For a few days, Gaon was on temporary hiatus.
It was difficult to retake the midterm exams, and with many facilities destroyed, it was impossible to continue with normal classes.
The watch kept beeping incessantly. I didn’t even dare to turn on the notifications.
Interview requests and TV appearance offers poured in. I wondered how they got ahold of my contact information.
I already feel a headache thinking about what might happen if it gets revealed that I am a returning character.
“Ugh, this is exhausting.”
I had to make the most of my time.
Though my ten-year plan had crumbled completely, I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
Thus, for nearly five days, I ran through dungeons as much as I could, starting with the easiest ones.
It wasn’t about major items but rather things that would be useful to have in advance.
Some are for me, and some are for our female members.
I roughly tossed them into a corner of the room and opened my notebook.
It was the new plan I had been revising whenever I had a moment.
I prefer to write things down while planning rather than just organizing them mentally.
When I transfer my scattered thoughts into writing, the flow becomes clearer.
The initial framework of the original plan was simple:
“For Seong Si-woo, by Seong Si-woo, and the perfect all-in.”
But now, that’s not possible.
Since it’s impossible to allocate everything to him, I have to redistribute.
First priority, naturally—’me.’
I absorbed the Tien Lin and consumed Iano’s spirit medicine. Most of the opportunities that were supposed to return Seong Si-woo are now rightfully mine.
I need to become a substitute for him.
However, the issue is that I cannot utilize all those opportunities.
Some of them simply don’t align with my characteristics. This isn’t something that can be resolved with effort.
‘Mana.’
Seong Si-woo was born with an extraordinary amount of mana. While I supplemented mine with the spirit medicine, it’s fundamentally different.
Whereas my mana is refined and tempered, Seong Si-woo’s mana was just overflowing.
Therefore, the excellent opportunities meant to enhance his massive mana reserves were never a possibility for others.
After all, there’s only one individual who has characteristics similar to Seong Si-woo’s.
Regardless of how talented or high in potential someone might be,
they had to be excluded because there was nothing left to give since it all had to go to him.
So, I had to find someone to receive the opportunities that would no longer come to me.
One who would benefit from what I can no longer utilize.
I reviewed the options I had previously excluded.
Among them, there were particularly striking individuals.
Those with a naturally large mana reserve who were overshadowed by Seong Si-woo.
And identifying the right person didn’t take long.
‘Yoon Chae-ha.’
A student of Realm Academy, not Gaon Academy.
Someone excluded from consideration initially because she had overlapping traits with Seong Si-woo.
But her stats were undeniable.
Her talent for magic was above average, and she possessed the will to grow independently.
Naturally, she would rise to the top in due time.
However…
I decided to accelerate her growth.
Making her one of the new main characters.
Coincidentally, Gaon also introduced a new card.
While the academy was temporarily closed, they announced a program earlier than expected, under the pretext of complementing the curriculum.
‘The Exchange Program.’
A program usually held around this time every year for first-year students, but this year it had been moved forward.
It’s a student exchange program between the world’s top academy, Gaon, and the country’s second-ranked academy, Realm.
After verifying the minimum qualification, students are free to attend classes at the opposing academy.
The surface reason is to mutually improve the education systems of both academies.
However, in reality, it’s more about exchanging talents that suit each academy’s preferences.
Typically, Gaon dominates in cold weapons and close combat, but Realm matches them in magic specialization. In fact, many magic students target Realm as their first choice.
On the other hand, talented students in combat from Realm often quietly transfer to Gaon, and vice versa—a win-win system where each academy absorbs the other’s weaknesses and turns them into strengths.
And here’s the important part.
In the original story, the powerful option of Yoon Chae-ha either transferring or not was present.
‘The conditions are…’
Seong Si-woo must reach a certain level of focus and activity.
This standard is extremely difficult to meet.
If he does, she will develop an interest in him and transfer to Gaon out of genuine curiosity, although it rarely evolves into affection.
However, if this high focus and activity level is not met…
She remains in Realm, graduating without moving.
Therefore, she wasn’t considered a viable target in the original story.
But Seong Si-woo is dead now, and I have done all the work. It seems my efforts have garnered significant attention.
So, now we just have to wait and see.
“Will she transfer?”
The probability seems to be about 80%, and I hope she does.
I turned my head and looked at the corner of the room. It was filled with shining gems.
I smiled.
“Plenty to give, my friend.”
So, come.
Realm Academy, 1st Floor Club Room.
Sunlight gleamed on golden hair, making it glitter even brighter as it caught the light pouring through the window.
