ㄴ Anon(371F): So there's really no answer unless it's 4th-circle magic, huh.
ㄴ Anon(506F): How does this even make sense?
ㄴ Anon(249F): No matter how I think about it, I just can't wrap my head around it;; How do you just instantly cast a spell you've never seen before…
ㄴ Anon(360F): First time seeing the spell + single incantation + zero affinity for the element = one-shot clear lmaooooooooo
ㄴ Anon(543F): This is genuinely insane.
No choice but to go for 4th circle.
She'd already learned every 3rd-circle spell Seol Ha-rin knew. There was nothing else to do.
At that moment, the Gallery was buzzing with posts like these.
ㄴ Anon(214F): Unless she already knew how to cast them from the start, none of this makes sense…
ㄴ Anon(436F): Fr, honestly isn't she just pretending to be a noob when she already knows everything;;;
ㄴ Anon(643F): I'm starting to think the Demon King is using an anon handle to do a hidden-cam noob act, and that's the most likely explanation now?
ㄴ Anon(506F): lmaooooooo
ㄴ Anon(249F): The hand photo foreshadowing is paying off lol
Word was going around that she'd known 3rd-circle magic all along.
Ridiculous.
She'd started at level 1.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): You all literally looked at my status together, why are you like this;
ㄴ Anon(543F): Spells you can use don't show up in the status lol
ㄴ Anon(643F): E x p l a i n
It was hard to tell whether they were joking or genuinely suspicious.
Probably both, mixed together.
While suspicions were being leveled at her, one anon chimed in.
ㄴ Anon(755F): Maybe it's because the Parched Wasteland's circle is stolen from a living mage.
Seol Ha-rin responded.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: …That's probably the most likely explanation. The space where Seo-yun acquires her circles is clearly different from other Black Magic users—that's the one definitive distinction.
ㄴ Anon(601F): So you're saying she can immediately cast any spell that mage already knew?
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: I'm not sure exactly, but well…
And then she added:
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Or it could be that Seo-yun has talent on par with the Blood Demon Sword Sovereign.
She was referencing a named user.
It was a name she'd heard before.
Blood Demon Sword Sovereign.
Whenever the Gallery talked about the vanguard, that username always came up.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): I've heard the name before—who is that?
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Well, first of all, not a person…
ㄴ Anon(279F): lmaooooooo
ㄴ Anon(746F): Yeah, not a person in more ways than one.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Currently holds the highest floor record… Back in the day, they said the skills of the body they'd possessed were all jumbled up, so they studied with me from the basics, relearning low-circle magic from scratch.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: They were exactly like you…
ㄴ Anon(563F): They were like this too? lmaooooooo
ㄴ Anon(312F): Ranked #1 Blood Demon Sword Sovereign and she's being rated the same tier lol
ㄴ Anon(431F): How high are they gonna rate this noob lmaooo
ㄴ Anon(716F): That one was genuinely on another level though.
ㄴ Anon(247F): One of the two explanations has to be right.
One of two.
Either her circle, being stolen from a living mage, lets her instantly cast any spell that mage had learned.
Or she possesses potential on par with the current Gallery's #1 ranked user.
Seol Ha-rin and a handful of high-floor Black Magic users in the Gallery were framing the situation in exactly those terms.
More precisely, they said there was no other way to explain it.
ㄴ Anon(249F): But didn't Seol Ha-rin used to be scared of the Blood Demon Sword Sovereign?
ㄴ Anon(643F): Fr lol Seol Ha-rin thought they'd gotten close and tried talking to them, then they posted a photo of her corpse and she had a complete meltdown lmao
ㄴ Anon(465F): Blood Demon Sword Sovereign started one floor below Seol Ha-rin, so killing her was kind of inevitable lol
She was reading the Gallery's stories about the #1 ranked user.
Then Seol Ha-rin stepped forward with a proposal.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Seo-yun. Once you get 4th circle—this time, can you try using it without stabilizing the circle first?
ㄴ Anon(312F): ?
ㄴ Anon(643F): You want her to cast magic with an unstabilized circle?
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Her casting ability is just too overwhelming. If I want to forcibly raise the difficulty, there's no other way.
ㄴ Anon(248F): What kind of insane idea is that lmaooooo
ㄴ Anon(324F): Can mana even flow from an unstabilized circle…?
Right after acquiring a circle, it doesn't settle—it spins erratically on its own.
That's why the stabilization process was always necessary.
But Seol Ha-rin was telling her to skip it.
Judging by the reactions, it was quite the radical proposal.
She explained her reasoning.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: If she goes ahead and activates a 4th-circle spell she's never seen before using just an incantation again, she might genuinely fail to learn Mental Fork during this vacation period.
