The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 242
I carefully analyzed the predictions from my monocle.
‘Something catastrophic is going to happen that will lead to the world’s destruction, and to prevent it, I need to explore the Obelisk, the ruins of the Eight Heroes? Just my luck.’
I frowned.
Complaining about this lousy fate had become tiresome.
‘But the Obelisk, huh.’
It’s the most popular among the ruins of the Eight Heroes.
A grand structure created by the ‘Gemstone Carver,’ an alchemist class hero among the Eight Heroes.
No one knows what affects the structure holds. Countless alchemists and magicians have tried to uncover its secrets over the years, but all efforts have been in vain.
Nowadays, it’s half-treated as a tourist attraction due to its magnificent appearance.
“I will explore the Obelisk.”
“The Obelisk?”
Everyone looked surprised.
As I mentioned, it’s a dungeon where notable achievements are hard to come by.
“Professor Van the Legend, if anyone can uncover the secrets long hidden in the Obelisk, it might be you. Please take this badge.”
“What’s this?”
“It’s a status notification badge. It alerts others about the wearer’s physical condition. It’s a safety measure for any unforeseen dangers during the exam.”
I nodded, took the badge, and left the education department building.
‘Who should I take as the two students?’
I couldn’t just choose anyone. It would definitely be dangerous.
The problem was that most of the potential candidates were not in good condition right now.
‘…They’re all struggling with inner demons because of the problem I set.’
I selected the first student.
Catherine. She was the only protagonist who hadn’t fallen into inner demons and, as the true protagonist, she would definitely be an asset.
‘No matter what happens, it’s likely to aid in Catherine’s growth.’
The issue was the second student.
I was pondering this when I encountered an unexpected person across the street.
A girl with doll-like features.
Esmeralda.
“……”
I swallowed hard.
‘Why now?’
This was the first time she had appeared since she tried to kill me on the last day.
Chills ran down my spine.
Having reached the ascendant stage, I could now gauge the presence she exuded with more accuracy.
‘She’s incomparable to the Hermit. She’s on par with the Demon King at her peak.’
The ascendant levels that the Hermit had mentioned came to mind.
Entry Level, Upper Level, Master Level, Heavenly Level.
Considering that I was at the Entry Level (a Newcomer) and the Hermit was at the Upper Level, the girl before me was undoubtedly at least a Master Level ascendant.
‘Probably at the end of the Master Level, just shy of the Heavenly Reacher.’
With the Demon King having lost her power, she was arguably the most powerful being in the world.
“What’s the matter?”
Emel simply stared at me, not answering.
Her gaze was inscrutable, making it difficult to guess her thoughts.
However, one thing was clear—it wasn’t friendly.
A shiver ran down my spine.
“Brother Van, congratulations. You’ve reached the level of ascendance.”
“…Thank you.”
“So, can you now understand my state?”
I nodded.
“Yes, now I understand. You truly are Emel.”
I finally realized the true nature of the being in front of me.
She was indeed Esmeralda.
But there was a problem.
“…How much time do you have left?”
Esmeralda’s soul had little time remaining.
With my ascendant perception, I could see that it was the result of some kind of contract.
It seemed that Emel had made a pact with a guardian, and as a consequence, her soul was destined to vanish soon.
“I’m not sure? A few months? Maybe a year at most? It’s not set in stone. The contract ends the moment the Guardian fulfills its wish.”
I swallowed hard.
The Guardian’s wish.
It meant the coming of the apocalypse.
‘In the original scenario, it was the Guardian who brought about the end times.’
Emel continued in a detached tone.
“It wasn’t a bad contract. The Guardian needed a way to avoid the backlash of causality, destiny, and what the Guardian wanted aligned with what I wanted.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
It was crucial information.
Potentially something that could greatly interfere with her plans.
“It’s a final farewell. Things have reached a point where there’s no turning back.”
“!!”
“I haven’t forgiven you. I still resent you, but you were my only friend, so I wanted to say goodbye. You can think of it as a whim.”
I clenched my fist.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“!!”
“That’s not the real reason, is it? Aren’t you asking me to save you?”
Esmeralda let out a small laugh.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“It’s not nonsense. Even if it is, I don’t care.”
I looked directly at Emel and spoke firmly.
“As you said, you are my friend. I won’t let you disappear like that.”
I acknowledged that ‘Van’ and ‘I’ were the same person.
Therefore, Emel was my friend.
“You say you’ll disappear once the Guardian’s wish is fulfilled? Then the solution is simple. We just need to stop the Guardian’s wish from coming true.”
“!!”
