The Heroine Stole My Regression

24 – Vanquisher (2)

Park Kwang-cheol answered the question with a short, resolute tone.

“One must be strong.”

His gaze shifted naturally towards me.

“One *must* be strong.”

His words were simple, but the weight they carried was anything but light.

The female student who had posed the question seemed to find the answer satisfactory, silently nodding her head.

And so, the brief ten-minute break passed, and the lesson resumed.

“Ah… This theory is so difficult…”

I blinked back to awareness to find Cheon Yeo-ul had moved to sit beside me during the break.

She stretched her neck long over the desk, grumbling.

‘I may have designed it, but…’

What an unreal physique.

The way her pose subtly accentuated the curves of her body felt both intentional and unintentional, stirring a strange disquiet.

“Let’s just ditch this…”

Before her jest could even finish,

-Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Irked by her audacious attitude, I didn’t hesitate to flick her forehead sharply.

Cheon Yeo-ul flinched, letting out a small moan.

Her face flushed crimson in an instant, a heat radiating outwards, and shallow breaths escaped her lips roughly.

“Heeuuh…”

Her eyes held a strange glimmer.

‘Was that… too hard?’

A slight guilt washed over me, and I looked at her, but I steeled my resolve and scolded her.

“Just *why* did you do that?”

Thanks to her, my chronically low mana retention *had* vanished.

But she couldn’t have been aiming for that… It was only natural I didn’t understand.

What on earth was she thinking, giving me that precious elixir?

At my words, Cheon Yeo-ul quirked the corner of her lips upwards, pointed to the sky, and replied with a playful tone.

“That’s what I was told to do?”

She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and murmured as if offering a prayer.

“Ah… benevolent goddess, look upon us with favor….”

“….”

Blame it on the goddess they worship.

A truly all-purpose excuse.

I sighed and looked at her.

Cheon Yeoul wasn’t exactly someone you could control in the first place, so I figured it was better to just chalk it up to a random, impulsive accident.

Besides, the outcome was that my condition had improved more than I could have asked for, so I couldn’t exactly scold her.

“…Still, I’m sure you put a lot of effort into the harmonization. I appreciate that.”

At my words of thanks, her eyes widened, then she suddenly broke into a shy smile.

‘So, she can make expressions like *that*.’

It was a smile that looked a little different from usual, almost innocent.

“Then, can I ask you for a favor?”

“What.”

She hesitated, then said in a timid voice.

“That flick on the forehead from just now… just one more time….”

Before she could even finish,

“You folks back there talking?”

A heavy voice from the lecture hall boomed in our direction.

Turning our heads, we saw Park Gwang-cheol on the podium, staring right at us.

“Forget the saintess, and you, handsome male student. Come on up.”

Park Gwang-cheol couldn’t hide the smile on his face as he pointed at me.

The entire lecture hall’s gaze focused on me at once.

It seemed we’d been a little too loud while chatting away absentmindedly.

Cheon Yeoul, pretending not to notice, made way for me to go out easily.

I gave her a look of disbelief.

Eventually, I reluctantly shuffled forward towards the podium.

“So, what is our young man’s name?”

“Jeong Hae-in.”

“Jung Hae-in… Today, because I have been delegated all authority by the professor, I will mark you with an F.”

Is this lunatic serious?

“Excuse me?”

“However, if you solve this problem, I will consider that you have understood all the material and we can move on.”

And he presented me with the problem written on the chalkboard.

“Solve it.”

From the back, I heard the shallow laughter of the students.

Snickering.

Everyone thought I wouldn’t be able to solve this problem.

I swallowed a sigh and examined the equation.

-Mathematically define the critical conversion rate in the process of converting the immense amount of energy contained within a Shard of Harmony into real space, and present its limiting conditions.

‘Oh, shit.’

Their assumptions were correct.

I know of it, as it is a very important setting, but not to the extent where I can mathematically define it.

The Shards of Harmony are a type of authority left behind by the System; a legacy.

To put it simply, it’s a high-dimensional power that transcends the concepts of this world.

To date, a total of two Shards have been discovered worldwide.

One in America, one in China.

In actuality, there are a total of four, and these were destined for the protagonist, and three heroines.

Acquiring them doesn’t suddenly make you overwhelmingly strong, but it just adds a high-dimensional attribute to your mana and attacks.

This is fundamentally an attribute specialized for combat against demons.

Only through this power can you practically contend with high-ranking demons or demon lords.

There are almost no other ways.

If there were, it would probably be an inefficient method of pouring an unimaginably massive amount of divine power or mana into an attack?

‘But a person who uses such a method…’

Would probably be almost non-existent.

There have been numerous attempts to extract energy from the Shards of Harmony.

However, all of them have failed.

The reason is clear.

