Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 25: Magic (4)

“C-Cool?!”

Charlotte stared at me with a face that clearly said she was thrilled.

That little glowing orb buzzed around in the air, hovering just within my field of vision.

Of course, seeing a magic circle appear right in front of you usually meant something bad was about to happen.

It was a warning. A sign that an attack was coming.

Which meant, in a fight, this kind of behavior could only ever be a massive weakness.

It’s no different from shouting the name of your technique while swinging a sword, or an assassin yelling “Die!” after sneaking up behind someone.

Romantic, maybe — but practically? Just dumb.

And that’s part of why Charlotte is so often avoided by players.

A mage with casting times that ranged from a few minutes to, in extreme cases, days?

No one would pick a character like that.

Plenty of players tried to figure her out. Look for hidden gimmicks.

But they all failed.

All but me.

Stat-wise, Charlotte is average. No, painfully average.

Strength, intelligence, mana — every attribute hovers right at the middle.

But she does have one unique trait:

[Absolute Memory]

Everything she sees, hears, or thinks — she remembers it all.

Her memory is like a microcosm unto itself, and from that, her unique magic was born: record magic.

More commonly known as “Memorize.”

From what I know, a normal mage has to calculate spells in their head, then shape and cast them with their hands.

The time it takes to do that — and the difficulty of the spell — is what determines their true ability.

Even candidates for the Tower Master position — the strongest tier of all — require at least a short casting delay. That alone made players grumble.

But Charlotte doesn’t have that problem.

The moment she draws a spell — just once — it gets recorded directly into her brain.

From the formula’s beginning to its middle and end, all the way to the solution.

Even the question itself and the method of reverse-engineering it — the moment it’s drawn on the ground, it’s etched into her forever.

That’s why record magic is her exclusive domain.

Because no one in this world can retain magical knowledge as vast and precise as she can.

And sure, I understand why other mages call it inefficient.

Most people would rather store formulas in their head and solve them on the spot, instead of memorizing thousands of problems in full.

But Charlotte doesn’t need to calculate anything.

She just recalls what she’s already stored.

And the reason other players never discovered that is simple: unless you max out your favorability with her, she never uses “Memorize.”

You have to spend time with her, give her gifts, talk to her, raise her affection.

And unless you keep that up for months, she never shows her full potential.

Players want a clear goal and a clear reward.

When a character doesn’t offer that, there’s no reason to stick around.

Especially in a game full of other attractive characters who do offer those things.

“A-Ahh... I never thought someone would actually understand my way of thinking...”

“I just think the patterns in magic circles are beautiful.”

“Right?! There’s a kind of beauty that comes from the magic circle itself — but no one ever gets that, you know?”

Still hugging her book close to her chest, Charlotte smiled.

“Oh, that’s right — you said you needed my help...”

“There’s a problem I can’t solve. I thought maybe you could.”

“A problem? Can’t anyone else help you with that...?”

No way I could admit I didn’t have a single friend I could ask.

Or that I thought she’d help because she’s just that naïve.

So I had to find another way to win her over.

“More than anything... I just wanted to get closer to you.”

“H-Heok...!!”

She clutched her chest like her heart was about to explode and teared up instantly.

“Y-You really... want to get closer to me...?”

“Of course, friend.”

“Hh-hhuaaahhh...??”

It was like offering candy to a child. Maybe even easier than that.

And sure, I felt a little guilty for using Charlotte.

But still — I did want to be her friend.

Even if I’m half-assed about most things, I’m still a player who once loved this game.

I wanted to meet the characters I remembered.

The reason I never actively went looking for them before is simple:

Once I get close to them, the story could change. And I can’t predict how.

It’s a common fear among possessed protagonists in these kinds of stories.

That’s why I didn’t plan to meet anyone this early... but if it’s just Charlotte, it probably won’t mess anything up too badly.

She’s not one of the major characters.

Maybe the devs hid her on purpose, but unless a player deliberately exploits her, Charlotte has zero impact on the main storyline.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

I pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her.

“S-So this is... the problem?”

“Yep. My brain’s so fried I couldn’t even solve this basic thing.”

“Uhm... a basic problem?”

“What’s wrong?”

Charlotte glanced over the question on the page, then tilted her head slightly.

“Hmmm... no, it’s n-not a big deal...”

“Oh?”

Thank god.

For a second, I thought even Charlotte wouldn’t be able to solve it.

But I guess it wasn’t that bad.

Scratch, scratch.

