Chapter 2

I thought I couldn’t understand Teacher Sena’s lessons because I was stupid.

Whenever I’d finally work up the courage to ask a question, Teacher Sena would just sigh and dismiss me.

But when other students asked questions, she’d smile and say, “That’s a very important question.”

Yet, I couldn’t even understand their questions.

And so, I was becoming increasingly isolated at the Sena School Nomad.

‘But it wasn’t me who was wrong.’

The first time I had this thought was the day we went to practice with the Stone of Memory.

On a night of falling stars.

With streaks of light raining down across the night sky, Teacher Sena told us.

“You’re all very lucky. Today is the perfect day to receive a Stone of Memory. You all know the saying ‘Make a wish when you see a shooting star,’ right?”

“Yes!”

“That saying came about because of the Stones of Memory. Those meteors in the sky are Stones of Memory—memories from perished worlds. These stones contain the memories of people from worlds that have been destroyed. It’s said that these memories were preserved even in the void because of the wishes these people held in their hearts until their final moments. That’s why Stones of Memory respond to human wishes. If you make a wish that aligns with the desire contained within a Stone of Memory, you might be lucky enough to absorb one—once in a lifetime. Stones of Memory can be incredibly useful. With luck, you might gain a warrior’s combat techniques from another world, or even the knowledge of a woodcutter or craftsman.”

Before Teacher Sena had even finished speaking, the students closed their eyes and began making wishes.

She chuckled at the sight, finding it endearing.

“That’s right. Make your wishes earnestly. Stones of Memory only respond to very powerful minds.”

Then she smiled a bit mischievously.

“But don’t be too disappointed if you don’t get a Stone of Memory. I’ve only seen three people in my entire life who have received one. And one of them got nothing useful from it.”

Despite Teacher Sena’s attempt to temper expectations, it was useless.

At thirteen, fifteen years old—the perfect age to catch that terrible disease of believing you’re special.

Everyone desperately closed their eyes and made wishes.

As if wishing more intensely than the person next to you would increase your chances of receiving a Stone of Memory.

While everyone competed in fervent prayer toward the meteor shower, I just awkwardly half-closed my eyes and kept glancing around.

I wanted to look at the night sky rather than close my eyes, but I didn’t want to be called annoying again, so I kept checking if anyone was watching me.

Fortunately, everyone had their eyes closed and wasn’t looking at me.

Only then did I relax and look up at the night sky.

All the stars were slowly rotating like clouds around a certain point in the sky.

The Tower of Covenant was said to be at that center.

An invisible tower. A tower not defined by space or matter. Yet a tower that mages could actually enter.

The entire universe moved together around that mysterious center.

Even the meteor shower avoided the empty space where the Tower of Covenant was said to be.

It looked like a black island had formed amid the flow of falling meteors.

The meteors passed by small stars, grazed the walls of the largest visible city in the sky, ‘Erasmus,’ and pierced through the dark blue rippling waters of the Southern Sea.

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

I knew there were cities and seas on the land where I stood, but the ones in the sky seemed so much better.

Perhaps I wanted to become a mage because I loved the sky and stars. Because I wanted to know the whole world, not just be bound to this small land.

Suddenly, someone tapped my hand.

When I turned, it was Yuria.

The only person who was kind to me in the Sena School Nomad.

She mouthed silently.

‘What are you doing?’

I mouthed back.

‘Too beautiful to keep my eyes closed.’

“Hmm~”

She hummed softly and looked up at the sky. Then she whispered.

“I suppose you don’t have to close your eyes to make a wish.”

Standing side by side with her, I gazed up at the meteor-filled sky.

I’d meant to make a wish, but I wasn’t sure what my wish was yet.

As I was just staring at the stars,

“Huh?”

Something strange happened.

Some of the meteors that had been falling in straight lines suddenly curved strangely. Several shooting stars were sucked right into the city of Erasmus.

Some fell somewhere into the Southern Sea, and others changed direction toward different cities and stars. A few even fell toward our land.

I turned in surprise and met Yuria’s eyes. She whispered.

‘Did you see that? Someone in this world just absorbed a Stone of Memory.’

I whispered back, my heart swelling with excitement.

‘I’m jealous!’

She smiled brightly and took my hand.

“If you’re jealous, make a wish.”

Thump. Thump.

My heart pounded. I wanted to grasp one of those shooting stars too. Yuria’s warm hand seemed to give me courage. What wish should I make?

Seeing me lost in thought, she said cheerfully.

“The thought that comes to mind when you look at the sky. That’s your wish.”

“Ah!”

Only then did I realize what my wish was.

‘I want to visit all the stars floating in that sky. I want to know everything about this world. Why was the world torn apart? How do the stars float in the sky? Why do they revolve around the Tower of Covenant? The beginning and end of the world. I want to know everything.’

Holding Yuria’s hand tightly, I looked up at the sky and made that wish.

At that moment, one shooting star changed direction and flew straight toward us. It emitted a dazzlingly bright light.

“Whoa?”

Yuria gasped in surprise.

The redirected shooting star approached in an instant. Seeing it head-on, I realized it wasn’t one meteor but two. A smaller meteor had been hidden behind the larger one.

The meteors rapidly approached and struck each of us.

Fwoosh—

There was no pain.

Unfamiliar memories were etched into my mind amid the blinding light.

I witnessed a man’s entire life.

Personal events were blurred and omitted, so I couldn’t even learn his name, but the knowledge he had devoted his life to was vivid from beginning to end.

A science geek born on a planet called Earth.

He was excellent at studies, but his family was desperately poor, so he couldn’t go to university.

