It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 3

TL: Forgot to put chapter 0 so this is CH2-3 for correction.

Chapter 2: If Only I Had Time to Study (1)

Libra, the librarian of the starting village.

She always did her best as a librarian.

Although there were quite a few players a year ago for a few weeks, it’s safe to say that now, only a few elderly villagers visit the library.

One day, she came to her senses and found a man who always sat in the same spot at the same time.

It was the player Kyung-joon.

Usually, other players would say,

『What the…… My stats aren’t going up?』

『Why did they even make a library if it’s like this?』

『History of the Frigid North, the Chubberian Kingdom… What’s the point of reading this if my stats don’t go up? I’d rather go hunting.』

They would often disappear quickly after showing such reactions.

Only the player Kyung-joon remained until the end, reading books.

Or he would somehow get hold of paper and a pencil and keep scribbling something.

The same time every day.

At the same spot every day.

She thought he was a strange player.

He was always racking his brains at that time and place, muttering about how he couldn’t solve the problem, complaining about what kind of solution he was supposed to understand.

Although the library was always empty, as the librarian, Kyung-joon was a bit of a handful.

Still, Libra thought he wasn’t a bad player.

After all, she was a librarian with nothing much to do, and she had struggled with basic magic theory herself.

Moreover, in a world dominated by players who treated NPCs like quest-giving tools and looked down on them, he was a breath of fresh air.

But today, Libra decided she had crossed the line.

Kyung-joon was studying.

“Aha! I got it! So that’s what acid and base are! Teemo, then what about this?”

Kyung-joon turned his head to the side and asked a question.

Next to him was nothing but empty air.

“Yeah, yeah. Aha, I see. Wow. Teemo, you’re really good at explaining. The hologram explanation is killer too. It’s so much easier to understand with visuals.”

Despite there being nothing there, Kyung-joon nodded his head as if he had really heard an explanation.

“Let me write this down before I forget what I just heard. First, H2O + Cl2 is……”

As Kyung-joon picked up his pencil again, he suddenly grabbed his head in pain.

“Ugh, another headache…! Okay, let’s see you later. I’ll just write down what you just explained……!”

Nevertheless, Kyung-joon did not stop his pencil and continued to write something.

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh! My mana is full again? Summon Teemo! Teemo, so this time, there’s this problem…”

Kyung-joon started talking to himself again.

Seeing that, Libra couldn’t help but think:

That the player Kyung-joon had gone mad.

‘What in the world is he doing?!’

He used to just mutter about not being able to solve problems, but now he started talking to thin air.

And it always started with him saying his mana was full and ended with him clutching his temples in pain.

No, it didn’t end there.

He would grab his aching head and somehow scribble something on paper, and then a moment later, he would start talking to thin air again, and then complain about his head hurting……

Anyway, it was an endless cycle.

‘He must be cursed by a demon! There’s no other explanation…!’

It had already been a week of this.

There was no way he could be doing this in his right mind without some kind of curse.

Libra could only watch Kyung-joon with trembling hands, when a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

‘Wait a minute… Come to think of it, Korean? I heard that those otherworldly beings called Korean players are a bit crazy? Could he be Korean…?’

Libra came up with a more plausible reason than a demon’s curse.

She then began to recall the stories she had heard from her neighbors and the villagers.

‘That’s it! He must be Korean! The other day, there was this Korean guy who barged into the library and started ripping pages out of books, saying he was going to be a Book-Eating Wizard! Those crazy Koreans!’

In the end, Libra couldn’t help but come to this unfortunate conclusion.

“Heh, I’m getting used to Mana Exhaustion now. Ouch, my head…… Okay, let’s review again. According to the Arrhenius definition, an acid is a substance that dissolves in water to produce H+ ions…”

Meanwhile, Kyung-joon continued to study.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Kyung-joon wasn’t crazy, and Libra wasn’t seeing things.

It was just that Libra couldn’t see Teemo.

On the other hand, Kyung-joon, who could see Teemo, was simply studying.

It was just a difference in their perspectives that led to this unfortunate situation.

Of course, Libra wasn’t the only one who couldn’t Teemo.

.

.

.