Its brilliance was almost blinding. Joo Seo-joon instinctively squinted.
But the girl, whose radiant hair didn’t match her demeanor, was completely absorbed in her computer screen.
A short silence.
Finally, she spoke.
“Joo Seo-joon.”
“…What?”
The screen replayed a sequence where a massive snake was being simultaneously attacked by five figures.
She didn’t take her eyes off the display as she moved.
She leaned back in her chair, kicking her legs, clad in stockings, while lazily wiggling her toes.
Joo Seo-joon didn’t know where to focus his gaze.
But she seemed completely indifferent and spoke again.
Her finger pointed at the screen.
Her orange eyes sparkled like flames under the sun.
“Can you do this?”
Her analytical eyes broke down and dissected every magic technique.
However, no matter how much she calculated,
no matter what theory she applied,
she couldn’t break down this attack.
Joo Seo-joon hesitated upon being asked the question.
“Can I do it?”
He watched the video for a while.
“To be honest, this is…,”
Splitting mana so precisely and striking with perfect timing is something even a highly skilled magician would struggle with.
But he couldn’t bring himself to admit he couldn’t.
“…Let me figure it out.”
“Airflow resistance, speed-controlled difficulty, and optimal landing point settings…?”
“Conclusion?”
She cut straight to the chase.
“Huh?”
“Conclusion.”
She demanded an answer.
“…Probably not.”
He finally confessed.
“Hmm…”
For a moment, Yoon Chae-ha’s lips curved upwards subtly, her eyes sparkling playfully.
She couldn’t understand it herself.
Considering the extreme precision and effort required to achieve such mastery, it was hard to estimate just how much time and dedication it took.
And the fact that someone her age could achieve such skill was even more incredible.
Yoon Chae-ha glanced away.
She noticed a poster lying on the corner of her desk.
‘The Exchange Program.’
Something the Realm professors had been introducing to students a few days ago.
Even though the name suggested a simple exchange between students—
the truth was more straightforward.
“If you hate magic, go to Gaon.”
There was an oddly dismissive attitude towards warriors within Realm Academy.
Formally, they offered the freedom of choice,
but in reality, it was a strategy to push combat-based students into Gaon.
Certainly, top-tier magic specialists like Yoon Chae-ha had received invitations too.
However, when she originally enrolled, Realm had offered her a full scholarship tied to a partnership with the Mage Tower.
The absolute best proposition, one that Gaon would never present to a magician.
They likely thought she would never consider Gaon.
Yoon Chae-ha smirked.
“Boring.”
As far as she was concerned, none of Realm’s proposals held any merit.
And with her eyes closed, she stared at the poster, smiling.
For 15 years, Joo Seo-joon had instinctively felt uneasy whenever she made that expression, as it always preceded rash decisions.
“Hey, you wouldn’t…,”
His uneasiness turned into reality quicker than expected.
“I’ve decided.”
She jumped up, snatching the poster.
“I’ll go to Gaon.”
Joo Seo-joon’s mouth dropped open.
Rank 5 student at Realm, and even—
Rank 1 himself.
“What about you?”
She asked, prompting him to sigh.
“…I’m going insane.”
But the answer was set.
Yoon Chae-ha shone radiantly as she looked back at the monitor.
Whenever he saw that smile, he realized he always lost.
“Fine, do what you want,” he muttered.
That was the moment both of them transferred to Gaon together.
*
And at some point beyond reality,
More accurately, in a place disconnected from the world,
somewhere, a cold wind blew.
In a deep, dark void, a profound stillness seemed to halt even time.
A vast chamber.
A man in black robes closed his eyes.
As he inhaled, a vast cosmos appeared before him.
Stars swirled, planets forming orbits with lines stretching endlessly.
Countless meteors streaked through, and planets scattered without any set order.
In this immense cosmic flow, a massive light flickered.
A cold star emitted a blue glow.
The star wandered endlessly, desperately seeking a new sun.
And somewhere,
a sun tucked away in hiding was mesmerized by that frigid starlight.
Cautiously, slowly,
the sun moved toward the star.
Then, the star reciprocated its greeting.
A sun that had never been able to rise,
is now following the star, tracing a fresh orbit.
The man slowly opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
This is a timeline altered and a worldline shifted.
The flow that started…
will never stop.
-Whoooommm
The giant stone doors of the cavern slowly began to open.
From inside, demons cloaked in darkness began to crawl out. The spear in his hand glinted ominously as he slowly rose to his feet.
“That’s right.”
The sun will join the star,
and this ever-moving new sun will inevitably become—
a Fiery Demon to consume them all.
