Class 1 (2)
“Kang Min-Hyuk.”
Professor Hak-Beom’s round glasses and his high skill level made him seem strict upon first glance. He seemed annoyed.
“Yes?” Min-Hyuk replied.
“How long have you been in the Magic department?” the professor asked.
“…It’s been a week…”
“Then I will ask again: unlike your fellow students who majored in Magic at the Youth Academy, have you ever studied Magic before age 17? Excluding Hunter Academy, have you ever studied Magic, even for a single day?”
Min-Hyuk was speechless.
17 years old?
In a world all messed up by monsters, students contemporary to his age had already completed Youth Academy and officially entered Hunter Academy. His classmates stared at him with interest—clearly, all of them already had a much wider knowledge of Magic than Min-Hyuk.
Min-Hyuk clenched his fists, braced himself, then answered, “Nope.”
“Right—all you did was make a circle and learn some very basic elemental Magic. Still, you had the guts to declare a career path in Magic! Don’t you think you should be working harder to catch up to your classmates, all of whom are currently working on their second circle?”
Oh, right. Min-Hyuk started studying Magic late in the game. He had just started and was already behind!
The professor was right—Min-Hyuk should try harder. But Min-Hyuk had no interest in doing that!
“Your father, Suhomun, is a famous swordsman, right? I understand where you are coming from. As his eldest son, being raised within the Guardian Gate, I’m sure Magic would not have been part of your time in the castle since it is not a mainstream discipline. But if you chose Magic simply because of that, you should drop out immediately. You cannot study Magic if you think you know everything about it already.”
The professor had great pride in the uses of Magic, and the people who study it.
And he was right: Magic is not a mainstream discipline.
Magic by itself is weak, casting takes a long time, and it is hard to maintain since it takes so much energy. So, unless you can defeat a low-grade monster, a Wizard is only a prop.
The professor did not like Min-Hyuk, the reader of the Suhomun.
In a world where power is directly linked to energy expended, Min-Hyuk had been handed a golden spoon by his father. People were jealous. Min-Hyuk was lazy and took this gift for granted, so he entered the Department of Magic as an escape.
“Magic is an escape.”
This idea ruffled the professor’s feathers. Because of this, he always gave Min-Hyuk a hard time instead of treating him like the other students.
“Sorry,” Min-Hyuk said.
Although the class was hopelessly boring, and the other sleeping students were not woken up, or be subjected to Professor Hak-Beom’s prodding, Kang Min-Hyuk was raised with a belief that you must pick your battles. Clearly, this battle was not worth the effort.
But the professor wouldn’t drop it.
“You’re sorry? Great. We’re not done here just because you apologized. I asked you a question. If you can answer it correctly, I will admit that you were minimally courteous towards my lesson material and towards myself, and I will not punish you. But, if you can’t answer my question, then I will give you three demerit points. Don’t forget, 10 demerits means expulsion from the Department of Magic.”
The professor was angry. Min-Hyuk nodded, accepting these terms.
“My lecture was about Double Casting. Explain it.”
***
Any other day, Min-Hyuk would not have been able to answer the question and would have been well on his way to being expelled.
But not today.
Just a few hours ago…or was it minutes ago?
That other world…
Min-Hyuk read all about Double Casting in the Elementary textbook. But was it true? Does whatever he learned in that other place hold up in this reality? He wasn’t so sure…
“Also, if you give me false information, you will receive the demerit points.”
Min-Hyuk decided there was only one way to find out if what he learned was true.
He began cautiously, “Double Casting is the act of using two Magics at the same time. Normally, it is nearly impossible for a Wizard to do this, but I have heard that if you are incredibly gifted and smart, it is possible to manage. I have heard that it is an ability you are born with, not something you can learn.”
The professor’s expression softened a little.
Min-Hyuk kept going, “You mentioned a theory about Double Casting as a learnable skill, citing some controversial research about using a shortcut to convert mana into Magic. The reason Wizards struggle to Double Cast is because casting two Magics simultaneously is extremely difficult, but if we could somehow bypass this—if we could create a shortcut—then I believe Double Casting could indeed be an acquired skill and not just a birthright.”
The professor’s face was hard to read.
“Is that what you think?”
It was well-known that the professor believed that hard work was more important than the natural talents you were born with. He was a “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps—anyone can do it if they work hard enough” kind of guy.
The professor had thought Min-Hyuk was a brat who didn’t really know anything about theory or Magic, so this answer surprised him. He thought for a moment.
“Fine. I’ll accept your answer and spare you any demerits. For now.”
He laughed, startling Min-Hyuk.
“That answer is well-thought out. I’m pleasantly surprised. Looks like you have proven that you are in the Department of Magic by no mistake or whim. You do deserve to learn Magic.”
Min-Hyuk’s heart was beating in his ears.
That meant…what he had learned in the other world in the Elementary textbook was real.
***
His heart did not slow down until the bell rang.
Immediately after class, he rushed home to his computer and Googled ‘Double Casting’. His screen said:
“Double Casting is a skill very few Wizards have. It is believed that only about 1% of Wizards have this ability. 5th Circle Wizards, commonly referred to as Archmages, all have this special ability. Being a Double Caster greatly increases the power Magic has, and makes it possible to compensate for the delays in casting ordinary Magic. This delay is often referred to as the deadly disadvantage of a Wizard.”
It was a brief explanation.
And nothing about it could be described as “Elementary”.
“This is amazing…”
In the other world, the world where he had been called Klinssman, Double Casting seemed to be viewed like a stone lying in the street—totally ordinary. It was in the Elementary textbook.
How can that be? Is that even possible?
Even the mere thought of Double Casting was enough to distract Min-Hyuk for the rest of class earlier that day. The idea was a game changer. A life changer. A Magic-as-we-know-it changer.
A thought came to him.
‘How do I know if this is real?’
He made a decision.
‘I will test it. Just follow the textbook.’
From that day on, every day after class, Min-Hyuk would study and practice what he had learned in the textbook from Klinssman’s world.
Suddenly, after only a week, he had a breakthrough.
“Water! And fire!”
Water droplets and sparks floated in the air in front of him.
‘Is this real?’ he thought, his eyes wide.
‘The world of Klinss…is real!’
