Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 222

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 222

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius 222

Magic and Mystery (2)

Baek Seung-woo’s lectures were well-received in many ways.

Thanks to this, even students who weren’t taking the class would secretly stand among those at the back to watch. However, after he assigned an absurd amount of homework, things changed slightly.

“Three workbooks, five exam papers, and eight essays. Is he out of his mind?”

“It’s not that the difficulty is impossible, though.”

“It’s the time that’s the problem. It’s hard enough to do this even if you work hard for a week, but he wants us to finish it all in one day. And the given time isn’t even 24 hours.”

“Hey, if you guys have something to say, go outside and say it. Or solve the problems in that time. You could have finished one exam paper in the time you’ve been talking.”

Dormitories, libraries, study rooms.

Regardless of the place, about half of the entire student body was slumped over like corpses, struggling with the assignments, their bodies weary.

At this point, you’d expect some students to give up.

But they were all holding on remarkably well.

“Doesn’t anyone have the answer key for this workbook? I really just want to copy three problems.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“There aren’t any similar problems on the internet either. It seems like he made the workbook himself.”

“He made this much material all by himself…?”

“It sounds like nonsense, but you guys know it too. The professor actively uses ‘telekinesis’ [the ability to move objects with the mind] when he lectures.”

With the professor’s level of magic power and skill, it wouldn’t be difficult to create this much material in a day.

However, that’s just a matter of possibility.

Creating several workbooks and exam papers in a day was mentally close to impossible. But since similar problems weren’t found on the market, they had no choice but to infer that he made them in one day.

Thanks to the non-existent answer key.

The students gave up on their desire for the answer key early on and solved the problems, their arms the only things moving. The only fortunate thing was that the essays weren’t Seung-woo’s work.

“Where do you find the essay translations?”

“Aren’t you going to look at the commentary? That’s easier.”

“Hey, you idiot. Do you know how much interpretation varies for that essay? I’d rather read and interpret the translation myself than look at someone else’s subjective interpretation.”

“Wow, this is crazy. Why is the terminology like this? ‘Madojihaek’… I think this means ‘magic core,’ and ‘the inscrutable mist regarding the exploration of mystery’… Does the essay have Korean language questions in it?”

Even the easiest essays were proving difficult.

In the end, students genuinely began to consider giving up on the assignment. The students of Chilseong Academy are some of the most outstanding talents in the world.

Do you think these talents have never stayed up all night studying? Absolutely not.

If they’ve stayed up more than others, they’ve stayed up more.

They had never stayed up less. They were that diligent in their studies, considering it an achievement and virtue to become stronger and reach higher levels.

However, this was a bit much.

“I… I don’t think I can finish it all today.”

“Me neither. Why don’t we just solve it together?”

“Huh?! That’s a good idea. I’ll solve from page 75, and you solve from page 85.”

Rumble rumble.

After one student’s statement, the dormitory and library became noisy.

The suggestion to divide the workbook and exam papers slyly and cleverly penetrated their minds. Right, how can we do this alone?

Surely that bastard… no, the professor must have given us this assignment with the intention of dividing the work. Not to mention the first-year students, even among the third-year students, only a handful of people could complete the entire assignment alone.

As everyone’s thoughts leaned towards dividing the work.

Isabel clicked her tongue.

Next to her was a male student who was going to show her his solutions, asking Isabel to show him the workbook she had solved. Isabel said to him.

“I have no intention of dividing the work.”

“What, what did you say…?”

“You’re distracting me from solving problems. Get lost.”

“You…! Do you think you can solve all of this by yourself? Even during exam periods, problems of this scale take a week to solve!”

“What’s there not to solve? Just solve it.”

“!!!!”

Swoosh, Isabel tied her hair with a ribbon and continued.

“And how can I trust you guys to divide the work? If even one person messes up, only my evaluation will drop. I’d rather solve it from beginning to end myself.”

Isabel’s ex-fiancé.

No, you son of a bitch. No, is he a fox [referring to Baek Seung-woo’s Gumiho heritage, implying cunning]?

Anyway, Baek Seung-woo wouldn’t have wanted the students to divide the work either.

The workbooks he presented were mainly problems to build a solid foundation, and the exam papers were to confirm whether this foundation was perfect.

The essays were for building on top of the knowledge built so that it wouldn’t collapse. Isabel could see it.

Was it thanks to the years she spent with him? She quickly realized that Seung-woo’s next lecture would be an application and advanced course built on the foundation laid through the workbook.

Having realized Seung-woo’s intentions, Isabel couldn’t divide the work even more. It’s unpleasant to be swayed by her damn ex-fiancé’s intentions.

But she didn’t want to leave him any room to ignore her.

Even if it’s the relationship between a professor and a student.

Whether she was moved by Isabel’s will, the students eventually gave up on dividing the work and ran through the night in madness. That day, the academy was as bright as day even in the middle of the night.

It wasn’t this bright even during the final exam period.

* * *

The day after assigning a large amount of homework.

