The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 15

The fourth match of the quarterfinals.

The match between Shin Ha-yul and Ha Sang-jun continued with Shin Ha-yul overwhelmingly dominating.

“It’s kind of anticlimactic.”

“Yeah. The round of 16 was too impressive.”

The reactions of the spectators watching the match live were also lackluster.

“This, even the finals might be underwhelming.”

“Agreed. It’ll probably be boring.”

The eighth match of the round of 16 was practically a preview of the finals.

A top-tier match with twist after twist after twist.

It was such a great match that it made you gasp just thinking about it.

Having seen such a match beforehand, it was inevitable that the audience’s threshold would rise.

Of course, not everyone was uninterested in the current battle.

“Hey, look over there.”

“She’s already awake? Does having a high level mean your recovery is exceptional?”

Adela Stewart.

She was still shining with bright eyes.

“Why is she staring so intently?”

“Isn’t she trying to find Shin Ha-yul’s weakness with her eyes burning for revenge?”

If she could shoot lasers with her eyes, Shin Ha-yul would have been burned to ashes by now.

That’s how intense Adela’s gaze was.

“She was eliminated in the round of 16 because of Shin Ha-yul, so it’s understandable that she’d resent him.”

“It would be a blow to her pride.”

It might seem that way at first glance, but Adela’s intense gaze didn’t stem from negative emotions like resentment or revenge.

It was quite the opposite.

‘That Aero Shot just now. He intentionally reduced the speed and increased the power.’

Joy, elation.

A thirst for knowledge, wanting to absorb everything about her opponent.

Her eyes were filled with such positive emotions.

‘Reducing the speed like that can be used to catch the opponent off guard.’

To Adela, Shin Ha-yul was a textbook.

The best textbook that effortlessly demonstrated things she couldn’t even imagine.

‘He exploited the opponent’s caution towards 2nd circle magic and cleverly concealed the 1st circle magic.’

‘Ah, Wood Bind isn’t just for binding the opponent’s feet, it can also be used to blind them.’

Adela’s heart was burning hotter than ever, having the best textbook she could ever wish for right in front of her.

She would absorb everything about that man.

Her mind was filled with that one thought.

‘What else will he show me?’

Adela’s past year had been nothing but tedious.

Learning magic as written in textbooks, mastering magic as taught by her family.

It was a very rational, calculated, and reliable method, but.

For Adela, it was just a boring time.

‘He’s different after all.’

For Adela, who had been chasing after the genius Shin Ha-yul since her youth, a textbook of standard methods was never going to be enough.

‘My heart races when I watch him.’

Shin Ha-yul always toyed with her in ways she could never have imagined.

The standard methods of Shinbiwiga [a family known for their unique magic] didn’t work on Shin Ha-yul during his youth.

She remembered him playfully laughing, saying that following the standard methods in textbooks made it easy to be exploited like this.

‘I want to see more, learn more, and steal more.’

To Adela, Shin Ha-yul was a superstar.

A brilliant star shining uniquely and independently in the monotonous world of magic.

The light that Adela had been chasing.

A first-magnitude star that had been hidden by clouds for a while, unable to shine.

‘I want to become like that someday.’

Adela’s ideal was there.

It was asserting itself and shining brightly.

Adela unknowingly reached out her hand.

‘I want to surpass him someday.’

With the things she stole from that man, she wanted to beat him someday.

Thump-

Her heart was pounding.

It felt like time, which had been stopped for a year, was moving again.

“Match over! Winner! Shin Ha-yul!”

“Waaaaaaaah-!!”

Adela’s radiant eyes pierced through Shin Ha-yul’s back.

Looking at his back, the corners of her mouth unknowingly curved upwards.

“……Wow. I’ve never seen Adela smile before.”

“She’s much prettier when she smiles.”

Adela got up from her seat and quickly ran out of the spectator area.

Her destination was obvious.

She had so many questions to ask.

* * *

“Excuse me…!”

Adela was waiting for me after the match.

She had a somewhat excited expression.

“You’re awake? Is your body okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

The last Blast Lance had hit properly, so I thought it would take a while for her to wake up.

To wake up in just two hours.

Just how strong is her mental fortitude?

“So, what’s the matter?”

Uncharacteristically for Adela, her clothes were wrinkled, and her golden hair was quite disheveled.

