I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Outing (1)

"Where are we going?"

"That's not for you to know."

"... I'll find out soon anyway. It wouldn't hurt to tell me at least this much, right?"

"Then check for yourself when we get there."

"...."

Kim Dojun grinned as he saw Shin Se-yeon looking at him with a face that said, "What the hell is wrong with this guy?", and then began to organize in his mind what he had to do today.

'There are two things to do today.'

Kim Dojun decided on two things to tackle during today's outing.

First, to handle one of the side-stories that can be dealt with outside of the Sorcery Killing Technique.

'And the other is...'

To obtain a rare encounter that can be gained outside the Sorcery Institute.

With those two objectives set in mind, Kim Dojun and Shin Se-yeon moved together, recalling their goals as they went.

"... Is this the right place?"

"Yes, please let us off here."

Not long after, the two arrived at Deumdae Mountain in Mungyeong City, North Gyeongsang Province, leaving behind the taxi driver with an expression that seemed to say, "Why are students coming here of all places?"

Vroooom—

The taxi, after letting them off, sped away without hesitation.

After glancing once to confirm that, Kim Dojun looked around.

"...."

The first thing visible was the road stretching toward Deumdae Mountain.

Next were abandoned houses scattered here and there, and rusty, neglected farming equipment.

Overall, it was even more rundown than the downtown area of Hongcheon they had seen before.

If likened to a game, it was the kind of setting that might appear in a horror game—a scene where cultists might hold eerie rituals every night. After scanning the surroundings, Kim Dojun said,

"Let's go."

And then, without hesitation, he started walking.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"To take care of something."

"I'm asking, what is it you're doing!"

"You don't need to know."

"If you keep acting like this, I'm just going to leave!?"

"Don't you want to kill your father?"

"I told you not to talk like that!"

As they traded these sharp words, with Shin Se-yeon getting angry, Kim Dojun recalled the narrative that unfolded in this place.

'The scenario to take care of this time is handling the "Spirit Zone" inside Deumdae Mountain.'

Actually, in terms of the Sorcery Killing Technique gameplay, this side-story wasn't meant to be cleared in the early game. It was usually only possible to complete it after becoming a sophomore.

'But there's no need to stick to the game's sequence so rigidly.'

While he had to wait to proceed with the main story anyway, side-stories like this, which could be started just by visiting certain locations, could easily be cleared in advance. That was why he came here ahead of other narratives.

Among the spiritual power tools that could be acquired at this place, at least one would be quite useful to him even now, and another would help improve Shin Se-yeon's skills to some extent.

So, while responding perfunctorily to Shin Se-yeon, who was chattering tirelessly beside him, Kim Dojun entered the outskirts of Deumdae Mountain.

"Found it."

He discovered a two-story rest stop, seemingly built for hikers by carving into the mountain just beyond a heavily rusted iron bridge.

Rust covered the entire two-story rest stop except for its worn-out roof.

Judging by the overgrown grass around the no-longer-maintained structure, it had become a ruin over a long period of neglect.

Peeking out through the grass, bits of trash made the dilapidated rest stop look even more unsightly.

And to top it all off,

Creak— Creak—

The extremely rusty iron bridge, now stained almost blue with mold past its original brown hue, made the rest stop seem all the more like the opening setting in a horror film—utterly unapproachable.

"Ugh...."

Shin Se-yeon grimaced unconsciously at the sight of the rest stop.

But Kim Dojun confirmed that this was indeed the rest stop he'd seen in the Sorcery Killing Technique's illustration and immediately walked toward it.

He crossed the iron bridge and reached out toward the door.

― Bzzzt!

At that moment, spiritual power flared in front of Kim Dojun.

"Ah!"

Shin Se-yeon let out a surprised cry, but Kim Dojun was unfazed.

He already knew the place was sealed.

'Honestly, if I wanted to break the seal, I could just smash the whole building.'

No matter how strong a sorcerer's seal might be, the world is equal before physical force. Kim Dojun was sure he could destroy the seal cleanly with a single punch.

'But if I did that, the spiritual tool inside might get destroyed along with the building.'

With that in mind, he dismissed the idea of using brute force.

'This time, it's not stored in something like a safe. Besides, since I have other places to go, I can't afford to waste time here.'

Of course, it was even less realistic for him to release the seal using sorcery.

He was learning sorcery now (?), but he could only barely sense spiritual power so far.

In other words, Kim Dojun currently could not break the seal, but he didn't care.

Because right next to him was—

"All right, go ahead and dispel it."

"?"

—Shin Se-yeon, who had abandoned morals for genius.

####

To be honest, Shin Se-yeon could not understand Kim Dojun.

Well, it's not as if she had ever understood him since their first encounter, or when he suddenly decided to tell her study astrology, but now it was even worse.

Today, Kim Dojun brought her out saying there was somewhere they needed to go, and after over three hours on the road, they ended up in a rural area already reduced to ruins.

