Magic Thesis Research

"Lucy, do you, perhaps… have feelings for Hoyeon?"

Lumi's unexpected question left Lucy momentarily baffled. "Huh? Wh-what? Why are you suddenly asking that?" She stumbled over her words, clearly caught off guard. But Lumi wasn't ready to drop the subject just yet. "Lucy, hear me out…"

Lucy was surprised by her younger sister's seriousness and the look on her face, which made her fall silent.

"Right now…" In Lumi's mind, images of Lee Hoyeon floated by. Memories of their fun times together and their secret interactions flashed before her, causing a faint blush to creep onto her cheeks.

"Lumi…?" Lucy felt her sister's hand on her shoulder trembling slightly.

"Right now… I'm willing to make a concession."

"Lumi?! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?!"

"But I can't predict the future… and waiting until next week might be too late."

"What are you even talking about?!"

"Really… You're not even a bit interested in Hoyeon?"e

Lucy found herself puzzled. Lumi's abrupt seriousness had caught her off guard. She also grappled with her feelings for Lee Hoyeon. She truly appreciated him for what he did regarding Felix, for being there for her, and for saying he'd stand by her side. He was an incredibly kind and precious friend. But when it came to calling it "love", Lucy couldn't give a definite yes.

In her life, the concepts of "man" and "love" had never really aligned for her. Given her experiences dealing with men who had ulterior motives regarding her body, adults who demanded favors, and peers who couldn't help but ogle at her chest, the notion of loving a man felt elusive to her.

Is this… what they call love? I care about Lumi. I care about Lee Hoyeon. Does that mean I love both Lumi and Lee Hoyeon? Lucy mulled over the question repeatedly but couldn't come up with a concrete answer. In the end, Lucy could only respond based on her experiences.

"Yeah… Hoyeon is a really good friend. I don't have any feelings beyond that." Lucy's answer ultimately drew from her own life experiences.

"Okay then. Lucy, you're my favorite."

"Yeah. Lumi, you're my favorite too." She hugged Lumi tightly, but in the midst of their embrace, she couldn't ignore the nagging discomfort in a corner of her heart.

***

"Hoyeon, my bad." Out of the blue, Moon Soorin offered an apology.

"Why the sudden apology, Noona?"

"You've probably been tired, and it's all because of the pressure on me. I promise there won't be such incidents in the future."

I was certain that this pressure wasn't just affecting Moon Soorin; it was also weighing on me. Dongmin's hostile gaze couldn't be solely attributed to her.

"Anyway, I'm genuinely sorry. Go rest up. I need some rest too; I'm pretty tired." Moon Soorin left these words and headed for the president's office. As I watched her walk away, I felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

"Soorin Noona."

"Yes? What's up? Do you have something to say?"

Despite her concern for my fatigue, dark circles had ironically appeared under her eyes. Her pupils, visible behind her glasses, were deeply sunken from exhaustion.

"I'm on your side, Noona. This kind of thing doesn't bother me, so don't worry."

"Heh. Thanks." Moon Soorin gave me a wry smile in response to my unexpected support.

"I've told you before, right? I'm a capable guy. You've seen it too. If you ever need help, just let me know. Got it?"

"Sigh… Okay, okay. How many times do you have to say that? Thanks for having my back."

Sometimes, you need to repeat things to really get the point across. Moon Soorin walked into the office with a slightly lighter expression than before.

"I wonder if this has boosted her affection a bit? It's reassuring."

With no more business in the student council, I turned and headed for the elevator.

"Bye."

"…"

Alice emerged from around the corner, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation.

Surprising. Why didn't she leave? Huh?

"It looks like you're quite close to the president."

"Huh? Yeah, that's right. Anything wrong with that?"

"Heh…" Alice nodded slowly and stepped into the elevator. She kept her eyes fixed on me until the elevator doors closed completely and she disappeared.

"This… doesn't seem right."

I got caught eavesdropping, didn't I?

***

"Can you give me a hand?"

After we wrapped up the student council meeting, the first thing I heard when I visited Professor Im Sol's research lab was this request.

"How tough must it be if the professor is asking for help?"

It felt like it had been quite a while since I last saw Im Sol, but, to be honest, it hadn't been that long. The commendation ceremony was just two days ago. A lot had happened in that short span.

"I've been working on a research paper for the Magic Society presentation, and I could really use some assistance."

"A research paper?"

I wasn't very confident in that area. Just hearing the term made it sound quite daunting. A research paper.

"Yeah, I tried to tackle it on my own, but it's proving to be quite a challenge to uncover the core of the magic circle. It's like endless manual labor, sorting through them one by one." As she spoke, Professor Im Sol handed me a document with organized information about the magic circles.

"Could you help me with this task? You're the only one who understands the concept of the core formula. I have no one else to turn to… please."

Wearing a snug pink knit sweater and leaning in slightly, this was a request that was hard to turn down. It was clear she was using her own charm, even though it was unintentional, but it felt odd to have her lean in with such a suggestive angle.

"Alright, I understand. Thanks for helping me with that commendation, Professor. But is this all you have?"

"Huh? Oh, I only provided you with today's portion for now. There's so much that I can't extract it all at once."

"No, this should take about 30 minutes, tops."

"…?" Im Sol furrowed her brow and looked at me as if wondering what I was talking about.

"What? To go through each magic circle, test it with mana, and find the core formula, even if I do it as fast as possible, it would take at least 5 minutes for each one, right?"

"…?"

