I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Salvation Society (What It Used to Be) (4)

Kim Dojun stared blankly at the annex building of the Salvation Society.

The first thing he noticed was one side of the building's foundation, which had completely collapsed.

Next, what caught his eye was a scene that seemed straight out of the end times—bits and pieces smashed to such a degree that the exterior walls were gone and the interior was completely exposed.

The last thing he saw—

"..."

—was the Salvation Society's emblem, probably once attached to the annex rooftop, now lying on the ground, split exactly in half and stuck upright in the floor.

Just like a shuriken.

"... What the?"

He unconsciously muttered to himself.

'Was it always like this?'

But he soon shook his head.

At least as far as he knew, the Salvation Society was not supposed to disappear until nearly six years into the game's timeline.

Knowing that, he couldn't make sense of the situation before him.

'Come to think of it, earlier too...'

He recalled the corpses of the Society's guards, who had already turned cold before he'd even made a move, and realized something must have happened without his knowledge, so he took a moment to think.

'Standing around here won't help. I'll think about it later—first, I need to check if I can get the spiritual tools.'

Having made up his mind, he immediately moved on.

Passing the wreckage of the annex, he could see the main building of the Salvation Society.

"..."

... More precisely, he could see what used to be the Salvation Society's main building.

"Is this for real?"

Wearing a dumbfounded expression once again, Kim Dojun unconsciously muttered as he took in the sight before his eyes.

No embellishments or exaggerations were needed; just one sentence was enough to describe the main building of the Salvation Society as he saw it.

'I'd believe it if you told me this was a hundred-year-old abandoned house.'

As Kim Dojun stood gazing at what used to be the main building of the Salvation Society,

'What on earth happened here?'

He started walking toward the completely ruined structure.

Then, as he stepped inside the main building...

"Huh?"

"?"

He ran into Han Soyeon.

####

Inside the wrecked main building of the Salvation Society, Kim Dojun heard how Han Soyeon had ended up there.

"... You were captured?"

"Yes."

"And then when you came to, you were alone here?"

"That's right."

Han Soyeon replied.

'Certainly.'

Kim Dojun listened to her words and nodded, thinking.

'Originally, Han Soyeon had nothing to do with the Salvation Society at all. But since the Salvation Society's Gatura possessed Ju Yu-dam this time, maybe there was a reason for them to target her...'

He could accept why she might be there.

'Still, something feels off.'

Kim Dojun stared at her with a peculiar suspicion.

He could tell there were no contradictions in her story, yet something still bothered him.

'... Why is she so calm?'

Han Soyeon's demeanor didn't seem like that of someone who'd been abducted at all.

But Kim Dojun quickly shook off that thought.

In fact, whatever the case, she had no reason to lie in her current situation.

'If she had been responsible for the murder of those guards—who I saw dead before arriving—I wouldn't be having this conversation with her right now.'

Han Soyeon's trigger was killing people, which would cause her to awaken as a boss if she ever did so.

"..."

"?"

Once more, Kim Dojun looked at her face.

Wearing a completely innocent expression as if nothing had happened, Han Soyeon seemed unchanged on the outside.

That alone supported the conclusion that she hadn't killed anyone.

After all, if she had, a maglignant spirit would have descended, and a notification would have appeared in front of Kim Dojun's eyes.

Moreover, if a maglignant spirit had truly possessed her, Han Soyeon would not be able to maintain her true appearance.

"..."

Yet, he couldn't shake that vague sense of suspicion.

"By any chance, did you kill anyone?"

He questioned Han Soyeon.

To which—

"No?"

Han Soyeon answered cleanly, without a hint of hesitation.

"... Is that so?"

"Yes, I was just brought here, and like I said, when I woke up, it was already like this."

At her answer, Kim Dojun nodded, and now she posed him a question.

"By the way, why are you here?"

"... Me?"

"Yes."

Kim Dojun thought for a moment on how to respond before saying:
"It's not something you need to know."

A few excuses did come to mind, but they all lacked plausibility, so he used his usual magic phrase for situations like these.

"For now, I'll just check inside for a moment."

Before Han Soyeon could ask any more, he quickly moved into the ruins and thought:
'Let's just see if there's anything to be gained.'

In the first place, he'd come all this way not just to wipe out the Salvation Society quickly, but mainly to get a spiritual tool.

In short, if the spiritual tool wasn't here, the job would be half done at best, even if things went smoothly.

'Could any still be here?'

Thus, Kim Dojun decided to search the Salvation Society's main building for the leader's spiritual tool, in case it was still left behind.

Before long—

"Oh, found it."

He found the spiritual tools he was after in one section of the shattered main building, and smiled with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Han Soyeon, waiting outside in the ruined building, motionless while Kim Dojun searched inside—

Squelch-!

