episode_0031

The beginning of the semester passed by in a whirlwind.

The two weeks were filled with intense classes, constant small events, making new friends, and forming relationships, keeping me busy with everything. Investigating the ‘seeds’ was pushed to the back burner.

Information about the seeds couldn’t be found even in the Arcana Academy’s main library, and with the midterm exams approaching, it was hard to focus on anything else.

At this moment, the fear of midterm scores was more terrifying than the end of the world. Despite graduating from a prestigious university in my past life, here I was just an average student.

The education I received for 16 years from elementary school to university in my past life became useless the moment magic tossed classical mechanics into the trash.

Medieval fantasy was not a friendly place for a 21st-century reincarnated individual familiar with physics rather than magic circle calculations or magical engineering.

“Ugh… seriously.”

In the end, I closed the book with a deep sigh.

Between doing homework, training, and studying, it was already midnight. I looked out the window. The orderly streetlights in the district were still shining brightly at this hour.

Looking at it this way, even in a medieval fantasy setting, there were occasionally oddly modern aspects. It would have been nice if the exam questions were a bit more modern.

“Why on earth do examiners need to learn magical engineering…”

Muttering to myself with a frustrated voice, I slowly got up from my seat. As I stretched, my previously hunched body straightened, and a satisfying groan escaped me.

Raising my arms and stretching, my healthy 11-pack abs peeked out from under my short-sleeved shirt. Looking at myself, I relaxed my body.

“Phew…”

I casually turned off the light on my desk and sat on the terrace chair. I felt like lying down on my bed, but there were still things I needed to do.

Finding the seed could wait a bit.

Assuming that other seeds grew similar to cherry blossoms, there was no need to rush. Besides, I was still too weak to travel to find the seed.

The max level in this game is 200. While level 47 was quite high for the early stages, I still needed to get stronger.

“So, I should start by dealing with the immediate tasks at hand.”

The background of the first main event at the Arcana Academy is the third day of the midterm exams. A terror that would completely destroy the mental state of even the fresh first-year students was scheduled during the practical exam.

Unfortunately, even I, a reincarnated individual, found it difficult to prevent this terror in advance.

The main event changes slightly each time, making it impossible to fully prepare even if you know the future. It’s a kind of consideration for repeat players.

“…This consideration is unnecessary.”

Muttering softly, I took out a notebook.

At first glance, it was just a blank notebook for taking notes. However, as soon as I infused magic into the first page, blurry writing appeared.

[Summary of the Midterm Exam Assault Incident]

There are a total of three assaults that occur during the midterm exams.

The gate in the middle of the practical exam location, the gate in the academy dormitory, and the creatures that appear in the underground of the academy main building.

The gate side is not a concern. This side is a decoy gate to attract the attention of the teachers, so while the quantity is high, the average level of monsters appearing is around 20 to 30.

The Arcana Academy is considered the empire’s top academy. A prestigious academy like this should have no trouble dealing with low-level monster waves.

“So, I should focus on the main building side.”

The Arcana Academy and the autonomous district surrounding it are protected by a barrier. The core of this barrier is located underground at the main building of the academy.

The target of this attack is none other than the core of this barrier. The assailants are sending the teachers and main forces towards the gates, planning to infiltrate the academy from within.

Of course, the teachers at the academy are not fools. The center of the world’s best academy wouldn’t be easily taken by a midday terrorist group.

Logically speaking, outsiders wouldn’t even be able to enter the academy grounds in the first place.

So, the assailants decided to embed spatial transition magic circles on the bodies of the students.

When the attack begins, the teachers will evacuate the students to the main building. The assailants plan to activate the transition magic circles at that moment.

“Really, they’re just disgustingly creative.”

Recalling the first midterm exam that was so difficult it was dubbed the newbie cutter, I found myself muttering to myself without realizing it.

No student would willingly allow the villains to carve a transition magic circle on their body. No matter how out of their mind they may be, they wouldn’t do that.

