Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 128

Lesson 26. Pushing Away When Getting Closer - 3

[You have acquired Life 100, Body 50, Malice 50, Star Trace 10, and Judgement 20. Malice is a concept that humans cannot possess.]

If Ban Yu-won had delayed his self-destruction even slightly, he would have completely lost control to the Constellation Yergel and would have had to watch the birth of ‘something’ from the jewel bracelet in a daze. Conversely, if he had acted even a bit earlier, Yergel would have sensed something amiss and not activated his power, preventing Ban Yu-won from reaping a large amount of language concepts and achievements as he did now.

Thus, it was a triumph.

―The Constellation [Clock of the Toy Army] is in awe of your skill in severing the Constellation’s interference at the perfect timing.

―The Constellation [Breath of Life] is holding its breath, claiming this is clearly a miracle beyond its power. He is highly suspicious of you!

Well, it’s too late to suspect anything now.

Ban Yu-won grinned as he absorbed the strings of text.

Perhaps because the Constellation had directly infused its power, even though it wasn’t perfectly completed and was self-destructive, the purity of the concept was absurdly high.

[The depth of Life increases by 50, Body by 25, Star Trace by 10, and Judgement by 20.]

[You have obtained a high-purity concept of Body, allowing for faster concept conversion.]

Even when hunting fairly strong monsters, it was fortunate to extract even 20% or 10% of Life and Body concepts. But now, he had managed to extract half! Half of them!

Thanks to this, Ban Yu-won immediately surpassed the Life 600 mark, which he considered the standard for the strong, reaching a depth of 640 in Life.

Moreover, obtaining 10 of the rare higher concept Star Trace was a significant achievement.

But more than that right now…

[Malice (凶惡) 50]

“This… is definitely a power.”

A concept that shone so brilliantly it was almost blinding, yet its contents were terrifyingly ominous.

It was likely the core concept of a monster that died before it could be born.

Naturally, it was a concept that couldn’t be absorbed into Ban Yu-won’s body as it was, but Ban Yu-won had a different idea on how to use it.

By splitting Malice into 'Ominous' and 'Evil' and using them separately!

He already had a use in mind for 'Evil,' and as for 'Ominous'…

‘I had tried to obtain it before. Weapons like military arms or ceremonial weapons can be considered Spirit Weapons. But that concept could only be extracted from weapons that had actually shed human blood, and even then, the depth was pathetically low. This means the concept of Ominous is that rare and high in rank…’

Ban Yu-won glanced at the executioner’s longsword hanging at his waist and then turned to Light to ask.

“Light, if I turn a Magic Sword into a Malice Sword, would that be an upgrade or a downgrade?”

“Hmm…”

Light, who Ban Yu-won expected to dismiss his words as nonsense, surprisingly pondered for a moment before speaking.

“How about a Malice Magic Sword instead? Actually, in our homeland, there’s a legend about a weapon called the Malice Magic Sword…”

“This guy’s a genius.”

Perhaps because they lived in a world where Holy Swords were real, the term Malice Magic Sword that Light mentioned had a captivating allure.

It felt promising.

It was the kind of feeling one only gets when a new concept is about to be born.

Ban Yu-won chuckled as he floated the Constellation’s concept above his hand.

And just as he was about to split it in half—

―Let’s make a deal.

With that urgent male voice, the surrounding scenery suddenly froze.

―I acknowledge my defeat and will retreat. Return my fragment.

Ban Yu-won looked around and confirmed that everything except himself had truly stopped.

Along with that, a white light mass appeared before his eyes, likely the medium through which the Constellation communicated its will.

“Isn’t it polite to introduce yourself first?”

―‘The Unmoving Manipulator,’ that is the name I hold as a Constellation.

Indeed, a fitting name for a Constellation that manipulates telekinesis.

Ban Yu-won let out a sigh of admiration and asked.

“What is this, how did you do it?”

―I gathered the remaining power in this room to create a barrier surrounding only you. Time and space cannot interfere with this barrier. Neither the Constellation nor the Tower.

Ban Yu-won decided to slightly retract his previous assessment that telekinesis was a lower-tier version of the Babylonian Code.

