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Chapter 69: Item (4)
Occasionally, Flame dreamed.
Dreams where she had pure white wings and flew through a garden filled with iridescent flowers.
She would hold hands with baby angels and wander around.
She would slide down rainbows as if they were slides, playfully jump on clouds, and swim in lakes filled with jewels.
"Flame! Do you want this too?"
"Um..."
With vacant eyes, she received a gift from someone. It was a golden ring that seemed to radiate its own light as if it contained the sun.
"Wear this on your head."
A man smiled, revealing his snow-white teeth.
Another man beside him slowly placed the golden ring on Flame’s head.
Flame continued to gaze at it with vacant eyes.
‘Did these guys really go crazy? Do they want to die?’
Suddenly snapping back to her senses, she threw it to the ground.
"Hey! If you talk crap like that one more time, I'll pluck all your wing feathers and make a jacket out of them! Didn't I tell you that?”
"W-Well, our wings aren't made of feathers..."
“This guy is pissing me off. Come and face me in a real fight.”
"Eek! S-Sorry!"
The baby, or rather, adult angels, quickly retreated. Most of them were male, with three pairs of wings on their backs and golden rings on their heads.
Angels.
The most noble race that always looked down from heaven. They bowed their heads deeply at Flame’s shouting.
‘Oh, I almost got caught…’
Flame touched her own head, hoping to confirm if she had an angel's ring.
Occasionally.
More precisely, once a month.
When her physical and mental strength weakened, such incidents would occur.
The angels tried to put the ring on her and take her to live as one of their kind in heaven.
She would let her guard down, thinking it was just a dream, and end up experiencing it for real.
"Flame... Instead of this, can't we live together in the sky?"
"That's right. The earthly realm is boring."
“But you guys are even more boring."
‘What’s so fun about a mundane life, pretending to play musical instruments and eating fruit?’
“Don’t even dream of it while I’m still alive.”
Upon hearing that, the men hung their heads with gloomy expressions. Despite her slightly weak heart due to their extremely good looks, Flame was not easily swayed.
"Hey, I said I’d visit sometime after I graduate, didn’t I?"
"So wait until then. If you mess around, I’ll never go."
"That's not fair!"
"I'm sorry!"
"We were wrong!"
She didn’t know why they were so obsessed. Even in the original novel, angels appeared, but their detailed background wasn't described.
If she were to think of it roughly...
Maybe they were like that because there were no female angels. That thought crossed her mind.
She had never seen a female angel since coming here.
They said angel blood flowed in Flame’s veins.
They didn’t know the reason either, but if she wore that angel's ring, she could fully transform into an angel and live in the sky.
‘I understand that you guys want girlfriends, but I still prefer humans.’
She wasn’t thinking about dating either.
Unless she committed a mortal sin on earth, she didn’t want to come to such a boring place voluntarily.
"Anyway, send me back quickly. I have to go to the academy."
"Okay..."
The angels quietly approached Flame and extended their palms. Then, everything became hazy, and the world began to feel distant.
They smiled brightly and waved their hands at her.
‘Remember, Flame.’
‘No matter what happens.’
‘We will always protect you.’
During the morning class.
Flame stared at the blackboard with dull eyes. Due to the restless dream, she couldn't concentrate on the lesson.
"Are you okay?" A friend sitting next to her asked cautiously.
It was understandable.
The lingering atmosphere of the previous night’s grand funeral was still present.
At the academy for training magic warriors, they held elaborate funeral ceremonies for students who died while on a mission.
The same was true when Jecky died.
Although she wasn’t well-liked among the students and many even hated her, tears still flowed when it was announced that a classmate had died.
Many students cried during the funeral and sincerely mourned her.
Flame didn't cry.
She didn’t cry because she knew the truth about Jecky’s death.
The incident involving the persona gate was kept a secret. So only a few people knew the truth about it.
As a result, people believed that Flame was exhausted and struggling due to the death of a comrade.
But it wasn't true at all.
Fortunately, the atmosphere on campus didn't become too gloomy.
The second round of exams was approaching.
It was difficult enough to survive in the present, so there was no room for other thoughts.
Around this time, Stella's students would turn into zombies.
With bloodshot eyes and disheveled appearances, they would easily be mistaken for real zombies.
"Now, let's try to solve the next problem."
The students' faces turned grim as the professor spoke.
It felt like their heads were already overloaded with what they had learned so far, and now they had to go further with the exam material.
‘Why do I have to learn attributes I don’t even use…’
Flame, who was solving the trajectory of demons flying at a certain speed using Earth attribute skills, let out a small sigh.
Although she had a general understanding from the original work, she couldn't possibly know all the mathematical knowledge in advance, so she had to study those aspects just like the other students.
Fortunately, there were many similarities between the mathematical formulas in her hometown and those she encountered here, so she could progress much faster than the other students.
