I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Studying is Hard...! (1)

It had been five days since classes had officially started at the Sorcery Institute.

By that point, the students had slowly begun to adapt to life at the Sorcery Institute, and the atmosphere of the classes had shifted from heavy and rigid to that of an ordinary school.

There was one key difference: not a single student dared to slack off or doze during the lessons.

This was possible because of the Sorcery Institute's system.

The saying, 'Just graduating from the Sorcery Institute is practically a guarantee of success,' was undeniably true.

As long as you didn't fall below the standard and get expelled, this was the reality.

However, that ticket to success could evolve into a jackpot according to the amount of effort put in by each student.

Even with simply attending, a stable future was assured, but if they achieved top grades, their path would open even wider.

Of those, students in the top 20% became targets that anyone would openly covet from that point onward.

In other words, they would become the targets of active scouting.

And what about the top 10%?

That's when guilds and associations started to spend real money.

At the very top, the top 5%, even sums reaching into the billions would be tossed around like it was nothing.

That was why, until rankings had been more or less decided, most students did their utmost in class.

Each was striving to become that ticket to a huge success.

With that determination, everyone was concentrating hard on their classes at this moment.

"... Hmm."

Except for one student, Kim Dojun, who alone among the Sorcery Institute's students, was not paying attention to the lesson.

'I really, really, absolutely don't get a single thing.'

Kim Dojun looked at the chalkboard during the ongoing lesson and let out a hollow laugh.

The board was covered in complex formulas he had never seen before, and the sorcery formations scrawled all over it were so intricate that Kim Dojun, who had been at the bottom of his high school art class, couldn't hope to copy them.

'How is it possible that I don't understand a single subject?'

He had actually tried to make an effort over the past three days.

'I did try, at least to make it through the first lessons of all the instructors...'

But even after all that effort, he still couldn't understand anything during class.

Not a single thing.

Because of that, Kim Dojun once again firmly resolved to give up on studying, and soon found his thoughts drifting elsewhere.

'How am I supposed to make more money?'

Sure, he got 40 million won from Shin Se-yeon for tuition, but honestly, that wasn't enough.

'Because I need to buy a spiritual tool.'

Spiritual Tool (呪力具).

It was an item much like an artifact; the ones earned through hard work tended to be quite good, but there were also some purchasable spiritual power tools that were invaluable in boss fights, so Kim Dojun was determined to buy one.

'But isn't 1 billion won for a single spiritual tool crossing the line?'

The problem, of course, was the price.

'In the game, spending 3 or 5 billion wasn't a big deal, but now that I actually have to buy one in reality, it's absurd.'

In the game, you could just clear a few quests and make plenty of money.

Of course, even by the game's logic, sorcerers in this world made a lot of money since it was a job where they risked their lives, and ongoing grind in Sorcery Killing Technique quests made raking in cash possible.

Quest grinding.

That so-called money farming meant that, no matter how broke you were, if you spent enough time and endured the boredom, you could endlessly farm in-game currency. But that was strictly when this was just a game.

'Some spiritual power tools cost as much as a house, even as much as a building... this inflation is insane.'

Since making money in real life wasn't as easy as in a game, he couldn't help but be amazed at the wild spiritual tool inflation brought on by Sorcery Killing Technique.

'... To be fair, except for a few really essential ones, I could do just fine without a spiritual tool, I guess.'

Kim Dojun did think he could take down bosses even without the tools.

'I'm not a masochist, though—if there's an easier way, there's no point taking the harder road.'

That was a major reason why he was set on getting a spiritual tool.

'Besides, even apart from the tools, I'll need to save up money for the future bosses that will appear later.'

He continued thinking.

'The only silver lining is that there are a few ways to earn money, at least.'

With those thoughts, he glanced at Shin Se-yeon.

"!?"

Sensing his suspicious gaze, she started glancing around nervously.

Looking at her, Kim Dojun's thoughts continued.

'The Muryu family, being one of the four major guild families in Korea, must be loaded.'

Which led to the conclusion that Shin Se-yeon, as the family's second daughter, was also rich.

In other words, Kim Dojun had access to a never-drying spring(?).

'Still, I can't just tap that spring endlessly, so it'd be best to have other plans.'

With that conclusion, he mulled things over for a while.

Even as the next class started, Kim Dojun was seriously considering other sources of income.

"Kim Dojun, step forward."

Suddenly, a voice called out, and he had no choice but to look up.

####

Currently, instructor Kim Younghan, who was teaching Basic Sorcery Theory to the students, did not like Kim Dojun.

