Academy's Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 1
I had one friend.
For someone like me with such a narrow social circle, she was a precious friend without equal.
"Hey, Seung-woo, what if we stuck a tail on your back?"
Aside from doing crap like this.
My friend, Eve, reached out with her bare hand.
Then, shimmering blue particles poured over it.
On her empty palm, nine tails that looked like a fox's appeared.
A miracle impossible by normal common sense.
It was the manifestation of magicEve's specialty and forte.
"Don't use magic to make crap like that."
"I'm making it because I have mana to spare. If it were wartime, I wouldn't bother."
"Wartime or not, just don't make it."
This world had been destroyed once.
Perhaps because of that, we had abilities.
Abilities different from others, capable of turning the destroyed world back.
In Eve's case, her ability took the form of magic.
Magic was incredibly rare and valuable. Unbound by physical laws, the power manifested through imagination was supremely transcendent.
Given its power and utility, even I wanted to learn magic.
But magic was Eve's unique ability.
It wasn't something that could be learned.
Well, in exchange, I had my sword and martial arts.
Still, envy was envy.
"If you're gonna use magic like that, give it to me instead."
"You couldn't use it even if I taught you."
"Yeah, true."
"Forget that boring talkwhat about this?!"
She reached into empty space.
Then the space distorted.
Beyond it, a desk appeared.
Several notebooks sat on the desk, and Eve pulled one out. At the same time, the space returned to normal.
"Know what this is?"
"Strategy docs or supply ledgers?"
"Wrong! Aren't you thinking too rigidly? Anyone can see it's a novel."
She flipped it open with a rustle.
The long lines of text and frequent quotation marks proved it was a novel.
No, not even on the cover.
How could she tell it's a novel just from a plain notebook?
"Wait, that's a novel? It looks exactly like a notebook no matter how you slice it."
No military entertainment items came in this format.
All novels were either physical books or e-books on specific devices.
I knew because I loved reading.
Novels like this didn't exist.
At least not as far as I knew.
"Why? Weird cover?"
"Obviously. Even bootleg novels don't look like this."
"It's because I wrote it myself. Duh."
"...What?"
It was an answer that made me doubt my ears.
She wrote a novel herself?
If Eve really wrote it, then it made sense for it to be in a notebook.
But why a notebook, of all things?
A laptop would've been better for writing a novel.
The answer to that was simple.
"I wrote it on the fly during the war, bit by bit. Laptops are a pain to charge."
Eve went on at length about the hardships of writing her novel.
She also explained the plot and details in exhaustive depthit dragged on so long my ears hurt.
"So anyway, I made you the delinquent."
"Why mess with me of all people?"
"Because it's fun."
Amid her long-winded explanation, there were things I couldn't just gloss over.
Especially the part where she used me as a character in her novel.
Not the protagonist, mind youan extra villain at that.
A worthless extra villain.
"But I gave you a stacked family in return. That should make up for it, right?"
"Haha, sure, being the head of a noble house sounds great. But then my little sister and big sister backstab me, I turn into a demon, and the protagonist kills me."
"That's the villain's fate."
I had a lot I wanted to say.
But Eve's eyes sparkled so brightly as she talked about her novel that I couldn't bring myself to interrupt.
I couldn't just sit there quietly.
"The title of my novel is Academy Blockhead Genius. He's this hopeless blockhead, but then he awakens as a genius after some incident."
"What incident?"
"His friends die right in front of him."
"Pretty edgy, but the logic tracks."
She chattered excitedly about all sorts of things.
Like what hidden pieces were in which dungeons, how the plot unfolded, and so on.
From the description alone, it sounded like a standard academy genre novel.
The only standout was the world setting, like the Demon Realm where incidents never stopped happening.
So I didn't feel any urge to read her novel.
I shouldn't have dismissed it.
If I'd known I'd possess into this novel years later.
I would've twisted her settings around and read the novel cover to cover at least once.
"...I'm screwed."
I'd entered the novel my friend wrote.
Into a modern fantasy world where swords, magic, and science coexisted.
At first, I thought it was a dream or illusion. But no matter how much time passed, the hazy feeling never liftedinstead, I just realized the situation crashing down on me was real.
Now I had no choice but to accept it.
"Am I... really inside the novel?"
Unbelievable, but reality didn't care.
My friend Eve's Academy Blockhead Genius. I'd become that damned novel's extra villain. With a tail stuck on my back, no less.
* * *
Once I accepted the situation, adapting to this world was quick.
The main energy source for my sword aura and Eve's magicmanaoperated the same as in reality, so maybe that's why I adjusted so fast.
Gathering mana and sinking into quiet thought had been a habit, so I murmured softly to myself.
For some reason.
Even accounting for mana operation, I was adapting too quickly.