Flame used magical formulas that blended her hometown's mathematical equations, and when she presented them, it was at a level that could overturn the academic community.
One of her friends sitting next to her whispered softly, "We're screwed. There's a problem this time that I can't solve. What should I do about this?"
"You should ask the professor."
When Flame casually suggested it, the girls gave her a frustrated look.
"Ugh... That damn magic professor. Do you know how pompous he gets when you ask him a question? Why does he want to show off his knowledge like that? We're just students."
“Right. And his condescending attitude is so annoying. I don’t like it.”
"Sigh... Flame, I envy you. You're smart."
“What are you talking about? I get stuck on lots of problems too.”
"But still, you have someone you can comfortably ask, right?"
"What?"
‘Who?’
"Baek Yu-Seol, of course. He’s really smart. I don't know how he ended up in last place with that brain of his."
"Maybe he deliberately ended up in last place? I heard getting zero points is harder than getting a perfect score."
"That could be possible. Ah, I wish I could be closer to him."
"Ah, I heard Baek Yu-Seol has a crush on Eisel. That was the rumor going around."
"Hmm... Is that so? But honestly, I think Baek Yu-Seol is more precious. Eisel..."
As soon as they were about to say something negative about Eisel, Flame gave them a warning look.
And they immediately got the message.
Anyway, since the opinions of the female students were the same as the overall academy opinion, a few words of conversation were enough to find out what rumors were circulating within the academy.
‘Baek Yu-Seol has a crush on Eisel.’
‘But Eisel is an outcast at the academy, and Baek Yu-Seol is secretly popular.’
‘In conclusion, Baek Yu-Seol is too good for her.’
It was a story that could be easily understood with a little attention.
Baek Yu-Seol tended to care excessively for Eisel, after all.
Just recalling the development of the original story that only Flame knew was enough to confirm it.
All the hardships and adversities that Eisel should have experienced were mostly blocked by Baek Yu-Seol. Somehow, Eisel was able to have a very comfortable academy life with his support from behind.
‘By now, she should have been struggling to find a part-time job again.’
Somehow, Baek Yu-Seol managed to manipulate the situation so that money would accumulate in Eisel’s wallet.
He had planned everything meticulously without Eisel even realizing it, all in order to block her financial problems.
Thanks to that, Eisel was able to have a smooth academy life without suffering from poverty.
"Oh, by the way, where does Baek Yu-Seol study?"
The girls glanced at Baek Yu-Seol, who was quietly dozing off in a corner. He was always nodding off during class, and no one knew what he was up to at night.
"Does he quietly study in the Class S self-study room?"
"Yeah, sometimes there are students in Class A or Class S who do that. They become so elitist that they don't study with students of lower ranks."
"Oh, but Baek Yu-Seol doesn't seem to be like that."
"Yeah, he doesn't discriminate or anything. He just doesn't have many friends."
"True, his personality is refreshing and interesting. He's cool when he takes on the professors."
"To be honest, maybe it's because he voluntarily becomes an outsider that he doesn't have many friends?"
"But why does he keep his distance from people?"
Why indeed?
In the end, he was destined to be forgotten by everyone as time passed.
‘So, maybe that's why.’
Flame smiled wryly. "Alright, here's the next problem."
The Theory of Elemental Attributes class was pure boredom.
The students made an effort to listen even though they could barely keep their eyes open.
"An earth sphere spell, which requires an investment of 316mf of mana, is racing toward the northwest direction. The earth sphere forms a perfect sphere with a diameter of 3.2m and rotates at a speed of 5,700rpm."
Another strange and senseless problem appeared. The professor ignored the students’ collective sighs and presented the problem.
"The mage enchants the acceleration spell by investing an additional 109mf of mana in magic and the weight amplification spell by using an additional 87mf of mana. In order to reach a target 715km away, how much time will it take?"
At first glance, it seemed like an easy problem, but her head started to hurt because of the 316mf of mana acting as variables.
With an investment of 316mf of mana in earth-based magic for acceleration, the speed would increase.
However, using weight amplification as an additional spell would increase the destructive power but slow down the speed again…
What did it mean?
It meant calculating it was incredibly frustrating to the point where steam seemed to be coming out of Flame’s head.
"Uh-oh..."
“Ughhh…”
“Ughhh…”
When the students made agonizing sounds, the professor pointed to someone who had been asleep since.
"Alright, Baek Yu-Seol, you give it a try."
"..."
"Baek Yu-Seol! Wake up and come forward."
"Uh… Yes?"
Baek Yu-Seol, who had been dozing off at the back, stood up with a dazed look, stared blankly at the board for a moment, and then let out a yawn.
As wrinkles formed at the corners of the professor's eyes, Baek Yu-Seol, who had just woken up, asked hesitantly, "Um… but..."
"Why can't you solve it?"
