I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Teacher (2)

"Uh... uh, uh..."

As soon as she heard his voice after dialing, Shin Se-yeon instinctively stuttered.

Now that she thought about it, while she did know Kim Dojun's number, it hit her that she had never once called him first—not even a single time.

Added to that, she had hardly ever called anyone on the phone for casual reasons.

Even when she did, it was always people affiliated with her family, and since she had such a busy life from childhood, she'd never had any friends to call like this... This really was her first time!

Naturally, her brain just froze up.

Because of that, Shin Se-yeon didn't even notice that Kim Dojun's voice sounded a little different than usual as she let out several sighs before finally speaking.

"Um, about earlier..."

[What.]

A subdued reply.

At that, Shin Se-yeon hesitated for a split second, wondering how to ask her question.

'Should I ask if he likes me?'

That thought flashed through her mind for an instant, but she shook her head firmly.

If she really wanted to know his feelings for sure, asking directly would be ideal—but what if it was just a misunderstanding?

'No way. Never.'

She had already realized it might have been a misunderstanding once before, and after considering how much more humiliating it would feel if it happened again, Shin Se-yeon struggled for a bit before finally opening her mouth.

"... Um, about the necklace you gave me today."

[Necklace?]

"Yeah, that... Why did you give it to me?"

What she ultimately chose to do was ask in a roundabout way.

Of course, she couldn't get a definite answer from this alone, but it should at least let her get a sense of his intention.

[Why do you think I gave it to you?]

"...?"

[I said, why do you think I gave it to you.]

"No—"

She was about to say, isn't that why I called you?!, but—

[I don't know, I have a headache, so I'm hanging up.]

Kim Dojun hung up before Shin Se-yeon could say anything.

Tsk—!

"No waaay—"

Shin Se-yeon let out an exasperated sigh as she stared at her disconnected smartphone.

"—I'm asking because I can't figure it out, so tell me why you gave it to me!!"

Shouting that, she spent some time rolling around on her bed, letting out incomprehensible shrieks, and ended the day bowing her head to the dorm supervisor after a noise complaint.

####

Korean Branch, sorcery Association, basement Level 32.

A processing department office, known only to those working there—information so compartmentalized that not even the chairman or vice chairman usually knew who handled what down here.

"...."

There, Shin Jucheon, head of Information for the processing unit, and Jin Tae-shik, vice Chairman of the Korean Branch of the Sorcery Association, were watching a TV monitor.

Shin Jucheon, who had already seen the footage several times, and for Jin Tae-shik, who was watching for the first time, saw Han Soyeon mercilessly slaughter the cultists of the Salvation Group.

At the end of the video, where Han Soyeon glanced at the CCTV and quietly raised her index finger, the playback ended.

"...."

Jin Tae-shik, who hadn't spoken for a while, played the video again and asked,

"... Is there any chance this video is a fake?"

"None,"

Shin Jucheon replied firmly.

Jin Tae-shik spent a moment staring absentmindedly into the dark TV screen.

'... What is that power?'

Jin Tae-shik knew Han Soyeon's abilities.

More precisely, he knew her talent.

Possessing such an immense gift that anyone who recognized it would inevitably feel envy or jealousy.

Naturally, Jin Tae-shik had thought Han Soyeon had the potential for this much power, but—

'But how did she come by such strength in so short a time?'

That should only have been possible if Han Soyeon poured everything into developing her talent.

Talent is like the flower of a potted plant; if cared for and watered it will eventually bloom, but if neglected, it will never blossom and remain a seed forever.

And as far as Jin Tae-shik knew, Han Soyeon had never once nurtured her talent.

She'd been traumatized since childhood after accidentally killing her mother with her talent.

Even so, the only reason she could enter the Sorcery Institute was because the Association had secretly pulled some strings on her behalf.

'Even that was almost impossible, given how poor Han Soyeon's sorcery skills were...'

The scene he'd just witnessed was nothing like the Han Soyeon he knew, and no matter how many hypotheses he entertained, Jin Tae-shik found no answer to his questions.

"Hmm..."

After mulling it over for some time, only one thing became clear.

'It's impossible Han Soyeon was hiding her power...'

The Sorcery Association's Korean Branch had invested a lot of time in Han Soyeon and regularly checked her condition, so that much he was certain of.

'That means something must have happened inside the Sorcery Institute....'

Jin Tae-shik thought over the possibilities.

After some time, it seemed he made up his mind as he nodded to himself.

"First, let's talk this matter over privately with the Chairman."

"Yes, sir."

"See if you can learn some things about the people around Han Soyeon. You already have a rough idea, I'm sure, but find out more specifics this time."

"Understood."

With that reply, Jin Tae-shik rose to his feet, gave a brief gesture of farewell, and departed.

He pressed the elevator button that would take him straight to the rooftop where the Chairman was, his gaze following the descending numbers.

