Beep!

The clear sound of the alarm made Baek Yu-Seol turn his head.

Someone had finally used their first opportunity.

As he presented, he secretly hoped no one would bother him, and his expression revealed his annoyance.

Jiaryumon tilted his head slightly to identify the person who used the opportunity.

It was Cellyn from Stella Academy.

‘Hmm, is that little girl targeting only those from the same academy?’

He was curious, but since there was no reason to refuse the opportunity, he nodded.

As the mic turned on, Cellyn stood and began speaking.

"Baek Yu-Seol, I'd like to ask you a question first."

"Yes."

"In the 13th section of page 13 of the thesis, you used both 'Baytes Rune Calculation' and 'Baytes’s Law' simultaneously in one formula. How did you organize these?"

Her question received nods from the mages, as it was a shared query among them all.

Long ago, Baytes had stated when creating his calculation and law, "My law cannot be calculated with my calculation."

However, Baek Yu-Seol had disregarded Baytes’s words and combined the two into one formula—an attempt even Baytes himself had deemed impossible.

‘... What is that even about?’

Baek Yu-Seol couldn't comprehend what he'd done or what was wrong.

He had merely followed the instructions given by the Sentient Spec he wore.

‘Shouldn't I have just submitted the original version as it was?’

Originally, this thesis was derived from the answer sheet submitted during the second test.

But given the occasion of Aslan Seminar, he felt it might be mundane to submit it as was.

Thus, he borrowed the knowledge of the Sentient Spec to make various modifications and assemblies, which seemed to have been the problem.

He got caught in this way.

"I'll use a Magic Screen."

The Magic Screen was activated by drawing a magic circle with a magic pen.

It didn’t activate real magic, but it was often used by mages with no mana to demonstrate that their formula was true.

The mages often favored using the Magic Screen to demonstrate intricate magic circles they couldn't achieve at their level, so there was nothing odd about him using it here.

"..."

Lost in thought, Cellyn smiled as Baek Yu-Seol hesitated in front of the Magic Screen.

If he didn't answer, she intended to assert that 'Baytes’s Law couldn’t be calculated' directly, establishing it as a fact.

However, Baek Yu-Seol promptly began writing something without any hesitation.

Initially, it was ‘Baytes’s Law,' and then ‘Baytes’ Rune Calculation'...

But something was different.

"Huh?"

"What's that?"

"It's a new calculation I've never seen before."

Around that moment, Edna, who was observing Baek Yu-Seol’s presentation, realized that something was amiss.

'Wait a second, isn't that... a future calculation method...?'

Come to think of it, Baek Yu-Seol once asked her if his thesis was alright.

It happened to be a time when even she was preoccupied with preparing the thesis, so she skimmed through and casually said, 'Looks good. Go ahead.'

But upon reflection, she forgot the intent behind his question.

Perhaps he wasn't asking in that sense.

'Do you think this paper is suitable for presentation in the current era?'

Yes, his knowledge was a mix of the future and the past.

Since she had hardly seen the current Baek Yu-Seol studying, he might just be living in the present based solely on a piece of future magical knowledge.

After he wrote the thesis, he asked her if it would be okay to publish it.

But without even knowing it, she casually thought it seemed plausible and affirmed it, resulting in...

"Th-that's..."

"It's a completely new calculation!"

"It's a method of dissecting and recombining magical words to verify calculations..."

"How...!"

Such a bizarre situation unfolded.

Baek Yu-Seol finished writing the calculations, then looked at Cellyn.

His expression seemed to ask, 'Is there a problem?'

"What's that...?”

Even Cellyn, who was equipped with professor-level knowledge, was baffled by the unfamiliar calculation.

She tried to remain composed as she asked, "Where did you learn that calculation?"

"Huh? Where did I learn it? Well, uh... I learned it at the academy..."

Baek Yu-Seol was about to say he learned it at the academy, but he realized that something was off and hurriedly began to justify himself.

"Oh, just... since the usual calculations didn't work well, I thought of creating one while writing the thesis..."

"Right..."

Many wanted to question if that explanation made any sense, but what could they do if it was the truth?

This excuse seemed to suffice; the mages marveled at it but refrained from pressing further.

Cellyn’s response was blocked by this excuse, and she had nothing more to say.

"... Next question."

However, the gaps in his thesis didn't end there.

Even though this new formula resulted from a new calculation method, would it continue like this in the future?

"Baek Yu-Seol, could you list the words representing Rune T3?"

"Seol, Pa, Dok, O, Rin, Chen, Ku."

"Then, can you arrange the periodicity of the stacking properties of Prokitex Design?"

It might have seemed odd to ask all these questions, but Baek Yu-Seol answered without hesitation.

"CE, CO, SI, DE, BA, RI."

"... Impressive memory you have there."

To be honest, Cellyn was a bit surprised by Baek Yu-Seol’s ability to recall such details, considering it was an unexpected question.

However, that didn't change anything.

"Well then, do you now understand what the issue is?"

No.

Baek Yu-Seol, who almost gave an honest answer, firmly shut his mouth.

"There's an error in your design formula. It violates the 'Rune Binomial Law.'"

"Rune Binomial Law?"

Baek Yu-Seol asked unconsciously since he truly wasn’t aware.

Cellyn thought it was just to reconfirm and willingly answered.

"Yes. It's the law that states 'Runes with different numbers of characters cannot combine.'

