Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 100

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 100

Side Match (5)

Sorcery.

A mystical art of the East, distinct from magic.

While Western magic has now spread far and wide, transcending East and West, there was a time, centuries ago, when sorcery was prevalent throughout Eastern countries, deeply ingrained in people’s lives.

But that was then.

Now, even those remnants have crumbled, deemed obsolete by the academic world. Even the fragments that constitute a single spell are written in ancient languages, difficult to decipher.

“…Is this all of it?”

“Yes.”

“Only fourteen? Really?”

The contract stipulated learning one spell a day, totaling thirty spells in a month.

Through that, I learned a total of 13 spells.

No, I learned one more early yesterday, so now a total of 14 spells, in their original form from a thousand years ago, are stored in my head.

As an aside, the ‘Ice Shard Spell’ I learned first is not considered sorcery.

It’s too basic to be considered sorcery, and at first glance, it doesn’t seem much different from ordinary magic.

It means it has no value.

“Usually, analyzing ancient texts or books would yield at least thirty spells. This is less than half that number. You’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”

“Could I hide anything from Master right before her eyes?”

“That’s true.”

“You know it all too well.”

After various conversations with my master, and explaining the sorceries I possessed.

She closed her eyes, nodded a few times, and said.

“The more I see, the more systematic it is. The direction it pursues is completely different from modern magic.”

“Is that so?”

“You’re still at the intermediate level of magic, so you might not know, but if you delve deeply into magic, you’ll feel something. It’s a subtle difference, but that’s the distinction between magic and sorcery.”

Nam Hwa-yeon was delighted, saying she had found research material after a long time.

She immediately began testing the sorceries.

It’s only been about 30 minutes since she started teaching.

She had completely mastered the depth I had learned in 14 days.

There’s a reason she’s called the Demon King.

“Hmm, well, since you’ve given me this much knowledge, as a magician pursuing truth and as a master, I can’t help but give you a reward.”

“What is the reward?”

“Tell me anything.”

“…Pardon?”

“Tell me. I’ll grant you almost anything.”

An exchange ratio I couldn’t have imagined.

Just for teaching a few sorceries, she’s telling me to say what I want.

Even if she’s my master, isn’t she giving too much?

Still, whatever.

As a disciple, I should gracefully accept what she offers.

“What I want is…”

A very small insurance and a few snippets of knowledge.

Nam Hwa-yeon nodded.

With this, I can somehow get through the next episode.

Even if things go wrong, I could somehow smooth things over once with the reward I received from her today.

What I received from her… was something like that.

* * *

The hellish march of performance evaluations came to an end.

The students, who had to take four or five performance evaluations a day, including written exams, presentations, and practical skills, felt a sense of liberation.

“Alright, tomorrow morning’s assembly will be in the grand auditorium. You know the place where you teamed up with the temporary instructors last time, right? Come there.”

“Professor, is there something happening tomorrow?”

“What do you mean, what’s happening? The midterm exam range is coming out tomorrow. I’ve said it countless times. I hope no students have forgotten.”

“…”

The midterm exams were approaching.

The students had struggled to climb a mountain, but it turned out to be just a hill, and now the real climb was about to begin.

It felt like a vast mountain range was unfolding before their eyes.

In short, it sucked.

“That’s all for today’s homeroom. Come to the grand auditorium by 7 a.m. tomorrow. The headmaster said that all freshmen must attend, so anyone who is late will receive one penalty point for every minute they are late. That’s all.”

“…Hey, we’re screwed, right?”

“Yeah, we’re screwed.”

“I miss my mom. I couldn’t go home last week because of the performance evaluations, and I won’t be able to go home this time because of the midterm exams.”

“What the hell happened while I was in the bathroom that turned things into such a mess?!”

As soon as the professor left, the students each voiced their lamentations.

Finally, they were about to take the first exam at Chilseong Academy.

