I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy

Baek Yu-Seol had spent his entire life shrouded in darkness.

Even though his world had always been void of light, he had never truly grasped what it meant to be blind.

But now, he understood.  

[Nature’s Heavenly Energy Body has activated.]

He had been blind his whole life, and only now have he finally opened his eyes.  

Was this what it felt like for the blind to witness light for the first time? What had once been hidden was now laid bare, and what had once been intangible could now be felt with piercing clarity.

‘... It's stifling.’

Baek Yu-Seol lowered his gaze to the surgical knife clenched in his hand. He vaguely remembered throwing it - hurling it to destroy something steeped in dark magic - but the memory of what, or who, remained hazy.

‘Is this all I can see...?’

When he had stepped into the body of the future Baek Yu-Seol - another version of himself - the sensation he felt had been vastly different. It was as though he had become an all-seeing eye, orbiting high above the world, peering down through a celestial lens.

But his current body felt fragile by comparison.

It was as if he had barely managed to crack his eyes open, able to glimpse only what lay directly before him.

And yet…  

Even with such limitations, everything felt completely different.  

This towering building fifty stories tall…

Within its depths, he could perceive every flicker of movement. Voices shouting. Chants echoing. Screams tearing through the air.

Even at such distances, he could sense the beads of sweat trickling down their skin.

He could discern the spells they were weaving without glimpsing their magic circles and visualize the precise paths he would need to cut them down.

[Entering Harmony of Heavenly Qi State!] 

[Natural energy is continuously eroding your body.]

[You are approaching the maximum threshold your body can endure.]

[Overload in 7 minutes and 37 seconds.]

[If the natural energy overload persists, permanent physical damage may occur.]

Baek Yu-Seol’s body was still too frail to withstand this immense force.

In this moment, with natural energy surging through his veins, he could unleash power surpassing Class 7 mages. But once his limit was breached, his collapse would be instantaneous.

In the original game, this state had been dubbed a ‘burst damage buff’, an extraordinarily rare skill. While it offered overwhelming power for a fleeting moment, it demanded a steep price in the form of debilitating cooldowns and severe aftereffects once the surge subsided.

And... the Harmony of Heavenly Qi of the Nature’s Heavenly Energy Body was an S-rank buff that only Baek Yu-Seol could use. It bestowed immense magic resistance, elevated all stats by two levels, and dramatically enhanced attack power.

In the game, it was this very skill that allowed players to deal the finishing blow to the final boss, Thirteenth Onyx Moon.  

‘Where am I...?’

This wasn’t a hospital room.  

Judging by the lavish furnishings and the oversized pillows, it felt more like a high-class hotel suite.

“Student Yu-Seol…?”  

From a shadowed corner of the room, Alterisha stirred. She rose unsteadily, her body trembling as she clutched one arm and crawled toward him.

Her palm was slick with blood, though the bleeding had stopped, sealed by a magical bandage etched with intricate spellwork.

“... Who did this?”  

“Y-Yu-Seol? You’re scaring me with that look…”  

With trembling fingers, she pointed to a spot behind her.

There, sprawled motionless, was the body of a dark mage. Life had already drained from them, leaving behind only cold flesh.

For a moment, rage boiled up inside him.  

‘I should’ve made them suffer a little more before killing them…’

“Student Yu-Seol!”  

“…?”  

Baek Yu-Seol’s fists tightened as he glared at the corpse, but Alterisha’s sharp voice snapped him out of it.

It was the same authoritative look she’d occasionally shown back when she was a teaching assistant at Stella.  

"Don’t get angry... I’m fine."

“... Understood.”  

“Go quickly. Something big is happening on the lower floors.”  

At her urgent command, he gave a curt nod… and then leapt forward.

It wasn’t a superhuman jump spanning dozens of meters like in fantasy films…

But...  

[Flash]  

[Flash]  

[Flash]  

The once-restrictive 3-second cooldown and 1.5-second delay of the Flash were now gone. He could spam it freely and continuously teleport without restriction. 

‘This is...!’

It felt like traversing an entirely different realm. Before, Baek Yu-Seol had to painstakingly calculate the Flash skill’s range and execute it step-by-step with laser focus. But now, those constraints are gone.