[Your Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying..]

[Your mana has increased by 1 through continuous mana consumption.]

[Your Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying..]

Countless messages were piling up in Kyung-joon’s status window log.

They were all messages about his intelligence and mana increasing.

Whenever Kyung-joon racked his brains studying, his intelligence would go up.

And when he summoned Teemo and listened to explanations until he got Mana Exhaustion, his mana would go up.

It was an endless cycle.

In the meantime, Kyung-joon’s status window continued to accumulate intelligence and mana.

Of course, Kyung-joon was so engrossed in his studies that he had pushed his status window to the side and didn’t even bother to check it properly.

“Wow, Teemo, you’re amazing. How do you even catch errors in the textbook?”

<^o^>

<You flatter me. It’s just part of my machine learning capabilities.>

“Right, that running machine thing. So, does that mean I’m right and the textbook is wrong?”

<(‘ – ‘ ) (..)(‘ – ‘ ) (..)>

<That is correct, Master. Your answer for number 2 is correct. However, in this case, deep learning would be a more accurate term than machine learning.>

Teemo not only explained the solutions but also checked for wrong answers and even caught errors in the book itself!

And the explanations weren’t just verbal; they were accompanied by hologram images created with mana, so everything he heard was immediately etched into his brain.

Even the best tutors in Gangnam wouldn’t be able to do this.

Of course, Kyung-joon, who came from a poor family, had never had the chance to attend a hagwon(cram school) in Gangnam.

‘As they say, when you want to learn something, find a good teacher first. In martial arts novels and shonen manga, the protagonist always had a master by their side when they became stronger.’

As Kyung-joon was scribbling away with his pencil, very satisfied with Teemo’s functions,

[Your satiety has reached 0%.]

[If you do not consume food, your stats will decrease by the negative value of your satiety.]

[You will die when your satiety reaches -100%.]

“Ah, satiety. I need to go to Bread and ask for some bread that’s about to expire.”

<◎_◎!>

<You mean bread?>

“Yeah, hard bread. People don’t buy it much, so there’s always some left over. So I’m doing them a favor by taking it off their hands and finishing it.”

<^^;;;>

<Is that so? As expected of the Infinite Knowledge Seeker. You effortlessly accomplish what ordinary people cannot. It excites me. It inspires me.>

With that, Kyung-joon tried to leave the library.

“Libra, can I have my ID card back?”

It was a library where you hand over your ID card to the librarian when you enter and get it back when you leave.

But Libra, the librarian, didn’t hand over his ID card right away like she used to.

Something was strange.

She had a terrified look on her face.

“Um, are you okay now……?”

“Yes? What do you mean okay?”

<ㅋㅅㅋ>

<Master, this woman cannot see me.>

“Ah, I see. I get it. So, I must have looked like I was talking to myself for the past week?”

“H, Hiiiik…! W, Who are you talking to?! What on earth are you seeing?!”

The librarian backed away in fear, still sitting down.

“D, Demon! It must be a demon’s curse! I need to go to the church and get a priest right now…!”

“Well, I’ll take my ID card then.”

“Aaaargh……!”

Kyung-joon paid no mind to the librarian and looked for his ID card on the librarian’s desk.

That’s when a book caught his eye.

The title of the book was……

“……You Too Can Be an Archmage! Basic Magic Theory?”

Flip. Flip.

Kyung-joon was a little intrigued and flipped through a few pages of the book the librarian was reading.

『Chapter 1. About the History of Mana.』

『Doltian, the second archmage who inherited the will of the first archmage, Demosthenes, claimed that mana exists as ‘mana particles’ that cannot be further divided.』

Kyung-joon nodded his head as he read the sentences.

Even though it was something he was seeing for the first time, he understood it surprisingly well.

He became even more interested and began to read further down.

『However, the experimental mage Thomason later discovered through mana line experiments that mana, or mana particles, are composed of a mana nucleus and a mana transmitter. These two have the property of attracting each other…… (omitted)……』

The more he read, the more confused Kyung-joon became.

It wasn’t that the content was difficult.

Rather, he was surprised because it was as if he had learned it somewhere before, and it was easily going into his head.

