I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

What’s Wrong With You? (1)

Three days after the sudden incident of the descent of Gatura of Salvation had ended.

'Seriously, things have been hectic.'

Kim Dojun let out a belated sigh in a private single room located inside the Sorcery Institute, reflecting on all that had happened in the past three days.

As soon as he had dealt with Gatura of Salvation, the instructors and sorcerers from the Sorcery Association rushed in and immediately began organizing the situation.

Reporters, who had somehow sneaked in right after, were dragged out by the association's sorcerers, continuously clicking camera shutters as they went.

Most students who had been inside the barrier erected by Gatura of Salvation were summoned for questioning by the Sorcery Association's dispatched sorcerers.

'Not that it was really much of an interrogation.'

Frankly, no matter how carefully the Sorcery Association questioned them, there was no way the students could explain what happened inside.

After all, most of them had immediately collapsed under the sudden spiritual assault of the malignant spirit as soon as the barrier was raised.

'In fact, I'm probably the only one who actually knows what happened inside that barrier.'

Of course, among the first-years, there could have been students like Shin Se-yeon who didn't panic in the sudden descent and managed to keep their sanity using sorcery right away, but it seemed unlikely.

'The only thing they asked me was how many times I blocked Gatura's attacks.'

Seemingly having heard only Shin Se-yeon's account, the interrogation officer, unable to get any useful testimony from the others, simply made perfunctory and pointless inquiries to Kim Dojun.

So the questioning ended with Kim Dojun replying, "I blocked Gatura's attacks a few times, just enough for Shin Se-yeon to escape, and then I fled too."

In other words, aside from a tiny part of what he'd really done, Kim Dojun told the outside world very little of the truth.

'But even that made me a celebrity.'

Kim Dojun recalled the recent posts on the Sorcery Institute's online boards, blatantly worshipping him.

Of course, there was a reason he hadn't bothered to share everything.

First, it was obvious that the hassle would outweigh any benefit if he revealed the whole truth.

Second, doing so would almost certainly mean that certain organizations would come to harass him.

'The cult of salvation would definitely make a move.'

The Salvation Society.

As its name suggests, this group is a bunch of insane, psychopathic cultists who worship Gatura of Salvation as a god. In the game too, they constantly harassed the player.

And it wasn't just mild harassment—it was relentless.

The reason the Salvation Society acted like that was because the rumor that Gatura of Salvation had been defeated spread.

The cult would babble about how the player had killed their god, and launch continuous attacks before the player even had a chance to properly respond.

Not wanting to attract that kind of trouble, Kim Dojun stuck to the story of having merely blocked a few of Gatura's attacks before running away.

It was nearly guaranteed the Society would react instantly to Gatura's death.

'Still, I ended up involved with Gatura, so they'll come after me somehow... But a delayed response is better, since I'll have to deal with them eventually anyway.'

Thanks to this affair, now Kim Dojun had a reason to preemptively strike the Salvation Society.

Creak—

Lost in thought, a sound at the door interrupted him.

He turned his head in response, and there—

"... Are you okay?"

Shin Se-yeon had quietly stepped in, initiating conversation.

"Yeah,"

Kim Dojun simply nodded in reply.

In reality, except for the time he'd been trapped in the illusion and killed repeatedly, Kim Dojun had hardly taken any hits from Gatura, so he was physically fine.

'... But they said I absolutely had to stay hospitalized until today.'

Just having blocked a few of Gatura's attacks was enough to earn him a forced hospital stay.

'They said I could be discharged if nothing came up today... So probably today or tomorrow.'

With that thought, a brief silence passed.

"...."

"...."

An awkward atmosphere hung between them. Kim Dojun glanced at Shin Se-yeon with a curious expression.

'She's been like this for days now.'

To be precise, Shin Se-yeon's behavior had gotten a little strange since the Gatura incident ended.

In the past, even if he was silent, she'd grumble about all sorts of things. Now, she was extremely quiet.

Not that being quiet in itself was strange—he'd once saved her from being killed, after all.

But what struck Kim Dojun as odd was—

Glance. Fidget!

Her peculiar eye movements.

She'd sneak a look at his face and quickly turn away as if she hadn't; she'd twirl her hair with her finger and speak in an unusually gentle voice; sometimes she'd giggle almost absentmindedly, only to clam up when he met her eyes.

It was to the point that he half-wondered if she was possessed by an evil spirit.

Even—

"Hey,"

"?"

"Why have you been giggling like that? Did you come up with a good way to kill your old man or something?"

Even when Kim Dojun tried a remark that would normally get a rise out of her—

"... Didn't I tell you not to call me that? And this is, uh, a bit different."

She answered softly, in a much gentler tone than before, not even raising her voice.

'She's really changed a lot.'

She hadn't just changed, she'd changed instantly and dramatically. Kim Dojun looked at her, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Ahem...."

