Chapter 140 - 139: The Unaware Genius

Chapter 140: Chapter 139: The Unaware Genius

The light inside the Rune Workshop remained constant, making one completely oblivious to the passage of time. Gaode set his pen to paper four times; aside from his first failure, the other three attempts were all successes.

Looking at the intricately lined basic rune, "Gathering Magic," that he had drawn on the Magic Paper, Gaode’s eyes lit up slightly. A faint glow flowed through these complex lines, gathering the Magic Power wandering between heaven and earth at a steady but slow rate. Gaode watched this scene, full of admiration.

He felt an indescribable sense of beauty. When deconstructed and combined through the knowledge system of Rune Science, mere cold lines could transform into such inexplicable, magical power. The last time he experienced this kind of beauty was in mathematics: cold numbers and symbols, when combined, could become a harmonious and elegant formula that expressed extremely complex concepts and rules. It was this exact sense of beauty that had made Gaode fall in love with math.

Gaode had originally thought that no other subject in the world could be as "beautiful" as mathematics. Now, in another completely different world, he had finally encountered the second "mathematics" he thought would never exist.

After feeling the beauty and shock of the runes, Gaode fell into a state of pleasant surprise, itching to dive deeper into this new challenge. In his eyes, this rigid, level-zero basic rune on the Magic Paper was so vibrant it seemed as if it could come alive at any moment.

Gaode set the four sheets of Magic Paper aside and opened the *Rune Introduction* materials again.

The second level-zero basic rune recorded inside was called "Restriction." Its Rune Effect dictated that a system—whether a Composite Rune or a Magic Array—would operate if and only if Magic Power passed through all the "Restriction" runes within it. If any "Restriction" rune malfunctioned or had no Magic Power passing through it, the system would fail to run.

The third level-zero basic rune was called "Permission." If multiple "Permission" runes existed in a system, the system could operate normally as long as Magic Power passed through just one of them...

The fifth level-zero basic rune was called "Connection." Its purpose was to act as a bridge connecting basic runes that would otherwise be mutually exclusive, thereby forming a Composite Rune...

The final level-zero basic rune was "Diffusion." Its purpose was to spread a certain Rune Effect to other systems.

After successfully drawing the last "Diffusion" rune on the Magic Paper, Gaode rubbed his slightly dry eyes in relief. He realized that it wasn’t just his eyes that were dry; even his wrist was trembling slightly. Only then did Gaode suddenly snap back to reality, and his Detection alerted him to the fact that he was already starving.

The Mana in his body, which hadn’t been abundant to begin with, was near depletion from the process of drawing runes. Startled, he hastily pulled out his pocket watch. Checking the time, he saw that it was already four in the afternoon. This meant he had been standing there for nearly eight hours straight, without a single moment of pause or rest.

Gaode opened his mouth, feeling somewhat helpless. This was a "bad habit" he had always had: as soon as he entered a problem-solving state, he would become completely engrossed. He would lose all sense of his surroundings and even the passage of time, slipping into a state of "obsession." Unless an outside force snapped him out of it, he would not "regain" his clarity until every problem in his hands was solved.

In the eyes of others, this was called focus. However, being overly focused could sometimes bring trouble. For example, when he was first exposed to Math Olympiad problems in elementary school, he got stumped by the final, most difficult question. He racked his brains over it, even breaking out in a cold sweat from anxiety—just like his mother, who, after waiting in vain for him to come home from school, had spent two or three hours frantically searching the streets before finally finding him in a dimly lit classroom, still immersed in that final question.

Looking at his mother, who was also drenched in a cold sweat, Gaode realized for the first time that he sometimes needed to learn to control and suppress his focus. But if a bad habit were that easy to overcome, it wouldn’t be called a bad habit. Bad habits were stubborn. Just like now—with just a moment of carelessness, he had once again fallen into that state of focus where he forgot both himself and his surroundings.

"Damn it!"

Gaode’s personality meant that he wouldn’t be deterred by the tedious memorization and copying processes of Rune Science, nor was he the type to swear. However, as he wiped the sweat that had unknowingly seeped from his forehead, he couldn’t help but mutter a rare curse to himself.

Of course, he wasn’t cursing at anyone; it was just that at this very moment, only a swear word could most concisely and powerfully express his inner emotions. No wonder they said Rune Science had the highest barrier to entry. Just a single "homework" assignment had cost him so much time, Physical Strength, and Energy to barely complete. At the thought that all Rune Masters had gone through this, an inexplicable sense of awe arose in Gaode’s heart.

He felt a deep reverence for the community of Rune Masters, while simultaneously experiencing an unprecedented sense of defeat. Still, Gaode didn’t wallow in self-pity; he merely accepted the fact that his aptitude for learning runes wasn’t exceptionally outstanding.

In his life before coming to this world, Gaode had been praised as a genius by others on more than one occasion. At least during his student years, he had felt a sense of effortless ease in all his subjects. Learning had always been a very simple thing for him. Very occasionally, he would also feel that he was a genius. For instance, when he saw a math formula taught in class that he had casually come up with while spacing out during a break years ago.

However, Gaode wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that his learning talent from a world based on technology would universally apply to a world built on an Extraordinary system. Everyone had their own strengths. Since his strength lay in "mathematics," it made sense that he wouldn’t be as adept in other fields.

But this didn’t affect Gaode’s decision to continue studying Rune Science. After all, he truly loved the aesthetic beauty of runes.

Enduring his hunger and exhaustion, Gaode earnestly organized his "homework" and stacked it neatly next to the study materials. This was left for a potential inspection by his tutor, Jose. Once finished, he silently turned around and prepared to leave.

Before walking out of the Rune Workshop, he cast another glance at the small inner room where Jose O’Kenley was. The door remained tightly shut. Or perhaps it had been opened, and his Detection simply hadn’t picked up on it because he was too immersed in his homework?

That didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was extremely hungry and needed to go eat immediately!

Gaode left, and the workshop remained quiet.

After some time had passed, Jose, looking slightly pale and exhausted, opened the door to his "laboratory" and walked out. As a Third-Ring Mage, no matter how old he was, his Energy and Physical Strength were far more vigorous than those of ordinary people. However, the work he did was simply too draining.

Thus, exhaustion was inevitable. Yet, amidst the fatigue, there was also a hint of satisfaction. This kind of satisfaction was hard to describe with ordinary words; it could only be accurately summarized by an ancient proverb from Gaode’s past life: "If one hears the truth in the morning, one can die content in the evening."

He habitually walked over to the workbench to tidy it up. Then, he suddenly remembered that he had brought some introductory materials he compiled for the student named Gaode today.

"I wonder how he’s doing with it..." The old man’s muttering came to an abrupt halt. He saw a small, neatly arranged stack of Magic Paper on the workbench, each drawn with basic runes.

Compared to yesterday, Jose’s pupils didn’t dilate this time; rather, they shrank violently. He picked up Gaode’s "homework" and flipped through it carefully, page by page. For a High-tier Rune Master who had been steeped in Rune Science for hundreds of years, these simple basic runes shouldn’t have been anything worth looking at. But at this moment, Jose’s eyes were filled with marvel, as if he were admiring a work of art.

"Damn it..."

The old man was clearly someone who rarely ever cursed. So even when saying these two words, his tone was completely serious, his pitch was steady, and his enunciation was perfectly clear. It didn’t sound like he was swearing at all. And indeed, he wasn’t really swearing. The old man just needed these words to vent his inner emotions.

After looking at the "homework" Gaode had left behind, his Spirit seemed to become somewhat exhilarated. Jose set down the stack of Magic Paper in his hands and softly added after his curse:

"This kid is a true genius."