Episode 3
Episode 3: If Only I Had Time to Study (2)
“So this is where Rutherford’s magic particle scattering experiment comes in. You understood everything up to here, right?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good.”
Libra, the librarian of the Starting Village Library.
She had forgotten her duty as a librarian and was focusing intensely on Gyeongjun’s explanation.
Gyeongjun caught his breath and continued.
“To explain again, that is ……(omitted)…… because of that, it turns out to be not the pudding model, like Thomson claimed.”
“Aah……! I understand! You’re really amazing! How can you know it so well after seeing it just once?”
[Affinity with Libra has increased by 2.]
“It just happened to overlap with something I already knew. It’s a coincidence, a coincidence.”
“I just thought you were a crazy Korean…… but actually, you’re an amazing person who’s even humble!”
“No, well, humble is a stretch. But while I am Korean, I’m not a weird Korean.”
Libra inwardly exclaimed, *I knew it!* at the confirmation that Gyeongjun was Korean.
*I knew he was Korean! Even now, he’s looking off to the side and talking to himself. As expected, his mind is like other Koreans…….*
……But calling him crazy was impossible when her affinity with him was already too high.
*No, perhaps this is his own study method……! People say you truly understand something when you can teach it to others, right? So he’s pretending to talk to the air and studying out loud! Could it be that all the muttering until now was……!*
Thus, she couldn’t help but reach a strange conclusion.
“I realized it! Thank you, Gyeongjun! From now on, I’ll study like you too!”
“Huh? I don’t really know what you mean by ‘like me,’ but…… if you feel like it, go ahead. Then I’ll take my pass.”
“Yes! Thank you so much for teaching me today!”
[Affinity with Libra has increased by 1.]
*It never went up before, and suddenly it’s rising? What is with this weird NPC?*
Gyeongjun was slightly puzzled but soon stopped caring and headed out of the library.
And so it was from then on.
The rumor spread that the Starting Village Library librarian had gone crazy, talking to the air.
* * *
It was before Gyeongjun stopped by the bakery after leaving the library.
“Ah, right. I’d completely tuned them out. Let me check right now.”
[Dimensional Study Room]
▶A dimensional skill created by a predecessor Seeker of Infinite Knowledge who wished to study without end. Allows the user to control the flow of time they perceive.
▶Only the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge may use it.
▶Time Ratio: 2.0x
▶Accumulated Time: 2 hours
▶Skill Level: Lv. 1
▶Skill Type: Active (ON/OFF)
▶Skill Grade: Myth
Controlling the flow of time!
That, in short, was the Dimensional Study Room!
“No, this can’t be real. If I take this description at face value, does that mean two hours pass for me while only one hour passes for everyone else?”
“No way……?”
Despite Timo’s added confirmation, Gyeongjun couldn’t believe the reality before his eyes.
To think he could make time flow faster for himself alone!
It meant that while everyone else spent the same 24 hours in a day, only Gyeongjun could spend them like 48 hours.
“……It says this is a skill only I can use, but what about you? If I turn on the Dimensional Study Room and summon you, won’t you be unaffected and hear my explanations super slowly?”
Timo displayed an emoticon as if to say, “Just trust me! You got this!”
And so, the next day.
Today was the day to test the effects of the Dimensional Study Room.
But…….
“Lalala~ Rutherford’s magic particle scattering experiment~ blah blah blah~”
“What the…… is she crazy?”
When he logged into the game after a day, the library librarian NPC had gone strange.
She would be reading a book alone and suddenly start talking to the air like that.
And she acted as if she were conversing with someone invisible.
Anyone could see she had clearly gone mad.
*Can the library librarian act like that? I can’t just leave her be. She’s noisy, too.*
Thinking this, Gyeongjun tried to return her to normal.
Of course, he wouldn’t go solve it himself.
There were professionals for this kind of thing.
Gyeongjun opened his status window and clicked the tab labeled “Customer Support.”
『Title: The Starting Village Library Librarian NPC Libra Has Gone Crazy』
『Content: The title is the content.
Libra was normal for an entire year, but she suddenly started muttering to the air today.
I’m a frequent user of the library, and it’s too noisy to endure.
It’s probably a bug, so please resolve it urgently.
Thank you for your tireless work around the clock.
Thank you.』
[Customer Support inquiry has been completed.]
“Nice, perfect.”
With the proud satisfaction of having resolved a bug, Gyeongjun opened his chemistry textbook.
He didn’t start studying right away.
There was something he needed to check first.
[Current Time: 18:03]
From now on, Gyeongjun planned to study for about 2 hours.
And if the Dimensional Study Room’s effect was real, only 1 hour should have passed in actual time.
This was an experiment for Gyeongjun.
[Myth Skill 『Dimensional Study Room (Lv. 1)』]
[Time Ratio 2.0x is now applied.]
A strange sensation washed over his eyes and mind for a moment, and soon the world changed.
“Laa― laa― Thom-a-son’s pud-ding mod-el……”
The librarian’s muttering played back as if it had been slowed to half speed.
No, not “as if.”
Her voice was truly coming through at half speed.
And it wasn’t just her voice.
Her hand gestures, her footsteps, even the movements of her facial expressions—everything!
Everything visible had slowed to half speed.
Except for Gyeongjun.
[The System That’s Just a Bit Too Smart]
▶It helps the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge explore knowledge.
