Chapter 2: In the World of Witches, Let’s Just Toss ‘Common Sense’ in the Trash for Now~

“Forced to Stop Being Human”

When Jiang Cha landed flawlessly with a perfect gymnastics move, not even bending her knees to cushion the fall, this phrase popped into her mind.

But, well, it wasn’t so bad.

This feeling of being all-powerful.

“Could you please give me a quick explanation of the current situation, senior…?”

From the brief conversation between Sinan and Helen earlier, Jiang Cha had already gathered quite a bit of information.

First of all, the term “junior” in her common sense should only be used by upperclassmen to refer to lowerclassmen girls in a school setting, so it could be inferred that this place was some kind of school.

Since it’s a school, although she still couldn’t be completely sure, the two people she met so far were likely assistants or teaching aides, responsible for guiding new students.

‘If they’re useful, I’ll squeeze every bit of value out of them.’

Feeling no problem with her thought, Jiang Cha turned to Sinan with a sweet and cute smile and asked gently.

From the behavior of the woman named Helen, Jiang Cha deduced that her own appearance must be pretty good, so naturally she wanted to make use of that—that seemed like an instinct of the body, but it was useful, so Jiang Cha had no intention of deleting it from her subconscious.

“Ah~~ It’s a bit complicated to explain, so let’s save time and chat as we walk,”

Sinan’s fair face blushed slightly, shyly turning around to help up the security door she had just kicked the lock off of. On the other side of the door was a delicate little footprint right in the middle.

‘What kind of super-strong girl is this…’

Jiang Cha glanced at the footprint, then looked straight ahead and pretended not to see it.

“Anyway, welcome to Aisrun Witch Academy, Jiang Cha junior,”

Sinan walked out on her own, and Jiang Cha hurried to follow, nodding slightly with a warm and humble smile still on her lips.

Though Sinan didn’t look at her, in this surreal world, who knew if the senior in front of her had eyes on the back of her head? It was better to pay attention to such little details.

—Jiang Cha herself could collect information from all directions with zero blind spots.

“I don’t know your background either, so don’t ask me about that. Later you can ask your mentor or search the academy’s database yourself.”

“My name is Qu Sinan, I’m from the Flower Country, and I’m your senior by five years.”

Qu Sinan’s explanation was messy, clearly not used to this role of guiding newcomers, speaking as thoughts came.

But for Jiang Cha, whose information organizing ability had become extremely strong after waking up, this was no problem at all. She could easily analyze useful information and store it in the newly built memory attic.

Witch Academy, established on May 21, 1978, founded by the first-generation Great Witch Merin, and has developed until now.

Its goal is to train combat witch squads capable of handling disasters, as well as to house witches.

Although Jiang Cha was curious about what exactly the word “disaster” referred to, Qu Sinan did not explain in detail, so Jiang Cha did not ask hastily. She silently kept the question in her mind, knowing she would learn about it in class later.

“Now, I’m going to take you to the academy’s testing facility. It basically tests what your innate magic is and measures your magical power to decide which class you’ll be assigned to.”

Walking along a fully transparent glass corridor, Qu Sinan said slowly.

“Innate magic? Can witches only learn one type of magic?”

Jiang Cha asked curiously.

“Not exactly. Witches can learn many magics, but they basically learn them to assist their innate magic. For example, my innate magic is body enhancement, so I learn some ranged attack magics and various support magics.”

Qu Sinan shook her head.

“The mana efficiency of innate magic far exceeds ordinary magic. According to the research department, innate magic’s mana efficiency ranges from 80% to 98%, while the best ordinary magic can only reach about 50%, nearly double the difference.”

Mana efficiency—Jiang Cha silently noted this term in her mind.

As for the importance of innate magic, it needed no further explanation; that efficiency difference alone was enough.

Even a complete layperson like Jiang Cha could figure it out.

“Alright, let’s go take the test.”

Qu Sinan pushed open an ancient door adorned with intricate patterns emitting a faint blue glow and walked straight inside.

Jiang Cha hurried to follow. A sudden sense of weightlessness came over her as she entered a completely different environment from reality. Jiang Cha’s brain instantly maxed out information collection, nearly causing her to lose consciousness.

Fortunately, the teleportation lasted less than a second, and Jiang Cha felt like she hadn’t even gathered much information before the strange space spat her out. Her brain momentarily felt dizzy but quickly recovered.

“Looks like your adaptability to space is pretty good, junior. At least you don’t have to worry about teleportation sickness.”

Qu Sinan seemed completely unaffected and smiled as she spoke.

“It doesn’t feel very comfortable,” Jiang Cha shook her head, shaking off the last bit of dizziness before she had the mood to examine the so-called testing research institute.

Hmm!?

“Senior, can I ask what year it is now?”

Jiang Cha paused slightly and sighed helplessly.

“May 30, 2121.”

Qu Sinan looked at Jiang Cha strangely but then suddenly understood after recalling her junior’s amnesia.

“…”

Jiang Cha’s common sense told her that “yesterday” should have been May 29, 2021.

‘Looks like the correctness of my common sense is questionable.’

Putting aside the fact that she had just jumped ahead a full hundred years—she was currently incapable of exploring that answer. Extra thinking was just a waste of time.

She could only focus again on the science-fiction-flavored “Magic Research Institute.”

Yes, “Magic Research Institute”—what a magical realism kind of name. According to Jiang Cha’s common sense, this almost trampled on materialist worldview, and was the kind of insult you’d use as toilet paper.

But after personally experiencing the wonders of magic, Jiang Cha no longer found it strange.

After all, “material” in materialism refers to objective reality, and since magic existed in reality, it naturally fell within the scope of materialism.

The research institute was not very cyberpunk, though. Jiang Cha’s common sense told her that magic potions and magic circles typically associated with witches didn’t exist here at all. Instead, there were rows of silver-white machines emitting blue light, precise test tubes and measuring cups.

A young woman in a white lab coat was busy inside, boiling pieces of green plants emitting a blue magical aura in a beaker.

‘That must be magical plants?’

“Morin! You’re slacking off and drinking tea again!”

“Oh~ My dear Sinan, I swear I’m not slacking, it’s lunch break now, you know, lunch break.”

‘Alright then~’

Jiang Cha had already tossed her ‘common sense’ files into the trash in her memory attic.