I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Cool-Nerd (2)

[Cool-nerd!]

Tam's answer was so simple and straightforward that Dan could only make a dumbfounded expression.

But soon, noticing Kim Dojun looking at him with a strange expression together with Tam, Dan spoke up.

"... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason."

"...?"

"Even if Tam gained intelligence, isn't it true that it's not all that smart?"

At Kim Dojun's question, Dan answered with a strange look on his face.

"... As far as I know, there's not much increase in intelligence until it evolves to Grade 1... But why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"I thought maybe it was smarter than expected."

[I'm smart!]

As Kim Dojun spoke seriously and Tam raised a hand and spouted nonsense from the side, Dan paused for a moment as if thinking, then replied incredulously.

"... Is it because I'm a 'Cool-nerd' now?"

"Isn't that right?"

"No way!"

"Seems like it, though?"

"From what part exactly?!"

Dan's question.

Kim Dojun looked at him steadily for a moment.

"... Isn't your whole existence that of a Cool-nerd?"

"So be specific! I can tolerate other things, but being called a Cool-nerd is really unpleasant, you know!"

Dan spoke with a deep frown.

"If I have to be specific..."

Watching Dan, Kim Dojun muttered quietly and started walking to the side of the trail.

Soon, seeing Kim Dojun's actions, Dan reflexively floated a hook over his head and then spotted it.

The baseball bat wrapped in Kim Dojun's left hand.

"...."

As soon as Kim Dojun approached holding the bat, Dan involuntarily put his hands together politely.

"Like this?"

Kim Dojun said as he looked at Dan.

"... Indeed."

"Now you understand?"

"I definitely get it."

Dan nodded quickly.

"That's good, glad you get it."

With a perfectly satisfied smile, Kim Dojun turned his body holding the bat and looked toward Tam.

[...]

As soon as Tam saw the baseball bat, its eyes darted nervously, and it shrank back a little. Kim Dojun, after a moment's thought, tossed the bat to the side of the walking path.

'There's no need to use violence on someone you can communicate with.'

With that thought, Kim Dojun then approached Tam and spoke.

"Who am I?"

[... Master?]

Maybe remembering Kim Dojun coming out with the bat just now, Tam spoke with a strangely uncertain look.

"Then you should listen to what I say, right?"

[I! Listen well!]

"Then from now on, listen to what he says, too."

[Cool-nerd?]

"Yes, cool-nerd."

"... My feelings are complicated."

Dan mumbled unhappily at Tam's words, but Tam paid him no heed, just tilting his head left and right a couple of times.

[So I just have to listen to Cool-nerd?]

"That's right."

[I! Can do it!]

"That's great."

[I did good!?]

"You did good."

Kim Dojun casually stroked Tam's head.

Watching this, Dan wore a very complicated expression.

'... I'm the master, I'm the one who constantly expends spiritual power to maintain the shikigami, so why does Kim Dojun get treated as the master?'

In the end, thanks to Kim Dojun, Dan was able to temporarily use Tam properly again.

"... So, when are you planning to go to the Pantheon this week?"

"This week?"

"Yeah, didn't you say last week that you had to go back to the Pantheon?"

"Oh, that."

Kim Dojun nodded and replied.

"I think I'll go around the weekend this week."

"The weekend... Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh, and."

"? Is there something else to say?"

"There's something I need."

He quietly told Dan what he needed.

"... What are you planning to do?"

"You'll see later, but can you get it?"

"I think I can."

"Okay, then prepare that too."

"Got it."

After hearing Dan's answer, Kim Dojun moved his body to train with Shin Se-yeon.

####

If you press the elevator at the Korea branch of the Sorcery Institute, you'll see B3 at the very bottom, and 5F at the very top.

That indicates the number of floors in the Korea branch—with three underground levels and five above-ground floors.

Most sorcerers and regular people are aware of this, and both clerks and sorcerers believe the building consists solely of those three basement levels and five above-ground floors.

However, the Korea branch of the Sorcery Institute has one more floor no one else knows about.

The thirty-second underground floor.

Even within the Sorcery Institute, only those moving "behind the scenes"—including the president and vice-president—can access that floor. The department there is called the Processing Department.

In other words, it's the place where they gather the "hounds" who act as the shadow of the Sorcery Institute.

And at that very moment—

"...."

A man.

Shin Jucheon, the chief of information in the Processing Department who handles the overall data, was staring intently at the frozen video screen before him.

The footage he was currently viewing was from a few days ago—the last video sent by one of the hounds who had infiltrated the Salvation Society as a spy.

"...."

Shin Jucheon stared dazedly at the monitor.

Tsk—

He pressed the space bar and replayed the footage he had just watched.

