Magic Academy's Genius Blinker Chapter 527: The Story of the Blood Witch (11)

Why had yet another 'Baek Yu-Seol' popped up in this exact moment?

He was completely baffled, trying to open his mouth, but it felt like an iron rod dangled from his lips, stopping any movement.

Baek Yu-Seol had previously met another version of himself deep inside his mind. Back then, he had brushed off that duplicate as just another facet of himself, yet now he realized without doubt that wasn't true.

The proof was obvious.

This individual had gone through experiences totally unlike his own.

He'd never stepped into an internet café, never rescued the Aether World, and perished without saving it.

In all aspects, this was clearly a separate person.

And from what Baek Yu-Seol recalled—

'You... disappeared, didn’t you?'

Exactly.

Inside that mental realm mimicking an internet café, the other Baek Yu-Seol had aided him before fading away entirely.

'Yeah, there was someone like that. But that wasn’t me, it was a different Baek Yu-Seol. That guy and I are not the same.'

'What...? There are more people like you?'

— Plenty existed.

'...Many?'

— Indeed. Yet nowadays, nearly all are gone. Doomed worlds transform into 'non-existent forms' and fully blend into your reality.

'Merged...? What does that even mean...?'

— You can't grasp it yet. But remember this... a handful like me still hold onto their identity. And I'm here now to assist you.

'You came to help me?'

It made no sense to him.

Baek Yu-Seol faced no immediate threat right then. Actually, nothing major was occurring.

He had simply sliced the 'space' ahead of him. Nothing more.

— That's precisely the issue.

'...'

— Slicing space... you believe that's feasible at your present power?

'What...?'

— It's a realm so advanced, undetectable without Ha Tae-Ryeong's prowess.

He refused to accept it.

The realization that casually cutting space was an outrageously elite technique—

'That’s...!'

He yearned to argue back, but no sound emerged.

— Damn it! Speech will soon fail you too. Listen well, though. Your progress has shattered all boundaries. In merely two years, you've advanced excessively. Your 'Narrative Power' can't sustain it... your psyche will shatter.

He longed to question that, yet remained silent.

— Thus... Damn it, time's short. Baek Yu-Seol, heed my final warning. That insight from severing space... never apply it elsewhere. Avoid even pondering it!

"Wait a second..."

"Remember my words! Someone is intentionally speeding up your development. Even if you must wield that newfound power, to ■ at least..."

Snap!

The voice of 'another Baek Yu-Seol' vanished for good.

"Gasp!"

Once movement returned, Baek Yu-Seol dropped to one knee, bracing himself with his blade.

"Hey, hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?!"

Panallet hurried to support him, and leaning on her, Baek Yu-Seol struggled upright.

"Ugh..."

His skull pounded fiercely.

"Your... your nose is bleeding!"

Blood dripped from his eyes and nose, while his head screamed in agony.

"What’s going on with you, seriously?!"

"I think... I swung my sword too hard..."

"What? Just from swinging your sword hard, you end up like this? Hey, hey!"

Thud!

After those words, Baek Yu-Seol crumpled to the ground.

Flustered, Panallet caught him and glanced up.

"Holy..."

The distant gray temple now loomed directly before them.

Baek Yu-Seol's space-collapsing strike had erased the gap entirely.

"That’s... impressive, really..."

Despite fainting post-swing, the feat of cleaving spatial distortion was extraordinary.

At only eighteen, with such might already, how unstoppable would he be at twenty?

"...I have no idea."

That's tomorrow's worry. Right now, she had to carry Baek Yu-Seol to the temple.

Even collapsed and bloodied, a temple should provide healing or aid, surely?

***

Baek Yu-Seol fell into a dream.

More accurately, he dreamed as 'Character Baek Yu-Seol', gripping a sword on a battlefield.

'Huh?'

He lifted his hand to examine the blade.

It wasn't some legendary artifact.

Superior grade at most, nothing exceptional...

Ah! It clicked.

The Teripon Sword, a premium magical blade bought dearly from the market, too precious to risk outside.

He lifted his gaze and stared directly ahead.

'Huh? Hold on.'

Only at that point did he sense something amiss. Baek Yu-Seol thrust his sword forward, grasping that the scenario was far from normal.

A beast impossible to dismiss loomed right in front of him.

[Wolf King of the Grasslands]

A massive wolf, as big as a house, fixed its glowing crimson eyes on him. This was a monster he knew all too well.

He had faced this boss during his second or third year in the game.

That recollection was far from fond—he recalled fighting desperately.

Its assault patterns were erratic and tough to master.

And thus.

Right here.

Character Baek Yu-Seol perishes.

...He perishes dozens of times.

Thud!

"Ugh...!"

As consciousness returned, the Wolf King’s claw had already stabbed through his stomach. The agony felt excruciatingly real, too lifelike to dismiss as mere illusion.

"...Hah!"

Instantly after, his senses rewound. He returned to the instant right before the strike.

Baek Yu-Seol stood unharmed now, sword aimed at the colossal Wolf King. The beast prowled around him warily, sizing up its target.

The Wolf King lunged before he could react fully. He blinked aside in haste to evade, yet his teleport distance fell short of expectations.

Crunch!

The Wolf King clamped down on him, leading to his death.

Upon reopening his eyes, the vista reset precisely as prior.