Yes.
It was a straightforward matter.
If we prevented the apocalypse, everything would be resolved.
Afterward, I headed to the Obelisk.
* * *
“Wow, this is the Obelisk.”
Catherine exclaimed in awe.
The tower, made of an unknown metal, soared magnificently.
As expected of a famous tourist spot, there were people around taking pictures.
“Professor, could you take a picture of me? I want to get a commemorative shot.”
“Are you starting a personal mirror board now?”
“No, I want to tease Libel.”
Libel had been quite disappointed when I didn’t take him along.
‘Libel is facing a significant challenge, so it couldn’t be helped. He might reach Level 5 by the time we return.’
Reaching Level 5 as a first-year was an absurd speed, but excluding myself, Libel was the greatest genius in this world, so it was possible.
‘Johan, Theren, and Joanna are also growing remarkably.’
The problem was the other students.
I turned my gaze.
“What do you think?”
“Hmmm. It’s quite impressive. I wanted to visit the Obelisk at least once.”
The second student I chose was Sylphin.
Given how severe her inner demons were, I felt uneasy leaving her alone, and the Obelisk had a special connection to Sylphin, so I brought her along.
“Do you know anything about the Gemstone Carver?”
“Of course I do. He’s the ancestor of our clan. He’s the one I respect the most.”
Sylphin answered with an unusually bright tone.
The Gem Clan is a mutant branch of the fairy race.
It wasn’t a natural mutation.
The Gemstone Carver, the greatest alchemist in history and one of the Eight Heroes, modified his own body to become the ultimate mana conductor, and this trait was passed down through his bloodline, creating the Gem Clan.
“If only we hadn’t lost the secret techniques left by our ancestor, our Gem Clan wouldn’t have fallen so low.”
In the past, the Gem Clan could use the mana conductors in their hearts, wielding immense power.
“Perhaps the secrets left by the Gemstone Carver are hidden inside the dungeon. Let’s go in and find out.”
The tourist area was outside the tower, while the inside was strictly controlled.
It was still considered a dungeon.
However, contrary to the term ‘dungeon,’ the inside was rather barren.
It had already been thoroughly searched over countless years.
‘What could possibly be here?’
There was no sign of a world-ending threat, only spiders and cuties.
I waved back at the cuties wiggling their antennae at me.
Then, I felt a sudden chill.
‘No, there’s something here.’
I looked up the tower.
The Obelisk had stairs along the walls, and the center was open all the way to the ceiling, allowing a clear view from the lower floors to the top.
‘This entire Obelisk is one gigantic magic circle.’
But it wasn’t a traditional magic circle made of runes; it was a magic circle created by the arrangement of metals, which is why no one had recognized it until now.
‘What kind of magic circle is this? A teleportation circle? A portal? No, it’s different from any portal I’ve seen.’
I frowned.
Portals connect different points in the world through a sub-dimensional space.
However, this Obelisk was connected to a sub-dimension but didn’t seem to link to another point in this world.
‘As if its destination is another dimension?’
At that moment, a chilling mechanical voice echoed.
Stars detected.
Identifying two stellar entities.
Flash!
“What, what’s happening?”
Light erupted from Catherine and Sylphin’s bodies.
‘Their innate star energy is reacting with the Obelisk!’
Protagonists are often compared to stars because their souls actually contain star energy.
This trait is unique to the protagonists in this world.
The hope that protagonists can save the world stems from this star characteristic.
Nebula Project activating!
‘No!’
I urgently reached out to them.
Simultaneously, my vision flickered and went dark.
* * *
‘Ugh, my head.’
Caw.
I frowned as I opened my eyes to the sound of seagulls.
‘What?’
I wasn’t mistaken.
The sea stretched out before me.
But something was off.
The sea was red.
“What the hell is this?”
Catherine, who had just opened her eyes, cursed and then abruptly stopped.
Following her gaze to the sky, I had the same reaction.
Countless islands were floating in the sky.
Even the color of the sky was strange—a pale purple instead of blue.
“What happened? Where are we?”
I swallowed hard.
I had a suspicion.
Before answering, I looked beyond the sea.
Using magic, I gazed past the horizon.
Whoooosh.
Huge, wall-like waves were surging—something you would never see in our world.
This time, I looked up.
The sky, beyond the murky black clouds, up higher.
A space resembling the cosmos.
In that space were beings that could never exist in our world.
The Great Ones.
The red sea, the purple sky with countless sky islands, the enormous waves, and the Great Ones—all these pointed to one fact.
“…This is another world.”
We had crossed into another dimension.
