I Became a Terminally Ill Magic Genius at the Academy

What are the three main nutrients for modern people?  

Carbohydrates, protein, fat?  

“Not even close.”  

Caffeine, which must be consumed like the elixir to accomplish piled-up work.  

Nicotine, which helps erase accumulated fatigue.  

Alcohol, which quickly and surely soothes the weary body and mind.  

These are the three essentials for a work-ridden Korean.  

“But all of them are gone right now.”  

Webtoon artist Kang Ji-hoon sighed and muttered.  

A dark and gloomy workspace.  

In the box filled with Bacchus bottles, only empty ones rolled around, and the once-full pack of Marlboro Gold shared the same fate.  

Kang Ji-hoon sipped the last lukewarm drop of beer and turned his gaze toward the glowing monitor.  

As the title suggests, it was a story about a magic academy.  

A world where one drew magic circles with a magic pen to cast spells.  

It wasn’t just a simple fantasy but a world mixed with steampunk elements.  

In that world, the orphaned protagonist suddenly inherited their parents’ legacy and enrolled in the magic academy…  

Yes.  

To be honest, it was pretty similar to Harry Potter.  

After all, he was inspired by Harry Potter. A series he saw at the orphanage when he was very young.  

Well, in any case.  

The work in which he had poured in both time and effort was gaining recognition from a large audience.

To the point where its cumulative views exceeded the population of South Korea. 

Can you imagine that?  

[The art is seriously insane… Why is this artist so good?]  

[You can feel how every panel is drawn with a precise hand, and it slows down my scrolling speed, lol]  

[The art is absolutely top-tier.]  

Was it thanks to his father, who was a painter?  

Kang Ji-hoon’s art was quickly acknowledged.  

‘Though I hate to give credit to the man who ran away when I was still in elementary school….’  

In any case, he undeniably had talent, and no one could criticize his work in terms of its art.  

But… 

[The author is crazy, lol. He killed off another character.]  

[How are people with second-lead syndrome supposed to live when you keep killing them all? ㅠㅠ]  

[Please stop killing characters, author. At this rate, everyone will die…]  

There’s no such thing as a perfect work of art.  

Reader opinions were always divided.  

The rating: 8.97 stars.  

Thanks to that, while it always ranked in the top three in terms of views, it consistently hovered at the bottom of the rating rankings.  

It was because angry readers were upset about characters being killed off, and were bombing the ratings.  

‘It’s not like I killed them for fun.’  

As a writer, it was incredibly frustrating.  

He had never killed a supporting character without a reason.  

The departure of every character was always the result of thorough calculations and deep consideration.  

Yet the readers left countless hate comments, calling him ‘moron’ or ‘If you’re this bad at writing, why are you even doing it?’ just because he killed off a few side characters.  

“I have to kill another one in this chapter.”  

Muttering to himself, he clicked the Clip Studio icon on his desktop.  

After a few seconds of buffering, the long vertical pixelated comic storyboard appeared.  

Kang Ji-hoon quietly stared at the scene where the villain was defeated by the protagonist and lay on the verge of collapse.  

Yohan Hart.  

Today’s sacrificial lamb.  

At least the silver lining was that Yohan Hart was a pure villain.  

He was a character who had joined forces with the dark mage faction and constantly hindered the protagonist’s group, so the readers would probably welcome his death.  

“He’s one of the most beloved characters after the protagonist. He appeared from the beginning, and now I’m sending him off like this.”  

Regardless of the readers’ opinions, he personally had grown attached to the character.  

He was like Malfoy in Harry Potter.  

Muttering to himself, Kang Ji-hoon focused on his manuscript.  

In the darkness, lit only by the bright computer screen, his hands moved relentlessly.  

His back was diagnosed with a herniated disc a few weeks ago, and his worn-out wrist throbbed with pain.  

But the backlash and drop in views that would follow if he took a break scared him more than the brief pain.  

Gritting his teeth, Kang Ji-hoon tirelessly wielded his pen.  

Swish. Swish.

The black lines followed the movement of his pen.  

He traced over the sketch, added colors, shading, adjustments, and highlights, traveling from one step to the next like water.  

“… Done.”

The storyboard, which appeared to be ridden with mere scribbles, gradually transformed into Yohan Hart who had a sword pierced through his heart.  

Not a single unnecessary movement was made.  

Just as Ji-hoon saw the finished result and smiled slightly, leaning back in his chair— 

“Huh?”  

Suddenly, his head spun as if he were aboard a swaying ship.  

His vision whirled.  

Thud!  

A deafening crash rang in his ears.  

It was only after he fell to the ground that he realized what had happened and tried to get up.  

But Ji-hoon couldn’t move an inch since no strength remained in his body from head to toe.  

With blurred vision, the familiar ceiling seemed to grow faintly distant.  

“No, my deadline…”  

Eventually, his eyelids closed.

Never to open again.  

——-

The towering gray stone walls and iron gate stood like an impregnable fortress.  

Beyond the winding rose garden, an eerie silence had recently settled over the Marquis Hart estate.  

In the long corridor, bathed in the morning sunlight, two maids walked with a strange tension in their expressions.  

“It’s already the fourth day. What if he never wakes up again?”  

One of the maids said with a worried face.  

However, Ariel, who was walking beside her, scoffed.  

“He’s always had a weak body and collapses once every month or two. It’s nothing serious.”  

“But usually, he regains consciousness after a few hours, a day at most. This is the first time he hasn’t woken up for so long…”  

Yohan Hart, the scoundrel of the household.  

He had inherited the curse of mana in his blood more intensely than anyone else, and this was the result.  

