iNoveltranslation
About two weeks had passed since the beginning of the academy term.
[You have completed Stage 13: The Other Side of the Tracks.]
[Agility attribute has significantly increased.]
In the meantime, Baek Yu-Seol had a pretty ordinary yet intense schedule.
He attended classes regularly, wrote club activity reports with Mayuseong and Eisel every few days, and continued training alone in the dormitory after the academy.
In the dungeon of the 500-year-old witch’s crystal orb, Baek Yu-Seol’s physical training progress had sped up considerably, and his stats steadily increased.
Not only was the growth evident, but it also influenced his understanding of the Tae-Ryung Breathing Technique and the intricacies of Mana Accumulation Retardation.
The delicate control over teleportation under extreme conditions also sharply improved his overall skill proficiency.
This might be the most peaceful period so far.
Though no significant episodes had started yet, incidents were gradually unfolding somewhere without his knowledge…
Baek Yu-Seol could have just kept training quietly until then.
That would have been enough.
But a problem arose.
Hallucinations.
Ever since he started using the witch’s crystal orb, he kept hearing a woman’s voice in his ear.
The problem was that he only encountered the witch’s items as mere growth tools in the game, so he was completely unaware of any side effects.
… He thought it was an overpowered growth item with no penalties.
When the witch’s crystal orb was at 498, its performance was too poor to have any such side effects.
But perhaps because he absorbed too much dark mana from the witch hunter last time, the thick witch’s scent embedded in the crystal orb seemed to have invaded him.
"Shut up already."
Even while training his back muscles alone in the physical training room, the woman’s voice kept ringing in his ears. It was more annoying than scary.
Baek Yu-Seol got somewhat used to it and considered it as normal, but it was still noisy.
He searched for information on the side effects by using the witch’s items with the Sentient Spec, but there were no records of gamers experiencing such hallucinations with playable characters.
Maybe it was because he overused this irregular item.
Eventually, he had no choice but to visit the library to resolve this, but unfortunately, very few records of witches remained in modern times.
Hearing voices was common for those enchanted by a witch, and in severe cases, it led to hallucinations, mental confusion, and even dissociative identity disorder.
Come to think of it, something was strange.
He was protected by the blessing of Yeonhong Chunsamweol, which granted complete immunity to mental magic.
He had previously nullified the illusion magic of Grace Steele, a true witch, so what could be the origin of these hallucinations?
'Is it not mental magic?'
For three days now, he had been searching the library for information on hallucinations and witches but found nothing.
He wished he could meet that witch hunter again.
Although he was like a pushover to Baek Yu-Seol last time, he was considered one of the most dangerous beings in the Aether World. Moreover, he was an intelligent mage, an expert in the field of witches.
But unless he came to find Baek Yu-Seol, it was nearly impossible for him to locate a witch hunter who could freely travel through space.
"Sigh. I don’t know."
He sighed deeply and put back a book titled [The History of Witches and the Origins of Witch Hunts] on the shelf.
As he was about to leave the library, the librarian spoke to him.
“Aren’t you borrowing any books today?”
“What?”
“You’ve been borrowing witch-related books for several days, so I thought you were interested. I prepared a few more for you.”
“... Really?”
Indeed, the librarian, who could search the location of all books, would be more efficient in gathering information than him wandering around.
“Then please show me a few.”
“Here you go.”
Thud!
The librarian smiled brightly and placed a few extremely thick books on the table.
They looked so heavy that he wondered how he carried them, but he spoke with a nonchalant expression.
“I’ve also become interested in witches recently. There’s a trend called the Witch’s Restaurant, you know? But you’re the only student who’s been looking for old documents for days.”
“Oh.”
The subject of witches was interesting, but it was only interesting in the beginning. Once you start investigating, it becomes one of the dullest topics.
After picking up a few books handed by the librarian, Baek Yu-Seol applied for a loan.
"Enjoy your reading. Legends and folklore about witches are quite fascinating to me as well."
"Yes."
‘I'm not really interested in that stuff.’
"Be careful, they're heavy."
The librarian handed him the books, but they weren't that heavy for Baek Yu-Seol. They were indeed quite heavy for an ordinary person to carry around, but it wasn't difficult for someone with his abilities.
The principles of Tae-Ryung Breathing Technique.
By absorbing the mana of nature and expelling it outside the body, one could unleash explosive power, and this principle had become applicable in everyday life.
"Baek Yu-Seol."
He was about to head back to the dormitory to read the witch literature as soon as possible when someone called out to him.
The man who looked serious enough to deter any ordinary student from approaching radiated a strong aura, indicating he was a high-level mage.
