I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 449

"The waiting time was short.

Having lived sealed away for over 500 years, a mere month or so would be nothing more than a fleeting moment from Scarlett's perspective—a mere instant, a blink, and it would pass.

Just an instant, like closing your eyes and reopening them, only to find the moment gone.

“Ah... This is so frustrating.”

Why does every moment feel so tedious? She had endured until now, but suddenly, time seemed to crawl unbearably slow.

Throughout her long life, she had never felt any particular emotion about the flow of time.

One year passed, and she would assume she had grown a year older. Ten years passed, and she would think, ‘Perhaps the mountains and rivers have changed.’

But now, why does the passing of time feel so excruciatingly painful?

‘Time is suffering.’

Scarlett carved this phrase into the air, thinking it was a rather brilliant sentence.

“Ha...”

Her situation felt pathetic.

Sprawled out on the floor, Scarlett stared blankly at the ceiling with vacant eyes, mentally counting numbers.

One, two, three...

She hadn’t meant to do it.

It was instinct.

Moment by moment, she kept counting the seconds.

“Argh!”

She shook her head violently, trying to shake off the sense of time, but her extraordinary witch’s cognition continued to track the passage of time with perfect precision.

Scarlett buried her face in her palms and let out a deep sigh.

‘Why am I like this, really...?’

As it was, she might be trapped here for hundreds more years. She couldn’t afford to let herself get tied up in something so trivial.

The superior intellect of a witch meant she couldn’t easily forget old memories. Unless she deliberately sealed those memories away in a corner of her mind, they would surface again and again, whether she wanted them to or not.

Scarlett had locked countless memories deep in the recesses of her mind before, but this time, it was different.

After all, memories are not physical objects; they cannot be grasped or controlled. Even a witch couldn’t simply erase memories, especially ones that were so intensely vivid.

Complete memory loss is impossible.

To confirm the loss of a memory, one would have to recall it in order to verify its absence.

For Scarlett, who had never # Nоvеlight # experienced such a situation before, the reality was nothing short of bewildering.

A witch who could achieve anything, who had made her thoughts manifest into reality, now had no choice but to admit it.

There were things she couldn’t do. And the brief memories she shared with Baek Yoosul would never be forgotten, not in this lifetime.

It would likely remain an eternal torment.

The time she spent with Baek Yoosul shone the brightest in Scarlett's long life, a memory so dazzling that even thinking of it brought tears to her eyes.

Scarlett, the Witch Queen.

Poor Scarlett.

Once called the Witch of Blood, she would never forget this memory for eternity.

Even hundreds of years later, when Scarlett finally stepped back into the world.

In a world without Baek Yoosul, she would not be able to feel the beauty of life as she did now.

For the first time, she understood.

Life could be joyful and happy.

She realized it too late.

For six months, she had been happy.

She had been happy, yet she failed to savor it fully. Only after the time had passed did she realize it.

How foolish and ignorant of a woman must one be to fail to recognize happiness in the moment.

‘Should someone like me... still be called the Witch Queen?’

To have lost the happiness that had entered her life for the first time—how ridiculous and pitiful her existence was.

Overwhelmed by self-reproach, Scarlett lifted her head to the heavens.

Though, what part of this place was the sky, and what was the ground? Resting her head on the edge of the bed, she recalled old memories.

She had lived a life full of sin.

With abilities that transcended humanity, she hadn’t even considered changing the world. Instead, she sought personal gain.

More wealth, greater fame.

And, more power.

The Witch Queen Scarlett desired what anyone else would have wanted.

Some called her a ‘sage’ because of her mastery of magic, but how could she be a sage simply for having reached a high level of magic?

She had never transcended the limits of being human.

‘Ah, I see.’

Because she was powerful, she had ignored the weak. She had coldly turned away those who pleaded for salvation and neglected countless conflicts, deaths, and disasters that she could have easily resolved with her power, simply because she found them bothersome.

The lives lost due to her negligence were countless. The rivers of blood formed from them could fill an ocean.

It was strange.

Having lived nearly a thousand years, she had never had such thoughts before.

Why hadn’t she become even stronger, even though she stood at the pinnacle of the world? Why hadn’t she transcended her emotions?

Now, she felt she could understand.

Scarlett raised her index finger to her temple.

It was painful.

The mistakes she had made, the lives lost due to her indifference, they all came flooding back to her.

And so did the memories of those six months of happiness, dominating her mind.

That’s why it was painful.

‘Is this... a punishment from the gods for my sins?’

To live forever, trapped in a loop of memories, unable to do anything.

If this was divine punishment, then perhaps she deserved it. But Scarlett was terrified.

She was suddenly gripped with fear.

She didn’t think she could endure it.

‘There’s only one solution...’

To erase all her memories.

Clenching her eyes shut, Scarlett tried to summon the faint traces of mana left in her, but, of course, she couldn’t do it.

Though countless painful memories haunted her, one beautiful memory brought true meaning to her life. How could she erase it?

There was no way to erase only the memories she wanted. She could either forget everything or remember everything.

One or the other.

Scarlett remained with her finger pressed to her temple, contemplating. But even this felt like the cowardice of a pathetic woman, and tears welled up in her eyes.

‘Why am I like this...?’

She had such immense power, yet why had she lived a life of running away?

And why was she trying to run away again?

