Astral Flower Magic Academy was established under the command of the forr Elf Minister of Magical Education. Though initially, they hadn't realized the imnse cost of its construction.
This was before human culture had been introduced, during a ti when little to no investnt was made in architecture, and ordinary schools didn't require much funding.
But magic was different.
From staff to the countless training materials and magical demonstrations, the school required an extraordinary amount of resources, and the costs were beyond imagination.
Elves, who traditionally passed down magic directly from senior elves to juniors, had never considered the concept of a magical education institution, so they were entirely unprepared for this challenge.
Thus, the plan to create a magic school to teach all elves hit a snag right from the beginning. That's when Jeliel's grandfather, 'Bellidan', stepped in.
Bellidan, the founder of the Starcloud Trading Company, had ambitious dreams of expanding his then-small company. What caught his attention was none other than Astral Flower Magic Academy.
He planned and executed significant investnts into Astral Flower, and thanks to him, the academy—despite being a public institution—received so much financial support that people often joked it should be called the 'Starcloud Private Academy.'
Later, Jeliel's father, lian, inherited the company and made the investnts even more systematic.
He expanded its influence worldwide, giving the trading company enough power to influence even the most sovereign of nations with a single word.
'Money is power.'
Jeliel understood this principle well, knowing that her thin lips could make anything happen with the right amount of wealth behind them. During her childhood tis, she trusted nothing but money. The notion wasn't unfounded.
Though she had begun to let go of her blind faith in money thanks to the new perspectives introduced by Baek Yu-Seol, she still knew how to use her influence when necessary. For instance, when it ca to attending classes at Astral Flower Magic Academy.
"Wow! It's Lady Jeliel."
"Here, we should call her Senior."
"Shh. What if Senior hears you?"
As a major investor in Astral Flower, Jeliel wasn't required to attend classes regularly. The professors were aware of her extraordinary magical talent. They regretted her absence but had no say in the matter since even the principal had ordered them to let her do as she pleased.
Normally, Jeliel never attended classes and only appeared for critical events like exams. However, her recent streak of perfect attendance over the past few days caused unusual rumors to spread among the students.
"Senior Jeliel seems interested in one of the human exchange students."
There was even so evidence to support this claim.
First, Jeliel only attended on days when there were joint classes with Stella.
While the Stella exchange students were required to take all their classes alongside Astral Flower students, the elves didn't have the sa requirent. They still had many exclusive class.
However, Jeliel skipped most of her classes. On days without joint classes, she often didn't attend at all.
Secondly, Jeliel was always seen desperately looking for soone on campus.
Although she never explicitly ntioned it, most students who had seen her agreed on this.
With anxious eyes, she would search for soone during class or linger long after it ended, most likely to wait for soone before eventually disappearing alone.
Thirdly, after classes were over, she was often spotted eting soone privately. When all these details and eyewitness accounts were pieced together, there was only one likely suspect.
'Baek Yu-Seol.'
Despite being human, his remarkable accomplishnts had made his na known even at Astral Flower. There wasn't a single elf who didn't know him.
However, the idea that Jeliel might have fallen for him was hard for many elves to accept.
Why?
'Because elves are superior to humans.'
For elves, who believed in their own superiority, humans were simply seen as an inferior species.
They acknowledged that humans had worked hard to wield magic comparable to theirs, but they believed that if elves had also dedicated themselves to such efforts, humans would never have caught up.
Elves avoided war and chose not to advance magic further, or so they thought. To these elves, the Stella cadets, flaunting their newly learned magic, were insufferable.
And among them, the most prominent and talented—Baek Yu-Seol—was an especially irritating figure to the small minority of elves with strong superiority complexes.
But now, their idol, Jeliel, who was a teenage prodigy and a recognized High Elf, appeared infatuated with that insufferable human?
"That can't be true. It's impossible."
"R-really? Are they not in a relationship?"
"No."
———
After dinner. At the library.
Baek Yu-Seol was pretending to read a book while compiling strategy guides from his Sentient Spec. But curious elf girls kept interrupting him with questions, making it hard to concentrate.
Their questions were especially sensitive, asking if he was in a romantic relationship with Jeliel.
'Hmm... Not that bad of an idea, actually?'
Although Baek Yu-Seol was technically 28 years old and preferred older won, his thoughts had started to shift slightly because of Hong Bi-Yeon.
If soone had a mature personality and appearance, would age really matter? That subtle fluttering in his heart was proof of his changing perspective.
After all, there were plenty of humans in their late twenties who acted no more mature than teenagers. In comparison, a teenager who was emotionally mature might not be a bad match...
'Wait! What kind of criminal thoughts am I having?'
If this were Korea, he might already have been slapped with handcuffs for such dangerous thoughts.
"Anyway, it's nothing like that, so stop asking. Let study, please."
"... Humans study the history and origins of toilets too?"
At her words, Baek Yu-Seol glanced down at the book he was pretending to read. He had randomly picked sothing and didn't realize it was a guidebook on toilets.
"There's philosophy in toilets too, you know."
"Ah... Really?"
"So just leave alone."
Satisfied with his answer, she dashed out of the library to join her friends. They laughed and disappeared sowhere together.
"Phew..."