"…?"

We exchanged puzzled glances.

"Oh."

I finally realized that there was a significant gap in perspective between Professor Im Sol and me. Since I hadn't experienced life as a mage without Mana Sensitivity, I needed to understand how others perceived it.

"Take a look." I pointed to the top row of magic circles. "Explosion is an explosive spell, right?"

"Yes? It's an advanced magic, so the magic circle is complex."

"Anyway, what's essential in Explosion is the explosion itself. So, to enhance the magic by incorporating it into the magic circle, you need to strengthen the strokes responsible for the explosion. That's where the core formula is, right here." I lightly tapped the strokes drawn slightly to the right of the center of the magic circle.

"Huh?"

As expected, Professor Im Sol, being a genius mage, began to understand as I provided hints.

"Let me show you one more thing. The location of the core formula depends on the magic's elemental attribute. For example, fire elemental magic circles have it here, where the ignition stroke is located."

I may not understand the theory well, but I can still "comprehend" the structure of the magic circle. Even if I don't know the principles behind it, I can read what's visible. That should be enough. If I just pointed out the results, Im Sol, who could deduce the causes, would handle the rest.

"Hmm… Ah… Huh… I see!" She looked at the magic circles I had pointed out, then glanced at the printout in her hand, and even unfolded the magic circle on their hand. She mumbled some strange phrases as she looked at it. Then, she pressed her hands against my cheeks and said, "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"

"Hey… Uh, let go."

Does she think I'm her boyfriend or what?

Im Sol, without minding my reaction, took a bite of the cake that was on the table. "Oh~! Thanks to you, the time will be significantly reduced. This is a relatively simple concept; why didn't I think of it?"

"Geniuses often overlook basic things like this. Besides, it's only been a few days. You would have figured it out by yourself in about a week, I'm sure."

This was true. The core formula was a new concept, but not a difficult one. If Im Sol had examined various magic circles through trial and error, she would have eventually found commonalities on her own.

"Well, it might be true. But hey, thanks to you, I've got a whole week saved up." Im Sol responded with a pleased hum and wore a contented expression. I couldn't quite tell whether that contentment was directed at me or the chocolate cake.

"By the way, Professor, do you know a student named Shin Dongmin?"

"Shin Dongmin? Who's that?"

"The vice president of the student council."

"Ah, that stuck-up guy?"

"Yeah…"

He did have an air of peculiarity about him. That must be a reason why Moon Soorin disliked him.

"But why do you ask? You're both in the same student council. You should know better than me."

"Well, it seems I might have to face him in a duel. But I'm not sure how strong he is."

"How am I supposed to know how strong he is? I can barely remember his name. Oh, but I do recall he's a mage."

"Right, yeah."

I asked without expecting much, but there was still a lingering sense of unease.

"Anyway, you'll win no matter what."

"Me?"

Im Sol said as she sipped her mixed coffee.

"Among the students, who's stronger than you at your level? Except for Moon Soorin, you could beat anyone up to the third year, right?"

"Really?"

"Of course. You think some newbie can match up to you when you've easily taken down the ogres by yourself and all that? Don't worry about it."

"It wasn't that easy… Anyway, thanks."

Well, I worried for nothing. I was pretty strong, after all.

———————-

[Lee Hoyeon]

▶ Strength: 42

▶ Stamina: 48

▶ Agility: 43

▶ Endurance: 42

▶ Mana: 50

– Unique Ability: Battle Sense

– Skills: Vision Enhancement, Cotton Guard, Acceleration…

– ??? : ???

———————-

Yeah, my stats had definitely improved significantly. If the average stat for students exceeded 40, then even among freshmen, I was considered top-tier. I was pretty strong.

"Phew. So, are you ready now?"

"Ready for what?"

"Aren't we going to do it? You know, the thing. Thanks to you, I've saved a lot of time, so I should compensate you." Im Sol teasingly opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue slightly, and playfully gestured in front of her lips.

Well, I had received a new skill and an artifact from Im Sol last time, and although I had intended to let it slide this time, when she made such a seductive move, I couldn't resist.

"I'm counting on you."

She knelt in front of the couch where I was seated, and I unzipped my pants.

"Mmm… Mmm…" Her crimson tongue sensually trailed up my shaft, teasing my glans ever so gently. I somehow managed to suppress a moan that was about to burst out.

How did she become even more adept at this?

"Uhm…" Suddenly, Im Sol released my meat from her mouth. It felt fantastic, but it was somewhat disappointing. I didn't want her to stop.

"Actually, I thought it was just my imagination… Why is it so sweet…?"

"…? Oh…" I figured it out. It was probably because of the Sweet Body reward I had received after doing it with Lumi. Then, Liliana had also mentioned that my body emitted a sweet fragrance, and Lumi had even said that my cum tasted delicious. It seemed like Im Sol had noticed it too.

"Yeah, there's definitely something! It wasn't my imagination! I even cut back on my chocolate because I thought my taste buds were playing tricks on me, but even now, it's sweet here! What did you do?"

"Oh! No, it's a skill. I acquired it from using a peculiar magic book I obtained from the black market, and ever since then, my body has had this sweet flavor."

"A skill? So it wasn't something bizarre…"

Buying or selling unusual items in the black market was a common practice in this world.

Im Sol resumed, sticking her tongue out again to lick the pre-cum from my tip.

"It's delicious…!" As Im Sol looked at my penis, her eyes, now filled with lust, were just like when she looked at the chocolate cake.