CH 7

Note: This is a high-quality MTL but an MTL nonetheless. Reader discretion is advised. Please do not complain afterward.

There were 1,141 first-year students, and there were as many as 23 classes. Each class had a professor in charge (combat instructor) and one to four assistant teachers, with a professor of technology and numerous wizards in charge of the subject.

With fresh students arriving at the beginning of the semester, there was only one subject of interest for the several faculty members.

‘How many special freshmen have shown up?’

Princess Hong Bi-yeon of the ‘Adolevit Kingdom,’ also known as the ‘Red Kingdom’ or ‘Kingdom of Flame’ because of its prestige in the fire world.

Crown Prince Jeremy Skalben succeeded in defeating all his brothers and became the crown prince of the ‘Skalben Empire’ at the age of 12 where the imperial power was determined solely by one’s magical skills.

Hae Won-ryang, the successor of the world’s best Archmage tower, the ‘Tower of the Full Moon’.

This year, elite students from huge families entered into Stella Academy one after the other, making even Stella’s faculty nervous, and the world’s attention was naturally drawn to Stellar Academy.

For that reason, faculty members used a slightly flimsy but special method for this year’s ‘Class Placement Test’. 

Students who have been studying normally would have to put up with not one but three difficult questions on the test. 

And those were the first three questions. 

There were many reasons, but one reason was to expose the students. 

‘If you can’t get it right, skip it and quickly solve the next question,’ a flexibility test. 

In other words, it was an ‘admission strategy.’

Boldly give up on problems you can’t solve and pass them on! If you’re stuck with it for no reason, you might not be able to win even one more point that you could have normally earned with the next problem.

But that was a superficial reason, and the real reason was something else.

‘Will the students be able to solve a problem that is not covered in the textbooks they have been studying?’

All of the freshmen who entered Stella Academy were children who were referred to as gifted children all over the world, and they would have studied strategically and completed all of the magic formulas and formulas until the university course.

However, if the problem does not appear within the scope of their studies, then what? What if there is a problem that cannot be solved by any formulas that have been memorized and ingrained in their heads?

What if there is a problem that can only be solved through creativity, reasoning, and critical thinking?

The days of simply fighting with a cold weapon are over. The age of magic warriors had arrived.

What kind of magic the opponent will use, how to respond appropriately, and a lack of creativity have all become major issues for wizards in this era where you had to fight creatively.

“Hmm…”

The 7th class world mage and S class instructor Hanwol Lee drooled while checking the students’ grades.

Then, an old female professor, Edel Tyman, passed by, noticed Lee Hanwol, and approached him.

“Oh my God, it seems that Lee Hanwol is very interested in the grades of this freshman?”

Edel Tyman was a professor on Stellar Academy’s Senate, and she was a pillar in charge of and overseeing the school’s policies. 

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s true. It’s all over the place right now. Isn’t this year really fun?

As she said, the faculty was already making quite a fuss because of the results of the first freshman test. 

Lee Hanwol nodded and checked the results of the test paper again.

‘The first three problems were more like trap problems and were never meant to be solved.

* * *

{Read the next parts from Lee Hanwol’s PoV for better understanding}

As a result, out of 1,141 students, more than 1,000 students submitted these ‘three questions’ as blank papers, which shows that most of the current Stellar Academy students entered through the strategic entrance exam.

However, magic was not just a strategic study. You can only become a true wizard by always looking at your possibilities creatively. 

In that sense, the 100 students who tried to solve this problem were quite unique.

Most of the people who tried to solve the problems also got high scores on the placement test on average, so they were assigned to the highest class called ‘Class A’, but most did not get even one of the three questions right.

Wasn’t there a single student who answered all three questions correctly? That wasn’t it.

There were.

That too, three people.

Although his origin is unknown, Mayuseong, a boy who appeared like a comet and swept through the magic world was called the genius of the century.

Full Frame, a commoner girl, who was recognized for her special ability and talent comparable to that of Mayuseong, and enrolled at the recommendation of the Archmage and Principal Eltman L. Twin.

And…

‘Baek Yu-seol.’

I couldn’t understand.

Because Mayuoseong and Full Frame were already geniuses, even if they solved all three problems, it would be convincing to say, ‘Ah, yes, they are geniuses.’ 

But it wasn’t the case with Baek Yu-Seol. 

He was a student who barely made it into the school by scoring 1,141 out of 1,141 on the entrance exam.

But didn’t he answer all three questions? So what if he couldn’t solve any of the other questions?

Edel Tyman laughed as if he knew Lee Hanwol’s intentions.

“It’s a problem that you can’t solve even if you know a lot of formulas and formulas, but you can solve it without knowing anything too.”

“…So, Professor Edel Tyman, do you think this kid could be such a genius?” 