Only those chosen by the System can draw out the power of the Shard.

Sung Si-woo being the protagonist, it’s because he’s one of those chosen by the system itself.

‘But looks like this thing’s kinda coming undone.’

I looked at the problem again.

Since I couldn’t solve it with a formula, I began deriving it in a different way.

‘If we call the process of converting to real space ‘extraction,’ and assume the limitations are the system’s selection….’

I slowly began to write down several elements on the chalkboard.

“Fragments of harmony inherently contain high-dimensional energy.”

My voice filled the lecture hall.

I pointed to the explanation and diagrams I’d written and continued my explanation.

The sound of chalk scratched across the board.

Then, finishing up adequately, I put down the chalk.

“…So, in the end, the conclusion is that extraction is impossible without the existence of a suitable vessel, which acts as a limiting condition….”

Finishing my sentence, I turned around.

‘What’s with the atmosphere?’

The lecture hall was silent.

The students who had been mocking me were all keeping their mouths shut.

Some of them were even taking notes of what was written on the board.

I turned my head to look at Park Gwang-cheol.

He was covering his mouth with his hand, but I could clearly hear him stifling laughter.

He was letting out the laughter he’d been holding in.

“Kuh… yes… barely avoiding an F, Professor, right…?”

I turned my head to look at the professor.

He had lifted his glasses and was staring intently at the chalkboard where I had organized the formula.

A long silence stretched on.

Then, he finally opened his mouth.

“Student Jung Hae-in.”

His voice was low and calm, but contained within it was a strange heat.

“Come to my research lab after class.”

With those words, the professor left the lecture hall.

“Ahahahahahaha!!”

And finally, Park Kwang-chul, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing.

*

Six hours.

A full six hours.

I’d had to explain to the professor the method by which I’d solved a theory not yet revealed, and the deductive process behind it.

‘Park Kwang-chul, you madman…’

I naturally assumed it was a problem that had been solved to some extent.

Even within Vanquisher, this topic had been discussed frequently, almost daily, of late.

But I never imagined it hadn’t been proven at all.

‘Whether Jung Hae-in’s deductive process is valid requires further review, but…’

The professor paused, scanning the data.

‘What’s intriguing is that it shows a framework similar to the early stages being researched in America, actually.’

The professor, explaining this and that, couldn’t hide his excitement.

But ultimately, the conclusion was simple.

‘Have you perhaps considered attending graduate school?’

I cleanly and decisively refused and left.

I hadn’t expected to see such a dejected expression on the face of a professor nearing sixty.

Stepping outside, I saw the sun was already sinking low.

‘My Friday…’

I’d clearly planned to simply attend class today, and even finish applying to clubs.

It had all gone completely awry.

I dragged my heavy feet towards the dormitory.

After showering, I roughly dried myself and sat at my desk, opening my notebook.

Casually turning on the TV for background music.

I began to ponder the opportunities I might find this weekend.

‘First, receive the Camellia Sword tomorrow morning…’

What should I seek to gain most of all?

Flipping through the notebook, searching, I stopped, my actions arrested by the rigid voice coming from the TV.

-Breaking news.

I turned my head to face the screen.

[Simultaneous Marauder attacks erupt in Shanghai and East Africa.]

[Hundreds of casualties reported, including A-Class Hero, Ling Chao.]

The screen displayed a ruined city, crimson-black smoke billowing into the sky.

Wailing from the scene, streets reduced to chaos, and silhouetted against it all, a Marauder.

It was a picture all too familiar to me.

Slowly, I exhaled, watching the screen.

‘It’s begun.’

Marauders had been active, yes, but never launching such full-scale assaults.

Simultaneous Marauder attacks.

This wasn’t a mere coincidence; it was a signal that they were moving in earnest.

And that signal meant I needed to pick up the pace, pronto.

I grabbed a notepad from the stack on the table.

With my pen, I began rewriting my weekend plans from scratch.

‘Secure the Dongbaek Sword.’

That was priority number one.

Once I had the sword, then…

I paused, pen hovering, a moment of deliberation.

‘Fragments.’

Two fragments discovered so far.

One in the States, the other in China.

And of the remaining two, one was right here in South Korea.

“Baekdu Mountain, Cheonji Lake.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

Cheonji… Just saying the name conjured the image of South Korea’s most treacherous terrain.

Even knowing the location and acquisition method as I did, going there immediately would be…

My gaze returned to the TV screen. Shanghai’s sky was choked with black clouds.

Flames consuming the city. People gripped by terror.

The image burned itself into my mind.

I lifted my pen and wrote a single phrase in my notepad.

‘Acquire Fragment.’

With a firm hand, I underlined the words.

A task for someday, inevitably.

I rose from my seat and gazed out the window.

It was time to move.