Was it the influence of the body I possessed? Or had I steeled myself to survive no matter what?
Either way, adapting quickly to this world was a good sign.
If I didn't, who knew when I'd die?
"Still..."
Still clutching my throbbing head, I turned and saw a place piled high with documents. People in suits bustled about busily.
Some company office?
Out of curiosity, I picked up a sheet. Elegant handwriting read "Professor Nam Hwa-yeon."
Next to the signature stamp was a red seal saying Chilseong Academy. It was a thesis.
A thesis for academy classes, at that.
That's when I realized where I was.
"...No way."
My jaw dropped naturally.
A bigger shock than entering the novel hit me.
Right then, someone grabbed my shoulder.
Grab!
I turned, wondering who it was, and saw a man with a gaunt face staring at me. I waited, wondering what was up.
"What the hell are you doing just standing there?!"
"...What?"
"What? Is that how you talk to your senior?!"
The man suddenly started chewing me out.
He shoved the stack of documents in his hand at me and added,
"Keep your eyes open around seniors. If you can't, keep your head down."
"..."
"Do that ditzy shit again, and you're dead."
Even in this unfamiliar situation, I was certain.
This was Chilseong Academy, the novel's setting.
The professor's lab, specifically.
And my status was teaching assistant.
Junior TA, even.
'What the hell is going on...?'
I could easily tell I'd possessed Baek Seung-woo.
Maybe because he was modeled after me, same build and face. Plenty of evidence.
But TA? That didn't match the original.
The calendar said March 2021.
When the protagonist and supporting characters were just enrolling. The novel's starting point.
Baek Seung-woo, who I'd possessed, was supposed to enroll as runner-up.
Full of inferiority toward the top enrollee, he belittled and ignored the protagonist whose talents hadn't awakened yet, padding his egountil he completely fell in the second semester.
The fallen Baek Seung-woo hit rock bottom in his grade, made a last desperate struggle, but got multiple academic warnings and expelled.
Then he showed up as a villain and met a cold end at the protagonist's hands.
So why was I a TA instead of a student?
Had other settings changed too?
I tried to think seriously, but the guy who'd dumped the documents on me was glaring from afar, leaving no time to ponder.
What was I supposed to do with these, anyway?
Rustle.
Flipping through, I saw pages crammed with symbols and magic circles. Not meant to process them, clearly.
Fortunately, a small note was on the top sheet.
It said to move them here, with the location written.
Professor Nam Hwa-yeon's Lab 1.
Seemed I just had to take them there.
"...Hup!"
I picked up the stack and started walking.
Ugh, heavier than it looks.
Heavy, but manageable, so I wandered looking for Lab 1. Not knowing the layout, I roamed.
Even asking passersbythey'd see my face and tail and bolt before I could speak.
I didn't look that scary.
The tail, maybe?
Could be.
Even in a novel world based on modern times, tails weren't common.
Glancing back at the fluffy fox tail on my back, I figured that was it and found my way alone.
The building was huge, so Lab 1 took a whiletucked in the farthest corner.
Don't labs usually get prime spots?
"...Less a lab, more a personal office."
Gripping the documents tightly in both hands, I nudged the door to Lab 1 open with my fingers. Coffee bean aroma hit my nose, along with a desk buried in papers.
Most picture labs as sleek machines and clean spaces. But here, barely one chair, bookshelves and desk crammed and messy with documents.
Definitely looked like a personal office.
The professor's private space, then.
No equipment, just personal items scatteredlikely.
Thud!
I dropped the stack on the messy desk.
No empty spots, so on top it was.
Job done, I looked around. Professor's private lab in a cornerno signs of people nearby.
I peeked through the door crack, checked, and sighed.
"Phew, good, no one's around."
Realizing I'd possessed the novel, one thing I wanted to try. But awkward in front of others, just in case.
This spot seemed fine.
I murmured softly, like chanting.
"...Status Window."
A translucent window floated in my retina.
Various text appeared, and I clenched my fist without thinking.
Success. Would've been embarrassing if nothing showed.
Sighing in relief, I manipulated the translucent window.
This was the Status Window.
A system-granted authority, an ID impossible to forge in this world.
Name: Baek Seung-woo
Age: 21
Race: One-Tail Fox
Title: None
Rank:
Status Ailment: Solar Vein Blockage
Magic Saint, Nation-toppling Beauty, Bluffing
Vitality: D+ Strength: E+
Endurance: E+ Agility: D-
Mana: A+ Senses: S
Charm (S), Fox Fire (A), Demon Eye (A), Essence Absorption (A)
Possessor of the incurable disease Solar Vein Blockage, where an overwhelming yang energy has twisted and damaged the blood vessels. Growth in all physical abilities is restricted, preventing stats from reaching certain levels.
