Chapter 54: Persona Gate Training (1)
There were quite a few incidents on the day of the presentation, but the classes at Stella Academy proceeded as usual."Professor Maizen is not feeling well, so I’m filling in for her."
Professor Maizen wasn’t available, so another alchemy professor had to substitute.
‘I wonder how it’ll turn out. Maizen fully awakened in the eighth episode and caused a rampage in the academy, causing great damage.’
‘Did my influence cause that episode to be pushed forward? I hope at least it's manageable.’
Alterisha hadn’t come to the academy either. She was probably being happily tormented by the alchemists by now.
On the other hand, Baek Yu-Seol was at ease.
Although he was the co-author, Alterisha publicly stated that she had done it alone.
‘The general public wouldn't know, and only the people that should know would know.’
Not only because it becomes bothersome, but the main reason was that his attention couldn’t be diverted.
He was worthless as an alchemist, after all. All focus and attention should be solely on Alterisha.
Thanks to such efforts, there were hardly any circulating rumors related to him in the public.
It was all thanks to the fact that the name Alterisha was plastered all over the headlines of every newspaper.
“Hey, have you heard? You know Assistant Alterisha, right? She's the author of the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique. I heard she solved that age-old problem.”
“Yeah, I also heard it. It was a 300-year-old unresolved mystery.”
“But I heard there's also a co-author?”
“They deliberately kept the identity undisclosed. I wonder why.”
“Well, it’s probably because they must be extremely ugly, right?”
“Ahaha, no way!”
Like that, he could quietly spend his days at the academy as usual.
"That's it for today's class."
After the alchemy class taught by the unknown professor ended, he walked out of the classroom. Some nearby students spotted him and approached hesitantly.
"Um... You're Baek Yu-Seol, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Although he was usually treated as invisible, why were they pretending to know him?
"Well, if you're hungry, would you like to have lunch together?"
The fact that he had a friendship with Assistant Alterisha had already spread throughout the department. There were even false rumors circulating that they were secretly dating.
That was it.
They wanted to get closer to him because he was close to Assistant Alterisha.
While it could be seen as clever on their part to think of it since Alterisha wasn’t currently at the academy, for him, it was just annoying and bothersome.
"Sorry, I already have plans."
"Oh, really? Well, can't be helped then."
The nameless students left with disappointed expressions. They probably thought he was lying, but he did have a prior engagement.
It was his club activity.
As he walked out of the classroom, Eisel hesitated and approached him.
"Um... Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, let's go."
"Th-That's great."
Eisel seemed completely inexperienced as if the activity of exploring good restaurants itself was awkward. It seemed like they were making a big decision, although there wasn't really anything significant about it.
Eisel and Baek Yu-Seol headed to the shoe lockers for their outing. As they each opened their lockers to take out the shoes, he felt a sense of unease.
[Sixth Sense]
Without hesitation, he teleported towards Eisel and…
"Ah!"
He grabbed hold of her and pulled her back.
Then, Eisel’s locker burst open, and a flour bomb exploded!
Boom!
"Oops...?"
Eisel, who narrowly escaped the flour bomb's wrath, widened her eyes in surprise. But, Baek Yu-Seol didn't have the energy to pay attention to that.
Unfortunately, a passerby ended up getting hit by the flour bomb.
He turned his gaze towards Baek Yu-Seol. He had a large physique that could rival a wrestling athlete and a neatly shaved head.
His name was Pung Harang.
Baek Yu-Seol remembered that he was in the same class as him, a first-year Class S student.
"Um... Hey, I'm sorry."
However, he didn't accept Baek Yu-Seol’s apology and instead turned his head in the opposite direction. Over there, three girls were gathered around a girl with her hair in a bun.
They all looked startled upon catching Pung Harang’s gaze.
“Are you happy doing this?"
"Huh? Wh-What are you suddenly talking about?"
It was such an unexpected and out-of-the-blue remark that both Baek Yu-Seol and they were taken aback.
Pung Harang shot them a cold glance.
