I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Final Exams (1)

'Han Soyeon is handling things on her own, and Tia is still in the beginner stage, so if I just set things up for Shin Se-yeon, it'll be perfect.'

After finishing up at the Pantheon, while the rest of the prospective bosses were managing well, Kim Dojun's only remaining task was to focus on training Shin Se-yeon.

Her trigger was the moment when she would come to trust her own powers developed through astrology.

"Trust me."

"Trust you? Are you crazy?!"

"I told you last time, didn't I?"

"Told me what?!"

"It's just that you haven't experienced it yourself yet, but surprisingly, getting shot doesn't really hurt if the shot's not too hard."

"Why don't you try getting hit first!"

"Why should I?"

"?"

"I'm not the one training, so why would I need to get hit?"

When Kim Dojun responded to Shin Se-yeon, who was screaming as if she'd rather die, she made a dumbfounded expression, but quickly shouted.

"I'm fine as I am, even without a gun!"

"That's true."

Indeed, just as Shin Se-yeon said, her astrology skills were increasing rapidly.

Whereas before she hadn't been able to dodge a single one of Kim Dojun's attacks, within not even two months, she had already begun using astrology to dodge some of his blows.

She possessed astonishing talent—enough to be called a genius without exaggeration.

Though 'Astrology' as defined in the Sorcery Killing Technique was marked as an 'extremely difficult sorcery,' Shin Se-yeon was learning it at tremendous speed and even adapting it for practical use. She was indeed worthy of being called a genius.

"But in the end, even training so complacently has its clear limits."

But ultimately, there was a limit.

Training was, after all, just 'training.'

'No matter how talented Shin Se-yeon is, it can't compare to a real life-or-death situation.'

Humans hone their skills through gaining experience in extreme, life-threatening situations.

Moreover—

'Shin Se-yeon truly gains confidence in her astrology when she dodges a bullet with it.'

To trigger her breakthrough, she had to dodge that bullet.

But—

'She hates it so much, there's no helping it.'

Kim Dojun, looking at Shin Se-yeon, who was utterly disgusted, decided to put his gun away.

At this, Shin Se-yeon let out a sigh of relief, trying not to show it.

Instead, Kim Dojun lowered his head to the ground and started picking something up.

"... What are you doing?"

Ignoring Shin Se-yeon's question, he stood and stretched out his hand.

"It's a rock. Surely, you have no complaints about this?"

"A rock?"

"Yeah, you said you hated guns. Then as the next best thing, I'll use rocks. It seems there's no need to train with a foam hammer anymore."

After glancing between Kim Dojun's face and the rock, Shin Se-yeon finally nodded.

"Fine."

"Good. From now on, we'll train with this rock. Let me say it again: trust me and follow my lead. I promise I'll help you kill your father."

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but stop saying that!"

"In that case, your old man—"

"Don't use that, either!"

"You sure are demanding."

"... Seriously, I can't figure you out...!!"

When he clicked his tongue, Shin Se-yeon scowled in frustration, as if she were the one more irritated, but she soon gave up and spoke.

"Fine, let's just get on with the training...."

"A wise decision. Get ready, then."

Nodding at Kim Dojun's words, Shin Se-yeon let out a deep breath, cleared her thoughts, and began to use astrology.

Once Shin Se-yeon seemed tense and ready, Kim Dojun took one of the rocks from his right hand and moved it to his left.

"Hoo—"

He threw it.

KWAANG!

A huge explosion rang out at the same time.

"?"

Noticing that her hair was being blown by the wind, Shin Se-yeon turned around, confused.

And soon, she saw it.

Crunch! Crackle!

A rock embedded right in the middle of a tree, and the tree creaking and about to collapse from the impact.

CRAAAACK! RUMBLEEE!

"...."

As soon as Shin Se-yeon looked, the tree—waiting as if it had been expecting her gaze—broke apart completely.

"Sorry about that."

As she stared blankly, a voice brought Shin Se-yeon back, and she turned her head.

"I must have aimed poorly. This time, I'll throw it correctly."

"Wait wait wait wait wait-!!!"

Though she frantically tried to stop Kim Dojun, who was apologizing and getting ready again—

"Here we goooo—!!!"

"Kyaaaaaa!!!"

He had already started throwing rocks.

And that day, more than ten trees along the trail they used as their training ground were completely destroyed.

"What, what happened?!"

"Are we under attack?!"

The instructors, already on edge from a string of incidents at the Sorcery Institute, rushed over with all sorts of spiritual tools in hand.

"Huh...huhu, I—I survived...."

The day's training ended with Shin Se-yeon, unnoticed by the instructors, returning home in tears of relief at her survival.

####

The dormitory inside the Sorcery Institute.

Go Seung-jun, the eldest son of the Gogun Corporation and a man who wielded unmatched power through wealth—at least in Korea—had been behaving quietly for the past few weeks.

