Park Kwang-cheol answered the question briefly and firmly.
“Of course, you must.”
His gaze naturally shifted toward me.
“You must.”
His words were simple, but the weight behind them was anything but light.
The female student who had asked the question nodded quietly as if satisfied with the answer.
Thus, the ten-minute break came to an end and the class continued.
“Ah… This theory is too hard….”
I suddenly came to my senses and noticed that Cheon Yeoul had moved her seat next to me during the break.
She was leaning her head out over the desk, muttering.
‘I might have designed her, but…’
What an unreal figure.
Her posture subtly emphasized her body curves, seemingly unintentionally yet oddly drawing attention.
“Let’s skip the class and play cards instead….”
Before she finished her joke,
– Thwack!
“Ow!”
Annoyed by her shameless attitude, I didn’t hesitate to hit her on the head.
Cheon Yeoul flinched and let out a soft groan.
Her face turned red instantly, heat flushed through it, and her breathing became slightly rough.
“Hmph…”
Her eyes held a strange glimmer.
‘Does it hurt a bit…?’
I became slightly apologetic while looking at her but maintained my resolve.
“Why did you do that?”
Thanks to that, my chronic problem with maintaining energy disappeared.
However, judging from her behavior, it wasn’t something she intentionally planned.
Why did she feed me such a precious medicine?
To my question, Cheon Yeoul slightly raised the corner of her lips, pointed at the sky, and responded playfully.
“Wasn’t I instructed to do so?”
She closed her eyes, folded her hands, and murmured as if offering a prayer.
“Ah… Merciful Goddess, watch over us…”
“…”
It’s the Goddess’s fault.
A universal excuse, indeed.
With a sigh, I looked at her.
Cheon Yeoul was never someone whose actions were easily controlled, so I decided it was best to consider this whole incident as a random whim.
Moreover, my condition had improved significantly, so it felt awkward to press the issue.
“…Still, it must’ve taken a lot of effort to adjust things. I’m grateful.”
At my words of gratitude, she opened her eyes widely, then suddenly smiled broadly.
‘I didn’t know she could make expressions like that.’
A smile that seemed somewhat purer than usual.
“Then, can I ask you for one favor?”
“What is it?”
She hesitated, then spoke with a slightly bashful voice.
“Can you… hit me once more with the same…?”
Before she finished speaking,
“The loud students over there?”
The heavy voice from the front of the classroom directed toward us.
I turned my head to see Park Kwang-cheol staring at us from the podium.
“Sister Saint, you’re excused. Well-built young man, come up here.”
Park Kwang-cheol pointed directly at me with an unhidden smile.
The entire classroom’s gaze fell on me.
Apparently, we had been making quite a racket.
Cheon Yeoul pretended not to notice and conveniently created a path for me to walk out.
I gave her a look of disbelief.
In the end, I reluctantly walked up to the podium.
“Alright, what’s your name, young man?”
“Jung Hae-in.”
“Jung Hae-in… Since I’ve been given full authority from the professor today, I’ll mark you with an F.”
“Excuse me?”
“However, if you solve this problem, I’ll consider it proof that you fully understood all the lessons and let it slide.”
Then he presented the problem written on the board to me.
“Work it out.”
From behind, the students’ faint laughter could be heard.
They all thought that there was no way I could solve it.
I sighed quietly and glanced at the problem.
– Define mathematically the critical conversion rate when the massive energy contained in the shard of harmony is transformed into physical space and state the limiting conditions.
‘Oh, come on.’
Their thoughts were correct.
I know it because it’s crucial information, but it’s not something that can be defined mathematically.
Shards of harmony are remnants of the system’s legacy and power.
To put it simply, it’s a high-dimensional power that surpasses the concepts of this world.
Until now, only two shards have been discovered worldwide; one in the U.S., one in China.
In fact, there are four in total, and they are destined for the protagonist and three heroines.
Obtaining one doesn’t instantly make you stronger; it simply adds a higher-dimensional attribute to your mana and attacks.
This attribute is specialized for battling demons (惡魔) and high-ranking entities like the Mine.
Without this, they’re almost impossible to combat.
The only other way might be to pour unimaginable amounts of divine power or mana in an inefficient manner, but…
People who would use such methods are almost nonexistent.
There have been countless attempts to extract the energy from the shard, but all have failed.
The reason is clear.
The shards’ power can only be utilized by those chosen by the system.
That’s why Seong Si-woo is the protagonist — he’s one of the chosen individuals.