"If you thought you could torment a superior and confident woman by simply burying her in flour... Shouldn't that bring you some enjoyment? Otherwise, you'd feel pitiful and miserable yourselves."
"W-What's that supposed to mean...?!"
He checked the name tag of the girl with the bun and realized she was in Class B.
‘Ah, come to think of it, such a thing did happen.’
Eisel’s episodes of being ostracized were repeatedly mentioned in the early parts of the story. He hadn’t personally witnessed it within the story. After all, the protagonist was Flame.
He never expected to indirectly experience it like this.
The girls, met with Pung Harang’s fierce gaze, seemed frozen in place and trembled as if they were having seizures.
“I-I didn’t do it! She made me do it!”
Then, one person betrayed the group and ran away, while the rest followed suit and fled one by one.
Meanwhile, the girl with the bun didn’t manage to escape and was compelled to face Pung Harang’s gaze alone.
‘Is she going to wet herself?’
Pung Harang didn't seem to have any intention of threatening her anymore and turned his attention back to the flour, flicking it away.
Then he glanced at Baek Yu-Seol and spoke. “You."
"Huh?"
"You have sharp reflexes."
After saying that, Pung Harang coolly headed outside with flour-stained clothes.
He hadn't seen much of him in the original game, but he seemed more imposing than even Ma Yu-Seong.
Eisel and Baek Yu-Seol stood there for a while.
"... Sh-Should we go?"
"Yeah. Ma Yu-Seong is waiting."
That was how, after various twists and turns, they were able to start their first club activity.
As they stepped outside, Ma Yu-Seong was leaning against a street lamp, either memorizing runic letters or reading a notebook. Even his appearance seemed like something straight out of a masterpiece, causing passing female students to linger around and steal glances at him.
He noticed them, closed his notebook, and approached with a smile.
"You're here. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. Since lunchtime isn't that long, I don't plan on going far."
Arcanium was incredibly vast, and there were a considerable number of restaurants, so one could find a good place to eat no matter what.
"So what's on the menu?"
"Pizza. Do you guys like it?"
"Yeah, I enjoy it."
"Uh, I... Well, I'll eat it."
He didn’t know much, but he knew that Eisel liked pizza.
In fact, if one chose the option to become close to Eisel as a player, they could raise affinity by getting her favorite food as a gift, and pizza was at the top of that list.
"Alright, then, shall we go to a pizza place?"
While walking along the street with Ma Yu-Seong, an interesting phenomenon occurred.
"Hey, isn't that person Ma Yu-Seong?"
"Wow, look at that height."
"I thought he was a model."
Before enrolling in Stella as the prodigious mage of the century, Ma Yu-Seong had already gained prominence in the middle school academy.
Thanks to numerous media appearances, he was quite famous.
He had a towering height that was hard to believe for a high school student, a warm and friendly impression, and a handsome face to top it off.
Since most of the students in Arcanium were prodigies, it was impossible not to know about the famous Ma Yu-Seong in the magical world.
Eisel, too, was quite famous, although in a not-so-positive way.
"And next to him is the daughter of the traitor Morph."
"She may be pretty, but she's still the child of trash."
Fortunately, the good thing was that Eisel herself didn't pay much attention to those glances.
‘Stupid people. It's almost sad to see them being swayed by baseless rumors.’
He wondered what expression those gossipers would make when they eventually learned the truth.
"It's this way."
Still, Baek Yu-Seol didn't want to see Eisel being insulted, so he guided her properly to the pizza place.
"What would you like to eat?"
"I'm fine with whatever you're having."
"I'll have what you're having then."
“Alright.”
As soon as they arrived at the pizza place, Baek Yu-Seol quickly scanned the menu and placed the order. It was a mixed pizza with lots of cheese and something called a pizza roll, but Eisel didn't understand any of it.
She had a slightly nervous expression.
'Pizza...'
She had heard a lot about it. It was a food she really wanted to try.
But she never had the opportunity.
Pizza was an expensive dish that cost more than 15,000 credits, which was almost a week's worth of food for Eisel.