To be more precise, ever since he'd tried to mess with Kim Dojun, got beaten terribly, and even got scolded by an instructor, Go Seung-jun had been keeping a low profile.

He didn't even hang out with his usual gang.

At this point, someone might think:
Go Seung-jun had been completely reformed by Kim Dojun's guidance machine #1 and #2.

But people don't change that easily.

Go Seung-jun had not changed.

No, if anything, from that point on, virtually the only thing in Go Seung-jun's mind was rage at Kim Dojun and the desire to crush him.

He had kept quiet only because he was racking his brain over how to take down Kim Dojun.

He had plenty of ideas, of course.

After all, in this world there was nothing that money couldn't do, and Go Seung-jun knew better than anyone how powerful money could be.

From a young age, he'd seen that the world moved on money—and even now, it was a world where everything could be bought.

Still, the only reason he wasn't making a move was that he hadn't had an opportunity.

A chance to crush Kim Dojun.

So he waited for that moment.

A moment when he could use his financial power to absolutely, decisively destroy Kim Dojun.

And then—

"Found it."

At the end of his wait, Go Seung-jun finally found it.

The perfect timing for his plan.

"Is this real?"

"Yes, sir."

Hearing his question, the bodyguard standing behind him answered.

As Go Seung-jun listened, he looked again at the paper he'd been handed.

[Final Exam. 3-day, 2-night Survival.]
[Location: Duryeong Mountain.]

What he was currently reading.

This was information that hadn't yet been officially released to the Sorcery Institute—in fact, it would not be until the day of the final exam.

Staring at it, Go Seung-jun thought:
'Kim Dojun, I'll let you know myself.'

With a vicious smile, he gave directions to his bodyguard—

"Spread the word."

"Yes, sir."

—and grinned fiercely.

'I'll show you that this world runs not on power, but on money. And what happens when you go against me...!'

####

Meanwhile—

Inside the Pantheon, in the lair of Twisted Evil.

"...."

There, Aryong was unable to conceal his immense discomfort as he spoke with Lee Seokdo.

"You're telling me that guy has made moves on 23 of the external subsidiary organizations?"

"Yes. Not only that—he apparently said they should become allies, and if they refused, he wiped out every single one."

"Ha.... And even took out one of the execution squad?"

"Yes, one of the bone collectors out in the outer zone was killed."

"Bone collector... You mean Gaulung?"

"Yes. Reportedly, the attacker broke out of the Bone Prison Gaulung built and stabbed his heart with one of its bones."

"You mean, he broke out of Gaulung's Bone Prison, which can contain even grade 1 possessed entities?"

"That's what the report says."

At Lee Seokdo's words, Aryong let out a hollow laugh, blatantly frowning.

"What the hell is this guy?"

Alongside this, Aryong tried to recall anyone who could fit the profile of 'Scorpion Monster', but quickly shook his head.

Aryong certainly knew a lot of people, but no matter how much he thought, no one came to mind.

The Scorpion Monster was powerful enough to destroy organizations by himself in the Pantheon and to escape alone from a Bone Prison that could contain even grade 1 phantom beast spirits.

'Which means—'

He was at least as strong as Aryong, if not stronger.

Once that conclusion was reached, only a handful of names came to mind.

From the get-go, the number of sorcerers with power equal to Aryong was extremely small.

And among those he knew, there was no one crazy enough to antagonize Twisted Evil like this.

Sure, a few people Aryong knew had enough power to mess with Twisted Evil if they wanted, but even then, he shook his head.

They had no reason to stir up such trouble; at least, they wouldn't put it into action.

"What's the situation in the outer zone?"

After a while, feeling a headache coming on, Aryong pressed his brow and asked.

"For now, people are keeping it hush-hush, but the overall mood isn't good."

Thinking for a moment, Aryong let out a dry laugh, then posed another question.

"What about those Scarab bastards? They're good at sniffing things out, right? Last you reported, wasn't Feradus chasing with everything he's got?"

"That's correct, but there's... a bit of a problem."

"Problem?"

Aryong tilted his head in confusion, so Lee Seokdo nodded and explained.

"Avalanche wiped out Feradus."

"... Avalanche? You mean those Italian mafia punks?"

"Yes."

"Why them?"

"Details haven't come in yet, but that's how it is for now..."

At Lee Seokdo's troubled tone, Aryong muttered under his breath, "Nothing's working out, damn it," then continued.

"What about the other Scarabs? We've commissioned them too, so the others must be making a move, right?"

"Well..."

"Now what...?"

"... Currently, Avalanche is hunting down all the prominent Scarabs, so they've all gone into hiding."

"...."

While Aryong's face went blank—

Over at the hideout of 'Dirgo,' one of the more prominent Scarab factions—

"Do you know high school girls or not!?"

"Please, spare me!"

Tia was crushing Dirgo, a name among the countless 'enemies' listed for her by the now destroyed Feradus.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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