I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Opportunity (Delicious.) (2)

What Shin Se-yeon did not hide from others, but rather spoke of proudly.

The word she always boasted to others and even felt a certain pride in herself—

Genius.

She did not hesitate to call herself a genius.

Of course, living as a genius was, for the most part, a pleasant thing.

It meant being admired by others.

It meant being recognized by people.

It meant being able to fully display her pride in front of everyone.

But—as with anything—if there were good points to living as a genius, there would inevitably be bad points as well.

Namely, the standards set by others.

People brought their standards to bear on Shin Se-yeon because she was a genius.

They demanded much higher capability from her than from normal people.

They required skills far beyond what they expected of others.

And should Shin Se-yeon fail to meet those standards, people would display overt disappointment and ridicule toward the genius.

That was the fate of anyone with the title of genius.

However, Shin Se-yeon had always chosen to focus only on the positive aspects of genius, rather than the negative ones.

This was not because she was inherently positive.

It was simply because she had never failed until now.

To be more precise, Shin Se-yeon had such tremendous talent from the start that she simply could not allow failure.

That was why she had been able to enjoy life so easily until now.

Yes, until now.

But at present, Shin Se-yeon—

"Why can't you dodge it properly?"

"How am I supposed to dodge that, you crazy bastard!!"

"Isn't it possible because you're a genius?"

"Kyaaak! Stop! Stop it already!!!"

—for the first time, regretted ever referring to herself as a genius.

"Die! Die! I said you're going to die!"

Shin Se-yeon, desperately dodging a baseball bat, screamed involuntarily.

"Stop complaining. If I hit you softly, it doesn't hurt."

Kim Dojun replied.

"You crazy bastard! I told you to stop swinging that thing!!!"

But regardless of Kim Dojun's calm demeanor, Shin Se-yeon felt her life was in danger.

And soon, at some point, Kim Dojun stopped swinging the bat and tilted his head as if something was odd.

"Hmm, your star astrology is terrible. Are you even using astrology?"

"What astrology, you psycho!!!"

"Didn't I tell you to use astrology?"

"How am I supposed to use astrology when you're swinging a baseball bat like a madman!?"

"You're a genius, so you should somehow manage it with perseverance."

Perhaps Kim Dojun's attitude, as if nothing was wrong, infuriated her even more.

"Shut up! What do you even think astrology is!? And do you even realize you almost killed someone just now!? You almost killed me!"

Screaming in protest, Shin Se-yeon complained.

Yet Kim Dojun remained perfectly calm.

"Surely, I told you, didn't I? Even if you get hit like this, you're not going to die."

"You say I won't die!!"

"Well, that's true."

"That's not the point, is it!?"

"But think about it."

"Think about what!?"

"When normal people face a deadly crisis, their talent awakens. In other words, this is all for your own good."

Hearing Kim Dojun's words, Shin Se-yeon looked truly absurd and frowned furiously, shouting.

"How can I use astrology while moving in the first place!? Are you kidding me!?"

"Of course, you're supposed to use it while moving."

"Do you even know what astrology is!? Astrology is a type of sorcery that requires forming hand seals and a sorcery formation, and you have to focus for a certain amount of time in order to cast it!"

"But you have to perform it while moving."

"How am I supposed to do that!"

"I wouldn't know."

"?"

"I'm not the one learning astrology; you are. If you're a genius, you should figure it out yourself."

"Ugh...!"

Shin Se-yeon ground her teeth as if she was truly infuriated.

But Kim Dojun continued to look at her with a sincere expression.

"But I can guarantee one thing."

"What?"

"If you learn to use astrology while moving, you'll be able to kill your father."

"..."

"With your talent, I'm sure it's possible. I'm confident—you can do it."

To be fair, it wasn't that he had realized her genius just now; Kim Dojun could speak confidently because he already knew through the playthrough of Sorcery Killing Technique.

"... Seriously...."

It seemed her anger died down a little after hearing that.

"If I go through all this and I don't manage to kill that bastard, I'll kill you instead...!"

She sighed deeply and muttered.

"Don't worry. That won't happen."

Seeing Kim Dojun smiling and reaching for the bat again,

"No, damn it! Not with that! I'm not doing it!"

Shin Se-yeon flinched and tried to stop him.

"Hm... Can't be helped, I suppose."

Kim Dojun looked regretful as he eyed the baseball bat, but soon discarded it without hesitation.

"Then I'll make sure to bring something better next time."

"... Just so you know, anything that threatens my life is forbidden."

Kim Dojun made a face of disappointment for an instant.

"What was that face just now!? What was that!!"

Catching the fleeting moment, Shin Se-yeon protested in a voice full of displeasure, but Kim Dojun just shook his head as if it was nothing.

"For now, spend this week studying astrology and learn to perform it while you're moving."

"... Fine."

"And leave Saturday free."

"Why?"

"I happen to have a place for us to go together."

"... A place together?"

"We need to go out, so get a pass issued too."

With that, Kim Dojun seemed to have nothing left to say and turned around, leaving the walking path.

Watching him leave, Shin Se-yeon—

"Haa...."

—let out a peculiarly deep sigh and followed after him down the path.

