It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 238

Chapter 238: Mana Virus: Outbreak

The green-haired Elf who came running towards Kyung-joon was Ezeri.

It was their first reunion in a long time, but there was no time to enjoy it.

“Kyung-joon……! At the tower……! An unknown virus has broken out in the Arc-en-Ciel Magic Tower……!!”

“Virus?”

“It’s what you wrote about in your heat pump thesis! They were conducting large-scale new power spell research at Arc-en-Ciel, and it finally exploded! They think it’s that virus or something!”

Ezeri explained quickly, almost out of breath.

Virus.

That thing Kyung-joon had written about as a possible side effect when applying programming methods to scrolls.

And unlike programming in reality, which ends simply within a computer, it was predicted to be much more dangerous because it could interfere with the real world through mana.

It seemed that the mana virus, which he had written about in his heat pump thesis just in case, had actually manifested.

However, based on Ezeri’s explanation alone, it was not enough to determine if it was really a mana virus.

“There doesn’t seem to be time to explain, and I need to see it for myself. Please, lead the way.”

“Y, Yes……! To the Warp Gate first! I’ll explain more on the way!”

“Okay.”

Kyung-joon started to move quickly, following Ezeri’s guidance.

Then, as if he had forgotten something, he looked back.

“Mr. Zot. As you can see, something came up, so I need to go first. I’ll think about your scout offer today and let you know after I’m done with this.”

“Uh, uh…… Okay.”

Zot nodded, seemingly swept away by the sudden turn of events.

Kyung-joon added one more thing to Zot.

“Oh, and I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”

“Huh……? What did you say?”

“You know, about how you live like that.”

“Ah, that.”

Zot had an expression as if he had just remembered.

In the past, he would have remembered every single detail and dwelled on it.

But not anymore.

No, it was going to change.

“I completely forgot about it until you mentioned it. And of course, I thought it was a bit harsh, but I liked living that way, so apology accepted.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Good and all.”

Zot did not deny his past self.

He accepted it as it was, thinking that it was also him.

He felt that the jealousy and envy he had felt, and the things he had done, were pathetic.

But he decided not to feel guilty anymore.

“Then hurry back. Before my mind changes about accepting the scout offer.”

“Haha. It’d be a bit much if you changed your mind after Ezeri ran off somewhere else. Anyway, I understand.”

Leaving Zot behind, Kyung-joon started to walk briskly with Ezeri towards the Warp Gate.

“Ezeri. So what happened?”

As they continued to move, Kyung-joon asked Ezeri for a more detailed explanation.

“Well, this is how it happened……”

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

A few hours before Ezeri took the Warp Gate and ran to Kyung-joon.

Brrr! Brrr! Brrr!

The entire 10th floor, the top floor of the Grand Magic Tower Arc-en-Ciel, was shaking violently.

Two people were working in this urgent and dangerous situation.

Merde Adivite, the Chief Magic Officer of Arc-en-Ciel.

And Ezeri Capirus, a new researcher who had been scouted by her.

They were arguing.

“That’s why I told you to scout the Anti-Scroll Magic Tool team!!”

Woong!

Ezeri shouted, her face extremely urgent, as she barely managed to write on the scroll.

A few hours ago, Merde had gone to Fael University to scout Zot, the team leader of the Anti-Scroll Magic Tool team.

She had said that she would personally scout Zot to implement the permanent mana device, the product of this large-scale new power spell research.

But in the end, she came back empty-handed.

She had emphasized that the Anti-Scroll Magic Tool, which would act as a control rod, was the only solution to carry out this dangerous and theoretically unproven research!

“Hmph. Did you think I hadn’t thought of that?”

To Ezeri’s rebuke, Merde, who was manipulating a huge magic device with mana with an equally urgent expression, replied with an unexpectedly calm expression.

“Of course, I had that thought a few seconds before you suggested it, Ezeri, and as soon as I confirmed that you were thinking the same thing, I personally paid for the Warp Gate to Fael University to scout him. Do you even know how much the Warp Gate costs these days with the rising price of Cube? The human faction has a mysterious group of otherworlders called administrators who subsidize the cost with insurance, so it’s very cheap, but here in the Fairy-Elven Alliance……”

“But why couldn’t you scout him and bring us to this point?!”

Ezeri shouted again, ignoring more than half of what Merde was saying.

“Hmph! That guy didn’t know his place. The initial scouting price set for Zot Kalisberg was 1 billion at most. Of course, it was nice to see him say NO when everyone else was saying YES, and his venomous eyes were a sight to behold, but that guy was so arrogant that even I, with my open mind, was speechless. He will surely regret rejecting the scouting offer.”

“We’re the ones who are regretting it right now?!”

“Regret? No, I don’t regret it at all. If I were to regret anything, it wouldn’t be the 1 billion dollar Zot I couldn’t scout, but the fact that you, Ezeri, who I scouted for 10 billion, are unable to solve this properly……”

“Ugh! I’m going crazy because of this old hag! Stop talking and move your hands!!”

“Alright, alright. Geez, young people these days……”

It was at that moment that Merde began to manipulate the magic tool with even greater concentration of mana.

