I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 107

EP.107 Phantom Thief Kang Seo-jun (5)

───────《Item》───────

▶Necklace Containing Corrupted Essence of Flame

◆Grade:

[Epic]

◆Description:

This necklace contains the essence of flame corrupted by dark mana.

Wearing it will grant you the trait 《Fire Attribute Dark Mana Lv. Rare》.

This item is exclusive to [Demons], [Demonkin], and [Devils].

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Now, extracting the 《Fire Attribute Mana》 from this necklace and looting Sakura’s equipment would complete the farming on Ulleungdo.

‘First, let’s extract the essence.’

While prioritizing stability would mean purifying before extracting, speed was more crucial for Kang Seo-jun at the moment.

‘It’s much easier and faster to purify the essence after extracting it from the necklace.’

After all, it’s hard to clean the contents while they’re still wrapped. All he had to do was endure the pain.

If there’s something I need to endure for speed, it’s just the contamination from dark mana and the searing pain of the flame.’

‘Such things are nothing to me.’

He would purify the dark mana contamination with light attribute mana and endure the searing pain with sheer willpower.

‘Let’s start right away.’

Kang Seo-jun used the 《Eye of Providence》 to meticulously analyze the spells engraved on the necklace. Soon, he discovered the spell that was trapping the essence of flame.

I just need to undo this.’

– Click! –

Undoing the spell was not difficult at all. He merely had to follow the formula provided by the 《Eye of Providence》 and infuse a bit of dark attribute mana.

‘Having dark mana makes things much easier.’

Most spells woven with mana could be easily nullified using dark mana.

– Fwoosh! –

As soon as he dispelled the spell trapping the essence, a vividly red, blood- like flame began to float above the large red gem of the necklace. This was the corrupted essence of flame.

‘This is where it gets important.’

Kang Seo-jun quickly grabbed the essence of flame before it could attach itself to anything else.

“Ugh, argh!!!”

Naturally, it was excruciatingly hot and painful. He could vividly feel the dark mana corrupting his nerves and the flame scorching his skin. But this was pain he had anticipated from the start. Gritting his teeth, Kang Seo-jun infused light mana into his palm, which was being ravaged by immense pain.

– Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! –

He supplemented his insufficient mana with mana potions from the dimensional shop. He had drunk so many mana potions that his entire mouth was now filled with their scent.

– Fwoosh! Fwoosh! –

“Ugh, argh!!!”

The purification of the dark mana was quicker than expected, but the heat of the flame remained intense. Now, he had to incorporate this into his body.

Swallowing it would cook all his internal organs, so he had to absorb the pure flame energy through mana cultivation.

‘Come, come!’

Holding the scorching essence in his hand, Kang Seo-jun sat cross- legged. It felt like holding a piece of red- hot charcoal. For an ordinary student, even touching it with their fingertip would have made them scream, but Kang Seo-jun, with his superhuman endurance and concentration, gripped it tightly and began his mana cultivation.

‘Ugh, argh!!!’

The pain that had been burning his palm started to spread through his wrist, shoulder, and eventually his entire body. The pure flame energy began to surge through his mana circuits, racing throughout his body.

‘Ugh, argh!!!’

‘It felt as if molten iron was being driven into his nerves, bones, and stomach. Damn it!!! I should have taken a painkiller from the market!!!’

Trying to save a few dimensional coins had led to one of the top five most painful experiences of his life.

– Fwoosh! –

But no pain lasts forever. As he endured with superhuman mental strength and continued his mana cultivation without stopping, the intense pain gradually began to subside.

“Huff, huff, huff…!”

Kang Seo-jun took deep breaths intermittently. As his mana circuits and various parts of his body had been seared, black smoke and the smell of burning wafted from his mouth.

“Damn it…. I almost died.”

Kang Seo-jun used light attribute mana to soothe his burned circuits and organs.

Kang Seo-jun could feel the once wild essence of flame gradually being tamed within his body. Soon, the system messages he had been waiting for flooded his vision.

[You have successfully absorbed the item 《Essence of Flame》!]

[You have acquired the trait 《Fire Attribute Mana Lv. Rare》!]

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[Your fire magic becomes more powerful!]

[Your fire resistance increases!]

[Your bond with fire- aligned constellations strengthens.]

