I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy

Ignoring the soap bubbles, he sprinted precisely and teleported.

After moving 10 meters, he swung his sword, but his opponent summoned an ancient stone tablet inscribed with arcane runes to block it.

'Two steps back.'

He swiftly retreated as a giant paw emerged from the ground, swiping at the spot where he had just been standing.

That attack... could have been dangerous if it had hit.

"But, now I understand."

Baek Yu-Seol narrowed his eyes and focused on the illusion that dominated the entire space.

Illusion magic scattered the opponent's mana to make them see things that weren’t there. Therefore, it shouldn't work on him at all...

"Some spells have a real form."

An illusion with a real presence.

It sounded paradoxical, but it was true.

Mellie Sher had inherited the legendary ability of the Last Witch, a witch who could make illusions real.

This formidable magic, which cast illusions on the world itself rather than on the mind of the opponent, appeared only three times in the original game. Each time, it showcased terrifying abilities that astonished players.

And the first appearance was now.

Depending on the choices in the [Episode], if a wrong choice was made, players would face Mellie Sher directly in a boss battle.

The first guide text at that time was this.

[Guide. First step.]

[If possible, revert your save file to avoid fighting Witch Mellie Sher.]

[If you've saved more than twice and can't revert...]

[We apologize.]

The fact that the guide first suggested using a bug to revert the save file proved how daunting Mellie Sher’s boss battle was.

The strategy was to suppress the barrage of illusion magic with help from Kaen and Grace, who should be hiding somewhere in Arcanium, or to receive support from the Stella Knights.

If one were to fight alone...

The chance of victory was zero.

‘But the character Baek Yu-Seol was different.’

At that time, only Baek Yu-Seol had raised his character beyond the summer vacation to the academy term.

During his battle with Mellie Sher, he observed a unique phenomenon: the ability to distinguish between 'attacks with a real presence' among the witch's spells.

In other words, the character Baek Yu-Seol was completely immune to incomplete illusion magic that had no real presence.

Of course, real and unreal attacks were marked by color, but distinguishing them in the heat of battle wasn't easy, and he remembered pouring dozens of hours into Mellie Sher’s strategy.

‘Never thought I'd be fighting her again in real life...’

That memory proved invaluable.

"The bubbles are fake, but most attacks that take the shape of animals are real."

He dodged some attacks with all his might, while merely pretending to evade others, lulling Mellie Sher into a false sense of security.

She still didn’t realize there were gaps in her magic.

It was no surprise really.

Unless someone had resistance to mana leakage, they'd fall for every illusion completely without needing to distinguish between 'illusions with substance' and 'illusions without substance' to take damage.

'According to the lore... Mellie Sher’s abilities are still developing.'

Since her abilities were still growing, only some illusions had the touch of reality, which became a focal point for Baek Yu-Seol’s strategy, but he couldn't let his guard down.

'This is reality.'

In Aether World Online, exploiting weaknesses was enough to succeed, but as always, reality differed from the game.

Baek Yu-Seol had one main concern.

‘Mellie Sher realizing the true nature of her own magic.'

In the original plan, for her to advance to the next level, she needed the power of a special witch hunter.

However, in reality, anything else could act as a catalyst, causing her abilities to explode unpredictably. Knowing her weaknesses and having a type advantage didn't guarantee success in battle.

'There's no chance to attack...'

He intentionally hid the maximum range of his flash by about 2 meters, keeping a final move in reserve, but there hadn't been a suitable opportunity to use it.

From the beginning, Mellie Sher had tried to maintain as much distance as possible to handle the unconventional magic of Flash.

'Still, I can force an opening!'

[Flash]

He deftly dodged the rocks rising from the ground and teleported, then swung his sword.

Mellie Sher hastily created a snail shell-shaped shield in midair.

But that was what he aimed for.

Baek Yu-Seol pressed the button on the small light in his left hand, and as it swept over the snail shell, the illusion magic instantly vanished.

"Ah...!"

That was unmistakably a witch hunter's magic item.

“But...!"

Gritting her teeth, Mellie Sher clapped her hands together and brought them to her chest. Branches sprouted from her back, covering her entire body, causing Baek Yu-Seol’s sword to bounce off.

Stumble.

"Ugh...?!"

Caught off guard by the unexpected recoil, Baek Yu-Seol lost his balance and staggered badly.

'Damn...!'

In that split second, Baek Yu-Seol sensed danger. He had shown a massive gap against a veteran mage and there was still a slight delay before his next flash.

He braced himself, expecting a critical hit, but...

Thud!

'... Huh?'

Instead of attacking, Mellie Sher stepped back, trembling, and raised her broom.

'What? Why isn't she attacking?'

Though it saved his life, Baek Yu-Seol couldn't understand her behavior.

But from her perspective, it was a rational decision.

A forced opening. Mellie Sher had faced countless enemies over decades. She had already sensed that her current opponent was highly skilled.

How could a veteran magic warrior expose such a huge gap? Impossible.