Turns out you are a magical genius?! (3)
His vision was blurred, and he felt like he was leaning against a hard wall.
Kang Min-hyuk blinked as he adapted to his surroundings. Once he was adjusted, he could finally confirm where he was.
‘… … This is?’
It felt familiar to him; it was a place he had been to before, a place he had already experienced.
‘It’s a library.’
It was filled with an abundance of bookshelves, one of which Kang Min-hyuk was leaning against, packed with various books. Still, he had no idea why he was there. He looked around, thinking that Klinsmann may have left a message, but he found none.
Then, suddenly, a book caught his eye.
[The Origin of Birth]
He did not know why, but out of all the books there, this was the one that grabbed his attention, it was by mere instinct that he chose it.
[January 1, 2000, when the new Millennium era opened, monsters appeared in Korea, and the disaster began. Monsters slaughtered countless lives, and the Korean country was destroyed. In response, numerous world leaders ordered the launch of a nuclear attack; this backfired as the monsters that survived became stronger. Nuclear bombs were ineffective; as such, people became desperate for a way to fight back. The heavens heard their prayer and blessed them with magical powers. That day, Korea and Russia were nicknamed “Monster Land,” It was also the day magic was born. On January 1 of year 0, the magical civilization was created.]
“… … January 1, year 0?
Min-hyuk’s pupils shook as he read the date.
‘January 1 of the year 0.’
He recalled the date in Klinsmann’s diary, and it stated that it was currently the year 2030.
Of course, he knew that his world was behind in terms of magic, but he didn’t expect them to be that far behind.
[Over 2000 years, humans continued to develop magic. It was now widely used, and research about mana’s power was conducted, yet it was still impossible to completely subdue monsters. The humans decided to co-exist with monsters by creating a barrier to separate them. The barrier became their solution, and it lasted for a while until the incident called ‘Monster Gate’ happened. Monsters began entering this world through a dimensional rift.]
The events in the book matched Klinsmann’s experiences.
The pieces of the puzzles started falling into place, and it was all finally making sense to him.
He thought back to what his classmate said when he asked about Korea.
“Korea? Do you mean Monster Land? The country of Korea had been destroyed long ago. I have no idea what you’re talking about, Korea and Russia have been turned into monster wastelands, so stop sleeping and get ready for class!”
‘Long ago.’
He mistakenly thought that that meant only a few decades ago.
It dawned on him why Klinsmann’s world had advanced so much; they were preparing for the inevitable. The barrier was not a permanent solution, and they needed a plan in case monsters began attacking again.
His head was taking in more information than it could process.
He thought that this was a parallel world with a similar time flow to his; it turned out this world had already experienced 2000 years of history.
‘The world I live in has only a hundred years of history.’
Ganghwa civilization begun the same way.
The attack also happened at the beginning of the new millennium, but the events unfolded differently.
The monsters appeared worldwide, not just in Korea. In response, the Ganghwa civilization needed to develop quickly. Military powers, such as the Suhomon clan, emerged and put their lives on the line to defend their territories. In a short span of 100 years, Min-hyuk’s world had created a way to fight off the monsters.
Ganghwa civilization, its history, was really short compared to Klinsmann’s magical civilization.
Min-hyuk thought that the experiences of the two worlds were the same, that Klinsmann’s world simply evolved faster; turns out it was 2000 years in advance.
Realizing the truth, Kang Min-hyuk laughed in vain.
‘Magic is a challenging discipline, even with the various studies done, many things are still left undiscovered. I thought that the people in this world were geniuses that specialized in magic, but I was wrong, they just had a 2000 years head start.’
Time was not parallel.
Only after a long time had passed, Kang Min-hyuk finished reading ‘The Origin of Birth’.
Then, as if possessed by something, he picked up the book next to it called ‘The Magic Basics.’
He did not know why, but he was compelled to read it.
Soon after, Kang Min-hyuk flipped the last page and was done reading the book.
“… … The people of this world perfectly complemented the magic’s shortcomings.”
2000 years of history.
The people of the magical civilization did not waste any of that time.
