I got into school for nothing - 108
I got into school for nothing (108)
Lesson 23. Even If It's a Lie - 3
The Wings of Justice, battered and rolling in the muddy ground, spewed curses at Ban Yuwon and his companions.
"—Killing this puppet is useless. If you insist on continuing down this path, a second, a third of me will appear and absolutely break your wings...!"
"You're the one whose wings are broken right now."
"—Guh!"
Moreover, 'a second, a third me' probably meant that the Wings of Justice would literally reappear.
Truly annoying.
Ban Yuwon sighed and plunged the Executioner's Longsword into the struggling Constellation's neck.
[By analyzing and absorbing Star Body, your understanding of higher concepts related to the body deepens. The acceleration of the body's concept conversion will increase from now on.]
[Through the process of absorbing Light Mana, you gained a great enlightenment regarding Elemental Magic. The profundity of Elemental Magic has reached 180. You strongly feel the possibility of manifesting a new magic system.]
"...Dokgo Yeon, you said this one would keep reappearing, right?"
"Just a moment ago, you looked annoyed, but your face brightened instantly. Was the gain that significant?"
"Yeah, it was truly the best..."
Even though it was just a Constellation possessing an NPC's body, he still gained 5 Constellation's Stigma.
The amount of Constellation's Stigma he had struggled to accumulate until now was 10, but it had instantly increased by half!
He also gained a greater amount of Judgment than he had previously gathered, reaching 36.
At this level, even if he couldn't falsely accuse the innocent as the Wings of Justice did, he could certainly gain an advantage against those he deemed evil.
Lastly, by absorbing Light Mana, which seemed a class higher than the Frost Giant's Ice Mana, the profundity of Elemental Magic deepened instantly!
'But light isn't an element...'
Light is made of photons, not elements.
And Light Mana is the power that allows one to control the power of those very photons.
So why did the profundity of Elemental Magic deepen? Perhaps it was due to a fundamental increase in his understanding of elements while analyzing and comprehending a type of mana that couldn't be handled by conventional notions, Ban Yuwon surmised.
If he held onto the clue he'd gained this time and continued his research, he could certainly manifest a new magic system—namely, Light Magic.
"—You're already eyeing Light Magic. How presumptuous."
'Looking at how that loser handled it just now, it wasn't much, was it?'
"—...You're not thinking all Constellations are losers, are you?"
'Oh, no. I thought that werewolf guy had quite a presence.'
That very werewolf (Claw of the Dark Forest) was now a corpse rolling on the ground, its neck torn out by Rucell's claws.
Ah, incidentally, as for why As Light himself didn't deliver the final blow to the Wings of Justice.
"Is As Light doing okay?"
"I'm not sure. He seems to have lost consciousness... He possesses a truly breathtaking beauty, this idiot."
Perhaps it was because he let himself be consumed by anger and exerted too much power?
Just before he could land the final blow on the Wings of Justice, he groaned and collapsed, passing out, forcing Ban Yuwon to frantically take over. Dokgo Yeon was now tending to the fallen As Light.
The necklace he wore was sparking with an ominous light, indicating that having him wield a spear instead of his Holy Sword was merely a temporary measure...
"Did your face change again?"
"I'm not showing you. Men who try to forcefully uncover a woman's secrets aren't popular."
"Fine, I'll just ask you to show me yourself later. ...After I solve your Holy Sword problem."
"..."
Ban Yuwon, snorting in response to Dokgo Yeon's words, casually rummaged through the spot where the Wings of Justice had died and vanished (there was nothing there), then turned to Rucell, who was sitting atop the werewolf's corpse.
"Good work, Rucell. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I had a few, but I'm fine. Wounds sustained in my demi-beast state heal quickly."
Rucell, already back in her human form, pulled up her uniform to reveal her torn abdomen and smiled brightly.
What had originally been a deep wound, enough to tear muscle, had already healed to merely a mark on her skin, and even that was regenerating in real-time, completely disappearing as Ban Yuwon watched.
