The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 89

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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 89
-Katrine has awakened Hero’s Will (Stage 1)!
‘Done it!’
It had been touch and go, but I’d managed it in the end.
More than simply switching her class to Spellblade, it mattered that she possess a will befitting a True Protagonist.
‘With this, I should be able to catch my breath before the “Deleted Night Episode” begins. Katrine and the others will fight well enough.’
But not everything was going smoothly.
-Katrine’s (Hero Candidate) affinity toward you has increased!
-Katrine’s (Hero Candidate) affinity toward you has increased!
-Katrine’s (Hero Candidate) affinity toward you has…!
-…increased!
Messages kept flooding in.
-Katrine’s (Hero Candidate) affinity has crossed the first threshold!
-Katrine now regards you as a “Professor she trusts”!
‘Is this actually okay?’
Cold sweat trickled down my face.
I’d been prepared to draw aggro when I stepped in, but this spike in affinity felt excessive.
‘Once the Deleted Night Episode ends anyway, I’ll just hole up and stay out of sight… it should be fine, right?’
Either way, that was a problem for later.
There was something more pressing.
Gooooooooo!!
I stared at the whirlwind shrieking like a thing possessed.
‘Seeing it up close like this, it’s actually terrifying. Katrine, how did she even stand against a whirlwind like that?’
I’d pushed her forward, but now that I faced it directly, the oppressive force was no joke.
I could never have done what Katrine did.
‘There’s no need to meet it head-on directly.’
The truth was, that whirlwind wasn’t the real problem.
“Enough, now. If you do not cease, you will witness the collapse of your own dwelling.”
The moment those words ended.
Swish.
A translucent phantom materialized.
‘Gale Sword!’
I swallowed hard.
The protagonist of legend himself.
A great hero who’d protected the world against formidable beings from the Other World.
‘Why has such a great existence appeared as a wraith? There was nothing like this in the scenario.’
In the scenario, Whirlwind Island was meant to be a typical quest dungeon—overcome obstacles, claim rewards.
There was nothing about an encounter with Gale Sword.
‘Why is he in this state?’
Keeeeaaa.
As Gale Sword raised his hand, an eerie sound tore through the air.
It was the Ghost Wail phenomenon—something that appeared with only the most corrupted wraiths.
-Ah, heroes of the future. How delightful.
The words sounded pleasant, but it didn’t come across that way at all.
Tension coiled through me.
Katrine seemed to feel it too, moving beside me and raising her broken blade in a defensive stance.
And indeed,
-I’m afraid I must ask you to die. For the sake of the world.
“!!”
He hadn’t appeared to bestow blessings after all.
‘Damn it, why does it always have to be like this! Now we’re up against one of the Eight Heroes?!’
Of course, what stood before us was merely a phantom, but even a fraction of the power wielded by a true member of the Eight Heroes would be an unstoppable force.
“Shut your mouth, specter! No matter how great a hero you were in ages past, I’ll cut you down!”
Katrine, freshly awakened to Hero’s Will, stepped forward without hesitation!
‘Wait, courage is good and all, but assess your opponent! One of the Eight Heroes, for heaven’s sake!’
Then a fundamental question suddenly struck me.
‘Why did one of the Eight Heroes end up like this?’
No matter how many unexpected trials I’d faced, they’d all been within the bounds of the scenario.
But this—one of the Eight Heroes in such a state—felt wrong.
‘It doesn’t feel right. He’s a phantom, but I sense no malice in him.’
The intent to kill us is genuine.
Yet I sensed no malice in it.
Rather,
‘You’re sorry, aren’t you?’
I ventured the question, grasping at possibility.
“You’re trying to prevent yourself from becoming an even more terrible monster by using us as sacrifices?”
-!!
The phantom of Gale Sword let out a groan.
-…Yes. My soul was originally sealed within this ruin. But then, suddenly, a malevolent force from the Other World tainted my spirit, and I became this phantom.
I stiffened my face.
‘Contamination Phenomenon. That only happens in the third-year “Prelude to Ruin” scenario.’
Gale Sword continued.
-If this continues, I’ll become a horrible monster that will dye the world crimson with blood. So I’ve been using the challengers who come to Whirlwind Island as sacrifices to prevent my condition from worsening.
It was a difficult situation.
If Gale Sword lost all reason and became a malevolent spirit, the death toll wouldn’t stop at one or two people.
‘But I can’t give up my own life for it.’
Fortunately, one solution occurred to me.
“Wouldn’t the problem be solved if you simply ceased to exist?”
-!!
“You never wanted to remain in this world all along anyway. Allow me to grant you a dignified departure.”
Gale Sword shook his head heavily.
-Impossible. Because of the Corruptor’s schemes, Whirlwind Island itself prevents my soul from passing on.
It was information I’d never heard before.
The age of the Eight Heroes wasn’t part of the scenario content.
But still,
“It seems you’ve forgotten what I said earlier. This petty Whirlwind Island—I can destroy it.”
-!!
It wasn’t a lie.
‘I’m no longer who I was.’
I turned my awareness inward.
More precisely, beside my heart.
I could feel a small, spherical something there.
‘I succeeded in creating a Core!’
…Though, in truth, it wasn’t a perfect one.
Compared to the core of an ordinary Tier 2 mage, it was small.
Half? No, to be honest, it was about a quarter of the proper size—yet it was an invaluably precious core to me.
‘Creating a core doesn’t instantly make me Tier 2.’
I’d only completed the vessel itself.
Since my mana reserves still fell short of Tier 1 capacity, I would need to fill this vessel with mana to become a true Tier 2 mage.
