How to Live as a Genius Scholar in another World

Chapter 4 – How to Live Like a Master’s Degree Holder (3)

—–CROW—– 

“…Sigh. Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

Dana, who had been silently staring at the ceiling, asked with a troubled expression.

“Someone like you could get a doctorate no problem. You could stay here, succeed spectacularly, and give Yernara a taste of her own medicine.”

Her continued persuasion made me waver a little.

Dana’s concern wasn’t solely based on the increased workload she’d have after I left. She was probably also worried about her friend of three years possibly dying.

But this was the time for me to be stubborn.

“A doctorate. I could get one.”

“What?”

“But how many years would it take? Seven? Eight? Even at the fastest, it would take at least six.”

It takes two years just to go from a bronze-ranked master’s to a silver-ranked one. I would need at least six years to get a doctorate.

“No, six years is actually the shortest estimate. Normally, it takes at least eight years or more.”

Even the most brilliant scholars can’t constantly produce papers overflowing with creativity.

Usually, scholars keep digging into questions that arise during their research, and then, at some point, they have an “Oh, shit?” moment and piece together a paper from what they’ve discovered.

And the paper that Yernara stole was the culmination of all the “Oh, shit?” moments I had gathered while assisting her research for three years.

The fruits of three years of labor were snatched away by a backstabbing elf. Now, it wouldn’t be surprising if it took more than eight years to get a doctorate.

“A total of ten years for a doctorate is too long. But the time it takes to become a field archaeologist depends on the results, so it can be much shorter.”

If I planned to spend my life here, I would never have considered becoming a field archaeologist.

It’s not like I could live on passion alone while waiting to get a doctorate after a master’s. I would have stayed at the university because they would keep paying me a salary.

But my goal wasn’t to live in this world.

I was going to find a way to return to Earth someday.

My current title and degree were just a stepping stone toward that goal. My translation ability might be useful, but a foreign language certification and experience in this world would be fucking useless back on Earth.

“Have I told you before? My dream is to someday research technology from ruins under my own ownership.”

“Yeah. I think I’ve heard you mention it once or twice.”

Dana nodded. I had often told this story to her and Yernara since my slave days.

In this world, the owner of the land where a ruin or dungeon is found cannot claim ownership of the items obtained from it.

Even if a ruin was discovered in my front yard, I couldn’t demand that others hand over the things they found there because they were mine. Even the state couldn’t take away the artifacts or money excavated by adventurers.

In other words, if I obtained technology or artifacts from an ancient civilization in some ruin, they would be entirely my own.

“To be precise, you said you were looking for a legacy related to spatial movement?”

“You remembered. That’s right, spatial movement.”

To be exact, it was dimensional movement, but since it was the same thing, I had been saying it like that in public. I didn’t want to give a suspicious impression by mentioning dimensional movement.

The technological level of ancient civilizations was much higher than that of the present.

I could be sure of that because I had often come across historical records of the past.

Unlike the present, where teleportation was the exclusive domain of a few exceptional mages, there were records of devices or structures similar to warp gates in the past.

There was a good chance that the technology or tools I needed to return to Earth were buried in some ruin.

“It’s hard to get involved in national projects with just a master’s degree. And I don’t have enough money to form a team and conduct independent research, and it could take years to get permission for a personal expedition.”

Even if I could get a doctorate in six years, adding the past three and a half years, it would be fucking ten years.

Wow! Ten years wasted in another world! Five times the length of military service!

Moreover, even if I wasted ten years obtaining a degree, I would only be at the starting line of the process of returning home. It could take another ten years each to obtain a degree, find a ruin, and conduct research.

A total of 20 to 30 years.

At that rate, I would be in my 50s when I returned home. I didn’t want to return to Earth only to die of old age while working part-time jobs when others were considering retirement.

“So, to save time, I have to do both at the same time. While searching for a ruin that will help me achieve my goal, I’ll also aim for a doctorate by submitting artifacts or writing papers.”

