April 21st.
After a long day of boring indoor lectures, all of Tuesday's classes finally ended.
Back in my room, I was once again carefully reviewing [Ray Ball Bytenor], reading it line by line.
I'd already gone through it several times, but I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything—double-checking for mistakes, re-examining my understanding.
I even went over the passages written in the ancient language again, just in case I'd misinterpreted something.
"Hm. Nothing unusual."
Fortunately, it didn't seem like I'd made any mistakes or overlooked anything.
I closed [Ray Ball Bytenor] and set it down on the corner of my desk.
That's when the calendar beside it caught my eye.
Among the tightly packed schedule notes, one entry at the end of April stood out:
[April 30][★ Midterm Comprehensive Evaluation]
"…It's not far off."
Starting with this upcoming midterm evaluation, a new rule had been implemented—any student who failed to meet the standard would be expelled.
And the one who proposed that rule—clearly aimed directly at me—was none other than my father.
"I'll make you come back, even if I have to force you."
It was a declaration steeped in stubborn determination.
"If I hadn't come across my master's book, I probably would've been expelled, huh?"
Without it, I would have been.
No matter how hard I'd tried back then, my casting speed could never have met the benchmark.
Well, it didn't matter now.
The current me had a 0% chance of receiving a "below standard" mark.
"Below standard"? Far from it—I'll be among the top ranks.
After the Bloodclaw training and everything else yesterday, I was certain.
Maybe the top 3 would be too ambitious,but I could definitely make it into the top 10.
"And the timing couldn't be better."
The midterm evaluation isn't just a school event—it's a day when the eyes of the world's leading magic corporations turn toward us.
Many come in person to scout promising talents.
For me—the "fallen genius"—it's the perfect stage to announce my resurgence.
"Top ten. I'm getting there, no matter what."
That day,I would reclaim everything I'd lost—
My dream, my status, and my honor.
The next morning.
"Student Shin Hayul."
On my way to class, I ran into Instructor Go Changsu in the hallway.
"Good morning, sir."
I straightened my posture and gave a proper bow.
The instructor gave a small wave in acknowledgment.
"Perfect timing—I was looking for you."
"For me, sir?"
"Yes."
He gestured for me to follow.
"You have a visitor."
"A… visitor?"
There weren't many people who would come looking for me.
And if someone important enough to have the instructor personally fetch me right before class had come…
"…Did my father come to visit?"
Head of the Shin family—Shin Inhyuk.
There was no one else it could be.
"That's right. Lord Shin Inhyuk is here to see you."
"…I thought so."
Given the new expulsion policy he'd proposed for the midterm evaluation, I'd figured he'd show up sooner or later.
"Where should I go?"
I had a few things I wanted to say to him as well, so this worked out.
"The reception room."
"Understood. Thank you."
As I made my way toward the reception room, there wasn't a hint of hesitation or unease in my steps.
Head of the Shin Family—Shin Inhyuk.
At sixty-three years old, he was both the businessman who had elevated the Shin family to Korea's top magical lineage,and an 8th-Circle mage—a high-ranking magician in his own right.
Having already reached the top domestically, his sights were now set on becoming one of the most prestigious houses in the world.
And indeed, things were going well.
He was forming connections with renowned families abroad, and the family's reputation and influence continued to climb.
But even a man like Shin Inhyuk had one concern.
His youngest son.
The jewel of the Shin family.
A gifted child blessed with an exceptional intellect and lightning-fast learning ability.
A once-in-a-century genius—so gifted that even the Blue Tower Master himself had dubbed him a "Supernova."
"It's been a while, Father."
…That was the son he used to be.
Now, he was the family's greatest disappointment—the "incompatible" son, Shin Hayul.
"Tsk. Does it please you to make your old man come in person?"
"I'm sorry."
Shin Inhyuk stared at his son across the table, his gaze sharp and unrelenting.
"You seem to be doing well. You look much healthier than you did a year ago."
"Yes. I've made a bit of progress lately…"
Progress.
For a father who was both a mage and a parent, those words should have filled him with pride.
But Shin Inhyuk felt no joy.
"Progress, you say. Still clinging to that foolish dream, are you?"
For Shin Hayul to claim "progress" meant he hadn't abandoned his pursuit of magic.
To a father who wished his son would let go of that dream, those words were anything but comforting.
"Yes. I will become a great mage who will leave his mark on history."
Shin Inhyuk sighed quietly.
In his eyes flickered a storm of emotions—pity, frustration, resentment.
A tangle of feelings that defied description.
"One year of wandering should have been enough to make you come to your senses."
Another long sigh escaped him.
"With that sharp mind and those perceptive eyes of yours, you still can't see yourself clearly."
They say there's nothing harder than looking at oneself objectively—and apparently, even a genius like Shin Hayul was no exception.
"No, Father. I'm evaluating myself with complete objectivity."
"And your so-called 'objective evaluation' led you to believe you'll become a legendary archmage? What nonsense."
"Yes."
Shin Inhyuk frowned deeply, exasperation written across his face.
"Hayul, my son…"
His tone hardened, his gaze like a blade.