“What the…… Why do I understand this so well?”

Déjà vu.

Deja vu in French.

Although it was his first time seeing this book, Kyung-joon couldn’t help but feel confused by the familiar content.

As he continued to read,

He realized something.

“This is no different from adding mana to the content of Chemistry 1.”

Just like how someone who has read a lot of novels can roughly picture how a new novel will unfold just by looking at the title and the first couple of chapters,

the rest of the content of “You Too Can Be an Archmage! Basic Magic Theory” was flashing before Kyung-joon’s eyes.

Even though this was his first time seeing this book.

And before long, something else happened.

[You have gained a certain understanding of basic magic theory.]

[You have learned the general skill 『Basic Magic Mastery』.]

[You have learned the general skill 『Energy Bolt』.]

“Huh…?”

[You have learned two or more skills by studying.]

[Conditions met.]

[The third mythical skill of 『Infinite Knowledge Seeker』 has been unlocked.]

[You can now use the mythical skill 『Dimensional Study Room』.]

Kyung-joon was bewildered.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The World Monitoring Team Branch 10.

Gulp.

The sound of Kim Bu-ha’s saliva going down his throat could be heard.

The same went for the team leader next to him.

“Dimensional Study Room, a player ate this in the end……”

Dimensional Study Room!

A skill that is unlocked when you change your job to Infinite Knowledge Seeker and learn two or more skills.

It’s a skill you can’t even imagine just by the name.

Is it a skill that creates a reading room in some subspace?

Of course, it wasn’t such a trivial skill.

“Bu-ha. You know that, right? In physics, the word dimension includes not only space but also time?”

“I think I’ve heard of it……. “

Team Leader added to Kim Bu-ha’s puzzled expression.

“That’s why the world is not just three-dimensional but four-dimensional. Three dimensions of space plus one dimension of time equals four dimensions.”

“Ah, so it’s a Dimensional Study Room.”

“That’s right. It’s a study room that provides ‘time’ instead of ‘space’. That’s the essence of the Dimensional Study Room.”

It provides ‘time to study’ instead of space to study.

That was the essence and itself of the Dimensional Study Room.

Simply put, the Dimensional Study Room adjusts the user’s perceived time.

Time in the game becomes faster than reality.

“The Dimensional Study Room is virtually no different from the main body of the Infinite Knowledge Seeker. An hour for other players can be two or three hours for an Infinite Knowledge Seeker.”

“He’s playing a completely different game by himself……. “

“That’s right. From now on, if that user named Kyung-joon wants to, he can learn swordsmanship and magic in an instant.”

When others study for an hour, someone studies for two hours.

When others play games for 10 hours, someone plays for 20 hours.

But there’s a limit.

There is a limit of 24 hours a day.

No matter how much time and effort you put in, you can’t break the law of 24 hours a day.

However, it is different for Kyung-joon, an Infinite Knowledge Seeker.

Even if others play games for 24 hours a day, Kyung-joon can play games and study for 48 hours or 72 hours a day.

Plus, 『Just A Rather Very Intelligent System』, Teemo, who is as good as any star lecturer in Gangnam!

He could really be anything he wanted, a Swordmaster or an Archmage.

“Wow, if I were like that, I would have studied all day. Then, instead of being a low-ranking employee here, I could be a team leader, no, an executive who can boss the team leader around……. Oops!”

“What did you say, Kim Bu-ha?”

“Oh, nothing! Hahaha!”

“This guy. Anyway, from now on, put player Kyung-joon on the top priority monitoring list. Let me know if anything happens.”

“Yes, sir.”

What kind of transformation will Infinite Knowledge Seeker bring to The World?

Neither the Team Leader nor Kim Bu-ha, nor anyone else knew yet.

At that moment, several notifications popped up on the monitoring screen.

[User Kyung-joon has increased his intimacy with Libra by 1.]

[User Kyung-joon has increased his intimacy with Libra by 2.]

[User Kyung-joon has increased his intimacy with Libra by…….]

．

．

．

The reaction Team Leader and Kim Bu-ha showed after seeing that was.

“That quiet Libra is making a fuss in the library……?!”

