Heuk-jae now had two crucial pieces of information: the Archives were protected by three elemental seals and could potentially be bypassed using an Administrator's Access Card tied to a "Midnight Protocol."
He needed to find an Administrator who possessed the card and exploit the timing of the protocol.
The Administrator Target
The target was identified as Miss Elara, a young, overworked Administrator in the Registrar's Office.
Elara was responsible for logging the Top 500's attendance for restricted seminars—the very seminars that granted access to the Archives. She was tired, paranoid about losing her low-level position, and deeply reliant on routine.
Heuk-jae observed her schedule for three days using his Facial skill to appear as an invisible, uninteresting fixture of the hallway. He noted that every Tuesday and Thursday at exactly 8:00 PM, Elara would leave the Registrar's Office to file physical attendance sheets in the adjacent Records annex.
This two-minute window was his opportunity.
The Magic Mastery Maneuver
The Administrator's Card was kept in a biometric safe inside her private office, secured by a voice-activated lock tied to her personal frequency.
At 7:59 PM on the next Tuesday, Heuk-jae, as Lord Jae-eun, positioned himself near the Records annex. Eun-ji was stationed at the end of the hall as a lookout.
At 8:00 PM precisely, Miss Elara exited her office, card securely locked away, and headed toward the annex.
Heuk-jae activated his Magic Mastery skill, the energy flowing through him like an invisible current. He didn't use a spell; he used precise Aerokinesis.
First, he manipulated the airflow within the air ducts of Elara's empty office. He created a localized, intense vibration that perfectly matched the resonant frequency of Elara's voice.
This precise, silent vibration struck the voice-activated lock on the biometric safe.
The safe lock registered the frequency, interpreted it as Elara saying her activation phrase, and clicked open.
The Grab and the Ghost
The moment the lock clicked, Heuk-jae activated his Facial and sprinted into the office.
He did not adopt the bored noble mask this time. He adopted the face of a panicked, clumsy student who had accidentally dropped an urgent assignment.
He grabbed the metal access card from the safe—a small, dark chip etched with the Academy seal.
As he turned to leave, he intentionally knocked over a stack of old, unimportant attendance files near the door, scattering them everywhere.
The resulting sound alerted Eun-ji, who quickly gave the "all clear" signal as Elara was returning.
Heuk-jae emerged, his face flushed with the anxiety of a minor transgression, the Access Card now safely tucked into his sleeve.
"Oh, my apologies, Miss Elara!" Heuk-jae cried, his voice dripping with exaggerated student remorse. "I was rushing to deliver this late work to the annex and tripped! I'll clean it up immediately!"
Elara, seeing only a flustered, harmless noble slacker who had caused a minor mess, waved him off dismissively. "Just clean it, Lord Jae-eun. And be more careful!"
Heuk-jae bowed deeply, the mask holding, the illegal card resting against his skin.
Decrypting the Protocol
Back in their room, they examined the card. It was inert.
"The Midnight Protocol is the key," Eun-ji said, studying the subtle energy readings with a small, stolen sensor.
"The card only activates when the three elemental seals on the Archive Vault are in a specific phase alignment," she continued. "The card isn't a key; it's a master override for a split second of system vulnerability."
They spent the next day poring over academic schedules and AATA construction plans (stolen by Heuk-jae's contacts).
They discovered the three proctors who held the elemental seals: Master Zai (Earth), Archivist Tremain (Water), and Proctor Lyra's Mother (Air).
Their schedules were disparate, making simultaneous activation impossible.
"Wait," Heuk-jae said, tracing the diagram of the vault's energy conduits. "The three seals aren't activated by the Proctors' physical touch every night."
"They are self-regulating," Eun-ji realized, looking at the schematics. "The seals undergo a mandatory maintenance reboot to recalibrate the elemental phases."
Heuk-jae pointed to the exact moment the three independent elemental energy cycles aligned perfectly: 2:15 AM on a Sunday morning.
"The Midnight Protocol isn't about the administration," Heuk-jae concluded, folding the schematics. "It's about the Aetheric window. The three seals align for less than fifteen seconds once a week. That is when we strike."
[Inventory Item Acquired: Administrator's Access Card.]
[Hidden Goal Achieved: Decipher Midnight Protocol (2:15 AM Sunday Alignment).]