It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 237

Chapter 237: There Is No More World Where a Dragon Rises from a Small Stream

It was Imprinting.

A jet-black line and a blue mana line run parallel to each other, reaching the boundary that is both the end and infinity.

At that intersection.

The jet-black light and the blue mana light were intertwined, coexisting with each other.

This is what Kyung-joon and the Demon King found at the end of their confrontation.

A ridiculous yet great answer that no one had ever attempted.

And it was the end point to move forward, and at the same time, the starting point that had to be touched upon.

[Purification of the Black Magic Stone has been successful.]

[The erosion of the target 『Zot Kalisberg』 is being transplanted to 『Kyung-joon』.]

[Erosion begins.]

Subtly.

Suddenly, a jet-black energy began to leak from Kyung-joon’s forehead.

━Ah, sht, I fcking regret rejecting that honey-like portfolio offer from the Seolha Group. I should’ve just taken it and enjoyed the easy life.

━It’s f*cking annoying to see that b@stard Zot’s eyes trembling. If he was gonna make that kind of face, he shouldn’t have done it in the first place.

━Ah, that btch Ezeri. If she hadn’t been fcking scouted, I wouldn’t have been in this troublesome situation.

All sorts of negative and dark thoughts were blackening his mind.

“Wow. So this is what it felt like.”

Kyung-joon’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

He had to take appropriate measures quickly before his entire body was dominated by negative emotions.

Fortunately.

<Master. The analysis of Imprinting is complete. As the Demon King said, it is the Imprinting left by the previous generation.>

He had already received the method.

<You can activate it immediately and proceed with the control and management sequence. Would you like to proceed?>

“Yes, do it now.”

Kyung-joon placed his hand on his forehead and concentrated his mana.

This was the will of the previous generation, entrusted by the Infinite Knowledge Seeker to the Demon King and passed down to Kyung-joon after 700 years.

[『Activating Parallel Line Imprinting』.]

Wooong!

[『The erosion of 』Jet-black Power』 is completely suppressed.]

[Jet-black energy is completely hidden.]

[『The effect of Parallel Line Imprinting』 lasts for about a year and may vary depending on the control and management of 『Jet-black Power』 in the future.]

The negative thoughts that had been eating away at his mind subsided greatly.

There was still a little bit left, but it was manageable enough for him to control on his own.

At the same time.

Shooowook.

The Imprinting, which had been like a tattoo on Kyung-joon’s forehead, disappeared.

To the people around him, it seemed as if Kyung-joon had perfectly purified the Black Magic Stone.

“H, How…… Why……”

However, it was completely different for Zot, who had witnessed the scene right in front of him.

“Why instead of me…… To such an extent……”

Kyung-joon didn’t answer Zot’s question.

Slide.

He simply extended a hand down.

“How are you? Are you feeling better now?”

Zot just stared blankly at Kyung-joon with a bewildered expression.

It felt like he had just woken up from a very vivid dream.

Just as Kyung-joon had peeked into Zot’s memories while accessing his mind.

Conversely, it was the same for Zot.

Who Kyung-joon was.

What kind of life he had lived.

And why he was reaching out to him like this.

He learned it all.

Nevertheless.

“……”

Zot still couldn’t bring himself to take Kyung-joon’s hand.

It was for two reasons.

Because the hatred that had sustained him all this time was wavering.

And because the self-loathing that blossomed from that wavering was making him even more miserable.

What to do.

Zot couldn’t figure out what to do or how to think right now.

In the end.

Zot had no choice but to utter these words to Kyung-joon, whom he hated the most.

“I…… I’m so pathetic and…… guilty……”

It wasn’t atonement or repentance.

Just simple guilt.

A simple and heavy sin.

“Guilty?”

Kyung-joon withdrew his hand and asked Zot on the floor.

Then Zot began to tell his story.

“At first, it was just…… simple jealousy…… Within the family, I was always compared to my brother or sister, even my younger siblings. I was always compared to other kids who were good at studying. No matter how much I studied, my grades didn’t improve, and I couldn’t see any chance of beating them. Even the teachers didn’t pay much attention to me, saying I was just another elf…… I hated that extra’s life. I hated myself like that. I hated seeing myself like that, so I lived my life looking down on others even more……”

“And then you found me, your 『target』?”

