← 낙제생, 마법학교 수석을 노리다# The First Lesson
The classroom windows faced east. The morning sun bathed the desks in golden light.
Lin sat in the very back row. It was a good place to observe. Sera sat in the front row, naturally. Kyle sat next to Lin, repeatedly lifting and lowering his badge. The sword shape on the blue badge flashed whenever it caught the sunlight.
"Don't worry about it."
Kyle whispered.
"About what?"
"Yesterday. At the job assignment office."
Kyle's voice trembled.
Lin looked at Kyle. His friend's jaw was clenched. His fingers gripped the badge tightly.
"What did you see?"
"I don't know. You?"
"Nothing."
Lin said.
Kyle didn't ask further. Instead, he looked out the window. The sky was clear. That alone felt ominous.
Professor Naia Pen entered.
He was different from other professors. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with frost settling softly on his black hair. His eyes were deep. Like a well holding some mysterious water. Whenever he stood at the podium, the air seemed to take on a different temperature.
"What is magic?"
His first words.
No one answered. No student raised their hand. Everyone knew it wasn't a question with a correct answer. Naia's eyes moved left and right. Scanning the classroom.
His gaze reached Lin.
It was brief. Less than a second. But Lin felt it. That gaze carried something that pierced through him in particular.
"Magic is the act of poking a finger into reality."
Naia continued.
"Puncturing the membrane of reality. Controlling the size, shape, and depth of that hole—that is the true definition of magic."
Sera tilted her head. It was a different definition from the textbook. Naia must have seen Sera's expression. But he didn't answer. Instead, he placed his hand on the desk.
Fire ignited from his fingertips.
It wasn't ordinary fire. It bent the air. Light refracted. Space itself became blurred. And when the fire disappeared, a small hole remained in its place.
A hole punctured in reality.
"This is magic. Very elementary, but containing its essence."
Naia's voice lowered.
"Magic demands a price. As all things do."
He raised his hand. His fingers were trembling. A subtle tremor. But unmistakable.
"When you use magical power, your body gradually wears away. That's why mages must conserve their power. No—they must know how to conserve it."
His eyes turned toward Lin again.
This time it lasted longer. About three seconds. Lin didn't avert his gaze. He looked back at Naia. Directly into those deep, well-like eyes.
Something was exchanged. Not words. Understanding beyond the air.
"Sera Valen."
Naia called.
"Yes?"
Sera stood up.
"Your magical power is 99.8%. Emotionally, you pursue perfection. Isn't that right?"
"Yes."
"Then you can never become the strongest mage."
The classroom fell silent.
Sera's face went pale. But she didn't kneel. She straightened her back and looked at Naia.
"Why?"
"Because magic rejects perfection. Magic is an attempt to dominate reality. And reality is never dominated. It only compromises."
Naia descended from the podium. He walked toward Sera. The students' bodies stiffened. This wasn't a typical teaching method.
"The reason you have 99.8% is not because of your effort. It's because of your birth. When you understand that, only then can you become a true mage."
Naia passed by Sera's side. And continued walking. To the back row.
He stopped in front of Lin.
"And you."
Naia said.
"Your magical power is 0.3%."
Silence.
"But your eyes are different. You're seeing something. Something the other students cannot see."
Lin's heart surged.
"Don't lose those eyes. That is everything for you."
Naia returned to the podium.
"Today's assignment is simple. Using only 1% of your magical power, bring about a change in your badge. Your badge contains your essence. If you understand your badge, you can understand your magical power."
The classroom stirred. Injecting magical power into a badge was an advanced technique.
"Don't think it's impossible. You've already worn the badge. That means you've already injected magical power into it. You're simply not conscious of it."
Naia looked out the window.
"Being conscious. That is magic. The moment you become conscious, the world comes into your hands."
After class ended, Lin remained in the classroom.
Kyle left first. He seemed to be trembling about something. Sera left too. Her back was rigid.
Lin stood before the desk.
Naia was still there. Looking out the window.
"Professor."
Lin spoke.
Naia turned around.
"What are you seeing?"
"What do you mean?"
"The badge. And magical power. And all of us. What are you seeing?"
Naia's expression changed. Something ancient and sorrowful bloomed at the corners of his eyes.
"That's not the right question. The real question is this."
He drew closer.
"What are you remembering?"
Lin's breath stopped.
"Did grandmother tell you?"
