Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 204

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 204

Masquerade (4)

A large man wearing a fox mask.

That was how I appeared to outside observers.

“Look at that mask. It’s so beautiful.”

“It doesn’t have any jewels, but how can it shine like that?”

“I wonder which artisan made it by hand. I’d love to talk to him and commission a mask from the same artisan.”

At a masquerade ball, what catches the eye is the design of the mask and the physique of the wearer.

The women participating in the ball wore tight-fitting or revealing clothes, showing off their figures to their heart’s content. Perhaps because they were all from wealthy families, they were very diligent about maintaining their figures.

The designs of the masks were as diverse as the participants’ personalities.

From half-masks that only cover half of the face.

To masks that only cover the eyes and nose, reminiscent of those from medieval Europe.

Even iron masks that cover the entire face and Hahoe masks [traditional Korean masks] so unique that you can’t take your eyes off them.

It was fun to see all kinds of masks.

As many masks as there were, there were just as many charms.

But if you had to pick the most beautiful mask among the unique masks.

Everyone at the masquerade could point to one man.

There was no disagreement about it.

Even the rich and stubborn nodded their heads in agreement.

“Is he from Japan?”

“I know that one. I’ve seen it a lot at Japanese summer festivals.”

“Right, they call it Kitsune-men (狐面) [fox mask in Japanese]. I often bought them for my daughter as a gift.”

A Japanese-style fox mask.

Usually, one would think of a white background with red and black paint, often sold at summer festivals, but the mask in front of me was quite different.

It was the same with the pure white background.

However, the unique color of the dye and the parts made of golden fur, etc.

Even the wealthy, who had a knack for luxury, couldn’t understand what it was made of.

But more than that, what they couldn’t understand was.

The unique atmosphere of the mask.

“Don’t you feel a little creepy?”

“Yeah, it feels like something bad will happen if we get involved.”

“The mask is pretty, but I feel a strange sense of discomfort.”

“I know, right? But I feel like I’ve seen that mask somewhere before. Is it just my imagination?”

“It must be your imagination. How could you forget such a mysterious mask if you had seen it once? But for some reason, I have a feeling I’m going to have a nightmare about a fox mask tonight.”

A pretty mask.

Unlike that, an unpleasant sensation made people turn away. It was the power of the ‘Uncanny Valley,’ a detailed ability of the 「White Mask Golden Fur」.

What is the uncanny valley?

It is the feeling that humans experience when something non-human resembles a human more than necessary, when the degree of resemblance reaches a certain point.

It clearly resembles a human, but the feeling that it is not human evokes disgust.

This mask artificially creates such an uncanny valley.

In addition, if an attractive person wears it, the effect is doubled.

In particular, I, who have the abilities of 「Charm」 and 「Allure」, had the conditions to create several times the effect.

‘An ability only for me.’

The other abilities of the mask can be used even if it’s not me.

This was an ability designed only for me.

Attraction and disgust. By making them feel two opposing emotions at the same time, it distorts the opponent’s cognitive senses.

It’s a shame that I can’t use it indiscriminately yet, but I believed that there would be an opportunity to use it soon and looked around the ballroom.

“It’s definitely top-notch.”

The building’s interior too.

The music and food of the ball too.

Nothing was lacking in quality.

I could feel how much money was invested in this masquerade ball.

Looking around, I reached for the liquor on the table.

Liquor prepared to liven up the atmosphere.

Ordinary balls value the interior, but the difference in class is clearly revealed in this atmosphere-enhancing liquor.

As proof.

Gulp, as I drank the liquor, a subtle aroma and taste spread from the moment it warmed my esophagus. Large-capacity liquor for the ball.

Normally, quantity and quality are inversely proportional.

But this liquor was definitely not low quality.

“The aroma is also excellent. You can’t get this kind of liquor with money alone. It seems that the head of the Choi family, Choi Joo-seok, has a direct friendship with a high-quality brewery.”

It wasn’t very important information.

The aroma and taste of the liquor are good.

Anyone who enjoys drinking can feel this roughly, even without detailed knowledge.

But the fact that you can get this kind of liquor means.

It means that he has a rare friendship with a wholesaler who can supply this kind of liquor.

‘If you overinterpret this, you can easily infer Choi Joo-seok’s popularity.’

He has a rare friendship with a brewery-related wholesaler that is not even important to the operation of the family.

This implies one of two things.

Either Choi Joo-seok is a very loving drinker who loves liquor.

Or his popularity is so widespread and his skills are so good that it extends to high-end breweries that are not important to the operation of the family.

‘Personally, I hope it’s the former, but if he has the information power to find out my address that I secretly moved to, it’s likely to be the latter.’

The Choi family and Choi Joo-seok.

I didn’t underestimate them.

But it seemed like they were much bigger than I thought.

‘I don’t know why those guys lost to me at the auction and willingly gave up the precious space ring.’

I’m getting more and more suspicious.

My eyes stared at the front of the ballroom.

At 10 p.m., the host of the ball had not yet appeared.

* * *

The atmosphere of the banquet was ripe.

The guests were drunk on alcohol or drunk on the atmosphere.

Of course, there weren’t many guests who were drunk on alcohol.

The people gathered here each had their own power.

Whether it was force, wealth, or influence, those with a level of power above a certain threshold couldn’t get drunk on this amount of alcohol.

That was a quantitative meaning.

At the same time, it satisfied the qualitative meaning.

The amount of liquor in the narrow, long glass was far from enough for them to get drunk, and the liquor served to them was top-notch, but it was slightly below the level for the rich to drink to get drunk.

