I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 388

Full Frame couldn’t focus on the lesson at all, her mind consumed by intrusive thoughts. Then again, was there even a need to pay attention in a class held during a timeline that shouldn’t even exist?

She fiddled absentmindedly with her fingers, staring blankly at the desk.

“Where... even is this?”

She had attempted time travel to the past and successfully arrived here. But why was Baek Yuseol absent from this timeline?

“Could it be... this is how time travel really works?”

As they prepared for the journey, Eisel, who had been deeply interested in temporal mechanics, had eagerly explained numerous theories about time travel.

“Think of it this way. The timeline we’re currently living in is A2. The past we’ve already passed through is A1.”

According to Eisel, time flowed like this:

Past (A1) → Present (A2) → Future (A3)

Then she had introduced her interpretation of how time travel might work.

“But time travel is different. Even if we travel from A2 back to the past, we wouldn’t end up in A1. Instead, we’d arrive at something like B1.”

“B1...? A different world?”

“Yes. It would be a world entirely distinct from the past we know. Think of it as a parallel universe.”

“But we encountered Baek Yuseol when we glimpsed the past.”

“True. I’ve thought about that too.”

The Baek Yuseol they had seen in the past wasn’t the Baek Yuseol from their world but another dimension’s version of him—or so Eisel’s hypothesis suggested.

Of course, the Baek Yuseol from their world might have time-traveled too, but if he did, it was likely he went to another dimension, not the same one they were traveling to.

“That’s such a stretch...”

“It is. It’s just a hypothesis, after all. Nothing has been proven.”

Eisel hadn’t sounded too serious, and Full Frame hadn’t believed it either. The idea that time travel was actually dimensional travel seemed overly complicated.

But now...

“Baek Yuseol? Never heard of him.”

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“Miss Full Frame, are you alright? You don’t seem well...”

How could this be happening?

The existence of Baek Yuseol had vanished without a trace. Was such a thing even possible?

Total Students: 1,140

After alchemy class ended, Full Frame rushed to the class bulletin board. Seeing that the total number of students had decreased by one from the usual 1,141 confirmed her suspicions.

“This world doesn’t have Baek Yuseol...”

In other words, she had traveled to a past in a different world, one where Baek Yuseol didn’t exist.

“...Stay calm. I can just go back.”

Even if the time travel had failed, it didn’t matter.

She had prepared a spell that would allow her to return to her original world at any time.

Of course, she would need Eisel and Hong Biyeon to cast the spell, but for now, Full Frame tried to steady her thoughts—until her heart sank abruptly.

“W-wait...”

The spell.

What was it?

“Why... why can’t I remember it?”

She vividly recalled gathering with Hong Biyeon and Eisel, chanting the spell just before traveling back in time.

But for some reason, her memory of the moment their mouths formed the words was completely erased, painted over in “gray.”

“That’s... that’s impossible. It can’t be...”

She wanted to collapse in despair but forced herself to remain composed.

“...Even if I can’t remember, Hong Biyeon and Eisel will.”

Clenching her trembling hands into fists, she bit her lip.

“Thank goodness I’m not alone.”

Originally, she had planned to attempt the time travel on her own. It had been sheer luck that she ran into the other two and joined forces with them.

“How fortunate,” she thought, “that they’re here.”

For now, she had to find Eisel.

***

“Who are you?”

“...Huh?”

Eisel! Finally, I found you!

Full Frame’s heart raced as she reached out to Eisel, but the cold reply that followed froze her in place. The Eisel standing before her, in her first-year form, was entirely different from the composed and empathetic Eisel she had known as a second-year. Her voice was icy and distant.

“I don’t know someone like you. Leave.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Eisel turned her back and began walking down the hallway. Desperate, Full Frame grabbed her arm.

“W-wait! It’s me, Full Frame. We came here... together. Don’t you remember? If you’re pretending, it’s not funny...”

“Please let go of me,” Eisel snapped, shaking off Full Frame’s grip. “I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

Her sharp voice cut through the air like a blade.

“Are you trying to act familiar because you remember my family’s former glory? If so, you’ve chosen poorly. Or perhaps you’re here to mock me? Maybe your friends are waiting around the corner, laughing at my expense. If that’s the case, it won’t work on me.”

With those harsh words, Eisel disappeared down the corridor.

The emotional wall was unmistakable.

This was the Eisel of her first year—the one who had been hated by everyone, who survived by erecting unyielding barriers around her heart, isolating herself from the world.

There was no doubt about it.

“How could this happen...”

Full Frame stood frozen, staring at the space where Eisel had vanished.

“She really doesn’t remember...”

It was undeniable that they had come here together from the past, returning to this timeline.

But if Eisel didn’t remember their original world...

“...Could Hong Biyeon be the same?”

Panicked, Full Frame dashed through the corridors, searching for Hong Biyeon. It wasn’t difficult; after class, Hong Biyeon always returned to her clubroom.

[Red Falcon Club]

This was a gathering place for the noble children of the Adolevit Kingdom. While it served as a sanctuary for Hong Biyeon, Full Frame knew she didn’t actually like the club.

In the future shaped by Baek Yuseol, however, Hong Biyeon had grown so comfortable here that she lounged around like it was her personal living room.

Full Frame had visited often too, frequently occupying one of the luxurious sofas. She was familiar with the location, but...

