"Haa…"
Choi Youngok, a professor in the grey Magic Tower, had recently been racking her brains over research that wasn't progressing as it should.
She could no longer conjure the flashes of inspiration or the conviction she once had for her work.
It was a symptom known as stagnation.
It was common among artists who lost their interest, originality, and freshness in the repetition of meaningless daily life or work, but it was also common among wizards who had to possess both mathematical knowledge and artistic talent.
The way to overcome stagnation was simple:
Escape the tedious routine and receive new stimuli.
However, that wasn't easy while stuck in the Magic Tower.
To be sure, the Magic Tower was a wizard's utopia. Apprentice wizards could attend lectures by outstanding professors, and professors could freely conduct research with the support of the Tower.
That was the problem.
Life at the Magic Tower was a continuous repetition of days that were not significantly different.
Prepare lectures, give lectures, research.
Aside from other minor things, she never strayed far from these three cycles.
Of course, it was enjoyable to see students with outstanding talents.
Her own granddaughter, for example, was already a genius who had reached the 3rd Circle.
But her stagnation still showed no signs of being resolved.
Why was that?
Was she craving even more stimulation? Was she subconsciously hoping to see something a little more shocking?
The repetitive cycle of worry continued for days, but no suitable answer emerged.
"Hoo… Should I go out for some air…?"
With another heavy sigh, Choi Youngok left her workshop.
There was nothing like a walk when something wasn't being resolved.
Even if it wasn't a direct solution, the cold air would at least cool her complicated head.
However, even these walks could no longer comfort her heavy heart or her complicated mind. Her worries were of a kind that couldn't be easily dispelled.
She was just walking down the quiet hallway with heavy steps.
Not even decided whether to go to the rooftop or head downtown.
'Is it because it's vacation? There's no one here.'
The Magic Tower also had vacations. Summer and winter vacations. During those times, all the students would leave the Magic Tower and return to their hometowns or go on journeys to find new inspiration.
Of course, the entire Magic Tower wasn't emptied just because the students were gone.
There would be various wizards left behind, including full professors, assistant professors, associate professors, and teaching assistants.
But the hallway was still quiet. As expected of wizards who were like shut-ins. There was no way those who grudged even meal times and barely ate in their workshops would be hanging around at this hour.
This stillness might be helpful for contemplation, but it wasn't helpful for her now.
It would have been better if it were bustling with noisy students.
Was it because she had been worrying for too long? It seemed to be getting harder to prevent herself from falling into pessimistic thoughts.
'Get a grip, get a grip. This won't do. Maybe I should go shopping for a while…'
"Hey, did you hear?"
Just as she was turning toward the elevator to go downstairs.
"I just got a call from the lobby. Some guy who isn't even a third-generation chaebol showed up saying he wants to register as a wizard."
"…Isn't that a scammer?"
"Hey, why would someone try to scam at the Magic Tower when there are so many other places?"
"I guess… But if he's not a third-generation chaebol, what is he? Did someone teach him magic privately or something? If so, why is he registering now?"
"I don't know. Anyway, I'm going to go take a look. Want to come with me?"
"Of course…"
Slap – The man was horrified by the hand that covered his shoulder and turned around.
"Could you tell me more about that story?"
***
Following the female employee I met in the lobby, I arrived at what looked like a reception room.
The overall atmosphere blatantly showed off how much money they had thrown at it.
I didn't show it, but to be honest, this was the first time I'd been in a place like this in all 21 years of my life, so I couldn't help but be a little nervous.
Of course, regardless of what I did, the female employee who guided me here simply told me to wait here for a moment and disappeared.
Cold-hearted, so cold-hearted.
With no other choice, I decided to enjoy a simple teatime with the refreshments and drinks on the desk.
…But is it okay to eat this?
I hesitated for a moment, but surely they wouldn't complain if a guest ate some snacks? But am I really a guest?
"Wow… Why is this snack so delicious?"