All it took was a single thought - a fleeting image of his destination - and he would appear there in an instant.

Even the 3-second cooldown that used to limit him had shrunk to a mere second, allowing for consecutive flash with almost no delay.  

It felt like soaring through the heavens.

The suffocating limitations that had once bound Flash had loosened, just enough to tilt the scales. And that slight shift was all it took to feel unstoppable.

Boom!!!

The dark mage causing havoc inside the hotel was estimated to have a power level of approximately risk level 7.

Before, he would’ve been scrambling to escape. But now, with Harmony of Heavenly Qi awakened…  

‘I can win.’

With only seven minutes left before his body would collapse under the strain, there was no need to panic.

‘Seven minutes is more than enough.’

A newfound confidence burned within him… steady and unshakable.

***

Crash!!!

The ceiling split apart, raining debris as writhing shadows emerged, seizing chunks of rubble and flinging them with feral strength.

“Whoa?!”  

Flame unfurled her wings, shielding herself from the storm of falling wreckage. A shimmering arrow of light materialized in her hands.

— Flame! If you keep using our power…   

“I know!”  

The more she invoked their power, the closer she crept toward losing herself entirely.

To some, becoming an angel might sound like a blessing. But it wasn’t. Angels were confined to the celestial realm, and if Flame fully transformed, she, too, would be forever isolated from the world she knew.  

— You have to stop now.  

— We don’t want you to resent us.

— You don’t want to become an angel, do you?  

— Your hair has almost completely turned gold already!  

Once a simple bob, her hair had morphed into flowing platinum strands the moment she invoked Angel’s Descent.

Now, it gleamed with pure gold, a silent warning of how little time remained.

— At this rate, you’ll fully transform into an angel within 5 minutes...

She was well aware.  

She knew that wielding this power carried a terrible price.

"So what if that happens!"

What did it matter if she became an angel? If she didn’t use this power right now, she wouldn’t be able to protect Baek Yu-Seol.  

‘If I become an angel, Baek Yu-Seol will climb up to heaven to drag me back down!’

Bzz…!!!

As divine energy surged through her, pouring into her arrow of light, the Inquisitor Kaena snapped her attention toward Flame.

‘Damn it! She’s completely lost it!’

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

This scene had never appeared in the novel. Flame had no way of knowing what would come next.@@novelbin@@

Who could have predicted that Kaena would spiral into madness, transforming into a rampaging beast the moment her tamer was killed?

‘If she keeps going like this, she'll turn into a demon.’

Just like how Flame becomes more angelic whenever she uses angelic power, Kaena was succumbing to demonic transformation.

It appeared the tamers had placed restraints on Kaena to prevent this, but now that the Stella Knights had successfully eliminated the tamers on the lower floors, Kaena had gone completely wild!  

CRACK!

Six colossal ice pillars erupted from the ground, forming a hexagram-shaped magic suspended in midair.

‘Invocation of the Ice Sanctuary.’

This was a spell the protagonist, Eisel, learned in her second semester of her second year in the novel. A spell that seized dominion over an entire space with ice magic.

"She’s already using that...?"

Kaena’s shadow blades tore through the sanctuary with ease, shattering it in an instant.

Coughing up blood, Eisel collapsed to her knees. Behind her, Jeliel stepped forward, wrapping her body in roots and vines.  

A gentle green aura radiated from the plants.  

Despite being tainted by the mortal world, Jeliel, as a high elf, could still wield healing magic from the World Tree.  

‘We can't win like this.’

Despite pouring every ounce of strength into their family’s secret arts, their efforts against Kaena were faltering.

The more they pushed themselves, the harsher the side effects, forcing them to halt midway.

On the other hand, the more Kaena used her powers, the stronger she became, leaving no viable way to defeat her.  

And then—

“The students are still holding on! Knights, regroup your formation and provide reinforcements immediately!”

The sound of armored boots echoed in the distance. The Stella Knights had finished clearing out the tamers and were finally advancing toward the battlefield.

"Finally..."

Flame’s expression brightened with hope. 