“…Are you in that much of a hurry? Even if you do it your way, it’s not like you’ll get results in a day or two.”

Dana muttered, unable to understand.

To others, it would seem like I was being chased by time. I couldn’t deny it because it was true.

“It’s more about efficiency than being in a hurry. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on being reckless.”

I wasn’t planning on rushing into some extremely dangerous ruin as soon as I became an adventurer. I wasn’t going to do something stupid that would get me killed at the promising age of 28 just to save ten years.

I planned to slowly gain strength while working as an adventurer and take my time to carry out my plan.

“Ah. Now that I think about it, there’s another reason.”

“What is it now?”

“It’s simple. To survive during or after my research, I need the strength to protect myself.”

Let’s say there was a scientist with technology that could render existing missiles useless.

That scientist could cooperate with an enemy country and turn our country’s missiles into outdated, useless fireworks, or they could misuse the technology and cause great harm to the international community.

Even in 21st-century Earth, in such a situation, there would inevitably be forces that would try to either win over or kill that scientist.

It was the same in this uncivilized world.

It was clear that the moment I finished my research and shouted, “Yahoo! I’m going home now!” a graduate student I had been using would stab me in the back and steal my research.

“Even if I have backing, there are some backstabs you can’t prevent. I can’t have my paper stolen twice.”

“Sigh… I can’t deny that, that’s for sure.”

Dana didn’t seem to think my idea was an overreaction either.

Even if I had the backing of someone as powerful as a royal, it would still be dangerous.

When the danger of my research being exposed outweighed the danger of antagonizing my backer, I would become a target for assassins aiming for my back.

“In the end, becoming a field archaeologist is beneficial for my survival, my goal, everything.”

I didn’t think I wouldn’t be able to return to Earth. It would take time, but there was definitely a way.

Earth and this world were a two-way street.

‘I’m not sure, but there’s evidence.’

Vikings. Valhalla. Odin. Thor. Loki.

Don’t these names sound familiar? Not from Marvel movies.

That’s right. Norse mythology.

In this world, there were many anecdotes about gods and divine beings with names that I had heard on Earth.

It wasn’t that my translation ability was translating the names of the gods of this world like that. The pronunciation and detailed concepts were completely identical.

This was proof that there was a way to go from this world to Earth.

It was proof that people from this world spread the mythology of this world to the Germanic people of Earth thousands of years ago.

Otherwise, it would be like the gods of this world─

(Otherworld God A: “Fuck, this otherworlder’s story is so interesting.”)

(Otherworld God B: “God of thunder? That’s cool! I’ll be Thor!”)

(Otherworld God C: “Freya, goddess of beauty? That’s me, right?”)

…were doing something like that.

It didn’t make sense that the gods renamed themselves after hearing stories from a former Earthling. This hypothesis was too weak.

‘Besides, the history of humanity on this side is longer than ours.’

So, it made more sense that otherworlders who went to Earth spread the mythology of this world to Earth, where the mythological system wasn’t properly established yet.

Also, there must be a way to go from Earth to this world.

Although it wasn’t intentional, I was living proof of that.

If there was no way for Earthlings to come to this world, it wouldn’t make sense for me to be here.

“No matter how hard it is, I have no choice. If I have to do it, I have to do it.”

I didn’t know if dimensional movement was a random natural phenomenon or a reproducible technology with proper laws.

But at least the two-way movement between Earth and this world was definitely not a dream.

My mother and father were waiting for me back on Earth.

So, I couldn’t just laze around in this world forever. Whether I could go back or not, finding that method was something I had to do in this world.

“…Sigh. Okay. I guess it’s no use trying to persuade you anymore.”

After listening to me, Dana sighed and ordered more beer.

In this world, beer was served in huge mugs that held 2000cc as a standard.

The fact that she ordered more beer was proof of how tired she was. I felt bad about that.

“I’m sorry. As you said, you’ll have more work after I leave, and I’ve just given you something else to worry about.”

