There was definitely a time when I loved games.
In a body with limited mobility, it was the only way to communicate with the outside world.
A fair world. Even with curses flying around, most weren’t aimed at me.
All the insults were absorbed by my character, so I genuinely enjoyed gaming.
Back then, I hated studying with a passion. It’s quite funny.
In reality, I barely played a few rounds of games; studying became my entire life.
But what about now?
Finding myself in a situation where I must game to survive, I’m now terrified even to see avatars.
Studying is starting to seem fun instead.
I can only conclude that I, as a human, am a fickle creature.
Memories of the past are glorified, and time resolves pain.
But at least, my wounds haven’t healed enough for me to consider gaming as my livelihood, so I had no plans to game on my broadcast.
“How did you get in here?”
“I just came to check it out. Is it okay to be here?”
“Uh… well… yeah.”
But I truly have no idea what people in this world enjoy apart from games in virtual reality.
They probably won’t just gather to chat mindlessly. So, I decided to drop in on any channel for some reference.
A space reminiscent of a university lecture room.
The person who seemed to be the host of the broadcast looked like an old professor in his late fifties.
“Oh, Professor, I’m sorry! I forgot to set the password. What should we do about that person?”
“Since they’re here as a guest auditor, it would be awkward to kick them out. They’ll leave when it’s time. It’s probably not that interesting anyway.”
While I settled down in my seat, he wrote the same content on the blackboard.
[Micro-Nano Transmutation Circle Hermeneutics Make-up Class #2]
Nowadays, does personal broadcasting have such a large influence on private education?
Or it could be the other way around.
While the old professor cleared his throat, the teaching assistant diligently printed out PPT materials to distribute to each seat.
And after fiddling with some setup screen for a bit, numerous avatars ‘poofed’ into existence in the air.
Not a single unique avatar like in games; they all appeared as plain-looking young men in their twenties.
In fact, my avatar, which closely resembled me, just made the atmosphere in the room even more awkward.
It seemed the viewers were already friendly with each other as a few whispered while looking at me.
Regardless, the teaching assistant generously brought the printouts to my seat.
Since I was small, I took a seat towards the front.
As the old professor called attendance, I flipped through the printout while making a light breeze with it.
It was about microcosmic perspective on soft condensed matter hermeneutics.
Today’s lecture was about the advantages of applying lithography processes used in semiconductors to soft condensed matter.
I had never heard the term lithography before today, but since it could dramatically improve the resolution, I found it quite interesting.
So, does a content like this need to be presented to earn money, huh?
Society is still harsh.
Moreover, this room appeared well-decorated enough to give off a professional broadcaster vibe.
But how do they make money? I still had no idea about the revenue model for this room. Donations are blocked…
The old professor continued the lecture.
His throat-clearing seemed to be a habit; even in virtual reality, it was slightly distracting in the middle of his speech.
However, the content was much more substantial than I expected.
In fact, it was more of a complaint that the printout didn’t capture all the details.
Other viewers’ heads had already drooped towards the floor, but since it was a supplementary class, they might already know all of this.
Everything was new to me, so I sketched soft condensed matter in the air with my fingers and looked up unknown terms with the help of the internet.
What a waste for such talent to be rotting away as an internet streamer; I must have been destined to gather at the Magic Tower in my past life.
“Ultimately, we scientists and engineers are always challenging the limits of materials.
When the tunneling effect surpasses a certain probability, it significantly impacts the efficiency of soft condensed matter and even its very operation, so we must never disregard it. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Me?”
“Yes, the cute little lady avatar.”
The professor pointed at me without warning.
“It’s Na-me.”
“Nam-hee? What a lovely name. I asked because I saw you diligently listening to the class.
So, Na-me, which material do you think has the highest resolution for soft condensed matter that we introduced today?”
Suddenly, the question seized the attention of those who were dozing off.
I was not used to this kind of pressure.
I recalled what the professor had discussed.
Was there something like this even in the previous world? There had definitely been efforts to increase resolution.
The lithographic method was truly unique in this regard.
“I don’t think we necessarily have to stick to materials.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If the goal is merely to increase resolution while completely ignoring efficiency, utilizing the interference waves that the professor explained would currently be the smartest approach.”
“Would you like to come up and explain?”
A piece of chalk was handed to me. It was amazing how the sensation of chalk was replicated.
I drew a double soft condensed matter that generates incidence and reflection waves, slightly modifying the formulas at each vertex.
“By connecting a double soft condensed matter that generates interference waves in parallel to the lithographic soft condensed matter, it remains in a stable state because it’s phase-coherent.
So, wouldn’t it be faster to find the constant values for the soft condensed matter used in this blank space through trial and error rather than searching for materials in the real world?”
It was a simple statement. In terms of time, it might be similar, but the effort spent in one attempt is different.
The former goes beyond rummaging through all substances on Earth and involves considering compounds, but the latter can yield values eventually just by running calculations on a computer.
Gaming has similar aspects, too.
Finding the right champion among hundreds is much less effective than properly mastering one, practicing it hundreds of times.
My thoughts drifted back to gaming again. I returned the chalk to the professor and prepared to leave the room.
The PC Bang’s timer sent out a message five minutes before closing.
“I have to go early since I’m low on time. I got to hear a good lecture, but I’m sorry I can’t pay.”
“Money…? Are you not a student at this school?”
*
‘The password is SatireV321. We have lectures at this time every week, so I hope you can drop by sometimes.’
The sense of incongruity I had felt during the class was a bit deflated.
I was half hoping it wasn’t true, but it really was a university lecture.
I couldn’t fathom why such lectures were being held on the Twish platform.
Could it be because Twish and V-tube monopolize the virtual reality platforms?