When the professor smirked as if to say, "Well, that's expected," Baek Yu-Seol asked in confusion, "Can you tell me the conditions for the calculation environment?"
"Conditions?”
“What about the acceleration due to gravity?"
"What?"
"Is it assumed to be under the conditions of 1 magical force pressure and 1 atmospheric pressure? What about air resistance and friction?"
Upon hearing that nonsensical question, the professor sighed and shouted, "Ignore all of that. Assume there is no friction, air resistance, and no acceleration due to gravity. Just solve it!"
Hearing this, Baek Yu-Seol pondered for a while and cautiously spoke with half-asleep eyes. "Um..."
"What's the problem now?"
"If there is no friction, the earth sphere would stay in place and rotate in the air, so it wouldn't be able to move forward..."
The professor grabbed his forehead in frustration.
After the lecture, Baek Yu-Seol was about to leave the classroom, but the expressions of some students changed.
It was lunchtime.
They approached him subtly, intending to have a meal together.
Recently, study groups that combined eating and studying had become popular among students, and many wanted to subtly coax Baek Yu-seol into joining them to benefit from his knowledge. Despite his indifferent attitude in class, his grades were among the highest.
Before they could, Eisel hurriedly approached him.
‘I've been struggling a lot lately, too!’
Although she felt sorry for the other students, she hoped that maybe they could study together since they were closer.
She was about to tap his shoulder, thinking that way.
"Do you have any lunch plans, commoner?"
Hong Bi-Yeon, who was waiting outside the classroom, approached him.
All the students who were approaching Baek Yu-Seol seemed to freeze in time. Eisel, too, froze in the same posture, with her arm stretched out.
"It's not for personal reasons. I want to talk about something important."
"Something important?"
"Yes. If you’re uncomfortable eating with me, I’ll leave."
"Well, it’s not exactly uncomfortable."
‘An important... conversation?’
Eisel remained silent like a dumbfounded person and stared at the back of Baek Yu-Seol for a while. He stood there, making eye contact with Hong Bi-Yeon, and finally parted his lips.
"Special black pork lunch set."
It was a mischievous voice filled with humor, not much different from how he usually treated her.
"I'll treat you."
"Let's go."
Just like that, their appointment was fulfilled in an instant, and the students turned back with regretful steps.
However, Eisel couldn't easily lift her feet.
There was a peculiar emotion bubbling within her chest.
It was a truly embarrassing and eerie feeling.
‘A sense of loss.’
Until now, she had thought his presence was natural.
He approached without hesitation, easily breaking down the walls she had put up until he occupied a very significant place within her heart.
So she had thought that Baek Yu-Seol being with her was natural for quite a while.
Just as she followed him, he guided her.
But was that just a one-sided belief?
‘What am I thinking?’
Suddenly feeling embarrassed about such thoughts, Eisel snapped out of it and turned on her heel.
‘For today’s lunch... I’ll just eat at the school cafeteria.’
She gathered her books and was about to leave when someone blocked her path.
"Hello?"
"Yes?"
It was a girl with wavy, chestnut-brown hair that cascaded beautifully like ramen noodles. Her name was Hariren, a name Eisel had heard from time to time.
Though not a famous student, she had a particularly distinct charm. She was quite relaxed, which made her stand out in the intense atmosphere of Class S~A.
Hariren was in Class B, and being from a noble background, she didn't pay much attention to social status.
For that reason, Hariren was known as someone who got along with everyone regardless of social status, and Eisel occasionally looked at her with envy.
Just an ordinary high school student.
She had a lot of friends in a very ordinary way.
With nothing to worry about, her life revolved around studying and friends.
"I've been hearing a lot about you lately."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. My friends want to get to know you. Would you like to have lunch together?"
"They want to get to know me? That's..."
"It’s true! Ahem, some have ulterior motives, wanting to hear from you directly and... also because you’re great at studying, right?"
"Well, yeah... I suppose."
"We'll have lunch and form a study group. It's more comfortable studying with peers than asking teachers, right? I want to learn from you."
"Oh..."
As Eisel hesitated, Hariren gave her a menacing look and spoke.
"If anyone talks crap or acts crazy, I’ll deal with them. Can’t you trust me just once?"
"You… Using such aggressive language isn't good!"
"Huh? Ahaha! So you have a cute side that's different from the rumors? Anyway, let's eat together, okay?"
After a moment of hesitation, it was still difficult to refuse.
Eisel looked blankly at the empty seats where Hong Bi-Yeon and Baek Yu-Seol had disappeared.
What could those two be talking about? What exactly did “significant conversation” mean?
Eisel seemed nervous and mad because Baek Yu-Seol was with the woman she hated the most, but she managed to keep her composure and spoke to Hariren.
"Well then... let's go together, just this once."
"As expected! Come on, let's go! The others are waiting!"
And so, Eisel ended up having a meal with Hariren's very ordinary friends.