I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy
Ch. 384 - Arctic Iceberg Mountain (12)

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Baek Yu-Seol originally intended to corner Pale Yellow Autumn Moon into revealing the secrets of the Persona Gate.

Surely, she hadn’t come here without reason, and he was convinced she was the one who turned the Ice Spirit Plateau Fortress into a catastrophe.

However, his plan fell apart before it even began.

“Waaaah… That bastard Maran Kaltz did all this and then just ran off…”

“… Uh, right.”  

Before Baek Yu-Seol could even unsheathe his sword or utter a threat, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon spilled everything… while sobbing uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down her face.

‘So even one of the Twelve Divine Moons can cry this pathetically…’  

He had always associated the Twelve Divine Moons with grandeur and authority, but this pitiful display was oddly refreshing… and downright ridiculous. 

Perhaps it also felt strange because this was one of the Twelve Divine Moons he had never encountered in the game.  

“Anyway… You’re saying there’s nothing you can do about it?”  

“That’s right… What am I supposed to do…?”  

And that was the truth.

The Persona Gate wasn’t her creation at all. Instead, it was the handiwork of Maran Kaltz, a rogue Class 9 dark mage who had been working under her orders but had gone completely off the rails.

To make matters worse, Maran Kaltz had disappeared without a trace, leaving Pale Yellow Autumn Moon utterly powerless to either control or dismantle the Persona Gate.

One calamity had snowballed into another.

‘Maran Kaltz, huh…’  

In the game, Maran Kaltz was a mysterious figure who was only occasionally mentioned and never physically appeared.  

He was infamous for being one of the most anticlimactic final bosses in the storyline. Late-stage players would eventually hunt him down, only to encounter this message:

[Maran Kaltz’s Corpse]  

It seems he died of old age.  

Hyped up as the left hand of the Dark Mage Cult, Maran Kaltz was found dead, having succumbed to natural causes.

The absurdity of that conclusion left many players so frustrated that some even filed complaints to the developers. Naturally, no responses were ever given.

‘And now, this same Maran Kaltz shows up, pulls a stunt like this, and then vanishes into thin air?’  

At least in the game, his corpse had remained behind. But here, he left absolutely nothing… not even a body. It was baffling.  

“Well… Whatever.”

Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but feel irritated at Pale Yellow Autumn Moon’s pathetic state, though his anger toward her hadn’t completely subsided.

“Before we move on, I need to ask you something.”  

“Uh…?”  

“You recently controlled two trolls to attack Hong Bi-Yeon. Why?”

At Baek Yu-Seol’s piercing glare, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon flinched, letting out a startled squeak before instinctively curling into a defensive posture.

“I-I didn’t do it!”  

“I know the truth.”  

“W-Well… Okay, fine. It was me, but…”  

As Baek Yu-Seol’s expression darkened further, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon panicked, words spilling from her mouth in a frantic stream.

“It was Fawn Prevernal Moon! He threatened to kill me if I didn’t cooperate!”

“So, in the end, you did orchestrate the attack?”  

“B-But! I never intended to harm her! You have to believe me! She’s an extraordinary talent, and I value her greatly! I just wanted to… separate her from you and, um… protect her! Yes, protect her! With respect! I swear!”

Baek Yu-Seol stared at her intently.  

Unfortunately, he didn’t have Pink Spring Moon’s ability to read people’s emotions. But Pale Yellow Autumn Moon’s feelings were so transparent that he didn’t need such an ability to know she was telling the truth… or at least believed she was.  

“... Sigh. Fine.”  

Though he had no intention of forgiving her, Hong Bi-Yeon was safe for now, and he needed Pale Yellow Autumn Moon’s cooperation to deal with the current crisis. For the moment, he decided to let it go.

“Anyway, about the woman standing next to you…”  

“Nice to meet you. I’m Florin, the Elf King.”  

A bright smile adorned Florin’s face as she extended a hand toward Pale Yellow Autumn Moon from the safe distance behind Baek Yu-Seol.

Pale Yellow Autumn Moon, still sniffing and wiping away tears, reached out with a damp and somewhat grimy hand.

Seeing this, Baek Yu-Seol quickly intervened, grabbing Florin’s hand and stopping her.  

“Don’t.”  

“Eh?”  

“Y-You’re so mean…”  

“Anyway, Pale Yellow-nim.”  