Ban Yuwon was momentarily lost for words, staring at her smooth, eleven-line abs, then realized what he was looking at and tried to quickly avert his gaze.
"Stroke my belly, please."
Rucell suddenly grabbed his hand and made the request.
"Suddenly?!"
"My insides haven't fully healed yet, so it still hurts. So hurry. Hurryyy..."
"Uh... fine."
When Rucell made a request in such a charming voice, it was undeniable that no man could refuse.
Ban Yuwon, ever the gentleman, reached out and stroked her stomach up and down.
"Hnnnngh..."
"Don't make weird noises."
"It's just that the pain went away. Just that..."
"In that case, it's fine..."
Smooth and soft.
At the same time, firm and strangely cool.
Every time he touched her, Rucell made a spoiled meow-like sound, like a cat.
Ban Yuwon, as if sealed in an infinitely repeating moment, continued to stroke Rucell's belly, not knowing when to stop.
"Beast, stop before I really rip open its stomach."
"Hup!"
"Y-yes."
Fortunately, Dokgo Yeon stopped them at an opportune moment.
As Ban Yuwon snapped out of it and withdrew, Rucell adjusted her clothes with a satisfied look.
Dokgo Yeon, having seated the slowly regaining consciousness As Light in a suitable spot, gave them a bewildered look.
"I'm not saying don't engage in affectionate acts. Just know the time and place."
"My apologies, my mood gets elevated after a fierce battle..."
Hmm, why did that sound a little dangerous?
Ban Yuwon, feeling a bit scared, subtly distanced himself from Rucell and collected the concepts from the Claw of the Dark Forest.
And here, an unexpected jackpot hit again.
[Life 3, Dark Mana 11, Star Body 2, Dark Claw 5, Judgment 8, Wildness 25, Constellation's Stigma 5 are extorted. Dark Claw and Wildness are not concepts that can be possessed by humans.]
[Through the process of absorbing Dark Mana, you gained a great enlightenment regarding Elemental Magic. The profundity of Elemental Magic has reached 200.]
[You gained the enlightenment that darkness is merely the absence of light. You realized that Dark Mana is a special form of mana that manipulates photons to induce a state of light's absence, and that its structure and principles are ultimately the same as Light Mana. You learned a new internal concept: Photon Magic! The profundity of Photon Magic has reached 10.]
'Oh, hey. I just learned something called Photon Magic.'
"—Truly, people like you, with such absurd Authority that allows you to instantly grasp the essence, understand it, and even acquire it, should burn in hell."
Ah, Cellon was truly angry.
Even to Ban Yuwon's eyes, Photon Magic seemed to be a magic system one step above Light Magic, which was itself one step above Elemental Magic—in some ways, it was the ultimate magic.
To wield both light and darkness, there's a limit to how cool something can be!
The two Constellations encountered in Room 23 happened to wield Light Mana and Dark Mana, respectively, which allowed him to successfully consider the fundamental commonality between the two mana types, leading to an unexpected jackpot.
"—Let me tell you in advance, don't get too deeply immersed. You can only control Photon Magic as much as you understand it, but that should be enough for now."
'Yeah, I'm satisfied with just shooting Photon Ray and Dark Photon Ray.'
How can darkness, which is merely the absence of light, possess power? The answer is simple.
What appears as darkness is in fact mana that contains the property of eliminating light, and that is precisely the special power referred to as Dark Mana.
Therefore, it should be said that the power isn't in darkness itself, but in the 'mana that creates darkness.'
"—How do you understand it so quickly? I can't believe it..."
'It seems Earth's scientific knowledge isn't inferior to that of higher dimensions after all.'
If Ban Yuwon had been a science major rather than a humanities major, if he had known about quantum electrodynamics, more diverse and destructive applications might have been possible... No, perhaps it would still have been impossible due to a lack of mana.
"Yuwon, what's wrong?"
"Oh, just got something good. A gift for Rucell too."
"Wildness!"