To put it simply, a rune must always be combined in pairs, just like when you combine '이 (i)' and '가 (ga)' in Korean to create '아 (a).'

But Runes have this unnecessarily complex rule that single characters like 'Seol' or 'Pa' cannot combine with two-character Runes like 'CE' or 'CO.'

But Baek Yu-Seol ignored this fundamental rule when writing the design formula.

Could such a design formula operate properly?

It was utter nonsense.

"Is that so?"

Baek Yu-Seol stared intently at the formula through his Sentient Spec.

Even on a second look, he didn't understand.

Cellyn said, "Now, do you see how flawed your design formula is?"

"Well, um, but..."

Baek Yu-Seol hesitated for a moment, then took a pen and drew a few lines on the formula he had written on the magic screen.

"... Wouldn't this work?"

"Huh?"

What he did wasn't anything significant.

He had drawn mana circuit lines by slicing each character and then combined them with a binomial equation.

So, to combine 'Seol' and 'CE' runes, he meticulously dissected them into '', 'A', 'ᄅ', 'c', 'E', and then reassembled them.

"That seems reasonable, but...”

"But, the mana connections wouldn't be right, would they?"

"No, take another look. The binomial equations above are responsible for each rune disassembling and connecting one by one, so it should operate smoothly."

"Wow, really?"

'That... works...?'

Cellyn was completely speechless.

She never thought this would work.

At that point, she wondered if pointing it out even had any significance.

But once started, she couldn't stop.

Ultimately, the most crucial flaw remained.

"... Impressive. The new binomial equation and the rune rearrangement you've created using your method are truly outstanding."

Cellyn continued calmly.

"Baek Yu-Seol, you're aware of the 'Arrangement of Mana,' right?"

"Uh... yeah, I think I know. Probably."

Upon her words, even the mages who were exclaiming over the new law nodded.

Until now, the problems could be considered mere quirks.

Making a new binomial equation and integrating runes to solve those issues showcased a remarkable and ingenious idea for a seventeen-year-old mage.

However…

In essence, the fundamental flaw lay in the design itself.

'Mana must be arranged in a series.'

This law had remained unchanged since the inception of magic into this world.

It was as basic and immutable as 'water falls from top to bottom' or 'one plus one equals two'.

However, Baek Yu-Seol's design strangely arranged mana in a parallel way.

No, could they really just pass it off as 'strange'?

Initially, that couldn't even be called a magic circle.

It might be better to describe it as a mere mimic of the magic circle.

"So, I'll ask. Baek Yu-Seol, do you think parallel arrangement of mana is possible?"

"Yes? Yes."

Cellyn internally chuckled.

'That's nonsense...'

Even for Baek Yu-Seol, this couldn't be right.

If parallel mana were possible, it would mean casting multiple spells with a single magic circle.

That concept was considered almost mythical in the magical world. It was researched for centuries but never proven by anyone.

"It's okay. Then, will you show it?"

Ahem.

Someone understood Cellyn’s intent to tease Baek Yu-Seol and let out a small laugh.

They immediately noticed and controlled their expression, but Baek Yu-Seol was sensitive and couldn't help but hear it.

'What's wrong now?'

The atmosphere was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Unable to grasp what was wrong, it was frustrating.

Anyway, since Baek Yu-Seol had said he would show it, he couldn't back down.

With a nervous expression, Baek Yu-Seol held the magic pen.

The other mages looked at Baek Yu-Seol with a mix of disbelief and bewilderment.

'That's nonsense...'

'Even if you insist, there's a limit...'

"Ah, it's a shame. The atmosphere is getting more uncomfortable..."

Edna was sweating nervously.

'That foolish regressor...'

Right now, he had no idea what formula he was revealing.

Due to his jumbled knowledge and memories, he was just spouting out formulas and laws.

The calculations shown by him so far would only appear at least 2-3 years from now, and the rune binomial theorem would be out around the same time.

And decisively... the parallel mana arrangement wouldn’t even appear until five years later!

Honestly, she didn’t mind him disclosing the calculations or rune laws ahead of time since it wouldn't cause a major impact on the magical world.

It would've just made the construction of the design a bit easier, that's all.

However, the parallel mana arrangement was a really serious issue.

The concept of triggering various spells from a single magic circle; it was a simple yet ingenious idea.

That law would be announced later in the world's most formidable magical tower, the Manwol Tower, and it was going to revolutionize the magical world.

However, now that Baek Yu-Seol had completed the design incorporating the parallel mana arrangement into the magic circle without understanding its implications, Edna covered her face and silently screamed inside.

Eventually, Baek Yu-Seol completed the design by incorporating the parallel mana arrangement without understanding a word of it.

And.

"... Huh?"

"Wait, what's that...?"

"Is this a joke...?"

Zap!

The magic circle began emitting light on the Magic Screen board.

Although the magic hadn't manifested, the circulation of mana proved that this magic circle is correct.

Snap! Thud!

Loud noises echoed through the hall.

Cellyn dropped the microphone.

Baek Yu-Seol covered his ears for a moment, and realized that something was amiss with their reaction.

'What's happening?'

No one uttered a word.

Everyone seemed dazed, their mouths agape...

They were immersed in the design on the magic screen as if spellbound.

Only then did Baek Yu-Seol vaguely realize that he had made a mistake of a completely different magnitude from before.

'Is this… something I wasn’t supposed to solve?'

It seemed far more complicated and difficult than usual...