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[The trait 《Fire Attribute Mana Lv. Rare》 resonates with the trait 《Extreme Yang Body Lv. Rare+》. The trait 《Extreme Yang Body Lv. Rare+》 upgrades to 《Extreme Yang Body Lv. Epic- 》!]

“Ugh….”

Finally, he felt alive again. As soon as his fire resistance kicked in, the scorching heat that seemed like it would burn his entire body subsided.

‘I feel like I might pass out.’

Although he wanted to lie down and catch his breath for just 10 minutes, Kang Seo-jun forced himself to get up with superhuman willpower. As he had mentioned several times, speed was the most crucial aspect of a stealth mission. Even though it was more like looting a field of corpses now, hurrying was still beneficial.

‘Sigh…. Just a quick spray of the Downtown cleanliness spray and the upper floor farming is done.’

Kang Seo-jun meticulously sprayed the 《Downtown cleanliness spray》 all over the demon hideout, ensuring that he cleaned up all traces of himself and the demon corpses.

‘Now, I just need to loot Sakura’s equipment. This has been a productive farming session.’

Leaving the now spotless hideout behind, Kang Seo-jun descended back to the basement. The concrete passageway was as dark as ever, with not a single ray of light. Sakura was still lying in the same spot, in the same position, without the slightest movement.

Before approaching her, Kang Seo-jun activated the 《Eye of Providence》 once more.

▶Kuyamoto Sakura

[Current Status: Full- body anesthesia, mental contamination, unconscious, diaphragm damage, rib fractures….]

[Time until consciousness recovery: 26 hours 16 minutes….]

He had worried that she might be on the verge of waking up or pretending to be unconscious, but fortunately, she was genuinely out cold. There was still plenty of time until she regained consciousness.

Of course, this was only if she was left undisturbed. Making loud noises or shaking her body could significantly shorten that time.

‘Be as careful as possible…. Keep the noise to a minimum….’

Kang Seo-jun approached her stealthily, kneeling down on one knee beside her.

‘Ugh, ugh….’

– Thump! Thump! Thump! –

The thought of having to strip Sakura of her equipment made his heart race.

‘Damn, I’m nervous….’

However, it wasn’t because Sakura was an S- grade beauty. It was because one wrong move could result in his body being sliced at the atomic level.

He was nervous because she was a sleeping [S- ] grade monster.

– Thump! Thump! Thump! –

Kang Seo-jun slowly turned her over, feeling as if he were defusing a bomb.

– Thud! –

▶Kuyamoto Sakura

[Time until consciousness recovery: 26 hours 15 minutes → 25 hours 27 minutes]

‘F-fuck!?’

Just turning her body over had reduced the time until she regained consciousness by almost an hour. It was likely due to her excessively high recovery rate and sensitive senses.

‘This is driving me crazy!’

It felt like he was secretly plucking the whiskers of a sleeping lion.

‘But there’s no other choice!’

Kang Seo-jun glared at her with the 《Eye of Providence》. Soon, detailed information about her equipment and how to dismantle it appeared before his eyes.

‘Alright. Let’s do this slowly.’

Sakura was wearing a garment that looked like a mix between a kimono and a kendo uniform. Beneath it, he could glimpse a suit- like light armor that Black Widow might wear during an infiltration mission.

Without the 《Eye of Providence》, he wouldn’t have known where to start or how to remove it.

– Clink! Click! Ziiip! Sliiide! –

Following the guidance of the 《Eye of Providence》, Kang Seo-jun began dismantling her equipment piece by piece. He unbuttoned, cut strings, unzipped, and carefully peeled away layers.

After repeating this process for a while, the complex task that had seemed like a tangled mess began to show signs of completion.

‘…By the way, it’s impressive….’

As expected of an elite hunter at the [S- ] grade, each piece of her equipment was at least [Rare+] grade, with many items being [Epic] grade or higher.

‘Wow. This is….’

Among her accessories, there was even a [Legendary] grade necklace that enhanced her defensive capabilities.

‘Her gear is really well set up. Sakura’s only weakness is her defense. Accessories like this can compensate for that.’

Kang Seo-jun sold all items below [Rare+] grade and kept the items that were [Epic] grade or higher.

The expensive ones will go into the 《Life Support Device of Galactic Emperor》.’

As soon as he returned to the dormitory and entered the life support device, he could remove a significant number of debuff traits by the next morning.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

“Ah, ah…!”

