The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 180

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-181

The next day.

It had been a while since I last visited Obelisk Academy.

I wasn’t sure how many months it had been since I last walked this path at this time.

Soon after the new semester started, I was exempted from classes to prepare for the Olympiad…

Was it about three or four months?

‘Things have changed quite a bit.’

The landscaping looked very sophisticated, and the surrounding decorations were quite flashy.

The walkways and roads seemed to have been completely repaved.

‘Is this, by any chance, a mass-produced protection stone?’

I stomped on the newly laid walkway with my front paw. I didn’t feel any pain in my paw.

I kicked it a little harder.

Still, I felt nothing.

‘It’s a mass-produced protection stone.’

The walkway blocks that filled the path were actually improved magic stones for safety, mass-produced protection stones.

The effect is shock absorption.

Because the shock is absorbed, you won’t get hurt even if you fall on a path paved with mass-produced protection stones.

Not even a scratch or pain occurs.

‘They paved all this with such expensive stuff?’

Usually, these are high-end facilities installed in places where students are likely to get hurt, such as test sites or training grounds.

To pave the school path with this.

I glanced around.

It’s the same everywhere else.

They just covered everything with mass-produced protection stones.

‘……The outer walls of the gymnasium are also newly coated with magic stones?’

In addition, the clothes of the students doing club activities in the distance were made of mana fiber.

It’s not entirely mana fiber, but it’s mixed in here and there.

Even with just that, the price skyrockets.

‘Where did they get the money to change the facilities so drastically?’

It must have cost a huge amount of money that ordinary people can’t even imagine.

Where did the money come from?

‘Ah. Is it because of me?’

For winning the gold medal and MVP at the Olympiad, the government decided to provide massive subsidies.

It must be something like that.

I haven’t heard anything yet, but it seems highly likely.

Otherwise, there’s no reason for the facilities to suddenly become so high-end.

‘Good.’

At this rate, the training facilities within the academy must have become quite high-end as well.

The upgrade of training equipment is something I’ve been hoping for.

It’s unlikely, but they might have brought in the latest simulation room I saw at the Red Magic Tower.

‘That would be great.’

I started daydreaming about the world’s best simulation training room I saw in the United States.

As I was thinking about all sorts of state-of-the-art training facilities and walking, I began to see other students.

“Huh? Isn’t that Shin Hayul over there?”

Someone whispered as they saw me.

Well, it’s a bit much to call it a whisper. The gestures and expressions felt like whispers, but their voice was quite loud.

Was it because they were excited?

“It is. What? When did he come back?”

“I didn’t see any news about him returning.”

The words quickly spread in all directions.

“Wow! It’s Senior Shin Hayul! It’s my first time seeing him.”

“He’s so cool… What should I do? Should I go talk to him?”

“Will he accept our greetings?”

Before I knew it, the eyes of all the students on this school path were focused on me.

Roughly, there were at least 50 people looking only at me.

The time it took for the attention to gather was only five seconds.

The overwhelming gazes from all directions were disconcerting.

At that moment, my father’s words and Soonchan’s words came to mind.

My popularity in Korea is greater than I think, so I need to be mentally prepared.

That’s what they said.

So, I prepared myself in my own way.

I vaguely thought that I should expect about 1.5 times the attention I received when I was called a supernova in the past.

But…

‘I didn’t think it would be this much…’

It seems I was too complacent.

1.5 times the attention compared to me a year and a half ago?

No way.

“Senior! You’re so cool!”

“Senior, I love you~!”

“This uniform! It’s a new one thanks to you, Senior! Thank you so much.”

The attention I’m getting now can’t be compared to what I got a year and a half ago.

Well, the attention itself might be comparable.

However, the density, meaning, and direction of that attention are completely different.

If the attention I received a year and a half ago was like looking at a ‘rare animal.’

The attention I’m getting now is like looking at a ‘respected hero.’

Even if it’s the same attention, the meaning it holds is completely different.

I should have anticipated that difference.

“Hayul, do you remember me? We were in the same class in the first grade.”

“Junior, you’re good with your body. Are you interested in martial arts?”

“Senior! Please take a picture with me!”

The crowd around me is growing exponentially.

Well, I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to compare people to insects.

But the density was truly reminiscent of bees swarming around honey.

“No, um, I’m sorry. Could you all please step back a bit…”

No matter what I said, the wave of people didn’t even listen.

Some people made suggestions, some thanked me, and some asked me to hold their hands.

It was just a total mess.

‘I’m going crazy.’

What should I do about this situation?

It’s easy to escape by using my body or magic.

But I didn’t want to do that.

These are people who gathered because they like me.

It wouldn’t be right to forcefully push them away.

But I can’t keep standing here like this either.

‘……Ugh.’

