I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Practical Evaluation (2)

In the Sorcery Institute, there truly was not a single person who wanted to clash with Go Seung-jun.

It wasn't because Go Seung-jun was a powerful sorcerer, but simply due to the company his father ran.

'Gogun' Corporation was an enormous company that manufactured all sorts of supplies vital to the overall sorcery industry, so most people didn't want to set themselves up against such a business.

Of course, Gogun Corporation didn't possess overwhelming might like some guilds or families. However, if they became your enemy, they could make things endlessly troublesome.

So, even the scions of prestigious families avoided picking a fight with Go Seung-jun, the eldest son of such a company.

There was simply nothing to gain from provoking him.

In such circumstances, Go Seung-jun had only ever enjoyed his school life and had never encountered a student who dared challenge him.

Ordinary students?

If they fell into Go Seung-jun's hands, they would become mere prey.

Sons and daughters of moderately successful houses?

Every so often, a student would squirm when provoked, but in the end, they too would only ignore Go Seung-jun and move on.

Go Seung-jun had, most cunningly, always toyed just enough with their pride to annoy them yet never crossed the social boundaries to make himself an outright issue.

In short, thanks to his sharp, clever conduct that never gave his opponents an opening, Go Seung-jun had never once been subject to anyone's resentment.

As a result, he became impudent and arrogant.

This remained true even after he entered the Sorcery Institute.

Even in a place filled with geniuses and illustrious family scions, Go Seung-jun continued living as he always had in the Sorcery Institute.

This didn't change even when he landed in a group with Kim Dojun, the so-called sorcery genius, and the second daughter of the Muryu family.

In fact, Go Seung-jun himself knew there was nothing to gain from provoking those two.

After all, even if he just left them alone, they would work hard for their own ranking anyway.

And yet, Go Seung-jun still went out of his way to provoke them.

Why?

Simply because Go Seung-jun hated the fact that the second daughter of the Muryu family was treated as a genius, and that the newly arrived nobody, Kim Dojun, was also being called a sorcery genius.

That was all there was to it.

He just couldn't stomach the praise those two received.

Yet, despite having ruffled their feathers, Go Seung-jun wasn't worried.

He believed he had acted as usual and hadn't crossed the line he hoped they wouldn't respond to.

As long as he didn't cross that line, he was certain that Kim Dojun and Shin Se-yeon wouldn't go as far as to hurt their own standing by retaliating in this situation.

No, based on all data until now, he was sure.

... At least, that's what he'd thought.

"... What the?"

Go Seung-jun spotted his lackey.

His lackey, who had been knocked completely unconscious, frothing at the mouth from a single punch from Kim Dojun.

And then—

"Perfect."

With an expression that showed he had no idea how such a situation had come to be, Go Seung-jun watched as Kim Dojun approached with a satisfied smile. Kim Dojun casually nudged the lackey aside with his leg.

"Alright, since we're short on time, let's get started right away."

With those words, Kim Dojun pulled a baseball bat from the bag he was carrying.

An extremely battered baseball bat, at that.

"Say hello. This is Guidance Machine No. 1, brought here to set you straight."

As Kim Dojun spoke, Go Seung-jun, brain frozen in shock, realized the intent and stammered out in utter bewilderment.

"Are... are you going to hit me right now?"

"No."

"?"

"I'm going to thrash you, not just hit you."

Vwooong!

Kim Dojun swung the baseball bat with a clean arc. Go Seung-jun, eyes shaking in disbelief, tried to continue—

"You must not know who I am. I'm from Gogun Corpora—Unghk!?"

BAM!

—But couldn't.

Go Seung-jun took the full brunt of Kim Dojun's swing and tumbled across the floor.

Wracked by unimaginable pain, he screamed, "Kyaaaagh!" yet still couldn't comprehend what was happening and stared at Kim Dojun.

Kim Dojun, standing before him once again, said only one thing:
"So what?"

And then proceeded to beat Go Seung-jun senseless with the bat.

"Kkyaak! Gkek! Kkak! Kkaak!"

Every time Guidance Machine No. 1 moved, screams erupted from Go Seung-jun. Experiencing excruciating agony for the first time in his life, he howled, but Kim Dojun mercilessly kept up the beating.

"Do you really think you'll get away with this!?"

At Go Seung-jun's belated shout, Kim Dojun paused.

"You think this will go unanswered!? You think I'll just let this slide?! Do you know what'll happen if I tell my dad, you bastard!? As soon as I say the word, I can ruin you in society!!"

As if waiting for his moment, Go Seung-jun yelled, while Kim Dojun simply stared back in silence.

"Come on, do it some more! Think you can do anything to me with just one bat!? You think that'll work?!"

Go Seung-jun, feeling emboldened, taunted him.

"True, it would be tough with just this."

Kim Dojun replied after a moment's thought, a smirk forming on Go Seung-jun's lips.

"But don't worry."

Then Kim Dojun pulled another—this one pristine—baseball bat from his bag.

"I brought No. 2 just in case."

"W-wai—Kyaaaaaagh!"

Gripping a bat in each hand, Kim Dojun didn't stop until Go Seung-jun passed out.

####

Thirty minutes later.