Amid the vast grasslands, gripping just one sword, Character Baek Yu-Seol confronted the Wolf King.

What courage had fueled him in those days? Did he even require such valor?

Death merely allowed another attempt.

This round, he focused on evading that specific move.

Next, he aimed to test that pattern’s hitbox... could he sidestep it on foot, or must he leap? Was a counterstrike feasible in that window?

Thus, life by life.

Another life thrown away. Then yet another.

That method forged Baek Yu-Seol’s strength.

It revealed the mystery of how Baek Yu-Seol, talentless and feeble at the start, rose to power.

Perish repeatedly.

Once those futile deaths piled up to tens of thousands—

"Gasp! Huff...!"

Finally triumphant, Baek Yu-Seol loomed over the Wolf King’s corpse, his blade lodged deep in its throat.

"Ah..."

Thud!

Collapsing to his knees, Baek Yu-Seol patted his frame. Innumerable deaths blurred into oblivion.

Did vanquishing the Wolf King of the grasslands truly demand so many sacrifices?

Yet something far more terrifying—

A chilling idea infiltrated his thoughts.

The initial Baek Yu-Seol, slain instantly by one blow from the Wolf King, differed from the subsequent Baek Yu-Seol, who lasted a bit longer. They were ’separate Baek Yu-Seols.’

He discerned that distinction clearly.

Failure by the first Baek Yu-Seol obliterated that entire realm, plunging it into oblivion.

Then dawned the realm of the second Baek Yu-Seol... a fresh existence where life persisted.

No mere loop of time reversal. Each flop eradicated a whole world utterly.

Nevertheless—

Deaths stemmed from whimsy.

Deaths for trials.

Deaths from taunts.

Deaths to fulfill missions.

Deaths for quicker village returns.

Thousands? Tens of thousands?

No.

Millions of deaths surely.

Via endless cycles of demise.

[Welcome to Aether Online!]

That game's lively, thrilling intro screen etched deeply into his memory.

Utterly brutal, ruthless, unforgiving. Mental collapse might have eased it, yet Pink Spring Moon’s gift forbade even that.

In a sense, a blessing.

Baek Yu-Seol stayed composed here, dissecting the truth coolly.

Each Baek Yu-Seol stood apart as unique.

Still, the notion that the second Baek Yu-Seol absorbed memories from the first felt irrefutable.

Though separate entities, memories transferred from one to the successor, bolstering him.

With one hand massaging his eyes, he pondered deliberately.

An average soul would shatter under such strain, yet Baek Yu-Seol endured steadfastly.

One persistent doubt gnawed at him:

Was Aether World merely a game?

If yes, does this reality amount to just a game?

A core dilemma.

Baek Yu-Seol valued all within this realm dearly.

From intimates like Flame, Hong Bi-Yeon, and Eisel, to every bond forged thus far... all held profound worth to him.

What if everything was game code? What if he dwelled in a digital realm of binary bits?

Should that have been the case... the entire world would seem completely pointless.

But amid this latest trial, certainty finally settled within him.

Relief weighed heavily in his chest.

Others might deem this epiphany a lackluster ending, especially after beholding the deaths of so many alternate versions of himself.

Far from it, however—

Precisely because countless iterations of himself had perished.

Maybe his recollections of dying had faded enough to allow such contemplations now.

To Baek Yu-Seol at this moment, realizing that every bond he held dear was genuine rather than illusory offered far greater solace than the passing of endless other Baek Yu-Seols.

Slowly, he parted his eyelids.

"Huh? What the—? You're awake already?"

"We figured your brain's response was intense enough to keep you out for a whole month at least!"

Two priests with dark skin, dressed in ritual robes, popped into sight right away. Once, he might have whipped out his sword by instinct, but this time, he simply sat up with composure.

His main goal right now stayed sharp in his thoughts.

"Are you from the Gray Divine Moon Church?"

"Uh, yep, that's us. You're Baek Yu-Seol, yeah? You won't pull your sword out of nowhere, will you?"

"No way."

Baek Yu-Seol stood up from his spot and offered them a polite bow.

"I came here after hearing you could assist me."

"Uh...?"

The priests shot each other looks, thrown off by his unexpected courtesy in bowing.

"So I beg you... please help me locate Scarlet."

Even after those words, Baek Yu-Seol held his deep 90-degree bow without rising.

His profound politeness and sincerity left the priests stunned and flustered.

They'd originally intended to chew him out for wrecking the spatial distortion maze first, with the witch hunt coming later.

Yet all their prepared scoldings vanished in an instant.

Baek Yu-Seol's raw desperation and sincerity made it impossible to berate him.

"...Fine, okay. Fixing the maze isn't a big deal time-wise. Locating who you're after matters more."

"Hooh! We've walked in your shoes ourselves."

"You're after the Witch Queen?"

Baek Yu-Seol lifted his head and nodded then. The dark-skinned priests gave helpless chuckles before continuing.

"Didn't imagine we'd ever aid a Stella mage like this."

"Come with us. You're incredibly fortunate."

"Pardon?"

One dark-skinned priest flashed a cunning grin.

"Get this: a priest here actually helped track down traces of the Witch Queen, Scarlet, 400 years back."

Those words brought a grin to Baek Yu-Seol's face. In this improbable spot, he'd snagged a vital, unforeseen lead.