Chapter 3: If Only I Had Time to Study (2)

“So, this is where Rayford’s mana particles scattering experiment comes in. You understand so far?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good.”

Libra, the librarian of the starting village.

She had forgotten her duties as a librarian and was deeply engrossed in Kyung-joon’s explanation.

Kyung-joon took a breath and continued his explanation.

“To explain again, in short …… (omitted)…… That’s why it turns out that it’s not a pudding model, as Thomason claimed.”

“Ahh……! I understand! That’s amazing! How can you know so well just by looking at it once?”

[ Affinity with Libra has increased by 2. ]

“It’s just that it happened to overlap with what I already knew. It’s a coincidence, a coincidence.”

“I thought you were just a crazy Korean…… but you’re actually a great man with humility!”

“No, not humility. It’s true that I’m Korean, but I’m not a strange Korean.”

Libra inwardly screamed in reverse at the fact that Kyung-joon was Korean.

‘I knew he was Korean! Even now, he’s looking to the side and talking to himself. As expected, he’s also out of his mind like other Koreans…….’

……To say he was crazy, Libra’s affinity was already too high.

‘No, maybe this is his own way of studying……! They say you only truly understand something when you can teach it to others, right? That’s why he’s pretending to talk to the air and studying by speaking out loud! Maybe all the muttering he’s been doing so far was also……!’

And so, she had no choice but to come to a strange conclusion.

“I’ve realized! Thank you, Kyung-joon! I’ll study like you from now on!”

“Huh? I’m not sure what you mean by ‘like me’…… but do as you please. Then I’ll take my pass.”

“Yes! Thank you so much for teaching me today!”

[ Affinity with Libra has increased by 1. ]

‘It’s never gone up before, but suddenly it’s going up? What’s with this weird NPC?’

Kyung-joon was a little puzzled but soon shrugged it off and walked out of the library.

It is said that it started from then.

The rumor that the librarian of the starting village was crazy because she talked to the air.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Kyung-joon had just stepped out of the library and was about to stop by the bakery.

<Master, how about checking the newly opened skills?>

“Ah, right. I just ignored it. Let me check right away.”

[Dimensional Study Room]

▶Dimensional skill created by the former Infinite Knowledge Seeker who wanted to study endlessly. Allows you to control the flow of time you perceive.

▶Only usable by the Infinite Knowledge Seeker.

▶Time Dilation: 2.0x

▶Accumulated Time: 2 hours

▶Skill Level: Lv.1

▶Skill Type: Active (ON/OFF)

▶Skill Rank: Mythical

Control the flow of time!

This is the essence of the Dimensional Study Room!

“No, this can’t be real. According to this description, when 2 hours pass for me, only 1 hour passes for everyone else, right?”

<d (-_☆)>

<That is correct, Master.>

“No way……?”

Even with Teemo’s confirmation, Kyung-joon couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

To be able to make time flow slower for himself alone!

It meant that only Kyung-joon could spend the same 24 hours everyone else had as if it were 48 hours.

“……It says only I can use this skill, but what about you? If I turn on Dimensional Study Room and summon you, wouldn’t the explanation sound slow to you because it doesn’t apply to you?”

<Nope_Nope>

<That’s not the case. I am essentially a part of you, Master. When time passes quickly for Master, it also passes quickly for me.>

<So don’t worry, I can always give you the best explanation, Master.>

<ᕙ ( ᐛ )ᕗ>

Teemo showed an emoji of himself cheering, as if to say, “Trust me!”

And so the next day.

Today was the day to test the effects of the Dimensional Study Room.

However…….

“Blah blah blah~ Rayford’s mana particles scattering experiment~ blah blah blah~”

“What the…… Is she crazy?”

After a day had passed and he logged back into the game, the librarian NPC had become strange.

She was reading a book by herself and suddenly started talking to the air like that.

She then pretended to have a conversation with someone invisible.

Anyone could tell she was clearly insane.

‘Is it okay for the librarian to be like that? I can’t leave her like this. It’s too noisy.’

Thinking that, Kyung-joon decided to try and bring her back to normal.

Of course, he wasn’t going to solve it directly.