"... What are you going to do about this?"

Shin Se-yeon spoke, looking at Go Seung-jun lying completely unconscious at Kim Dojun's feet.

"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"

"I'm asking how you're going to deal with the aftermath... Can you handle this?"

Gazing at the unconscious Go Seung-jun, Shin Se-yeon frowned at the mere thought of the headache to come.

Even though she'd felt a thrill watching Kim Dojun beat him up, their opponent was still a chaebol's son.

If you left him be, he'd be nothing more than a nuisance, but as an enemy, he'd become endlessly tedious to deal with.

So she asked with a hint of concern, but Kim Dojun, who had actually done the deed, was calm as ever.

"Don't worry. Thanks to the talismans, there won't even be a bruise."

"That's not the problem... What if he goes around blabbing that you beat him up on his way out?"

"You don't need to worry about that either."

"... You don't?"

In response to Shin Se-yeon's question, Kim Dojun gave her a sly smile.

"Just wait a moment."

He said, then promptly disappeared somewhere.

After a short while, Kim Dojun really did return as if blown in by the wind.

"What's that...?"

"Hallucination jellyfish."

He was holding, in each hand, a jellyfish-like hallucination creature.

Plop—

He slapped them onto Go Seung-jun's head and that of his lackey, who was lying nearby.

"... What are you doing?"

"I'm making myself an alibi."

"... Alibi?"

"Yeah."

"... No way—"

"Ta-dah! It was all an illusion."

"... Are you serious?"

As Shin Se-yeon stared in disbelief, Kim Dojun only shrugged as if to say what's the problem.

"Of course. This alibi is perfect."

"... Perfect? Which part, exactly?"

To the dumbfounded Shin Se-yeon, Kim Dojun replied:
"Think about it. If, during a group project, I suddenly went psycho, grabbed two bats and beat those two up just because one said something rude—does that sound credible? Isn't it more believable—"

He continued.

"—If those two just happened to be caught by a hallucination jellyfish in the street and saw terrible illusions?"

"..."

Shin Se-yeon unconsciously gaped.

'Honestly...'

If you didn't know the real Kim Dojun, the latter explanation would be much more believable to anyone!

But more than that—

"You... You actually realize how weird you are, don't you...?"

Shin Se-yeon was amazed by this unexpected realization.

"I'm only pretending to be weird this one time."

"... What about the lackey? You knocked him out without warning, didn't you?"

"That's why, from that point on, both of them were under the hallucination. That's the story."

"...."

Shin Se-yeon wore an expression that seemed to say, 'Is this guy for real?' Yet Kim Dojun kept talking, unconcerned.

"Besides, if we take first place in this group project, my story will seem even more credible. If we came last, people might think I wasted my time on them, but not if it's first place."

At that, Shin Se-yeon thought,

'... Just who is this guy, really?'

Once again, looking at him, she began to reconsider the true identity of Kim Dojun—a question she had tried not to dwell on.

'Well, since the guidance is finished,'

At that moment, Kim Dojun thought,

'Time for me to go claim my reward for this narrative.'

A smile curled onto his lips as he pictured the reward he would soon receive.

####

While Kim Dojun and Shin Se-yeon were knocking out Go Seung-jun and his lackey and concocting their plan—

Somewhere near the city center inside the Sorcery Institute, in a spot straddling the city and a walking path—

"Hey, didn't I tell you not to let me see you again?"

"If you want to get noticed, you should carry some pocket money around."

Han Soyeon, as usual, was being bullied.

Han Soyeon hung her head as if wishing for the situation to end as quickly as possible, while the students laughed, toying with her hair.

Among them, the girl most actively picking a fight with Soyeon knocked her on the head even harder than last time, looking to escalate things.

"Hey, why aren't you answering? Hm?"

The girl kept tapping Soyeon's head, as if demanding a quick response for her own amusement.

But contrary to her usual behavior, Han Soyeon did not respond, simply keeping her head bowed.

Just as the girl began to sense something odd—

Swoosh—

Han Soyeon looked up and met her gaze.

The girl involuntarily stopped short when she saw Soyeon's face.

She had never seen Han Soyeon look so calm before.

"Sorry, I was thinking for a moment."

Han Soyeon's voice suddenly reached ears still dulled by surprise.

"What...?"

"Someone who doesn't care about my faults gave me advice I really needed."

Even as she spoke, Han Soyeon didn't avert her calm gaze.

The students encircling her, for some strange reason, felt themselves shrink back a step from her composure.

"Ha! Did you search up 'how to avoid bullies' or something?"

But only briefly—the girl, embarrassed by her own hesitation, forced a laugh and tried to provoke Soyeon.

Han Soyeon only replied with a quiet smile and shook her head gently.

"No."

Then, with an expression she never wore before, she smiled at last.

"Not some useless advice, but something truly helpful for me."

She stared right at the girl.

"Do you know what it is?"

Han Soyeon slowly raised her hand and tapped the girl on the head.

"The thing is..."

She smiled,

"As long as you don't hit someone on the head... Apparently, they won't die too easily?"

She awakened her innate ability—Divine Descent (降神).

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
A follower of Dojun's teachings has awakened!
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】