I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 123

EP.123 The Heart of the Red Cross Society (1)

The third basement floor of the Taesan family mansion.

As soon as Kang Seo-jun returned from the 《Dimensional Rift Logistics Warehouse》, he checked the time. It was now 5:51 AM. There were only 9 minutes left until his scheduled meeting with Grandfather Park Tae-ho at 6 AM.

‘Let’s hurry up before I’m late.’

Kang Seo-jun took the stairs three to four steps at a time, quickly making his way up to the first-floor lounge.

– Empty. –

‘No one here.’

He realized that although they had agreed to meet at 6 AM at the mansion, they hadn’t specified an exact location.

‘Where could he be….’

Kang Seo-jun activated the 《Eye of Providence》 to search the mansion thoroughly.

‘Ah, he’s still getting ready.’

Park Tae-ho was in his room, receiving help from the servants to put on his armor.

‘I’ll just sit and wait for a bit.’

Since Park Tae-ho would have to pass through these stairs to come down to the first floor, they would naturally meet once he was ready. Kang Seo-jun sat down on the side of the stairs and opened the system window.

There was something he needed to do while waiting.

‘First, I need to decide which hideout to farm first.’

There were currently four remaining secret warehouses of Omen, giving him four options.

‘Which one would be the best….’

There were several factors to consider.

‘First, I need to avoid overlapping with the Kuyamoto clan’s route.’

Previously, he had defeated Kuyamoto Sakura and left her a note with the coordinates of the ‘Red Cross Society’s hideouts,’ so there was a high chance that some of the hideouts had already been raided by the Kuyamoto clan.

‘There’s no need to take Grandfather Park Tae-ho to a hideout that the Kuyamoto clan has already cleared of demons.’

If the demons had already been cleared, Kang Seo-jun could handle the secret warehouse alone. He needed to find a hideout that the Kuyamoto clan hadn’t raided yet and still required demon clearing.

‘Let’s see….’

The remaining secret warehouses of Omen were currently….

One in Russia, one in Jeju Island, one in Gangwon Province, and one at the headquarters of the Red Cross Society in Mount Kumgang. A total of four.

‘We’ll exclude the headquarters for today.’

The leader of the Red Cross Society, Omen, who was likely at the headquarters, had specs equivalent to [S+] grade, just like Park Tae-ho. If things went wrong, Grandfather Park Tae-ho could be killed by Omen.

It would be safer for Kang Seo-jun to head to the headquarters after growing his specs a bit more.

‘So, we’ll exclude Mount Kumgang for now. That leaves Russia, Jeju Island, and Gangwon Province. I need to choose from these three.’

First, he needed to determine where the Kuyamoto clan was currently cleaning up.

‘It’s been quite some time since I gave Sakura the coordinates. By now, they’ve probably finished cleaning at least one place.’

Kang Seo-jun activated the 《Eye of Providence》 and started by checking the hideout in Russia.

– Whirr. –

Magical circles interlocked and rotated before his eyes. Soon, the image of the Russian hideout began to appear in the center of the magical circles.

– Murmur, murmur…. –

“……….”

The Russian hideout was an underground bunker located halfway up a mountain. In front of the entrance, Russian men in suits and members of the Kuyamoto clan in martial arts uniforms were seen conversing.

‘Oh… looks like this place is already done.’

Judging by the situation, the men in suits were likely members of the Russian Hunter Association. It seemed that the hideout had already been cleaned, and the association was overseeing its organization.

‘I’ll have to give up on farming the corpses.’

The purification experts from the Russian Association were already handling the demon corpses.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Corpses of demons below [A] grade are just pocket change now.’

In RPG games, you might farm junk in the early stages, but in the later stages, you only pick up what you need. It was time for Kang Seo-jun to graduate from junk farming.

‘As long as the secret warehouse is intact, it’s fine.’

All the valuable items of [Epic] grade or higher were in the secret warehouse anyway.

‘The Kuyamoto clan and the Russian Association will never find the secret warehouse.’