My head is throbbing.

It’s my first time experiencing this kind of situation, so I don’t know how to respond. My head is blank.

“Everyone, please…”

I was trying my best to calm them down.

“Okay, okay. Everyone, that’s enough.”

Someone popped out in front of me.

“Hey, you there. Step back. Don’t come closer than 1 meter.”

A cheerful smile and a friendly face.

My friend, who could be called the embodiment of friendliness.

Ji Soonchan.

“Now. Let’s be calm, like the evolved humans with proper intellect and wisdom that we are. You won’t get any answers by being so forceful. That’s not what you all want, right?”

Soonchan stood in front of me like a manager and began to mediate the situation.

“You…”

While Soonchan was calming everyone down, he glanced at me and winked. It was a gesture that meant he would take care of this.

“There’s not much time left until class starts. Let’s not get so excited and have a cool 20-minute mini fan meeting. Let’s agree on that.”

He was like a zookeeper calming down angry beasts.

How can he be so natural? I would believe he was a manager of a top star.

“Ah, by the way, I’m not accepting any club membership invitations. You can make those offers later. Right now, given the time and place, I’ll only take questions. Just 5… no, let’s go with 10!”

“Ooooh!”

He brought out the keywords that the crowd around me would like the most, leading the atmosphere.

At the same time, he excluded students with other purposes.

This forced the seniors who were trying to make suggestions to me, and the students who were trying to approach me to get something, to remain silent.

Because that’s how the atmosphere became.

It was indeed an effective move.

“Okay. First, you there. Cute junior. You seemed the most passionate earlier. I’ll give you the first chance to ask a question. What do you want to say to our ace, MVP, handsome, and talented Shin Hayul?”

Like a fish in water, like an eagle soaring through the sky.

Soonchan began to roam this place as he pleased.

* * *

That afternoon.

After all the classes were over.

“…I’m really drained.”

I returned to my room and collapsed onto the bed.

“You’ve worked hard, man.”

Soonchan pulled out a chair and placed it in front of the bed, then sat on the edge of my bed.

“Adela, you can sit there.”

Then, he called out to Adela, who was standing blankly, looking around at the old books that filled my room.

“Yes.”

Adela sat down on the chair that Soonchan had set up.

“…Why are you so fine?”

I looked at Soonchan with only half of my face turned.

He worked almost like my manager all day, so he should be the most tired.

But what about Soonchan now?

He doesn’t look tired at all, but rather more energetic.

“Well, it’s because I’m used to it.”

“…Used to it?”

“Yeah. I’ve received quite a bit of attention too, though not as much as you or Adela. So, I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Ah. So that’s why you were so natural.”

Now I understand Soonchan’s composure. If this kind of thing happened often, he would get used to it.

“…Is it possible to get used to this?”

Adela said with a complex and subtle expression.

Her eyes were filled with deep empathy as she looked at me.

Her eyes showed that she fully understood my tired heart.

Then, she looked at Soonchan with an expression as if she was looking at a rare animal.

Adela, with her personality, would only find this excessive attention tiring.

She couldn’t understand how Soonchan could be so calm and enjoy the current situation.

“Just enjoy it. It’s good, getting attention.”

“…You’re such an attention seeker.”

I’ve always thought he had a bit of an attention-seeking personality, but it seems like it’s fully blossomed this time.

“Originally, man. Everyone is born an attention seeker.”

“…Bullshit.”

Attention is only good to a certain extent.

If it’s this extreme, there’s no joy or anything.

All that’s left is exhaustion.

“Well, it’ll calm down in about 3 days. That’s how long it took for Adela.”

“…You mean it’ll be like this tomorrow and the day after?”

“Probably? Your popularity is incomparable to mine or Adela’s… It could even last up to a week.”

“…Ah. This is really too much.”

Not only during breaks.

Even during class, the students in the same class, or the students in the classes that have joint classes.

Even the instructors.

They approach me with more attention than necessary.

This is really stressful.

“Hehe. Earlier, when you got a perfect score in training, the cheers were insane. I thought it was the World Cup final.”

“Ah, I heard that even in our class. So that’s why the cheers were so loud.”

“…This is really too much.”

I never imagined it would be this much.

“Endure it, superstar. That’s the weight of the throne.”

“…”

I can’t even laugh.

I have to go through this for a week at most.

‘……No.’

A week is just Soonchan’s guess.

If things go wrong, this attention might not stop and continue.

No, not to brag, but my popularity is at that level right now.

I even thought I might die from excessive attention, so that says it all.

“…I need to graduate a little earlier.”

I was planning to complete the 2nd-year courses and graduate a year early because there were still some things to prepare.

But in this state, it would be better to speed up my graduation a bit more.

“What?”

“Are you going to skip a grade?”

