Headmaster Im Ilseong was seated behind his desk, his hands clasped beneath his chin as he watched the playback of the Dungeon simulation that had gone awry.
"Still nothing from the technical department?" he asked, his question directed at Professor Jung who was standing on the other side of the table.
"No, headmaster," she replied. "They keep saying they're unable to detect any alien presence tampering with the simulation."
"Hmmm…" Headmaster Im Ilseong rubbed his mustache. "This is troublesome. We can't just leave it this way. It would be a serious problem if it keeps happening."
"I agree," said Professor Jung. "Should I cancel the rest of the assessment for now?"
"No. Carry on with it. Just have the technical department keep the door of the simulation room open, so that if it happens again you will be able to go in and help. In the meantime, I'll talk to Guildmaster Kim Hyeonki and see if the Consortium can help us analyze the system in any way." He chuckled under his breath. "Then I'll have to owe that old fool a favor." Professor Jung remained silent. "What do you think about the boy so far?" the headmaster continued.
Professor Jung took a moment to settle her thoughts. "I've only had a day with him, so I cannot say for sure. But from today's physical assessment, coupled with his performance during the exam, I think it's safe to say that he's the most coolheaded in front of danger I have seen among this year's students. He's sharp, tactical, fast, and brave. He would have been a Mage to fear if he was not a Deeficient Mage."
Headmaster Im Ilseong tilted his head. "What are you talking about? He is still a Mage to fear." Professor Jung chuckled self-deprecatingly. How could she have forgotten the fact that the boy was able to cancel magic. "Which makes you wonder how he had scored so low on the theory exam," the headmaster continued. "If things keep up that way, he will not make it into the second year."
Professor Jung nodded. "Precisely. I choose to believe that he is the type who is better at practicals than at theory."
"That won't cut it," Headmaster Im Ilseong said. "We do not give hand outs here at Prestige Academy. If he cannot carry his weight, we will have to revoke his admission."
"I am well aware. However, if his Cohort ends up in the top three Cohorts at the end of the year, his theory scores will be overlooked."
Headmaster Im Ilseong leaned back on his seat. "You know Cohort rankings are fickle. Many things are taken into consideration for points awarded and withdrawn. He's not the only student in the Cohort, and his teammates could end up dragging him down, if he doesn't drag himself down—which I highly doubt, considering his competence."
"Then what should we do."
Headmaster Im Ilseong remained silent for a few seconds. "We have to find a way to bolster his theory scores. I want you to have a consultation with him, and find out his study patterns and come up with a way to double his output."
Professor Jung nodded. "That won't be a problem, headmaster."
"Also," Headmaster Im Ilseong continued, picking up the tablet on his table and rewatching the recently concluded physical assessment of Merlin Tyrrell and Kim Minji. "We have to make him the center of all our practicals."
Professor Jung's brows furrowed. "I would caution you against that, headmaster. The rest of the students won't be happy that a Deficient Mage is the center of training drills in a Magical Academy. And I'm sure you realize some professors will not be fine with that too."
"Is that really what we should be worried about at this moment, Jung Seoyeon?" Professor Jung jerked back slightly at the headmaster's words. "The BlackGuards have been moving quicker these days. Dungeon Breaks have been happening in excess, and you know what that means. If we do not catch them soon, the cataclysm will happen, and you very much know what the percentage of us succeeding in apprehending them before that is. We do not have the time to be worried about what students think." He pointed at a frozen image of Merlin Tyrrell on his tablet's screen. "This boy is our hope, and we have to make sure he is well trained in the case that the worst happens. Make him the center of the drills, find out how his anti-magic works, and make sure he's more than equipped to battle something like the cataclysm. That's an order."
Professor Jung pressed her lips together then sighed. "And I guess that is why you want to have a conversation with him, to tell him of his role in what is to come?"
"Yes," Headmaster Im Ilseong did not deny. "I would have loved to hold back on that, as it might be too much for him to handle, but we do not have the luxury of time." He stood up, tucked his hands into his pockets and walked to his office's window, overlooking the scenery of the Academy as students moved around. "The faster he knows about his role, the faster he'll prepare himself." Headmaster Im Ilseong caught the sight of a student casting magic through the side of his eye and frowned. "Also… Have him become a member of the disciplinary committee. There's nothing better than on-field experience."
###
"Are you alright now?" Merlin asked, lying face up on his bed, buds in his ears, and his phone placed beside his head with the caller ID: Zombie sister on its screen.
He had been ready to call it a day when he'd decided to check up on Nora. Seeing as she had picked up, perhaps she was now feeling a lot better. He hoped so. Because she was taking a while to answer.
"I guess," she finally said, her teasing tone nowhere to be found. "You?"
Merlin sighed. "What do you think?"
There was a moment of silence from Nora. "You sound fine."
She'd said that like he was crazy. Which, he, as well, couldn't deny that he most likely was. After all, anyone else would probably be a lot more frightened after what had occurred with his Dungeon simulation. It was testament to the fact that his life could suddenly be turned upside down while he walked down a street, while he slept, or while he ate. The System could just bring up a random Quest at any time which could prove to be detrimental to his wellbeing.
But… Merlin just couldn't feel bothered.
He bit his lower lip. This was all because of what he was—who he was. He was so starved of the power to achieve his sole goal that he was willing to grasp it from anywhere, even if it would harm him.
"I'll be honest," Nora's voice cut through the silence and his thoughts. "I think it's dangerous."