[『The runaway of the large-scale new power permanent mana device (under research) cannot be stopped any longer!]

Brrr! Brrr! Brrr! Brrr!

The device looked as if it would explode at any moment.

“Eek?! W, We have to stop the research right now! Let’s continue later!!”

Ezeri, who was too shocked, lost her balance and collapsed, screaming.

“Hmm. It can’t be helped. We have to shut it down.”

However, Merde, a professional researcher and wizard, and CMO, who was over 500 years old and had been through all sorts of hardships, was different.

“There was a debugging method to escape the infinite loop in that heat pump thesis……”

Woong!

Merde began to pour a completely different kind of mana into the device.

Brrr. Brrr. Brrr.

Then, the device began to calm down in an instant.

However, the World’s judgment status window is more accurate than anyone else.

The words that the runaway could no longer be stopped.

It was already a foregone conclusion.

So the runaway that had been forcibly stopped……

[Scroll Cloner: A Mana Virus with Ego]

It began to manifest anew as a completely different kind of runaway.

A short poem began to be displayed in the status window.

▶It rummages through all your mana circuits.

▶It wanders through your heart.

▶Yes! That is the Cloner!

▶It clings to you like sticky slime.

▶It stirs your head as well.

▶Yes! Embrace the Cloner!

Flash!

A powerful pillar of mana shot up vertically from the device.

Kaboom!

The roof of the Grand Magic Tower Arc-en-Ciel was blown away.

And in the middle of the vertical explosion, there was a new Merde that had never been seen before.

“Groooowl…… Crrr……”

She began to moan like a zombie or ghoul, a type of undead, and her pupils glowed bright red.

“Groowl…… Young people…… Young people these days…… Groooowl……”

That’s right.

Merde Adivite was infected with the first mana virus.

“Young people these days……!! Gyaaaaaaaaah!!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Unlike her sluggish appearance, she ran towards Ezeri at a very fast pace, spitting everywhere.

“Eeeeeeeek?!”

Thud!

Ezeri barely dodged the attack by throwing herself out of the way.

Then, she immediately got up and instinctively realized.

The only person who could resolve this situation.

The one who had predicted the mana virus first and was, in a way, the cause of it……

“Sh-sh*t! There’s only one person who can solve this!!”

……was Kyung-joon.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“So that’s what happened.”

Ezeri finished explaining everything to Kyung-joon.

“Ah. I think I understand.”

What Ezeri said was most likely a mana virus.

An infinite loop error that got mixed in while trying to implement a permanent mana device.

And the elements of ‘will’ and ‘ego’ that mana inherently possesses.

It was clear that the two had combined to create something wrong.

“And I think I understand that it’s already screwed.”

Kyung-joon looked up at the tower.

Then he saw the Grand Magic Tower Arc-en-Ciel, located in Favengarden, the capital of the Fairy-Elven Alliance.

━Grooooooooowl!

━Kieeeeeek!

━Gruwaaaaaaar!

The tower was screaming as if it were alive.

Especially the bottom of it was a complete mess.

━Damn it……! Block them from escaping! Seal them in!

━Chief! We can’t hold on any longer! Please authorize the use of Unique-grade magic or higher!

━Authorization hasn’t come down yet! Lv.1 is the limit! Hold them off with that!

━Gah?! I, I’m infected! H, Help me……!

The police officers in charge of security in Favengarden were struggling to hold back the virus zombies trying to escape from Arc-en-Ciel.

“What in the world……”

Edict, who was next to Kyung-joon, mumbled with a blank expression.

It wasn’t just Edict.

“I can’t believe I’m actually seeing the mana virus I read about in the thesis……”

Teclyn and the other Scrollpia kids, of course.

“Wow. You caused a scene at Fael University, and now the capital. You’re amazing.”

“Amazing! Truly amazing! To think you infiltrated the capital so stealthily and caused such a commotion! This is the first time in hundreds of years in the history of the Fael Alliance!”

Azuaz and Chatty.

“Hehehe…… My house is near there.”

“Khehehe…… Mine too.”

“Kekeke…… Our house prices are ruined.”

And even the three Elf delinquents.

They were all speechless at the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

Kyung-joon, who had brought not only himself, but also the kids who might be helpful in solving the problem, along with Ezeri.

“Let’s go to the police station first. We need to get a briefing on the situation.”

Kyung-joon was about to move, leading everyone as if he were escorting them.

At that moment.

“Um…… Kyung-joon-nim. Please wait a moment.”

Edict stopped Kyung-joon and everyone else.

“Don’t you think it’s strange?”

Edict had a very strange expression on his face.

“What is it?”

Kyung-joon asked back with an expression that said to hurry up and finish.

“Looking at the situation in front of us, the mana virus doesn’t seem to be as contagious as we thought, does it?”

“That’s right. But why?”

“Why is Senior Ezeri fine? She was the closest to the device when it went haywire after that Merde person……”

“Ah.”

Everyone let out a short groan and looked back.

“Cluck…… C-cluck…… Cluck……”

Ezeri, who had been lagging behind,

She kept clucking.

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