“Ohh.”
As I got off the bus, magnificent European-style buildings came into view.
At the center stood the headquarters of the British Mage Association, shaped like a grand palace.
I had visited this place before my regression, but even seeing it again, its architecture—something unseen in the East—felt fascinating.
“Hello. My name is James, and I will be guiding the students of the Korean Mage Academy today.”
A man who introduced himself as James appeared with a smile, speaking fluent Korean.
He was a mage affiliated with the British Mage Academy, and if my memory served me right, he was close to an S-rank mage.
Of course, he didn’t hold much significance in the original work.
“Alright, this way, please.”
Following James, we began our tour of the Mage Association.
The first floor was adorned with splendid statues modeled after mythical figures and depictions of Britain’s active mages.
After briefly exploring the first floor, we arrived at the second floor of the British Mage Association— the “Legendary Armament Exhibition Hall.”
“Wow! Hey, hey, look at that! It’s Excalibur!”
Shin Young-joon grabbed Lee Seo-jun and pointed at a glass display case.
A long, pure-white blade with a golden hilt.
Even at a glance, the sword emitted an extraordinary aura.
Lee Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at it.
“Wow. That’s incredible. This is the real thing, right?”
“It must be. The security here is no joke.”
“They’re keeping something this valuable just for display? What a waste.”
Lee Seo-jun clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Listening to their conversation, I used my outsider’s privilege to inspect Excalibur.
━━
[Excalibur (SS)]
Type: Sword
Description: The legendary sword wielded by King Arthur.
[Passive Effects]
▶Mystique
Increases stamina, strength, and magic power by 50%. Deals 200% additional damage to demon-type monsters.
▶Protection
The sword’s mystical energy increases magic resistance by 50%.
▶Lightweight
The user does not feel the sword’s weight.
[Active Effect]
▶Magic Manifestation
For 10 minutes, continuously absorbs the user’s magic power.
Increases damage output by 50%.
Durability: SSS
Destructive Power: SS
━━
“…This is insane.”
No matter how many times I looked, the stats were ridiculous.
A literal cheat item.
Since all the stat boosts were percentage-based, a skilled warrior with high base stats could maximize its potential to an extreme degree.
Lee Seo-jun couldn’t take his eyes off the sword, clearly wanting it.
I barely managed to hold back from telling him, You’ll have a sword just as good as that someday, so no need to be envious.
Of course, that time was still far off.
Just then, James approached Lee Seo-jun and spoke.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s such a shame to leave something like this on display.”
At Lee Seo-jun’s remark, James chuckled.
“It is a waste, but the tourism revenue it brings in is enormous.”
However, Lee Seo-jun, unfamiliar with concepts like tourism profits, still looked unconvinced.
At the British Mage Academy.
Lily Rose lay on her dormitory bed, checking her social media.
Lately, Korean comments had increased noticeably.
Of course, as someone who spoke Korean as fluently as a native, she understood exactly what they were saying.
They were all insults.
“Hmph.”
But she wasn’t bothered. She didn’t block the comments; in fact, she found them amusing and enjoyed the situation.
As long as she had the support of her fellow British people, that was all that mattered.
Besides, the more attention she drew, the more people would witness her outperforming Lee Seo-jun in the joint exam.
To her, this was actually a positive development.
“I just want to take the exam already.”
As she browsed through online news, a particular headline caught her eye.
[Lily Rose vs. Lee Seo-jun: Who is superior? The perspective of Britain’s S-rank mages.]
Even just the title was intriguing.
British mages comparing her to Lee Seo-jun?
With a confident flick of her finger, she clicked on the article.
[Lily Rose, hailed as Britain’s greatest genius, has recently been provoking Lee Seo-jun through social media. However, concerns are emerging within the country about the possibility of her losing in the joint exam and facing embarrassment.]
[We asked professional British mages for their opinions.]
[S-rank mage Eddie commented, ‘I hesitate to say this about a fellow Brit, but… Lee Seo-jun seems to have the upper hand…’]
She didn’t even finish reading before closing the article.
What did they know?
“…They have no idea.”
She tossed her smart student notebook somewhere on the bed and buried her face in her pillow.
She stayed there, sulking.
For about ten seconds.
Bzzzt.
Her smart student notebook vibrated.
“…Who is it?”
Blindly reaching out, she grabbed the notebook again.
A message had arrived.
Casually reading it, her eyes widened in surprise.
[Lily, the Korean Mage Academy students just arrived at the British Mage Association.]
The Korean students were at the British Mage Association?
Lily shot up from her bed.
After finishing the long tour of the British Mage Association, we were given 30 minutes of free time.
Of course, to ensure a smooth schedule and prevent students from wandering off, individual activities were prohibited.
In the end, my group consisted of me, Lee Seo-jun, Shin Young-joon, Yoo Ara, Yoon Hayoung, and Lee Hyun-joo.
Since it was made up entirely of key characters from the original story, I was quite satisfied with the group itself.
“Seo-jun, look at this. Wow, isn’t this spirit magic amazing? How do you think they did it?”
I glanced at Lee Seo-jun, but he was already admiring the Mage Association’s interior alongside Lee Hyun-joo in a good mood.
Meanwhile, Shin Young-joon subtly stepped back behind them, giving them space.