“Pale Yellow?! My name is Pale Yellow Autumn Moon!” 

“Yes, Pale Yellow Moon-nim. It seems like you want to dismantle the Persona Gate, but do you even have a proper reason? From the looks of it, you’ve already enthralled Grand Duke Selphram. Why not just let it go and run away?”  

“Gasp! H-How did you know I enthralled Selphram?!”  

“… You’re not just stupid. You’ve reached a level of stupidity that defies all logic.”  

“W-What?! How dare you! Calling one of the Twelve Divine Moons stupid?!”  

“Fine. If you don’t need our help, we’ll just leave.”  

“N-No, wait! Hold on!”  

As Baek Yu-Seol turned away with calculated indifference, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon lunged to grab his arm. She hesitated for a long moment before stammering out her next words.

“W-Well… Um…”  

“Yes?”  

“I-I admit that I manipulated Selphram and used him as my servant…”  

“Exactly.”  

“But… I sort of… raised him since he was little, you know? Ahem. He’s kind of like my… child? So, I can’t just abandon him…”

That explanation was so absurd it felt like hearing a rock was about to lay an egg.

And yet, to Baek Yu-Seol’s disbelief, it actually made a strange kind of sense.  

Sure, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon had drained her powers to enthrall Grand Duke Selphram, but what would she really lose by letting him go?

In a few centuries, she’d regain her strength anyway. And with Fawn Prevernal Moon already teetering the world on the edge of destruction, how much could one enthralled duke truly matter?

“Honestly… This is…”  

“I-I’m sorry! I know it sounds pathetic and unworthy of one of the Twelve Divine Moons, but still—I tried my best…”  

“No. That’s not what I was going to say.”  

“… Huh?”  

Without bothering to explain, Baek Yu-Seol grabbed Florin and leapt off the spire.

“I was going to say that’s probably the most reasonable excuse I’ve heard so far.”  

And with that, he disappeared below, leaving Pale Yellow Autumn Moon frozen with a dumbfounded expression.  

“R-Reasonable…?”  

For someone who had spent her entire life weathering scorn and ridicule, leaning on manipulation and the divine authority of the Twelve Divine Moons, it was the first genuine compliment she had ever received.

“Reasonable…”  

She sat there, murmuring the word over and over as if testing how it felt on her tongue. It wasn’t until Baek Yu-Seol’s voice boomed up from below that she snapped out of her daze.

“Are you coming or not?!” 

“I-I’m coming!”  

She hastily scrambled down from the spire. Though her cheeks were still streaked with tears, her lips curved ever so slightly into what could only be described as a shy, genuine smile.

Baek Yu-Seol led Pale Yellow Autumn Moon and Florin out of the Ice Spirit Plateau Fortress.  

At some point, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon hesitantly asked if they should check on Grand Duke Selphram.

“He’s not in his right mind.”  

“Huh… What do you mean?”  

“Hmm… Do you really want to know?”  

The look in his eyes made her shudder. She shook her head vigorously, deciding she’d rather not hear what had become of Selphram in his current state.

“I-It’s fine… As long as everything can go back to normal…”  

She tried to steel her resolve, but Baek Yu-Seol quickly shot her down.  

“When did I ever say I was going to restore everything to normal?”  

“W-What?!”  

“If we revert things, the cities near the Arctic Iceberg Mountain will be obliterated. You know that, right?”

“W-Well, yeah, but… Isn’t there another way?”  

“There is. We don’t dismantle the Persona Gate. But to do that, we’ll need your help, Pale Yellow-nim.”  

“M-My name is Pale Yellow Autumn Moon!”  

“That’s too long and exhausting to say.”  

Florin, who had been quietly observing the exchange, leaned toward Baek Yu-Seol and whispered with a concerned look.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit harsh to treat one of the Twelve Divine Moons like that?”

“She deserves it.”  

Even though they were temporarily allies, Baek Yu-Seol’s bitterness over what Pale Yellow Autumn Moon had done to Hong Bi-Yeon hadn’t faded. Forgiveness didn’t come easily to him.

“So… What do we do now?”  

“Do you see that over there?”  

“… Ah.”

Following his gesture, she turned to look at the distance.