The savory flavor that stuck to my tongue and the subtle sweetness were like a meteor-level shock to me, who had only ever bought potato chips for 1,500 won a bag.
Roughly estimating how expensive it must be to taste so good, I searched on my phone and found that it wasn't something I couldn't afford, but it was quite expensive for a snack.
"…Ah, this price isn't for a bag, but for each individually wrapped piece?"
There were 12 individually wrapped pieces when I opened it… Oh, shit.
The Magic Tower is definitely full of crazy people.
They're buying snacks with half a year's rent?
No matter how much money they have, I couldn't forgive them for indulging in such luxury.
I stuffed the snacks into my mouth before anyone else came and thought. It really is disgustingly delicious.
"What the hell did they put in this to make it so delicious?"
Did they put gold flakes in it?
"It's made with magic pistachio powder from the Hwargal Botanical Garden in the D-class gate?"
"?!"
I immediately turned my head at the voice in my ear.
"Oh my, I'm sorry. Did I startle you?"
Yes, very much.
The one who poured sweet candy into my ear was a middle-aged woman with a few wrinkles around her eyes. Her neatly braided red hair and eyes stood out.
Judging by the robe she was wearing, she was definitely a wizard.
"Nice to meet you, Kang Hyunwoo?"
She gave me a friendly smile and met my gaze.
I wasn't exactly thrilled.
Her atmosphere and appearance were definitely above that of a well-maintained middle-aged actress, but from the moment she had wrinkles on her face, she was far outside my range.
"I'm Choi Youngok. I've been assigned as Mr. Hyunwoo's handler today."
It didn't matter how she knew my name.
I had filled out all my personal information at the counter earlier.
"Nice to meet you."
I bowed slightly.
"Hehe, you said you came to register as a wizard?"
"Yes, if possible, I'd like to enter the Magic Tower, is that possible?"
Entering the Magic Tower was a title that was considered equivalent to, or even more than, winning the lottery in terms of social acceptance.
As I said before, the Magic Tower has so much money that it overflows, so their support for their members is amazing.
I could receive living expenses before entering the gate, or I could get something that would be helpful to Iris later.
"Of course. We always welcome anyone with talent?"
Choi Youngok treated Kang Hyunwoo with a rare, genuine smile full of goodwill.
It couldn't be helped. From the moment she entered the reception room, she noticed that Kang Hyunwoo was unusual.
'…Really, this is ridiculous.'
It was as if all the mana in the room was clinging to him, begging for his attention.
High concentration is required to absorb the mana dissolved in nature. The same goes for the self-assimilation process.
But he seemed to be able to absorb mana while breathing and thinking as usual.
No, that's probably the case.
It was clear that he was preventing excessive mana from being absorbed into his body unconsciously, so the mana wasn't entering his body but hovering on the outside.
Overwhelming talent that couldn't be explained.
His affinity for mana was incomparable to that of other wizards.
'Where did such a genius… no, a monster, come from?'
Choi Youngok was certain.
"Mr. Hyunwoo? May I ask you something?"
"Yes? Well, I don't mind."
That she could escape her stagnation just by watching his growth.
"Who did you learn magic from?"
In a way, this was the most important part.
Magic was a field of study that was almost impossible to learn on your own, no, it was a kind of thing that deviated from academics and reason. There must be someone he could call a teacher.
From that point of view, it was also an incomprehensible detail that he had come to the Magic Tower.
For wizards, a student with outstanding talent was a great help in developing their own magic.
While learning the same magic as them, they looked at it from a completely different perspective and interpreted it. They sometimes gave them insights with original ideas they had never even imagined.
Wizards don't just look at talent when choosing a disciple, but it's undeniable that they become greedy when they see someone with outstanding talent.
If it were a child with that much affinity for mana, it would be normal to keep them to themselves and raise them in a place where people couldn't reach them.
"Um…"
Kang Hyunwoo couldn't readily answer Choi Youngok's question.
