But.

Dark said this:

The Great Darkness is nothing to be ashamed of.

It’s just the pathetic cries of those who fear the abyss.

Yeah.

I am scared.

I’m so terrified of what future Dark will scream at present Dark that my heart’s pounding.

So I gave up on advising her.

Well…

You’ll understand eventually.

Just how shameful and humiliating chuunibyou really is.

…Or so I thought.

But then, Dark got isekai’d into the Prophecy RPG world,

and with her rich chuunibyou delusions as a foundation, she reached the level of a Grand Archmage.

Huh?

How is that possible?

It is possible.

Because magic is a skill that materializes your knowledge into imagery.

Delusions become magic,

and chuunibyou becomes power.

So.

Dark, an active chuunibyou, was destined to become the strongest.

Would someone like that ever feel ashamed of their chuunibyou?

Absolutely not.

If anything, she’d love it.

In modern society, chuunibyou just makes you a loser,

but in a fantasy world, it’s the ultimate talent for becoming a Grand Archmage.

Of course.

Just having delusions isn’t enough to become a Grand Archmage.

You need knowledge,

and you need magical power.

But.

For a veteran like Dark, who’d mastered the Prophecy RPG, that was child’s play.

‘The only real problem is…’

That no matter how hard you try, if you’re stupid, you can’t properly manifest magic?

But.

Even that wasn’t a big issue.

Dark was a high-achieving honor student who consistently ranked first in her prestigious Seoul high school—

“What?”

“I was good at studying.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’m serious.”

“You were a hardcore Prophecy RPG veteran who gamed like your life depended on it, glued to your computer so much people called you a forum ghost. And you were first in your school? How the hell is that possible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“?”

“Exams are designed so that if you just pay attention in class, you can ace them.”

“?”

“If you just listen in class, you can get perfect scores. Why wouldn’t I have time to game?”

“So… just by paying attention in class, you could easily rank first in your school?”

“Yeah.”

“At a Seoul high school?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the CSAT?”

“Perfect score.”

“When did you even study? You were shitposting on the forums right up until the exam.”

“I studied first, then messed around.”

“Bullshit.”

I know her gaming hours and forum activity logs.

You expect me to believe she studied first?

No way!

“Kim Min-ah, the CSAT perfect scorer. Never heard of her?”

“……?”

Kim Min-ah.

The only girl to score perfect on that year’s infamous “killer” CSAT.

Even if you forgot everything else, her looks were insane—impossible not to remember.

A gorgeous face,

a body that defied logic.

A high school girl so stunning she could rival a Prophecy RPG character.

And that girl aced the CSAT?

The internet exploded,

and there was no way you wouldn’t remember.

“That was me.”

And now she’s saying she was that girl.

“Bullshit.”

“Sigh…”

Dark let out a sigh and pulled out the Orb of Truth.

A top-tier lie detector that glows when you touch it and speak—revealing whether your words are true or false.

“I am Kim Min-ah, the CSAT perfect scorer.”

Ding!

The orb shone brightly, confirming her words as truth.

“Holy shit.”

“If you still don’t believe me after the Orb of Truth, I’m punching you.”

“You’re Kim Min-ah?”

“Yep.”

“If you’re that smart, why the hell did you believe in magic and demons?”

“Because they’re real.”

“?”

“Magic exists. Demons exist.”

“Oh…”

…Right.

Magic does exist. Demons do exist.

If I’d heard that on Earth, I’d have called it nonsense,

but here?

I couldn’t argue.

Because they’re real.

There was no need to be ashamed of chuunibyou.

Over there, it was just cringe,

but here? It was like the pursuit of truth.

…The moment I thought that,

I felt strangely at peace.

“Ah… I didn’t have to think of it as chuunibyou…”

“Pursuing magic! Pursuing truth! Pursuing coolness! There’s no shame in that! If anything, it’s something to be proud of!”

“You’re right… It is something to be proud of.”