From time to time, his heart would give out, causing him to lose consciousness.  

“I hope he never wakes up.”  

Ariel said sincerely.  

“Ariel, how can you say such a thing?”  

“Do you want that scoundrel to wake up safely?”  

Ariel frowned as she asked.  

She had been with Yohan since childhood.  

At one point, she had even pitied him for his frail health, but not anymore.  

How could she continue to feel sorry for someone who hurled insults and threw things at people without hesitation?  

‘The world might be better off without a madman like him.’  

A change of heart?  

There’s no such thing in this world.  

A complete scoundrel like him dying would only benefit the world.  

However, it appeared the other maid didn’t share the same sentiment.  

“If Young Master Yohan never wakes up, we, his personal maids, will be kicked out of the estate. You don’t have to worry as much since you’re the head butler’s daughter, but I’m not so lucky.”  

“…”  

Ariel couldn’t respond to that.  

Honestly, the maid was right.  

She just kept her mouth shut and walked ahead.  

Soon, they reached Yohan Hart’s room.  

Knock. Knock.

She knocked cautiously on the door, but there was no response. 

Knowing that Yohan Hart hadn’t woken up for days, Ariel didn’t hesitate to turn the doorknob.  

“Excuse me, young mas—”  

Blinding sunlight pierced the eyes of the maids as the door swung open.  

The girl squinted momentarily, but then froze at the sight before her.  

A man sat upright on the bed.  

Yohan Hart, who they had expected to still be unconscious, had regained his senses.  

‘He’s awake again, after all.’

Ariel thought to herself and opened her mouth to speak.  

“Young master, are you all righ—”  

Before she could even finish inquiring about his health—  

Slap!

A familiar sound echoed through the room.  

The sound of a slap.  

The girl blinked in shock, dumbfounded.  

Yohan Hart had slapped his own cheek.  

Not someone else’s, but his own.  

‘What on earth…?’  

Has he finally lost it?  

While Ariel stood frozen in confusion, the maid beside her stepped forward.  

A nervous smile appeared on her lips, like someone facing a ticking time bomb about to go off.  

“Y-young Master. Are you okay? I’ll call a doctor imme—”  

“… Leave.”  

“Pardon?”  

“Get out!”  

Suddenly, Yohan Hart shouted.  

The maid who had stepped forward recoiled in fear, and stumbled backward. While Ariel lowered her head and frowned.  

Yes. This was Yohan Hart.  

The cursed sole heir of the prestigious Hart Family.  

Who was he?  

‘A scoundrel. A true scoundrel.’  

Not only did he hurl insults at his servants, but he also often resorted to hitting them.  

Of course, his abusive behavior wasn’t limited to the servants alone.

If anyone triggered his temper, he would lash out, no matter who they were.  

“I’m sorry. I’ll take my leave now.”  

In this situation, the right thing to do was to apologize and quickly leave the room.  

Normally, he would have thrown whatever object was within arm’s reach, but perhaps because he had just regained consciousness and lacked strength, he had only yelled this time, which was a relief.  

‘Honestly, it would’ve been better if he hadn’t woken up at all.’  

Thinking that, Ariel backed out of the room.  

——-

Kang Ji-hoon collapsed onto the bed, overwhelmed with a deep sense of fatigue.  

“Sigh…”  

He hadn’t intended to yell at the maids at all.  

In fact, he was planning to calmly ask them to leave and reflect on the situation.  

‘What just happened?’  

The moment he saw the maids bowing their heads, a foreign emotion surged up from deep within his mind.  

He had to try his hardest not to throw the vase he instinctively grabbed out of habit.  

Though he managed not to throw it, he couldn’t stop his body from yelling. It acted on its own without control.  

‘This is driving me crazy.’  

Rubbing his temples, Kang Ji-hoon glanced at the full-length mirror in front of him.  

Silky jet-black hair and eyes that looked like they had rubies embedded in them.  

Smooth, well-maintained skin and a tall, lean frame.  

With his god-like appearance, this man looked exactly like the character Kang Ji-hoon had just drawn in his manuscript.  

“Why on earth am I Yohan Hart?”  

He ruffled his bangs in frustration, feeling a headache coming on.  

Kang Ji-hoon understood the situation all too well.  

‘So I’ve transmigrated, haven’t I?’  

As a webtoon artist, he hadn’t neglected his trend analysis.  

Of course, he had read popular webtoon adaptations of novels that were doing well these days.  

And he was well aware of genres like regression, transmigration, and reincarnation. 

The problem is…  

“Why did it have to be Yohan Hart?”  

Maybe it was because he died while drawing Yohan Hart.  

A boy with an exceptional appearance but a personality more rotten than a cesspool.  

Yohan Hart received this diagnosis when he was young.

– I’m sorry, ma’am. Even with medication, the young master’s lifespan will be limited to twenty, or at most twenty-two.

Sudden seizures and the constant fear of death suffocated him.  

Yohan Hart spiraled into a path of corruption.  

“And eventually, he walks down a road he should never have gone.”  

In his desperate attempts to avoid death, Yohan Hart ends up joining a dark magic organization called ‘Crow.’

In doing so, he continuously obstructed the protagonist’s journey in Arcana Academy  before ultimately meeting his own demise.  

A flawless appearance, a rotten personality, and a fate which allowed him to live less than five years.  

All of these were characteristics of Yohan Hart, the character created by Kang Ji-hoon.  

So, to sum up his current situation.

“I’m screwed. Seriously.”  

At this rate, he was going to die for sure.

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Happy reading!