If he said, "The former Elf Queen in another world is my teacher!" he might end up in a white house on a hill instead of the Magic Tower.
But if he made up a fake teacher and lied, such a lie wouldn't last long among the wizards, who make up less than 1% of the world's population.
"…It's a secret."
So he had no choice but to use the "I don't know, screw it!" strategy.
"Ah… Then how long have you been practicing magic…?"
She wanted to know who had taken such a child as their disciple, but it wasn't polite to ask insistently about something they didn't want to talk about at first meeting.
"A day…?"
"…Yes?"
He wasn't lying about this. Lying is bad. Rather, he modestly increased it from half a day to a day.
Choi Youngok seemed to be completely out of it at the unbelievable answer.
But only for a moment. She was a veteran wizard, so she decided to focus on the truth rather than being embarrassed.
By raising her magic power, she became more sensitive to changes in the situation, and she looked at Kang Hyunwoo once again.
Pupillary reflexes, eye movement, sweat, pulse, breathing rate and speed, and changes in the body such as blood pressure are excellent evidence of whether or not the other person is lying.
'It doesn't seem like he's lying…'
Of course, it wasn't 100% accurate. Trained professionals could hide those things skillfully.
But on the surface, it was highly unlikely that Kang Hyunwoo was such a professional agent. In the first place, no organization would try to infiltrate an agent in this way.
'So, he really created a mana circle in just one day after learning magic?'
Even if it were a novel, it would be criticized for being unrealistic.
Only a small number of children with verified talent at the age of 10 enter the Magic Tower. Of course, even those children who are gathered go through a re-screening process.
The average time it takes for those children to create a mana circle is 8 to 9 years. Quite a few spend more time and are kicked out of the Magic Tower.
Choi Youngok's granddaughter, who shortened the process to 6 years, was also praised as a genius, and even the tower master of the Grey Magic Tower took 3 years.
Of course, the world is wide and there are many geniuses.
Looking back at history, there were records that were even better than the tower master's, and there was a high possibility that such a genius would appear in the future.
But a day?
"Heh, hehe…"
Choi Youngok couldn't help but laugh.
And she calmly thought of the best offer to give him.
"Mr. Hyunwoo?"
She held his hand tightly with a smile that was more personable than ever.
"Would you like to meet our granddaughter?"
One of the important factors in investing is buying low.
If Kang Hyunwoo's overwhelming talent and the Choi family's blood met, it wasn't impossible for her family to be considered the best magic family in Korea, or even the world.
"Um…"
Of course, from Kang Hyunwoo's point of view, it was like, "What the hell are you talking about?"
Granddaughter?
Does that face have a granddaughter?
Was she a grandma instead of an auntie??
'Wow, her magic power is good.'
More important than the fact that she had a granddaughter was that the granddaughter was old enough to be matched with a 21-year-old man.
If she was a newborn, he would have just thought she was on a fast track, but if her granddaughter was over 20, her age would be roughly…
There was no need to think any further. Magic power is god after all.
He felt the greatness of magic again and his head became complicated at the same time.
In the past, he would have prepared for the wedding right away, but now Iris's face came to his mind first when he heard the word "blind date."
Is it really wise to go on a blind date while leaving Iris, who is still waiting for me endlessly in that dark place?
'…But isn't time stopped in that world too?'
Just as time on Earth had almost stopped when I was in that world, it was reasonable to assume that time in that world was also stopped while I was on Earth.
Thinking that way made me feel a little less guilty…?
'What do you mean your guilt is decreasing, you crazy bastard? Are you going to abandon Iris?'
Absolutely, never.
Kang Hyunwoo, a man, has as much loyalty as Iris has overflowing maternal love.
He has no intention of being distracted by blind dates now…
"This is a picture of our granddaughter. Would you like to take a look?"
On the screen of Choi Youngok's cell phone, which was suddenly approaching him intimately, was a hot, red-haired beauty wizard.
"…Should I call you Grandma?"
"Hehe, then you can call me Future-Grandma."