Finally alone, Baek Yu-Seol let out a sigh of relief.
'It's better to avoid getting involved as much as possible.'
He was well aware of how much Jeliel cared about maintaining her image.
As soone who had difficulty expressing emotions, she had perfected the art of acting, portraying herself as a serene, composed, intelligent, and ticulous woman.
If that image were to be tarnished because of him, it would surely cause her trouble.
'Why are these rumors even spreading?'
The idea that Jeliel was attending classes just to look for him...
'Could it be true?'
No matter how he thought about it, it seed unlikely...
'But it would be nice if it were true.'
Even so, he dismissed it as delusional wishful thinking. Jeliel wasn't the kind of person to act so recklessly, even if she did like him.
'Anyway...'
Baek Yu-Seol frowned as he reviewed the floating data before him.
——-
〈The Awakening of Dusk Soil Moon〉
- Proceed to the Land of Dead Giants
- Minimum combat level required: 7-star
- Prepare a raid party of 20 or more
- Since the matchmaking system does not apply to this region, actively use the community party-finding board...
———
In reality, 'The Awakening of Dusk Soil Moon' was an obscure side episode and high-level content that wasn't a good match for Baek Yu-Seol in his current state.
However, as soone who had experienced it firsthand in the ga, he understood why this content was for high-level players. It wasn't the dungeon itself that was difficult but the process of reaching it.
When Dusk Soil Moon began to stir in its slumber, traces of ancient giants would reawaken and roam the Land of the Dead Giants. Those remnants were so overwhelmingly powerful that getting past them was nearly impossible.
Even facing a single one of these entities would be a struggle for Baek Yu-Seol, let alone hundreds of them.
But he wasn't just a 'player' anymore. Unlike in the ga, he now had real, living allies who could help him.
For equipnt, he had Alterisha.
For forces, he had Florin.
'This is a crucial matter for the World Tree.'
Florin had promised to help with whatever she could.
While Baek Yu-Seol didn't want her to get hurt, there was a high chance she would personally join the fight.
In other words, he would have the help of the Elf King to traverse the Land of the Dead Giants.
'... This feels like a cheat code.'
After easily passing through the Land of the Dead Giants with the Elf King's assistance, they would enter the dungeon and use the 'Root of Life' to resolve the issue effortlessly.
From the mont the Witch King handed him the 'Root of Life', Baek Yu-Seol had suspected that 'The Awakening of Dusk Soil Moon' would end up being a straightforward event without significant challenges.
Although it was frad as a world-ending catastrophe, in reality, it was nothing serious.
There didn't seem to be any potential variables. Unless the world suddenly went insane and another Twelve Divine Moon entity decided to intervene, nothing would go wrong.
'... That won't happen, right?'
Even in a chaotic world, such a thing seed unlikely.
"Phew..."
After returning the book he had been reading and grabbing a few more textbooks, Baek Yu-Seol stood up, feeling the stares of the surrounding students.
He was used to it by now—it was sothing he had dealt with constantly at Stella.
Back there, the attention had co after rumors of his relationship with Fla, who was the school's most popular girl. Here, with Jeliel being the most admired, it was inevitable.
'Why do I always end up in these situations?'
It wasn't an entirely bad feeling. While it was annoying, it was also sowhat gratifying to be linked to beautiful won. He just felt a little guilty for making things inconvenient for them.
"What is it?"
As the books were placed on the counter, the librarian lowered their glasses and glared.
"Uh... I'd like to borrow these books."
The librarian wore a displeased expression and replied, "Humans cannot borrow elven books."
"... What?"
Baek Yu-Seol glanced at the book titles again.
- 300 Years Ago, To Humans
- What Happened to Them?
- Distant Species, Close Species
All three were books related to humans.
Baek Yu-Seol, who enjoyed reading history as much as fantasy novels, had started studying elven history during his spare ti.
The idea of seeing humanity through the eyes of elves was fascinating, which was why he wanted to borrow these books.
"But these are books about humans."
"It's school policy. Other races cannot borrow elven books."
This policy technically existed, but most exchange students were exceptions. It wasn't strictly enforced.
"Even if borrowing were allowed..."
The librarian adjusted their glasses and sneered. "Do you really think a human can understand elven books?"
The comnt could be taken as a statent about cultural differences between humans and elves, but in this case, it was clearly ant as an insult.
"As a human, you're too stupid and inferior to understand elven books."
It was utterly absurd.
'Is the Librarian a human-hater?'
Even if that were the case, did he really need to be so openly hostile toward an exchange student? That kind of attitude could easily cause trouble for him.
'Why is this bastard so bold?'
Irritated, Baek Yuseol frowned and triggered his Sentient Spec to automatically display the librarian's information.
———
[Seon Ga-Yul]
- Astral Flower Third Year
- Secretly in love with Jeliel
- Eventually realizes Jeliel's true nature and joins the protagonist's side
- Extra character. No affection gain
- Popularity ranking: 1,299th...
———
'Ah.'
The mont he saw it, Baek Yu-Seol imdiately understood why this librarian was being so antagonistic toward him. He let out a sigh deep enough to reach the center of the earth.
The version of him from just a minute ago, who innocently believed it wasn't so bad to be associated with Jeliel, now felt embarrassed and naive.
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