Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 394

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 394

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 394

What is that? (4)

I looked up at the sky.

A landscape resembling distant outer space.

The celestial sphere surrounding us wasn’t like a typical universe filled with stars.

Someone seeing this for the first time might think that.

“That gate blocking the world. Let’s just open it wide.”

“Don’t be ignorant. Do you know how delicate the gap between dimensions is? We don’t know what will happen if we release all those monsters.”

At least, it wasn’t a sight we were seeing for the first time.

We had already seen it once to come to this world.

Luna pointed to a distant star.

“Take a closer look.”

A star shining in green.

Looking closely at the surface, which pulsed with what felt like blue vitality, you could see the roots of a rotten old tree. Traces of the Divine Tree. Why was it stuck in the gap between dimensions without collapsing?

Could it be that it wasn’t dead yet?

‘I broke it so thoroughly, there’s no way it’s not dead.’

It might be a concept like rigor mortis [the stiffening of muscles after death].

A giant tree that absorbed countless worlds as nourishment.

Even if you tear down the pillar and kill it, it might take a long time for the roots of the giant tree to die.

Because the Divine Tree is so huge.

It can’t be helped.

“What do you think?”

“The roots are really thick. I wonder if it will die in about a thousand years?”

“Not those kinds of impressions! From a more tactical point of view! What do you think from that perspective!”

“Ah, from that perspective?”

When Luna grumbled, I had no choice but to observe the green star covered with roots in detail. Well, she’s been following my instructions well so far.

‘This time, I’ll follow without complaint. Instead—’

While observing the star, I suddenly turned my head.

“……Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your voice is louder than usual?”

“Ah, no, it’s because you’re using me as bait!”

At those words, I immediately rolled up my sleeves.

A wrist full of scorched and torn wounds.

I couldn’t protect my whole body while wielding a sword to block Eve’s attacks and dodging her magic by a hair’s breadth while casting my own spells.

In the end, I prioritized protecting my torso, so my arms were covered in all sorts of wounds. Especially the magic that emits light.

That really hurt.

“So, where are you hurt?”

“Yes?”

“Seeing you complain in front of me, you must have suffered a major injury. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d be more upset than me, whose wrist smells like grilled meat.”

I already knew.

Luna was bait, but thanks to dodging in time, she didn’t get a single scratch. That’s why I’m saying this.

“Hey.”

“……Yes.”

“I’m doing what you say today because I had you do things until now, you know?”

You have to do it next time.

Luna lowered her head and said after hearing those words.

“……I’ll listen well.”

“Yeah, that’s enough.”

Feeling satisfied with those words, I started observing the star again.

Seriously, how dare you raise your voice to a benefactor like me.

‘But now I know why she told me to look at that star.’

That star is Luna’s home planet.

One of the seven disasters that ravaged my world, the place where the Divine Tree was born and began its history. Now, it’s a hellish star swarming with numerous disasters.

Luna would never like that star.

She was born as royalty on that star, and before she could properly enjoy her power, she had to rise to a position of responsibility for numerous races as the only surviving royal.

Even without properly winning in a long war.

It was a world that suffocated Luna, like she was slowly drowning every day. There was no way good feelings could remain.

Nevertheless, the reason Luna told me to look at that star was none other than…

Pazzzik─!

The gap between dimensions.

Suddenly, electricity sparked in this silent and quiet space.

“Those guys… are trying to force the gap open.”

Opening the gap between dimensions is never easy.

I learned space magic, and I have a lot of theory in my head, so I was able to cross the world by somehow going through the original world, but those guys don’t have that ability and knowledge.

‘No. They probably have the ability to some extent.’

I thought of Adam.

The weak Adam that Eve is holding in her hand.

Not the fainted researcher Adam.

I thought of the disaster with snake eyes and black wings. That guy.

‘He was a system.’

Adam’s first impression was like the artificial intelligence of the system.

Rather than feeling like he was representing the will of the system, I got the impression that he was doing the work for them. I’m sure of it.

‘He doesn’t have 100% control over the system.’

If he could perfectly control the system, he would have prepared a way to connect the world he was trapped in with this world in the name of ‘quest.’

Even if Adam doesn’t have the knowledge to move through space.

The system can connect space and space.

The reverse world and the dungeon were the proof.

Now I think I know what Luna wants to say.

“You. You told me to look at that because you thought it would be good to move those disasters and make them fight Eve, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not a bad idea. 鹬蚌相争,渔翁得利 [yùbàng xiāngzhēng, yúwēng délì – when a snipe and a clam grapple, a fisherman benefits; meaning let them fight each other while we benefit], fight poison with poison. No matter what we do, we can just make them fight and watch from behind.”

“How is it? Isn’t it okay?”

“Let’s see. If we move those disasters to this world like we moved.”

The answer is obvious.

They’ll all die.

The reason why all the disasters could gather on Luna’s home planet was because her world did not split like other reverse worlds even though it was destroyed, and it maintained its original form.

Perhaps it was thanks to the existence of the Divine Tree.

It is clear that his roots were firmly holding the destroyed world so that it would not split.

“Everyone dies. Everyone dies.”

“……Yes?”

“I feel like I saw a picture of two groups fighting each other and collapsing together, but if those two fight, do you think we can withstand the aftermath?”

