The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 161

Day 5 of the fasting.

I’m starving. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.

When people are hungry, they get irritable.

I almost threw the saw in frustration while cutting wood.

I’ve resisted the temptation dozens of times to drop everything, including my classes, and just go eat.

It’s been over four days since I took the potion, so I really only need to endure two more days….

But it feels like I’m dying.

It sounds easy, but in times like this, two days feel longer than a week.

“Damn it.”

Under Adela’s strict supervision, I’ve been faithfully following the rule of one meal a day.

Apparently, the more you stay hungry, the better the potion works, so I haven’t eaten anything for almost 20 hours.

Hmm.

I can’t take it anymore.

“Let’s eat.”

No matter what happens to my life.

I am definitely going to eat this.

The merchant’s words about how fasting makes it harder to keep the conditions were true.

I tried nibbling a few times, but it only made me hungrier, so I made a decision in the end.

Adela watches over me when I’m awake, so I’ll use the early morning hours.

“Hehehe…”

I snuck out of the dormitory and walked down the empty hallway.

It was late at night, and all the lights were off, but at this point, hunger outweighed the fear of the dark.

For someone who hasn’t eaten properly, my mind is working pretty fast.

If I sneak into the cooking practice room, grab some ingredients, eat alone, and head back to the dorm….

Wow, a flawless plan.

No one will know. Not even Adela will know!

“Hah, my mouth is watering.”

Creak.

Licking my lips, I entered the cooking practice room.

As soon as I stepped into the dimly lit room, I flicked the switch.

The lights came on, illuminating the tidy kitchen and dining area.

This was the place where Solia once made me red bean porridge.

Of course, no one would be here at 3 a.m.

“Is there anything simple to eat?”

I clutched my growling stomach and quickly scanned the shelves. My hands were trembling as I did.

I was so hungry that I didn’t have any strength in my hands.

Considering I attended classes and trained in this condition, it’s a wonder I hadn’t collapsed from exhaustion.

Still, it seems that just thinking about eating makes my mind clearer.

Endorphins are kicking in, and the quality of life is skyrocketing!

There’s a reason they say you should eat what you want.

The ultimate late-night snack would be ramen, but there’s no way ramen exists in this world….

Wait.

“Why is this here?”

I was stunned when I found a ramen-like packet in the drawer.

Why is this even here?

Why on earth does ramen exist in this world?

“Well, I guess there was red bean porridge too.”

I decided to stop questioning it.

“But… how do I cook this?”

I picked up the ramen packet and pondered for a moment.

If I start banging around to get bowls and pots, when will I cook it, and when will I clean up….

It seems a bit overwhelming.

“Should I just pour hot water into the packet?”

I put the pot I was about to take out back into its place.

There was a magic water dispenser that provided hot water, so I decided to use that.

“Hot… hot….”

Whoosh.

I carefully poured the steaming hot water into the packet and held it with both hands.

Now….

Just wait for 2 minutes.

This is where my patience ends.

“Let’s eat.”

Humming, I glanced outside. The hallway was still empty.

Sitting openly at the dining table would be a bit too much, so I sat crouched by the door.

Ramen at 3 a.m.

I feel like I could die of happiness.

“Ugh… ugh… I’m glad to be alive.”

Forget about physical recovery; everything I do is for survival.

I have to eat to live, after all.

After fasting for 20 hours, I should have seen some effect by now.

Self-justification complete.

Hoo-hoo, I blew on the ramen and took a scoop with my fork.

The spicy scent tickled my nose.

It was a familiar aroma I hadn’t tasted since my reincarnation, a soul food that soothes the early morning hunger.

The joy of a meal after 20 hours of fasting.

“Hoo….”

Finally, I was about to take a bite of the ramen.

Swoosh-.

A shadow loomed over my head.

“Hmm?”

I just got chills down my spine?

What was that? Just my imagination?

I stopped my hand from bringing the ramen to my mouth and slowly turned my head.

I felt something standing next to the door….

“Ahhh!”

With short hair swaying, a silhouette was holding the door.

I almost dropped the packet I was holding in my hands.

“Heek… Heeek….”

There was a ghost standing there.

No, even scarier than a ghost—Adela was standing there.

“What… are you doing there?”

* * *

Adela was looking at me with a pitiful expression.

Well… I have to admit, even to myself, that I look pretty pathetic right now.

Doesn’t it feel kind of miserable when someone looks at you like that?

“Were you that hungry?”

“Just a little?”

“It didn’t look like ‘just a little’ on your face.”

“Sigh… that’s….”

Adela let out a baffled laugh.

After getting permission from the professor, Adela had been training until the early morning hours. She noticed the lights were on and came to check, only to find me here.

As I listened to Adela’s explanation, I shoved the remaining ramen into my mouth.

Honestly, I wasn’t all that embarrassed.

I ate, and that’s all that matters.

Man, this is delicious.

Late-night snacks are all about ramen.

After finishing my satisfying meal, I gave a thumbs-up.

Adela glanced at me and chuckled softly.

“Instead of just snacking like that, do you want to eat something proper?”

“…I’m not going to turn that down.”

In the end, I finished with a warm soup Adela made.

Let’s go with fasting for the next 48 hours.

I scraped up the last of the soup and looked up.

At that moment, Adela muttered with a serious expression.

“Aaron must have come for the Cube.”

Aaron?

“Yeah.”

Since our recovery, neither of us had brought up the topic.

Adela had almost died, and I wasn’t in much better shape.