Two people stared at me intently. Soonchan had a shocked expression, and Adela was expressionless as usual.

“Ah, didn’t I mention it? Yeah. I’m going to skip a grade.”

“…Why?”

“What do you mean why? Just because. I meet the requirements, and I’m confident I can pass the grade-skipping exam. I’m just going to graduate quickly.”

Winning the gold medal and MVP is more than enough to meet the requirements for skipping a grade.

No, it’s more than enough.

I’m confident I can pass any exam, and since it’s a special situation, I could probably graduate after just one semester if I wanted to.

“…”

“…”

Two people looked at me with strange expressions.

They seemed to be thinking about something complex.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I thought you’d roughly expect it.”

“No. Well, I thought it was possible…”

Soonchan smiled bitterly.

“Come to think of it, it’s natural… There’s probably not much you can learn at this academy.”

“Right. Before the realm, my magic trajectory is different from ordinary mages.”

The system of magic is different.

Therefore, there’s no reason for me to complete the academy’s classes.

For me now, the time spent taking classes is just a waste.

“Okay. Well, if that’s your choice, there’s nothing we can do. It’s a shame, though…”

Soonchan’s smile became even more bitter.

“Why are you so sad, man? It’s not like I’m going on a long-term study abroad. I’ll be in Seoul.”

“Right.”

Soonchan chuckled.

“Adela, aren’t you going to skip a grade? I thought you would too.”

Adela has already far surpassed the student level.

It’s better for Adela now, rather than awkwardly taking classes at the academy, to receive more specialized magic education.

Especially now that she has absorbed the ‘Grace of God.’

“I will. Skip a grade.”

“I knew it.”

“What? Adela, you’re doing it too? Why didn’t you say anything beforehand?”

Soonchan glared at Adela with an expression like a betrayed hero.

“I didn’t say anything because I hadn’t decided yet. I just decided to skip a grade just now.”

“…You just decided now?”

“Yes.”

Adela turned her gaze to me.

“If you chose to skip a grade, I was going to skip a grade too. I had decided that from the beginning.”

“You were going to do whatever I chose?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

A different light flowed from Adela’s eyes.

“I thought that if I could learn magic from you, I wouldn’t need to skip a grade. Learning from you would be more beneficial than learning from any other mage in this world.”

“That’s, that’s too much praise.”

“It might be too much praise. But at least, that’s what I think.”

Adela’s eyes shone brightly. They were beautiful eyes shining with unwavering trust.

“Tsk. So, I’m the only one left? That’s not good… The seniors will all graduate too.”

Soonchan laughed ‘Hehe’.

His expression showed that he was somewhat sad.

“Well, then our golden trio will only last for half a year at most. Tsk.”

No, should I say he looked disappointed?

Anyway, it was a very strange expression.

“Soonchan, you can do it too.”

“…Do what?”

“Skip a grade.”

“…Huh?”

Adela said with a calm expression.

“Since you won a gold medal, there’s no problem with applying for the grade-skipping exam. If we skip a grade together… then isn’t that how it should be? Then our relationship won’t break, but rather expand and extend.”

Soonchan’s eyes widened.

“That’s right. There was that way?”

His expression clearly said, ‘I didn’t know that.’

“No, but. Can I pass the extremely difficult grade-skipping exam?”

“We’ll know if we try.”

“That’s true.”

“And…”

Adela turned her gaze to me.

Soonchan’s gaze also turned to me.

“Here. We have a top instructor. He’ll somehow make it happen.”

“Oh. That’s right. I believe in you. My best friend Hayul. I believe in you. Ha-men.”

Soonchan put his hands together and bowed his head.

It was as if he was praying.

“…No. Are you really going to skip a grade?”

“Yeah. After you two graduate, and the seniors graduate, what’s the point of being alone?”

Soonchan’s eyes shone with determination.

“And… I don’t know if it’ll work, but there’s no harm in taking the exam, right?”

“Right. It’ll be a big help to your resume.”

“That’s exactly it.”

Every word he said was right.

If he passes, that alone means he doesn’t have to go through the 3rd-year courses.

Skipping a grade is also the same as building up a mage’s specs [mage’s abilities and achievements].

“Training will be very hard.”

“Heh. Will I die? You’ll make sure I can survive. I’ll follow your schedule 100%.”

“You promised?”

“…Huh? Yeah.”

“Good. Friend. If that’s your determination, then as your friend, I’ll have to roll up my sleeves and help you.”

The corners of my mouth curled up into a smirk that best showed my wickedness.

“…”

Soonchan’s expression darkened for a moment. It seems he finally realized that something was wrong.

“Let’s work hard together starting tomorrow.”

“…I’m screwed.”

Soonchan’s face was filled with despair.