I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 58

【 Vile Rumor 】

It had been three weeks since Jeran Ennessy suggested that I present at the academic conference and I accepted.

That meant there was just about a month left until I’d have to give a presentation at a conference I had no business attending, without any proper knowledge of the field, only to inevitably make a fool of myself.

I had devoted all my efforts to supplementing my lack of knowledge ever since.

Of course, while studying, the desire to rely on the system’s help burned stronger than ever.

So every night before bed, I filled a bowl with clean water, held it up to the moon, and prayed.

I prayed earnestly with both hands clasped together, begging for a quest—or anything—that would help me prepare for the presentation without having to do it myself. But neither the gods nor the game system answered me.

In the end, since this wasn’t even my major and I knew nothing about magic to begin with, I had no choice but to prepare the presentation on my own.

‘I said I’d play this game so I wouldn’t have to write my thesis, but here I am doing the exact same thing inside the game.’

Every time I looked at the pile of research papers and journals stacked on one side of my desk, all I could do was sigh.

More than once, I felt the sudden urge to contact Jeran Ennessy and tell him I couldn’t present at the conference after all, to just give up and quit everything… but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

After all, Jeran Ennessy was my advisor, and he had offered me that opportunity out of goodwill. It was hard to refuse his sincerity, and besides, he was one of the capture targets I needed to pursue.

Even if rejecting the offer wouldn’t immediately change his affection, it was obvious it would make things awkward between us.

I thought, maybe after seeing me humiliate myself during the presentation, he’d lose all interest anyway, but I decided not to think that far.

Besides, I knew that even if I gathered all my courage and went to him to decline, the moment I saw that handsome face and the bright smile he gave me, I wouldn’t be able to say a word.

So, gritting my teeth, I forced myself to study even harder than I did when I was writing my thesis, spending my days buried in books at the library.

After several weeks of that, I had managed to learn enough to somewhat understand the direction of Lucia’s research.

And also, why dimensional transfer magic was such an unpopular and unprofitable field of study.

Dimensional transfer magic originated from the disappearance of a great ancient wizard.

He had always been deeply engrossed in the study of various kinds of magic when, one day, he vanished without a trace. No one could find where he had gone. Then one day, a letter suddenly appeared in his room.

The contents were simple.

He wrote that while studying a spell that would allow him to cross time and space freely, he failed, and when he awoke, he found himself in a place that didn’t exist anywhere he knew, according to his knowledge.

He believed that he had crossed dimensions and arrived in an entirely different ‘world,’ and with that message, he disappeared for good.

Afterward, wizards began debating fiercely among themselves.

Could the contents of his letter really be trusted? Did worlds beyond this one truly exist, places beyond the scope of our perception?

As a result, those who remained tried to continue his work, and dimensional transfer magic developed further as they experimented based on the missing wizard’s research records.

However, research into dimensional transfer magic eventually came to an end for a simple reason.

Every wizard who succeeded in the research disappeared without a trace, never to return.

Occasionally, books would appear containing detailed, vivid descriptions of things no one could possibly imagine or describe without seeing them firsthand. But even then, debates continued over whether those writings could truly be considered proof of the existence of another world.

However, those debates didn’t last long since the number of researchers in the field was far too small.

In reality, it was a frustrating topic of research, something we couldn’t perceive, couldn’t observe with our own eyes, and couldn’t study directly. The only way to prove the existence of another world was to go there ourselves, yet everyone who did never returned.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if that world had any kind of influence on ours, nor did it contribute to national power in any way.

Naturally, it wasn’t profitable, nor was it considered useful or practical research.

Even so, there were always people in the world who continued to study such things.

Thanks to them, the field barely managed to survive over time, and today, it’s divided into two major schools of thought: those who view dimensional transfer as movement through time, and those who see it as movement through space.

Lucia’s stance fell into the latter category. The biggest challenge in supporting that view was determining how to set the coordinate values for dimensional movement.

Teleportation magic was defined as movement from point A to point B. Naturally, that required corresponding coordinates, but there was no way to determine the exact coordinates of a place that might not even exist.

To solve this problem, Lucia devised a method of layering multiple magic circles on top of one another.

In other words, she constructed her magic circles based on teleportation magic but designed them so that the B coordinate would be arbitrarily assigned later, only after the existence of another dimension was confirmed.

It was essentially a form of teleportation that passed through an additional process mid-transfer.

Whether such a thing was actually possible or not, I had no way of knowing, but all I could do was follow Lucia’s method.

That was the conclusion I reached after three weeks of pouring all my time and energy into studying.

And now, the time had come to put it all into writing.

Jeran Ennessy had contacted me, saying he wanted to check on my progress and review my draft.

