I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 355

Scarlett’s enrollment at Stella Academy was decided without much hesitation, and Baek Yuseol went straight to Eltrun to finalize the matter.

"Baek Yuseol, I’ve come to expect unusual behavior from you, but this time you’ve truly surprised me."

Eltrun’s rare, serious expression was no surprise to Baek Yuseol. He had anticipated this reaction—after all, Eltrun and Scarlett had a long-standing rivalry.

"Hey, I told you this was a bad idea," Scarlett muttered, fidgeting uncomfortably on the side. She looked ready to teleport away at any moment, so Baek Yuseol quickly spoke up.

"Principal, I know you don’t particularly like Scarlett, which is exactly why I brought her here personally. Isn’t it better to keep an eye on her?"

"...I’m worried she’ll ruin my precious school."

"There’s no need to worry about that."

Baek Yuseol gave Scarlett a pointed look.

"Scarlett, make the pledge."

"What pledge?"

"First, you’ll never use magic without my permission."

"Wait! I’m the Witch Queen! I can’t make such a casual promise!"

"Then we’ll have to abandon the enrollment plan."

Scarlett rolled her eyes in frustration but eventually relented.

"Fine. But if I feel threatened, I’ll defend myself appropriately without causing serious harm. That’s reasonable, right?"

"Of course. I wouldn’t want my conditions to put you in danger."

"That... sounds oddly considerate..."

"Second, don’t draw unnecessary attention to yourself."

Her golden eyes darkened with annoyance.

"When have I ever done that?"

"Please keep a low profile. You won’t be attending every day, but it’s best if you act like an ordinary student. How about taking on the persona of a quiet, sickly girl?"

"Grr... fine."

Clenching her fists tightly, Scarlett grudgingly agreed. When Baek Yuseol presented a contract for her to sign, she accepted without protest. Watching this unfold, Eltrun looked at her as if she were a strange specimen.

"What’s gotten into you, Witch Queen? Why are you doing this?"

Eltrun’s face was a mixture of confusion and genuine curiosity. Scarlett sighed deeply before responding.

"Listen, kid. The world is more chaotic and changing faster than ever before. For the first time in a millennium, the Twelve Moons are awakening and revealing themselves to the world. And this boy here has begun to take on the role of controlling them."

Her unexpectedly calm tone surprised even Baek Yuseol.

"Destruction is on the horizon. Soon, we’ll be faced with choices that will shape our future. To ensure we make the best possible decisions... I’ve chosen to guide Baek Yuseol in the right direction. Becoming a student here is just one of the ways I plan to do that."

"...I see."

Eltrun nodded, his face stern.

"So you didn’t just come along without thinking..."

Baek Yuseol realized he had underestimated Scarlett. While he had impulsively decided to confine her within Stella, she had been planning for the future all along.

Would having Scarlett at the academy truly be beneficial? Was this a wise decision for the future? A Witch Queen who had lived a thousand years wouldn’t act recklessly.

"I’m too old to throw tantrums at school, so you can relax. I’ll keep to myself and stay as unnoticed as possible."

Scarlett locked eyes with Eltrun, who scrutinized her for a long moment before finally nodding.

"Fine. I’ll trust you. Given the circumstances, your help might become necessary."

"See? I can be mature when I need to be!" Scarlett quipped, standing up as if to leave, but Eltrun stopped her.

"Wait."

"What now?"

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"You still need to take the entrance exam."

"...Are you serious?"

Scarlett’s expression was a mix of disbelief and indignation.

"I’m three times your age. You want me to take an exam alongside teenagers?"

"It’s not about testing your ability. It’s about seeing how well you can adapt to human magic."

In other words, while other students were tested to determine if they were qualified to enroll, Scarlett’s test would assess her ability to control her power.

"Ugh, fine. I’ll humor you. I’ll jump through all your hoops, so just let me enroll, alright?"

Unlike her interactions with Baek Yuseol, Scarlett’s tone with Eltrun was sharp and irritable. Eltrun, however, merely smiled.

"Of course. I look forward to seeing how you change."

***

Entrance Exam Day.

Baek Yuseol accompanied Annella and Lady Mirinae to the testing grounds to support them during the exam. Truthfully, his guidance wasn’t particularly necessary for either of them, so he mainly intended to show up as moral support.

"Do you think the entrance exam will be really difficult?"

Annella asked nervously, her expression tight with worry. Baek Yuseol hesitated to answer.

He had never actually taken the entrance exam himself. When he was first transported to this world, his enrollment had already been confirmed, and he only had to participate in the class placement test.

"It’ll probably be tough. It’s Stella, after all."

He gave her a vague reply while scanning the area. As expected, this year’s batch of notable applicants was impressive. Many of their faces were familiar to him from Aether World Online.