“What about Su?”

“Of course I can withstand it.”

I can hide in the gap between dimensions, or invest all my magic in defense.

At those words, Luna’s expression hardened.

“But what about you and the students? And the residents of this world? Is there a way to survive?”

I don’t think there is.

Luna thought slowly and opened her mouth.

“I just… think there is such a way.”

“Like a last resort?”

“Yes, if you can’t handle the aftermath, then vice versa.”

Doesn’t that mean it doesn’t matter if you don’t have to deal with the aftermath?

I nodded at Luna’s opinion.

‘If it’s a last resort, I can accept it.’

I will use it in that case.

But such a situation will hardly happen…!

쿵!

A huge sensation suddenly swept through my body.

When I turned my head to the side, I realized that the spark that had been occurring from Eve’s home planet far away had engulfed me.

‘……Ah.’

That’s why you shouldn’t say ominous things.

“That, um… we’re safe, rightttttt!”

First, I threw Luna, who was in my hand.

I threw her properly at the exit, so she will arrive safely.

The problem is me.

‘I’m screwed.’

The huge flow of space-time flowing between dimensions.

The spark covered my body and moved me away from the original path, so my ankle got caught in the flow.

I would have liked to cut off my ankle and get out of the flow, but the flow rate is too fast.

‘I’ll have to go a little further.’

With that thought and the end, I was sucked in like a twig caught in a whirlpool and lost consciousness.

* * *

Seungwoo opened his eyes in a cramped space in a laboratory.

His body was swept away by the huge flow, but fortunately, his mind did not collapse, and he did not suffer any major injuries. However, Seungwoo realized that his body was passing through the space as it was.

‘I’m not dead.’

A body like a ghost.

Seungwoo could not interfere with this world at all.

‘I’m just trapped in this world.’

Seungwoo reflexively moved his magic power and examined his body, and he quickly realized the situation he was in.

‘Instead of hurting my mind and body, I’m trapped in this timeline.’

Seungwoo looked around.

The laboratory is clean and comfortable except for the disadvantage of being small.

Before Eve broke the Magic Tower, that is, he was trapped in the past from the timeline he belonged to.

Suddenly, Nam Hwayeon’s words came to mind.

“Be careful when using space magic. Geniuses like us consider all the variables, so there is no chance of being in danger, but sometimes unexpected things happen.”

Ah, teacher. You were right.

Who would have known that the damn disasters would have influence even in this distant space? That’s a monster.

‘Anyway, I have to get out of this space soon.’

It’s strange. Why do I feel so déjà vu?

Seungwoo carefully looked around.

It was definitely a laboratory he was seeing for the first time, but he felt strangely familiar.

It’s like he’s been here before.

‘Have I ever been to a place like this?’

That’s strange? I don’t think I have it in my memory.

Seungwoo thoroughly retraced his memories.

Perhaps there is a clue to escape from this space hidden in his memory. He retraced his memories with that possibility in mind, but he could not find any memory of setting foot in a place that looked similar to this small laboratory.

Instead, he found another memory.

‘Hmm. It’s definitely a different space.’

One fragmentary memory surfaced.

That memory was related to the lowest floor of the Magic Tower.

Eve in the glass tube that I found while moving according to Adam’s words.

That memory stimulated Seungwoo’s mind.

‘Hmm… No matter how I look at it, it’s a completely different space.’

Seungwoo checked up, down, left, and right.

This small laboratory did not look like the lowest floor at all.

In the first place, the lowest floor was an open space.

It is severely different from this laboratory, which is completely blocked on all sides—

“—Ah. Today’s research is finally over.”

‘……!’

Suddenly, someone opened the tightly closed laboratory door and came in.

The only person who can move in this small space is one person.

Then that person must be the owner of this laboratory.

‘Let’s see if it’s a familiar face… Huh? Adam?’

Seungwoo was startled when he saw the face of the laboratory owner.

No, why is that face here again.

It was Adam who felt much younger than the Adams in his memory, but anyway, it was Adam again. How many Adams is this?

‘Is he also a homunculus like Eve?’

I knew that wasn’t the case, but how many times is this already?

The winged Adam is the first, and the young researcher Adam is the second.

Is this guy a young boy Adam?

‘The third Adam.’

Ugh, it’s terrible. I hate even imagining it, but this is reality.

Seungwoo thought, loosening his increasingly hardened face.

But I have to be patient. There must be a reason why he fell into this timeline, specifically into Adam’s laboratory.

‘I used some tricks before losing consciousness in the flow.’

Applied space magic.

He couldn’t completely escape from the flow, but he induced it to fall into a place where it was easy to escape from the flow and move back to the original place.

Because the place he arrived at as a result is here.

There must be a meaning.

“Okay, now that I’ve cleaned my private room. Shall we go see her again today?”

‘He’s moving.’

Adam, who came into the laboratory and cleaned it, went outside.

Seungwoo moved, following him.

Thanks to being invisible to others like a ghost and passing through objects, it was not difficult to follow Adam.

Adam, who was moving somewhere like that, stopped.

A huge door blocked Adam.

Adam standing in front of it.

“…….”

His face turned red without saying a word.