CHAPTER 134

Why Did I Have to Enroll

Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 134

Lesson 28: The Flower Festival of Ruin - 1

Ban Yu-won realized through his grueling work with Shati that trying to take shortcuts always led to trouble. Or more precisely, since he couldn’t take shortcuts, he had to work hard to make everything digestible.

“Whew… Hahaha, are you satisfied now?” Shati asked, her face pale.

“If I squeeze out anything more, all you’ll get from me are tears, snot, and…”

“Shati, stop. That’s enough.”

Outside the academy, inside a suitable dungeon. Concerned about unexpected incidents from monster summoning, they entered the dungeon and conducted the summoning magic, which turned out to be a bigger deal than expected.

“So, did you get any results?”

“Yes, there were some, but… nothing is ever easy, is it?”

The biggest issue was that Shati couldn’t perfectly identify the target of her summoning magic. Although nothing strong enough to handle both Shati and Mira, along with Ban Yu-won, appeared, they always had to brace themselves for the peculiar creatures that emerged.

It wasn’t the enjoyable time Ban Yu-won initially expected, where he could absorb concepts immediately after summoning monsters.

“Well, it’s good that there was something… Haha, it’s been a while since I summoned without worry. It reminds me of the days when I trained to control monsters…”

“Come here, Shati. I’ll pat your head.”

“Miraaa!”

The consumption of magic power and mental strength by summoning magic was no small issue. While there was a way to replenish magic power for Ban Yu-won, the exhaustion of mental strength required rest in a place like Eden or at least consuming an elixir jam. The student council president, who had recklessly promised his junior and paid the price with his whole body, was now leaning on Mira, looking utterly exhausted, showing just how mentally draining summoning magic could be.

“Senior, have a spoonful of this.”

“Oh? Is this the elixir jam Mira always boasts about… Ohhhh!”

In the end, Ban Yu-won gave Shati a spoonful of the elixir jam, ‘Extreme Elixir,’ made in Room 30. The first time it was consumed, it had the highest effect, boasting excellent results but causing issues if consumed too frequently. Because of its nature, even Rebellion members couldn’t eat it regularly and instead used it to share with others occasionally, as they were doing now.

Naturally, all the club members had a spoonful each. The video compiling their reactions was a big hit.

“Hahahahaha! Fully revived!”

And Shati’s reaction was no different from theirs. The moment she tasted the jam, she sprang up, her eyes sparkling with a dazzling array of stars.

“This is incomparable to any potion I’ve ever had! Mira, you’ve been keeping this to yourself? That’s unfair!”

Meanwhile, Mira, who had been receiving the elixir jam regularly from Ban Yu-won as a sort of company welfare service, snorted and pushed her rejuvenated friend’s forehead away. ŕ𝘢ƝÖꞖЁṤ

“Do you think you and I are the same? If you’re jealous, make a contract with Yu-won too.”

“Ugh, to suggest a contract with the Evil One…!”

While the two were playfully bickering, Ban Yu-won gathered the notable concepts he had obtained from his hard work and checked their depth.

In some ways, it was as expected, and in others, it was disappointing enough to make him sigh.

[Kill 37, Blood 18, Evil 8, Malice 6, Corruption 5, Death 1.7]

Monsters summoned from the special dimension known as [Demon World] generally carried these ominous concepts within them. These concepts were the main factors that strengthened them, but when extracted as pure concepts, their depth decreased, making them hard to gather.

Moreover, even if the forms of the concepts were the same, their detailed concepts could be completely different, as Ban Yu-won realized while collecting Malice and Evil from the Demon World’s monsters.

The depth was one thing, but compared to what he had seized from the Constellation Unmoving Manipulator, the brightness and abilities were somewhat lacking.

‘Still, since the base concept is the Constellation’s power, it shouldn’t be bad to use it as an addition.’

While obtaining a concept for the first time was difficult, growing it wasn’t always hard. As long as the base concept was solid, adding more superficial concepts wasn’t a problem.

‘But…’

While collecting Malice and Evil, Ban Yu-won noticed something about the other concepts that came along.

First, the most abundant ones were Kill and Blood. Coincidentally, weren’t these the concepts initially present in the Executioner’s Longsword?