Conversely, that also meant something else.
‘With enough mana, I’d be no different from a Tier 2 mage.’
…It was embarrassing to stake so much on basic-level Tier 2 that anyone could achieve, but for me it held profound significance.
“Give me your Elixirs.”
-!!
“I know you have many. Hand over every last one without exception.”
‘I’m going to devour the Elixirs on this opportunity!’
Normally, clearing Whirlwind Island would grant you Elixirs and other rewards.
Naturally, he’d have stockpiled plenty.
-…Here they are.
“Five? Why so few?”
-…I forgot about them.
“You’re a phantom—what’s your excuse?”
-Ghosts can’t shake greed either, it seems.
Gale Sword turned his gaze away, looking sheepish.
Though I’d chided him, five was more than enough.
‘Besides, my meridians won’t withstand more than four anyway. I’ll give the extra one to Katrine later.’
For a moment, Libel came to mind, but I shook my head.
For Libel, Elixir was poison.
“I’ll begin now.”
I dumped four Elixirs into my mouth at once.
“No, Professor?! Are you insane?! Consuming an entire Elixir at once?!”
“It’s fine. I’m unharmed.”
This wasn’t because I was particularly gifted.
My Mana Insensitivity meant most of the energy dissipated anyway, so paradoxically my body bore no strain.
‘Still, isn’t this efficiency incredibly poor? Why is so much wasted?’
As I’ve said before, my Mana efficiency is one-tenth that of an ordinary person, one-hundredth that of a mage.
Left to its own devices, nearly all of it would scatter into the air, so I had to act.
Whoosh!
The Core writhed, and the energy that had been dissipating was seized and drawn toward it.
‘I modeled it after the nature of Whirlwind Island, imbuing the Core with a Drawing Force attribute to pull Mana toward itself. To absorb even a bit more Mana.’
For reference, as Star Rank increases, the Mana required for spellcasting grows exponentially.
Not doubled—squared, you might say.
Without resorting to such methods, I wouldn’t be able to cast properly even after reaching Tier 2.
‘Of course, even doing this only slightly improves efficiency.’
Still, I managed to barely scrape together enough Mana to meet the Tier 2 requirements and cram it into the Core.
‘Am I really becoming Tier 2? For real?’
…Unfortunately, not just yet.
I’d only trapped the Mana inside the Core; I still needed to refine it completely and make it truly mine.
But it was only a matter of time. Reaching Tier 2 was guaranteed now, and I felt such overwhelming joy I wanted to thrust my fist into the air and shout a victory cry.
That wasn’t all.
‘I’m invincible right now.’
Whoooooosh.
The dissipated Mana swirled around my body without departing.
It was due to the vortex effect of the Core.
Though the Core couldn’t absorb it, the Drawing Force temporarily prevented it from leaving my body.
‘It’s one-time use, but this Mana is mine to command.’
Equivalent to four Elixirs’ worth of Mana.
Comparable to what an average Level 7 Master possessed.
I raised my hand.
“Katrine, watch closely.”
Groooooow.
The Mana surged.
Compared to the previous pittance, it was as if an entire ocean was roaring.
A chill ran through me.
“A Dual Knight must balance Sword and Magic. Let my Magic now become your guidepost for the path ahead.”
Blazeeeee!
Two stars emerged.
Mages express their mastery through Star Rank because the number of stars they can manipulate varies depending on their Level.
Until now, I had mimicked high-tier Magic, but expressed it through only one star.
This was my first time manifesting two stars directly.
‘It’s incomparable.’
Two stars didn’t simply mean twice the amount of spellwork.
By combining, distributing, and arranging spells across two stars respectively, I could manifest power impossible with a single star.
—Mana Bomb.
The Tier 2 improved version of Mana Needle.
A so-called Mana explosion.
Its raw power matched ordinary low-level Magic, but what unfolded in my hands was something else entirely.
I compressed both stars to their absolute limit.
Four Elixirs’ worth of volatile Mana crystallized within those two stars, and slammed directly into the heart of the vortex.
—KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
A deafening roar shook the entire island, and the whirlwind began to scatter into wisps of nothing.
It had worked!
—Impossible?! Such a thing is possible? Could you be… the world’s chosen savior of fate…?
“That’s not it. Absolutely not.”
I shook my head firmly to deny it.
“Now that the seal binding your soul has been released, you should depart from this world as you are.”
‘I should get out of here too and rest!’
But then something unexpected occurred.
Rumble… rumble… rumble…
The island trembled as though struck by an earthquake!
At the same moment, a dark chasm began tearing open at the center of the island.
It was a phenomenon I recognized.
‘A Rift!’
Whirlwind Island had always been an unstable place, and the impact had just split the space open!
This was catastrophic.
‘If I leave it alone, the Other World will connect to this one. I have to seal it!’
It was dangerous, but there was no time to weigh the risks.
A portal opening at this point meant game over.
The only fortunate thing was that volatile mana still remained.
‘I can do this!’
“Professor! Watch out!!!”
Whoosh!
I threw all my strength into sealing the black chasm before it could fully tear open.
I managed to act in time and prevent disaster.
‘Is it… closed?’
I was exhaling in relief when an unexpected sound suddenly reached my ears.
—Who… are you…?
“!!”
The voice came from beyond the Rift.
Through the hairline gap still barely open, I peered into the darkness beyond and could only widen my eyes.
A woman, battered and torn, was drifting in the space of the Other World beyond the Rift.
It was someone I knew.
‘…It’s the Demon King.’
The only Celestial Rank being in this world.
Yet the Demon King was uttering something strange.
—You… are you a new Ascendant?

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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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