The Munchkin Magic Genius is Laughing

People’s reactions varied. Some looked at Jeff with disbelief, while others turned their attention to their own magic locks, filled with hope that they could do it too.

“Brother! Wasn’t I right? I told you it can be broken!”

“First… let’s try using more mana.”

“No, I’m telling you! We need to break it! If even a half-wit like him can easily solve it, how can we not?”

“Everyone, come here! Let’s join forces! What do you think about breaking them one by one together?”

“Um… Mr. Jeff? Is it really just about breaking it?”

Jeff remained silent. He meant for them to figure it out themselves.

In the end, because of Jeff’s words to Inspector Mellin—”I’ve broken the lock”—people began to get confused and started wasting their mana trying to physically break their locks.

Seeing this, Inspector Mellin checked the lock once more with a puzzled expression.

‘What…? I didn’t see it wrong, did I? He clearly didn’t break it by force, but modified the mana absorption formula to damage the lock, so why did he deliberately use the expression that he “broke” it…?’

Mellin looked at Jeff with a surprised expression, as if she had realized something.

‘Could it be… to drain the competitors’ strength in preparation for stages 2 and 3…?’

Inspector Mellin was impressed. It was a perfect strategy—not only did he identify the formula most quickly and release it, but he also used the information asymmetry to inflict a massive disadvantage on his opponents.

She understood Jeff’s intention. If Jeff had said he solved or unlocked the lock, other participants might have deduced that there was a solution other than breaking it. But by holding up a shattered lock and saying he broke it, people would naturally misunderstand that he didn’t interfere with the formula but physically broke it.

Of course, no matter how much magic is used from the outside to try to break it, the lock won’t break. Jeff didn’t use brute force either; he damaged the internal structure itself, which is essentially the same as unlocking the lock, so he must know this fact. This means Jeff intentionally created this situation.

With a satisfied expression, Mellin wrote Jeff’s name in the notebook she was holding.

[Jeff, Ariel. Stage 1 Exam Score: S+]

◈◈◈◈◈

Meanwhile, Jeff, from a distance, was smiling as he looked at the other participants. There were no worries or concerns about the future in his mind. He had only malice and a sense of exhilaration.

Mana distribution for stages 2 and 3? Jeff didn’t care about any of that. He just wanted to make them suffer—those who had disrespected him with nonsense from the beginning.

Jeff smiled and muttered.

“Serves you right, idiots. That’s not how you do it.”

◈◈◈◈◈

The Source of Life at the magic tower. Lunia realized that she couldn’t fix it even by employing every method at her disposal.

‘What should I do? If this continues….’

The magic tower will collapse. And she might end up taking all the blame.

The enhancement skill called ‘Movement’ that Jeff used. Even that, she wanted to take credit for, so she falsely reported to her superiors that all the artifacts Jeff had enhanced were done by her. Thanks to this, she was able to receive various benefits, but now the situation had completely reversed.

After Jeff removed Movement, all the core artifacts in the magic tower were in disarray. Since the main task in the magic tower is research related to magic, the importance of data storage is also high.

Research processes, results, and error points. Missing or omitting even one thing would lead to fatal losses.

But now, nothing in the magic tower was functioning properly. Because of Jeff’s Movement—that damn skill inserted here and there over the course of a year—not only were all research results disappearing, but the magic tower was also starting to tilt.

[What? You want me to use Movement? Alright. Just give me about 10 gold each time. You’re going to steal the achievements anyway, right?]

Jeff demanded a minimum amount of gold for each use of Movement. In fact, Jeff’s choice was wise at the time. There were no factions supporting Jeff in the magic tower. If Jeff had forcefully claimed that he had created Movement or various artifacts, Lunia and Director Cloria’s factions would have driven him out, calling him a filthy person who covets others’ achievements.

Then Jeff would have been expelled from the magic tower immediately. What matters in the magic tower isn’t visible achievements. No matter how much he pleaded his innocence, it was obvious that his appeals wouldn’t be accepted because there were already many of Director Cloria’s people on the side that reported to the magic tower court or the superiors.

‘That damn bastard….’

Lunia thought Jeff had used a shallow tactic. He received small change, made people feel at ease, and used Movement mercilessly as he wanted. Over the course of a year, he had used Movement on the magic tower more than hundreds of times.

And those enhancement skills he had installed were now returning like boomerangs with knives attached.

‘Should I say it’s Jeff’s doing?’

Lunia and Research Director Cloria had been pretending that the achievements made with the Movement skill were theirs. They had been doing this for over a year, but what if they now said that the ability was Jeff’s and that Jeff should be held responsible?

It was insufficient as a justification. But it’s also absurd to bear it alone.

If the magic tower were to collapse, how could an individual possibly bear the astronomical damage? Even if one worked their entire life, they wouldn’t be able to repay the financial damage that would occur. Moreover, the magic tower would not just sit back and watch this happen.

‘What… what should I do….’

She felt like a fish caught in a net. A situation where no matter where she tries to escape, she can’t get away. Lunia was on her knees on the ground, in despair.

◈◈◈◈◈

The news that someone had cleared the first test of the Riness Academy, and in record time at that, reaches the magic tower.

“Tower Master… It seems an incredible monster has entered the Riness Academy instructor selection exam this time.”

“A monster? It’s just at the level of an academy instructor, isn’t it?”

The Tower Master looked at him with disinterested eyes and dismissed him.

“Leave. The magic tower is currently in turmoil with internal matters, so I don’t have the capacity to worry about such things.”

“But… I’m telling you this because I think you should know, the inspector this time was Ms. Mellin.”

As the man hesitated, Cellora irritably spoke.

“Mellin….”

A genius who was supposed to be recruited by the magic tower but was snatched away by Riness Academy. Tower Master Cellora had always coveted Mellin’s excellent magical abilities and judgment. Losing her, who was the top priority recruitment target, to Riness Academy was a major error on her part.

“Even if Mellin was the inspector, nothing changes.”

“Well….”

“Don’t hesitate, just tell me at once.”

“According to the report from our spy planted in Riness Academy, someone has achieved the record for the shortest time clearing the first stage of the academy instructor selection exam designed by Inspector Mellin, and not only that, they received the highest score.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

Inspector Mellin doesn’t just score based on magical ability. She is famous for considering and judging everything—problem identification, problem-solving ability, and even future-oriented thinking. Therefore, it was unimaginable that the fastest clearing time and the highest score could coexist.

“Who is that monster-like person? If possible, find out if we can recruit them to our magic tower.”

“Um… about that….”

As the man kept hesitating, Tower Master Cellora got angry and shouted.

“What now! What’s wrong with you! Didn’t I tell you to speak quickly!”

“It’s… Jeff.”

“Jeff? That name sounds familiar.”

Jeff… the name rings a bell. It seems like I’ve heard it somewhere…

While it’s true that the Tower Master is involved in various affairs within the magic tower, she doesn’t know every minor detail. Given her numerous duties and the not-infrequent incidents and accidents within the magic tower, she often has to move around to handle them, so in many cases, the Vice Tower Master or those with the authority to act as proxies handle such matters.

“Jeff… why is this name so familiar?”

The Tower Master wondered with a serious expression, repeating the name Jeff.

But her curiosity was immediately resolved by the secretary in front of her.

“Jeff is the name of someone who was recently expelled from our magic tower.”

“….”

The Tower Master’s face became severely distorted.

“Find them.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, find the person who expelled the magician named Jeff. Find them and bring them to me immediately.”