I Refuse To Be A Mage - Chapter 1

“Ji Chi—— wake up! We’re going to be late for the entrance ceremony!” Evan bent down, gripping Ji Chi’s thin shoulders and shaking him desperately. A tuft of golden hair on his head swayed with the frequency of his shaking, revealing his anxious state of mind.

After shaking for only a few seconds, Evan collapsed onto the edge of Ji Chi’s bed, exhausted. He panted heavily, his equally thin hands resting on his knees as he frowned at his motionless roommate.

His sky-blue, crystal-clear eyes were filled with worry.

How can he be so carefree? If he fails another grade, he’ll be expelled… Doesn’t this guy fear remaining a commoner for life?

Evan thought of the dazed looks of commoners on the streets and their predictably bleak futures, and couldn’t help but shudder.

He had also entered the Magic Academy as a commoner, so he understood better than anyone the malice this era held toward commoners–endless labor, wages so meager they couldn’t even fill one’s stomach, and human rights and dignity that were practically nonexistent.

They were barely different from slaves, missing only a contract.

Evan’s face showed pity at this thought.

He was among the most fortunate of commoners. He had discovered his talent for light magic early and had spent his childhood assisting the town priest in distributing religious teachings to commoners. Though it wasn’t a life of luxury, compared to the miserable commoners he had encountered, it was already heavenly.

So, when he received his admission letter upon turning sixteen, Evan swore to the God of Light that he would study his light magic diligently and hopefully become a respected archbishop someday, helping commoners escape their muddy existence…

Evan became lost in fantasies of being surrounded by countless believers, occasionally letting out foolish laughter while his unruly tuft of hair trembled along.

He was clearly a child with extremely high talent for light magic–even his brain had been completely washed clean by the church.

Ji Chi awakened to this brainwashing-like foolish laughter. He slowly opened his eyes, his vacant gaze falling upon the brown-gray stone ceiling of the room.

There were no snow-white walls, no warm yellow light strips, and no endless beeping sounds from heart monitors.

Ah, I’m still in this world.

“Ji Chi! You’re finally awake! Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” Evan snapped out of his fantasy and rushed to Ji Chi’s face, chattering non-stop.

“Evan? Sorry I overslept… you go ahead first, I’ll come after I get ready.” Ji Chi closed his eyes briefly, his voice carrying a detached calmness that suggested indifference to worldly matters–or perhaps the attitude of an old hand.

He sounded very much like a repeat student.

Evan was extremely anxious at this moment, and only someone with his kind of compassionate and warm-hearted nature, cultivated in the church, would think to stay behind and help Ji Chi.

Had it been any other more selfish student, they would have abandoned this unmotivated underachiever of a roommate and left on their own.

Evan stretched out his arm and quickly grabbed the academy robe from the bedside, placing it on Ji Chi’s stomach. “What else do you need to prepare? I’ll get it for you.”

“…No need, you go first, or you’ll be late.” Ji Chi remained unmoved.

Unable to persuade him, Evan stood up from beside the bed, lovingly smoothing out the tiny wrinkles on the academy robe, and looked back with concern. “Then hurry up… Our class instructor is Professor Joseph, and I heard he’s the most terrifying when angry.”

Ji Chi still showed no urgency, lying on the bed like a salted fish. Upon hearing this, he only hummed lightly in acknowledgment.

Seeing him like this, Evan finally gave up nagging. He sighed deeply, pushed open the door, and hurried toward the auditorium.

Only after the heavy wooden door closed with a bang did Ji Chi slowly move his arms.

It wasn’t that he was too lazy; this was simply a habit he had maintained for over twenty years–he had to lie in bed for a full five minutes after waking before moving his body.

Even though he now had a perfectly healthy body, habits formed over many years couldn’t be easily abandoned.

Ji Chi placed his palm over his left chest, feeling the steady and strong heartbeat. His dark eyes gazed in an unknown direction as he asked softly, “Yuan Yuan, on the second day of being transported into the game, can I still go back?”

Upon hearing the call, just like in the holographic game, a glowing blue cube appeared beside Ji Chi’s head, floating up and down while flickering. This was an intelligent AI created by Demon Sword **. Each profession had its own color, and the mage’s AI was crystal blue. (TL: raw text 魔剑□□=Demon Sword **)

He just didn’t understand why a cube would be named Yuan Yuan…

[Yuan Yuan doesn’t understand what you’re saying. Do you need me to relay your question to the development team?] The familiar soft, cute voice echoed in Ji Chi’s mind, bringing some comfort to his somewhat downcast mood.

Ji Chi slowly propped himself up. “Relay it.”