While Kang Seo-jun could easily locate it with his seasoned knowledge and the 《Eye of Providence》, Omen’s secret warehouse was not something that could be found easily. The entrance was designed to be invisible to the naked eye and was covered with detection-blocking spells, making it undetectable by most magic.

‘Once the people clear out a bit, I can go in alone and clean out the secret warehouse.’

For now, he decided to put the Russian hideout on hold.

‘That leaves Jeju Island and Gangwon Province.’

Kang Seo-jun activated the 《Eye of Providence》 again, this time to check the hideout in Jeju Island. The hideout in Jeju Island was a cave beneath a coastal cliff.

‘Huh….’

– BOOM! BOOM! –

A battle was currently taking place there in real-time.

‘What the… no way!’

Kang Seo-jun’s eyes widened as he spotted a familiar face amidst the battle.

‘Kuyamoto Musashi himself…!?’

The head of the Kuyamoto clan, renowned for their swordsmanship in Japan. An [S+] grade hunter known by the moniker “Flash Sword” (閃劍). He was at the forefront of the battle, shredding the demons like a living blender.

‘It looks like collecting corpses here will be difficult too….’

There wouldn’t be anything left to sell if everything was turned into mush….

‘…Nothing more to see here.’

The Jeju Island hideout would soon be cleaned out as well. Who would have thought the Kuyamoto clan would be so diligent in their cleanup? It seemed they were furious about Kenji Kuyamoto being turned into a bloody mess. Since Musashi himself had sent Kenji to Korea, he might feel a sense of responsibility and a desire for revenge as the clan head.

‘In reality, the Kenji incident has nothing to do with the Red Cross Society. If they had found out I was the real culprit… I don’t even want to imagine.’

Without the luck ’50’ from 《Favored One》, Kang Seo-jun would have died several times over by now.

‘So, the only place left is Gangwon Province.’

Kang Seo-jun activated the 《Eye of Providence》 to check the last candidate, Gangwon Province. If the Kuyamoto clan was also cleaning up there, he would have to look into overseas villain organizations or hidden dungeons for today’s farming.

‘Oh….’

Fortunately, Gangwon Province still seemed untouched.

‘This is really lucky.’

Unlike the other hideouts, the Gangwon Province hideout had more to offer besides corpses and a secret warehouse.

‘The Gangwon Province hideout is like the logistics center of the Red Cross Society.’

The Red Cross Society temporarily stored items stolen and seized in Korea at the Gangwon Province hideout before moving them to the headquarters. Supplies sent from the headquarters to Korea were also first delivered to the Gangwon Province hideout before being distributed to regional branches.

If the headquarters in Mount Kumgang was the brain of the Red Cross Society, the Gangwon Province hideout was essentially its heart.

‘Let’s see… how much stuff have they piled up now…. Oh wow….’

The logistics warehouse was fully stocked. It was a bountiful sight, even more so than what he had seen in the game [Grand Hunter Academy].

‘Omen must be really desperate.’

This situation was undoubtedly a result of Omen’s actions.

Since many executives and hideouts had been raided recently, Omen must have raised the alert level to the highest and gathered important artifacts from various branches to this Gangwon Province hideout before they could be stolen.

‘With so many items gathered, the place must be crawling with demons.’

Omen wouldn’t have overlooked the possibility of the Gangwon Province hideout being attacked. He must have concentrated all sorts of elite demons there as a countermeasure against any raids.

‘Even better.’

Grandfather Park Tae-ho would turn their bones, flesh, and equipment into dimensional currency.

‘Moreover, Gangwon Province has many hidden dungeons.’

After raiding the Gangwon Province hideout, they could sweep through the hidden dungeons as a dessert.

‘Great. Let’s move before the Kuyamoto clan gets ahead of us.’

The decision for today’s farming location was made.

“Oh. You’re already here?”

“?”

At that perfect timing, Park Tae-ho appeared from behind.

“If you arrived first, you should have come to my room. Did you wait long?”

“No, I just got here.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“?”

After greeting him, Kang Seo-jun noticed that Park Tae-ho’s complexion looked much better than yesterday. His previously dry white hair was now full of luster, and his eyes, which were always bloodshot, looked clear and clean today.

