Memory Book
I finished the enrollment procedures.
With the admissions office assistant guiding me, all the way to getting assigned a dorm room.
"Here, grab the doorknob."
The assistant placed my hand on the dormitory entrance door handle and also put a security spell on it.
"Recognize entrant. Security lock."
The door locks automatically the moment it closes, and if I touch the handle with my hand, it opens.
How convenient.
The dorm room I entered, following the assistant's guidance, was incredibly spacious.
"You must have had a tiring day, so please rest comfortably."
After seeing the assistant off at the door, I looked around the place.
To be honest, it's better than the Nokdu Villa Room 201 in Nokbeon-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, where I used to live.
The assistant said it was a four-person room, so I imagined the chicken-coop-like dorm room I used in college, but it wasn't that.
A single four-pyeong room with two bunk beds?
Ah, that is what you call a dormitory of a poor Korean university.
Look at the magic academy dormitory of this god-tier game. A luxurious living room with a big sofa and a coffee table, plus two bathrooms and three rooms attached.
Two bedrooms and one study.
It's so big that it feels lonely, though.
"To think I have to use this big place all by myself."
The reason is that the dormitory is completely empty. There are far too few students.
"Wait a moment! Assistant!"
I quickly opened the door and caught up to the assistant who had gone far down the hallway.
"If I recruit party members, can they stay here?"
Someone like Yernil has nowhere to go.
And inn fees are a waste.
"I have no choice but to answer that it's not allowed."
The assistant shrugged.
"But there aren't many people in the dorm, and there's no dorm supervisor either."
"There was a guard on the first floor."
"Their main job is receiving mail."
"Thank you."
"Oh, and."
The assistant spoke as if something just came to mind.
"There's a magic academy uniform in the wardrobe, so wear that."
I closed the door again, came in, and immediately ran to the bathroom.
Believe it or not, I was still wearing the magic academy prisoner slave uniform.
I woke up in the morning, went into the exit room with Yernil, and fought the boss.
We came out with a back attack and Abison's corpse, then I fainted.
After a few hours, I woke up at the temple, then went straight to the magic academy for the contribution evaluation.
Then I met a halfling, dipped one foot into the River Jordan, barely turned back, met Ishirov, and even joined a club...
"To think all of this could happen in just one day."
I took off the prisoner uniform shirt. Big letters saying 'Magic Academy Prisoner Slave' were stamped on the back like a watermark.
I threw off the pants too and immediately got into the bathtub and turned on the hot water.
"Ah...."
Now I understand why middle-aged men make that sound when they get into hot bathwater.
"I feel like I can live again."
My body stung here and there.
Thanks to drinking healing potions, most of the big wounds had healed, but there were still many small scratches left.
Especially my neck, which had almost been cut by a goblin at first, started bleeding again when I peeled off the scab.
Since I hadn't washed properly for a long time while staying in the labyrinth, I melted away the grease-caked body and face with hot water, and cleansing foam... didn't exist, so I washed with soap. Even this is something to be grateful for.
Of course, there was no shampoo either, so I even washed my hair with soap. While scrubbing my greasy hair hard with soap, it felt like I was doing laundry, and I let out a small laugh.
After finishing the bath, I came out, stopped the bleeding on my neck with a towel, and checked the wall clock.
Nine thirty in the evening.
There's still a bit of time.
I want to just bury myself in the soft bed mattress like this, but let's move a little more diligently.
"They said there's a uniform in the wardrobe, right?"
When I opened the wardrobe, a three-piece set consisting of pants, a shirt, and a cardigan came out.
"In the game, they didn't give clothes."
Looking now, it's Abison's outfit, the one who was found as a corpse in front of the exit room.
Abison was the son of a rich family, rich enough to receive a soul preservation service, so his family probably packed his equipment very well.
Even so, if he went in wearing the uniform, it must have pretty decent performance, right?
When I tried on the uniform, it had an automatic size adjustment spell, so the moment I put it on, the length and waist fit my body perfectly.