ㄴ Anon(435F): No way lol
ㄴ Anon(147F): Instantly learning 4th-circle magic too would genuinely be too much…
She could understand what Seol Ha-rin was worried about.
It would be bad if she failed to learn Mental Fork during the vacation and ended up unable to equip two artifacts.
But quite a few dissenting opinions were coming in.
ㄴ Anon(710F): Wouldn't casting magic with an unstabilized circle cause mana backflow… That goes against the fundamental principles of magic itself.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: I know that better than anyone.
ㄴ Anon(710F): Then why…
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Because the Blood Demon Sword Sovereign did it. Whatever was so urgent, they forced themselves to learn 11th-circle magic before their newly created dantian's 11th circle had even stabilized. That was the first time I ever saw them struggle even a little.
ㄴ Anon(599F): 11th circle?? lol
ㄴ Anon(461F): Absolutely unhinged…
ㄴ Anon(710F): I can't even imagine that…
ㄴ Anon(643F): But she's only at 3rd circle right now—isn't comparing her to that person a bit much? lol
Seol Ha-rin ignored the other comments and addressed her directly.
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Seo-yun, I'll post a suitable 4th-circle magic circle and incantation in the Gallery, so go get it! Don't stabilize!
ㄴ Anon(249F): Well, not being able to stabilize a circle right away is actually normal…
ㄴ Anon(643F): And is it now just accepted as fact that this noob gets a circle in a single day? lmaooooooooooo
ㄴ Seol Ha-rin: Oh, and this time, use the 3rd-circle spells you just learned to help search! It'll be way faster!
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): Got it.
The objective was clear.
Obtain 4th circle, then attempt to cast magic before stabilizing it.
She gave the Blood Knight standing behind her an order similar to last time.
And then.
She crossed her legs and closed both eyes.
Meditation.
She sank inward.
*
The Parched Wasteland welcomed her.
"Just as I thought…"
The change she'd anticipated was there.
The moment she arrived and swept her gaze around, the circles were already sparse from the center outward.
She poured mana into her Magic Eye and counted the number of circles within a 1 km² radius.
'The density of circles has definitely dropped to about half of last time.'
Which meant the distance to the outermost boundary where circles were still scattered had increased by the same factor.
If the radius doubles, the area of the circle quadruples.
So she'd need to search an area four times larger than before—and since it had taken 11 hours to find the 3rd circle last time, this would take an estimated 44 hours.
In terms of subjective time here, that would be over four weeks.
But Seol Ha-rin had given her a tip.
Use the 3rd-circle spells she'd just learned.
The first thing that came to mind was the flight spell.
The crown jewel of 3rd-circle magic, she'd said.
"◆◆◆◆ Fly."
The moment she spoke the incantation and the spell's name, her body floated gently upward.
She figured that getting up high and looking down would make searching far faster.
Whoooosh—
But after flying for a few seconds, she realized immediately.
'…Too slow.'
She wasn't an ordinary mage.
She'd invested heavily in her Agility stat. Just running was significantly faster.
Flight: rejected.
After landing, she deployed the next spell immediately.
"◆◆◆◆◆◆ Vital Boost."
Her heartbeat slowed for a moment. It was a 3rd-circle enhancement spell that increased stamina.
Last time she'd needed quite a bit of rest due to running low on stamina—this would definitely help.
And finally.
"◆◆◆◆◆◆ Vision Lord."
Her vision flashed white, and the range of her Magic Eye's sight expanded to more than double in an instant.
"…Whoa!"
At this rate, her search speed would be cut down dramatically.
"Alright, let's go."
Whoooosh—!
She sprinted across the wasteland.
The search went exactly as expected.
The boundary where circles lay scattered had expanded to precisely twice the distance.
*
After running, sweeping, and searching over and over again.
'Finally found it…'
She'd combed through every corner and unearthed the largest one.
It had taken an extraordinarily long time.
About a week of subjective time, once again.
Crackle—! Shrieeeek—!
Someone's scream, following naturally in its wake.
She ripped out the circle and drove it into her dantian.
She was now a 4th-circle mage.
*
Flash!
She opened her eyes and returned to reality.
Ten hours had passed.
"Ugh…!"
Her stomach lurched violently.
The worst it had ever been.
Four circles now, all crammed inside her.
It felt like the inside of her dantian had been turned into spaghetti.
But she couldn't stabilize it.
She opened the Gallery immediately.
A post Seol Ha-rin had put up about a 4th-circle spell was visible.
[Title: Here's the 4th-circle fire-attribute spell 'Fire Wall.']