To make his studying easier, Gyeongjun summoned Timo.
<ლ(>◡<ლ)>
“We can pick up from where you left off last time, right?”
And so Gyeongjun’s chemistry study began.
[Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying.]
[Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying.]
[Mana has increased by 1 through continuous mana consumption.]
[Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying.]
.
.
.
The status window Gyeongjun had pushed to the side was being filled endlessly with messages that something had increased.
Two hours had passed since Gyeongjun began studying.
[Current Time: 19:04]
“It was real…….”
But in actual time, only one hour had passed.
Since the Dimensional Study Room skill’s time ratio was 2.0x, one hour for Gyeongjun was equivalent to two hours.
A one-hour study session that felt like two hours was truly possible.
[Dimensional Study Room]
▶Accumulated Time: 59 minutes
In exchange, about 1 hour of accumulated time had been consumed.
“Timo, once this time runs out, I can’t use it anymore, right?”
“It’s just like an internet café. Then how do I recharge it? With money?”
“To put it simply?”
Study to recharge the Dimensional Study Room’s time, then use the Dimensional Study Room’s time to study again!
This infinite cycle of studying!
This was precisely why the “Infinite” prefix was attached to the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge.
“Study to fill the time, then study again…… it’s total study hell. Well, I like it.”
Gyeongjun’s household was already expecting harder times with his father’s retirement approaching.
It was precisely because he couldn’t just keep playing around that he had started studying.
Of course, it wasn’t going well.
Because he wasn’t a genius.
They say hard work makes it happen?
Academia had long since concluded that studying = talent.
What one person finishes in ten minutes, another takes over an hour.
Gyeongjun had already accepted this fact.
So while he did study, he approached it with the mindset of just hitting average.
Because studying was a field where, even with effort, there were limits.
*But now, things are different.*
The abilities of the 『Seeker of Infinite Knowledge』would help Gyeongjun with his studies and allow him to aim even higher.
No longer would he study just to avoid failing like before; he could aim for something greater.
Doctors, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and so on.
These so-called “sa”-class jobs were no longer impossible dreams.
With a serious glint in his eyes, Gyeongjun asked Timo:
“Timo. You said studying recharges the time, so I have two questions.”
“First, if I study while the Dimensional Study Room is on, does it still recharge?”
“Good. Then I learned a lot of things while studying chemistry earlier, so why didn’t the time recharge?”
At Gyeongjun’s sharp point, Timo displayed a surprised emoticon and immediately began analyzing.
The results came quickly.
Hearing Timo’s words, Gyeongjun rested his chin on his hand and began to think.
Timo’s words were simple.
In the end, to acquire time for the Dimensional Study Room…….
“……I have to study the knowledge of this world, don’t I?”
Since time had doubled in the Dimensional Study Room, Gyeongjun now had twice as much to study.
* * *
Monitoring Team, 10th Branch.
Kim Buha, who held the lowest position there, shouted to his superior.
“T-Team Leader! User Gyeongjun has finally started studying something different!”
“Finally……! Play the footage right now!”
In the monitoring room, where only the team leader and Kim Buha remained, a holographic video began to play.
In the video, Gyeongjun was looking at a book.
“What is it, what book is that?”
“Yes! As you can see, it is 『You Too Can Be a Great Wizard! Basics of Magic Theory』!”
“Ha! As expected, he starts with magic! Yes, that’s what a Mythic class changer should do.”
The team leader had been somewhat involved in the birth of the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge.
Setting aside game balance, it was a situation where he couldn’t help but feel attached.
“Oh……! He’s finally opened the book!”
“Good, good! Read it! Read it!”
“He’s reading it! It seems he’s planning to skim through it first!”
In the video, Gyeongjun quickly skimmed the book from the table of contents onward.
Perhaps he wanted to get a taste of what magic theory was about first.
Now he would go back to the first page and study magic theory in earnest.
The team leader and Kim Buha had assumed Gyeongjun would do just that, but—
Thud.
“Huh? He completely closed the book.”
“What, why did he just skim it and close it?”
“And he pushed it aside.”
“Hey, wasn’t he going to study magic?”
The team leader and Kim Buha were bewildered by Gyeongjun’s incomprehensible actions.
“He’s pulled out a different book!”
“What is it this time? Let me see…….”
The team leader adjusted his glasses and focused his gaze on the holographic footage.
“……Seolha Publishing’s Physics 1? Where the hell did magic go?!”
“It’s not Chemistry 1. Why did he suddenly switch from Chemistry 1 to Physics 1?”
“How should I know?! His electives must be Physics 1 and Chemistry 1, I guess!”
The team leader and Kim Buha still couldn’t grasp Gyeongjun’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—one hour in Gyeongjun’s time.
Gyeongjun closed the Physics 1 textbook and once again skimmed through 『You Too Can Be a Great Wizard! Basics of Magic Theory』.
And in less than ten seconds……
[Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying.]
[『Basic Magic Mastery』 skill level has increased to 2 for User Gyeongjun through enlightenment.]
[1 hour has been added to User Gyeongjun’s 『Dimensional Study Room』.]
[Mana has increased by 1 through continuous mana consumption.]
[『Energy Bolt』 skill level has increased to 2 for User Gyeongjun through enlightenment.]
[1 hour has been added to User Gyeongjun’s 『Dimensional Study Room』.]
“Huh……?! Wh-what?!”
The team leader’s mind went blank.