‘Oh no.’

Everything was going so smoothly that he let his guard down for a moment. He applied too much pressure with his hand!

While removing her equipment, he accidentally pressed against her chest.

‘No, but…!’

He didn’t press hard; it was just a light touch with the back of his hand.

▶Kuyamoto Sakura

[Time until consciousness recovery: 25 hours 27 minutes → 21 hours 07 minutes]

‘Damn it…!’

The time until she regained consciousness had decreased by over 4 hours.

‘Isn’t this way too sensitive?!’

Cold sweat poured down Kang Seo-jun’s forehead and back like rain.

‘I can’t let my guard down. From now on, I have to be careful not to even let my breath touch her…! One wrong move and it’ll be over in an instant!’

As more of Sakura’s skin was exposed, her heightened sensitivity increased. The more equipment he removed, the higher the looting difficulty became.

To avoid dying, he had to focus with microscopic precision now that most of her bare skin was exposed. Having already used his Counter Time ability, if she woke up, it would truly be the end.

Even if he drank a 《Potion of Full Concentration》, which would allow him to hold his own for 5 minutes, Sakura would probably decapitate him before he could even drink it.

It’s almost the final stage…. I can’t let my guard down until the very end…!’

– Sliiide! Sliiide! –

– Ziiip! Snip! –

“Ugh…. Ugh….”

[Time until consciousness recovery: 21 hours 07 minutes → 20 hours 46 minutes]

.

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[Time until consciousness recovery: 20 hours 46 minutes → 19 hours 59 minutes]

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[Time until consciousness recovery: 19 hours 59 minutes → 19 hours 17 minutes]

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However, while removing her equipment, it was inevitable that his hands would occasionally touch her bare skin.

– Thump! Thump! Thump! –

Each time his hand brushed against her skin, the time until she regained consciousness decreased without exception. As the time decreased, Kang Seo-jun’s heart began to beat more violently.

‘This sensitivity is beyond extreme…! There should be a limit to how sensitive someone can be…!’

Her skin was so sensitive that even a few light touches caused a faint blush to appear on her cheeks and the areas he touched.

Still, by diligently and carefully moving his hands, the task was finally completed.

‘Phew….’

Kang Seo-jun exhaled a sigh while looking at the ceiling, careful not to let his breath touch her.

‘Phew. I thought I was going to die from the tension.’

While looting her equipment, he even sold her underwear to the dimensional shop. It was made of [Rare+] grade material, so how could he resist selling it?

However, when he touched her underwear, her consciousness recovery time was shortened by a staggering 8 hours, which scared him.

‘There’s no time to rest.’

▶Kuyamoto Sakura

[Time until consciousness recovery: 8 hours 07 minutes….]

He had only spent 30 minutes removing her equipment, but the time until she regained consciousness had decreased dramatically.

‘Such insane mental strength, recovery rate, and sensitivity….’

Even though Kuyamoto Sakura’s stats were skewed in this direction, this was still too extreme.

‘Now that she’s naked, even the slightest mistake could wake her up immediately. I need to get out of here quickly.’

But before that….

▶Kuyamoto Sakura

[Current Status: Full- body anesthesia, mental contamination, unconscious, diaphragm damage, rib fractures….]

‘…Although these are minor injuries, should I treat her before leaving?’

After all, he was a good person, and leaving her like this on the ground didn’t sit well with him.

[The constellation 《Tree Guardian of the Flame Realm》 sponsors you with dimensional currency.]

[The constellation 《Queen of the Deepest Depths》 sponsors you with dimensional currency.]

[The constellation 《Golden Fox of the Sun and Moon Palace》 sponsors you with dimensional currency.]

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It seemed the constellations were pleased with Kang Seo-jun’s decision, as they sent him dimensional currency.

‘Phew….’

The treatment was completed in about 5 minutes. Healing her injuries all at once might wake her up immediately, so he set up a healing magic totem nearby and even covered her with a blanket, just in case.

‘This should be enough. Now, let’s get out of here quickly.’

Kang Seo-jun hurriedly left the underground storage. On his way out, he didn’t forget to grab the ‘Portal Scroll’ from the secret passage.

Now it was time to return to the dormitory, shop for combat skills, and use the 《Life Support Device of Galactic Emperor》 to treat his debuff traits.