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s better than you leaving without saying anything.”

Dana took a swig of the beer that the bar owner’s daughter brought and gave me a dull rebuke.

“It’s not like you’re incapable, and you should dream big when you think you can do it. Honestly, to someone like me who’s just wasting time at university, you seem amazing.”

“Why are you saying that? If you said that getting a doctorate at Carmine University was a waste of time, you’d get beaten to death by failed undergraduates before you got home today.”

“Haha. If that happens, I’ll just use you as bait and run away.”

“Sorry. This bodyguard only works for the price of a drink.”

“Really? Then have another. You have to drink enough to cover the price of your life.”

“Haha. Look how smart you are. So logical.”

I got half of the 2000cc beer mug.

How many glasses of beer had I drunk today? I drank two earlier, so that’s 4000cc. Adding this one, it would be 5000cc.

Roughly five or six bottles of beer?

“A hangover is guaranteed for tomorrow.”

The cheaper the alcohol, the worse the hangover.

I should buy some herbs for a hangover cure so I don’t get a headache.

***

A week after I told Dana I was going to become an adventurer.

I went to a university professor’s office with an application for a field archaeologist position.

“I didn’t know you were interested in excavating ruins.”

Professor Brammaton, a linguist, said as he looked at the application I brought.

“Yes. I’ve only recently become interested.”

Professor Brammaton nodded thoughtfully at my answer.

He was a professor with the kind of appearance you’d imagine if you asked a gym rat to picture a Greek philosopher who could deadlift 1000 pounds in the powerlifting’s big 3.

He was also a linguist who doubled as a Gold-class adventurer.

Rumor had it that he was a person who smashed his way through all sorts of ruins and dungeons with his muscular limbs in search of languages used in ancient civilizations.

Since Yernara had run off, the archaeology department was without a thesis advisor, so I had no choice but to come to him, a professor from a related department, to submit my application.

“If I had known you were planning to go in that direction, I would have trained you much more rigorously. It’s a shame.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Indeed.”

‘Don’t talk shit. If I had received one-on-one personal training from you, Professor, I would have died of overwork before escaping slavery.’

I replied inwardly to Professor Brammaton’s terrifying words.

Carmine University, under the bullshit philosophy of ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body,’ forced its research students and slaves to do morning runs and physical training every day.

Because they had to get results in a short amount of time due to time constraints, it was even harder than the military.

It was obvious that it was unfair that professors weren’t forced to do it, and the person in charge of this physical training was Professor Brammaton.

But research student slaves had to work three all-nighters as a basic option when work came in. So how could they possibly meet his standards of exercise? Was he trying to kill someone?

“Well, the basic strength training I do every day is enough for me.”

It was called basic strength training, but based on my experience, the word “basic” was a complete lie.

A full-body muscle torture course that squeezed every last drop out of you in just two hours was considered basic training!

If that was basic, then I wondered if advanced training involved crushing iron with your grip. I wouldn’t put it past that professor.

“There’s a big difference between having someone guide your training and not. Keep that in mind, and don’t skip your training even while you’re working as an adventurer.”

“Yes. Of course. Since it’s training that contains Professor Brammaton’s philosophy, it will surely be a great help in my future endeavors.”

It was training that turned me from a skinny guy into an otherworldly macho man in just three years. It was fucking hard to do, but I had to admit its effectiveness.

Although, I never imagined that I would actually experience the gym rat counting method that I had only heard about and laughed at on the internet.

19 is followed by 20, not one more, dammit. He’s supposed to be from the liberal arts department, but he can’t even count.

“Yes. It should be enough to start from the Iron class.”

Professor Brammaton, who had become serious again, stamped the field archaeologist certificate I brought with a thud.

I stuffed the paper into my pocket with a serious expression, trying to suppress the urge to grin.

That was it.

This allowed me to maintain my degree while living as an adventurer.

And I would even receive a regular salary and research funds!

—–CROW—–