“It could be. It could be a coincidence too~” 

Lee Han-wol sighed as she went out. In the first place, the professor knows better that this that the problem was not a problem that can be solved by ‘coincidence’.

Does Baek Yu-seol knows that only these three problems have caused a stir for the entire faculty?

‘A magic warrior cadet who specializes in blink.’

He burst out laughing as he slowly read Baek Yu-admission seol’s certificate. A student so astute that he told him, a class 7 wizard, ‘Be careful next time.’

[Appreciating the surprising point of being able to control blinking, admission under special type is granted.]

This memo was left by the headmaster of Stellar Academy himself. There are so many unusual students this year, so it may be difficult to stand out with just flashing specialization…

“We’ll find out soon.”

Did he accidentally pop out on a topic that is really insignificant, or is he really special?

We’ll see and we’ll find out. 

* * *

{Returning to the regular first-person PoV of Baek Yu-Seol}

The next day.

The long-awaited class arrangement. 

It was a day where everyone from the nobles of the magic family to the elite called geniuses had no choice but to be nervous.

Students who received a notice that the class arrangement had been posted on the central bulletin board outside the school were gathered there and chattering.

The bulletin board sparked, like a digital neon sign, with magic and the names of over a thousand new students were all posted.

No, can’t you just inform the class arrangement to students one by one by letter?

I have no idea what they’re doing here, but since it’s the academy’s custom to open up the class arrangements to everyone, there’s nothing I can do about it. 

“Oh, Is he that Baek Yu-seol?”

“I heard he got 0 points for magic during the entrance exam…”

“It’s really amazing. If that’s enough to get into Stella, isn’t this place dead?”

“No way. If you think about the lineup this year, no one would think that, right?”

Some students recognized me and murmured. There are geniuses who stand out, especially from the first day, and there are cases where students, like me, score 0 points and get attention.

‘There’s nothing I could do about the magic demonstration though…’ 

Upon entering the school, there was a simple magic demonstration to see what kind of magic one used as a special skill.

And I used blinking.

It was a basic magic, but no one used it anymore.

Because of it, the instructor’s expression became cold and I was very self-conscious.

“By the way, if I’m being bullied like this, do I have to spend my school life without friends?”‘

It was a bit disappointing, but I didn’t intend to be friendly with anyone in the first place.

‘Hmmm……’

I found Class F first.

Obviously, Class F was the group of the lowest-ranking students, and Class A was the group of the top-ranked students.

By the way,

Class F didn’t have my name.

“What?”

What? That can’t be true. Since I only solved three questions during the class placement exam, there was no way that I could go beyond class E, so it must be class F. 

But the fact that I don’t have my name in class F… 

‘Crazy, Did I fail?’ 

Very rarely, even after entering school, there were cases in which students were expelled for failing to take the exam properly…

No matter what, it was easy. Suffering? It’s a bit of a no-brainer to do that from the placement test.

It was so absurd that I was blankly looking through Class F again and again, and I heard students muttering in their voices saying they didn’t understand. 

“…Baek Yu-seol? That kid with a failing score, why the hell?”

“What? Isn’t that wrong? Don’t you think there’s something strange about this?”

“It’s absurd… The Czech Veilen Hu writer’s master Yuslek, who has been preparing since he was 7 years old to get in there, is also in class A even though he’s 29th in grade…”

“Kyle, who was ranked 17th after getting a perfect score in theory, was also assigned to class A, why?”

What.

Something was strange.

I checked the arrangement of the S class, which I had not even cared about until now, and I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide.

[S-0 Class Baek Yu-Seol]

What.

Why is my name over there? 

“I think it’s spelled wrong…?”

Class S was special. Unlike Class F to Class A, it literally means that only students with something special will be there.

Considering that most of the historically famous great men, or even most of the famous and popular wizards, were in class S, there should be something outstanding about it that stands out in the magic society.

You can’t get into that place simply by studying well. 

Just like the 29th-grade student is in Class A, it means that no one really can go to Class S.

It was very unusual for me to be placed in a place like the S., the most special grade that every student dreams of even at Stella Academy, the most prestigious magic academy.

I honestly had no idea if this was a bad thing or a good thing. 

Even if I was placed in Class F, if I distributed my lecture timetable well, I could have contacted the main characters of Class S at any time I wanted.

However, if I get placed in the S class, the time I spend with the main characters will increase, but on the contrary, won’t the time for forcibly contacting the ‘protagonist line’ that I am reluctant to increase will also increase? 

‘That’s right, it’s going to turn around…’ I thought for a long time while stroking my lower lip, but in the end, I couldn’t bite the S class, so there was only one answer.

Even when I enter class S, I live quietly and do my job properly. 

‘Well, it’ll work out somehow.’ 

I decided to think positively.