Executioner’s Longsword [Magic Sword 200, Murder 94, Blood Poison 75, Slash 50, Resonance 35]

These were the current concepts contained within the Executioner’s Longsword. At one time, he had added concepts like Melt or Skewer, but most were absorbed by other concepts forming the Magic Sword, leaving only these significant ones.

The important ones among them were Murder and Blood Poison. Murder grew whenever the Executioner’s Longsword killed a human (including NPCs in the Tower), and as it grew, the sword’s power and killing intent increased against humans. Blood Poison was a unique concept of the Executioner’s Longsword, enhancing the sword’s power by drawing Ban Yu-won’s blood to coat it, a concept he hadn’t found elsewhere despite his experiences across dimensions.

‘To think it already contained concepts that only Demon World monsters have… The Executioner’s Longsword truly is a remarkable artifact.’

No matter how much Ban Yu-won enhanced its depth with his ability to handle concepts, the fact that he could still use this Earth-made item from a lower dimension proved its extraordinary nature.

‘I could reinforce the Executioner’s Longsword with Blood and Kill, but… I’ll think about this later. There might be a better combination of concepts. Corruption is intriguing, but I don’t have a use for it now, so I’ll store it in the Code Core.’

There was another notable concept. It was Death. This was a concept held by only a few monsters, and even when combined with what he obtained when the World Giant committed suicide during a previous solo exploration, its depth was only 2.7.

As such, it seemed even more special—but also difficult to approach. He wasn’t confident in assigning it to an object and controlling it, and he pondered how best to handle it.

Perhaps the most effective use would be to unleash it like a language spell to attack enemies, but it felt too precious to expend in such a way.

‘Ah, maybe I should research this in the Orb’s space?!’

“Yu-won, it’s evening now… Do you still have work at Ronica? Or…”

“Hmm?”

Just as Ban Yu-won had a genius idea, Mira approached him, cautiously taking his hand and whispering in his ear.

“Shall we, um, go to a bar together?”

The fairy’s pointed ears turned bright red as she spoke. When with Luciel, she boldly approached him, but at times like this, she was as innocent as a young girl. However, her mistake was that Ban Yu-won wasn’t the only one present.

“Wow, look at her naturally leaving me out. They say friendship is useless in front of a guy, and even Mira’s like that!”

“Shati, you…”

“No, let’s head back today.”

It would be a lie to say her proposal wasn’t tempting. But drinking and wandering around on weekdays was a bit off-putting. He was also mindful of Light, who shared the room. More importantly, he wanted to stay focused, especially since there was a special activity this week.

“Let’s drink next time, on a holiday.”

“…Promise.”

“Sure. Ah, could you help again next time, Shati?”

“Huh? As long as the timing works for me, anytime! Next time, without Mira—just kidding, Evil One joke! Hahaha!”

As Ban Yu-won watched the student council president Shati, who tirelessly teased Mira and laughed heartily, he thought quietly. Although she claimed she couldn’t handle summoning magic well, from what he observed spending the day with her… Well, perhaps he could help her hone her skills while collecting concepts. But he decided to ponder it alone for now, not wanting to raise her expectations without certainty.

This week, team-based special activities were scheduled. Even with all the assistant professors combined, there weren’t enough to assign one to each first-year team. Therefore, most teams were grouped together with a single guide, allowing them to undertake quests in the same dimension. Naturally, Rebellion had no such arrangement, with Yumina as their guide.

“So, the place we’re going to this time is a star called ‘Uraha’ in dimension F-138.”

On Thursday after class, in a lecture room without doors, the Rebellion members gathered to preview the dimension they would visit the next day.

“I’ve explained the dimension grade classification, right? The dimension grades are organized by mana density, with many dimensions connected to the Union Net through the Babel Tower. The ten dimensions ruled by the ten great families are classified as S-grade, and it goes down from there in ABC order.”

Lucein Ortima and the other Special Class members scoffed at this, finding it amusing. However, it was undeniable that the average mana capacity of dimension inhabitants varied according to mana density.

“Dimension F-138 is the 138th lowest in mana density among F-grade dimensions, which is the seventh from the top. In fact, F-grade dimensions are so similar that they’re distinguished by numbers for convenience.”

“The way dimensions are categorized shows how obsessed people are with mana.”

In simpler terms, dimension F-138 was an absurdly insignificant lower dimension. Their special activity taking place in F-138 wasn’t due to any discrimination against special admissions; it was simply that the first-year’s initial special activity was always conducted in such an easy place.