“……That’s right. I…… Kyung-joon, I couldn’t accept you at all. It would have been less so if you were a fairy or a dragon, at least an elf…… But you were a human, an otherworlder who had been in the World for less than two years. And on top of that, you were from the Scroll Department, which I had always looked down on, the Magic Tool Department…… No, the Scroll Department. You were the perfect target for me, who had become miserable. So I targeted you. It was wrong, but just to gain some semblance of peace of mind. To turn my eyes away from my own misery by belittling and denying others. I targeted you. Targeted you, but……”

Zot suddenly stopped talking and closed his mouth.

“You targeted me, and then you think you ended up like this because you were consumed by the Black Magic Stone?”

Kyung-joon said for him, the words that Zot couldn’t utter and had to swallow.

“……”

Zot couldn’t agree or disagree.

It was true to deny it.

And to agree was like shifting his responsibility to the Black Magic Stone.

Zot continued to keep his mouth shut, unable to speak any further.

“Mr. Zot.”

“……”

Looking down at Zot, Kyung-joon.

“I’ll give you some honey tips for life too. Be sure to take note of them.”

He was smirking as if he was proud.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Let’s think about it the other way around.

Have you ever been envious of someone in your life?

Of course, you have.

For example.

Someone who was clearly living a lower quality of life than you.

Or someone who was your subordinate.

Or imagine that someone you thought was beneath you suddenly rose above you one day.

He now clearly has a higher quality of life than you.

How do you think it would feel?

Perhaps your brain would not be able to accept the sudden reversal of the superior-inferior relationship, and envy and hatred for the other person and yourself would begin to sprout.

Surely everyone has felt it.

This very envy and jealousy.

Zot had just said that he was pathetic and guilty.

But in reality, there was no need for that.

Because jealousy and envy are truly natural and natural human emotions.

Of course.

Zot used those emotions incorrectly.

Instead of using them to improve himself, he tried to bring others down.

It was because of the Black Magic Stone, but Zot should have turned the emotions of jealousy and envy into a force to improve himself……

……

Oh, right.

He had no intention of telling Zot such obvious and yawn-inducing things.

So Kyung-joon declared.

“Mr. Zot. No matter how hard you try and push yourself, you will never be able to beat me.”

“……!”

He had no intention of denying effort.

But he also had no intention of arbitrarily dismissing it as a panacea.

If effort were a panacea.

Surely a being like the Demon King would never have been born.

In reality.

No matter how hard Zot worked 24 hours a day,

The probability of him beating Kyung-joon, who had 3.76 times more time than others and even a Mythical Job, would be close to 0%.

“I’m not going to say that hard work doesn’t always lead to success, but you’ll never succeed if you don’t try…… The standards and definitions of effort and success are ambiguous in the first place, so it’s foolish to make arbitrary claims. And if you look around, there are definitely people who have achieved great success with very little effort based on their innate family background and talent. Don’t you feel the same way?”

Kyung-joon continued.

“Those quote-unquote motivational sayings are just words that ordinary people make up to comfort themselves, or that talented and successful people make up to comfort the untalented and powerless ordinary people. Wow, I sound like a really twisted guy saying this. But honestly, don’t you feel the same way?”

“……”

Zot couldn’t deny it.

Because it was exactly what he was thinking.

He couldn’t deny it.

“Let’s be honest. You’ve peeked into my memories, so you probably know, but I was a talentless guy too. I always spent my time at the bottom, looking up at the amazingly talented people. Of course, there was no such thing as a Black Magic Stone in the world I lived in, and I wasn’t as bad a person as you, so even though I was envious and jealous inside, I never belittled or put others down on the outside.”

“Ugh……”

Zot flinched slightly at Kyung-joon’s factual attack.

Kyung-joon, as if amused, slightly raised the corners of his lips and continued speaking.

“That’s what I thought back then. Why don’t I have any talent? Why wasn’t I born into a wealthy family? That guy seems to be doing well even though he’s living a rough life, and why am I the only one who’s not changing even though I’m working hard? Honestly. Really honestly. Isn’t this reality?”