So.

“Well, then I’ll go up now. It seems that the guests are looking for me, and since all the guests have arrived, isn’t it time for a full course meal instead of appetizers?”

The old man, laughing happily as if something was so funny, put on his mask and went outside. People dressed as servants watched the scene intently.

Those dressed as butlers or maids sighed in relief as the old man left.

But this did not last long.

The old man’s grandson.

The boy, called the mad dog among the people working in this mansion, came down here from the ballroom.

As soon as he arrived, he yelled at the servants.

The familiar servants went about their business without paying attention to the boy’s words.

“This liquor is enough, and we need to prepare 40 more servings of meat dishes,” etc.

While these words were exchanged among the servants.

The boy finally found the reason why he had personally come down to the ballroom.

A small figure in a raccoon mask preparing food came into his eyes.

Because he was wearing a suit and a mask, it was impossible to tell whether he was a man or a girl just by the curves revealed above his clothes.

That guy was the one that the mad dog, Choi Jin-cheol, was looking for.

“Hey, I heard you came here because your identity was revealed to a guest.”

“……Yes.”

“This masquerade ball is a banquet that my grandfather put a lot of effort into, but if someone is identified because of someone like you, the reason for wearing a mask is diluted. Then how is it different from a normal banquet?”

Choi Jin-cheol getting angry at a servant much smaller than himself.

The two were classmates at the academy.

More precisely, they had known each other since before they became classmates.

“What are you going to do if you cause problems at the masquerade ball hosted by my grandfather because of you?”

“…….”

“Don’t shut your mouth like a mute! Say something. There’s something you can say at times like this. You didn’t enter the academy without learning that, did you?”

And thanks to that, Choi Jin-cheol was able to comfortably treat Lee Ji condescendingly.

He forced Lee Ji to apologize in a threatening tone.

While everyone turned away from the two, Lee Ji said.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t just say you’re sorry, make an excuse! Something must have happened, that’s why you got caught?!”

“I misjudged that I had completely concealed my temperament just by covering my face. It’s entirely my fault.”

The nitpicking continued after that.

An ordinary person might have resigned and left here, but the relationship between the two was not like that.

A clear hierarchical relationship tied together by debt.

No matter what Choi Jin-cheol said, Lee Ji could not escape his grasp.

There was a man watching the scene.

It was Assistant Instructor Bang Seok-hoon, who had been talking to the students he had recommended and brought here until just now. He came down from the ballroom to the preparation room and witnessed the whole scene.

“……I’m going crazy.”

Bang Seok-hoon covered his head with his hands.

Now he was here not as an assistant instructor at the academy, but as someone who owed a debt to the Choi family. And that was the same for Lee Ji.

The two were in the same situation.

But their values were different.

Lee Ji, who is still growing but recorded middle to lower grades at Chilseong Academy.

Bang Seok-hoon, an assistant instructor at Chilseong Academy and a magician under Nam Hwa-yeon, who is called the king of magicians. This difference made their situations the same, but the reason why their values were different.

However, in Lee Ji’s case, he was paying off his parents’ debt.

Fundamentally different from him.

“That guy is suffering at a young age.”

Bang Seok-hoon checked the documents.

It listed the names of people who had borrowed money from the Choi family and the amount borrowed. Debt written in the name of Lee Ji’s parents.

The amount was in the billions of won [Korean currency, approximately millions of US dollars].

‘To ask a young boy to pay off this money. It’s cruel even though you know he can’t pay it off.’

Bang Seok-hoon, who had experienced something similar, knew.

This was not Lee Ji’s fault, nor was it Lee Ji’s parents’ fault.

What parents in the world would want to pass on debt to their children?

If they wanted to pass it on, they would not even have the minimum qualifications as parents. And Lee Ji’s parents were not such beasts.

Rather, they were parents who cherished their children.

“It’s all because of this powder.”

It was a word with many implications.

Bang Seok-hoon fiddled with the powder packaged in a plastic bag in his pocket.

A bizarre powder that is white but sometimes looks black.

This powder had several names.

Angel’s Dust.

Angel Dust.

Angel Dust, etc.

There is a drug of the same name, but unlike the same name, the effects are completely different.

It would have been easier if this was a drug.

‘It’s more of a problem because it’s not a drug. There’s no way to regulate this legally, and even if someone controls it, no one will say anything.’

The ability of this powder is a temporary increase in abilities that use magic, including magic power. It sounds good if you only listen to this, but currently, the number of people who have the ability to produce this is limited.

As a result, the price is high and the supply is always insufficient.

Any player who has seen the power of the powder even once is bound to be intoxicated by the sense of omnipotence they temporarily felt.

Bang Seok-hoon wanted more powder.

It was the sorrow of a person buried in the instinct of a magician who yearned for a higher level.

In the end, he was a typical magician who worked at the academy during the day but worked under the Choi family at night because of Angel’s Dust. There were several besides Bang Seok-hoon.

Perhaps because they were a wealthy family with many connections here and there, they managed to get one every month.

The price was their labor.

“……I don’t know how I ended up like this.”

Bang Seok-hoon, he no longer devotes himself to magic research.

Now that he knew how to become stronger easily.

He became a bunting tied to extremely realistic and secular elements of money and medicine, not the mystery of magic. There will be no more opportunities to spread his wings.

Wings that cannot fly are bound to gradually degenerate.

The magician who dreamed of a higher level fell into a quagmire from which he could not escape.