Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Mage Tower

"Why did you arrange the groups like that?"

It was quitting time─a perfectly good moment to relax─when my thoroughly irritated disciple stormed into my office.

I looked at An Seri as if I had no idea what was going on, and she started bouncing around furiously.

"They're all weird! I'm not even asking for competent people─I just need someone with a minimum of common sense!"

"I thought you'd be happy, so I put Dayun in your group. Was that so bad?"

When I tossed out a little joke, Seo Dayun, standing beside her, trembled violently.

She looked like a puppy afraid of being abandoned by its owner.

An Seri immediately denied it.

"That's not what I mean! The rest of them are the problem!"

An Seri raging and Seo Dayun visibly relieved made for a rather entertaining combination. But they surely hadn't come here to put on a comedy show.

I had no idea what An Seri was upset about, but switching group members wasn't an option.

"What exactly is the problem?"

"Literally none of them are normal. One girl wanted to fight me the second we met, one guy's a mental patient, and the last one looks dangerous just from his appearance."

In short, her party members' personalities were too strong.

And for good reason─An Seri's party was the product of my favoritism. I'd deliberately crammed every named character taking my course into that one group.

Being a named character meant they'd pull their weight once you added them to the party and progressed the story. I couldn't let them slip away so easily. Bundling the ones I intended to keep long-term into one group made management much simpler.

The side effect, however, was that each member's individuality was so overwhelming that it had apparently eaten away at An Seri's sanity.

"I can't change the groups for that reason. There's no balance issue between groups, and no member has caused a direct problem─you're just asking for a swap because personalities don't mesh. If that's the case, I'd have to question your capabilities as a leader."

"Ugh......"

My argument was sound. An Seri went silent as if she'd swallowed honey.

I sympathized with her complaint. In the game, I'd had my runs ruined by eccentric NPCs more than once or twice. Raw leadership and command alone had their limits.

But what could I do?

I felt bad making her suffer for my convenience, but An Seri was the only person I could trust with this.

Song Seokhwan's personality meant who knew what he'd pull; Baek Seolhwa and Oh Jaehak were lacking in ability. Oh Jaehak went without saying, and Baek Seolhwa's social skills were too poor.

"I think I've explained enough, so head on back."

An Seri pressed her lips shut and pouted. Then she marched over to my sofa and flopped down on it.

Dumbfounded, I asked her.

"Are you staging a protest?"

"I don't know. I'm not talking to you, Professor."

Childish revenge, if you could even call it that. She wasn't a little kid─what was she doing?

I jerked my chin toward the door, signaling Seo Dayun to drag her out, but she just started giggling.

"Hehe, you're fascinating, Professor. Seri, you know? She's always so mature and sharp, but she only acts like a little kid in front of you."

"Even when it's just the two of you?"

"Yeah. That's why she feels like an older sister."

That was unexpected.

I knew An Seri was reserved around people she wasn't comfortable with, but I didn't realize she wore a mask even in front of Seo Dayun.

Then again, it wasn't that strange. Thinking back to how An Seri was in the game, there was no way she'd accept Seo Dayun as a friend after spending just a few weeks together.

I supposed I should be grateful they could grow closer now, while An Seri was at her most open.

These moments might not last much longer.

Toward the end of the early story, An Seri would nearly be killed by her own brother, and her personality would change completely. Depending on the player's choices, the timing could shift, but the event itself was unavoidable.

An Seri was a cynical and calculating character, but she occasionally showed her humanity. After that incident, however, from the midpoint onward she'd lose all emotion entirely and become the poster child for a sociopath.

"Professor, you're an idiot."

Seeing that An Seri acting like a child sobered me up considerably.

Maybe this was all an act, but it didn't seem like it.

The An Seri of now was clever, but also innocent.

A child who despised underhanded methods and yearned for righteous victories.

"Are you going to lie there forever? TA Lee Yeeun should be here soon."

"......Hmph."

Perhaps it was embarrassing to be caught like this in front of Lee Yeeun, because An Seri quietly got up.

Before long, Lee Yeeun arrived.

"I'm here."

"Good."

After exchanging only a brief nod with the others, Lee Yeeun came over with a thick stack of printouts.

Her eyes, looking more sunken than ever lately, were a little frightening.

Being a professor in this world was a cushy job, but a graduate student was a graduate student in every world.

"Here...... the lecture materials I organized...... and my paper......"

"Good work. I'll review the paper and give you feedback by tomorrow, so go catch some sleep."

"Okay......"

An Seri and Seo Dayun watched Lee Yeeun shuffle out like a zombie, their eyes filled with horror.

Their gazes carried the implicit question: is that thing really the same species as us? Of course not. A graduate student isn't a person─it's a graduate student.

"Professor, did you hire another TA?"

"That's the same TA Lee Yeeun you remember."

"No way, that's the same girl from before? Stop lying."

"The lab does that to people, apparently."

"Ugh, I'm never going near one!"

Their disgust was the kind of reaction reserved for witnessing something truly horrifying.