"... You want me to break the seal?"

"That's right."

What's more, without a word of explanation, Kim Dojun had dragged Shin Se-yeon deep into the mountains and was now asking her to do something highly dangerous.

"... Isn't this the Spirit Zone?"

Spirit Zone (呪靈 區域).

A place formed when one evil spirit settles in and then attracts more such spirits to gather in the area—a place extremely dangerous by student standards, unless you were an active sorcerer.

Even for Shin Se-yeon, hailed as the genius of the Muryu clan, or Kim Dojun, lauded as an absurdly gifted sorcerer, it was the same.

'Of course, there are definitely ranks to spirit zones, but...'

No matter how low its rank, sorcerers always formed teams of at least three to explore one. So, for Shin Se-yeon, it was obvious this was a dangerous area.

"So, you know."

"And knowing that, you still want to break the seal here?"

"Correct. You can do it, right?"

"Of course! This level of seal is nothing!"

She bristled at Kim Dojun's attitude, which seemed as if he were testing her.

"... Still, it seems a bit risky for just the two of us to break the seal of a spirit zone, doesn't it?"

She gave a realistic objection.

As she pointed out, having just two people break the seal was reckless, almost to the point of being called stupidity.

However—

"Don't worry—just do it."

Waving his hand nonchalantly, Kim Dojun added,

"Are you scared?"

"...?"

"Are you scared? I asked."

"No, realistically—"

"So you're scared."

"... I'm NOT scared! I'm just being reasonable—"

"Scaredy-cat."

"Hey!"

Shin Se-yeon shouted at the continued teasing, but Kim Dojun pressed on undeterred.

"Just break it. Anyway, if you want to kill Shin Cheon-gyun, you'll have to go through this process sooner or later."

"... Does this get me closer to killing that guy?"

"Why else would I have brought you here?"

Kim Dojun's calm reply made Shin Se-yeon stare at him intently.

"... Hoo."

She then gathered her spiritual power and began injecting it into the seal.

As her energy infused the sealing formation that covered the place, huge sigils began to appear.

And then—

Clack—!

Not long after, the seal broke with a loud metallic sound and the door to the rest stop began to open.

"...!"

Shin Se-yeon saw it.

As if it had been waiting for this moment, she saw a giant eye staring at her from just inside the entrance to the rest stop.

Flinch—!

An instant.

But Shin Se-yeon's eyes quickly scanned the possessed entity that appeared as soon as the door opened.

Next to the huge eye, taking up nearly half the rest stop, was an enormous body.

All around it, human-like limbs sprouted in a tangled mess. Some of these even ended in sharp, gaping jaws waiting for prey.

'A boss...!'

The moment she saw it, Shin Se-yeon felt dismay.

A boss in a spirit zone indicated that the zone was at least C+ grade or higher.

Bang! Shaaak—!

Even as she realized this, the boss moved its massive bulk and shot forward at Shin Se-yeon, who had only just broken the seal.

It truly happened in a split second.

For Shin Se-yeon, it was as if time slowed down. She could see in detail the boss bursting out, even glimpsing the ghastly teeth exposed under its massive eye.

And—

'Am I going to...?'

Shin Se-yeon felt death.

A bizarre, chilling sensation as if 'death' itself were right in front of her.

Yet just before that death could reach her—

She sensed something appear in front of her.

And then—

KWA-AAAAANG—!!!

"!!"

The deafening explosion jolted her mind back to normal speed, and what she saw next was—

"Cut."

Kim Dojun, muttering a single emotionless word in a low voice.

"...."

And before him, the boss—a creature that had threatened her life—was utterly pulverized, its leathery hide burst open and violet ichor splattered everywhere.

"...?"

Shin Se-yeon's mind blanked.

The boss she'd faced when she broke the seal looked truly strong.

There was no way two students could handle it.

That's why, in that moment, Shin Se-yeon had felt death.

She was sure of it.

"... What...?"

But the boss that had threatened her life vanished in an instant—smashed to pieces by a single punch from Kim Dojun—and was now fading away.

It was dissolving.

How long had she stood there, staring vacantly?

"See?"

Hearing Kim Dojun's voice, Shin Se-yeon looked up almost reflexively.

His expression was unchanged from before.

Still with that face—it inspired no confidence at all; it looked like he didn't have a thought in his head.

However...

"I told you not to worry, didn't I?"

Mysteriously, in Kim Dojun's expression,

"...."

For the first time ever, Shin Se-yeon felt a strange sense of trust.

But Kim Dojun, who had no idea what she was thinking as she stared at him blankly—

"...?"

Met Shin Se-yeon's eyes for a moment.

'Guess she got scared.'

Assuming she was still frightened of the boss, he let out a small chuckle and shrugged his shoulders.

'All right, shall we start farming now?'

With a satisfied smile, he started walking toward the place where the spiritual tool that would help with his sorcery studies was hidden.

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