Why?

It wasn't as if Kim Younghan disliked students for no reason.

On the contrary, he firmly believed in treating all students equally as an educator.

And yet, the reason Kim Younghan found Kim Dojun distasteful was his attitude.

'He's disrespecting me.'

At the Sorcery Institute, especially among first-years, the students focused intently on their studies and listened to their instructors, no matter what the lesson was.

And Kim Dojun?

He acted as if Kim Younghan's lessons weren't even worth pretending to listen to, doing whatever he pleased during class...!

... Well, fine, up to this point, it was understandable.

While it didn't happen during the first semester, students who began to slip to the bottom often gave up and aimed for a comeback in the practice-heavy second semester.

If Kim Dojun had been in that situation, Kim Younghan wouldn't have made a fuss.

... No, honestly, even if that wasn't the case, if all Kim Dojun did was mess around during class, Kim Younghan could have let it slide.

But what Kim Younghan couldn't tolerate was the way Dojun would, from time to time, look up and give him a mocking smirk...!

He would briefly look up, glance at the board, then shake his head with a hollow smile as if assessing the lesson's quality and finding it laughable—this, Kim Younghan simply couldn't stand.

... Of course, Kim Dojun had no such intention whatsoever.

Every time he looked at the board and realized he couldn't understand anything, he would simply let out an involuntary chuckle, impressed by his own cluelessness—nothing more.

But Kim Younghan, not knowing this, steadily judged him a more and more arrogant and insolent student in his mind.

There was even another concrete reason for Kim Younghan's bias.

'... Is he acting out because he's the disciple of "the Plush One"?'

While rumors hadn't spread throughout the Sorcery Institute, they were well-known among the faculty.

So, Kim Younghan decided to break Dojun's spirit by giving him a problem.

"...."

Seeing Kim Dojun step up with an extremely disgruntled expression, Kim Younghan picked up the chalk and began to draw an enormous sorcery array on the board.

Starting with a large circle, he arranged eight smaller circles within, connecting them with lines to form a complex structure.

Several minutes passed.

Satisfied with the completed array on one side of the board, Kim Younghan handed the chalk to Kim Dojun.

"Draw a sorcery array that can dismantle this one."

He gave a problem that was absolutely impossible to solve, smiling to himself all the while.

####

At Kim Younghan's words, Kim Dojun calmly picked up the chalk.

But the students' attention was focused not on Kim Dojun, but on the array Kim Younghan had drawn.

That was only natural, as the sorcery array was so complex and esoteric that even students with a talent for sorcery could not easily understand it.

As the puzzled students struggled with the array, only one student caught on.

'That's the Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation...!'

Shin Se-yeon identified the array immediately and was aghast.

Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation (八區原魔陣).

It was the sorcery array that appeared during the "Fourth Lion Ruler Incident" in Japan eight years ago—one so complicated that even after S-rank sorcerers ended the incident, it took them days of exhaustive effort to break.

'And it's not even the standard Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation—it's a modified version!'

If it had been the original, it would have been extremely difficult, but Shin Se-yeon might still have been able to solve it.

She knew the counterarray for the Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation and had the mind to remember it as well.

But what Kim Younghan drew was a modified version.

That meant that the well-known solution devised by S-rank sorcerers was meaningless.

Sorcery arrays were so delicate that just drawing a single line differently could completely change the outcome.

That was why, when Kim Younghan drew a modified Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation, Shin Se-yeon realized he was trying to crush Kim Dojun's spirit.

No matter how you looked at it, what was on the board could not be solved.

'....'

And just as Shin Se-yeon's thoughts seemed confirmed, Kim Dojun stood silently, staring at the array for a long time.

The hand holding the chalk showed no sign of moving.

'It's impossible.'

That was what Shin Se-yeon thought, watching the scene.

Tap—

But Kim Dojun's hand finally started to move.

Immediately, every student's gaze snapped to him.

In about thirty seconds, as Kim Dojun began to draw the array—

"...."

All the students wore bizarre expressions.

The array Kim Dojun was drawing looked so clumsy, one would think he was someone with absolutely no knowledge of sorcery.

The basic lines jutted out awkwardly, and the circles he drew resembled misshapen potatoes rather than the instructor's perfectly round ones.

However, Shin Se-yeon didn't dare hastily judge his array.

No, she couldn't.

The reason being—

'It's definitely a mess... but why does the instructor have that expression?'

Because Instructor Kim Younghan, staring at Kim Dojun's array, had a look of utter shock frozen on his face.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【「(°ヘ°)?】