The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 122
The Street of Truth was a labyrinth of alleyways.
It was a bustling alley, common in big cities, but with a distinct feature.
Every surface of the walls was densely covered in writing.
But it wasn’t just mere graffiti.
What is the impact of relative particle transformation on the phase variability of star energy?
How should the Empire respond to the winds of revolution blowing through the Seven Kingdoms and the Ran Republic?
How can one counter the third sword technique of the Imperial Arntal swordsmanship from a horizontal slashing stance?
These were questions!
Indeed.
This place served as a battleground for scholars to anonymously showcase and contest their wisdom.
I pulled the hood of my pre-prepared robe over my head and headed to a booth at the entrance of the alley.
A person, appearing to be a city official, yawned.
Originally, the scribbles started as a jest by scholars gathered in the city, but as it gained massive popularity, the city began to manage it.
“Is this your first visit? Are you here for sightseeing or to challenge? Sightseeing costs 10 penas, and challenging costs 1,000 penas.”
“…That’s expensive.”
“It’s to prevent just anyone from challenging. If you can prove you’re associated with the academic field, you can get a discount.”
I was about to show my Ruby Academy professor ID but then thought better of it and presented my Amethyst Academy access pass instead.
“Yes, you’re verified as an external invitee from the academy. That’ll be 30% off, so 700 penas.”
“Here’s my card, I’ll take it in installments.”
It was a painful expense, but necessary.
The royalties from my automobile partition development were still far off, so this was a significant financial hit.
“Which field would you like to challenge?”
“I’ll challenge in the field of magic.”
“Here’s your magic chalk and record board. What nickname would you like to use?”
“V.E… no, V.L.”
“V.L. Understood.”
The city of academia had turned this alley into a deliberate attraction, introducing elements that stirred competitive spirit.
It was a scoreboard.
“The challenge time limit is 24 hours. The total score of the questions you answer correctly within 24 hours will be listed on Amethyst Academy’s ‘Scholars Board’ along with your nickname.”
The score for each question varied, and the scoring method was unique.
If one challenger failed a question, it was worth 1 point; if ten challengers failed, it was worth 10 points, and so on.
100 points, meaning, questions that more than 100 challengers failed, were especially moved to the ‘Wall of Honor’ located in the very center of the alley.
“What’s the highest score recorded recently?”
“224 points within the last year.”
“And the all-time record?”
“417 points.”
Haaaah
The official yawned, sending a glance as if wondering why I would ask such a thing.
A look that said you’d be impressive to solve even one question, given you’re an average Joe.
Well, that was to be expected.
It was filled with questions intended to be unsolvable.
I entered the interior.
“Wow, this is dizzying. There are so many questions on swordsmanship, but what’s with the difficulty level? I don’t understand any of them just by looking.”
Pappa…! Studying’s tough…!
“Professor, where are you going?”
I headed straight to the center of the alley.
A wall painted in sparkling gold came into view.
The ‘Wall of Honor.’
Where only the most challenging questions worth 100 points were gathered.
For reference, although the highest score was 100 points, the number of challengers who failed exceeded 100.
There were a total of five questions in the magic category on the Wall of Honor.
“What kind of question is this? This isn’t just a joke; it’s practically saying not to solve it, isn’t it?”
As Hans said, there was a flood of curses written below the questions.
Is this supposed to be a question?
I’m a 7th-tier Master, and I can’t even begin to solve it.
I’m an 8th ranked star.
And I’m an Ascendant. Who made this question? Let me square up with this guy.
Did your mother teach you this?
Reading the content of the questions, such curses seemed understandable.
<Transform the three strokes to manipulate the attribute of the specified star through alteration.>
<Depict a 1st-tier star that surpasses the entropy variability of this 7th-tier star.>
<Draw a star abstracting the supernova phenomenon observed from another dimension.>
And so on.
These were questions that made one wonder if answers even existed.
Of course, answers did exist.
After all, if there were no answers, the questions wouldn’t have been registered.
‘It must be a peculiar hobby to come up with these questions.’
I thought of the person who had set these questions and smirked.
Nicknames were written next to the questions.
<King Genius>
It was a childish nickname, but participants always hid clues to their real identities within their nicknames.
‘‘K’ing ‘G’enius. Taking the initials, it’s Karl Gritton.’
A name that would make anyone widen their eyes.
He was that famous.
The chancellor of Amethyst Academy.
A grand mage of Level 8.
He was Rudolph’s rival during his prime, equally matched in strength.
‘Really, that man is peculiar. To enjoy the suffering of others while being the chancellor is rather childish.’
I picked up the chalk and began writing the answers below.
“Wow, there’s still someone challenging these questions?”
“Must be a newbie trying for the first time. Let him be. He’ll give up soon enough.”
Other challengers laughed at me.
For reference, my party and I were intentionally wearing our robes hooded, so our appearances were not recognizable.
Regardless, I kept moving my hand swiftly.