The equality of opportunity is a thing of the past.

The saying that a dragon rises from a small stream never existed in the first place; it only seemed that way.

The starting line is the same, but one person is running barefoot and the other is lying on top of a billion-dollar Lamborghini, so how can there be equality?

That’s why the communist talk of equality of outcome is resurfacing in this day and age.

However, we humans have already experienced that this is not the right way to go.

“I’m going to change this kind of world.”

So there’s only one way left.

“Just like catching monsters to gain experience and level up. If you study 1, you gain 1, if you study 10, you gain 10, and if you study 100, you gain 100. I will change the world. To those who lack memory, I will give memory. To those who lack creativity, I will give creativity. To those who are slow at calculating, I will make their minds work faster. To those who lack perseverance, I will make them able to sit in a chair for a long time. To those who can’t concentrate even when sitting in a chair, I will make them able to keep their eyes on their books, that kind of world.”

Kyung-joon’s goal, which he had never told anyone before.

It began to be proclaimed.

“Ah…… Ah……”

And Zot, who was the first in the world to witness it firsthand.

He looked up at Kyung-joon as if he were looking up at the sky.

“To those who lack talent, I will give talent. To those who lack time, I will give time. I will create a world where that can happen.”

Of course.

Even so, the difference between who is better and who is not will not disappear.

As long as there are many people.

Unless all beings are combined into one, like in some kind of cartoon.

Competition and comparison are inevitable.

But.

I can say this much.

The difference between 1 and 100.

And the difference felt between 10,001 and 10,100.

It’s clearly different.

Surely.

The world Kyung-joon will create.

It will be a world where at least everyone can reach 10,000.

“Zot, the team leader of the 『Dedicated Anti-Scroll Magic Tool』 team. 『Kyung-joon』, the master of studying magic and professor of the Department of Scroll and Scroll Programming, proposes to you.”

Swoosh.

Kyung-joon once again extended his hand to Zot.

And then.

Kyung-joon continued speaking in his usual expressionless but serious voice.

“Your presentation. I was very impressed. Your malice towards me and scroll programming. If my scroll programming were to be hacked, it would definitely be you. I still want you by my side, as my 『enemy』. And.”

Ahem.

Kyung-joon cleared his throat and changed the mood slightly.

A slightly playful voice.

“That ungrateful elf Ezeri Capirus ran off to another place after I taught her a thing or two, so there’s an opening. So how about it? How about changing this messed up world with me? By the way, three meals a day and lodging are provided, and the salary is negotiable later.”

Kyung-joon continued to hold out his hand to Zot.

“……”

Others may not know, but Zot knew.

The Demon King’s seal was about to be broken because of him.

And.

Kyung-joon, whom he had hated so much, had taken all the blame instead of him.

Thanks to him, he was able to escape from the future where he would have died after being consumed by the Black Magic Stone, but……

But that was all.

There was nothing Zot could do here.

But.

Despite all that.

Kyung-joon accepted him.

He acknowledged him.

No one had ever acknowledged him before.

He himself had been turning a blind eye to himself.

And yet, Kyung-joon, the enemy he hated the most, was the first to acknowledge him.

“Sob……!”

Zot cried and finally grabbed Kyung-joon’s hand.

And then he stood up straight.

“I’m sorry…… Really…… I’m so sorry…… I’m so ashamed of myself…… Really…… I’m so sorry……! Sob…… Ugh……!”

Even as Zot said he was ashamed, he raised his head and looked straight at Kyung-joon.

A different kind of determination was felt in his face.

However, his face was covered in tears and snot.

It was a truly unsightly sight, but.

Perhaps it was the coolest face Zot had ever made in his life.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Just as the long and arduous story of Zot and Kyung-joon was about to come to a close.

“Gasp, gasp……! F, Found you……!!”

Tap, tap, tap!

Suddenly, a green-haired elf woman came running towards where Kyung-joon was.

“Huh? Ezeri?”

“K, Kyung-joon……! In the tower……! An unidentified virus in the Arc-en-Ciel Tower……!!”

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