I’d reached enlightenment.

Chuunibyou wasn’t shameful.

Chuunibyou was good.

“In that case, how about we explore the truth together?”

“You mean talk about magic?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, why don’t we do that with the Hero’s Party later?”

“The Hero’s Party?”

Dark made a face like, What’s the point of discussing magic with them?

And that’s the correct reaction.

The only person in the Hero’s Party with enough knowledge to seriously discuss magic is the Grand Archmage Merlin—

and our party doesn’t have Merlin.

Sure, plenty of us have learned magic,

but none have deeply studied it.

There’s no point in discussing it with amateurs.

But.

Our party has two beings with immense magical knowledge.

“Two?”

“Selena and the World Tree.”

“Selena-sama… I heard about her from Geum Taeyang… But the World Tree is here too?”

“Yep.”

“Where?”

“Next to Pinae noona. They formed a spirit contract.”

“A spirit contract?! The World Tree became a spirit?!”

“Pretty much.”

I briefly explained what happened in the Elven Forest.

Dark was stunned.

“Wow… Reviving the World Tree… Even forming a contract… That’s insane.”

“Hehe!”

“But… is the World Tree’s magical knowledge really that incredible?”

“It is.”

At first, I planned to teach Pinae noona magic myself.

She’s a mage who’s studied a lot,

but I have the ‘Truth’ Merlin dedicated his life to researching.

But.

The World Tree knew an even deeper ‘Truth.’

If Merlin had heard its knowledge, he’d have bowed and cried, ‘Master!’

In pure magical research, it surpassed even Selena.

“That level?!”

“That level.”

Selena, honestly, isn’t the type to study magic.

To her, thoughts are magic,

and her will is miracles.

To the Goddess of Light, magic is as natural as moving her limbs—she never researched it.

So her magical knowledge is… vague.

How to put it…

She is a genius mage,

but when teaching others, her explanations are like, ‘Just go whoosh! Bam! Fwoosh! Sparkle! And you’re done!’

She’s incredible,

but her teaching skills are bottom-tier.

Meanwhile,

the World Tree spent eons researching magic to understand Selena’s power.

It’s a tree—it couldn’t go anywhere.

Magic research was its only pastime, so it just kept at it until it became an expert.

Anyway.

A tree that’s researched magic since the dawn of time had to become an unparalleled mage.

How incredible, you ask?

Just casually teaching the elves magic—like old folktales—was enough to turn them into a magic-wielding race.

“That’s insane.”

“With that level, we can discuss magic, right?”

“At that level, I’d pay to learn.”

“You want to learn that badly?”

“Of course! The stronger my magic, the more perfect my Black Flame Dragon can be!”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s just funny that you’d learn from a primordial being just to make cosmetic magic.”

“So you’re not making a Black Flame Dragon?!”

“Obviously not?”

“Then what are you making?”

“A five-stage combining super robot, obviously!”

“……”

Dark stared at me like I was an idiot.

But how could she not understand the coolness of a five-stage combining super robot?!

A true man finds romance in robots! Dinosaurs! Transformations! And combining!

“I’m not a man, though?”

“Right.”

“But… dinosaurs?”

“Yeah.”

“How about making it a Black Flame Dragon instead?”

“?”

“If we combine our powers, couldn’t we make a five-stage combining Black Flame Dragon robot?”

“!!!!!!”

I imagined it.

An epic Black Flame Dragon robot combining with other monster robots to form the Great Combining Robot.

Thud!

I immediately grabbed Dark’s hand.

“We’ve got nothing to do until lunch tomorrow. Wanna build a robot?”

“Hell yeah!”

At the same time.

Outside the barrier, Dark’s subordinates were buzzing with excitement.

“The boss and the Hero Party’s leader set up a barrier just to talk?! This has to be something huge!”

“It’s definitely a matter of world-shaking importance!”

“Guhh! To serve such an incredible boss… Mother! Your son has succeeded!”