'Perhaps the plan will move forward a little faster than expected.'

He thought.

####

The day after Kim Dojun drank the Ghost Liquor.

After class, watching students leave one by one, Kim Dojun stood up and grimaced.

"My head feels like it's going to explode."

Just getting up sent him clutching his shattered-feeling head instinctively.

"Agh..."

He didn't feel dizzy or like the world was spinning as when he first woke that morning, but the sharp pain stabbing each time he moved even slightly left him groaning.

'Couldn't this be more like a game in this respect...?'

In the Sorcery Killing Technique game, the drunkenness penalty did exist but only dropped stats by about 5%.

But now?

'I'm really about to lose it.'

It wasn't as bad as he'd felt in the morning, but still plenty agonizing.

So much so that he was about to cancel even Shin Se-yeon's training for several days—just too tough to push through.

'Speaking of which, why was she looking at me with an expression like that? She definitely had a really complicated look on her face...'

Kim Dojun tried to recall Shin Se-yeon's odd reaction to him canceling their training, but soon gave up—his head was pounding too much to think.

'Doesn't matter. I'm just going to rest today.'

Holding his throbbing head, Kim Dojun started off—but then stopped as a ring came from the phone in his pocket.

[Etiquette training twice a week.]

A call from Dan.

Kim Dojun picked up.

"What."

A curt greeting, to which Dan responded at once.

[Something important came up. I need to talk to you in person for a moment.]

"What is it?"

[... It's a little hard to explain over the phone.]

"Can this wait till tomorrow?"

[It's really important.]

Dan's serious tone did nothing to soften Kim Dojun's headache as he replied,

"Fine. But—"

[?]

"—if it's not something really important, you're dead."

[....]

"Wait for me on the walking path. I'll come."

With that, he hung up.

Not long after, meeting Dan who had been waiting on the path,

"... Twisted Evil put a bounty on us. Twenty billion won per head."

Dan explained about the bounty, but Kim Dojun only reacted indifferently.

"I kind of saw that coming, but... you didn't call me just for that, did you?"

Dan twitched as Kim Dojun glanced at the etiquette paddle leaning against a tree, but continued his explanation.

"I also expected there'd be a bounty, though I didn't anticipate the amount would be so high. The real problem is what comes next."

"... Next?"

To Kim Dojun's questioning, Dan spoke with a troubled expression.

"Twisted Evil hired the Scarabs for a job. Do you know them?"

"Scarabs...?"

Kim Dojun frowned as he recalled the game's setting.

'Scarabs... Weren't they the bottom-rung groups, even in the underworld...?'

Scarabs.

A term for groups so rotten that people said no one fit the darkness better than them; Kim Dojun had even faced such organizations several times in the game's storyline.

'Setting-wise, they weren't that strong, but they were a pain in a different way compared to the Salvation Group.'

Because of the "Scarabs commit inhumane acts without hesitation to achieve their goals" aspect, dealing with them in the game always imposed all sorts of restrictions on the player.

For example, their use of poison or sealing techniques would often limit what degree of sorcery could be used—nothing unusual about that.

He recalled how any main or sub-storyline involving the Scarabs would attach time limits or force the player to protect or rescue someone as added complication.

"And apparently, even among the Scarabs, the most notorious 'Feradus' is personally hunting us now,"

Dan added nervously.

"Feradus?"

"Yeah, they're the best-known among the Scarab underworld groups. The sort who'd kill their own parents if it suited them. Really nasty pieces of work."

After Dan spoke, Kim Dojun rubbed his chin.

"... So Shin Se-yeon's humanity is almost at Scarab level, huh."

He muttered quietly.

"...? Shin Se-yeon?"

Kim Dojun waved his hand dismissively at Dan's puzzled look.

"No, never mind."

He continued,

"So, basically, since those crazy bastards could do anything, you're saying we need to prepare, right?"

"That's right."

Dan nodded vigorously at that.

Kim Dojun gave a lopsided grin, then said,

"Don't worry."

"?"

"I've already put preparations in place."

"...? You already prepared?"

"Yeah."

"But... wasn't this the first time you heard about them, just now?"

Dan seemed a bit confused.

"I just heard now, yeah."

"...?"

Yet at his answer, Dan looked at him strangely, but Kim Dojun just waved a hand as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Don't worry. I've got my own plans. Besides, I know Feradus very well."

"You know them...?"

"Yeah. Anyway, my head's killing me, so I'm going to rest for today. Just make sure you show up this weekend."

With that, he turned and left.

Left standing alone, Dan watched the distant Kim Dojun with a complicated expression on his face.

'... What's he planning this time?'

The thought crossed his mind involuntarily.

And that night.

"Well, time to handle this."

Kim Dojun smiled as he logged in to Lantiarval.