We avoided bringing up those events on purpose.

But Adela cautiously continued.

“It seemed like he was looking for you.”

“He probably knows it’s with me.”

Since I used the Cube right there, he might have realized it had some unique power.

This isn’t a great situation.

Adela seemed to think the same, her words trailing off.

“They’ll keep coming after us until they get the Cube… Can we really protect it until the end? I’m not sure.”

Adela would protect the Cube at all costs. But, even in the original story, they faced a similar problem.

The enemy is strong.

To defeat a dark magician like Aaron would take a miracle.

For us to protect the Cube, we would need dozens of consecutive miracles.

During that process, Solia died.

Adela was severely injured.

Lee Han was in despair.

I followed that storyline all the way to the first part’s finale, so I know the answer.

It’s simpler than you’d think.

Their ultimate goal in collecting the Cubes.

If it’s to power up the machine’s heart and extract magic, then we just need to find and destroy that machine.

It took them ten years to build that complex structure.

And the dark magician who created the machine’s heart is dead, so there’s no guarantee they can make it again.

So, we just need to break it.

It’s a simple matter of smashing it.

But how do I explain this to her?

“Isn’t there another way?”

Actually, there’s this thing called the machine’s heart that they have!

They plan to use it with the Cube?

—If I say that, I’d be treated like a lunatic.

Best case, I’m not mistaken for a spy of the dark magicians.

Hmm.

“There is… another way.”

“What?”

Maybe I should try what I did back then, one more time.

“The thing is….”

I lowered my voice, putting on a serious face.

“I have a divine intuition….”

I trailed off.

Would she believe it?

Seriously, would she believe that?

Even I think it sounds ridiculous.

Adela tilted her head, looking at me like I had just said something.

I shook my head vigorously.

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I almost got labeled as a prophet.

I waved my hand dismissively, racking my brain for a solution.

I can’t outright mention the machine, but if I can somehow figure out its location, that’d work.

It’d be easier to show rather than explain it in words.

In the original, there was mention of the machine’s heart’s location.

It was extremely vague, practically impossible to find based on the description alone.

The machine’s heart….

Let’s see….

It’s in the dark magicians’ stronghold.

I quickly came to a conclusion.

“How about we just raid their base?”

“What, do you think it’s your backyard?”

Adela gasped and jumped in place.

* * *

In the dim glow of dawn, only a sliver of moonlight filtered into the semi-basement where a group of figures in black robes gathered.

This was the NGC zone.

This place, closely linked to the machine’s heart, served as the headquarters of the dark magicians.

Despite being smaller than the auxiliary facilities, only a select few magicians were allowed entry here.

Though above ground, it’s also underground.

Located in this strange boundary, it’s a place no ordinary person could ever discover or reach.

A woman seated on a glittering golden chair glanced around at the robed figures with a smile.

A man with his robe pulled so low that his eyes were hidden spoke.

“We suffered significant losses. Archant and Aaron, whom we sent to retrieve the Cube, were killed. If it weren’t for hiding in the Empire… we could have sent more people, but it’s currently impossible.”

If not for the Empire, they wouldn’t have sent just one person at a time; they would have gathered many and struck at once.

There’s only one reason they haven’t.

Even if they succeed in killing Han Siha, they might still be annihilated, and they could die even while preparing to strike him.

They don’t have many members left here.

They must proceed with extreme caution.

The robed man continued, reflecting this sentiment.

“How about bringing in Han Si-hyuk?”

“…Han Si-hyuk?”

“What? Isn’t he the one who killed Archant?”

A cold remark quickly followed from the side.

“That ungrateful bastard. Would he even listen to us? We should just kill him before he gets any stronger; we need to handle this as soon as possible….”

“Wait, calm down.”

“What?”

The woman uncrossed her legs and smirked.

“I don’t see eye to eye with the Boss.”

She’s the overall leader here.

However, the real boss who leads NGC is someone else.

The one who inherited the machine’s heart from the previous dark magician, and the only one who knows how to use it.

He possesses the blue Cube and wields power that could defeat everyone here combined.

Though it wouldn’t be wise to provoke him, she has no intention of tiptoeing around him forever.

“Just killing everyone when things don’t go well? What are we, beasts?”

Her chilling remark, delivered with a smile, made some of the robed figures lower their heads.

“What I pursue is an ideal.”

“….”

“Weren’t we aiming for a society where we’re no longer ignored?”

Since the war, dark magicians have been forced to live in hiding.

Restrictions on dark magic have increased, and necromancy has lost its former stature.

Many are dissatisfied.

But if they overthrow everything again, it’ll just be a repeat of the war from a few years ago.

“The method itself is wrong.”

Dominating with power and Cubes isn’t the only way.

If the holder of power changes, they will inevitably be pushed back again.

Ideals written in blood will end in blood.

Therefore, the head of NGC said with a smile,

“There’s no need for us to write our change in blood.”

“Then….”

“We’ll make an alliance with Han Si-hyuk. Capture his brother alive.”

“What?”

She’ll approach it differently.

Han Si-hyuk has accepted the power of dark magic and knows how to use it.

There’s no reason not to join forces with him.

“In essence, he’s not all that different.”

The one who lamented Archant’s death raised his voice.

“But there’s no way he’ll join us.”

“No, he will join us.”

“What?”

The power Han Si-hyuk holds.

The power that could lead to his own destruction.

“I’m the one who gave him that.”

The robed woman smiled brightly as she stepped down from the chair.

“Regardless of his will, he will be with us.”