Just earlier today, right before lunch, I’d been in such a good mood—

So what the hell happened?

Right now, it’s basic magic class.

I chose the quietest corner seat in the classroom, far from the professor’s gaze.

Because God forbid I get called on.

Sure, I’d pulled a few all-nighters trying to cram some knowledge into my brain.

But the kids in this world had been learning magic since they were eight.

Meanwhile, I had to catch up to a fifteen-year-old’s level—

starting from literally zero understanding of magic.

It’s like barely memorizing basic arithmetic and then getting called to the board to solve a quadratic equation.

…Yeah. It’s hell.

I’d figured I had no chance of understanding this lecture anyway,

so I quietly pulled out a beginner’s magic workbook—targeted at ten-year-olds—and started studying.

And of course, that’s exactly what the professor caught me doing.

Branded a slacker not paying attention in class, I got summoned to the front.

Which leads us to… this nightmare of a moment.

I tried making excuses.

“I’m just feeling a little off today…”

Didn’t work, obviously.

To make things worse, this was the very same class I ditched on my first day in this world.

So yeah—my standing with this professor?

Already in the gutter.

If I messed up here, I was basically sentencing myself to a semester of magical torture.

“Stay calm, Sua Yoon. Stay calm. You can do this… probably!”

I had to use everything I had.

My ten-year-old-level understanding of magic.

The random knowledge from my past life.

All of it—scraped together, rearranged, duct-taped in my brain.

I hadn’t wracked my brain this hard since studying for the college entrance exams.

And now, at twenty-two years old, I’m doing it again…

in another world…

solving a magic problem.

Seriously, what is my life?

And I’ve finally accepted this: magic isn’t something you memorize.

You don’t copy magic circles. You understand them.

You deconstruct, rebuild, and optimize.

Instead of just memorizing the standard circle, you interpret the structure, cut the fat, reroute the channels—

sometimes even redesign the whole thing from scratch.

It’s like getting from Seoul to Busan.

There isn’t just one path, right?

You’ve got planes, trains, buses, cars—heck, even bikes.

The destination’s the same, but the route can vary.

Magic works the same way.

Multiple paths, same result.

“Don’t memorize. Understand. Rebuild. Optimize.”

I ditched the textbook solution.

Instead, I used what I did know—basic circuits—and pieced together a path that would let the mana flow.

In a standard circle, the mana flow is separated into five stages.

I compressed it into three.

I removed the redundant symbols, directly connected the channels that could be linked.

Not conventional, sure.

But who cares if it works?

“…Done.”

The room went dead silent.

My magic circle worked.

Mana flowed smoothly through it.

The faint shimmer along the lines was proof enough—it was functioning perfectly.

“It actually… works?”

I mumbled without thinking.

No, seriously… it worked way better than expected?

“……”

The professor silently walked closer, tracing the lines of my circle with his fingers.

He paused, then spoke.

“…This is completely different from the standard method,” he said quietly.

“But it’s extremely efficient. In fact, it’s even simpler.”

Murmurs spread through the classroom.

“How did that even work?”

“I’ve never seen that format before… is it legit?”

“It’s not in the textbook, right? Must’ve been a lucky guess.”

As whispers filled the air, the professor calmly addressed the class.

“Most of you learn magic by memorizing. Standard patterns, formulas—answers you get just by rote repetition. That’s what you’re used to.”

He tapped the circle I drew on the board with his fingertip.

“But magic doesn’t work just because you memorized it.

Magic is about understanding, building, and optimizing.”

Then, he nodded toward me.

“This student just proved it. She took what she knew—basic circuits—and rearranged them, mapped the mana flow, and solved the problem with a completely new method.

This isn’t something you can do by memorization alone.”

Some students began taking notes in a daze, staring at the board.

“So remember this:

The basics aren’t just stepping stones to the next level.

They are tools. Foundations for real application.

Don’t stop at memorizing.

Understand why it works—how the flow operates.”

The tension in my chest finally eased as I quietly returned to my seat.

That thing I scribbled down by brute force actually worked.

And I even got praised for it.

Guess those algorithmic thinking skills from my past life are finally paying off in this world…

But just then, the professor turned back to me and asked,

“By the way, earlier you seemed to be doing something else during class.

What exactly were you working on?”

I froze.

Oh god.

I thought solving the problem was the end of it…