A barrier isolated from time and space? What kind of absurd power is this!

No, but on the flip side, doesn’t this mean that with his power, he could one day pull off such a feat?

―I admit I took a somewhat reckless move to test you and apologize. But what you hold in your hand is truly dangerous, this is the truth! Not just for me, but to protect yourself, you must…

“You don’t want me to ‘split’ your power’s core, right?”

―…!

It must have felt like a critical hit.

The Constellation tried hard not to show agitation, but Ban Yu-won knew that silence was as good as affirmation.

“The timing of your appearance was suspicious. If you could create a barrier like this to talk, you should have appeared when the bracelet exploded. You stayed silent then and showed up now, which means you—”

―Were hoping I’d swallow this without knowing any better, weren’t you?

At Ban Yu-won’s sharp words, the Constellation chose silence once more.

“You prepared a tempting bait, knowing I have the ability to steal others’ powers. Of course, you initially hoped it would harm us, but even if it died, that was fine. The real plan was after its death. The moment I swallowed this or imbued it into some other object like the bracelet—your intention would be fulfilled. Isn’t that right?”

Ban Yu-won knew well that anything related to the Constellation should be approached with caution.

Especially something as ominous as the concept he held—[Malice]!

Fortunately, with the Babylonian Code, he could distinguish between concepts he could handle and those he couldn’t.

So he didn’t hesitate to split the concept in two—and at that moment, the Constellation ‘The Unmoving Manipulator’s’ plan went awry.

―What do you want?

“You’d have to offer something at least equal to this, right?”

Still, it’s nice to be able to communicate.

Ban Yu-won didn’t actually dislike this Constellation, who readily acknowledged defeat and moved on to negotiation.

After all, once inside the Tower, facing crises was a daily occurrence, and he hadn’t suffered any damage from the Unmoving Manipulator’s involvement.

In fact, it had helped him clear Room 39 easily and provided him with high-purity concepts, making it more likable than other Constellations at this point!

―I will give you power… a power much safer and particularly useful for you.

“That sounds interesting. So?”

―Thought Acceleration. It’s a power essential to all who wield the power of the mind.

Upon hearing those words, Ban Yu-won felt like smacking his own head.

What a fool he had been!

‘I already have that! As a higher concept!’

What is a higher concept? It’s a concept that encompasses other concepts within it.

For example, a living being includes plants, making it a higher concept than plants, while plants are a lower concept relative to living beings.

A school includes high schools, making it a higher concept than high schools, while high schools are a lower concept relative to schools.

‘And I have Acceleration.’

He couldn’t remember exactly how he first acquired it, but he was sure it was around the time he obtained the concept of space control.

Though its depth was only 5, making its effect still weak, he often used it by mixing it with Star Trace to enhance magic or movement speed.

And of course—Acceleration includes Thought Acceleration, making it a higher concept than Thought Acceleration.

‘If I had to make an excuse, it’s that the depth of Acceleration itself is low, so I didn’t think to use it properly. But if I had practiced steadily, the depth would have increased. I should have been more careful with such a rare concept.’

Get it together and do better, seriously.

Ban Yu-won sighed, reflecting on himself, and spoke.

“I don’t need it. Something else.”

―You will regret it. I know you wield the power of thought. For such people, there is no ability more helpful than Thought Acceleration.

“I know, so stop it, you bastard.”

―???

The Constellation, bewildered by the unjust insult, was taken aback, but Ban Yu-won had no intention of revealing his foolish circumstances.

“If you don’t have anything else, I’ll just eat this.”

―W-wait! Alright… then.

In the still-frozen world, something began to move.

From the pile of remains of the monster that had failed to be born and was left with only its remnants, something blue and sparkling… a bracelet! It was flying towards him!

“Wow, I blew it up cleanly, so how?”

―I have restored it with a new power. Check it.

Ban Yu-won accepted it and checked it.

Knowing that Ban Yu-won could read the Constellation’s power like a ghost, the Constellation’s influence was completely removed, and the unnecessary jewels had fallen off, leaving a pair of bracelets with a much simpler design.

