Chapter 01 …

The Graduate Student Is the Final Boss?

When does a person feel they have become the most successful?

When they’re drinking aged whiskey to their heart’s content while gazing out at the city skyline beyond a wide-open window as the sun sets?

Or when they’ve risen through the ranks so quickly that they become the target of their colleagues’ envy and jealousy?

Or perhaps when they become the most famous person among everyone who shares their name?

All of those could apply, but at this moment, I could confidently say:

This was that moment.

“Finally, up until now, we believed that mana flows according to fixed laws. However, through this research, we have discovered that the flow of mana is capable of distorting space-time.”

Standing at the podium of the research presentation, I slowly swept my gaze across the audience.

Countless eyes filled with respect and awe were focused on me.

“Of course, I cannot yet claim that the theory is perfect. Twisting the flow of mana may unexpectedly cause spatial collapse, and there are side effects—if you can call them that…”

Ahem.

I paused briefly and took a steady breath.

“Nevertheless, I am certain that this research will become a milestone in the future development of magitech engineering.”

With a faint smile, I brought my speech to a close.

“That is all. I am the mage Adele Catherine.”

Clap clap clap clap!

Thunderous applause filled the auditorium.

As soon as I stepped down from the stage after my final bow, exactly as expected, countless reporters rushed toward me.

“Mage Adele! Your presentation was absolutely astonishing. Could you spare us a few words?”

“Professor, today’s research is being praised as presenting a new paradigm for magical theory. How do you feel about that?”

“How does it feel to have become the youngest professor in history?”

Naturally, an endless stream of requests for interviews and handshakes came my way.

Just as I had prepared, I offered a light smile and raised a hand.

“I’ll be conducting interviews at a later date. Thank you for your understanding.”

The rest would be handled by my junior colleagues.

Savoring the feeling of being a successful mage, I leisurely left the hall.

I somehow became way too famous.

That’s right.

As of today, I was the most capable mage in the Magic Tower.

This talent is terrifying…

Having successfully completed the research presentation, I had officially become the most famous Adele among all Adeles.

…

That was the dream I was having when someone shook me awake.

Who dares interrupt the sweet dream of a successful mage?

“What?”

Opening my eyes groggily, I found Isabella, already prepared to leave work, looking down at me.

Seeing that I was still wandering somewhere between dream and reality, she quietly whispered:

“Adele, the sun’s already up… I’m heading home first. You should go back to your room and at least get a little sleep.”

“…?”

Only then did the cold reality gradually sink into my skin.

The air thick with dust.

The burnt smell that had permeated the room from endless experiments.

And the ceaseless hum of the mana synchronizer that refused to stop running.

And me—Adele, magic research student number one—dozing off face-down at my desk.

It was a dream. A ridiculous dream at that.

Everyone else had apparently already gone home.

I was alone in the laboratory.

This won’t do. I should get some proper rest in my room today…

When you spend all day doing research, you end up dreaming about being stuck in the lab or giving presentations even in your sleep.

Still, this dream hadn’t been bad.

It’d be nice if it were prophetic…

Since I had plenty to do tomorrow as well, I began tidying up and preparing to leave.

The desk was a complete mess, covered with research materials and letters.

More than half of them were replies from nobles whom I had asked for research funding.

Most were undoubtedly carefully worded rejections, so among them I only took the letter addressed to me from Adolf.

Just as I was about to finish packing up—

My eyes suddenly met the piece of research equipment that had led me to success in my dream.

“You worked hard too.”

Of course, there was no way this pile of scrap metal had suffered as much as I had, but still.

When you’re striving for success, you can even feel grateful toward inanimate objects.

So, take care of me.

Feeling oddly sentimental, I ran a hand across the surface of the mana synchronizer.

Swipe, swipe.

And then—

Bzzzt!

An intense surge of mana swept through my entire body from the tips of my fingers.

“Wh… wha…?”

My voice crackled out like a broken machine.

Suddenly, the world lurched and spun.

Everything began moving in slow motion.

At the same time, countless memories flashed through my mind.

Memories extending beyond the years I had lived.

Scenes that seemed unfamiliar yet somehow were not unfamiliar at all.

They were my memories.

More precisely, the memories of my previous life.

So… I really was reincarnated?

I was personally proving that my research had never been wrong.

A soul that had entered another timeline due to distorted mana?

Shouldn’t I add this to my thesis?

No, wait.

There was something far more important.

Among those flowing memories was a novel I had once read while lying in my room.

Its title:

<The Young Master Doesn’t Want to Stop the World’s Destruction>.

The beginning had been incredibly exciting.

After all, it had surpassed one thousand chapters and even reached the number one spot among male-oriented fantasy novels.

But in the end, the work couldn’t escape criticism for having a strong beginning and a disappointing ending.

And that ending…

ProfessorProfessorType: Why kill him? I don’t even know if the author loves this work; what a waste of money.

It was the very first comment I had ever left online in my life, posted immediately after reading the final chapter.

That’s how absurd it had been.

The identity of the final boss turned out to be an utterly ridiculous character.

And after all that effort, the protagonist who had regressed failed to stop either the final boss or the destruction of the world—and died.

Was the author insane?

Didn’t they want to make money?

Were they deliberately deceiving the readers?

In a fit of frustration, I had left an unusually irritated comment.

And it wasn’t just me.

Countless readers exploded in anger, saying all the time they’d invested had been wasted.

That day, I had just been thoroughly chewed out by my professor and was leaving the laboratory.

I let out a sigh and looked up from my phone.

And at that exact moment—

HOOOOONK—!

CRASH!

A horrifying horn.

Blinding headlights.

“Gasp…!”

I shuddered as I remembered the moment I had been hit by the truck.

Only then did I realize it.

“…This is bad.”

I was the very final boss who appeared in <The Young Master Doesn’t Want to Stop the World’s Destruction>.

And even worse—

There was only about one year left before I awakened as the final boss and destroyed the world.

* * *

I was my professor’s dog—

No.

I was a graduate student.

Which meant it was normal for me to arrive at work earlier than construction workers and leave later than small business owners.

Of course, it hadn’t always been like this.

My previous life’s existence had completely fallen apart when my professor began preparing papers for an academic conference.

From that moment onward, my human rights were destroyed.

The only thing left was the title of laboratory slave.

Sleeping in the lab was standard practice.

Even when I went home, I’d collapse unconscious, only to be dragged back out by the sound of my alarm and rush straight to the lab again.

I’d lived that way for two years.

Sometimes I wondered if I was going to die from overwork.

But fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—

I got hit by a truck and reincarnated instead.

‘But how is it that even after reincarnating, I’m still my professor’s lackey?’