The Conjurer of the Academy

Chapter 79

“What are you?”

Ise-ah trembled as her shoulders shook. Like Kim In-seong, those with invisibility abilities often tend to be overly confident in their powers.

Invisible Hands aren’t physically part of the body, so even Spirit Sight can’t see through them. The reason I could anticipate Ise-ah’s attack was simple.

“I can see everything.”

Every ability has its imperfections. During my first battle in the game, I thought it was a bug when characters suddenly collapsed.

I gestured toward the nearby building with my chin.

“They’re all reflected in the windows.”

The semi-transparent, vein-covered fists were huge, capable of crushing a human head in one blow.

“You knew about my ability?”

It was understandable for her to be confused, as she likely hadn’t revealed it to anyone. Most of her opponents probably never even realized they were being attacked.

“That’s what being overconfident gets you.”

If I were Ise-ah, I would’ve ensured the fight took place somewhere without reflective surfaces.

However, Ise-ah did not. She was overconfident in her power and underestimated her opponent, starting the fight in a place where her weakness was clearly exposed.

Even considering my intentional provocation, it was a reckless move.

“It’s okay. I can make them again.”

Ise-ah’s voice trembled. She could freely create and erase up to two Invisible Hands. She probably planned to erase the ones I was holding and create new ones.

Whoosh—!

The moment the weight lifted from my shoulders, I lunged at Ise-ah with all my strength.

‘Three seconds.’

The brief time it takes for the invisible hands to be recreated. This was my strategy from the start.

“Yomi!”

Partial Fox Assimilation.

Blue foxfire flared at my toes, propelling me forward like a predator lunging at its prey.

The distance closed in an instant. I raised my fist with all my might.

“Kyaa!”

Ise-ah shut her eyes tightly and raised her arms.

A more experienced student would have taken a counter-stance, but Ise-ah was like a flower in a greenhouse. She had plenty of knowledge but no real combat experience, leaving her unprepared for this situation.

To put it in gaming terms, her hitbox was wide open. I aimed for the top of Ise-ah’s head—

Bonk!

—and gave her a light smack.

“Ugh…!”

Slowly, Ise-ah opened her eyes. Tears had pooled in the corners as she genuinely believed she was about to be seriously hit. I gently chopped her forehead with my hand.

“Admit it, you’ve lost.”

What happens when a person with immense pride has even their last shred of dignity broken? Some might thrash around in denial, but Ise-ah did the opposite.

“Sniff… sniff…”

She bit her lips and let her tears fall.

With her pride shattered, the child within her surfaced.

“I lost…”

Finally, something she said pleased me.

* * *

We sat in silence on a bench in the backyard with the monument for a while.

Slurp

The annoying sound came from her sucking the last bit of juice through the straw of a juice pack.

‘Why is this happening to me?’

Ise-ah had been biting her lip and silently crying for a while. Finally, I bought her some apple juice, knowing it was her favorite, and she began to calm down.

Had I not known that Ise-ah liked apple juice, who knows how much longer her crying would have lasted.

“Feeling better now?”

“I’m furious, just furious!”

Ise-ah stomped her feet.

Technically, the one who should be really angry is me—I had to buy apple juice for someone who’s already loaded with money.

“Why does someone like you seem more competent than me!”

Not only had she failed to identify the fake artifacts, but her knowledge of artifacts also lagged behind. She probably thought she could at least beat me in terms of strength, but she lost miserably in that too.

“Maybe you’re just focusing too much on superficial things.”

“Are you saying I lack judgment?”

“That’s not it.”

I shook my head.

Ise-ah is a character whose involvement is crucial to the storyline. This means that the number of times I played the game and witnessed Ise-ah’s downfall is almost equal. So, if I may say a word:

“You’re actually great at recognizing the value of things. That’s undeniable.”

Ise-ah is a capable negotiator. This is an irrefutable fact. In reality, she has made significant profits through stocks and various artifact transactions using her personal assets.

Even without having officially inherited managerial rights, she has a knack for handling money and physical assets.

“But your ability to allocate that value is still lacking.”

The problem is that while Ise-ah excels in assessing value, that’s all she does. Simply selling a high-value item at a high price is not difficult.

However, this is a more fundamental issue. To illustrate, let me use an analogy.

“What do you mean?”

“Let me put it simply. You thought my value was less than yours. If it were possible to quantify human value, your value might be several times higher than mine.”

Quantifying human value is inherently flawed, but I continued to explain to help Ise-ah understand.

“What you’re doing, Ise-ah, is simply judging superiority and inferiority based on the total value.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Ise-ah rolled her eyes.

She wasn’t rejecting the idea, confirming that my perspective on her was accurate.

“No, it’s not. You need to look at the distribution of individual values, not the total sum. Your economic sense might be 100 points higher than mine, but I might be 50 points better at evaluating people than you are.”

Simply put, it’s like this:

Character A has a strength of 5 and agility of 5, totaling 10. Character B has a strength of 10 and agility of 1, totaling 11.

What Ise-ah is doing right now is treating the character with a total of 11 as an absolutely superior character, and making them the main player in every party.