I guess I should sleep wearing this today too.
I don't have pajamas, and I also plan to test its performance.
And...
"A wand."
Next to the uniform, there was one wand given to first-year magic academy students.
I know this because it's something you get as starting supplies in the game too.
A wand that gives +2 to intelligence.
All the wands I collected in the labyrinth like Thanos collecting Infinity Stones were taken by the magic academy. So if I want to dual-wield wands, I need to get one more wand.
After even combing my hair, I put the wand into my belt and looked in the mirror.
Looks decent.
The misery of a slave prisoner is gone, and a plausible elite college mage has appeared.
Maybe because I've gotten attached to this body in the meantime, now that I look at it, the face isn't half bad either, is it?
"Shall we go."
The place I'm in right now is the labyrinth city, 'Sohen.'
It's the starting point that comes out when you start the game as a human mage.
The reason is that the magic academy here is the largest of all magic institutions in the game.
On top of that, the library is also the biggest.
"The library is open 24 hours."
Ding!-Ding!-Ding!
The bell rings from the university clock tower.
Nine times.
That means the current time is nine in the morning, and it means I'm late.
"Damn it."
The bell rings at seven and at eight too, so how did I not hear any of them and only wake up at nine?
"They said to come to the admissions office by nine."
That assistant who guided me to the dorm yesterday said that.
"I never once was late when I went to college or to work."
I guess I overdid it yesterday. The fortunate thing is that since I slept in my uniform, I can go out immediately.
An even more fortunate thing is that the place I fell asleep wasn't the dorm, but the library. I fell asleep while researching magic books last night, and the library is much closer to the admissions office than the dorm.
"Tsk."
I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth, put the book into the return shelf, and ran out in a hurry.
"They said they'd do an orientation, right?"
Most likely, they'll make a memory book.
What is a memory book? It's a time-honored system that appears in D&D-style novels, games, TRPGs, and so on, namely, the 'spell slot.'
In the setting, the memory book provides spell slots appropriate to a mage's ability, and after registering spells in advance there, the principle of using magic is to easily discharge them with a wand.
Just like loading bullets into a rifle magazine in advance.
In the game, that memory book is expressed like this.
'Keyboard button B.'
If you press that, a system window called 'Memory Book' pops up, and you drag and drop spells into the slots shown there to register or remove them.
So what is it like here, where it has become reality?
'Incantation.'
By shouting "Memorize!" you can summon the memory book. Other than that, it's the same as the game.
How do I know this?
That's why I spent the entire night at the library yesterday.
In addition to the concept of the memory book, I finished researching all the magic currently used by mages of the magic academy, as well as every magic buildup.
I absolutely refuse to get into trouble again just because I don't know something like a lie-detection spell.
The fortunate thing is that I already know almost all magic.
In that case, I can pretty much use my existing mage build method as-is. Of course, since my special abilities have changed, some minor adjustments will be necessary.
Click!
"I'm late, I'm sorry."
After sprinting at full speed to the admissions office in the main building, I was gasping for breath, my lungs about to burst.
9:14 a.m.
Sweat trickled down the back of my neck.
"Come in and sit here."
In front of the admissions office assistant, four first-year students were gathered.
They were 'slave mages.'
The ones who entered the labyrinth with me in the same cohort and came out alive.
They received the same mage academy uniforms as me, but on their backs, it still said 'Magic Academy Prisoner Slave.'
'Yernil isn't here.'
She'll probably be transferred to the Adventurers' Guild today. I'll have to go get her later.
"He's here."
The slave mages started whispering when they saw me. It seems I'm quite the topic of conversation even among them.
"Did you wait because of me? I'm sorry."
When I apologized while quickly sitting down, the assistant shook her head.
"It's fine. The professor hasn't arrived yet either. Did you work late last night…?"
I also worked late and ended up late this morning—somehow I feel a sense of kinship.