"I told you."
Naia raised his hand. His fingers were trembling. More severely now.
"The world will change soon. And you must record it. Because only you can."
"Why only me?"
"Because you've already seen it once."
Naia's voice was like a whisper.
"That moment that never returns."
Lin opened his mouth, then closed it.
Outside the window, the sky was changing. The golden light of morning was fading. As if someone were blocking out the sunlight with their hand.
"Go."
Naia said.
"And remember. You are not alone. We are watching too. Moran, me, and your grandmother."
"Moran?"
"Professor Moran. The one who saw your badge."
Naia turned away.
"That is the true beginning."
When Lin left the classroom, Naia's fingers were still trembling. And behind his back, a long, thin shadow stretched out.
Not one shadow, but two.
The dormitory room was small. One window, one bed, one desk. That was all.
Lin lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. A white ceiling. An empty ceiling. But her eyes kept closing. Naia's trembling fingers kept coming to mind.
'Remember. You are not alone.'
Not alone. She almost laughed.
Lin sat up. She opened her hand. The air trembled above her fingers. Mana was flowing. That 0.3%, barely noticeable air.
'Different eyes.'
It was what Naia had said. Lin looked at her own hand. From a different angle. From yet another angle. As if turning over a jewel.
That was the moment.
Something fell from her fingertips. Or rather, it was closer to something 'appearing' than 'falling.' A transparent film of sorts. Like an eyelid being drawn back when opening one's eyes.
A transparent window floated above her hand.
Lin swallowed her breath.
【Lin Kai】
【Mana: 0.3% (Cannot be activated)】
【Observation: S-Rank】
【Cognition: A+-Rank】
【Adaptation: ??】
Letters were floating. In the air. Above her hand. As if someone had written them with a pen on transparent paper. But there was no paper.
"What...?"
The words burst out. She should have bitten her lip.
Lin moved her hand. The window followed her hand. She turned her hand. The window rotated. She lowered her hand. The window descended.
As if it were part of her own body.
"System...?"
She muttered as if talking to herself. It was a word she'd only seen in web novels. Words she'd secretly read from forbidden books in the school library.
The window flickered.
【System Activated】
【Welcome, Lin Kai】
When the next text appeared, Lin's hand was trembling.
【You are a 'Regressor'】
Regressor.
The moment she read that word, something crumbled in her mind. As if an old wall were collapsing. Or as if something that had been sleeping were awakening.
Naia's face came to mind. His trembling fingers. His two shadows.
'You've already seen it once.'
Ah. Ah, that.
Lin closed her eyes and opened them. The window was still floating.
【Your memories are sealed】
【Accessing information from the previous cycle requires meeting specific conditions】
【Currently activated abilities: Observation】
【Currently activated abilities: Regressor Memory Fragments (Irregular)】
【Currently sealed abilities: Full Memory Access】
Lin exhaled. Long and deep. Like someone who had been diving for a long time, rising back to the surface.
Memories? Previous cycle?
"What is this...?"
She moved her hand. The window followed. She raised her hand. The window rose to the ceiling. She lowered her hand. The window touched the floor.
It truly felt like her own hand.
Lin looked out the window. Outside was dark. Just as Naia had said. As if someone were blocking out the sunlight with their hand.
She sat at the desk. She took out the badge. That badge she was supposed to inject 1% mana into. She touched it with her finger.
The window moved to the badge.
【Unidentified Mana Source】
【Analyzing...】
【Complex Magic Circle detected inside badge】
【Composition: Tracking Magic (Active), Restriction Magic (Active), Memory Seal Magic (Standby)】
Lin's hand stopped.
Memory seal magic.
"Who...?"
No voice came out.
She tried to close the window by waving her hand. The window flickered. Then slowly became transparent. Like stage lighting near the end of a performance.
【Call upon me whenever you need】
As that text disappeared, silence returned.
Lin picked up the badge. It was an ordinary badge. Cloud-shaped. Sky-colored.
But now she knew. What this was. That it had been made by someone to bind her.
The sky outside the window was growing darker. As if someone were continuing to block out the sunlight with their hand. Not one hand, but many hands.
Lin picked up the badge. The one she had been about to inject mana into.
And she thought.
'Remember. You are not alone.'
Whether being not alone was truly a good thing. Or the opposite.
When her finger touched the badge, her finger was trembling.