Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 75
EP19 – Glass Butterfly (3)

“Then shall we rest for twenty minutes and finish up?”
“All right.”

Yet.
Perhaps it was because I had accepted this entirely new form of Illusion Magic.
A foreign sensation traced along my consciousness and slipped away.

“…….”

The butterflies I had made were, in essence, fabrications.
They carried my mental image and proficiency, moving somewhere beyond my sight.

“…Grey.”
“Yes?”
“That thing you said earlier. Where did I tell those butterflies to go—the ones that vanished? I can’t quite recall.”
“……?”

Grey blinked, then gazed into the distance. Even amid the chaotic teaching and learning, she retained memories far more precise than my own.

“…Wait? Now that you mention it? We didn’t give any orders at all.”
“What?”
“The butterflies that disappeared were the ones we never instructed. We simply performed the Illusion Magic in its purest form…. What could it be, exactly?”

Illusion Magic, after all, is the mimicry of reality.
Intent to mimic must be woven into it.

In that hazy sensation,
regarding where the fabricated butterflies had vanished,
a thread of understanding seemed to emerge in my mind.

‘Form, phenomenon, space, perception…… and beyond them, what I can fabricate.’

Then I understood why my proficiency had plateaued at this particular point.

‘……Because I’ve already achieved maximum proficiency.’

Since reaching 89.99%, for nearly a week,
I had simply repeated what I had already done.
It was a kind of inertia.

‘That’s why I couldn’t reach 90%.’

I had already achieved proficiency bordering on perfection—what meaning could there be in pushing beyond that?

‘A new frontier doesn’t grant itself the moment you reach 90%. I had to seek it out from the beginning.’

Then how does one seek it?
The answer lay with those butterflies.

‘……Where those things disappeared to.’

I retraced what had just occurred, event by event.

I had created several butterflies, and lost some of them in the process.

Where had the butterflies gone?

When I conjured so many butterflies, some of them always slipped beyond my control. They would escape my grasp and vanish beyond Cain Hall.
Even though they carried my magical power within them, at some point that power would cut out abruptly. Their forms, too, would vanish without a trace.

At the time, I found it peculiar. A sensation I’d never experienced before, despite wielding countless Illusion Magic techniques. As if the butterflies were being stubborn—as if they were resisting my commands.
I’d simply attributed it to my own lack of proficiency with such unfamiliar magic. Nothing more.

‘No.’

In that instant, a bolt of understanding struck through my mind.
My Level 9 Ability, World Fabrication, now perfected to the ultimate level of mastery, had taken the form of butterflies and flown toward new possibility.
Where had the butterflies gone?
An impossible conclusion seeped into my thoughts.

‘Somewhere that was not space.’

And if that somewhere was tied to World Fabrication…
There were two axes that defined a world.

Somewhere that was not space—in other words—

‘…time, or perhaps dimension.’

Where the butterflies had gone.
To fabricate that location.

The instant my thought reached that conclusion.
Astonishing status messages cascaded into view.

Ah!
My clenched fist trembled with force.

‘At last.’

── .

At that same moment, light blazed through the window.
From the night sky above.
Down into Cain Hall.

“What? What? What is this feeling right now?”

Grey, who had been resting blankly beside me, started in alarm.
A Stigma Mark was descending.
Ordinary students would not even sense its approach, but Grey, whose perception was exceptional, detected it.

“A Stigma Mark.”
“A Stigma Mark? Why all of a sudden…?”
“Seems something fortunate happened to someone.”
“Oh….”

I pretended not to know. After all, I was in the middle of learning the Glass Butterfly. If I revealed that I’d obtained it, Grey might feel a pang of loss.

“Whoever it is, I’m envious.”
“Indeed.”

Grey, following my gaze, turned her head toward the window as well.

“Lucky bastard….”
“…Why curse?”
“Why? Anyone luckier than me deserves nothing but bitterness.”
…….

Yeomtam Star

Meanwhile, the owner of that damp, half-hidden face was none other than the Yeomtam Star.
The most useless and perverse of all the celestial bodies.
And yet, one of the gods of this world.

‘This makes the second Stigma Mark already.’

Last time on the tree, it was the Hwapyeong Star.
This time, the Yeomtam Star.

“Anyway, Professor, those Croitz bastards are watching this too, aren’t they?”
“Most assuredly.”

When a Stigma Mark descends like this, those with interest can sense it even from the opposite end of the Continent. It’s like how in a mobile game, when you obtain a legendary weapon, a server announcement pops up.

“Stigma Marks that barely appear once every few months, and now two of them in two weeks. Those bastards must be making some interesting faces right now.”

Grey laughed.

“Quite so.”

I’m curious too.
What expression must they be wearing right now?

“If only one of the benevolent stars would grant me a glimpse….”

I’d subtly tried to provoke the Yeomtam Star, but it paid me no mind whatsoever.

True to form—utterly useless.

‘Let me verify the World Fabrication first.’

In any case, setting that aside.
I began to examine the newly acquired Formulas.

Of the three, I set aside the enigmatic Stigma Mark Formula for now.

[Time]
[Memory]

These two were Formulas I’d obtained through my own Proficiency.
Something about them….
Just their names alone seemed ominous.

‘Memory Fabrication?’

Could it really be manipulating someone’s memories?
I checked the description window, and my suspicion was confirmed.

‘……This is an incredibly dangerous ability.’

This formula could fabricate memories—any memories at all—in anything that possessed a ‘memory storage device’, people included.
Any memory, any sensation within that memory.

‘There are conditions, though.’

It could only be used once per person.
Once in their entire lifetime.
Not twice.

