Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 37

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 37

16. Trap Genius Dane Sogress (1)

The Academy Dormitory is divided into three grades.

The lowest grade Amaldi Hall, the middle grade Orwell Hall, and finally the highest grade Danter Hall.

But as is the case with all places where people live, there are unofficial ‘rankings’ within the dormitory as well.

This is the ‘floor-based ranking’ that each dormitory with granted autonomy implicitly talks about.

In the case of Danter Hall, the 9th floor is where the most ‘excellent’ students gather to live.

The five students now gathered in a secret room, holding their breath while watching the magic video projected by the magic projector, were exactly like that.

“Why isn’t he moving?”

“Is he a fellow with good instincts?”

“Hmm. Aneld set this up, so how could it be visible?”

Aneld Gullard.

The eldest son of Baron Gullard’s family and a third-year student at the Imperial Academy.

Uniquely, he’s a student of the Marksmanship Department, one of the few throughout the Academy.

Aneld pushed up his glasses with his index finger and smiled triumphantly.

“There’s absolutely no way he’d know. The Gullard family has lived as hunters for hundreds of years. We’re masters when it comes to traps.”

“Then isn’t it dangerous?”

“It is dangerous. But I removed the danger. Where would we have business cutting off a new student’s limbs? Instead, it’s extremely difficult to dismantle or destroy, that’s the thing.”

Aneld majored in the Marksmanship Department, that is, archery. And Aneld’s family was a place famous for archery from before.

Being a place famous for archery, they also had expertise in hunting, and in that process, he had learned trap installation and manufacturing techniques from his father.

The problem was that those trap techniques were being used for the initiation of the 9th floor freshman who had entered after a long time.

“I’m looking forward to it. This is my first time with this kind of initiation.”

“That fellow Aneld probably got his teeth properly sharpened after getting thoroughly beaten when he came here.”

“Still, compared to what I went through, it’s nothing. I was suddenly tied up all over and interrogated, wasn’t I? The concept back then was probably ‘terrorist group secretly operating on the 9th floor of Danter Hall,’ right?”

“We all went through tremendous initiations.”

For reference, all five people here had experienced all kinds of initiations when they first entered the 9th floor.

And the person who underwent initiation prepares the initiation for the next newcomer.

Aneld was the last to enter the 9th floor and had prepared the initiation himself according to tradition.

‘Hehe, he’ll soon be fainting in shock.’

Aneld grinned wickedly, imagining the boy in the video screaming loudly.

“But valedictorian admission with autonomous major… Maybe this time it’ll be a little different? Big Sister is a genius, Little Sister is a genius too. If it’s autonomous major, he’d be an even greater genius.”

Then one person expressed doubt.

It was a girl who covered one eye with her hair.

Her name was Priscilla.

She was a fourth-year student in the Theology Department.

“What are you saying? That my trap won’t work?”

When Aneld bristled, Priscilla chuckled.

“I didn’t say that. Are you not confident?”

“How could that be!”

Priscilla ignored Aneld’s protest and pointed at the video.

“Look. He’s still not moving.”

At those words, Aneld wore a sneer.

“His wariness is quite strong. But how long can he stay like that? The elevator’s mana is cut off so he can’t go back anywhere. If he has no choice but to go forward, he’ll move eventually.”

But there was one more possibility.

“To my eyes, it looks like he’s examining something closely.”

As Priscilla said, looking again, Dane didn’t seem to be simply standing still and being wary. His head was turning little by little, and where his head stopped, his eyes were shining sharply.

‘No way.’

Aneld denied the absurd assumption.

That couldn’t be.

He had applied paint excellent for trap stealth, and had carefully applied lubricant in case the creaking of mechanical devices might be detected.

Even those wary beasts would fall for these traps immediately, so there was no way he could have figured it out.

“Oh. He’s moving.”

In the midst of this, Dane moved and everyone’s attention was focused.

Aneld pretended otherwise, but at that moment he gulped down dry saliva.

‘Three more steps forward.’

Just three more steps and the initiation would finally begin.

It starts lightly with a wire trap.

Just touching it would burst the water pouch installed on the ceiling, soaking him thoroughly.

While he’s unable to collect himself and panicking, the delayed trap would activate.

A floor trap that activates with moisture as a trigger.

If he doesn’t leave the spot immediately, the floor would collapse and he’d face a liquid with a considerably foul smell.

‘Even if you escape from there, all kinds of traps are waiting for you.’

According to calculations, his body would be soaking wet, his legs would smell foul, after getting hit by soft punches a couple times, covered in feathers, with his head in a dazed state, he would arrive in complete panic.

Aneld’s heart was pounding at the thought of finally paying back the initiation he had suffered.

“Huh?”

Dane, who had stopped exactly three steps before the wire, looked up.

Was it coincidence?

No.

Dane flicked his finger.

Toward the ceiling.

Pop!

At that moment, the water pouch installed on the ceiling burst and water poured down to the floor.

The floor trap activated simultaneously.

Crack!

“…”

And Dane was perfectly fine.

His body wasn’t soaking wet and his body didn’t sink into the floor.

He only frowned while covering his nose.

Two of the ambitiously prepared traps had been blown away from the start.

“What… is this…”

He didn’t avoid them but completely destroyed them?

Even though they were hidden so he’d never notice?

“What, you said he’d absolutely never notice?”

