I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 103

EP.103 Phantom Thief Kang Seo-jun (1)

It was time to hunt down ‘Omen’s Secret Warehouse’.

“Se-rin, you should go back to the academy now.”

“…Huh? Aren’t we going back together?”

Kang Seo-jun spoke without hiding anything.

“I’m going to Ulleungdo. There’s a warehouse hidden by a demon there. I’m planning to steal some items from it.”

He didn’t bother explaining the mechanics of the 《Dimensional Shop》, but he was honest about where he was going and what he was going to do. He had promised Jin Se-rin after collapsing from 《Drug Addiction》 that he wouldn’t hide where he was going from her anymore. There were constellations that valued promises with heroines, and Kang Seo-jun himself wanted to keep his promises with his heroine as much as possible.

However, he had to be cautious.

“It’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone, okay? You know that, right?”

“Of course! I have that much sense!”

Jin Se-rin felt a bit dissatisfied, thinking Seo-jun saw her as a child, but she was more worried about something else.

“If you’re going to fight again, can’t I come with you? I can fight pretty well now.”

After going through the 《First Awakening》, her pure specs were close to [B] grade, and with various trait bonuses, her practical specs could even compete with [A] grade.

“Or let’s ask Eun-ha unni to come with us! We can trust her…! Even if not the other guards…. She also saw the 《Record of Destiny》!”

Kang Seo-jun had told her the name of that magical parchment.

“Huh? Huh? Seo-jun~ Aren’t you always having a hard time alone? I can be a good porter too!”

Indeed, having Jin Se-rin and Seo Eun-ha with him would be a strong reinforcement. However….

“It’s okay. If it were a frontal assault, maybe, but today I’m going to sneak in, so it’s better to move alone.”

The strategy for raiding the warehouse this time was stealth. Stealth required speed and quiet movements, so having companions would be more of a hindrance than a help.

“But I’ll be back at the dorm by tomorrow morning. So, you don’t need to worry too much. Ah, but just in case, I’ll contact you if I’m late.”

“Mm….”

Jin Se-rin still seemed dissatisfied and pouted, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she eventually let her lips droop.

“Alright…. But if it gets dangerous, you have to contact me, okay? I’ll come running right away! If you’re late, make sure to contact me! If I don’t see you in the room tomorrow, I’ll take Eun-ha and my security team to search Ulleungdo!?”

Kang Seo-jun nodded with a satisfied smile.

“That’s reassuring. But you don’t need to worry too much. There won’t be any problems.”

The secret warehouse on Ulleungdo was the smallest among Omen’s secret warehouses, and its security was the most lax. The demons there were only about [C] grade on average, and their numbers didn’t exceed 30. There might be a few [B] grades, but Kang Seo-jun planned to enter the warehouse through a secret passage, so the chances of encountering them head-on were low.

“But I’m still worried….”

“It’ll be fine.”

“But still….”

“Are you going to be stubborn?”

“N-no! I won’t be stubborn!”

“?”

Her answer was excellent.

“Good. Then head back to the academy. I have some things to take care of. Don’t worry too much. Don’t wait for my call and make sure to sleep at night, okay?”

“Okay…. Then…. um…. see you tomorrow!”

Jin Se-rin waved her hand and slowly walked away. Even though he had insisted that she should sleep at night, and she had agreed, he had a feeling that she would stay up waiting for his call.

Well…. There’s nothing I can do about that.’

It pained him a bit to see his heroine go through unnecessary worry. But it would only be for now. In the future, he would make her look forward to things rather than worry.

If Kang Seo-jun continued to grow, Jin Se-rin would have more reasons to look forward to the future with him rather than worry.

‘Shall I get moving then?’

Time was limited. He had to finish the job before morning.

====

***

====

Kang Seo-jun made the necessary preparations to raid Omen’s secret warehouse.

There’s less to prepare than I thought.’

▶Parasitic Growth

※Special Effect 1. With ‘Parasitic Growth,’ each time your stats increase by 1 point, you can exchange one desired trait with the host.

[Remaining Trait Exchange Points: 0]

He had stopped his mana cultivation just before the next level to obtain the ‘Trait Exchange Ticket’ from Park Shin-hye through 《Parasitic Growth》, and after buying a few items, all the preparations for the warehouse raid were complete.

Alright. That’s it for the preparations.’

In reality, Omen’s secret warehouse wasn’t a place that could be raided with such minimal preparation.

As seen in heist genres like ‘GTA5,’ raiding a big shot’s warehouse typically requires extensive preparations, including information gathering, special equipment creation, escape route planning, and hiring experts in specific fields. However, Kang Seo-jun was an exception.

He had the 《Dimensional Shop》, the 《Eye of Providence》, and ‘veteran knowledge,’ allowing him to skip all those preparations. He could hide his appearance and presence with the 《Presence Concealing Cloak》 and 《Invisibility Oil》, travel using the 《Dimensional Shop Teleport Scroll》, and handle emergencies with the 《Potion of Power Concentration》, 《Blessed Holy Water of the Cherished Saint》, and other 《Dimensional Shop Potions》.

Other than that, there wasn’t much else he needed.