####

At Sorcery Institute, one of the world's two major training organizations, there were three particularly famous locations.

The first was a massive domed stadium large enough for all the students to take an exam inside.

The second was the Sorcery Institute's downtown, designed as a replica of bustling Seoul.

And the last was the great Sorcery Library, located at the easternmost end of the Sorcery Institute.

The Sorcery Library, as its name implied, specialized exclusively in books related to sorcery. Other training institutions sometimes had similar libraries, but nowhere had the scale or collection that the Sorcery Institute's did.

Furthermore, there were books designated as forbidden texts, strictly supervised and inaccessible to students and instructors.

And currently, there—

"Hm."

Kim Dojun, having finished his meeting with Shin Se-yeon, had come in search of the first opportunity he had thought of earlier: 'the book'.

"This must be the place."

He held a somewhat thick bag.

"..."

Gazing at the endless rows of bookshelves, Kim Dojun looked down at his smartphone.

-----
*A post written four years ago.*
----
Title: Library's Treasure? I'll Tell You If You Want It.
Author: Sorcerer King.

I left everything of mine at row F, fifth stack! If you want it, go find it.

PS. The hint is in the tag.
----
6 comments.

MyArmsHurt: What's the library treasure, you weeb.
ㄴ GoroshiExpert: Isn't it just some forbidden book they failed to manage?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: fr lol
BestRecMonster: I don't know what the library treasure is, but if you agree with today's top post, how about a like?
ㄴ Jokdduktteok: Sure~ lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇㅇ: This dude just goes around posting this nonsense anywhere, just go wash your feet and sleep.
-----

Displayed on his phone was a post written four years prior.

A post by an anonymous user, seemingly so insignificant that hardly anyone paid attention to it.

Indeed, even the comments did little to support the post, treating it as nonsense.

Yet the reason Kim Dojun had gone out of his way to track down this four-year-old post and come to the library was because, from gameplay in Sorcery Killing Technique, he knew there was a hint embedded in the post.

'Row F is absurdly long.'

Even at a glance, F-row was dauntingly long, but Kim Dojun did not stop moving.

'Even if it's hard to find...'

He already knew that the effect of the book—one that could only be found by mid-game—was real.

'In Sorcery Killing Technique, if the player found the books left by the anonymous user Sorcerer King, their experience points would double until the second year... Of course, the method of application will differ.'

Naturally, Kim Dojun didn't expect the effect to carry over as is.

'Still, it should be quite helpful.'

Believing it would help with his sorcery studies starting this weekend, Kim Dojun was, uncharacteristically, putting sincere effort into exploring the library.

... The only problem for him was—

'How long is it going to take to look through all of this?'

The size of the library he needed to search was unbelievably vast.

It wasn't just regular big.

'At a glance, it's at least 200 meters.'

There were so many books that just going through F-row alone meant walking nearly 200 meters.

And F-row wasn't in a single place—there were five different rows!

'This is insane.'

Although there was a hint about the fifth shelf in F-row, and he also knew the clue to the book Sorcerer King had secretly placed, so he would definitely be able to find it...

'Seriously, there are so many.'

He idly wished, just like in the game, that after following the hint, he could just enter the library and get a "ding! You've found Sorcerer King's books!" notification, but he shook his head at the thought.

'Well, no one's going to find the book for me anyway, even if I wish.'

With that, Kim Dojun patiently made his way down F-row, checking books as he went.

How long had he been at it?

"...!"

As he proceeded, he suddenly found a book that was different from the usual sorcery volumes.

Unlike the other books lined up on the fifth shelf of F-row, these didn't have tags.

He picked out one of those books.

'Found it.'

On the bottom of the cover, he saw the tiny writing: 'Sorcerer King'.

Glancing at the title, he read:
'... Sorcery Theory?'

Trying to recall where he had seen this before, Kim Dojun quickly realized it was the first-year textbook used at the Sorcery Institute and opened the book.

'... So this is how it's presented.'

Upon seeing answer sheets densely filled to the point the original text was unreadable, he grimaced.

'Do I really have to study with this brain?'

Knowing that his intelligence wasn't all that high, he looked worried, but then nodded and began packing all the untagged books into his large bag.

'If I want to awaken spiritual power, I have to do this.'

At the same time, he began inserting the miscellaneous books he had prepared beforehand in the places where Sorcerer King's books had been.

'Honestly, if I did this kind of sloppy book-swapping at any other time, I'd be caught for sure.'

According to Kim Dojun's knowledge, every book managed by the Sorcery Library had a tag imbued with sorcery, which triggered both protection sorcery and continuous tracking sorcery.

If you tried to smuggle a book out this way, you'd get caught without fail.

That was why, even in such a massive library, only two staff members were needed.

Yet the reason he could swap out the books was:
'Sorcerer King's books don't have tags.'

All the books received protection from the library.

But only those officially brought in and tagged by the library staff.

'These books, which Sorcerer King snuck in, don't count.'

Knowing this, Kim Dojun could proceed comfortably.

'Alright, let's go.'

Having obtained his first opportunity, he leisurely departed.

And that night—

"... The effect is incredible."

He awakened to spiritual power.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Finally learning sorcery!
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】