Magic Academy's Genius Blinker Chapter 2: Chapter 1.1

Abruptly, hazy shards of memory sprang to life inside my head.

I recognized it immediately.

These were Baek Yu-Seol's memories.

Put simply, the Aether World character named Baek Yu-Seol shared the exact same name as the real me.

In a realm governed solely by magic, those lacking magical talent languished at the very bottom of society.

Baek's family endured heartbreaking hardship.

Raised by his parents Ivani and his father, both incapable of wielding magic, Baek Yu-Seol clung to his dream of becoming a mage even as they teetered on the brink of utter poverty.

His parents scraped together every coin they could to buy him a pricey second-hand magic book. He pored over it obsessively, studying until his eyes burned with exhaustion.

But then, a devastating defect emerged within him.

"Of course, Doctor... Are you saying my son has Mana Accumulation Retardation?"

Mana simply wouldn't gather in his body—a mage's worst nightmare, the cursed condition known as Mana Accumulation Retardation.

Struck by this once-in-a-century rarity, he yearned to curse the heavens themselves, yet he refused to abandon his dream of becoming a mage.

Despite his mana accumulation handicap, he wielded one spell with ease: the 'Flash'. It carried a cooldown, though, as his mana drained completely after each cast.

Starting that very day, he began sharpening his Flash skill relentlessly.

"Huhhhh"

Filling my lungs with air as I pushed my upper body upright, my mind went utterly blank.

"Ugh, uh... !"

A searing pain crashed over me, forcing me to clutch my head in agony. It surged alongside a deluge of memories that felt both alien and hauntingly familiar.

In the real world, my name was Baek Yu-Seol.

The character I'd built in the game 'Aether World' was also named Baek Yu-Seol.

Yet, we weren't the same person.

The genuine me differed from the game's Baek Yu-Seol.

Blinking my eyes open and surveying my surroundings, I saw that the spot where I'd been lying lay in shambles.

Woo!!

A medieval plank rocked wildly in the biting winter winds before slamming into the earth!

The collision ripped it to pieces amid a chilling crack.

Huddled against the piercing cold, I stumbled upon a shattered mirror abandoned in the corner.

My response came purely on instinct.

Snatching up the mirror to check my reflection, I soon stared in disbelief.

"... I've gotten younger, haven't I?"

I was 29 years old.

Folks often remarked how youthful I looked for my age, but this face screamed teenager.

The reflection showed a face brimming with youth, like it had rewound to my middle and high school years.

Making sense of it all proved nearly impossible.

Right then, a message floated in the air, blocking my sight.

[Avoid the pursuers and run away!]

"Ehh...?"

The floating message startled me less than how eerily familiar those words rang.

'Aether World' boasted a vast cast of characters, with most story arcs launching at the academy's entrance ceremony.

Strangely, this scenario threw me straight into evading pursuers.

"No way."

I grasped the reason all too well, leaving me no option but to stand.

Clad in a tattered commoner's garb infused with fantasy style, I had a dagger strapped to my belt for defense beside a water flask.

Tucked in my waist pouch were biscuits, a handful of coins, and the Stella Academy admission certificate.

"... Is that for real?"

It perfectly matched Baek Yu-Seol's starter inventory.

I pinched and prodded myself in a frenzy, but the unyielding reality clung fast, convincing me this wasn't some dream.

Above all, the bone-chilling cold screamed authenticity.

Other characters, hailing from noble houses, launched with lavish gear.

Baek Yu-Seol, born to destitute commoners, began with bare scraps.

That setback thrilled hardcore gamers, but here in the flesh, it held no charm.

"I have to think calmly."

I desperately rummaged through memories of how I'd ended up here.

I recalled it mentioning something along those lines.

But this otome game featured countless branching endings, with no single 'True ending' in sight.

"Is it possible that for over 10 years, no other users have seen the end of the game?"

It made perfect sense why no player had uncovered the game's true conclusion.

"Damn it."

Shoving the true ending issue aside for now, I zeroed in on the crisis at hand.

Blizzard-ravaged snowy peaks, a dilapidated shack, a dagger, admission certificate.

As those details clicked, distant footsteps crunched into earshot.

"You bastard, how far will you run!"

"There is a hut over there!"

"Go and search!"

Crouching low, I slipped beneath the splintered board to dodge immediate capture, though it was merely buying seconds before they nabbed me.

Through the cracks in the board, I eyed the pursuers' weapons and gear.

Armor crafted from steel or some strange alloy, alongside blades inscribed with arcane magical runes.

In this world, such gear belonged to the lowliest street mercenaries, those scraping the bottom of combat strength.

Still, my only brawls in life were childish scuffles from neighborhood playgrounds, so even sans magical enhancements, my doom loomed certain.

[You can use the skill 'Flash'.]

A shimmer danced before my eyes.

As those familiar phrases echoed in my thoughts, a prompt materialized in my vision.

[Flash]

[Class: 0]

[Maximum Range: 9m]

[Maximum Charge: 1]

[Cooldown: 3 seconds]

'Flash' stood as the lone magical gift and beacon of hope for me, Baek Yu-Seol.

It was the ability I'd drilled relentlessly harder than anything else in existence.

Except it was all in a mouse-and-keyboard game...!!

No chance for that luxury now. Footsteps crept ever nearer.

Teeth grinding, I leaped to my feet, shoved open the hut door, and dashed out.

"I found him!"

"Catch him and kill him!"

Flash's deadliest flaw? Botch the distance control, and you smash into something fatal.

But things would play out differently under my command.

Instinct seizes the perfect moment better than any calculated thought.

[Flash]

In a blink, my body surged ahead, yanking a far-off tree straight into my face.

"What, what!"

"Flash? Was he a mage?!"

A few pursuers freaked in shock, yet the battle-hardened ones already had weapons locked on me.

They preyed on the stiff 2-second lag that struck right after Flash's activation.

That handicap? It never bound me.

Because I'm Baek Yu-Seol, the Flash Mage.