In the past, Eisel wanted to eat it badly, so she tried preparing the ingredients like cheese, bell peppers, and even the dough herself.
However, she failed miserably and ended up making a mess, which made her nearly tear up.
She couldn't even bear to waste the ingredients, so she reluctantly forced herself to eat it, but at that moment, she truly wanted to cry.
Seeing Eisel eagerly waiting with anticipation, Baek Yu-Seol smirked and grabbed a plate of pickles.
In his memo about her, he had written down a note that said, “When eating pizza, you should drink the pickle juice first.”
"Here, you can have this."
‘What’s this?’
She had never seen this food before.
Although she didn't ask, she ventured a guess by herself.
‘Is this a palate cleanser? When you order steak, they first bring out bread and soup…’
She hesitated as she touched the pickle plate.
‘How do you eat this...?’
She discreetly glanced at Ma Yu-Seong and Baek Yu-Seol. She didn't want to be treated like a fool who didn't know how to eat something as simple as this.
Observing her, Baek Yu-Seol suddenly had a realization.
‘No way, is this her first time at a pizza place?’
Since Baek Yu-Seol didn't know much about Eisel, he didn’t know if she had been to a pizza place before or not.
So, he quickly handed her a fork and was about to subtly show her how to eat it when Eisel took action.
She brought the pickle plate to her lips and drank the pickle juice directly.
Her sky-blue eyes widened.
‘I-It's delicious!’
She had never tasted such a stimulating broth before.
Baek Yu-Seol wanted to tell her the truth, but Eisel kept drinking the pickle juice with delight, so he gave up.
Ma Yu-Seong, who was staring at her, also toyed with the pickle plate. Like Eisel, brought it to his lips and slowly savored the taste.
"Hmm... It's not bad."
Seeing him smile brightly, you’d think he was drinking some expensive red wine.
"Oh... right. That's the charm of pickles."
A moment later, when two pizzas were brought out, Eisel’s mouth dropped open.
"Wow...!"
The tantalizing aroma of cheese stimulated her appetite, and she almost began drooling.
"Let's eat. I checked beforehand, and this place is really popular."
As Baek Yu-Seol served the pizza onto the plate, Eisel cautiously picked up the knife.
However, Baek Yu-Seol couldn't tolerate the idea.
"Oh no. Why would you ruin the pizza by putting a knife in it? It doesn't taste good when you eat it like that."
"What?"
"You have to eat it like this to truly enjoy it."
Baek Yu-Seol demonstrated first.
He lifted a slice of pizza and took a big bite, pulling it away from his mouth.
Streeeetch!!
The cheese from the pizza stretched out like a string.
"Well, that's even more outrageous..."
"Oh, it seems fun, doesn't it?"
Ma Yu-Seong followed suit and picked a slice as his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
Eisel, with an uncertain expression, alternated between the knife and the pizza, but in the end, she put the knife down and picked up the pizza with her bare hands.
Then she put it in her mouth.
"Ah...!"
An exclamation burst out.
It was her first time.
She couldn't regain her senses from the overwhelming stimulation of the chewy cheese and spicy hot sauce that filled her mouth.
‘Ah, the bell peppers are frolicking on top of the cheese. The combination of peppers, paprika, and olives is amazing. The bacon and onions are joining hands and performing an energetic salsa dance!’
Then suddenly, her emotions surged. She remembered the days when she couldn't properly enjoy a meal like everyone else.
But now, the taste was so delicious that all those thoughts vanished.
She felt happy.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but Eisel held them back and spoke with a choked voice.
"... It's delicious. Truly."
Baek Yu-Seol smiled, feeling like he made the right decision after all.
"Let's come here often from now on."
He felt a sense of satisfaction as if offering a delicacy to a cute little bird.
‘Eat well.’
That way, it would give her some strength for the challenges ahead.
"Flame! Did you hear?"
Flame, who was walking down the hallway, slightly stiffened at the girl's voice.
"Yeah..."
"Really? Then I’ll see you later!"
As she watched her friend run off in another direction, she sighed.