‘Seems like this problem can be roughly solved.’
I looked again at the problem.
Since I couldn’t solve it conventionally, I began deriving the solution in a different way.
‘If we call the process of transforming energy into reality ‘extraction’ and assume the limiting condition to be ‘system’s selection,’ then…’
I started writing a few elements slowly on the board.
“The essence of the shard of harmony contains high-dimensional energy.”
My voice filled the classroom.
Pointing to the explanations and diagrams I had written, I continued.
The sound of chalk moving across the board echoed.
Afterward, I put down the chalk at a suitable stopping point.
“Conclusively, extraction is impossible without a suitable vessel, this limitation thus constitutes the boundary…”
As I finished speaking, I turned around.
‘Why such an atmosphere?’
The classroom was silent.
The students who had been mocking me earlier were now quiet. Some were busy taking notes about what I had written on the board.
I turned to look at Park Kwang-cheol.
His hand was covering his mouth, but I could definitely hear faint chuckling sounds. The laughter he’d suppressed escaped.
“Umm… Well… I think I might escape the F, right, professor?”
I turned to look at the professor.
His glasses perched on his nose, the professor was staring intently at the board where I had summarized the formulas.
The silence stretched on for a long moment.
Finally, he opened his mouth.
“Student Jung Hae-in.”
His voice was low and calm but carried an unusual fervor.
“Visit the lab after class.”
With that, the professor left.
“Ahahahahaha!!”
And Park Kwang-cheol finally burst into laughter uncontrollably.
*
Six hours.
For six long hours,
I had to explain the method I had used to solve the still-unknown theories and the deductive process to the professor.
‘Park Kwang-cheol, you madman…’
I thought it was already partially solved.
Recently, even inside the Vanguisher, this topic has been frequently discussed.
But I didn’t know that it hadn’t been proven at all.
‘The deduction for student Jung Hae-in is suitable, but additional verification is required.’
The professor paused while skimming through the materials.
‘What’s intriguing is that it shows a similar framework to what the U.S. is currently researching at the initial stage.’
The professor, explaining various points, could not hide his excitement.
But ultimately, his conclusion was simple.
‘Would you consider graduate studies?’
I cleanly and decisively rejected and left.
I didn’t expect the professor, who looked nearly 60, to look so crestfallen.
When I came out, the sun was already setting.
‘My Friday…’
I had planned to attend classes briefly, finalize my club application, and that was all.
It completely unraveled.
I made my heavy way toward the dormitory.
After finishing my shower and roughly drying off, I sat at my desk and opened my notebook.
Leaving the TV on as background music, I started pondering about what opportunities I planned to gain this weekend.
‘First, receive the Dongbaek Sword tomorrow morning…’
What would be the best thing to gain?
Flipping through the notebook idly and hearing a tensed-up voice nearby stopped my movements.
-Latest news!
I turned my head toward the TV.
[Simultaneous demon attacks in Shanghai and East Africa.]
[Hundreds of casualties reported, including A-class hero Ling Chao.]
On the screen, images of a ruined city with dark red smoke rising showed up.
People wailing on-site, the streets turned into pandemonium, and the silhouette of a demon at the heart of all the chaos.
It was a familiar sight to me.
I exhaled slowly while looking at the screen.
‘It’s begun.’
Demons, until now, had been active in their own ways but never launched such a large-scale frontal assault.
Simultaneous attacks by the demons.
This was not a mere accident; it was a signal that they were starting to move in earnest.
And that signal also meant I needed to pick up the pace.
I grabbed the notebook and pen from the table and began re-writing my weekend plans from the start.
‘Receive Dongbaek Sword.’
This was the very first thing to do.
Once I get the sword, the next step is…
I paused my pen, pondering.
‘Shard.’
So far, two pieces had been discovered.
One in the U.S., the other in China.
And of the remaining two, one is in South Korea.
“Baekdu Mountain, Heaven Lake.”
I sighed, covering my head.
Though it’s called Heaven Lake, it’s the strongest and worst rugged area in South Korea.
Even for me, who knows the location and retrieval method, it’s not a place to go to casually right now.
As I redirected my gaze, on the TV screen, Shanghai’s sky was filled with dark clouds.
The city on fire, people overcome by fear.
That image was deeply ingrained in my mind.
I picked up my pen and wrote a single word on the notebook.
‘Shard retrieval.’
Underlining it with emphasis.
It was something I had to do sooner or later.
I stood up from my seat and looked out the window.
It was time to move.
