Chapter 19

“Rather than explaining with words, I’ll show you directly.”

I pulled a 10-Light mana coin from my pocket. The coin’s front has a sword and staff engraved on it, with ’10-Light’ written on the back.

The design indicates it was certified by Trimacos, the city closest to our operational area.

“I’m going to toss this coin now.”

Ting!

The coin spiraled through the air. Everyone’s gaze followed it, and I concentrated. I focused until I could faintly sense the gray energy that normally remains invisible.

‘Simulation’

The gray energy meets the magical power pattern engraved within me, creating a new pattern.

Then, the world responds to the pattern. The entire world goes dark. I disappear too.

‘Conditions… the coin and the ground. And the wind.’

Only the coin twirling through the air, the uneven ground it would fall on, and the occasional breeze appeared in the pitch-black world.

‘Perfectly’ identical to reality.

Tink! Roll roll. Clack!

‘Heads.’

After confirming the result, I opened my eyes. Time hadn’t passed at all. The coin was still spinning above my head.

“It’s heads.”

I said first.

Tink! Roll roll. Clack!

The coin that belatedly fell was indeed heads.

“Hmm…?”

There was a slight stir, but the response was still lukewarm.

I didn’t give them time to react and tossed the coin again. This time I turned completely around, not even looking at it as I declared.

“Tails.”

Of course, it was tails.

“Ooh?”

A slightly stronger reaction.

I continued tossing.

“Tails.”

“Heads.”

“Heads.”

“Heads.”

“Tails.”

Naturally, I got every single one right.

“What the?! How?”

“That’s impossible!”

People were now shocked, alternating their gaze between me and the coin.

Teacher Sena’s voice trembled.

“This is… could it be foresight? Perhaps you foresaw our nomad being attacked?”

I shook my head.

“No. I’m not seeing the future. I call this simulation. If I input conditions, I can determine the results of their interactions. I can’t calculate conditions I don’t include.”

Teacher Sena’s brow furrowed.

“Simu… what? Conditions? Results? What’s that…? Isn’t this just short-term foresight?”

Even Teacher Sena, the nomad’s greatest scholar, couldn’t immediately grasp the concept of simulation.

“The end result is similar to short-term foresight, but the principle isn’t foresight. It’s like an experiment. Specifically, it’s similar to creating a model and reproducing something.”

The concept of experiments did exist in the Star Continent.

Mages living in the Tower of Covenant constantly conduct bizarre experiments to discover new spells and uncover magical principles.

Wilderness mages lack the capacity to conduct their own experiments, so they tend to rely more on tradition and inherited knowledge, but they’re at least familiar with the concept.

“Are you talking about model experiments…? But that kind of accuracy shouldn’t be possible…”

“That’s why I said it’s ‘very precise’ model experimentation. No, let me call it ‘perfect.’ If I input the current state of the coin tossed into the air and the ground we’re standing on as conditions, I can ‘perfectly’ predict the outcome. That’s simulation, my Gift.”

Only after my lengthy explanation did Teacher Sena finally grasp the concept somewhat.

She said.

“Well… that’s quite an unusual Gift.”

She gave me a dubious look. It felt like she was saying, “What an unusual Gift. Just like you.”

I hadn’t made much of an impression, it seemed.

+ – + – +

But in truth,

with each word that Baek Jun-woo spoke, Teacher Sena felt her heart tightening.

At first, she couldn’t understand what he was saying. Unlike Earth with its developed computers capable of producing near-perfect simulations of reality, the Star Continent only had toy-like models for experiments, making the concept of simulation completely unfamiliar.

But as Baek Jun-woo continued explaining… a chill ran down her spine.

‘What… is this?’

A thrill? Fear?

Simulation…

So irreverent yet so magnificent.

“Well… that’s quite an unusual Gift.”

Not knowing how to respond, she managed only that one line.

Baek Jun-woo seemed disappointed by her reaction.

But he didn’t give up and continued his passionate explanation.

Despite years of Sena’s repeated dismissals, he maintained that same stubborn persistence.

“So… I’ve run simulations until my head felt like it would split open. Using the orc we encountered, you absorbing magical power after killing it, the mobile barrier and auxiliary barrier as conditions.”

“…And?”

“If we install the auxiliary barrier in crown form, the orc will notice you when there are two of you. But if we cover it with a net pattern, the orc only notices when there are three of you.”

‘Ah…’

In that moment, the phrase ‘game over’ seemed to flash through Sena’s mind.

She felt tears welling up out of pity for someone, though she wasn’t sure who.

She managed to speak.

“You know what…?”

“Yes?”

“The barrier installation method I use… has been developed through countless trials and errors over a very long time. It’s the best method found after numerous failures and deaths.”

Her voice was earnest, but Baek Jun-woo’s expression remained stubborn.

‘So what? Who cares? It’s clearly inferior.’

Though he didn’t say it aloud, his expression made his thoughts perfectly clear.

Teacher Sena closed her eyes.

Baek Jun-woo took this as a sign of rejection and protested.

“I can guarantee this! This isn’t just idle talk but a method discovered through a Mana User’s Gift…!”

“Enough!!”

Teacher Sena shouted sharply, and Baek Jun-woo reluctantly closed his mouth.

Teacher Sena wondered inwardly. How many times had she said “Enough!” to Baek Jun-woo over the years? And she realized that this “Enough!!” would be her last one to him.

Compared to the brilliant mages living in the Tower of Covenant, she was just a humble wilderness mage, but… she knew enough.

‘Simulation… this Gift will rewrite the history of magic…’

If it had been foresight… she wouldn’t have been this shaken.

How many failures must one endure to create a single spell?

How many mages have lost their lives trying to correct one mistake?

But Baek Jun-woo would never need to walk such a difficult path.