When the transition magic circle is activated, the person with the circle carved on them will have all their mana drained and die. Who would volunteer for such a role?

So, the method the assailants came up with was to disguise the magic circles as [fake tattoos].

Flicking through the notes with delicate fingers, I stopped at the twenty-third page. Ink spread across the blank page, revealing words.

[Finding the bearers of fake tattoos]

[List of expected bearers of fake tattoos]

A blessing bestowed by falling stars. Even magic users who manipulate the mysteries of nature have not found a way to artificially bestow tattoos.

Tattoos themselves are already a mystery outside of the conventional magic system, so what could magic users possibly do.

Therefore, there were only two ways to receive tattoos.

To be born as a child of a tattoo-bearing family like Frost or Agnes, or to harbor such a strong desire that it reaches the stars.

That’s why the dark cults who had rejected the stars and worshipped the moon were weak.

Regardless of the size of their influence, the absolute number of tattoo bearers was incredibly scarce.

So, the assailants researched ways to artificially bestow tattoos. Thus, the fake tattoos were born after sacrificing thousands of lives.

The assailants then carved transition magic circles onto these fake tattoos. If it were a simple transition magic circle, no one would touch it, but with fake tattoos, the story was different.

The beginning of a new semester, the early days of March when a new grade begins, is not just a time filled with hope.

It’s a time when geniuses who were once renowned in each region face a wall for the first time.

A time when they realize that above them exist ‘real geniuses’ like Yerena Frost and Regina Strellachia.

It’s natural for anyone to feel self-doubt when they see a girl who excels at the northern defense line at just seventeen, or a monstrous swordmaster who wields mana and aura simultaneously.

Feeling inadequate compared to such talents. Feeling pitiful for struggling even with basic demon attacks and finding it difficult to infuse mana into a sword.

If this self-doubt leads to a desire for self-improvement, it’s a good thing. But seventeen-year-olds who are not yet mature sometimes stray down the wrong path.

“For example, touching a fake tattoo.”

This was the case for second and third-year students as well.

Even though they had clearly worked hard at the academy, if newly enrolled freshmen fought better than them, it was inevitable to feel such emotions.

That’s why this first midterm exam episode was not kind to the possessed.

There were too many students with the motivation to touch the fake marks, and among them, a few would randomly end up with the fake marks. It’s difficult to deal with knowing the future.

Furthermore, there is no practical exam between the academy entrance exam and the midterm exam.

It is true that receiving the fake marks makes you noticeably stronger, although not as strong as actual mark holders. However, since there is no practical exam, it’s too difficult to notice.

“Still, I’m lucky to have someone to help me.”

Elin Agnes, a swordmaster and a teacher in the first-year swordsmanship department.

If it’s her, she should be able to notice the improvement in students’ skills without going through a practical exam.

Let’s gather some information from Teacher Elin tomorrow before taking action. I don’t know enough right now.

The simplest way would probably be to eliminate all the candidates, but then I would end up becoming a terrorist.

But there’s no other way to find out.

“Ugh…”

I lightly shook my hand, returning the notebook to a blank page.

I leaned back on the backrest to clear my cluttered mind.

Normally, in this midterm exam episode, I wouldn’t be able to stop them.

The end of this midterm exam episode would be the ones who sneaked into the main building during the chaos, tampered with the core maintaining the barrier magic, and left.

The ones who destroy the core of the barrier will reappear in the final exam episode of the second semester of the first year. If we can protect this core, Regina’s chances of survival will greatly increase.

“First, let’s save Regina.”

I didn’t want to lose Regina.

I didn’t want to let go of the girl who was broken because of my mistake. I didn’t want to destroy the hope that appeared at the end of a thousand regressions with my own hands.

I don’t know if I’m brave enough to save the world, but I’m not trash who doesn’t even take responsibility for my mistakes.