There was a specialist for this kind of thing.

Kyung-joon opened his status window and clicked on the section that said ‘Customer Service’.

『Subject: Starting Village Librarian NPC Libra has gone mad.』

『Content: The subject is the content.

Libra was normal for a year, but suddenly started talking to herself in the air today.

I am a frequent user of the library and can’t stand the noise.

It seems like a bug has occurred, please fix it urgently.

Thank you for your hard work as always.

Thank you.』

[Your inquiry to Customer Service has been completed.]

“Good, perfect.”

Kyung-joon felt a sense of accomplishment for solving a bug and opened his chemistry book.

He didn’t start studying right away.

There was something he had to check first.

[Current Time: 18:03]

From now on, Kyung-joon was planning to study for about 2 hours.

And if the Dimensional Study Room’s effect was real, only 1 hour should have passed in real time.

This was an experiment for Kyung-joon.

[Mythical Skill 『Dimensional Study Room (Lv.1)』 ]

[Time Dilation 2.0x applied.]

For a moment, a strange sensation came over his eyes and head, and then the world changed.

“Sloowwllyy― slooowwllyy― Thoommaassoonn’ss puuddding moodeell……. “

The librarian’s muttering sounded as if it had been slowed down by 2x.

No, it wasn’t ‘as if’.

Her voice was actually being heard at 2x slower speed.

And not just her voice.

Everything from her hand gestures and foot movements to her facial expressions!

Everything visible had slowed down by a factor of two.

Except for Kyung-joon, of course.

[Just A Rather Very Intelligent System]

▶Helps the Infinite Knowledge Seeker to seek knowledge.

Kyung-joon summoned Teemo to make studying easier.

<Good afternoon, Master. May your day be strong and powerful.>

<ლ (>◡<ლ)>

“Can you start again from where you left off last time?”

<Of course. Then, let’s start with Chapter 2-4, Orbitals and Electron Configuration.>

And so began Kyung-joon’s chemistry study session.

[Your Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying..]

[Your Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying..]

[Mana has increased by 1 due to continuous mana consumption.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying.]

．

．

．

Kyung-joon’s status window, which he had pushed aside, was constantly being filled with messages saying that something had increased.

2 hours had passed since Kyung-joon started studying.

[Current Time: 19:04]

“It was real……”

But only 1 hour had passed in real time.

Since the Dimensional Study Room skill’s time dilation was 2.0x, 1 hour for Kyung-joon was 2 hours.

2 hours of study in 1 hour was actually possible.

[Dimensional Study Room]

▶Accumulated Time: 59 minutes

Instead, the accumulated time had decreased by about 1 hour.

“Teemo, if I use up all the time, I can’t use it anymore, right?”

<Yes, that’s right.>

“It’s like a PC bang. Then how do I recharge it? Money?”

<The Dimensional Study Room’s time is recharged through enlightenment. It’s not simply money or mana, but ‘knowledge’ itself that fuels it.>

“In a nutshell?”

<You study to recharge it, that’s it.>

Study to recharge the Dimensional Study Room time, and use the Dimensional Study Room time to study again!

This infinite cycle of studying!

This was the reason why the prefix ‘Infinite’ was attached to Infinite Knowledge Seeker.

“Study, recharge time, study again…… It’s a study hell. Well, it’s good though.”

Kyung-joon’s family’s financial situation was expected to become even more difficult with his father’s retirement approaching.

He couldn’t just keep playing around, so he started studying.

Of course, it didn’t go well.

Because he wasn’t a genius.

Hard work pays off?

In academia, studying = talent had long been established.

What someone could finish studying in 10 minutes, someone else would take over an hour.

Kyung-joon had come to terms with this fact.

So he studied, but only with the goal of maintaining an average.

Studying was one area where there was a limit to how much effort he could put in.

‘But it’s different now.’

The power of 『Infinite Knowledge Seeker』 would help Kyung-joon’s studies and allow him to aim even higher.

Instead of just studying to avoid failing, he could now aim for something more.

Doctor, lawyer, judge, prosecutor, and so on.

These so-called ‘prestigious’ jobs were no longer an impossible dream.