In this world, there was no one stronger than her, yet countless people had stronger resolve.

That’s right.

Someone like her was nothing more than a coward, a nobody. Just because she had talent in magic didn’t make her great.

Realizing this, she felt strangely lighter. Scarlett let her arm fall to her side.

“Haaa...”

A deep sigh escaped her lips, and tears that had welled up in her eyes trickled down.

She decided to endure her punishment.

She had tasted sweetness once, so she would not ask for more.

She had lived a life of sin.

Even if she could no longer have happiness, she would endure each day of suffering, one after another.

‘I’ll let it go.’

Scarlett resolved to let go of everything. She clenched her eyes shut and buried her face between her knees.

‘I’ll escape into a dream instead.’

There, she could perhaps endlessly repeat the same moment.

If she were unlucky, the painful memories would resurface. But if she were fortunate...

Maybe, just maybe, she could relive those happy moments once more.

“Why are you sitting here crying?”

"The thought crossed her mind as she closed her eyes, desperately trying to escape into a dream, but then, a voice echoed in her ears.

Her heart sank abruptly.

For a fleeting moment, the word ‘hope’ flickered before her eyes, but Scarlett’s extraordinary willpower clamped down on the thought.

‘Don’t be deceived.’

She knew. She absolutely knew.

This wasn’t Baek Yoosul’s voice.

There was no way a human could reach this place. Not even the witch hunters, who wielded abilities that defied the laws of the world, had ever managed to reach here.

The pain of despair is far less excruciating than the despair that follows a fleeting glimpse of hope.

The being who had trapped her here knew exactly how to torment her most effectively.

Now that she had finally accepted her punishment and resolved to endure the pain, it was trying to tempt her with a sliver of hope, only to make her suffering worse.

She wouldn’t fall for such a cheap trick.

“Shut up.”

“Shut up? That’s harsh.”

“You’re just... a hallucination created by my desperate longing. You thought you could torment me, but it’s useless. I am... I am...”

Scarlett, still burying her head between her knees, forced out the words that wouldn’t come.

“I am the Witch Queen...”

There was no response.

Of course, there wouldn’t be.

A mere hallucination couldn’t possibly shatter the unyielding will of the Witch Queen.

Scarlett deliberately kept her head down and waited.

‘Wait? For what exactly...?’

Even though it was about time for another response, the voice didn’t come again.

It must have been a hallucination.

She was about to convince herself of this when—

“Scarlett.”

“Have you ever heard of a hallucination that can hold a proper conversation like the latest tech?”

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

“...What?”

Her heart raced again.

This tone, the crass analogy, that annoyingly familiar voice.

It was all unmistakably Baek Yoosul.

“I’ve never heard of one. But I guess the great Witch Queen would know better?”

It was undeniably him.

By the time Scarlett regained her senses, she had already lifted her head.

But Baek Yoosul wasn’t there.

It wasn’t because he wasn’t present...

It was because her vision was too blurred to see.

Her eyes were so overwhelmed with tears that they couldn’t focus.

But even through the haze, his figure was unmistakable.

It was Baek Yoosul.

With his characteristic swagger, he approached Scarlett, extending his hand toward her.

As he wiped away her tears, her vision cleared, and his face appeared right before her.

“You... you... how...”

“Wow, nice place you’ve got here. Minimalist interior design. So minimal it’s got nothing at all. Must be easy to clean, no dust buildup. What’s this? A table from Ikea?”

She couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

None of it made sense...

Her mind felt as though it had stopped entirely, incapable of forming a single coherent thought.

She felt like an idiot.

For someone like Scarlett, who had always prided herself on her intelligence, she had often wondered what went on in the minds of fools.

Now, she knew exactly what it felt like.

This must be what it feels like to be a fool.

You feel like you should have something to say, but you can’t say it.

You have no idea what expression you should wear.

And so, Scarlett...

Became a true fool.

“Ha... hahaha...”

She laughed like an idiot.

Tears streaming down her face, Scarlett laughed, and Baek Yoosul looked at her as though she were some peculiar person.

“What’s so funny? You’re going to grow a tail at this rate.”

“I just...”

“You look a little older up close than from afar. Still, you look like a high school student, so you should have no problem going back to Stella.”

“St-Stella...”

“Yeah, Stella. How many days have you been skipping class by now, huh?”

“Going back to Stella... that’s not something...”

She thought she could never go back. But Baek Yoosul casually grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet.

Half leaning against him, Scarlett looked up at Baek Yoosul with dazed eyes.

As always, he wore that confident smile as he said:

“How long are you planning to stay cooped up in here? You need to go back to that dreadful school.”

Even at Baek Yoosul’s words, Scarlett continued to cry endlessly, laughing like a fool. Seeing her, he shook his head, exasperated.

“Why are you so happy? It’s not going to be fun.”

“...I know.”

“You’ll have to sit through those boring classes again, put up with the professors when they act up like last time, and keep your temper in check.”

“I know...”

“You’ll probably get annoyed dealing with those cocky little brats too.”

“Of course...”

“And you can’t even go out easily. The girls’ dorm supervisor is ridiculously strict about curfews.”

She knew it all.

But even so...

“So what?”

Scarlett grabbed onto Baek Yoosul’s sleeve tightly, as if she would never let go again.

And then, for the first time, she finally said what she had been holding back all this time.

“As long as you’re there.”