I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 389

Nowhere.

“It’s not here...”

No matter where she looked, it was nowhere to be found.

Maella’s Magitech Notes.

The first cause of Eisel’s suffering in the original romance fantasy.

In the story, Baek Yuseol had taken possession of the notebook and shielded Eisel from Professor Meizen Tiren’s wrath by taking the blame himself.

Full Frame was more than willing to take on that role. She could do it—easily.

But...

If I can’t find Maella’s notebook, all my resolve is meaningless.

For nearly a week since returning to the past, she had scoured bookstores across Arcanium, searching high and low, yet it was nowhere to be found.

Now it was late in the evening.

With the curfew fast approaching, she had no choice but to return to Stella Academy.

As she trudged back to her dorm, the only sound accompanying her was the chirping of insects. The streetlights flickered faintly, and for a moment, Full Frame felt a deep loneliness wash over her. She shook her head, trying to dispel it.

Then she noticed the light on in the Class S study room and stopped in her tracks.

Could Eisel have already found the notebook...?

No, that shouldn’t be possible.

In the original story, Eisel had stumbled upon it purely by chance the day before the experiment.

Still, with a flicker of unease, Full Frame crept toward the window of the study room.

Few students had access to the Class S study room, so it wasn’t hard to spot Eisel inside.

And there she was.

“Ah.”

Eisel was reading an old, worn notebook with an engrossed expression.

There are still two days left until the experiment...

Why did she already have the notebook? Enhancing her sight with mana, Full Frame observed the pages closely and realized that Eisel must have found it several days ago.

This timeline... it’s slightly different from the original story.

Time travel was not absolute.

Before their departure, Eisel had warned them: even the smallest actions in the past could subtly alter the flow of events, and those changes could ripple into significant shifts in the future.

Was this what she had meant?

A week ago, Full Frame’s awkward interaction with Eisel had disrupted the original timeline. As a result, Eisel had discovered Maella’s notebook earlier than intended.

It’s not too late. There’s still a way.

Even if Eisel had the notebook, Full Frame could persuade her not to use its recipe during the experiment.

The next morning, as cadets hurried to the alchemy lecture, Full Frame weaved through the crowd until she finally found Eisel and grabbed her arm.

“Hey, wait a second.”

“...What is it now?”

Perhaps it was because of yesterday’s incident, but Eisel’s wariness had deepened. Full Frame forced an awkward smile.

“Well, uh... you’re heading to the alchemy lecture, right? I am too. Want to go together?”

Blinking in disbelief, Eisel gave her a withering look and replied,

“There are plenty of people over there heading to the same lecture. Why don’t you join them?”

“No, I meant I wanted to go with you...”

“I don’t want to.”

With that curt response, Eisel shook her off and walked away.

Friendship.

How did one form a bond with another?

For someone like Full Frame, who had always befriended others without effort, the concept of genuinely reaching out to someone was foreign.

How in the world had Baek Yuseol managed to win over someone like Eisel? How had he broken through her icy walls and opened her heart?

He’s... incredible, really.

Left with no choice, Full Frame followed Eisel to the alchemy classroom and sat down beside her. She tried again.

“Did you know?”

“Professor Meizen Tiren prefers students who follow her recipes exactly, even though she pretends to value creativity. She actually dislikes improvisation.”

“...If you want to impress her, sticking to her instructions is the safest bet.”

Full Frame couldn’t tell if Eisel was listening, but she kept talking anyway.

“Oh, and another thing. Last year, there was a senior who didn’t follow her recipe, and... wait, where are you going?”

Clearly annoyed, Eisel got up and moved to another seat.

“Please, stop following me.”

“Oh, uh... okay...”

Eisel’s frostiness left Full Frame speechless.

She couldn’t do anything else. She had tried.

This should be enough for her to understand... right?

Eisel might have been dismissive, but she paid close attention to how professors viewed her. Surely, she wouldn’t use Maella’s recipe now.

When the alchemy experiment began, Full Frame quickly followed Meizen Tiren’s recipe and brewed her potion.

The process was intricate and tedious, but she had already done it last year, so it felt more boring than difficult.

As she worked, she suddenly thought of Baek Yuseol during his first-year alchemy lecture.

“Hehehe... potato potion.”

“Kimchi potato potion is the best!”

Her first impression of Baek Yuseol had been... bizarre.

An alchemy fanatic.

She had never seen anyone who genuinely enjoyed the tedious complexity of alchemy before.

He must have repeated this countless times, yet he always seemed to enjoy it...

Thinking about how Baek Yuseol had found joy in it made Full Frame feel a bit better about the task. Before she knew it, her potion was complete, perfectly following Meizen’s recipe.

If she had gotten Maella’s notebook first, she could have used its recipe in Eisel’s place, but this result was fine too.

She had, in her own way, ensured Eisel wouldn’t suffer the same misfortune.