It was clear that she had come to find me almost immediately after waking up.

That meant she had business with me.

And considering her excited face.

“I, uh, wanted to talk about the match.”

“You want to do a feedback session?”

“Yes.”

To look back at the previous battle and do a feedback session.

That was her only purpose.

“You still have the semifinals and finals left, and if you’re tired, we can do it later….”

Adela lowered her gaze and fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke hesitantly.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but smile.

“No, it’s good practice for me too. Let’s do it now.”

Before entering the academy, this kind of thing happened often.

Especially on days when I had a mock battle with her, we would always do a feedback session.

She used to hesitate like that back then too.

She hasn’t changed at all.

“Okay. Then, right away, during the first probing attack, when you used the barrier to jump.”

And as soon as I agreed, she was back to her passionate self, as if she had never hesitated.

“Did you plan everything from when you dodged the Earth Needles? If you did, how did you know I would use Earth Needles?”

“Before you used Earth Needles, my posture was disrupted while dodging your magic, right? I intentionally lowered my posture.”

“Ah, so that was part of the plan. Then, of course, hiding the Wind Sphere in the sun was also….”

“That was all planned from the beginning.”

“I knew it! Then….”

My feedback session with Adela continued until the start of the semifinals.

Adela’s smile, which grew clearer and clearer, was impressive.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

On the top floor of a building owned by a subsidiary of the Mado family, two men and women were having a conversation.

They were staring intently at a monitor on one side of the room with serious expressions.

“Oppa. Are you just going to let it be?”

“Let what be?”

On the state-of-the-art hologram screen that completely occupied one side of the room, Shin Ha-yul’s quarterfinal match was being broadcast.

“Ha-yul. Are you just going to watch him?”

Shin Se-ah, Shin Ha-yul’s older sister and the eldest daughter of the family, glared at the man with a venomous expression.

“Well, yeah. What else am I supposed to do?”

Shin Ji-han, Shin Ha-yul’s older brother and the eldest son of the family, shrugged nonchalantly.

“Ugh, seriously! Why are you so calm? Didn’t you hear? Father is planning to bring Ha-yul back into the family!”

Shin In-hyuk had already decided to bring Shin Ha-yul back into the family.

There was also the reason that he had lost the bet with Shin Ha-yul. And unlike a year ago, he had judged that Shin Ha-yul was now worth watching.

Probably after all of today’s matches were over, Shin Ha-yul would once again enjoy the benefits as a member of the Mado family.

“Of course, I heard.”

“Ugh, frustrating.”

Shin Se-ah thumped her chest.

She looked like she was about to die of frustration.

“What’s the problem?”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”

She was becoming even more hysterical.

“If Shin Ha-yul comes back to the family, our positions as the next family heads will be threatened again, right? Have you already forgotten what the atmosphere was like a year ago? Are you stupid, Oppa?”

The Mado family was a family where a thorough meritocracy was prevalent.

Regardless of whether they were the eldest son or daughter, the tradition was to yield the position of family head to the most outstanding mage.

Naturally, until a year ago, Shin Ha-yul had received overwhelming support.

He was practically treated as the next head of the Mado family.

“And both you and I could become just useless puppets again….”

That’s why Shin Se-ah was so agitated.

She was worried that her position, which she had worked hard to build up over the past year, would be ruined if Shin Ha-yul returned to the family.

“Se-ah. Things are different now than they were a year ago.”

Unlike Shin Se-ah, Shin Ji-han, who was as carefree as ever, smiled leisurely.

“Ha-yul back then is different from Ha-yul now. You seem to have lost your composure because you’re thinking about the past.”

In Shin Ji-han’s opinion, Shin Ha-yul’s return was nothing to worry about.

“A year ago, Ha-yul was a rising star that the world was watching, but now Ha-yul is just trash.”

Shin Ji-han stared intently at Shin Ha-yul’s image on the screen.

“But everyone is making such a fuss about how amazing he is….”

Shin Ji-han snorted as if it was ridiculous.

“It’s natural for a basketball player with one arm to look amazing if they show incredible plays as if they had both arms. Even though it’s actually just a normal play.”

A mage without artificial intelligence is like a basketball player with one arm.

It’s natural that they would attract attention if they showed good performance despite having a deficiency.