The Status Window listed all sorts of info.
From height and weight to detailed stats, skills, traits.
Lots caught my eye, but 'Age' stuck out most.
'Wasn't the setting age 17?'
The calendar pointed to the novel's start.
Meaning something was twisted about my existence here.
Baek Seung-woo's age: 17 to 21.
Status: freshman to TA.
Not minor changes.
Just in case, I pulled out my pocket phone and searched.
Stuff from the novel settings I remembered came up matching.
Goodsettings aside from me matched what Eve described.
"Sigh... Should've talked her out of making an extra villain named after me."
When my friend Eve said she lacked characters and used me as a model. Should've stopped her then.
'Too late now. Worry about what's ahead.'
Regret welled up deep inside, but I ignored it and focused on the 'Stats' section. New students averaged C-rank, I recalled.
Worse than average. But mana and senses stood out.
'A+' mana and 'S' senseshigher than most active dungeon players here.
That was some comfort.
"Whew..."
After stats, I checked 'Traits' and 'Skills'.
Four eachnot few, but the names made me sigh.
Nation-toppling Beauty, Bluffing, Charm, etc. Names that didn't even draw a wry smile.
How was I supposed to handle abilities like these?
'At least the race is One-Tail Fox.'
One-Tail Fox.
Literally a fox with one tailthe race based on gumiho, where tails increase with cultivation.
More tails mean more power; ten tails make a Heavenly Fox, said to wield divine powers controlling even the heavens.
Just setting fluff, though.
Still, better than nothing.
Reaching Heavenly Fox is harder than ascension or nirvanaimpossible. But becoming a Nine-Tailed Fox along the way would be enough to survive this brutal world.
Scanning the Status Window, a document caught my eye.
Among the lab's piles, one especially worn and thumbed.
Curious, I flipped it open.
Unknown symbols, letters, equations.
Below was an explanation.
Let's see.
"...Astrology is an ancient magic that observes celestial forms to predict fate and the future. In the modern era, it's closer to shamanism than magic, but the concept has greatly influenced contemporary magic systems."
Tough wordsI read aloud.
After a full page, I realized what it was.
A lecture script on magic.
But unlike the systematic magic I imagined, this was occult-like. Every page was.
Spells manifesting celestial bodies, rituals using star powerdense with tough stuff, all mystical and complex occult systems.
But complexity didn't mean boring.
Separate from understanding, reading it was intriguing. Enough to briefly forget I was in a novel.
Devouring page after page, I finished the worn paper before I knew it.
I returned it and thought.
Why does it feel like the end is cut off?
'Feels like something's missing...'
No magic expert, but I sensed the content was incomplete. Intuition, I guess.
Starts with astrology, celestial relations, ritual arrangements, examples and conclusionnothing there.
Like someone deliberately removed the back.
"...Kinda get it."
Didn't know what the symbols or circles meant, but I felt like I knew what the blank back pointed to.
A puzzle clicking in my head.
Unthinkingly, I reached for nearby scattered documents.
Grab.
A densely written one.
But the back was pristine.
I snatched a fountain pen from the desk and scrawled the inspirations flashing through my mind.
Repeated phrases into symbols, filling details. No prior knowledgejust intuition and inspiration filling the page.
One sheet wasn't enough; I flipped a nearby document and continued.
Filling one after another, the outline emerged.
The inspiration taking solid form.
Each pen stroke expanded my vision.
[Entered Flow State!]
[Activating 'Magic Saint' talent!]
Something flashed in my retina, but I ignored it and kept writing.
While lost in Flow State, someone opened the lab door.
They entered openly, but I didn't notice. My hearing was already offline.
All senses on the paper under the pen.
Thus, twenty completed sheets.
I didn't even know how long it took.
Snapping out, gulping air into my lungs, I pantedthen applause from behind.
Clear as day.
Clap clap clap!
"...!"
Someone had entered the lab without me knowing.
Realizing late, I slowly turned.
Deep navy eyes like a vast ocean narrowed in amusement.
"What are you doing right now?"
She was stunningly beautiful.
Long black hair like a starless night sky, pristine white suitenough to shake any man's heart. But my eyes went to the name tag on her chest.
Nam Hwa-yeon.
The lab owner's name.
"I like the diligent look. No effort, no progress."
She giggled.
A voice like rolling jade beads, beautifulyet her laugh sounded unsettling.
"But you know."
Nam Hwa-yeon's finger pointed at the scattered documents.
"Even so, using my papers like scrap isn't cool, right?"
Then her finger aimed at my stack.
"If you messed up... you might get in trouble?"
Nam Hwa-yeon's lips curved into a smile.
But her deep ocean eyes hid her thoughts, stirring inexplicable unease.
Oh crap, this is bad.