Even if she canceled Angel's Descent here, re-establishing the anti-magic barrier would make it possible to defeat Kaena.  

The enclosed interior provided the perfect terrain for sealing her movements.

Or at least, that’s what Flame thought—

— KIEEAAAAAK!!!

“Ugh...!”  

Kaena unleashed a piercing scream that reverberated in all directions.

Then, without warning, she smashed through the wall and escaped outside.

“No, stop!”  

The anti-magic barrier was only effective in confined spaces. If Kaena reached the open air, suppressing her would no longer be an option.

Flame shot forward, wings slicing through the wind as she soared outside. She raised her bow, drawing another arrow of light… 

But then—  

"...What is that?"

What she saw sent chills down her spine.

The entire wall of the building was engulfed by a massive black substance, pulsating and spreading outward.

It writhed like living flesh, resembling the wings of a bat, with translucent veins glowing faintly under the moonlight.

Slowly, the wings began to shrink, hardening as they healed and solidified.

“Could it be...?”  

Realization dawned on Flame, and she shouted at the angels.  

“Prepare the Divine Judgement! Hurry!”  

— Understood!  

Ziiiiiing!!!

A brilliant white aura, tinged with the hues of a rainbow, began to coalesce above her.

Flame poured every ounce of her remaining light mana into the spell, fixing her gaze on Kaena.

— The demonic transformation is 90% complete.

— There’s no turning back now.  

— The demon will descend soon...

“I know.”  

Normal magic wouldn’t be enough to stop her. That’s why Flame had to prepare the Divine Judgement.  

A long time ago, during the wars between angels and demons, this spell was created to restrict the powers of captured demons.  

And while Flame’s version was weaker and far less potent than the ones wielded by true angels...

“This is all I’ve got for now.”  

But Kaena wasn’t foolish.  

She instinctively sensed the lethal threat emanating from Flame’s spell and spread her bat-like wings and flew straight toward her.  

Before she could reach, however, an ice spike erupted from the building below, piercing through Kaena’s thigh. 

For a fleeting moment, the ice spike rooted Kaena in place, and Jeliel seized the chance.

Thick, gnarled tree roots erupted from the ground, coiling around Kaena’s body and binding her tightly.

It was basic knowledge:  

Dry wood burns easily.  

Fwoosh!

— KIEEAAAK!!!

Silent flames ignited along the roots, devouring Kaena in searing fire. She flapped her shadowy wings, snuffing out the flames almost instantly, but the momentary struggle created the opening Flame had been waiting for.

‘Now!’

Bang!

The Divine Judgement shot forward like a beam of light, piercing Kaena's chest directly. The spell unleashed an immense burst of light which spread in all directions.  

Whoosh...

With that final spell, Flame’s wings vanished, and she began to plummet toward the ground.

— Flame! That last spell drained all your mana; your wings are gone!  

— Oh no!  

“Ugh...!”  

Her golden hair streamed wildly around her as the ground rushed closer.

Suddenly—  

[Flash]

A strange sensation, like a single jolt running through her body, enveloped her.  

“Huh...?!”  

She felt dizziness and nausea, thinking it might be the side effects of overusing her mana. Raising her head, she froze.  

“Baek Yu-Seol...”  

His familiar face was mere inches away from hers.  

“Huh? What—?”  

Looking down, she realized she was in Baek Yu-Seol’s arms. She was held in a princess carry and stood firmly on the rooftop of the adjacent building.  

Her mind raced. How was Baek Yu-Seol awake? But before that thought could fully form—  

“Y-you idiot! Put me down!!”  

The sheer humiliation of being carried so intimately sent her into a frenzy, and she began pounding her fists against his chest in protest.

Unaffected by her struggle, Baek Yu-Seol gave a faint smile. It was not his usual mischievous grin, but something heavier, more subdued.  

“Hey.”

“W-what?”  

“You did well.”  

Setting Flame down gently on the rooftop, Baek Yu-Seol reached into his pocket and drew out a silver staff.  

It was his iconic Teripon Sword.

But this time, the sword was enveloped in a radiant, silver-white light that swirled with a power far beyond anything seen before.  

“From here on... I’ll handle it.”