"I'll say it again—you will never become a proper mage."
He repeated the same words he'd spoken a year ago,the day he learned his son was an "Incompatible."
"No matter what 'progress' you claim to make now or in the future,you will never be able to compete with other magicians.You're missing the one thing that matters most."
No matter how brilliant a person might be—they could never match the processing speed of a machine.
"But there's still a field where your intellect could truly shine.Artificial Intelligence Magic Engineering.In that discipline, your brilliant mind could reach its full potential—120%, even.If only you'd let go of this foolish delusion of becoming a great mage, everything would fall into place."
To Shin Inhyuk, his son Shin Hayul was a constant source of pain—a finger that could neither be cut off nor cured.
"Father."
Hayul spoke calmly.
"As I said before, I have no intention of pursuing Artificial Intelligence Magic Engineering."
Shin Inhyuk's brow furrowed sharply.Even after all this, his son still refused to come to his senses. Frustration flared in his chest.
"What I mean," Hayul continued evenly, "is that I refuse to become a mere component of the family machine—just another cog following the track my father laid down."
His eyes glinted coldly.
"What I desire is nothing less than the Head's seat itself.Not a subordinate who obeys orders, rejoices or despairs at another's command—but the one who leads."
A spark flashed between father and son.
"…At least your ambition befits a future successor," Shin Inhyuk muttered.
"I grew up learning nothing else."
Hayul didn't resent his father.
The harsh words from a year ago, when he was first declared "Incompatible"?He could understand them.
Even a father was human; emotions could explode in moments of despair.
The potion sent six months ago to dissolve his mana circle?He understood that too.
It had been his father's desperate attempt—a last-resort cure meant to make his son abandon the hopeless dream of being a mageand turn toward Artificial Intelligence Magic Engineering instead, a field that required no mana circles.
Even this expulsion rule was the same.
Expulsion for failure to meet the standard.
Another desperate prescription to force his son to wake up.
To scold him: "How dare an unqualified mage dream of being a great one?"
And honestly, even without targeting Hayul, the rule made sense.A student failing to meet the standard would indeed deserve expulsion.
Though disappointed that his father no longer believed in him, Hayul didn't hate him.
"However," Shin Inhyuk said, "neither a Great Mage nor the Head of the Shin Family can be made from ambition alone."
"Father."
Hayul's tone was unwavering.
"I'll prove to you that my dream is no delusion."
That he was still alive.That Shin Hayul the Mage had not died out.That the genius his father once cherished was still growing stronger.
He wanted to prove it all.
"Prove it? How? Don't tell me you plan to claim that merely avoiding expulsion in the upcoming midterm evaluation will prove anything?"
Shin Inhyuk's gaze sharpened.
"If your 'proof' is something so trivial—barely scraping above the standard—then…"
"I have no such intention," Hayul replied quietly.
"In the upcoming midterm evaluation, I will rank within the top ten based solely on my practical score."
"…Top ten? Are you saying top ten among all second-years?"
"Yes."
"And you truly believe that's possible for you right now?"
"Yes."
Shin Inhyuk stared directly into his son's eyes.
"If you fail," he said, "you'll withdraw from the academy yourself and devote your life to Artificial Intelligence Magic Engineering—just as I told you."
"…."
"But if I succeed," Hayul countered, "you'll acknowledge that I have value as a mage—and promise me your full support, financial and otherwise."
For the first time in years, Shin Inhyuk saw that same brilliance in his son's eyes—the sharp, confident gaze he'd last seen five years ago, when Hayul won the Youth Magic Championship.
Where was that confidence coming from?
"…You mentioned earlier that you'd had a breakthrough."
"Yes. A small enlightenment."
"So that's the source of your confidence."
Doubt flickered in Shin Inhyuk's eyes.
No matter how great an "enlightenment" might be, an Incompatible remained an Incompatible.Such a person could never hope to compete with modern magic.
"Just to be sure—tell me you haven't implanted an illegal, modified AI."
A forbidden artificial intelligence might, in theory, allow even an Incompatible to wield magic through abnormal means.
"Of course not."
Hayul calmly tilted his head, exposing the back of his neck—a silent invitation for his father to verify his AI serial number if he wished.
"…Good. I'll take your word for it."
He seemed too composed, too certain, to have done something so reckless.His son was far too intelligent to tell a lie that would be exposed within a week.
And by that same logic, it wasn't empty boasting either.He wasn't foolish enough to brag about something that could be disproved in eight days.
Which meant… he'd truly achieved something remarkable.
"Can I at least ask what this 'enlightenment' is?"
Hayul shook his head lightly.
"Even if I told you now, you wouldn't believe me."
He could demonstrate the Bytenor-style magic right here and now—but that would be premature.
When and how one reveals their trump card determines its true impact.
"April 30th," he said. "You'll see it with your own eyes then."
And the midterm comprehensive evaluation—there could be no better stage to unveil Bytenor-style magic.
"As the saying goes—seeing is believing."
Confidence radiated from Hayul's eyes.
"On that day, I'll prove everything."
And at this moment—Shin Hayul truly believed he could.