She picked up a pen from the floor and started scribbling out a solution in fast, delicate handwriting.

She wrote for several minutes straight.

Then the pen came to a stop with a sharp flick.

“D-Done! I think this should be the answer... at least, if I’m remembering it right...”

“Thanks. Did you solve it before?”

“I think... I saw it in a book somewhere...”

She drifted off, her eyes slightly unfocused, as if lost in memory.

No — not remembering. Retrieving.

“Yes, I’m sure that’s the right answer.”

I smiled and thanked her sincerely.

Honestly, I wanted to ask for her number — but I didn’t even have money to buy a phone, so that was a no-go.

Even if I asked, she’d probably turn me down right now anyway.

“I’ll ask again sometime.”

“O-Of course, anytime...!”

And with that, I left Charlotte and wandered around the library, flipping through a few books before heading back home.

They were all way above my level — didn’t suit me at all.

The next day, I showed up early at the Academy and submitted the answer sheet Charlotte had written to the magic professor in charge.

Strictly speaking, this was the equivalent of using AI to do my homework.

But the professor had said we could use outside resources.

And honestly, Charlotte is basically a human information terminal, so... I figured it was fine.

Without help like this, a moron like me couldn’t even solve the most basic questions.

Technically, the due date was next week, but I turned it in early just in case.

Who knows — I might get drunk and lose the paper.

“Sigh...”

There’ll be more assignments like this in the future, no doubt.

And the thought of having to ask Charlotte every single time... yeah, that worries me a little.

Knowing her, if I ask as a friend, she’ll probably help without hesitation.

But that’s the kind of thing my human dignity can’t accept.

“...”

Yep. Still hate studying.

Possessing someone just to go back to reading brutal stacks of academic crap?

Worst timeline.

I sighed as I got ready for the next class.

****

Professor of the Magic Department.

Hergel Hyena.

“Huaaahh... I don’t wanna workkkk...!!!”

As usual, she was doing everything in her power to not get out of bed.

“Only four hours of sleep again...”

A chronic fatigue that constantly tormented her genius brain.

Whiiirrr...

Caffeine and sleep deprivation mashed her mind together into a sludge to kickstart the day.

Breakfast? Skipped.

Why? Because screw that.

Also, it’s dangerous to fall asleep while cooking.

All she did was grab a coffee from the campus café and chug it straight down her throat.

“Uugh...”

Even so, this year, there was one student she was genuinely interested in.

‘Andre Hellicia.’

Rumored to be the next Tower Master.

The very position she once aimed for and failed to achieve.

Now, this freshman was aiming straight for it.

And yes — his intelligence was the real deal.

He submitted the solution before a full hour had even passed.

That problem she said was “easy”? That was just bait.

A trick to get the students to try.

It was actually an extremely advanced question.

The test had two purposes:

One, to gauge where Hellicia ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) stood.

Two, to see how hungry the students were.

[Solution to Gravitational Mana Density and Variable Constants]

A formula designed to define the relationship between gravity and mana.

Something countless scholars once called a hopeless riddle.

Many had tried to solve it.

Even now, in the modern era, it's only partially understood.

Scratch.

Hyena sat down and reread Hellicia’s answer.

“Yeah... this one’s worth testing.”

She glanced at the stack of papers scattered across her desk.

Most were scribbled nonsense — likely from students who had given up.

Some were just blank.

Others had blatantly copied existing answers word for word.

It was open-book, sure, but this wasn’t remotely what she’d wanted.

Hyena sighed and shoved the stack to the side, sipping her coffee.

“...Wait. One more?”

She spotted a paper tucked off to the side.

Assuming it’d be more of the same, she lazily skimmed the content—

—and slowly set her coffee down.

Thud.

“...What?”

Stabilizing mana regardless of gravitational location.

In other words — a magic formula that equalizes mana density across all positions.

Drip.

A thin stream of coffee dribbled out of her mouth.

A method she’d never seen before.

“...Verification. Yeah. I need to verify this.”

Only five lines long — a ridiculously short sequence compared to traditional formulas.

But as soon as she deployed it...

Hyena understood.

“Who the hell... came up with this?”

A complete restructuring, as if someone had digested every existing theory and recomposed them into a new optimized framework.

Clean. Fast.

She glanced at the name field on the paper—

—and her eyes widened again.

“There’s... no name?”

****

“Ah, shit.”

Sitting in the classroom munching on chocolate, I suddenly realized I’d made a mistake.

I forgot to write my name.