The atmosphere was anything but familiar.

“...You want to see the princess?”

“Uh, yeah. Can I go in for a moment?”

After knocking on the clubroom door, two first-year girls stepped out to greet her instead of Hong Biyeon. They were likely Hong Biyeon’s usual followers.

The two exchanged glances before one of them went back inside. After a brief wait, the girl returned and said,

“The princess says she has no reason to meet with a commoner. You should leave.”

“...Did I mention that I’m Full Frame?”

“You didn’t, but the princess has no reason to hear a commoner’s name, either.”

“C-come on, just this once? Please? I have something really important to tell her.”

Reluctantly, the girl went back inside. When she returned, her expression was sour.

“Well?”

“I delivered your message.”

“She’ll let me in, right? Right?”

Full Frame’s face lit up with hope as she asked, her tone pleading.

“The princess says to stop bothering her and get lost.”

“...Ah.”

The response was nothing but cold.

***

After the evening lectures were over, Full Frame ate a quick and half-hearted dinner before returning to her dorm room. She collapsed onto her bed, utterly drained.

“...What’s going to happen to me?”

How could she have been so foolish?

Forgetting the spell—that was beyond stupid.

No matter how hard she tried to dig through the gray haze in her memory, she couldn’t recall a thing about it.

“Am I... stuck here forever?”

This wasn’t some fake world. It was a completely different reality. Living here wouldn’t cause any major issues, but...

This world was far too different from the one she knew.

There was no Baek Yuseol.

None of the bonds she had painstakingly built existed here.

But most of all, there were Eisel and Hong Biyeon.

It was unbearable to face their coldness.

She could make herself understand that they had no memories of her. She could even accept that their frostiness toward her was natural. They were people who had completely given up on trusting others, living in self-imposed isolation.

In a way, it made sense.

An unfamiliar person like her approaching them would be unthinkable.

And yet...

Even if she understood, it still hurt.

Eisel’s cold, unfeeling gaze, and Hong Biyeon’s complete refusal to even look at her as if she were beneath notice—those moments cut her heart to shreds.

“If I really do end up living here... could I ever rebuild those relationships?”

Would it be possible to recreate all the memories and connections she had once shared with them?

For them, it would be fresh and exciting.

But for her... it would mean reliving moments she had already experienced, going through it all over again.

Could she even manage that?

Ah.

Suddenly, Baek Yuseol came to mind.

A wry laugh escaped her lips as she remembered. On her first day at Stella Academy, she had been suspicious of him. She had watched him with distrust, wary of his existence.

The first memory that surfaced was the day of the Wand Succession Ceremony.

That was the day Baek Yuseol had first approached her and spoken.

“What kind of wand are you going to choose?”

What had she said in reply?

“Why do you care?”

Her distrust had been natural.

After all, Baek Yuseol didn’t exist in the original story. Of course, she had been on guard.

“Oh? No, I just thought I’d help since you seemed lost.”

“Mind your own business and pick your own wand.”

“I just wanted to help you choose a wand...”

“Just stop meddling and choose yours.”

So she had responded coldly.

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At the time, it had seemed like the obvious thing to do. Even after she grew close to Baek Yuseol later, she would sometimes recall that day but never dwelled on it much.

But now...

Now that she had experienced the same situation herself...

She finally understood how Baek Yuseol must have felt.

Hearing those cold words from her—how much had it hurt him?

And it wasn’t just her.

He must have formed countless bonds with others, only for all of it to reset, leaving him with nothing but a blank slate.

Eisel, Hong Biyeon, Alterisha, and countless others—

All of them would have treated Baek Yuseol as if they were meeting him for the first time.

And he would have endured that hundreds, perhaps thousands of times.

“Unbelievable.”

Just one experience like this was enough to tear her heart apart.

How had he managed to endure it?

His heart must have been shredded into something beyond recognition, cut to pieces again and again.

“I want to go back.”

She had wanted to find her purpose, to uncover her destiny, and so she had embarked on this time-traveling journey. And yet now, here she was, stuck in the past, unable to return.

It was pathetic.

“I can’t just sit here like this.”

She lifted her face from the damp pillow. It was soaked—likely with drool, though she didn’t particularly care.

“I have to find a way back.”

She had to retrieve the spell from the depths of her gray-colored memory, no matter what.

“Hong Biyeon and Eisel must have lost their memories, just like me. I’m sure of it.”

She had only forgotten part of the spell, but they had lost all their memories of the future.

If she could restore their memories...

“Then we can go back.”

Finding a way to restore their memories...

The thought was overwhelming, and no solutions came to mind. But Full Frame already knew what she had to do.

“I need to prevent the disasters of the future, no matter what.”

Just as Baek Yuseol had done.

She immediately got out of bed and checked the date.

“Meizen Tiren’s alchemy experiment should be happening soon...”

That day, a disaster would befall Eisel. She had to stop it. The first step would be finding the old bookstore somewhere in Arcanium and acquiring Maella’s Magitech Notes before Eisel could.

Without wasting another moment, Full Frame prepared to head out. It was late at night, but that didn’t matter.

There was no time to rest. Even the time she had wasted sulking in bed felt like a loss.

“I’m not Baek Yuseol.”

So, to follow in his footsteps... she would have to move even faster than he ever had.