A shimmering, purple-tinged veil rippled in the air, separating this vibrant, flower-filled area from what lay beyond… a chaotic, frozen wasteland obscured by mist. Though the view wasn’t clear, it was evident a fierce blizzard raged on the other side.

“This Persona Gate is different from the others. Instead of creating a new space, it overlays an alternate reality on top of the existing one.”  

“Y-Yeah… That’s right!”  

“… You actually understand what I just said, right?”  

“Of course! I already knew that.”  

“Anyway, unlike most Persona Gates, breaking that boundary might solve the problem.”

“Oh! Then let’s break it right away!”  

“… And how exactly do you plan to break a dimensional barrier set up by a Class 9 dark mage?”  

“Uh…”  

Pale Yellow Autumn Moon blinked, her wide eyes glimmering with confusion before she broke into a sheepish smile.

“Oh… Right?”  

Baek Yu-Seol felt a sudden wave of despair, questioning whether he could really trust someone this empty-headed.  

“… Ahem. So, what’s the plan?”  

Baek Yu-Seol had struggled with this question himself. What would happen if they destroyed the barrier separating the Persona Gate from reality?  

Most likely—  

‘The transformed people and environment won’t revert to their original state.’  

That couldn’t be allowed to happen. Leaving Grand Duke Selphram in his current state would only lead to disaster. The northern beasts would eventually find another route to invade the central continent.  

He needed a way to restore Selphram to normal while leaving the white mirage-like creatures unchanged.  

“We’re going to… expand the boundary of the Persona Gate, like a balloon.”  

“W-What?!”  

“Huh…?”  

Both Pale Yellow Autumn Moon and Florin widened their eyes in shock.  

“We’ll make this Persona Gate a permanent part of reality.”  

“Is that even possible…?”  

“A dimensional boundary stretched to its limits will never burst. The Class 9 mage who created this - Maran Kaltz - engraved that rule into its design.”  

“Y-Yeah… Maran Kaltz made this Persona Gate using ancient runes.”  

“Unless another Class 9 spell interferes, the boundary will expand but never break.”  

It was a plan to merge the cold and harsh reality with this dreamlike world overflowing with life and laughter… a collision of opposites. 

What would happen if the boundary between the two worlds became ambiguous?  

“… Honestly, I don’t know.”  

“What?! That’s not okay!”  

Baek Yu-Seol scratched his head and frowned.  

“It’s not like I’ve ever tried this before. My guess? People with intelligence will snap out of it. When the boundary weakens, the dimensional grip it has on them will falter. Human minds aren’t so easily controlled.”  

“Then… What about the creatures?”  

“The creatures and other low-intelligence monsters probably won’t return to normal.”  

“... ‘Probably’? So you’re not sure?”  

“Yeah. I’d say there’s about a 71% chance.”  

“That’s pretty high!”  

“Wait—no. Maybe 17%.”  

“That’s way too low!”  

“Either way, we have to try. There’s no other option.”  

“… Yeah, you’re right.”  

Seeing her hesitation, Baek Yu-Seol grabbed her shoulders, leaning in close enough that she could feel his breath.

“All right, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon. It’s your turn to step up.”  

“You… You actually said my full name…”  

“You still have your power as one of the Twelve Divine Moons, right? Pour every last bit of that power into expanding the boundary.”  

“E-Every last bit? I barely have any strength left… And besides…”  

When she reached for her waist, Baek Yu-Seol clicked his tongue and interrupted her.  

“What? So what if you’re turning gray? It’s not like it’ll kill you.”  

“We DO die from this!” 

“I’ll just paint you yellow again. That’ll fix it, right?”  

“D-Don’t joke around! This isn’t some simple—wait… What?”  

Pale Yellow Autumn Moon was about to dismiss Baek Yu-Seol’s words as a joke, but she stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the unexpectedly serious expression on his face.  

It wasn’t that his demeanor was frightening—he still wore the same playful smile.  

And yet… For some reason, his words didn’t feel like a joke.  

There was an undeniable weight behind them.  

Feeling that inexplicable gravity, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon clenched her trembling fists and gave a small nod.

“… Alright. I’ll do it.”  

For the first time in her life, Pale Yellow Autumn Moon was choosing to defy another Divine Moon—and not just any Divine Moon, but Fawn Prevernal Moon, the most powerful one.  

Her resolve hardened, her expression turning somber as she accepted the monumental task ahead.