He may seem simple, but he has a surprisingly considerate side.
“Sunwoo, check this out.”
At that moment, Yoon Hayoung approached me, pointing at something.
At the tip of her finger was a transparent, small crystalline object on display.
“It’s called the Crystal of Extreme Ice.”
As expected of Yoon Hayoung, who specializes in ice magic—her eyes sparkled with fascination at the ice-related artifact.
“They say holding this makes ice-element magic more solid in form. Apparently, ancient mages used this for training. Isn’t that cool?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
“What’s with that reaction? You don’t sound that impressed.”
Yoon Hayoung pouted.
I gave her a small smile and replied,
“Honestly, it’s just okay.”
I had already seen it once before my regression.
“Tch, whatever. You’re no fun.”
She pretended to sulk for a moment, then playfully grinned and ran off toward Yoo Ara.
“……Hmm.”
Left alone, I decided I might as well use this chance to go to the restroom.
I had drunk too much cola on the bus earlier, and it was starting to kick in.
I looked around.
The rest of the group was chatting happily while exploring the exhibition hall.
Technically, I should inform someone before moving separately, but it was just a quick trip to the restroom—it wouldn’t be a big deal.
I turned around and walked off in search of the bathroom.
Since the association was massive, it would take a bit of walking to get there.
As I followed a short corridor, I suddenly bumped into someone at a corner.
“Ah!”
“Oh, are you okay?”
I looked down at the woman who had fallen before me.
Blond hair. She looked British. Should I have spoken in English instead?
“Ugh… I’m fine.”
She responded in fluent Korean.
Her pronunciation was so perfect that I was momentarily shocked—she sounded just like a native Korean.
“You speak Korean really well.”
“Yeah, I’ve been studying it diligently because I’m very interested in Korea. But wow, you’re strong. I usually don’t lose in terms of strength.”
I reached out my hand to help her up, and she grasped it.
I could feel calluses on her palm—the hands of a reinforcement-type mage who trained with weapons.
Then, she looked up at me.
The moment I saw her face, my entire body froze.
“Huh?”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one caught off guard.
The woman before me also let out a surprised voice and stared blankly at my face.
“Kim Sunwoo?”
What?
How does she know my name?
“…….”
Smack!
Lily Rose abruptly shook off my hand and got up by herself.
She dusted off her clothes and looked at me with an odd gaze before smirking.
That smirk carried a hint of ridicule, which didn’t sit well with me.
“You’re the top student in theoretical magic at the Korean Mage Academy, right?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“You know who I am?”
“Lily Rose.”
At my answer, Lily Rose smiled again, seemingly satisfied.
Annoying attitude aside, she really did look like a doll.
“I saw your basic magic aptitude test on MeTube. It was entertaining. How did you pull that off?”
She’s bringing up something from way back…
I let out a sigh.
Just responding to her felt like a hassle.
“If you’re done talking, I’ll be going now.”
With that, I turned and resumed walking toward the restroom.
Behind me, I heard Lily Rose’s voice again.
“Huh? I wasn’t making fun of you. Good luck!”
Lily Rose stared blankly at Kim Sunwoo’s retreating figure.
She was a well-known figure in Britain, yet he acted like he had no interest in her at all.
“I really wasn’t making fun of him, though.”
Sure, the video was funny, but… hmm. Maybe I did sound a bit condescending?
“Whatever.”
She doubted they would run into each other often anyway, so there was no point in thinking about it.
Lily Rose refocused on her original goal—finding Lee Seo-jun.
“Where is he?”
As she scanned the area, her eyes landed on her target.
“There he is.”
With an elegant walk, she made her way toward Lee Seo-jun.
Time passed.
After finishing all our scheduled activities, we arrived at a massive luxury hotel in central London.
The sign read ‘Hotel Hanseong.’
It was the same five-star Hanseong Hotel I had once stayed in back in Korea.
Hanseong Group was a globally renowned conglomerate.
It was only natural they had hotel branches worldwide, including one in the UK.
For a high school trip, the accommodations were quite extravagant.
However, the Korean Mage Academy was the wealthiest school in the world, so students were entitled to these benefits.
“Kim Sunwoo! Over here!”
As I admired the hotel lobby, I heard Shin Young-joon calling me from afar.
I casually walked over to him.
The rooms were assigned in groups of three, and I would be sharing with Shin Young-joon.
“Hey, Kim Sunwoo, did you bring any snacks?”
“No.”
“Tch, what a shame.”
Shin Young-joon mumbled in disappointment, then turned his head.
“There he comes. Hey! Hurry up!”
Shin Young-joon waved his hand.
From a distance, Lee Seo-jun was walking toward us, holding a hotel keycard.
As expected, since he was in our group, he was our third roommate.
“Oh, right. Kim Sunwoo, you didn’t see it earlier, did you? Lily Rose was looking for you.”
Shin Young-joon grinned as he spoke.
“I know.”
“For real…? Huh? You know?”
“I ran into her on my way to the restroom.”
“Really?”
Shin Young-joon sounded disappointed, as if the excitement had worn off.
“But man, she’s seriously gorgeous. Her looks are insane in person.”
I nodded in agreement.
She really did look otherworldly.
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