The body of the post contained a more complex magic circle diagram and incantation.
Without even a moment to report to the Gallery, she gripped her dantian as it thrashed erratically and attempted it right away.
Incantation only, first.
"◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆"
'…!'
It didn't activate.
'Good. Incantation alone won't do it.'
Next, she had to try with just the magic circle.
Swish, swish. She traced the pattern in the air.
Crack!
The magic circle completed, but the mana crumbled apart in midair.
'Finally…'
For the first time, she'd encountered a spell that wouldn't activate with just an incantation or just a magic circle alone.
Now she just needed to succeed by combining the magic circle and incantation together.
If she managed that, she'd satisfy the conditions for Mental Fork training.
She drew the magic circle again.
And simultaneously poured mana into it while reciting the incantation.
"Ngh…!"
Just as the spell was about to activate. Her hand stopped.
She was too dizzy.
The circles inside her dantian were the problem, just as she'd expected.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd circles were all in an uproar.
The 1st and 2nd circles in particular seemed to be staging a protest—barely gotten used to one newcomer, and now you're dragging in another?
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
'If I just leave them still, it might get better…'
Instead of trying to soothe the 1st and 2nd circles, she decided to stop their rotation entirely.
That should make the dizziness much more manageable.
Whirrrr…
She cut off the mana she'd been feeding into the 1st and 2nd circles.
Their spinning gradually slowed.
Then she rotated only the 3rd and 4th circles and attempted the spell.
Hummmmm—!
That's when it happened.
FWOOOOOSH—!!!
The magic circle and incantation interlocked, and flames erupted into being.
"Oh…!"
Finally.
She'd succeeded in activating a spell using both magic circle and incantation together.
A first.
Up until now, spells had always activated with just one or the other.
'She really was a top-tier instructor…'
Following her solution—attempting a 4th-circle spell without stabilizing the circle first—had been exactly right.
"Yes…!"
All conditions were now met.
She could dive into training in earnest.
First, she recalled the conditions for acquiring Mental Fork that Seol Ha-rin had explained.
"I need to fail."
The casting conditions all had to be met, but the incantation and magic circle had to fail to connect—causing the spell to cancel. That was what she'd said.
Intuitively, it made no sense.
The person chanting the incantation and drawing the magic circle is one and the same.
So if it's all happening in one body, how could you sever the connection and prevent the spell from activating?
The answer was splitting one's consciousness into two.
That was Mental Fork.
The specific training method, she'd been told, was to rapidly alternate the focus being poured into the incantation and the magic circle back and forth.
At nearly a flickering speed.
Do that long enough, and the incantation and magic circle would separate and start sliding past each other—and the moment that happened would be when Mental Fork occurred.
She tried it immediately.
Swish, swish—
"◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ Fire Wall."
…
..
.
Fwoosh—!
Fwoooosh—!
But it was difficult.
The incantation and magic circle kept connecting, and the spell kept completing.
She got the feel for how to shift her focus between the two on the second attempt, but moving it quickly was another matter entirely.
It felt like the spell activated before she could build up any real momentum.
Was it because the circle was large, making the activation point come faster?
'In that case…'
To extend the casting time, she needed to weaken the mana output a bit more.
And she already had an idea for how to do that.
'Let me try stopping up to the 3rd circle.'
She brought the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd circles to a complete halt.
She cast the 4th-circle spell using only the fourth circle alone.
Swish, swish—
She swept her hand to draw the magic circle.
"◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆"
She spoke the incantation.
"Fire Wall."
Fwash…!
A wall of flame formed.
Failure.
"…"
It seemed there was only one method left.
'Let me try stopping all the circles.'
She still needed to draw out mana, so stopping them completely wasn't an option.
She decided to use only the residual momentum from the rotation she'd already set in motion. Just that inertia, nothing more.
She cut off the active rotation of every circle.
Then drew the magic circle.
Swish, swish—
And spoke the incantation.
"◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ Fire Wall."
Light began to emanate from the outer edge of the magic circle as mana was being inscribed into it.
The speed was noticeably slower than before.
Now.
She shifted her thoughts in rapid intervals.
One second elapsed.
Still hadn't activated.
Faster.
She loosened and tightened the focus she was pouring into the magic circle and the incantation, weaving back and forth between them.
Sssssswish—
More. More. Much faster. Almost like vibrating.
"Huh…!"
Pfssssss…!
The flame that had been trying to coalesce in midair fizzled out without a fight.
And she couldn't pinpoint exactly when it had happened.
Her consciousness.
Had become two.
'What the—'
'What the—'
The thought echoed inside her head.