Merlin's chest tightened for a moment. He'd been well aware that those words were coming.
"It is." He didn't deny, his gaze on his room's ceiling. It was dark—he had put the lights out—but he had always found the darkness comforting at times.
"I can't help but wonder why the author of that favorite webnovel of yours would send you something like that? Putting you in danger? Did he not give off any hint from his mail that he meant you harm?"
They'd already been through this.
"You're looking at it from a single point of view, Nora." Merlin was not trying to argue, he just felt like he should expatiate on why he was not particularly bothered by the System's nature. "Yes, it seems dangerous with the Quests, but it also gives me rewards for completing them. What I think is that it's neither friend nor foe. It just is."
Nora sighed audibly. "There has to be a way to get it out of your body, right?" she asked, ignoring all that he'd just said.
He wasn't mad, though. He didn't even have the energy to be.
"No," he replied simply. "None that I know of."
Nora went silent again. "Then I guess there's nothing we can do…" She paused. "...Besides making it so that you never feel threatened by it again."
Merlin turned sideways on the bed, staring at the light coming out of his phone.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I'm saying it's time you made full use of it," she said. "If there's no way to separate it from you, then I want you to milk it as much as possible. I'm tired of this feeling of insecurity."
"It's been less than a day," Merlin chaffed.
"I'm serious, Merlin."
Merlin's brows dropped down slightly. He was somewhat surprised. Did this mean that he could tell her about the Dungeon Artist Perk? He immediately shook it out of his thoughts. That one was far more dangerous; and involving Nora would not be good for his heart.
"You know I'm already doing that," Merlin replied, unable to think of anything else to say. "Milking the System, I mean. Well, as best as I can.The only thing I can think of is taking my routine up a notch."
"I know that," she said. "However, you've been mostly focused on your physicality, and your ability to deconstruct spells is still significantly low, right? Isn't that the main reason why you're—" She paused. "Good evening, Miss Park," she said with a chuckle, her words not for her brother.
"It's midnight, not evening," the person who seemed to be Miss Park answered, her voice low but strong. It was obvious that she was the dorm mistress of the girls' dorm. "What are you doing here?"
"Haha… I'm just having a chat with my brother. Didn't want to bother my roommate."
"I see…" Miss Park was quiet for a moment. "You have ten minutes, then. It's lights out. And loitering around is not allowed."
"Understood, Miss Park." Merlin could picture Nora faking a smile as she said that. "Alright, where were we?"
"I think you should go to bed," Merlin said. "Wouldn't be nice if you got in trouble because of me."
He knew the real reason why she was not having this call in her room was so that there would be no case of her slipping up and exposing Merlin's secrets to her roommate. Of course her and that Oh Jihye girl would have separate rooms, but Nora was not as trusting as Merlin, and she had not exactly gotten off to a good start with the girl to begin with.
"Just shut up and listen," Nora snarled. "Like I said, I think you should take full advantage of what you have. I don't really know how the System works, but make sure every single Attribute you have is not left untouched, so that even if the System wants to fuck with you it won't have an easy time. It will be hard, but trust me, it'll get easier. At this rate, you're just a sitting duck. I don't want to see you battered up like you were in the simulation ever again. Mom would eat my head off if she found out all I could do was watch as you suffered."
Merlin couldn't help but smile softly.
"So you cried because you were scared of Mom, not because you thought you were going to lose your brother?" he teased.
"Oh, please… You won't let me live down this crying thing, will you?"
"I'm glad you realize."
She laughed. Then as if realizing that it would bring Miss Park back, she quickly shut her mouth abruptly.
"Anyways, jokes aside, we don't really have much time before your truth is brought to light. There's no way we can keep people from finding out you have a System for long. You know that, don't you?" There was a pause. "And when they find out, I am scared that you might really end up in that Government lab. Of course, I'm not gonna let that happen, so I'll get stronger alongside you. And, since we're on that topic, I guess you'll need my help with theory, right? Because if you keep going with your abysmal theory scores, you may not graduate."
Merlin sighed. "Yes. I definitely need your help."
"I wonder why you can't seem to understand anyone's teaching but mine," Nora went on.
"You're just a far better teacher, I guess," said Merlin; but he knew the real reason behind that was because she was the only one who taught him using fictional instances and terms. He doubted any instructor would do that in a classroom full of students. It would make them look stupid. "You should take up teaching," he continued. "If not for you I might have scored worse during Prestige Academy's theory exam."
"Flattering isn't your strong suit, geek," she snorted.
"I agree."
"And you know I hate teaching," she added. "Anyways, I'll help you out. When do you want to meet?"
Merlin pursed his lips, considering for a moment which time would be best. Saturday was out of it; he wanted to make use of the day to work out a bit and rest up. Sunday was the day of rest, so he wanted to rest that day too, seeing as from Monday their first day of school would begin in earnest and things would get hectic.
In fact, what better day was there for him to hold a lesson with Nora?
He decided.
"Monday evening, when we've rested after class," he said. "Is that good?"
"Alright," replied Nora. "Make sure to bring your A-game. You know me; I won't be accepting less."
"Yes, Ma'am," he chuckled.
"Goodnight, then. I'll be off."
"Yeah," he replied. "Sleep tight."
The display on his phone's screen changed from the call interface to his home-screen. Heaving out a deep sigh, he checked the message he had received on his smartwatch a second later. He was to meet the headmaster at nine the next morning.