“Eisel. Just because you made it to Class S, do you think you can do whatever you please? Who said you could substitute materials for the experiment?”

...What?

Her heart sank.

That voice—Meizen Tiren’s booming, furious voice—was unmistakable.

Whipping her head around, Full Frame saw Meizen glaring at Eisel’s experiment results, her face contorted with rage.

Why... how did this happen?

Full Frame’s eyes darted to Eisel’s workstation. There, sitting on the table, was a potion—one made using a recipe entirely different from Meizen’s.

“Ah.”

Of course.

She had thought she had made her message clear, but she had been deluding herself.

Eisel had already closed herself off. She hadn’t listened to a word Full Frame had said.

Why had she thought she could approach Eisel and act like she knew better?

The present overlapped with memories from Full Frame’s original reality.

Back then, Baek Yuseol had stood in Eisel’s place and said:

“Oh? But this way produces better results.”

He had been shameless. Even as Meizen raged, he had remained unfazed, willing to bear her wrath in Eisel’s stead.

But Eisel wasn’t Baek Yuseol.

“I... I thought this method was better,” Eisel murmured hesitantly, trying to defend herself.

Her voice wavered, but she hadn’t completely backed down. Full Frame could see that Eisel’s resolve was still intact—just barely.

But...

“You insolent girl!”

Meizen’s voice thundered through the laboratory.

“So, you’re saying my recipe is wrong, is that it?!”

Damn it.

Full Frame finally remembered why Meizen Tiren was so dangerous.

She had cripplingly low self-esteem and couldn’t handle having her alchemical methods challenged—especially not by a prodigy like Eisel.

“I should have realized this... I should have...”

Baek Yuseol had skillfully defused Meizen’s anger without crossing the line. He had danced on the edge, provoking her just enough to redirect her focus without igniting a full-blown explosion.

Eisel didn’t know how to do that.

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She had directly challenged Meizen’s authority.

This... isn’t how it went in the original story.

“Did I... mess something up?”

Full Frame bit her lip. She needed to act—fast.

Meizen Tiren’s dark secret was that she was actually a dark mage. Her uncontrollable jealousy was a catalyst for her transformation.

“I have to...”

But before Full Frame could move, someone else stepped forward.

“Professor! Please, calm down...!”

It was Alterisha, Meizen’s assistant.

Alterisha, with her pink hair, would go on to become one of the greatest alchemists in the future. But for now, she was just a mere assistant. She had no authority to defy Meizen, and her intervention only served to provoke the professor further.

“Alterisha, how many times have I told you not to interrupt when I’m teaching?”

Meizen’s voice dropped, trembling with barely-contained fury.

Thankfully, Alterisha was sharp enough to know how to de-escalate the situation.

“P-Professor... someone as great as you shouldn’t waste your energy on a traitor’s child.”

Meizen flinched

.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Eisel’s expression hardened, her arms trembling slightly as her anger boiled beneath the surface.

She’s right.

To calm Meizen down, the only way was to insult the prodigy and praise the professor.

“Yes, of course...”

Meizen’s rage seemed to subside slightly as she smirked at Eisel.

“A traitor’s child isn’t worth my time.”

She muttered those words before turning her attention to the other students’ experiments.

With Meizen no longer watching her, Eisel simply stared blankly at the potion she had brewed.

In the end, I failed.

Today, Full Frame couldn’t save Eisel.

***

The moment the lecture ended, Full Frame didn’t even think of consoling Eisel. Instead, she ran straight back to her dormitory in a frenzy.

*Click!*

“Hah... hah...”

She was drenched in sweat from sprinting, her cheeks flushed and damp. Yet, she didn’t bother to clean herself up. Instead, she hastily grabbed a notebook lying nearby and flipped it open.

“I’ve been so stupid. This isn’t working. I need to plan more thoroughly.”

There were countless incidents awaiting them in the future. Full Frame didn’t know every detail, but she remembered most of the major episodes related to Eisel.

The original romance fantasy might not have provided solutions to those problems, but Full Frame already had an exceptional cheat sheet stored in her memory, didn’t she?

“I just need to do what Baek Yuseol did... exactly as he did it.”

She began jotting down everything that would happen.

From the alchemy group project to the necromancer attack, the events of summer vacation, and beyond...

“Ah.”

Full Frame’s pen froze mid-sentence.

...I don’t know.

That was when she realized.

There were certain events Baek Yuseol had resolved without ever revealing himself to anyone.

She had no idea what had happened in those moments, or even what problems he had faced there.

Full Frame had always assumed he would eventually tell her.

And for some incidents, he had. But for many others—significant, pivotal moments—she still didn’t know the full story behind them.

I need to protect Hong Biyeon and Eisel...

But right now, she felt utterly powerless.

“What am I supposed to do...?”

Full Frame placed the notebook down gently and leaned back in her chair, her energy drained.

Her mind went blank, completely devoid of ideas.