She had come to share the rumor that Alterisha had solved a complex Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique.
It was something she had heard dozens of times already.
Young girls were a vibrant species who brimmed with infectious excitement whenever they stumbled upon intriguing news to share with their friends.
However, Flame knew.
She knew that all of this was Baek Yu-Seol’s doing.
Despite his name being not revealed and not known to the public, somehow, Flame felt like she could understand his deeper intentions as he hid himself and made Alterisha stand out.
But how did he solve the formula? Did any knowledge from the future remain? Most of the future knowledge, except for crucial events and narratives, should have been forgotten as a consequence of regression.
She herself had no way to help Alterisha because there was no explanation of the Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique in the original novel she was familiar with.
But the situation was unfolding quite favorably.
‘Or maybe, he's just really smart? Is that why?’
Either way, since he knew the fact that Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique would be solved in the future, he might have solved it with Alterisha directly.
In truth, she didn't plan to get deeply involved. She and Baek Yu-Seol had agreed to only reveal 50% of their true feelings.
Instead, she needed to prepare for the next event.
‘Persona gate training.’
In this world, there were countless persona gates. Even in the original novel, their true nature was never properly revealed, causing a lot of resentment from the fans.
It was another dimension born from the power of the dark mages.
If they didn't quickly conquer the persona gates and deal with them, the places where they appeared would become completely tainted, rendering them uninhabitable.
To prevent that, the magic warriors, including Flame, had been studying persona gates since their childhood, and now as high school students, they were conducting practical training.
Perhaps this time, the real would be mixed in the persona gate training. It was the infiltration of the evil dark mages within the academy.
‘I roughly know the whole story of the event, so I have to prevent any major damage from occurring.’
While pondering over such concerns, Flame walked slowly, only to find students gathered in front of the classroom bulletin board for some reason.
"Hmm?"
Curious, she went over to see a notice regarding the persona gate. As she silently read it, someone approached her.
"Flame, hey."
"...?"
A gentle and warm voice.
She instinctively turned her head.
Crown Prince Jeremy had unknowingly made his way beside her, and he stood there with a dazzlingly beautiful smile.
Flame had a puzzled expression as she responded. "Oh, hey."
"How about joining the same group for the persona gate training this time?"
Looking at Jeremy, Flame let out a dry laugh.
‘Why is he acting like this here?’
In the original novel, Jeremy was depicted as a character who fell head over heels for Eisel and fought hard to win her heart.
However, Eisel eventually became involved with Ma Yu-Seong, which angered Jeremy, leading him to use his power to torment her.
If he had simply tormented her physically, it might have been understandable, but Jeremy displayed a psychotic nature and destroyed her mentally.
Honestly, while reading the original work, Flame became extremely annoyed.
Although many readers idolized him as an embodiment of twisted obsession, Flame detested such a personality.
"Hah, if you're going, do I have to accompany you? What makes you believe that, huh? That arrogant expression of yours?"
She grabbed Jeremy's chin and shook it from side to side.
Jeremy was taken aback, and his eyes widened.
"Go find another girl to bother. Stop messing around with me."
After that, Flame coolly turned around and walked away while Jeremy caressed his chin.
'...Interesting.'
However, there was one aspect that Flame had overlooked. This was a romantic fantasy, and clichés were bound to happen.
'Unique, refreshing, and... attractive.'
No other woman had ever acted so boldly towards him.
The freshness resonated deeply in Jeremy's heart. He felt sensations he had never experienced before and even a sense of excitement.
Jeremy watched Flame’s figure as she walked away with her short legs, wanting to capture every bit of her appearance.
But then...
“Oh, hey! Where are you going? Class?”
“Don’t hit my back while I’m eating.”
"Hahaha, why do you look so funny?"
A particularly annoying person appeared; someone who always got on his nerves.
Jeremy subconsciously clenched his fist and glared at the boy's back.
‘Don't you dare touch her, Baek Yu-Seol.’
He had never had something he wanted to possess taken away from him in his entire life.
And this time would be no different.