Even if he needed something more, he could just buy it from the Dimensional Shop once he got there, so there was no burden. It was practically a walk in the park. Just a trip to Ulleungdo~’

– Rip. –

With such thoughts, Kang Seo-jun tore the 《Dimensional Shop Teleport Scroll》.

– Flash. –

In an instant, his view changed with a purple flash. The quiet dormitory disappeared, replaced by the cool sea breeze and a beautiful night sky.

▶Dimensional Shop Teleport Scroll

A one-time use scroll imbued with teleportation magic. Consumes dimension currency proportional to the travel distance.

‘It did cost some dimension currency, but there was no item as convenient as this.’

Following the coordinates written on the scroll, Kang Seo-jun arrived at his desired location in less than a second.

– Whoosh! –

The cool sea breeze blew.

– Splash! –

He could hear the sound of waves crashing not far away.

Kang Seo-jun was positioned in the bushes near a lighthouse perched on a coastal cliff of Ulleungdo. He hid in the bushes and stared at the white lighthouse.

Inside that lighthouse was a secret passage leading to Omen’s secret warehouse.

‘It’s practically an empty house.’

Only ordinary people were in the lighthouse. There were no demons. This place merely had a secret passage leading to Omen’s warehouse. The secret warehouse itself was located in a demon’s hideout, which was quite far from here. Omen couldn’t chase away his subordinates from the hideout every time he visited the secret warehouse, so he had created a secret passage far away.

‘Such meticulousness had now become a poison.’

The mechanism Omen had set up to hide the secret warehouse from his subordinates had turned into a weakness due to the irregularity named Kang Seo-jun.

‘Thanks to that, the job became much easier.’

Without needing to fight the demons, he could reach the secret warehouse by simply passing through one door. He could only be grateful for Omen’s efforts.

Kang Seo-jun draped himself in the 《Presence Concealing Cloak》 coated with 《Invisibility Oil》 and silently approached the lighthouse. There was no need to enter the lighthouse where the lighthouse keepers were on duty. He headed to the back of the lighthouse, towards the door leading to the underground storage.

Soon, he arrived at an old, rusty iron door that looked like it hadn’t been maintained for decades. There were no CCTV cameras or anything similar. Without hesitation, Kang Seo-jun grabbed the handle and turned the knob, making sure to wrap his hand in the cloak to avoid leaving fingerprints.

– Screech. –

The rusty metal made a chilling noise as it moved, but it wasn’t too loud. Kang Seo-jun quickly slipped through the door, making sure no one saw him.

‘Sigh…. The smell of mold.’

It was very dark inside, but darkness posed no problem for Kang Seo-jun, who had the 《Eye of Providence》.

‘Speed is crucial in stealth.’

He descended the stairs like the wind. Eventually, he stopped in a corner of the underground storage. Rows of old cabinets, whose age was indeterminable, stood before him.

‘It was definitely the third cabinet.’

Kang Seo-jun opened the third cabinet from the corner.

– Screech. –

There was nothing inside, but an old parchment was stuck to the wall. Kang Seo-jun activated the 《Eye of Providence》 as he looked at the parchment.

– Whoom. –

Soon, a red magic circle appeared on the parchment.

‘A makeshift magic portal scroll.’

As the name suggested, it was a portal scroll that could only be activated with demonic energy. It was an item that came in a set of two parchments. When demonic energy was infused correctly, a portal connecting the two parchments would open.

‘Originally, it was something that required demonic energy to use.’

Kang Seo-jun took out a high-grade demonic crystal from his pocket. It was a demonic crystal purchased from the Dimensional Shop, something the demons couldn’t get enough of.

‘But it doesn’t matter to me.’

He then summoned dark attribute mana with his left hand.

‘By using dark attribute mana, I can control demonic energy.’

This was also the reason why he was only raiding this easy-to-plunder warehouse now. Although the secret warehouse on Ulleungdo was the easiest to raid among Omen’s warehouses, opening the secret passage required dark attribute mana and skilled mana manipulation.

– Sssss….–

Kang Seo-jun infused dark mana into the demonic crystal. Immediately, the demonic energy contained within the crystal began to seep out. Only dark mana could expel demonic energy in this manner. Infusing regular mana would cause a collision and explosion, and light attribute mana would purify the demonic energy entirely. By infusing dark attribute mana, which had similar properties to demonic energy, he could expel it without altering its nature.

‘Now then…’

Kang Seo-jun brought the seeping demonic energy close to the parchment. The red magic circle inscribed on the parchment began to glow more brightly. It was as if the power had been turned on.

‘Now for the ritual…’

Using the 《Eye of Providence》, he interpreted the ritual. Then, like drawing in the sand with his hand, he manipulated the demonic energy with dark mana to fit the correct ritual pattern.

– Whoom! –

As he completed the final part of the ritual, a faint noise like microphone feedback emanated from the parchment.

– Bzzzzzzzz! –

Simultaneously, a portal opened inside the cabinet, revealing another underground space.

– Huuuu…. –

A musty and damp smell wafted from the red plasma portal.

Hmm~’

Kang Seo-jun savored the musty scent.

It smells like dimension currency….’

He began to move towards the treasure trove.