“You can see that I’ve changed, can’t you?”

“Ah, yes. You look much healthier than yesterday.”

“Haha. It’s been almost 30 years since I slept so soundly. It must be thanks to you. Thank you.”

“…Excuse me?”

Why was he suddenly thanking him?

“Don’t be modest. The nightmares that plagued me for 30 years suddenly disappeared today. Who else could have made that possible but you?”

“…Ah?”

What was this old man talking about? Nightmares for 30 years? That wasn’t a setting in the game [Grand Hunter Academy]….

[Intelligence: 26] [Insight Check Success!]

‘Ah!?’

Suddenly, an intuitive insight into the current situation struck Kang Seo-jun’s mind.

‘Could it be because of Tirving?’

Thirty years ago was when Park Tae-ho had just started using Tirving.

‘Hmm.’

Come to think of it, in the game [Grand Hunter Academy], using Tirving did come with the penalty called 《Call of Madness》. It reduced fatigue recovery by 40% and increased stress levels if the user didn’t destroy or kill something every single day—a debuff penalty fitting for a cursed sword that led its user to madness and destruction.

‘But it wasn’t that hard to remove the penalty….’

Removing the 《Call of Madness》 penalty was simple. All one had to do was change the owner of Tirving. Once the ownership was transferred, the 《Call of Madness》 would gradually disappear over time. The process of changing the owner wasn’t complicated either. You just had to make the new owner kill any living being with Tirving.

‘Although, since it’s a [Mythic] grade cursed sword, not just anyone can wield it….’

Even if you just had an [A] grade hunter wear some protective gear and wield it for 10 seconds, the ownership could be sufficiently transferred.

‘Did he not know about this method at all…? Or…’

Could it be that he bore the burden of 《Call of Madness》 alone for 30 years without passing the sacrifice onto anyone else? Was that even possible with human willpower? Just how strong was his will?

“Did you really resolve it? How did you deal with that cursed sword? No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get rid of those nightmares.”

‘Unbelievable… as expected.’

As Park Tae-ho mentioned the cursed sword, Kang Seo-jun’s suspicion turned into certainty.

“Tell me. What did you do?”

…He had always planned to tell Park Tae-ho that he had sold Tirving and Gleipnir eventually. Who would have thought such a perfect opportunity would arise?

Kang Seo-jun wasn’t one to miss such a golden opportunity.

“…I banished the cursed sword beyond the dimension and sealed it. So, it can no longer harm you, Grandfather.”

“…I see. As expected. Kang Seo-jun…!”

– Embrace! –

Park Tae-ho hugged Kang Seo-jun warmly.

“Uh, uh!?”

“Ah… I can’t thank you enough…. You’ve returned one of the lost joys of my life.”

“No, it’s nothing….”

“Kang Seo-jun is a treasure…! A treasure…!”

-Rub, rub, rub, rub.

Ugh….

Having a furry old man rub his cheek against his wasn’t exactly pleasant, but Kang Seo-jun could understand Park Tae-ho’s feelings. Only those who have suffered from severe insomnia can truly appreciate the value of a good night’s sleep. It was already incredibly tough just not being able to fall asleep, and on top of that, he must have had nightmares whenever he did manage to sleep. It must have been extremely difficult for him all this time.

‘To think that Park Tae-ho had been having nightmares for 30 years because of Tirving….’

This was a setting that wasn’t mentioned in the game [Grand Hunter Academy].

‘Well… it’s not that strange.’

Park Tae-ho was the type who rarely talked about his hardships. Even if he did mention it, without a solution, it would only worry his family, so he must have been suffering in silence all this time.

‘Grandfather, now I understand. How did you live like that? Don’t be lonely anymore. Come with me now.’

To the heart of the Red Cross Society, the Gangwon Province hideout, for some serious farming.

This marked the beginning of the chaotic farming adventure of Kang Seo-jun, who had reached [S-] grade, and the [S+] grade hunter Park Tae-ho.