“Especially when a talented person who was praised as a rising star in the past does that, how can it not be interesting? Right?”

The attention currently focused on Shin Ha-yul was a bubble, all an illusion.

“And if you put everything aside and think about it calmly and objectively, it’s natural that Ha-yul is dominating right now.”

“Objectively…? Ah.”

Shin Se-ah exclaimed as if she had realized something.

“Ha-yul is a 4th circle mage, and his opponents are all 3rd circle….”

“Right. It would be normal for him to dominate even if it wasn’t Ha-yul.”

In modern magic, the difference in circles is the most reliable indicator of victory.

You can see that just by looking at the historical records of 3rd circle vs. 4th circle battles.

The win rate is 1:9.

The win rate of 4th circle mages is over 90%.

“Ha-yul is just covering up his fatal flaw as an Incompatible [a mage without artificial intelligence] with the secret magic he luckily obtained, his brain, and his technique. When evaluated objectively, he’s far inferior to an average 4th circle mage.”

What if it was an ordinary 4th circle mage instead of Shin Ha-yul in that position right now?

What if it was an ordinary 4th circle mage who fought Adela?

They probably would have won without struggling as much as Shin Ha-yul did.

“I see. So, no matter how much he flies and jumps, an Incompatible is still an Incompatible.”

Shin Se-ah let out a sigh of relief.

“Now do you understand? Why I said there’s no need to worry?”

“Yeah. I get it. No matter what Ha-yul does, he can’t beat a mage of the same level as him.”

“Right. Even if Ha-yul becomes a 5th or 6th circle mage, he’ll never be a match for us. So, there’s no need to worry at all.”

Shin Ha-yul could not win against a mage of the same level.

It was a statement that Shin Ha-yul, who was still only a 2nd circle mage, would scoff at if he heard it.

“And well, if we keep an eye on him and see any signs of him threatening our position, we can deal with him then. It’s not too late.”

“You’re amazing, Oppa. You had it all planned out.”

“Of course. Naturally.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

* * *

The interim overall evaluation was over.

“Match over! Winner! Shin Ha-yul!”

“Waaaaaaaah-!!”

“Shin Ha-yul is so cool!”

“That was a great match!”

As expected, I was the winner.

There were no opponents as strong as Adela among the remaining ones, and I was able to win without any major crises.

“Congratulations. As your supervising instructor, I am pleased with your achievements.”

Instructor Go Chang-soo gave me a congratulatory message on behalf of everyone.

“Thank you.”

Applause could be heard from all directions.

The cheers pouring out just for me.

The people chanting my name.

The cheers of the people that followed victory were like a drug, making my heart race like crazy.

“……How annoying.”

“He’s just an Incompatible anyway.”

“That secret magic buff is so disgusting.”

There were also students who sent out immature jealousy from time to time, but even those gazes felt good.

I think jealousy is an emotion that only comes out when you’ve decided that you can’t surpass the target.

In other words, the people who are sending me jealous gazes are all potential losers who think they can’t surpass me.

‘I’ve received all sorts of gazes for a year, so this is nothing.’

In the first place, I’m not in the position to care about such sharp taunts.

I brushed off those gazes and enjoyed the joy of victory.

“Ha-yul! We should have a celebration party!”

Soon-chan approached me, putting his arm around my shoulder.

“Yeah! We should!”

“It’s the first time a glorious winner has come from Class 1. We definitely should!”

“What, were you not planning to? I thought it was a given.”

The students of the second-year Class 1 gathered around me.

They were all sincerely congratulating me on my victory.

“Instructor, you’re coming too, right?”

“There’s no need to be so roundabout about needing someone to pay.”

“Come on~ Instructor. It’s not like that.”

Soon-chan put his right arm around my neck and made a fuss.

“Hey, what are you hesitating for? Let’s go! The instructor is treating!”

His face was full of smiles, as if my victory was more joyful than his own.

Looking at that smile, I couldn’t help but smile too.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be bad to have a celebration party.

But.

“Sorry. I’d love to, but I have a prior engagement.”

“……A prior engagement?”

“Yeah.”

Unfortunately, I had a prior engagement.

[Father]

[We’ll have a lot to talk about.]

[Come home right after the finals.]

[I’ll send a car.]

A very important prior engagement to return home after a year.