Chapter 2 : Lee Min-Ho

In the kindergarten, amidst laughter and joyful cries, a small secluded corner almost always remained empty. It was there that an enigmatic and solitary boy had taken refuge, whose presence was barely noticed by the other children. While the others engaged in noisy games and bursts of laughter, Lee Min-Ho preferred to stay apart, his closed face hiding all emotion.

It was rare to see him participate in group games with the other children, preferring to seek refuge in the tranquility of his reading corner. An old book often rested on his lap. Yet, despite his apparent indifference, his golden eyes scanned the words with intense concentration, as if seeking to uncover the mysteries buried between the lines.

On that day, as the golden rays of summer sun flooded the garden, Lee Min-Ho was absorbed in a book on contemporary history. Although his face remained impassive, revealing no true joy, he seemed embittered by life despite his young age, which seemed paradoxical.

Yet, behind this austere appearance, lay a boy whose destiny was far more complex than it seemed. Lee Min-Ho harbored a secret that he guarded jealously, something hidden in the darkest corners of his being.

In his past life, Lee Min-Ho was a renowned mage, the head of the Faust Family, a very ancient mage family. Among his peers, he was known as the most talented of his generation under the name Julius Eltram Faust.

However, he was forced to resort to a ritual to transmigrate his soul to another world, and thus he ended up reincarnating into a newborn. Although he had the chance to be born into one of the most powerful and influential families in Korea, with many connections and lacking nothing, he detested this new world with all his being.

This new world represented everything he had fought against in his previous life. While similar in their history, this one was about 200 years older than his original world. Whereas in his world, he had triggered a purge that exterminated 90% of the human population to prevent the development of sciences and the expansion of human civilization worldwide, in this one, these two things had no restraint.

And this had the effect of making the mystery and mana of this world extremely thin compared to the world he came from. He had difficulty fully opening his magical circuit, as he had been doing this for four years already and had managed to open about 95 percent of his circuit when it would have taken him only one or two months to fully open it in the past. Fortunately for him, he possessed two thaumaturgic keys that produced their own magical energy, greatly accelerating the process. Normally, he should finish opening it completely in the following days and would be able to use magic again. Fortunately for him, supernatural talents resided in the soul and not in the body, so he had the same talents as in his past life and had already been able to reactivate his Mystic Eyes.

In addition to despising civilization, he despised their common morality system, where everyone is supposed to be equal, which was a nameless hypocrisy. Among mages, only skills mattered. If someone wasn't a mage, they were hardly better than an animal, although the idea of exterminating them for pleasure was not considered a crime. Hunting them or using them as magical ingredients, within reason, was a common practice. For mages, outside of prohibitions, only results mattered.

This society, where even useless beings had their place, disgusted him to the highest degree. Fortunately for him, he had landed in a country where morality, which was omnipresent in this world, was not the norm. In this country, three things prevailed: beauty, money, and competence. Those who held power were the rich, who ran large companies with influence, power, and authority over ordinary people. Next came their subordinates, who managed their slaves. They were often highly skilled individuals recruited for their talent and studies, managing a part of their business for the wealthy. Finally, there were the employees, who worked day and night to make the rich even richer, while earning next to nothing. At the bottom of the social ladder were useless people, such as the unemployed, ugly people, and obese people who were despised both by the slaves and the rich. In essence, this society was very close to what the mages did, prioritizing pedigree and talent above all else.

As he turned another page of the book, a small voice interrupted him. "What are you reading?" He knew her quite well, as there was only one child who came to bother him every time he was alone. It was Park Eun Ha, a girl of the same age as him, who was 5 years old.

Despite her young age, all the other boys were already at her feet, and he had no doubt she would be very beautiful in the future. What set her apart from the other children was her authoritarian side; she could get anything she wanted with her caprices.

Although he was hardly interested in stories about kindergarten, his curiosity and boredom overcame everything else. He had heard that this girl's brother was rather unruly and belligerent, dominating most younger children and leading some sort of group. Now that he was in elementary school, he had charged all his "subordinates" with looking after his sister. This probably explained why she seemed to be pampered, everyone bending to her slightest desires, which must have shaped her authoritarian character.

However, every time she came to see him, the girl seemed to lose all her character and she started blushing when talking to him, in addition to losing all her composure. Lee Min-Ho wasn't stupid enough not to realize what she had. She clearly had a crush on him, but he wasn't interested in children, so he deliberately acted as dense as possible.

While Park Eun-Ha timidly approached Lee Min-Ho, hoping to elicit even a hint of interest from him, she was met with his usual coldness. Min-Ho barely lifted his eyes from his book, his impassive features showing no signs of emotion.

For Park Eun-Ha, it was the first time she failed to get something she wanted, yet despite this, she couldn't bring herself to be angry with him. No matter what he did, Lee Min-Ho made her heart race.

"What are you reading?" she repeated in a soft voice, trying to break through Min-Ho's wall of silence.

He muttered a vague response, not really stopping to pay her any attention. Despite her obvious disappointment, Park Eun-Ha wasn't easily discouraged. She sat beside him, clinging to the hope of breaking down the barrier Lee Min-Ho had built around himself.

"You should come play with us, you know. There's a new swing, it's super cool!" she tried once more, her voice filled with youthful innocence.

Lee Min-Ho didn't respond immediately, seeming lost in thought. He eventually closed his book and turned his gaze towards the girl. The only reason he didn't behave like a complete jerk to try to push her away was because he considered taking her as a student one day. Despite not being able to use magic yet, he already had access to his Mystic Eyes, and through them, he had seen that the girl possessed a very good quality magical circuit, something that the majority of people he had observed didn't even have. She had good qualities to be a mage, especially in terms of her personality. Pride, authority, perseverance were among the qualities expected of a high-ranking mage, which would benefit him.

To reward her perseverance, he decided to socialize a bit. It would be beneficial if he were to create a supernatural organization in this world. It was advantageous for him to practice interacting with ordinary humans; it would be beneficial for him in the future, and it was a new domain for him.

Closing the book, Lee Min-Ho turned to Eun-Ha. "It's a book about the history of the world."

Park Eun-Ha, visibly delighted with the response, moved a little closer to Lee Min-Ho, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "The history of the world? That sounds interesting?! Could you tell me what you've learned?" she asked with palpable enthusiasm.

Lee Min-Ho, taken aback by the girl's sudden enthusiasm, hesitated for a moment due to his old mage reflexes. Mages were not accustomed to sharing their knowledge with others outside of their family, but something about Eun-Ha's attitude made him reconsider his position. Perhaps this interaction could benefit him in the long run. It was the first time he had really spoken with ordinary humans apart from his new parents. Maybe it would help him better adapt to this world in the future and evade hiding.

"I suppose I could give you a brief summary," he finally responded, his tone still neutral.

He began to speak about the history of ancient civilizations, the wars that had shaped the modern world, and the great figures who had left their mark on their era. Despite his apparent indifference, it was evident that he had a deep knowledge of the subject, his words flowing with impressive fluency.

Park Eun-Ha listened attentively, her eyes shining with admiration for the boy who was sharing his knowledge with her. She asked questions from time to time, showing a genuine interest in what he was saying.

And so, Lee Min-Ho and Park Eun-Ha continued to discuss. "And that's how Korea almost got divided because of the war," Ha-joo finished speaking as the sun slowly set on the horizon, indicating that it was time to head home.