At the sound of something wet falling, her gaze dropped.

"Ah."

Seeing what had landed near her feet, she let out a quiet exclamation.

"... Well, that's something."

What had fallen before her was an arm.

Nothing but an arm, missing the hand and elbow, with glistening blood oozing from the stump.

A special tattoo on the back of its hand revealed that it belonged to a cultist of the Salvation Society.

And before Han Soyeon could react to the pooling blood beneath the arm,

Crunch—Drag—

With a chilling sound, the arm beside her began to slowly disappear, as if being sucked into some sort of space.

As though it were being ground up by something.

Slowly.

Yet, even as the arm was sucked out of sight with an unnerving sound, Han Soyeon's expression did not change at all; instead, she gave a gentle smile.

"Don't leave a mess. You said you could eat everything, right? And—"

As she murmured, Han Soyeon's cheeks flushed slightly.

"I'm still a little embarrassed for him to see me like this."

With those words, she smiled as she watched the arm disappear completely into the empty air.

####

Mad Dog Dan.

There wasn't a single second-year at the Sorcery Institute who didn't know both the nickname and the name.

It made sense, because Dan had been famous since his first year.

Even in his first year, before participating in any combat, Dan had never shown mercy in any sparring match, intimidating his peers with his eternally tense expression.

It was the same in the second year—

In fact, once he began participating in real battles, the nickname stuck even more firmly.

For in combat, Dan literally embodied ruthlessness and brutality toward his enemies.

Of course, he was not inherently like that; it was a side effect of being forcibly made to accept Tam by the Ryuoh family.

But recently, his demeanor had become a lot more normal.

His signature seriousness remained, but the constant irritable energy around him had faded.

That was all thanks to Kim Dojun, who had disciplined Tam through physical education.

No longer subjected to psychic attacks, Dan's hypersensitive and thorny temperament had vanished.

However, there was one problem now.

'It doesn't listen to my orders at all.'

Tam had stopped obeying Dan altogether.

"...."

With a frustrated look, Dan stared at Tam as it looked around the room.

Second-years at the Sorcery Institute spent most time in self-study or individual practice unless in combat, so there weren't many people in the classroom. In that empty classroom, Tam was busily turning its head, exploring various things with a curious expression.

Watching it, Dan shook his head in exasperation.

'I need to find a solution.'

He was glad Kim Dojun had saved him from mental stress, but Tam's refusal to obey was an even greater problem.

He was a second-year at the Sorcery Institute, and second-years were required to fight in real battles.

If a spirit beast sorcerer couldn't use their main spirit beast in combat?

That was simply unacceptable.

And yet, that's exactly what was happening to Dan.

Because of this—

"Hey, look at that—weirdo's at it again."

"What a pathetic freak, huh? Even changed its form and lost a ton of combat power."

Now, the once-feared 'Mad Dog' was being openly ridiculed by classmates.

'Jung Yunseong...'

Dan scowled.

Back when he truly lived up to his nickname, none of his peers dared speak to him. Especially Jung Yunseong, who now constantly sniped at Dan from behind—he hadn't even made eye contact with him before.

Jung Yunseong had taken quite a beating from Dan during a few sparring matches back in the first year.

"If a spirit beast sorcerer can't attack with their spirit beast, what are they? Isn't that just like being a civilian at this point?"

Even knowing Dan could hear, Jung Yunseong spoke up as if on purpose. Dan scowled further but didn't react.

Because at this point, Jung Yunseong's words were true—and getting into a fight about it would only bring Dan more shame.

'... I definitely need to discuss this with Kim Dojun.'

Dan ignored Jung Yunseong's provocations while making a mental note.

Jung Yunseong, having failed to get a rise out of Dan, smirked and, bored, turned to another topic.

"Hey, by the way, did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

"You know, that sorcery genius among the first-years. I heard he's getting an award next week."

"Oh, him? Honestly, isn't that guy kinda fishy?"

"What do you mean?"

"The rampaging spirits incident—sure, there were witnesses, but how the hell did a first-year block an attack from a maglignant spirit? He must've lied his way out. He's just a total liar."

"That's a bit unfair, isn't it? There were witnesses."

One of the classmates tilted his head as he replied to Jung Yunseong.

"Think about it, if he was really strong enough to stop a maglignant spirit's attack, would he even be at the Sorcery Institute? He'd be in a guild, getting rookie-of-the-year treatment from the start."

Jung Yunseong was openly trash-talking Kim Dojun at this point.

"Well, I guess that's kinda true."

"See, he's just a liar—"

At that very moment, as his classmate smiled and nodded—

"Hkraaak!?"

"?"

[You insulted my master.]

Tam grabbed Jung Yunseong by the throat.

[That means, I should kill you.]

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Tam got tamed.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】