Would I have ended up like that if I'd started in the lab? Thank god I started as a professor.

"I should be reviewing Yeeun's paper, so you two should head out as well."

"Okay!"

"Hmph."

An Seri, apparently committed to staying huffy indefinitely, gave nothing but a snort in reply.

Yet her body obediently followed Seo Dayun out of the office.

"Now then......"

After quickly skimming Lee Yeeun's paper, I activated my talent.

Teachings of Seshet──.

A sensation of floating washed over me. It was like being wrapped in a cozy cloud, and then an unfathomable tsunami of information swept through my mind.

"Gah!"

This never got any easier, no matter how many times I used it.

The key was focusing on this paper's keywords.

I had to concentrate to fish out what I wanted from the ocean of information that rushed past in an instant.

Got it.

Before long, I felt the information slam into my brain.

My hand, gripping a red pen, seemed to dance as it corrected the paper on its own. By the time my head cleared, everything was already done.

"A bit early for this, but oh well."

In any case, it was finally quitting time.

I checked my wristwatch once, then gathered my things.

Through daily meditation, I'd completed enough groundwork over the past weeks. If I compared it to building a house, I'd finished leveling the ground and compacting the soil.

Now it was time to start raising the structure, brick by brick.

This was Florian Academy, the nation's finest educational facility. Rather than banging my head against bare dirt, everything I needed was already prepared.

Normally I'd have headed out in a sharp suit, but I couldn't dress like that where I was going.

I threw on a slightly faded robe and pulled out a staff as tall as I was.

***

─Professor Cha Eunwoo, authenticated.

The Mage Tower.

It was an era where anyone could access magic on equal terms─but only as far as theory was concerned.

In an age where people could learn exercises just by watching X-Tube, why did they still go to gyms and dojos? Obviously, because you needed equipment to actually work out.

Magic was no different.

Training was necessary to master magic, and no place was better suited than the Mage Tower. The name evoked images of a cloistered research lab, but in reality it was just the school gym.

Among them, Florian's Mage Tower was renowned for its excellent facilities.

Apparently, even graduated Heroes came back to use it from time to time.

"Hah! Hah!"

"Let's go!"

Mages training diligently could be seen everywhere.

A mix of students and professors.

"Cha-cha-cha!"

A muscular man hoisted a heavy-looking dumbbell above his shoulders.

......What the fuck? Dumbbells in a Mage Tower?

And what was with those obscenely bulging muscles?

"Hyeoga, hold this for me."

"Okay."

Now that I looked closer, something was very wrong.

The Mage Tower I'd imagined was a place full of frail, wheezing scholars who'd be winded after a single spell, but everywhere I looked there was nothing but walls of muscle.

The most eye-catching of all was the group of men huddled in the corner.

If the others had toned, athletic builds, these guys could only be described as bulky muscle─and that wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"Hraaah! Today's a good day."

"Oh! Professor Jeong just set a new record! A Big Four of 5,000─we've got a monster on our hands!"

"You're embarrassing me. 5,000 is a piece of cake for you, isn't it, Professor?"

These were the veteran professors─the Mage Tower regulars.

They were showing off their massive muscles─er, magic─to each other.

The "Big Four" they mentioned referred to the four elemental magics hailed as the pinnacle: water, wind, earth, and fire. Each was measured for power output using a different type of elemental magic.

Hitting a Big Four total of 5,000 meant your main stats were roughly in the high 80s. In other words, certifiably monstrous.

I tried to sneak past without making eye contact, but someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck.

"Never seen this face before. Who's that guy?"

"Oh, it's him. The youngest professor they just hired─Professor Cha."

"That so? Hey, buddy. Want to work out together?"

Fuck, they noticed me.

Are these people really mages?

Their bulging muscles were way too intimidating. One wrong touch and they looked like they'd burst.

Networking with other professors wouldn't be bad, but I had zero confidence fitting in among these monsters.

"I apologize. It's my first time here, and I'd only be a burden."

Flash!

Before I'd even finished speaking, the muscle brigade's eyes lit up and they charged at me.

Fuck, I'm screwed.

I'd apparently stepped on a land mine.

"Did you hear what he said?"

"Sure did. He said it's his first time."

"Heh heh...... First time at the Mage Tower? This won't do."

I tried to bolt, but a hand clamped down on my shoulder instantly.

No matter how hard I struggled, the muscular grip was too strong. The humiliating part was that the muscle mass attached to that grip didn't even seem to be trying.

"......Aren't mages supposed to look, you know, frail?"

"What are you talking about? A good mage needs a healthy body first. In that sense, Professor Cha, you're way too scrawny. It's not a good look. Don't worry. We'll be right here to help."

"No, listen......"

"Haha, just hold still. We'll take care of everything."

"W-Wait...... Stop!"

I resisted, but once caught, there was no escape.

After that, the muscle brigade taught me all sorts of things.

......Not exactly pleasant memories, but they helped a lot.