* * *
In the past, a swordfighter of considerable skill once appeared on a TV program to say this:
“What are the disadvantages of the wizard? There are so many. One, casting takes a long time, and a single spell consumes too much mana, so it cannot be used repeatedly; furthermore, building up mana isn’t easy either. Double Casting is a privilege granted to only a handful of geniuses. I don’t understand the people that even bother learning alternative magic. Given all those shortcomings, it’s not as strong as the Aura Sword. “
That was a fact.
In practical terms, magic was not worth learning.
However, the prosecutor proposed an idea to remedy those shortcomings.
[Four basic courses required for beginners of magic]
The first is forming a circle.
‘In my world, to form a circle made up of mana, I have to artificially inject mana into the human body using special drugs. However, it’s different here. I can flow mana into the heart through meditations. I can accumulate high purity mana in my heart, forming a circle with more mana that has higher purity. Not only is there a lot of magic that can be used, but the power of magic is strengthened due to the quality improvement of mana.’
The second is mana fairy tale.
‘This method allows the user to draw out mana from nature, and use it with the mana within the body to help with casting. It solves the problem of running out of mana because it helps regulate mana consumption.’
And the third was Double Casting, and the fourth was the use of magic from 108 kinds of 1st circle magic.
This was considered the basic stage.
In the Ganghwa civilization, knowledge of this information would already get them an award, But in magical civilization, it was fundamental knowledge. During this world’s 2000 years of history, people have experimented a lot. They had no choice but to develop the blessing from above, called magic, to deal with the monsters that were strengthened by the nuclear attack.
What they were able to accomplish was terrific.
Kang Min-hyuk sincerely admired how they were able to develop magic beyond what his world presently had.
‘When I return to my reality, I’ll start experimenting there. All my problems will be solved if I succeed in forming circles and mana fairytale.’
A lot of time passed.
Although he spent a lot of time reading the ‘Origins of Birth’ and ’Basics of Magic,’ Kang Min-hyuk did not have time to rest.
He doesn’t know how much time he had left.
He had to use his time wisely and collect as much information as possible.
Something caught his eye,
[Magic Archives]
His eyes became fixated on where it was.
Kang Min-hyuk headed towards the area that stretched all the way to the side of the library.
* * *
The area where the magic archives were, had a mysterious aura about them.
A lot of books were kept in the area.
Various circles of magic were stored in the bookshelf, and Kang Min-hyuk’s eyes witnessed the level go higher, the further he looked.
“These are,,,”
The magic levels varied.
From 1st circle to 7th circle.
Books about the highest level were placed there as if they were ordinary books.
‘7th circle magic.’
Choi Byeong-ho was incredibly strict about giving access to the library’s upper floors, where the 5th circle magic books were stored, as if it was such a great thing.
Kan Min-hyuk had discovered something great.
There are a few types of magic in the world where Kang Min-hyuk lives. In particular, only five levels were discovered, the highest being 5th circle magic. Knowledge about the highest-ranking level was considered valuable, so Cho Byeong-ho placed those books in the upper level and were regarded as treasures of the Department of Magic.
But not here.
Dozens of 5th,6th and 7th circle magic information overflowed.
‘Currently, our society has developed up to 5th circle magic only. I heard that Magical Societies worldwide are investing a lot of money and human resources into developing the 6th circle magic, but it has yet to be successful. The magic they’re so desperately trying to create already exists here, in the place where magic is 2000 years ahead. ‘
His body trembled.
Kang Min-hyuk lived his life as a swordfighter, but he knew how valuable these books were.
He wanted to check out the magic book. However, he was nervous about doing so.
Kang Min-hyuk approached the librarian, thinking he may need authority to check the magic book in this world.
“… … Is it okay if I read the spellbooks?”
“Yes?”
The librarian raised his head.
He appears to be a man in his early twenties. He chuckled at Min-hyuk’s question.
“You can read the low-level spellbooks here, but are you okay with these? This area can be accessed by even ordinary citizens since it only has basic magic books. Aren’t you a student of the Royal Academy of Magic? Can’t you read the high-level magic books for free?”
Ordinary.
This is how the librarian described the books which would have been considered treasures in Min-hyuk’s world.
Kang Min-hyuk practically lived in the upper level of the library for a full month, and grasped the gap between the two world’s information.
He realized again.
‘… … The difference between the two worlds is greater than I could imagine. ‘
Achievements in his world were merely minor goals in this world.
