1-Second Invincible Player in the Game

37. Admission Preparation (1)

With trembling hands, Carmelo set down his cane and asked me.

“…How do you feel?”

His voice was fraught with tension.

It was understandable, as he had just finished the last procedure.

“I don’t feel any different than usual, but let me wait a moment.”

I clenched and unclenched my hand, probing the sensation to the tips of my body.

It felt as if the blood flowing through my veins was reaching out to every hair follicle.

My eyes widened as if my whole body had become an antenna.

“…This is quite a strange sensation.”

The stark difference between when the 69th line was etched and when the 70th was, was as significant as completing the last piece of a puzzle.

“Has the room always been this cool?”

My skin felt as cold as if it had been touched by rainwater.

It seems like my sense of touch has blossomed first.

Proudly displaying my bristled hair, Carmelo approached the window.

“Ah, I didn’t close the window. How about now?”

“…Wait again.”

Once more, I closed my eyes and heightened my senses.

And surprisingly…

“Huh?”

“Oh, do you feel the mana?”

“No…”

It was as ordinary as ever.

“Ah, I can’t feel anything.”

Carmelo wore a dazed expression as if struck by shock.

Then, with a voice tinged with desperation, as if in denial of reality, he asked,

“How about your hearing? Do you hear anything at all?”

“Only your voice…”

“Do you see anything blurry around you?”

“Just this messy room.”

“And your sense of smell?”

“The musty scent of an old closet.”

With each honest answer, the hope in Carmelo’s eyes slowly died.

Reluctantly, he slumped his shoulders and posed one last question.

“…And taste?”

“Um…”

He opened his mouth wide and licked the air.

But the taste was so peculiar that his eyes widened in surprise.

A bizarre mix of grape and banana.

“…I do taste something.”

It was hard to be pleased.

The first sense to awaken being taste was like winning a terrible lottery against all odds.

“A strange fruit-like taste…”

Carmelo blinked in astonishment.

“Goodness, to witness someone whose taste buds awaken first, right before my eyes.”

My talent is of a peculiar kind.

Cursed with the ability to learn many spells—hexes, elements, disruption, morphing—I learn them all later than anyone else, and with less power.

The only advantage is the few spells I can actually use.

Suddenly overwhelmed, I muttered a memory of being praised as a ‘versatile genius.’

“…They called me a versatile genius.”

If that were true, at least my sense of touch should have awakened first.

That’s the average, the middle ground.

But seeing what Carmelo was doing, I couldn’t help but keep my mouth shut.

“Those damned primitives! What is this ‘awakening of the sixth sense’ nonsense!”

Carmelo was screaming like a madman, tearing up the papers in his bag.

“Presumptuous chickens, harboring such vain hopes, wasting my precious time! I’ll find your graves and curse you! I’ll erase all your names inscribed in the tower, you b*stards!”

“Why, why are you doing this? Calm down, please.”

His bloodshot eyes gave me the chills.

I stepped back from his rage-filled madness and offered some positive words.

“But you did succeed, didn’t you? The hypothesis didn’t fail. So put those papers back in the bag. Don’t regret it later. You can read them again if you glue them back together…”

Carmelo stopped his frenzy, opened his weary eyes, and approached.

“Success? To think this was merely an experiment designed to awaken a single sense, how surprising.”

Hadn’t he clearly told me otherwise?

He must have been hiding something from me.

“You said it was just an experiment to awaken a single sense.”

“Hmph, the purpose of this experiment is to awaken the sixth sense. But now, it’s proven to be a futile effort.”

Anger furrowed my brow.

This insane magician… I entrusted him with an appendectomy, and he performs a circumcision?

“You b*stard… You should have explained that from the start!”

“Oh, should I? Then, let me explain now! The awakening of the five senses is merely a sideshow. The true value of the theory is whether it can transcend the boundaries of mana! And for that, only the sixth sense is needed! Are you satisfied now?”

His outburst left me drained of energy.

“Sigh, forget it.”

There’s no use getting angry at a madman obsessed with magic; it only saps my strength.

Anyway, I’ve met the admission requirements, so I should be content with that.

With that thought, I sat down and waited for Carmelo to calm down.

“Heave, heave…”

After he turned all the papers to ash, he caught his breath.

I calmly waited and blurted out the questions swirling in my head.

“So, it’s a failure, then? There won’t be any side effects later, right? Like, say, blocking the path to becoming a senior magician?”

Exhausted, Carmelo calmed down and parted his lips.