“It, it’s coincidence! Coincidence!”

Aneld’s heart, desperately denying it, began pounding for a different reason.

Meanwhile.

‘Hydraulic mechanism ahead… if I touch it, something will pop out from between those curtains.’

Dane, who had just lightly destroyed two traps, hopped over the collapsed floor and quickly finished analyzing the next trap.

‘Should I shoot another mana bullet?’

Dane pondered for a moment then shook his head.

Instead, he raised his mana and summoned an arrow with incomparable physical force to a mana bullet.

“This much impact should be necessary.”

Unlike mana bullets that anyone who can handle mana can use without much difficulty, magic that only ‘mages’ can use.

The 1-chain arrow magic left Dane’s hand and shot out like lightning—

Boom!

It hit the mechanism that Aneld had hidden quite well in a nearby location.

The moment the mechanism was destroyed, a glove stuffed with cotton fell down from under the curtain.

Dane had perfectly destroyed only the core of the mechanism with pinpoint accuracy, giving the trap no chance to activate.

Aneld, who had been watching, gaped in shock, while the other fellows began to show interest along with their amazement.

“Indeed, the Sogress Count House.”

“I heard the Sisters got quite the hazing during their initiation.”

“Those two were legends of Danter Hall. They never got caught even once from enrollment to graduation.”

“Is that such a big deal? They fought so damn viciously. It was a complete nightmare. I hope this fellow is a bit more docile.”

While Priscilla and the other students were blooming with anticipation, Aneld finally cried out in despair as he watched Dane easily break through even the fourth trap.

“My, my traps are all being…”

This time it was a trap where feathers would burst out from all directions with a ‘pop’ the moment he grabbed the door handle to open it.

If he had been soaking wet, they would have all stuck to him, and even if not, it would have been enough to obscure his vision and cause panic…

“It’s like he knows what traps are there? Does the Sogress family teach hunting too?”

Just as one fellow said, he had approached the trap as if he already knew about it and dismantled it in an instant.

“This time it’s not destruction but dismantling. That’s even more impressive.”

“Amazing. He found what Aneld had hidden so carefully and solved it so simply.”

It was still too early to give up.

The last trap was the real deal.

An illusion of a summoned beast.

There was nothing to avoid or dodge.

The moment you step foot into the domain, a realistic illusion appears and forces you to fight.

Of course, it went slightly beyond what he had learned as a hunter, but Aneld had applied that knowledge. Aneld had complete faith in that trap that even employed mana.

“What is this?”

But Dane boldly stepped into the domain and tilted his head at the strange summoned beast that appeared before his eyes.

“It’s just an illusion.”

Big Sister had taught him about this before.

Naturally, he also knew how to dispel it.

Dane drew up his mana and released it toward the illusion.

While it had no physical force, it was perfect against an illusion that had no substance.

By disrupting the flow of mana, he made the illusion unable to function properly.

“…”

Thanks to this, Aneld despaired, and the other four looked at such an Aneld with pity.

Illusions are created with mana.

According to the laws of mana, if the suppressing mana is stronger, the illusion scatters helplessly like that.

Simply put, Dane’s mana was stronger than Aneld’s.

“We’re screwed.”

Priscilla came to a simple conclusion.

Even the last trap had been easily defeated.

Meanwhile, Dane, the target of the initiation, looked very calm and comfortable, far from being surprised.

In short, they were done for.

“That’s it. The initiation failed. Let’s just go out and have a welcome ceremony instead.”

“Should we eat something?”

“Should I go to Donelf’s and get some packaged grilled chicken legs?”

“That sounds good.”

They were chatting like that and slowly getting up to leave.

“…What’s that?”

Priscilla pointed at the screen.

Dane, who had just scattered all the illusions, was approaching the core of the trap that had completely stopped functioning.

“What is he trying to do?”

Priscilla expressed her doubt, and attention focused again. Dane knelt on one knee in front of the core, placed his hand on it, and briefly closed his eyes.

“Aneld, what is the new fellow trying to do?”

“Is it because trap cores are expensive?”

“No way, he’s from the Sogress Count House.”

“You never know. It might be a family that emphasizes frugality and thrift. Since he destroyed it, it’s right that the newcomer pays. Aneld, how about being generous about this much?”

While they were giggling amid amusing speculations, the trap in the screen began to glow. The laughter stopped abruptly.

“What did he do?”

“Is he retrieving the core?”

While everyone was throwing out their guesses, Priscilla unconsciously turned her head at the strange sense of déjà vu she felt from behind.

And she saw it.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

The summoned beast Eterak, baring its hideous teeth.

“Wh-what!”

“Damn! What’s suddenly happening!”

“Could it be with that trap…”

If so, it should be an illusion, but why were they so shocked and surprised?

The reason was simple.

Unlike Aneld’s version, Dane’s skill in reverse-engineering the trap to summon an illusion into the room was far superior.

It should be called a ‘realistic’ illusion, so to speak.

It wasn’t difficult for Dane.

He had simply slightly modified the structure of the already completed trap design to create an illusion of the form he wanted, then changed the activation point and conditions.

“So this is how you use it.”

Who would have thought that the talent he’d show second after swordsmanship upon entering the Academy would be traps.

“Should I leave it for about 10 minutes?”

Dane was grinning at the screams coming from inside the room.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————