It didn’t take long.
Less than 3 minutes per question?
Observers lost interest in my actions with a snicker.
“Looks like he gave up quickly.”
“Better for him, really. Why is he even stopping? He should just move on to other questions.”
And then, I was left alone.
I looked at the scoreboard where the scores were reflected.
All were correct!
‘The all-time record was 417 points in 24 hours, right? Looks like I’ll be setting a new record for the highest score in the shortest time.’
But this was not enough.
The real ‘mischief’ I intended to cause was yet to come.
I moved towards an empty wall in the alley.
Challengers who scored more than 50 points earned the right to pose new questions.
With my 500 points, I could pose ten questions.
‘I can’t be bothered to pose ten. Let’s go with five.’
The reason for settling on five questions was because the Wall of Honor could only display a total of five questions.
I planned to fill the Wall of Honor entirely with questions I posed.
It wasn’t going to be a difficult task.
“Professor? A-Are you really going to pose such questions?”
“Isn’t it a freedom to pose whatever question one wishes?”
“B-But this isn’t just about being difficult… .”
Hans gulped and looked around nervously.
“Isn’t this a question that outright messes with the Magic Department of Amethyst Academy?!”
I looked at the questions I had posed.
They had something in common.
They directly contradicted theories proposed by professors of the Amethyst Academy’s Magic Department.
Or more blatantly put.
‘Questions that disregard them.’
Yes.
Through this anonymous challenge, I intended to bring the Magic Department of Amethyst Academy to its knees.
As a finishing touch, I added a nickname at the end of the questions.
Tap!
V.L.
For Van the Legend.
* * *
Baron Garden.
A mage who had reached the pinnacle of a ‘Holder,’ the end of the 6th star, and a senior professor at Amethyst Academy.
As a distinguished mage and a professor at a prestigious academy, he had immense pride in himself. He had one hobby.
Whenever he had the chance, he would check the scores on the Street of Truth on the ‘Scholar’s Board.’
‘Heh. The monthly top spot is still mine with 205 points, right? With the recent level of questions rising, it’s impossible to score over 200.’
Garden was an addict of the Street of Truth.
Not just Garden, but it was rare for a professor at Amethyst Academy not to have tried their hand at the challenges of the Street of Truth.
The Street of Truth had long become a battleground of competition among the professors.
They flaunted themselves with nicknames that blatantly hinted at their identities, secretly deriding colleagues whose scores were lower.
‘This must be Professor Heim, right? Boasting with just 170 points. Lacks class entirely.’
The Scholar’s Board displayed the top 10 high scorers monthly, annually, and of all time at the top banner.
Baron Garden was currently 1st monthly and 4th annually.
But then.
‘What? Why did my rank drop?’
Just an hour ago, he was 1st monthly, but now he found himself in 2nd place monthly and 5th place annually!
‘What? A perfect 500 points? And it took only 14 minutes to record the score? Are you kidding me?’
Garden was initially infuriated but soon calmed down.
It must be a mistake.
He activated the communicator to call the server room of the Philosopher’s Stone.
“Ah, this is Professor Garden. There seems to be a mistake with the scores on the Street of Truth. What? It’s not an error? You’ve had many inquiries already and checked several times? That’s ridiculous!”
Click!
After hanging up the communicator, he immediately headed to the Street of Truth.
The street was unusually crowded, bustling like a market.
Like Garden, the crowd had rushed to check the rankings.
“Ah, Professor Garden?”
“How can this be? 500 points? And in just 14 minutes? That’s impossible?”
“Look at the Wall of Honor over there.”
Garden’s eyes widened.
Big red Xs marked the five challenging questions that recently no one had been able to solve.
Someone had solved those questions.
“Those questions were set by the chancellor. Who on earth could it be? Who is V.L.?”
“I don’t know. It’s a nickname I’ve never seen before. Doesn’t seem to be a professor from our academy. Look at the scribbles below.”
Is this really the level of Amethyst Academy professors? Are you seriously boasting with this level of skill?
Graduate students from Ruby Academy are probably smarter than you.
Garden’s face turned red.
“How dare!”
“That’s not all. Come see this.”
A crowd had gathered around another spot in the alley.
“These are the questions posed by V.L.”
“Ha! This person!!”
Garden’s face became even redder.
This was how the introduction to the questions started.
I shall bestow special lessons to the foolish professors of Amethyst Academy who think too highly of themselves.
The content of the questions was even more outrageous.
‘Daring to target the theory I published?’
He gritted his teeth, attempting to solve them.
But then.
‘What? It’s unsolvable.’
Normally, the questions should have been solvable by applying the theory Garden had published.
Instead, they only highlighted the flaws in Garden’s theory.
‘My theory is wrong?’
Garden’s eyes trembled.
Suddenly, everyone in the street, including Garden, was struck by the same question.
‘Who exactly is V.L.?’
Van the Legend’s nickname had stormed into the city of academia like a tempest.