Kyung-joon asked Teemo with a serious look in his eyes.

“Teemo. I have two questions since you said I have to study to recharge the time.”

<Ask away.>

<ㄱ_ㄱ!>

“First, if I study with Dimensional Study Room turned on, it won’t recharge the time?”

<No, that’s not true. Whenever you gain a big or small enlightenment or learn something you didn’t know before, it’s immediately converted into Dimensional Study Room time.>

“Good. Then why didn’t the time recharge when I learned a lot while studying chemistry earlier?”

<⊙.⊙!>

<Now that you mention it, I didn’t sense it. Please wait a moment.>

<Analyzing…….>

At Kyung-joon’s sharp question, Teemo made a surprised emoji and immediately began analyzing.

The results came out quickly.

<-_-a>

<It’s probably because it’s not the knowledge of this world, but the knowledge of Earth.>

<So the existing knowledge↔time magic conversion formula set by the predecessors didn’t work, and instead, only 『Infinite Reading』 was activated because you studied, so only your stats increased.>

Kyung-joon listened to Teemo’s words and began to ponder with his chin resting on his hand.

Teemo’s words were simple.

In the end, to gain Dimensional Study Room time…….

“……I have to study the knowledge of this world?”

With twice the amount of time thanks to Dimensional Study Room, Kyung-joon now had twice the amount of things to study.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Monitoring Team Branch 10.

Kim Bu-ha, the lowest-ranking member of the team, shouted to his superior.

“T, Team Leader! User Kyung-joon has finally started studying something else!”

“Finally……! Show me the video right now!”

A holographic video began to play in the monitoring room, where only the team leader and Kim Bu-ha remained.

In the video, Kyung-joon was looking at a book.

“What is it, what book is that?”

“Yes! As you can see, it’s 『You Too Can Be an Archmage Basic Magic Theory』!”

“Yes! As expected, he’s starting with magic studies! That’s right, that’s what a Mythical Job holder should do.”

The team leader was also somewhat involved in the creation of the Infinite Knowledge Seeker.

Game balance aside, he couldn’t help but feel attached to it.

“Oh……! He’s finally opened the book!”

“Good, good! Read it! Read it!”

“He’s reading it! It seems like he’s skimming through it first!”

Kyung-joon in the video quickly skimmed through the book, starting with the table of contents.

He probably wanted to get a taste of what magic theory was all about first.

Now he had to go back to the first page and seriously study magic theory.

The team leader and Kim Bu-ha also thought that Kyung-joon would do that.

Thump.

“Huh? He closed the book completely.”

“What, why did he close it after just skimming?”

“And he put it aside.”

“No, wasn’t he going to study magic?”

The team leader and Kim Bu-ha were bewildered by Kyung-joon’s incomprehensible behavior.

“He took out another book!”

“What is it this time? Let’s see……. “

The team leader adjusted his glasses and focused on the holographic video.

“……Seolha Publishing Physics 1? No, what happened to magic?!”

“It’s not Chemistry 1. Why did it suddenly change from Chemistry 1 to Physics 1?”

“How should I know?! Maybe his elective subjects are Physics 1 and Chemistry 1!”

The team leader and Kim Bu-ha still couldn’t figure out Kyung-joon’s intentions.

He seemed to be studying magic, so why was he suddenly studying Physics 1?

The reason for this was revealed about 30 minutes later, or 1 hour in Kyung-joon’s time.

Kyung-joon closed his Physics 1 book and once again skimmed through 『You Too Can Be an Archmage Basic Magic Theory』.

Then, in less than 10 seconds…….

[User Kyung-joon’s Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying.]

[User Kyung-joon’s 『Basic Magic Mastery』 skill level has increased to 2 through enlightenment.]

[1 hour has been added to User Kyung-joon’s 『Dimensional Study Room』.]

[User Kyung-joon’s Mana has increased by 1 due to continuous mana consumption.]

[User Kyung-joon’s 『Energy Bolt』 skill level has increased to 2 through enlightenment.]

[1 hour has been added to User Kyung-joon’s 『Dimensional Study Room』.]

“Gasp……! W, What was that!”

The team leader was bewildered.

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