"About five thousand people, they said?"

The entrance exam took place in the Stella Dome, the only venue large enough to accommodate so many candidates. Even this number represented only the cream of the crop—those who had survived the written preliminaries, where tens of thousands of students were eliminated.

"Where’s Scarlett?"

Expanding his senses, Baek Yuseol scanned the area. The throngs of parents and guardians were making it hard to pinpoint anyone specific, as most of them possessed strong mana signatures that interfered with his detection. Scarlett, however, had hidden her mana completely, and it took him a while to finally locate her.

"...I told her to keep a low profile."

Contrary to his expectations that she’d be tucked away in a corner, Scarlett was already surrounded by a significant group of people, mostly male students and wizards. The reason was obvious.

"Her face is the problem, I see."

With her snow-white skin, silky hair, and golden eyes, Scarlett looked like an angel incarnate, her appearance impossible to ignore. Even so, she seemed to be honoring their agreement. Her lips were tightly sealed, and she stood quietly, attempting to maintain the "reserved" persona they’d discussed.

It couldn’t have been easy for someone as outspoken as Scarlett to stay silent, especially with boys half her age fawning over her. The scene must have been incredibly irritating for her.

While keeping an eye on Scarlett, Baek Yuseol noticed the air splitting apart as a man descended from above.

"Welcome to Stella."

The man bowed politely before raising his head. It was Lee Hanwol, the instructor in charge of the first-year S-class. His formal demeanor was likely due to the large audience present.

"For the next week, you will undergo the practical entrance exam. You will not be allowed to receive any external help or bring in items from the outside..."

Hearing this, Baek Yuseol’s memory clicked.

"So that’s why they’re gathering in the Dome."

While the format of the exam changed every year, the practical test was usually a survival-style assessment. The primary objective was to survive until the end, with secondary objectives involving various missions.

"Everyone, gather around."

Annella and Lady Mirinae’s friends huddled closer as Baek Yuseol lowered his voice.

"The instructor will probably say that failing the survival test means immediate disqualification. But that’s a lie. If you complete enough missions and score highly, you can still pass even if you’re eliminated from the survival."

"Really?"

"Was that the case last year?"

"No, last year’s circumstances were a bit different."

This applied specifically to this year. According to Baek Yuseol’s knowledge from Aether World Online, this year’s acceptance rate was unusually low because the difficulty level had been raised dramatically due to the influx of promising candidates. Last year’s applicants had set the bar so high that it had caused problems in the admissions process, leading to the increased difficulty this year.

"The key is the missions. I don’t know what kind of missions they’ll have, but remember, they’re critical."

The girls nodded solemnly.

In truth, Baek Yuseol already knew what the missions entailed.

The event "Beast Summoner’s Assault" was a well-documented part of the game’s storyline. Once the survival test began, the Stella Dome would transform into a massive island, and the five thousand candidates would be scattered across it.

The visible objective would be to hunt magical beasts. However, the true mission was to defeat the beast summoners controlling them.

The summoners were few in number, and only a small fraction of the students would have the opportunity to complete that objective. Baek Yuseol hoped Annella could lead her group to success.

"Scarlett should be fine..."

He glanced at her again, noting how she ignored the chattering boys around her, gazing blankly into the distance. Her test was merely a power control assessment, so he wasn’t too worried.

He had warned her to avoid drawing attention and not to score high enough to end up in S-class, but who knew how things would turn out? Leaving the Witch Queen alone at the testing site made him uneasy, but he chose to trust her for now.

"Guardians, please proceed to the portal behind you for departure."

Unlike students, who would have been unceremoniously teleported out, guests were treated with more courtesy.

"I’ll be off, then."

After offering a final word of encouragement, Baek Yuseol turned to Lady Mirinae.

"And Lady Mirinae."

"Yes?"

"You’ve been overthinking lately. Let go of those worries. You’re already an excellent student as you are. I guarantee that if you keep this up, you’ll undoubtedly make it into A-class. Do you understand how impressive that is?"

"...So I won’t make it to S-class, like you."

"That’s not something I can guarantee. No one knows the exact criteria for getting into S-class."

"Well, I think I do."

She smiled faintly and looked at Annella.

"A-class is about effort. S-class... is for those with extraordinary talent. It’s the realm of geniuses."

Her tone made Baek Yuseol uneasy, but Lee Hanwol’s sharp glare forced him to retreat. The last thing he wanted was to start his second-year term with a punishment of 500 laps around the training grounds.

"Lady Mirinae, in my eyes, you’re already a genius. Just stay true to yourself."

With that, Baek Yuseol stepped into the portal and departed.

"Now that all distractions are gone," Lee Hanwol’s tone shifted dramatically, "we can begin the entrance exam."