The poor infrastructure of the National Schools was truly regrettable.
It seemed I had slipped in while the teaching assistant was setting up the room.
The professor hoped to see me again next Wednesday, but I decided to think about it gradually.
Perhaps if they paid me, it would be different, but ultimately, the preliminary investigation I aimed for had failed spectacularly.
Given that it was summer, the sun showed no sign of setting even as dinner time approached.
As I took my time to appreciate the reddening sky, I returned to the Merlin Orphanage, where Ah-rin would be eagerly waiting.
“Why are you so late…?”
“Baek Ah-rin?”
My weary body was met with Ah-rin leaping at me again.
Normally, I would have calmed her down before pushing her away, but her voice was filled with sorrow.
“I don’t want to part with Na-me.”
“What happened?”
I quickly wiped the tears brimming in her eyes.
“I’m going to be adopted from tomorrow… by that person who took Minwoo oppa last time.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“But Na-me isn’t there! I wanted to go with Na-me! But… but the uncle said they can’t take two… hoo-huh.. huuuuhhh… I just won’t go. I’ll stay here forever.”
“Don’t be stubborn.”
“Why do you say it like that…”
“It might be your last chance to leave the Merlin Orphanage. Leaving me won’t be forever.”
Ah-rin was lonely at school and at the orphanage.
It’s such a waste for such a beautiful, kind, and diligent girl to rot in this corner.
A swan won’t be recognized among ducks.
“That uncle said he was rich… Why does he want to take just me when Na-me is prettier and smarter than me?”
“Do you know where you’re going?”
Nod nod.
“Ah-rin, listen well. Anyway, I was planning to leave the orphanage. I won’t be coming to school.”
“Why…? No way?”
“My body is weak, and the doctor said I need to rest at home for a long time.”
“See, you were really sick, huh?”
“I just hope Ah-rin can eat well at a good home and go to school well. When I come back to school someday, will you help me adapt, just like I did for you?”
“…”
“Don’t worry too much about me. I have my own place to go.”
“But… how will we stay in touch…?”
“But I told you he’s rich, right? He must have a special capsule just for you at home. We can meet there when we both have free time later.”
“You’ll keep your promise, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If you don’t, you’ll get struck by lightning a thousand times.”
“Of course.”
But honestly, I’ve been struck by lightning a thousand times before, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, so I would do my best to keep that promise.
Dinner time arrived, and our chat was temporarily interrupted.
Ah-rin seemed lost in her thoughts, barely touching her food.
Seeing her like that, I forced a banana into her hand.
Thankfully, she took it just like a good pup would.
Unintentionally, today turned out to be my last tutoring session with Ah-rin.
There was a certain joy in teaching, but saying I felt no sadness at all would be a lie.
“I learned something fun on Twish today.”
“Were you late because you stopped by a PC Bang?!”
After a brief uproar, I finally calmed her down and took out a slate I had secretly brought from the career experience fair.
Since it was my last lecture to her, I prepared to give it my all after a long time.
“Have you seen mana?”
“Mana? Sometimes I’ve seen the blue aura when the principal uses magic at school.”
“I’m not talking about Mariu. More precisely, I mean mana particles. Today, I’ll show you mana.”
I started by drawing a large circle for soft condensed matter on the slate.
Since this was the task for the magic circle and not soft condensed matter, I had to be extra careful.
I sometimes make calculation mistakes, after all.
“Mana can’t be seen by the eye originally. It’s not just because it’s small. Mana itself isn’t a particle. And it’s not in wave form either.”
At her age, knowing the difference between particles and waves is likely not something she could comprehend yet, but I continued to explain.
I didn’t forget to fill the slate with runes.
“Mana is, well, potential. You could also say it’s probability. For example, how can you express how much Ah-rin likes me?”
“Hm… as much as the sky, as much as the ground, as much as the universe?”
“That’s right, ultimately we end up explaining it through similar concepts. Time, space, and properties, etc… You assigned a ‘size’ attribute to your heart and brought forth a ‘concept’ that fits that attribute.”
“I don’t really understand.”
“When you want to show me that heart, you hold my hand and hug me, right?
Mana works similarly. If you want to see mana, it first has to be exactly present there.
And then you hold the hands of mana like this.”
I added dimensions to the slate.
While studying this, I discovered an interesting property: I could modify it to deploy a 3D magic circle if necessary.
Currently, the maximum number of multi-magic circles I could deploy simultaneously with my mana was four, and coincidentally, that was exactly how many I needed.
“This shape is called a regular tetrahedron. It’s a solid formed by combining four equilateral triangles. The bottom one is the lithographic soft condensed matter made to observe mana, and these three lateral surfaces correspond to the magic circles.”
From here on out, I quickly wrote down the formulas for the magic I knew.
“The first magic circle refines mana. To gather mana, the properties of the mana itself must fundamentally be similar.”
“The second consolidates mana. Once mana surpasses a certain threshold, its probability approaches one, and it possesses the property of transforming into a particle.”
“The last one is a secret. If I tell you everything, it won’t be fun, would it?”
From the vertices of the tetrahedron, mana I released began to gather at the center. As it changed to red, yellow, and finally white, tiny but powerful light-emitting particles were born.
I added a variable to the lithographic soft condensed matter to adjust the brightness and blocked some light.
In a way, the blue dodecahedral particles that resembled hail floated in the air.
Ah-rin stared in awe at the mana particles with wide opened eyes.
“This particle is a thousand times smaller than the thickness of our hair. Isn’t it amazing?”
“Yeah… it looks like a snowflake falling in winter.”
“The shapes change based on the caster’s emotions. If it has so many facets like this, um, right! I must be feeling sad about parting with you just as much.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it.”