“There won’t be any difficulties. The mission type is a simple subjugation. It’s not even a monster wave, just eliminating a group of monsters that appeared in large numbers in a country within Uraha. Since it’s spring there, with flowers in full bloom, think of it as a flower-viewing trip.”

“But I remember hearing similar words before the previous school-wide special activity, only to encounter dimension pirates.”

“If such a thing happens again, I’ll strangle the principal myself.”

Yumina’s bright smile and nonchalant threat left the members speechless. By the way, according to this dimension grade standard, Earth, Ban Yu-won’s home, had no mana and was thus ‘ungraded.’

“What about you guys?” Ban Yu-won, curious about the dimensions of his fellow Rebellion members, asked.

“I do not know. Nor do I care about external standards.”

“I’m from dimension D-13. In this dimension, there are quite a few stars with mana civilizations besides our ‘star,’ so we formed a resistance alliance to counter external invasions… Though sometimes disputes arise within.”

Unlike Dokgo Yeon, who expressed disdain for dimension grades, Light explained with a bitter smile. Given Light’s extensive interdimensional knowledge, it was no surprise he knew his dimension’s grade.

“Come to think of it, not every dimension has only one star. It’s starting to feel vast.”

Originally, Earth was just a planet in the solar system within the Milky Way, a corner of the vast universe. Thinking that other students’ dimensions also had vast universes made Ban Yu-won feel dizzy.

“No, Ban Yu-won. The universe is one.”

Seeing Ban Yu-won’s eyes spinning, Yumina interjected.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Although no one can fully comprehend the universe, the principal concluded that the universe is a single vast space, with all dimensions within it. You’ll learn about this in a liberal arts course next semester… Shall we preview it briefly now?”

Yumina reached out into the air, creating a sphere with visualized mana.

“Let’s call this the universe. Perhaps initially, the universe was whole. But at some point, it began to split. The ‘dimension walls’ emerged as boundaries, making it impossible to cross with the concept of physical distance.”

As Yumina waved her hand, the sphere cracked and split into dozens, hundreds of pieces. It still appeared as a single sphere, yet it was simultaneously a collection of hundreds of fragments. Ban Yu-won, observing this, asked a question.

“Are you saying each of those fragments divided by dimension walls became different dimensions?”

“Exactly. One more thing to note is that dimension walls form at boundaries where mana density changes. This naturally led to the distinction between higher and lower dimensions.”

Just as hot and cold water with different densities don’t mix, dimensions with high and low mana densities also remained separate due to dimension walls. Unlike water, however, where hot and cold water eventually mix to become lukewarm, dimensions with different mana densities never mix due to the existence of dimension walls.

“To divide what was once one into many and prevent them from ever mixing…”

Yet, for some reason, Ban Yu-won felt a strangely artificial and simultaneously familiar sensation from the existence of dimension walls. Yumina continued, unaware of his thoughts.

“Of course, dimension walls can’t completely block mana movement. That’s why mana appears in dimensions that initially had none. Dimensional travel technology also emerged from researching ways to cross dimension walls.”

Most of it was simply copying the technology possessed by the Babel Tower, Yumina added.

“When you think about it, it’s simple, right? There’s no need to feel that other dimensions are so distant. They’re just neighbors separated by somewhat insurmountable walls.”

“Putting it that way, it really does seem like nothing.”

“Exactly. Especially for you, climbing the Babel Tower, the origin of the power to transcend all dimension walls.”

Yumina’s eyes twinkled softly.

“It’s a meaningless distinction. You’ve already crossed the walls. The reason upper-dimension students dislike you is that they feel you’ve taken away everything they considered their exclusive privilege.”

No one gave it to them, nor was it allowed only to them—.

Truly foolish and pitiful.

As Yumina said this, a momentary arrogant smile appeared on her face, prompting a sudden curiosity in Ban Yu-won.

“Professor Yumina, could you tell us which dimension you were born in?”

“Hmm, that—.”

Perhaps she had anticipated such a question? Yumina blinked playfully, smiling.

“I’ll tell you when it’s just the two of us.”

Ban Yu-won felt as if he had already received an answer. Meanwhile, the Rebellion members who heard this felt quite displeased.