"... Hello?"
It was easy to identify his affiliation.
He was wearing the uniform of the Stella Knights.
But... Why would a mage from Stella be looking for Baek Yu-Seol?
"Captain Arien is summoning you. Can you come now? If you're busy, you can postpone it until tomorrow."
What’s going on?
Something serious must be happening.
Captain Arien, who commanded the Stella forces, was one of the most powerful and influential people in the world.
There was no reason for someone like him to personally summon him... No matter how hard Baek Yu-Seol thought about it.
Moreover, was Arien always such a considerate person?
He remembered him being cold and ruthless in the original game.
"Can I ask why?"
"I don’t know the details, but if you ask, he said to tell you it’s related to witches. Does that pique your interest?”
“... Hmm. Yes, it does.”
Quite a bit, actually.
Anyone could find out he’d been investigating witches recently if they put their mind to it, but for Captain Arien to personally find out and call him...
"Alright. Let's go right now."
Baek Yu-Seol didn't know what it was about, but there was no harm in meeting such an influential figure like Arien, so he readily agreed.
———
… The streets of Arcanium were bathed in the evening glow.
They were filled with a warm atmosphere, but the bustling crowd of students made the streets noisy, which wasn’t well liked by the member of the Manwol Tower, Kaen.
Originally, he was planning to return to the Manwol Tower.
Along with Grace, Kaen had captured and executed a dark mage hiding in a large magic tower. Then, he received his reward, and was planning to take a late summer vacation as Grace had been whining about it for a while.
However, the plan went awry.
A dark blue shadow fell over the magical city of Arcanium.
The order came directly from Rudrick, the Lord of the Manwol Tower.
It had been a long time since an order from the master had come without going through psychometry, so Grace could not disobey and silently followed the command.
One of the reasons she followed silently was probably because of the phrase 'dark blue shadow.'
“Captain.”
“Speak.”
“The tower lord has never been wrong, right?”
“... Yes.”
Grace Steele was born with the bloodline of a witch.
As a result, she suffered various humiliations and persecution in the magic world, but the ones who took her in were none other than Kaen and Rudrick, the lord of the Manwol Tower.
In the past, she used to resent her bloodline, but now she was curious.
Do witches really exist?
Is the blood flowing in her veins really that of a witch?
Even the Manwol Tower could not clearly ascertain the existence of witches.
Because of this, even the ShadowBlade Division could only barely find traces of witches...
But this time, something was different.
“There are rumors about a 'witch restaurant' in Arcanium.”
“Yeah. I've heard it's popping up everywhere.”
How witches handle spatial magic was unknown, but since witches were known to be experts in illusion magic, they must keep their possibilities wide open.
“Honestly, I have no idea how to find it...”
Grace was unusually calm. She looked at Arcanium and spoke.
“Still. Let’s give it our best shot!”
Had she ever been so enthusiastic about her work?
Since they started working together, he couldn't recall a single time.
“Okay.”
Kaen nodded silently. He didn’t waste words like ‘Let's work harder’ or ‘We can find it.’
He just... as always, did his best.
———-
Late at night.
Edna visited Baek Yu-Seol’s dormitory as usual.
She had discovered a few days ago when she first visited under the pretense of a hospital visit that his dormitory was quite comfortable, cozy, and even had a lot of snacks.
Since then, it had become Edna’s personal haven.
Visiting a male student's dormitory daily might lead to bad rumors, but who cares?
She didn’t care about such things anyway.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"I'm here."
She knocked roughly on Baek Yu-Seol’s dormitory as usual, but today there was no response.
Thinking he might be ignoring her, she knocked a few more times.
Just then, she met Mayuseong passing by in the hallway.
"Hi."
"Hey Mayuseong. Do you know where Baek Yu-Seol went?"
"Um... Maybe he went to the library?"
"The library? Does he even read books?"
"Yeah. He's been going there quite often lately."
That was strange.
Baek Yu-Seol, who had already grasped the truths of this world, was now seeking out books?
‘No. That’s not it.’
The price of manipulating time was every kind of memory in his mind. There was no guarantee he hadn’t lost knowledge along with other memories.
‘But what kind of books?’
As Edna pondered, Mayuseong spoke as if he remembered something.
“Oh. Now that I think about it, someone saw him go with a Stella mage knight.”
“A Stella knight...?”
That was even stranger.
What connection could there be between a Stella knight and Baek Yu-Seol?
“Hmm... Alright. Thanks.”
After waving goodbye to Mayuseong, Edna turned around.
She wasn’t heading back to the dormitory.
Since she had nothing else to do and was bored... She decided to drop by the library.