“I can’t give a definite answer since there are no successful subjects, but it shouldn’t be an obstacle to your growth. The spells etched inside you are just pictures if they don’t function.”

“Are you sure?”

“I swear on mana.”

Are you saying that, aside from the lines of the ritual that awakened the taste, everything else is just scribbles…

“Really? Then that’s settled. We’ll take responsibility if something goes wrong.”

If there are no side effects, then we’ve achieved our goal.

It’s unsettling, but isn’t it fine as long as we’ve obtained a satisfactory result?

After all, it’s a task that took four years, completed in just three months.

* * *

Carmelo filled the remaining two weeks of his course and then left.

During that time, he mastered everything from how to hold a wand, to wrist snaps and power control.

He also received numerous tips on how to utilize senses and draw intricate rituals.

In short, it was practical training for magic implementation.

These days truly flew by, and on the last day, Carmelo had this conversation:

“Before I leave, let me be honest with you. Your theoretical understanding and calculation skills are useful, but your innate talent is, at best, mediocre.”

“Are you just going to leave like that?”

“I didn’t intend to. It’s just that I was suddenly curious. After all, I’ve never seen a mediocre talent achieve such growth in such a short time, regardless of the process.”

Carmelo’s gaze, which had always seemed sharp, now appeared a bit more benign.

Despite the ups and downs, it seems this man also felt a bit of affection.

“At least, having proven the theory wrong, I’m not leaving empty-handed.”

Carmelo’s face looked somewhat relieved as he said this.

That was the last I saw of his back.

Three months later.

The mansion’s renovations were nearly complete.

The main estate, which was the priority, had been perfectly restored, and the original residents, Aol and the lady of the house, had moved in with their twins.

I thought these peaceful days would continue, but the end came.

Dacel.

The runaway had returned.

“What’s your scheme?”

“Are you deaf? I said there’s no need to frown since you’ve given up the head of the family position.”

I thought I should at least notify him, so I called him to the backyard to explain the deal with the lady of the house.

But he didn’t believe me.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“The discussion with the lady of the house is already over. I’ve decided to explain it slowly to father. You just need to keep patting yourself on the back and chattering away.”

Dacel scrunched up his face in arrogance and glared as if he wanted to kill.

I looked down calmly at his murderous eyes and said,

“Why such a face? Wasn’t it the position you so desperately wanted, enough to trade the lives of the people here for it?”

“……”

“Then you should smile. It’s tough trying to keep up with a younger sibling’s rhythm, whether you give this or that.”

He clenched his fist as if he was about to strike any moment and gritted his teeth fiercely.

“How dare you, a mere worm, keep babbling on. It seems you still don’t understand. What I desire is not just the position of the head of the family, but your neck included.”

With that, I could confirm that the hatred he harbored was not mere jealousy over the position of the head.

He simply hated me and wanted me dead.

Perhaps, given another chance, he would repeat the same deed.

Feeling the need to suppress his energy so he could never do such a thing again, I took a step forward.

“Really? Then, try me.”

Donatan showed an expression of disbelief.

‘Hersel, what are you doing? You’re not an opponent to be beaten just because you’ve learned some magic. Retreat now.’

‘Fight? Am I mad?’

‘Then why such a reckless act?’

‘Just watch. I have a plan.’

While Dacel watched my eyes, I drew a faint spell with my right index finger.

It was not as precise as a wand, so I could only do something very simple, but it was enough.

“But, do you pretend not to know, even though you do? No, perhaps ‘deceiving yourself’ is a more fitting expression, Dacel.”

I called his name and approached leisurely.

When I got close enough, I flared up the ‘noble blood’s last ember’ to its maximum and lowered my voice.

“You can’t kill me.”

At the same time, I unleashed the telekinetic magic I had drawn with my finger.

Squeezing out all my strength, I pulled down all the maple leaves hanging from the trees around us at random.

Swish

As the leaves poured down and became fallen leaves, cold sweat ran down Dacel’s forehead.

I passed by the frozen man as if I had no further business with him.

Then I stopped and spoke in a calm voice.

“This has gone beyond a mere joke. I never intended to show any killing intent.”

“……”

Then, with a light tap on the guy’s shoulder, he gracefully made his exit.

I knew it would work.

My body now, unlike before when it was all skin and bones, had a decent amount of muscle.

Plus, I’m the one who survived the monster’s breath.

In this state, a little bit of acting was all it took to make the opponent scared.

‘……You didn’t learn magic just to put on such a bluff, did you?’

‘Of course not. I learned magic because I had no other choice.’

It’s not like I had options.

The magic was forced upon me, so it wasn’t intentional.