Unmoving Bracelet [Telekinesis 100 {Space Movement 50, Subspace 50}]

The concepts forming its interior were also completely different from before.

―First, it allows the user to perform space movement, moving short distances using their magic power.

“A blink, huh.”

There was a time when in any fantasy novel, it was considered essential for a wizard protagonist going into battle to master short-distance teleportation, or blink.

But after Ban Yu-won entered the Academy and asked Yumina, he was disappointed to hear that setting coordinates for space movement in the middle of a battle was too taxing, and if you had enough mana to do that, it was more efficient to set up a barrier or interfere with the opponent’s attack magic…

But now he realized this was the specialty of telekinesis users!

―Secondly, it allows you to connect to a subspace created by my telekinesis, where you can stay or store items. Its capacity is vast… yes, that mountain over there could somehow fit inside.

While Ban Yu-won was marveling, the Constellation’s explanation continued.

The mountain the Constellation referred to was the rocky mountain golem fighting with Dokgo Yeon to the north, and now, frozen in time, it really looked like just a mountain.

“There’s no guarantee you won’t interfere with that subspace.”

―While I created the subspace, its management can be handled by another wizard. It would be wise to seek the help of a wizard you know.

Ah, he must mean Yumina.

Indeed, if she confirmed it, there would be no worry about interference, even from a Constellation.

―This should be a fair exchange for the power you hold.

“Hmm… so you’re telling me to take this and leave. Just out of curiosity, are you willing to admit that your contractor, Alex de Cantone, orchestrated this?”

―Alex de Cantone? He is my contractor, but he has no connection to this incident. I merely consumed my share to intervene in the Tower’s event to test you, who has recently gained fame among the Constellations.

The Constellation, The Unmoving Manipulator, who seemed quite aggrieved by being manipulated by Ban Yu-won, feigned innocence as he replied.

Ban Yu-won had anticipated this response.

In fact, he had already given the Constellation quite a bit of trouble…

“Alright, I’ll return it if half is acceptable.”

―What?! I need it all—.

“40%. If you don’t like it, take back the bracelet and leave.”

―I must retrieve it!

“To be honest, it’s a pretty good item, but I already have an inventory, you know? Short-distance movement is a useful ability, but… I’m more curious about Malice. Honestly, aren’t these concepts lower than Malice?”

That would be accurate.

Ban Yu-won could judge the depth and rank by the golden glow of a concept.

The Constellation engaged in a silent battle of wills with Ban Yu-won for a while, but knowing that the barrier wasn’t infinite, he eventually raised the white flag.

―I must at least recover 60%. If not, I won’t leave quietly.

“Alright. Throw in a piece of information, and I’ll return 60%.”

―Information?

How did it come to be that the Constellation is being led by the contractor, not the other way around?

Of course, the Constellation denied any connection between Alex de Cantone and this incident, but…

―I am actually…

“…Ha.”

Apparently, the concept of [Malice] was precious enough to the Constellation that he subtly dropped a bold hint.

Though it was something Ban Yu-won would have to keep to himself for a while, as he couldn’t verify it with anyone.

“So that’s how it is.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden, Ban?”

“Ah.”

When Ban Yu-won came to his senses, the barrier had already been lifted.

In his hand was Malice, now reduced to a depth of 20, and the newly transformed artifact bracelet.

“I made a deal with a Constellation. So this bracelet… huh?”

Just as he was about to show off the bracelet.

A rumbling sound, like a distant earthquake, began to approach.

Wondering what it was, Ban Yu-won turned his head.

The mountain golem, which had been fiercely battling Dokgo Yeon just moments ago, was now approaching with Dokgo Yeon perched atop its pointed head.

“…Has Dokgo Yeon been taken hostage?”

Light made a foolish remark.

But since Dokgo Yeon, sitting cross-legged at the mountain’s peak, looked perfectly fine, albeit a bit surprised, that seemed unlikely.

Instead, it was more like…

“Could it be tamed?”

Luciel, the taming expert, cautiously voiced that thought.

Light and Ban Yu-won were left speechless by the absurd suggestion and could only wait for Dokgo Yeon to arrive.

To cut to the chase, Luciel was right.