Moreover, simply viewing a memory to fabricate it counted as an activation of the ability itself.

‘The trigger is when the target recalls that memory, isn’t it? But even so…….’

When I turned my head, I saw Grey removing her shoes. If I fabricated that girl’s memory. She would spend the rest of her life believing the fabricated memory was real. The psychological resistance was overwhelming.

‘I can’t do this.’

Setting it aside for now.

‘Next is Time Fabrication.’

My anticipation was higher for this one.
I tried it right away.

『 World Fabrication: Time Fabrication 』

Then two input fields appeared.

[ Seconds / Frames ]

What was this?
Following my intuition, I entered some numbers.

『 World Fabrication: Time Fabrication [10 Seconds / 60 Frames] 』

And when I activated the ability—

“…….”
Nothing happened.
What just occurred?
“……?”
I’d just used the ability, but there was no change whatsoever.
What was going on?
“Um, Professor?”
That’s when Grey, who had been touching her toes, called out to me.
“I’m listening.”
“What are you doing the day after tomorrow?”
The day after tomorrow? Why would she suddenly ask that—
The instant after, the entire world surrounding me, Grey, and the Great Hall shattered into pieces.

“…….”

When I opened my eyes, I was in the Great Hall.
I spent a few seconds surveying my surroundings, then checked the Mana that had been drained away.
Presently, Grey began touching her toes.

“By the way, Professor.”

Ah, that voice.

“What are you doing the day after tomorrow?”
“Huh??”

Grey’s eyes flew wide open in surprise.

“…How did you know?”

Ah, I understand completely now.
The moment I cast Time Fabrication, a “fabricated time” began to flow.
Once the preset duration elapsed, it would return to the starting point.

‘This is truly a monstrous Formula.’

But there was a drawback, too.

‘It consumes Magical Power at an outrageous rate.’

Just now, implementing sixty frames over ten seconds drained 189 Magical Power. And that was only ten seconds.

“Professor?”
“Oh, yes. I just had a feeling you’d ask that. A hunch, really.”
“Creepy. So what are you doing the day after tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. It’s the weekend, and I don’t have anything scheduled.”
“Hmm….”
“Grey. Since you’re on break, would you be willing to play a game with me?”
“A game?”

I decided to settle a curiosity while I was at it.
I pulled nine 1 Hika Coins from my wallet and handed them to Grey.

“You flip these and guess whether heads or tails comes up more.”
“If I win?”
“You get all the coins.”
“And if you win?”
“One flick on the forehead. That’s all.”
“That’s way too unfair.”
“Fine, then you get to flick me once too.”
“Deal.”

That’s right.
The moment Time Fabrication manifested, I grew curious about this.
Was gambling possible??
If it worked, my path to sudden riches would begin.

……Ultimately, it failed.

‘That’s the problem with Fabrication.’

When I dropped the frame rate to one, Magical Power consumption became almost negligible—three or four at most.
But reality began to stutter and skip, and the coin’s fall became inconsistent.

“Ah, I lost….”

Sensing Grey’s wariness, I gave her a gentle tap and switched to a different game.

“Want to try rock-paper-scissors?”
“Sure.”

Conversely, my win rate in rock-paper-scissors was one hundred percent.
After testing it about five times, I stopped.
Grey had thrown scissors every single time.

‘That’s curious. What’s the principle behind it?’

Could it also be a difference in Proficiency? Did results become identical in gambling once Proficiency reached 99.9%?
I still wasn’t sure.

‘In that neuroscience paper I read before, they said that when people play rock-paper-scissors, their brain already decides what to throw several seconds ahead.’

Regarding this Formula, I couldn’t say I fully understood it either.
But roughly speaking:
things with firm causality generally checked out.
Things laden with chance often didn’t.

‘……But does that even make sense?’

My head grew murky.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.
Chaos Theory.
Laplace’s Demon.
……such theories that denied determinism rolled through my mind, then stopped at some point.

This was inside a game.

‘I don’t know. The laws of this world must be different.’

So could I make money this way?
Roulette wouldn’t work, obviously.

‘Ah, but poker might be possible.’

Then again, large-scale gambling establishments use several monster-class pieces of equipment capable of detecting Ability.
Besides, since World Fabrication is a Taboo, I’d lose my head the moment I got caught.
So it was ultimately a failed attempt anyway.

‘Would’ve been interesting if stocks existed here.’

Scalping techniques……wouldn’t that have been possible?
I’d have to think more about how to use it.

Then a thought suddenly struck me.
Could I use this in another way?

『World Fabrication: Time Fabrication [10 seconds / 30 frames]』

“Grey.”
“Hm? Why do you keep calling me?”
“There’s something I want to tell you.”
“What is it?”
She blinked.
“I—”
I’d started to say something without thinking, but then realized that even in a virtual space, it wouldn’t be quite appropriate between an instructor and student, so I changed my words.
“—Go to ruin.”
“What?”
“Die.”
“Why…?”
“Just… die.”
“I won’t.”
Grey reflexively raised her middle finger.
“You die instead, profes—”
In that instant, the world shattered.

‘It works.’

It actually works.
She could even use it to gauge the other person’s reaction.

‘This is fun.’

Practical applications aside.
The formula itself was fascinating.
Like she’d just acquired an incredibly entertaining toy.

‘But the magical power consumption is brutal, and my proficiency still limits the duration… Wait.’

She could read the other person’s reaction?

Oh!

An exclamation mark flashed through her mind.
She rushed to call through the Crystal Ball.
To Adel.

— Hello, Professor~

You’ve got perfect timing.

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