Whether she noticed his thoughts or not, Shin Se-yeon suddenly cleared her throat and finally spoke.

"So, that thing you asked me about yesterday—I looked into it."

"What I asked yesterday...? Oh, you mean who was possessed?"

As Kim Dojun recalled yesterday's topic, she nodded and answered.

"Yeah, apparently it was Ju Yu-dam. Do you know her?"

"Ju Yu-dam...?"

Of course he knew.

She was the girl who used to bully Han Soyeon, but lately had been bullied by Han Soyeon instead.

"... She was the possessed one?"

"That's what I heard."

Kim Dojun quickly scrolled through everything he knew about the setting in his head, then made a strange face.

'... So it's not the original possessed host of Gatura, as I knew from the game.'

He'd suspected this, given that Gatura of Salvation had appeared so early, during the first year, but it was still strange.

'Why would she possess Ju Yu-dam?'

Thinking about it, he couldn't be sure, but he had a guess.

'The setting was that Gatura of Salvation possesses someone who is truly in need of salvation.'

If Ju Yu-dam, bullied by Han Soyeon, wanted salvation more desperately than the third-story character, then maybe that made sense.

'... Either Han Soyeon is surprisingly formidable, or Ju Yu-dam's mental fortitude is laughably weak...'

Sighing at his own guess, Kim Dojun shrugged as if to say 'whatever'.

In the end, what mattered was that he'd taken down Gatura early, so it all worked out in his favor.

'... Well, now I'll just have to control things from here ons.'

Kim Dojun wasn't sure how long he'd been lost in thought when—

"I'll get going."

"... Hm? Oh, is it that late already?"

Realizing it had been over half an hour since Shin Se-yeon came by to visit, Kim Dojun nodded.

As he watched her get up carefully and head for the door, something occurred to him and he asked,

"Ah. You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

"... Hm? Me?"

"Who else is here if not you?"

He meant to check if she'd be able to resume training starting Monday. Shin Se-yeon stared at him blankly for a moment then replied,

"No."

She smiled faintly as she spoke.

"... Really? That's good."

To his response, she lowered her head a little, smiling just barely to herself, as if quietly delighted.

"See you tomorrow...!"

She left the hospital room with that one phrase.

Watching her go, Kim Dojun could only think—

"... What's up with her?"

And just shrugged his shoulders.

####

The next day.

Thanks to the incident, the first-year schedule was pushed back a full week, giving Kim Dojun plenty of free time. He was finally discharged from the hospital and returned to the dorms.

'Should I actually study sorcery properly?'

Looking at his old game notes, memories of various malignant spirits came to mind, making him ponder.

'The reason Gatura was so difficult was because I couldn't use sorcery.'

In this world of the Sorcery Killing Technique, all malignant spirits—including Gatura—take significantly reduced damage unless attacked with sorcery.

'In the end, to deal with malignant spirits quickly and efficiently, I need high-level sorcery that does damage without any reduction...'

But here was the problem: Kim Dojun's intelligence...!

'Well, I do intend to learn, but...'

He glanced at the stack of Sorcerer King's books he had piled in the corner.

The Sorcerer King's book—won as a stroke of luck.

Thanks to reading it, he'd managed to sense spiritual power.

But unfortunately, that was it. No matter how diligently he read afterward, his sorcery skills hadn't improved at all.

... Not that this was surprising.

What good were tips and answers when his intelligence still barely topped the lowest percentile?

On top of that, he absolutely hated sitting still for anything besides sleeping, so even when he forced himself to sit down and study a few times, he'd never succeeded.

In short, it was no surprise his sorcery skills hadn't advanced beyond being able to sense spiritual power.

'No matter how I look at it, I just don't have the brains to go beyond basic sorcery.'

Kim Dojun pondered seriously, then glanced again at the Sorcerer King's books stacked to the side.

'Maybe my academic performance wasn't bad because I was dumb, but because I just never tried at all?'

Suddenly—

'Right, at least I've always had some perseverance, haven't I? Now that I know I need sorcery, maybe if I really knuckle down I'll actually get somewhere? Didn't I learn spiritual power super quickly?'

With a glimmer of hope, he picked up the book.

"... Nope, this is just nonsense."

Exactly thirty seconds later, Kim Dojun realized once again he had no hope but to be a blockhead, tossed the book aside, and continued worrying.

No matter how he looked at it, it was just impossible for him to reach advanced sorcery through studying.

'Even if I could, it'd take another ten years.'

Since he was planning to escape this world within a few years, it would be completely impractical, so he continued pondering.

Soon—

"Oh!"

An ingenious idea sprang to mind.

And so, that day—

"You, become my companion."

"...?"

Out for training, Shin Se-yeon found herself met with this sudden proposition from Kim Dojun.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Dojun's words will create a misunderstanding...
Also, Dojun's intelligence is apparently on the low end.
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