What appeared was the CCTV feed.

Even a quick glance at the CCTV clearly showed the Salvation Society's annex, and as the footage began, everything in the building looked normal.

But the problem came next.

After Shin Jucheon advanced the footage, the previously tranquil annex quickly became busy as people hurried about.

Soon, when a significant number of the Salvation Society's members filled the screen—

Shin Jucheon saw it.

A woman walking in from one corner of the CCTV's view.

Unlike the Salvation Society's members, she was dressed in the familiar uniform of the Sorcery Institute—a strange sight to have appear on this camera.

Just thinking simply: for a student of the Sorcery Institute to appear on the Salvation Society annex's CCTV feed was unusual.

But that wasn't the only odd thing about this footage.

"...."

Shin Jucheon looked at one side of the screen.

He could see the faces of the Salvation Society members.

Despite being CCTV footage, the quality was good enough that he could discern the expressions of the people caught on camera.

An unmistakable look of terror on all their faces.

'Terror....'

Shin Jucheon then turned his gaze to the woman walking in from afar.

Like someone taking a stroll in front of the school, she walked so carelessly and defenselessly—no, to be precise—

'Han Soyeon....'

Han Soyeon's figure.

And right after that—

The massacre began.

There was no audio, since it was CCTV footage.

Yet, watching the scene, he felt as though he could actually hear the sounds in his ears.

Even someone like Shin Jucheon, who had seen scenes like this countless times, unconsciously frowned—the footage was disturbing even for him.

Something leapt out from behind Han Soyeon, weaving through the narrow annex, impaling the members.

The heads of those who managed to overcome their fear and charge at her exploded.

Others, completely overtaken by the unprecedented terror emanating from her, frantically barreled past corpses and their fellow members only to be seized and torn limb from limb.

Grotesque, wince-inducing scenes.

And at the end, Han Soyeon, who had single-handedly massacred all the members, walked through the utterly ruined corridor with the same unhurried steps as before.

Swish—

She then stared straight into the CCTV camera.

As if she knew someone was watching, Han Soyeon approached the CCTV, looking right at it.

― Shh.

She pressed her index finger to her lips in a silencing gesture.

Crackle!

With that, the CCTV was destroyed, ending the footage.

"...."

Shin Jucheon, having stared blankly at the now blank screen, let out a deep sigh and thought to himself.

'... Just what is going on?'

Although he couldn't claim to know Han Soyeon inside out, he still had a fair amount of information.

After all, Han Soyeon was someone the Korea branch president and vice-president were grooming as a 'hound'.

But the footage before his eyes was wildly inconsistent with what he knew.

No, it wasn't just inconsistent—it flat-out didn't match.

The most incomprehensible part was—

'... Just what is with that strength?'

The overwhelming power Han Soyeon had displayed.

'I'm sure she only just started at the Sorcery Institute.'

He even knew that her grades in sorcery weren't great due to her trauma, so the Han Soyeon he just saw was completely abnormal.

'... The Salvation Society members should mostly have been sorcerers, too.'

Even if they were only low-level sorcerers, Han Soyeon possessed enough power to slaughter them mercilessly.

'I don't get it....'

Other questions arose, but the more he thought about Han Soyeon, the less he understood, so he cut off his thoughts.

'... Should I report this?'

No matter how much he thought about it, it wasn't for him to decide.

As chief of information, the Processing Department was the invisible blade of the president—so it was his duty to report.

Yes, he should report it—

"...."

Gazing at the blank screen, he recalled the scene he had just witnessed.

The way she strolled as if nothing happened amidst the brutally massacred corpses.

And then, the way she quietly raised her index finger to the camera.

"...."

Who knew why Han Soyeon had acted like that.

But, strangely, he instinctively felt—

Reporting this would be dangerous somehow.

"Sss..."

Of course, it's not as if there was any solid proof or concrete evidence.

The reason Shin Jucheon felt this way was purely his intuition.

But those gut feelings had saved his life several times in the past, back when he was a "hound" and not yet chief of information.

"My head hurts."

With a genuinely troubled look, he stared at the black screen for a while.

####

The evening after Kim Dojun finished his training with Shin Se-yeon.

----
Ghost Liquor Bottle (鬼酒甁)
Grade: ??
Uses: 1 time
Effect: Can seal a defeated spirit in the jar and brew it into 'liquor'.

If you drink all the spirit liquor brewed from the spirit, you gain spiritual power depending on the grade of the spirit.

You have successfully brewed the "malevolent spirit" into liquor!
----

"Let's have a taste."

Kim Dojun laughed and popped open the perfectly aged Ghost Liquor Bottle after nearly a month of waiting.

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