So, for an entire week, I didn’t step outside my dorm room even once. I sat at my desk surrounded by research papers and journals, hammering away at the typewriter.

It was an old, outdated model. I had to feed the paper manually and use the lever to change the line after each page.

To make matters worse, if I mistyped even a single letter, there was no backspace key to erase it. And since I couldn’t possibly show my professor a draft full of typos, I had to start over every time.

‘Thanks to that, I spent the entire day crying while typing….’

I could still remember the countless times I tore at my hair and cursed my pathetic hands every time I made a mistake.

This world had magic, teleportation, and even people capable of crossing dimensions, yet it didn’t have a typewriter that could correct a single typo. I just couldn’t understand it.

At the same time, I suddenly felt overwhelmingly grateful for the document editing software on my laptop back in the real world.

If I had to write my actual thesis using a wretched typewriter like this, I’d never graduate even in ten years.

…Of course, having access to backspace and easy editing tools didn’t mean I’d actually graduate, either.

Anyway, after enduring that period of hellish effort, the day before my meeting with Jeran Ennessy finally arrived, and I managed to produce a decent draft, something presentable enough to show him.

Before heading to Jeran Ennessy’s office, I stopped by the library to make a copy of the completed draft, just in case I lost the original.

That was when I happened to run into Ruad.

“Hi, Lucy. It’s been a while.”

As always, Ruad smiled casually the moment he spotted me.

“What brings you here? You said you wouldn’t have time to come by because of the conference presentation.”

“Oh, I finished the materials I need to show my professor. I came to make a copy, just in case I lose it.”

“Oh, I see.”

When I waved the copy I was holding and answered, Ruad nodded as if convinced.

Naturally, I shifted the conversation toward him.

“What about you? What brings you to the library? Did you come to study?”

“Not really. I just… had a feeling that if I came here today, I might run into you.”

“….”

“And look, I did.”

Ruad smiled, his eyes curving softly. It was the kind of smile that said he was genuinely happy to have run into me by chance.

At first, I had found his inexplicable kindness and devotion burdensome. But after unintentionally learning everything about Ruad’s past, and even hearing his confession of love, I finally understood all his actions. And I couldn’t help but think he was incredible for his persistence and dedication.

Of course, Ruad’s initial reason for approaching me had been impure and foolish. His arrogance had been enough to make anyone recoil, but over time, Ruad had changed.

As he truly fell in love with Lucia, he protected me in his own way for over a year and a half.

Even though the woman he loved had gone beyond mere doubt to outright distrust his feelings, Ruad still did it.

He poured his time, sincerity, and effort into me, knowing full well he’d never be repaid. In doing so, he had already proven that his love for Lucia was real.

That kind of devotion couldn’t be dismissed as mere guilt or atonement for his past wrongs.

It had already reached the point of pure, unwavering love.

And the fact that Ruad had played a part in Karl Evenhart’s dismissal from his professorship was truly shocking.

‘So it was Ruad who took care of that bastard Karl Evenhart….’

Just the thought that he had dealt with the man who stole Lucia’s thesis on my behalf made me feel grateful toward him.

And guilty.

‘I shouldn’t have snapped at him the first time we met when he offered to fund my scholarship….’

He had probably rushed to make that offer because he didn’t want someone as talented as me to be expelled from the academy, and I had crushed that sincerity with such a harsh reaction. I could only imagine how much that must have hurt.

But back then, I’d been on edge from what happened at the bank, and now, after all this time, it felt awkward to bring it up and apologize for something that old.

‘It’s not like I can tell him, “After seeing your past, your actions make a lot more sense now.”’

For the same reason, I couldn’t even thank him properly for getting rid of Karl Evenhart.

In the end, I simply treated Ruad with the quiet acknowledgment that he loved me, that his feelings were sincere despite his past, and that he had gone out of his way to avenge me against Karl Evenhart.

And somehow, the fierce-looking Ruad began to seem rather adorable.

It would have been strange not to find him cute and endearing when he was working so hard to show his genuine feelings for me.

Of course, I didn’t know what the real Lucia might have thought, but for me, it made my heart flutter.

‘When in my life would I ever experience this kind of pure, unconditional love from someone? Guess that’s one perk of being stuck in a game like this.’

As I watched Ruad fondly, a satisfied smile tugging at my lips, he spoke again.

“So you’re making copies today and bringing them to your professor tomorrow?”

“No. I’m meeting him today. I just stopped by before heading to the lab.”

“Really?”

At my answer, Ruad’s face brightened for a moment before he asked carefully, lowering his voice so no one else could hear, leaning closer to me.

“Then are you free tonight?”

“….”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to… ‘comfort’ you. Don’t you need me?”