With just one “simulation,” he could accomplish what might take years—no, perhaps someone’s entire lifetime—of experiments.

Teacher Sena pulled Baek Jun-woo close and whispered.

“How many simulations can you currently use? What are your limitations?”

Baek Jun-woo answered with confusion but diligence.

“Huh? Oh… um… The more conditions I add and the more complex they get, the harder it becomes. If I consider myself as one condition and call it ‘1 Jun-woo’… I can handle 2 or 3 Jun-woos without much trouble… but beyond that gets progressively harder.”

‘Different…’

Indeed, he was different. Sena was astonished. 1 Jun-woo, 2 Jun-woos? He’s only had his Gift since yesterday, yet he’s already created a ‘unit’ to measure his limitations?

This wasn’t ordinary intelligence.

Only now could she understand. All those stories Baek Jun-woo had told before—about “Earth,” about receiving someone’s lifetime of memories through the Stone of Memory—they must have been true.

‘Then… his claim about seeing colors of magical power probably wasn’t a lie either.’

Teacher Sena looked at Baek Jun-woo with complex emotions. Now she could admit it.

He was a genius, a fortunate one who could casually surpass all the achievements humanity had accumulated throughout history.

The knowledge and methods that she and many fellow mages had built through bone-breaking hardship… would become mere antiques before Baek Jun-woo.

She felt a sudden surge of resentment.

‘My… no, our lifelong dedication isn’t even worth this child’s moment…’

But Teacher Sena quickly pushed aside these constricting feelings.

At this point, she had already lost and sacrificed too much to dwell on such things.

Still… she didn’t particularly feel like using honorific speech with him.

‘He’s going to have everything anyway, what does he need my respect for?’

Such a petty grudge.

“Jun-woo.”

“Yes?”

“When you reach the Tower of Covenant… hide your Gift. Unlike the wilderness, information is a weapon in that world.”

“Whaaat…!?”

Baek Jun-woo’s eyes widened into perfect circles.

The ‘Tower of Covenant’ was a place only special mages could enter.

A bridge to cross over to the distant stars in the sky, to those mysterious lands torn apart long ago.

Just now, Teacher Sena had implied that Baek Jun-woo would enter that Tower of Covenant.

The surprised Baek Jun-woo tried to ask more, but Teacher Sena turned away. She felt oddly embarrassed.

She only made a covenant in her heart.

‘Baek Jun-woo. I will definitely get you into the Tower of Covenant.’

Whoosh—

Baek Jun-woo couldn’t hear her covenant, but he could see the nearby magical power focusing on her. His eyes widened further.

Teacher Sena turned her back to Baek Jun-woo, walked a few steps, and called out.

“Baek Jun-woo has proven himself as a proper Mana User! Everyone in the nomad, please treat Baek Jun-woo with the respect due to a Mana User. So… Do Mak-jin over there? Please install the barrier according to Jun-woo’s instructions.”

“What? Oh, yes, understood.”

Everyone in the nomad was startled, and Baek Jun-woo stared blankly at Teacher Sena.

Teacher Sena waved her hand once and headed toward her wagon.

The shock had been too great. She needed some rest now. As she walked, she thought.

‘Is this the first time?’

It seemed so.

This appeared to be the first time… she had acknowledged Baek Jun-woo’s words.

+ – + – +

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

The Sena School Nomad races across the plains.

Creak! Creak!

Hmm-hmm-

Even while riding, people curiously glanced at the mobile barrier. The barrier that had previously made cracking noises due to excessive aggro was now vibrating steadily.

Calamities still roaming the wilderness. The dark clouds and stormy winds hadn’t retreated, but they seemed unable to detect the Sena School Nomad’s aggro, wandering much farther away than before.

The barrier was performing far better than Teacher Sena had initially predicted.

Those who had been eyeing the barrier turned their attention to Baek Jun-woo.

The nomad’s once insignificant child…

Somehow feeling larger and more distant now.

“Jun-woo!”

Yuria rode her horse up beside me.

“Wow… you were amazing back there! I want to become a Mana User soon too!”

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

Perhaps due to yesterday’s battle, her pretty face was swollen red in several places. Her lips were split too.

I responded gruffly.

“Sure. Hurry up and become a Mana User so we can stop getting beaten up.”

“What?! I didn’t get beaten up! I killed all of them!”

Yuria protested with wide eyes. She didn’t show a hint of darkness.

‘She really is… strong.’

After committing such slaughter yesterday, I still felt uneasy and occasionally caught the scent of blood, but… wasn’t she proudly boasting about it?

Thankfully, standing next to her helped ease my discomfort.

“But hey… that thing earlier was really cool. Show me again. Try guessing this!”

Yuria suddenly held up a coin.

I glanced at the coin and said.

“It’s tiring to use too often. I’ve used it too much since dawn.”

“Come on, don’t be like that. Look… if you succeed, I’ll give you a present.”

“What present?”

“Something good. But if you fail, you have to grant me one favor.”

Ting!

Without waiting for my answer, she tossed the coin high into the air from her galloping horse.

I didn’t even look at the falling coin as I answered.

“I told you it’s tiring. …Heads!”

Clack!

Yuria caught the coin. She flipped her palm and her eyes widened.

“Huh?”

…The side with “10-Light” written on it.

So,

“It’s tails, isn’t it?”

Right. It was tails.

Cold sweat broke out.

“Ah, well, conditions that aren’t included can’t be calculated… I, I forgot to include the galloping horse as a condition. I’m tired, that’s why! Tired! Let me try again! Again!”

No matter how I explained,

“Hahaha! Some Mana User you are~ You owe me a favor now?”

Yuria stuck out her tongue and rode away.

She gave me no chance for redemption.

Ah…

Once again,

I wish I had a blanket to pull over my head.