With less than a week left until summer vacation, this homework irritated the students. Other professors didn’t give students any special assignments after the final exams, but Baek Seung-woo had made up his mind.

But if you don’t do it, you’ll be kicked out of the lecture, so how can you not do it?

The students held coffee and caffeinated drinks in their hands and finished their homework.

“Everyone submitted the homework I gave you yesterday without exception.”

The students gave me a natural expression at my words.

Their eyes were full of dark circles, and a look similar to madness could be glimpsed. They all looked like they’d lost their minds.

But there were some who weren’t.

Some were students who had solved all the assignments in a short amount of time using their own methods, and others were.

“However, some collaborated together or solved the problems carelessly.”

“!!!!”

“Collaboration is one thing, but solving problems carelessly… should I see that as an attitude of approaching my lecture carelessly?”

Solving problems ‘carelessly.’

It’s not clear where the standard of carelessness starts, but if we roughly set that standard.

“Students who don’t even try to solve the problems and just guess are not needed in my lecture. Since my lecture isn’t a required subject anyway, leave immediately.”

Snap—!

I snapped my fingers.

「Pyrokinesis」[the ability to control fire].

An intangible force grabbed several students along with a red aura.

They were thrown out the door engulfed in flames.

Of course, they weren’t burned. Now, controlling that much firepower is easier for me than lying down and eating rice cakes [a common Korean idiom for something very easy].

However, the reason I used 「Pyrokinesis」 instead of 「Telekinesis」 was to use the intimidating feeling of the flames.

Overwhelming the atmosphere in an instant, I went up to the podium.

“Well, it seems like there are no students who are going to listen to my lecture carelessly. I’ll start the lecture now.”

I don’t even expect a response.

I immediately asked a question at the start of the lecture.

“What do you think magic is?”

One student raised his hand at my question.

When I nodded to him, he jumped up from his seat.

“It is a discipline that creates supernatural phenomena by combining magic power according to formulas.”

“Yes, that is the dictionary definition of magic.”

“Professor, that sounds like there is a meaning other than the dictionary definition. Does a definition other than this exist?”

“Of course. It exists.”

A discipline that refers to the phenomenon created by substituting magic power into formulas.

That is the most popular and common definition of magic, but those who want to explore it deeply know. It is hopelessly insufficient to explain magic with just such words.

So when magicians above a certain level explain magic.

“Mystery.”

They explain it with this one short word.

If you can’t fully explain magic even if you explain it at length, it’s better to express it in one word. And the word mystery itself is a word that very briefly means magic.

“That’s all there is to the definition of magic.”

“…Wait a minute. I didn’t hear you just now. Could you say it one more time?”

“Mystery. When defining magic, no more expressions or modifiers are needed.”

“No, what in the world…! Is there a case where you express it so vaguely?!”

“Then what other suitable expression is there?”

I asked the student, who looked like he couldn’t understand at all.

If he doesn’t like the word mystery, what word would he like? I asked seriously, but the answer that came back was just a groan that didn’t form a sentence.

“Th-th-that….”

“See? There isn’t one?”

Defining the vast discipline of magic is not an easy task.

Of course, you can define it if you want, but as magic heads to a higher level, subjective parts become more prominent than objective parts, so even if you define it, there are countless cases of disagreement.

No magician can define magic arbitrarily.

Even if it is the king of magicians. Even if it is the Demon King Nam Hwayeon.

“There are established rules and formulas in magic. But even great magicians, no, even high-level magicians are not bound by formulas. Subjective elements become increasingly stronger. Therefore, a clear and specific definition of magic is meaningless.”

“…So, are you saying that the definition of magic is mystery?”

“Yes, everyone admits that magic is mysterious, even though what they pursue is different.”

Elemental magic, telekinesis, incantation, incantations, sorcery, illusion, necromancy, alchemy, summoning, etc. All kinds of schools that exist in the world.

The category of magic that binds them together.

At the center of that is mystery.

“Magic must always transcend common sense. Only then can there be development. And that is mystery.”

Mystery is a strange and mysterious wonder that cannot be understood by theory and common sense. If you can understand it with common sense, how is that different from science?

At least in my opinion, there is no big difference.

Therefore, magic must always be accompanied by mystery, and magicians are the race that pursues and explores that mystery.

“Can you scientifically raise a corpse?”

“…No.”

“Can you cross space and accelerate your time?”

“No.”

“Then what is the common point of the examples I gave?”

Surely you won’t give a strange answer here either.

“Both… both are mysterious.”

“Yes, now you’re putting the words I want to say into your mouth.”

It seems like you’re starting to get the hang of it.

Whether the years you’ve spent learning magic have been in vain, I could feel a fragment of realization on his face. He was making an expression like a sage who had transcended the world.

There were some students who made expressions that they had realized along with that student, but most of them didn’t understand.

Is there no way around it?

“Today. I will inject the basics and roots of magic into your heads.”

You better not miss my lecture for even a moment.

To finish the basics in 2 hours, I have to proceed with the lecture very quickly.

It will probably be 2-3 times faster than usual.