But deep down, I always thought magic was better for a performance than swordsmanship.

‘Still, I can’t say I didn’t have that in mind at all.’

Besides ‘One Second Invincibility,’ I also had the trait ‘Noble Blood’s Last Ember.’

This too, I had experienced, could become a great shield if used well.

With so few traits to my name, I plan to make good use of it.

* * *

Frost formed on the windowpane.

Without much thought, I drew the number 6 with my index finger.

Perhaps it was a realization that time had slipped away meaninglessly.

The last six months, I was so engrossed in magic that I lost track of time.

That’s why the festival period, when I was treading on thin ice, felt like it happened just yesterday.

Of course, now they’re nothing but things of the past.

Then, those things can be considered memories.

“I’ve grown a bit too.”

It was while I was immersed in the sentimentality of sorting through the past days.

Could it be that late rain was coming?

Suddenly, dark clouds began to gather, and the door opened.

“Young master! A letter has arrived from the academy!”

In Celly’s hand was a bundle of letters.

Come to think of it, today was the day the acceptance letters were supposed to arrive.

I snatched the letters that Celly had hurriedly brought and opened each one.

“Why are there so many letters?”

“Well, I did apply to four places. I’m going to read them now, so please be quiet.”

My heart raced as I searched for the word ‘accepted.’

But all I saw were a few formal lines.

[While we recognize your academic achievements and various experiences, the current admissions competition is extremely fierce. We regret to inform you that we cannot offer you admission at this time.]

It was the same with the others.

[Delivering news of admission denial is always difficult.]

[We appreciate your interest, however.]

[After reviewing your application, we regret to inform you of the unfortunate news.]

“Oh my…”

I was rejected from every place I applied to.

Of course, I had suspected that admission would be difficult.

The four academies that rejected me were prestigious institutions where graduation guaranteed a significant position in any empire or kingdom.

It was normal for them to be selective.

They must have hesitated to accept a haughty scoundrel who does nothing but drink and flirt with women.

Still, the reason I tried everywhere was that I believed at least one would accept me.

Because I am the eldest son of the noble Tenest family, capable of crushing even such evaluations.

Damn it all.

I thought at least one would accept me based on my family’s name.

“How did it go? You must have been accepted to at least one, right?”

“I was rejected.”

“What?”

“I said, I was rejected.”

Celly’s face turned pale.

Then, pointing to an unopened letter, her eyes filled with hope.

“Aren’t you going to open that one? There’s still one left.”

“This one…”

This too was a letter from an academy.

But I didn’t apply here.

There was only one reason.

“It’s obvious without looking. It’s an admission invitation.”

The name of this place, which I hadn’t even considered, was Frost Heart.

Located near the demon-infested snowy mountains close to the border, frequent monster attacks and the biting cold gnaw at one’s flesh.

Moreover, the school is built atop a dungeon, so unreal events keep unfolding, leaving no day comfortable or ordinary.

But what can I do?

If this is where I’m accepted, as always, I must grin and bear it.

Hiding my true feelings, I turned to Celly, who would be attending the academy with me, and said gently,

“It’s a good thing. To be accepted into the best place.”

“Really? Then, the living space I’ll be staying in must be nice too. I heard the academy treats even the servants to all sorts of things.”

They even provide a cool private room and winter clothes.

“But I’m still worried. I hope I can get along with the people there.”

Huddling together in the cold, you’ll share warmth and become friends quickly.

“Ah, what should I do? Should I buy some cosmetics to be more grown-up… I need to start taking care of my skin from now on.”

There’s no need.

You’ll maintain freshness like a mackerel in a freezer.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Of course. If I’m a servant following to the academy, it means the family recognizes me. It’s a huge boost for my career.”

I was happy because Celly was happy.

“Ah, but young master. There’s more paper here, don’t you need to read it?”

“Hmm?”

There were two more documents stuck behind the admission invitation.

Application forms for the Department of Magic and the Department of Knights.

I crumpled up the one for the knights and checked the one for the Department of Magic.

At the very bottom, beneath the fine print, was a large square space.

A place for a guardian’s signature.

A person immediately came to mind, and my expression darkened.

“The Department of Magic?”

“Well, yes.”

“My goodness, the young master is magical… No, more importantly, the Duke is watching with such sharp eyes, he would never allow it.”

In the case of noble students, the family seal must be stamped.

Still, there was no particular cause for worry.

Because the guardian was not just one person, but Aoal.

“It’s okay. Besides father, there’s another person who can stamp it, right?”

I moved to meet the hostess.