As soon as he became an adult, he worked at a factory and was completely absorbed in science he watched on TV.

He must have been intelligent because he taught himself from all sorts of science books. Learning the law of universal gravitation, studying the theory of relativity, then understanding quantum mechanics.

Sometimes he’d despair when faced with various equations, but he had innate talent and could understand the world as well as any scholar.

He had only one complaint.

‘They say Einstein worked at the patent office and still unraveled the secrets of the world? Damn it. But this isn’t that kind of era anymore. You need all sorts of equipment now. You need to go to a university and have the right titles to do advanced research. It’s frustrating. It’s infuriating.’

In the end, he never created a theory in his own name and died in an accident, living as a poor laborer.

And I understood why the Stone of Memory had come to me.

Because his wish—the one he clung to until his dying moment—was identical to mine.

‘I want to know everything about the world.’

From his days, countless ages had passed. The world called Earth had completely perished, and everything had fallen into nothingness, yet his wish remained as a persistent regret.

That became a Stone of Memory and came to me.

Somehow, even the wish I held seemed to have become more solid and earnest.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the children buzzing with excitement.

“What? What? Did you receive a Stone of Memory?”

Through the students’ commotion, I heard Teacher Sena’s bewildered voice.

“Wow… this is my first time seeing it. The moment someone absorbs a Stone of Memory…”

Everyone was looking at Yuria.

Teacher Sena asked.

“What kind of memory did you receive, Yuria?”

She moved her eyes back and forth, then answered.

“Umm… I received memories of a mage from another world.”

The children stirred with excitement again.

Only Teacher Sena calmly continued with her next question.

“About how many years of memories did you receive?”

“About… three years worth, I think. Scattered. Memorable successes and scenes of effort.”

“Then do you think you might be able to apply that world’s magic in our world?”

Yuria shook her head.

“No… their mana and our mana seem fundamentally different. I don’t know if I could figure it out after becoming a mage and researching for a long time… but right now, I don’t think I can apply any of it.”

Teacher Sena nodded.

“That’s usually how it is with conceptual knowledge. The laws are completely different, so we can’t use them in our world. But to have a mind powerful enough to draw in memories of a mage from another world… Yuria, you’ll definitely become an excellent mage someday. And when that time comes, those memories of the mage from another world might indirectly help you. You’ve had an experience others haven’t—seeing the world in a completely different way.”

Yuria’s face flushed with joy at Teacher Sena’s advice.

Becoming a mage. That was the dream and ultimate goal of all children our age.

Then Teacher Sena clapped her hands and said.

“Now, everyone make your wishes! Before the meteor shower ends!”

That’s when Yuria quickly interjected. Glancing at me, she said.

“Um, Teacher. Actually, there were two meteors.”

“What?”

Teacher Sena’s eyes widened. She looked at me with a disbelieving expression.

“Baek Jun-woo. Did you receive memories too?”

“Yes…”

Teacher Sena’s eyes grew larger. The children started murmuring.

“Baek Jun-woo? No way.”

“I can understand Yuria, but how could Baek Jun-woo?”

“Are you lying?”

Amid the commotion, Teacher Sena asked with a perplexed expression.

“What kind of memory?”

“A world where science developed instead of magic.”

“Science? What’s that?”

“Well… it’s not magic, but it uses the laws of the world to accomplish various things. Like flying through the sky or talking face-to-face with someone across the sea.”

Teacher Sena’s expression contorted.

“That’s just magic, what are you…”

She muttered incredulously, then asked again.

“So how many years of memories are we talking about?”

“A lifetime… about… 50 years?”

I couldn’t help taking a step back. Teacher’s face had twisted into something terrible.

“Sigh… Baek Jun-woo. I told you, right? Even if you receive a Stone of Memory, you might gain nothing from it. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I told you, didn’t I? That I knew someone who absorbed a Stone of Memory but got nothing useful… Sigh… Please! Please stop lying! 50 years? Even receiving 10 years of memories is rare!”

After snapping like that, Teacher Sena turned her back on me. The other children snickered and mocked me.

“Just as I thought.”

“Why is that guy so desperate for attention… ugh, it’s sick. Truly sick.”

Only Yuria looked at me with concerned eyes and held my hand.

But,

in truth, I didn’t mind at all.

The memories I received from that science enthusiast from Earth—though I didn’t know his name—were leading my thoughts in a completely different direction than before.

Inside my mind, I rapidly questioned my fixed beliefs.

‘It’s okay. Hey, teachers are wrong all the time… Look at the memories from the Stone of Memory! How many things did those science teachers in elementary, middle, and high school say that turned out to be wrong later? Teacher Sena doesn’t know anything either.’

‘B-but Teacher Sena is legitimate, she even achieved the 1st Circle once!’

‘1st Circle! Hey, in a world of mages where there are 7th and 8th Circles, what’s the big deal about the 1st Circle? That just means she’s full of misconceptions.’

‘I-is that so?’

‘Yes! It means my potential is that great. How could a mere 1st Circle mage judge someone who might become a 7th or 8th Circle mage in the future?’

‘Really? Do I have that kind of talent?’

‘We’ll find out gradually. But my confusion about mana—what if it’s because I’m too exceptional? I’m confused because I see things in detail, while others can’t see that precisely.’

‘That could be it.’

A person who loved studying and excelled at it. At the same time, someone who had many grudges.

His 50 years of memories had a significant impact on me.

Finally, I reached a conclusion.

‘It wasn’t me who was wrong, but Teacher Sena.’

On that beautiful night of falling stars,

that’s how

I became twisted.