As Ban Yuwon bestowed the 25 Wildness he had extracted from the Claw of the Dark Forest, Rucell's eyes sparkled as she accepted it.
"Thank you so much, Yuwon!"
"You hunted it, after all."
Of course, without Ban Yuwon, she wouldn't have been able to extract Wildness from the monster.
Just then, As Light also fully regained consciousness and stood up.
"Ugh, ugh... Is that guy dead?"
"You pretty much killed him; I just finished him off. Feeling any better?"
"Probably just the process of overcoming it. Ugh."
As Light seemed the same as usual, except that his facial features seemed a little more refined.
Had the necklace's rampage stopped, or had the necklace successfully suppressed As Light?
Ban Yuwon reaffirmed his resolve to settle the matter someday and raised his head, only to suddenly see a massive conceptual thread descending from the sky.
"What, Room 23 is a complete reward jackpot, isn't it?"
"Oh, I leveled up."
"Me too!"
"As expected, huh?"
Indeed, they hadn't just cleared a Trick Room; two Constellations had even possessed NPC bodies and descended at the very end. It would be stranger if there were no rewards from the Tower.
Everyone except Ban Yuwon leveled up, and he, too, reached out a hand infused with Hyungi and grabbed a portion of the conceptual thread, pulling it down.
[Life 50, Body 20, Mana 15, Wave 25]
"...Is it a fixed value?"
Everything was the same, except for 1 'Omnivariance' turning into 25 'Wave'.
He didn't know why 'Wave' appeared at this timing, but he was certain that Photon Magic and the concept of Wave would have good synergy.
Ban Yuwon absorbed all the concepts and checked his internal code.
[Core]
Life 550
Body 200 (Currently converting concepts — over 300)
Hyungi 350
Soul 700
[Passive]
Martial Arts 592 [Swordsmanship 108, Hyunsingong 111, Gwoeyeonggong 100, Penetration 53, Sever 60, Flow 75, Reversal 63]
Leadership 30, Riding 22, Resistance 15, Charisma 107, Honor 100, Domination 35, Fortitude 15, Constellation's Stigma 20, Judgment 44, All-Seeing Eye 210, All-Hearing Ear 203, All-Speaking Tongue 210
[Active]
Wave 50, Super Strength 100, Elemental Magic 200, Photon Magic 10, Curse 100
[Authority]
Acceleration 5, Space Control 100, Soulfire 25, Mutation 25
'Now, even the concepts I get as Tower rewards are cut in half.'
Life had been 528 before absorbing the conceptual thread, so it only increased by 22.
No, considering he had defeated and absorbed two beings of Constellation caliber, and his Life had only increased by 8 from them, he should be grateful for even this much growth.
He had known from the beginning that it would become harder to grow as the profundity of his concepts deepened.
Ban Yuwon clenched his fist, measured his strength, and nodded quietly.
"What about the people?"
"Everyone's hiding. I'd be hiding too."
"Ah, it looks like night is slowly coming."
As Light mumbled, looking up at the sky.
With the Constellations who had forcefully driven away the darkness now gone, it was natural for night to fall upon the city.
Of course, the city's residents would no longer need to fear the night.
Ban Yuwon followed As Light's gaze to the sky, where a violet sunset was fading, and let out a sigh.
"I wanted to finish quickly, but it just ended up taking longer."
"In terms of video value, this is probably much higher. We just need to clear the remaining rooms quickly."
Perhaps pleased by the unexpected level-up, Dokgo Yeon's tone had softened considerably.
But Ban Yuwon merely gave a wry smile at her words.
The reason for this soon became clear with the shift that followed.
"Shift... it happened, right?"
"Huh? The surroundings don't seem to have changed much... a path covered in thick snow... Oh, Yuwon. Over there."
Fortunately, they had completely left the forest.
But now, they found themselves standing idly on a main road leading to a large city.
Snow was piled up everywhere, and the city walls were heavily guarded.
"—Do not attack the innocent."
"—Do not attack first unless provoked."
The rules of the Trick Room had even increased.
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