[The development team has received your question. Please wait patiently for a response~]

Ji Chi picked up the neatly folded mage robe from his stomach and thought for a moment. “If I can’t go back, then so be it. Nobody cares anyway, right?”

[Yuan Yuan doesn’t understand what you’re saying. Do you need me to relay your question to the development team?]

“…Relay it.” Ji Chi slipped his arms into the black long sleeves, unable to help complaining. “Did you all run out of budget when creating the game’s AI?”

[Yuan Yuan doesn’t understand…]

“Shut up.”

[Alright then. Please call Yuan Yuan promptly if you have any questions~]

Ji Chi slowly rolled his eyes and stood up from beside the bed.

The black mage robe cascaded down his body. On the smooth, soft fabric, a bright silver academy badge was pinned at the chest. The badge was shaped like an open magic book, with faint light occasionally flickering across it.

This wasn’t just a badge; it was also a small magic circle that could identify every Magic Academy student and provide some magic power enhancement.

[Magic Academy Student Robe]

Quality: [Excellent]

Effect: [Magic Power +10]

It was a green-quality item with the simple effect of adding some mana. For a newbie with nothing, this was considered top-tier equipment, but in Ji Chi’s eyes, it was completely inadequate.

He opened the game interface that had traveled with him through the dimension, just like in the holographic game. The opened interface appeared semi-transparently in the middle of his vision, displaying magnificently impressive data.

Player [Not Chicken Wings]

Race [Human]

Class [Mage]

Level [lv. 99]

Health [10000/10000]

Magic Power [10000 (+10)/10000]

These were just basic attributes. The densely packed evasion values, damage values, critical hit values, and other stats beside them were enough for him to dominate the entire continent with basic attacks alone.

If these numbers could only inspire awe in other players, then the inventory beside it was something that would drive everyone crazy. The massive 300-slot inventory with unlimited stacking, unlocked with millions of gold coins, was packed full of orange equipment, orange weapons, potions, and scrolls, encompassing the top-tier gear of all professions.

Ji Chi’s gaze swept over these items, his brow relaxing as his pale, gaunt face finally showed a hint of a smile.

But as he continued browsing through the interface, this smile quickly froze.

“Yuan Yuan, why are all my skills locked?” Ji Chi pointed at the large gray area in his skill list, expressionlessly summoning the customer service Yuan Yuan again.

As if sensing his resentment, Yuan Yuan’s tone suddenly became cautious and ingratiating: [Dear customer, skills for non-player races and professions require completing hidden quests to obtain…]

“Didn’t I already complete those quests?” Ji Chi asked word by word.

Back then, to rebel against his “destiny” as a mage, he had spent enormous amounts of time and effort uncovering and completing every hidden quest across the entire Demon Sword Continent, gradually grinding all the other professions’ skills that dropped to maximum level.

Now being told he was suddenly back to square one, even someone as calm as Ji Chi wanted to find something to beat up.

The heavy killing intent made Yuan Yuan’s tone even more careful: [After data detection, the player has not triggered any hidden quests… Do you need me to report this bug to the development team?]

Damn it! The development team is just an excuse to pass the buck, isn’t it?

A vein throbbed on Ji Chi’s forehead as he desperately pressed his left chest to calm himself down.

His face darkened as he scanned the skill page, finally discovering some clues.

Logically, skills that hadn’t been obtained wouldn’t appear on the page, and even after completing hidden quests, these skills would only be at their initial level.

But now, from those gray images, he could see that his locked skills were all at the maximum level he had achieved before transmigrating.

In other words, he had transmigrated to a world where all quests remained untriggered. Conversely, as long as he completed those hidden storylines, he could immediately unlock maxed-out skills without needing to grind again.

After sorting out the logic, Ji Chi finally suppressed the murderous intent in his heart.

Not bad, not bad….my ass!! There were so many hidden quests across the entire continent! He had already forgotten most of them! Plus…

Ji Chi thought of how frantically he used to press skip, and desperately wanted to bang his head against the wall–this is what you get for not playing the game seriously! This is what you get for liking to skip storylines!

Today’s disregard for the development team’s carefully crafted storylines would indeed have to be repaid with blood and tears tomorrow.

[Does the player have any other feedback?] The shining cube fawningly nuzzled against Ji Chi’s cheek.

“You may withdraw.” Ji Chi swallowed his mouthful of blood and tears, closed his eyes, and resumed his unruffled appearance. He equipped several orange-quality clothing items under his robe, stacking his defense to forty or fifty thousand, and after confirming he could survive until the end of time, reluctantly accepted reality.

At least I wasn’t formatted back to initial data, Ji Chi thought, finding consolation in his misfortune.

“Dong dong dong——” Deep bell tolls rang throughout the Magic Academy, reminding every little mage that the opening ceremony was about to begin.