Knock, knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the admissions office door.
"Come in!"
"Mm."
An extremely old-looking elf entered, his back bent and frail.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm the old coot in the corner of the magic academy."
"..."
"My name is Dalstream."
Dalstream!
He's the one Clorence told me about yesterday—the man who insists that otherworld transmigrators should be revered and served instead.
That elder mage who's looking for a turn-based mage.
"Wasn't Professor Ishirov supposed to come?"
The assistant asked.
"Professor Ishirov seems to be busy arguing with the temple over the transfer of the back-attack corpse. He looked busy, so I came instead."
Professor Dalstream swept his gaze over the slave prisoners, then his eyes met mine.
"So you're the famous new student."
"...Hello."
"I'll now explain the memory book to you all."
Professor Dalstream went on at length about the memory book—something I already knew very well. And then, after that.
"Memorize."
He summoned the memory book.
It's my first time seeing it directly with my own eyes after coming to reality.
White, glowing mist rose up, and a book about the size of an encyclopedia appeared at the tip of his wand, floating in midair. You couldn't see what magic was inside the memory book.
"The memory book is a kind of divine ability bestowed by Wizus, the god of wisdom. Therefore, you can only obtain a memory book by entering into a contract with Wizus."
The professor took out contracts the assistant had prepared in advance, had the students sign them one by one, and sent them off to Wizus with a magic incantation.
It felt similar to how Ishirov sent mail yesterday.
"Now, all of you should have a memory book."
This isn't an unfamiliar situation for me. In the game too, the B key starts working after you pass an event like this.
"Try chanting."
"Memorize!"
"Memorize!"
The slave mages summoned their memory books without difficulty.
And at the tip of my wand, a memory book bloomed as well.
"How many slots do you have?"
The professor grabbed each student one by one and asked.
"Two first-grade slots."
"One first-grade slot."
The number of magic slots differs depending on mage level. At low levels, only first-grade slots are available.
In my case, I'm level five right now.
"I have three first-grade slots."
"Oh."
Dalstream let out a small exclamation.
"The number of magic slots is important, everyone. By combining spells well, you can even create new magic. The detailed method for that is..."
Professor Dalstream plopped down into a chair and pointed at the assistant.
"The assistant will teach you."
"...!"
The assistant looked flustered, as if this wasn't part of the plan.
"Professor Ishirov said he'd teach everything himself! I have so much to do right now!"
"Sorry. My back hurts."
Professor Dalstream chuckled and patted his lower back.
The assistant sighed and led us to the magic practice room.
Magic combination is similar to playing poker.
For example, if you arrange Fireball, Ice Spike, and Lightning Shock in order into three first-grade magic slots, you get an elemental magic triple.
The effect of that is...
"You obtain one second-grade magic."
The so-called 'Triple Attribute Shot.'
"Binding spells together to create higher-tier magic like this is called spellbook binding. The advantage is that you can use it without consuming a second-grade magic slot. I'll show you."
The assistant fired a Triple Attribute Shot at the wall.
A second-grade bound spell with insane destructive power, dealing triple-element magic damage and inflicting one of burn, freeze, or shock status effects on the target!
"How is it?"
The assistant puffed up her shoulders proudly, the slave mages marveled in admiration, and I...
'No, assistant.'
I was a bit taken aback.
'Your build is completely wrecked....'
A mage can freely swap out the spells in their memory book slots, but it's not possible to test every combination infinitely.
Because the amount of magic you can learn in the first place is limited.
So the fact that the assistant just used Triple Attribute Shot means she invested in Fireball, Lightning Shock, and Ice Spike all at once.
'That build doesn't work after Hardship difficulty.'
"You can learn as many first-grade spells as you have first-grade magic slots. Later on, you may be able to learn more than your slots, but for now, it's equal to your slot count."
Unaware of that situation, the assistant explained cheerfully.
"Here, choose what you want from the list of first-grade spells. The professor will have an interview with you and recommend a build."