Unlike ordinary schools where they just sit and solve problems, this exam was not going to be boring, so the students were worried. They hoped that this year’s midterm exam would be of moderate difficulty.

In fact, last year’s freshmen.

That is, the current sophomores, took the midterm exam in the desert, and about 400 of them were given a score of 0 due to health deterioration caused by thirst. The midterm and final exams, which change in difficulty and topic every year, were their biggest concern.

Since there was no learning from their temporary instructors after school today.

The students set their own strategies in their respective dormitories.

Nevertheless, the tension burning like embers in their hearts did not stop.

The relentlessly flowing time sadly floated the morning sun above the sky.

Watching the rising dawn, the students who woke up early or those who couldn’t sleep due to tension headed to the grand auditorium with their own resolutions in their hearts.

It might seem like they were overreacting.

But for them, the midterm exam was a place to prove their skills and worth. When only considering grades, they were only proving themselves to the professors and teaching assistants, but the midterm was a golden opportunity to make a good impression on the large guilds that would come from outside to evaluate them on the day of the exam.

Since employment was a path to the future.

The students made the biggest resolutions of their 17 years of life.

“The sophomores and juniors have already finished their midterm exams, so now you’re the only ones left. Freshmen.”

Now, about two months since they entered the academy.

Although the expression ‘freshmen’ is less accurate than ‘first-year students,’ D’Artagnan, the headmaster who had been giving speeches on the platform for decades, could only see them as clumsy newcomers.

In order for them to be reborn as first-year students of Chilseong, not freshmen of Chilseong, they had to pass this midterm exam, the annual event that elevated Chilseong to one of the world’s top 5 academies.

Without experiencing this, they were not qualified to be called students.

D’Artagnan thought so.

That’s because after taking the midterm exam once, the students realize and feel something, and they work harder. Of course, there are also students who get tired and fall behind or become half-dead in the process.

Isn’t that the society of survival of the fittest?

“The midterm exam, along with the final exam, is an annual event that symbolizes our Chilseong. I don’t think all of you will be able to pass the exam with a topic that even active players shake their heads at.”

At D’Artagnan’s words, who started to intimidate them as soon as he grabbed the microphone, the students began to get scared little by little.

They were already very nervous and anxious.

He was pouring oil on the embers of anxiety.

“The midterm exam will start next Monday and will last for about 5 days until Friday. All of your actions will be filmed and broadcast on the large screen behind the stadium. And the professors and teaching assistants will evaluate that scene, and outsiders will come to watch.”

But he doesn’t stop.

Those who are intimidated by these words, just a few sentences, are not needed in Chilseong.

They are the ones who have already experienced the pain of loss a month ago.

There was no choice but to raise them more harshly than the other grades.

Professor D’Artagnan judged that this year’s freshmen had to be raised more harshly, so that they could overcome the fear of death.

And that judgment was not discussed with other professors in advance at all.

“D, D’Artagnan, Headmaster? That’s different from the midterm exam that was agreed upon in advance? I remember that it was originally scheduled to proceed in the form of a sparring match…?”

“I suggested it. The chairman readily approved it.”

“!!!”

When one professor, who had doubts, asked a question, the answer that came back was spectacular.

The chairman, that heavy-bottomed old man, approved it.

Then there was no part that other professors could get involved in.

“There won’t be anyone else who wants to ask a question, right? Even if there is, I’ll say everything I have to say and then accept it.”

Ahem, D’Artagnan cleared his throat and continued.

“This midterm exam is the first practical exam in which freshmen take the exam in groups. The background of the exam is a dungeon. Each group will be assigned a different dungeon.”

“That’s too difficult for the first-year students…!”

“I told you I wasn’t taking questions, didn’t I? Now, next. I’ll explain the selection of groups and the evaluation criteria for the midterm exam.”

D’Artagnan, who brushed off the questions of all the professors, did not let go of the microphone from his mouth.

His words were longer than expected.

But what could they do?