A wise player would look at the distribution of each stat and assign characters appropriately based on the situation.

“Living like that is exhausting. You might make money, but you’ll miss out on greater benefits and become endlessly arrogant.”

This is my assessment of Ise-ah and the source of her arrogance. Her belief in her absolute superiority in every aspect prevents her from ever being saved by others.

If Ise-ah could view the value of others and herself more objectively, she might avoid the same fate as in the original storyline.

“…You talk as if you know me well. Like how you knew about my ability earlier.”

That’s because I’ve seen it dozens of times.

At least, it’s fortunate that my words reached her relatively early in the story.

“It’s just a simple deduction.”

“You knew I was rushing to acquire Lee Do-hak’s sword that day.”

“It’s obviously because of the succession issues. You’re not planning to wield it around yourself.”

Similarly, I was just filling in deductions based on the already laid-out answer sheet.

“So, I have a proposal for you.”

The long build-up finally led to this point.

“I will help you secure the succession rights. In return, I want you to provide me with any useless artifacts or information about artifacts.”

Ise-ah furrowed her brow at my proposal.

“How exactly are you going to help me?”

“At the very least, I can prevent things like what happened last time. If I’m inclined, I might even point you to some worthwhile artifacts.”

“You?”

“Refusing will only be your loss.”

Ise-ah rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Had it not been for the consistent build-up from the exhibition, she might have outright rejected this offer.

“Fine. I suppose I don’t have much to lose here.”

“Deal then. Shall we head over right now?”

As I stood up from the bench, Ise-ah, who remained seated, tilted her head up at me.

“Head where?”

“Obviously, to see the artifacts. You must have brought a few in secretly.”

At Babel, bringing in artifacts except for medical purposes is prohibited. But it was obvious that Ise-ah would find a way to bring them in regardless.

After all, in the game, the place where artifacts were often handed over was right within the school.

“Alright, got it. Think of it as a down payment.”

Ise-ah agreed easily.

So, our next destination was set to be the dormitory, but…

“Wait. I have one thing to ask first.”

Suddenly, Ise-ah grabbed my wrist.

“At the exhibition, you mentioned something about the origin. Do you know who set me up? Could it be one of my siblings?”

I quietly stared into Ise-ah’s eyes, looking beyond them into her spirit.

‘Anxiety and apprehension.’

She looked like a worried puppy.

Indeed, I knew who had orchestrated this scheme. And I also knew that finding out the truth would lead to Ise-ah’s full descent into darkness.

“I won the bet, didn’t I? That means I get to ask the questions.”

I diverted the conversation.

Initially, the agreement was that the winner of the bet could ask anything, so I had no obligation to answer her question.

‘What should I ask?’

Honestly, I already knew most of the information I could get from Ise-ah. However, I didn’t want to waste my chance to ask, so I wanted to go for something I didn’t know.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, an element from the storyline I was unfamiliar with came to mind.

“What do you see in Cheon Tae-seong?”

Why does Ise-ah show such a strong preference for Cheon Tae-seong?

I’d always been curious, even though it wasn’t particularly crucial to the main story.

It might seem trivial, but upon closer inspection, it’s peculiar. It’s not as if the psychopath Cheon Tae-seong left a deep impression on her like some romantic comedy male lead when they were children.

It was simply a political marriage arranged between families, yet it was hard to comprehend how the imperious Ise-ah could genuinely like Cheon Tae-seong.

“Did you meet him often?”

“No, the only time I saw Lord Tae-Seong was at the Tae-seong Group’s 50th-anniversary event.”

“Then why?”

Upon further questioning, Ise-ah cupped her cheeks with both hands. Rosiness bloomed on her cheeks even before she attempted to hide it.

“Well, he’s rich and handsome.”

“…”

Her response was so understandable that I momentarily lost my ability to respond.

“Yeah, enjoy your beautiful love.”

Though Cheon Tae-seong himself likely couldn’t care less.

(T/N): LOL XD

* * *

“Hurry up and come in! What if someone sees you?”

“I mean, you could’ve just brought it out—”

“Just hurry!”

Ise-ah yanked me by the nape, practically dragging me into her room.

‘It’s my first time entering someone else’s room.’

Although I’ve invited Shin Seo-ha and Han Yu-seong before, it’s the first time I’ve been pulled into a room like this.

Considering it, it was much safer to review artifacts indoors than in an open space like the lobby.

“Is this really a dormitory?”

Expensive ornaments and furniture filled the room. Even the wallpaper appeared newly redone; it looked more like an exhibition hall than a dormitory. A hint of bittersweet aroma wafted through the air, likely from incense burning on the dresser.

“Here it is.”

While I was taking in the surroundings, Ise-ah emerged carrying a large Gothic-style chest that resembled a treasure chest. Technically, it was floating mid-air, held by her invisible hands.

Thud!

The lid of the heavy chest slightly opened as it hit the floor.

“These are the artifacts that didn’t meet the evaluation criteria. As promised, pick the one you want. They’re not particularly useful, though.”

I opened the chest and looked inside. Indeed, these were odds and ends that wouldn’t be useful even in a game.

“This is insane.”

But to me, they were treasures.