As long as the chairman was not in this place, the only thing that could harm his authority was . But she seemed to find it interesting, nodding with a satisfied expression.

“The groups will remain the same as the 6 people you have already formed. Some may say that this is unfair. That top-tier talents are too concentrated in certain groups, but what can you do? That’s how the world is.”

Excellent talents go to good large guilds.

Vague people go to places with a lower level than that.

What D’Artagnan values in this midterm exam is not fairness.

What he wants is for the students to understand their place.

Fairness doesn’t save lives.

Rather, understanding their own place at this opportunity will help them increase their survival rate after graduating and going out into society.

That’s why the groups will remain the same as when they chose their temporary instructors.

“Some groups will have many promising students, and some groups will only have mages. And some groups may only have swordsmen. You must understand your own place and choose and attack a dungeon of appropriate difficulty. The minimum standard for the attack is to exceed half, 51%.”

Dungeon clear progress rate of 51%.

That was the minimum figure for attacking the dungeon.

“Depending on the difficulty of the dungeon, attacking a D-class dungeon will result in an F grade. Attacking a C-class dungeon will result in an E grade. It proceeds in this way, and the grade increases by one each time the progress rate increases by 20%.”

In theory, if you enter a D-class dungeon, you can receive a minimum of F and a maximum of D.

In order to receive A+, the maximum score for the midterm exam, you must attack at least 90% of an S-class dungeon or higher.

“Grades can be freely selected. But keep in mind. A success rate of 51% will result in all members being disqualified, meaning you won’t even receive an F grade.”

Truly an extreme midterm exam.

The teachers and students who agreed to this mostly chose dungeons of D to C level.

The group with promising students chose a B-class dungeon.

The students who did not understand their place chose an A-class dungeon.

As an aside, the group to which Kyle belongs also chose an A-class dungeon.

In that way, all groups except us chose a dungeon.

What was left last was me.

“Hey, which dungeon are you guys going to enter?”

Our group, which included three promising students, was the center of everyone’s attention.

“I have one thing I would like to ask, may I ask a question?”

“Hmm? Is that because I said I would ignore questions? I’ve said everything I have to say, so it’s okay.”

With everyone’s attention focused.

I raised my hand and asked a question.

Fortunately, D’Artagnan readily agreed to listen to the question.

“Does it matter what grade the dungeon is?”

“That’s right. As long as it’s a dungeon that Chilseong has the right to enter, anything is fine.”

“Even if we completely attack it and close it?”

“Since it’s a dungeon that was prepared so that students can easily adapt to society after going out into society, it’s okay to completely attack it and close it completely. I don’t know what the chairman will think.”

Then that’s it.

I got D’Artagnan’s permission.

As I smiled brightly on my face, my tail moved as if revealing my feelings.

Usually, when I’m in a good mood, my tail wags gently and cheerfully, but this time it moved quite differently.

It was like the static movement of a fisherman with anticipation, baiting and wanting to catch a big fish.

“Then our group will choose the highest level.”

“…S+ class? Okay, I’ll make a separate record of it.”

S+ class dungeon.

It was impossible for students to attack a dungeon with a difficulty level that even active large guilds were struggling with. Unless 10 promising 3rd year students joined forces.

Six students could not form a group and break it.

In response, people were divided into reactions that it was interesting and reactions that they were so dumbfounded that they couldn’t even laugh.

Only I was tilting my head in the meantime.

“Um, I think there’s something wrong.”

“Yes, do you want me to lower it to S class? That’s not difficult…”

“No, that’s not what I want, it’s the Reverse Side.”

“!!!!!”

The Reverse Side, it is a subspecies of the dungeon.

Depending on the case, it is equivalent to S class.

Or it is a place that boasts a difficulty level higher than that.

Seungwoo raised his hand to the place that even active players were reluctant to go to.

“…Did you guys discuss this behind my back? Why do I feel like I’m hearing this for the first time?”