I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Studying Is Hard...! (2)

When Kim Younghan was drawing the Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation, he had been full of confidence, intent on crushing Kim Dojun's spirit.

No matter how much of a genius sorcerer and the disciple of Explosion God Kim Dojun was, he didn't believe there was any way Kim Dojun could break through the Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation.

He even deliberately modified the array, just in case Kim Dojun might already know it and be able to solve it.

It was, in every way, a perfect plan.

From one perspective, it might have seemed a little petty for an instructor, but since Kim Dojun was the one who had angered him in the first place, Kim Younghan felt perfectly justified.

He was even smiling as Kim Dojun stood at the board, holding chalk and looking absentmindedly at the chalkboard.

Tak—

But the moment Kim Dojun, as if he had understood something, suddenly brought the chalk to the board, Kim Younghan's expression hardened slightly.

The fact that Kim Dojun had started moving meant he was essentially challenging him.

However, after a short while, Kim Younghan regained his composure.

'Pathetic.'

The sorcery array Kim Dojun was drawing looked utterly pathetic.

No, it was worse than that.

'... This is a sorcery array?'

To Kim Younghan's eyes, what Kim Dojun was drawing didn't even look like a sorcery array.

No matter how he thought about it, there were glaring problems.

'All the components are a complete mess...?'

There are three main elements that make up a sorcery array.

One is the framework to contain the sorcery.

Another is the shape, which determines the attribute of the sorcery.

And the last is the line, which ties the array together and makes it manifest as sorcery.

These three elements combined create a sorcery array.

But in what Kim Dojun was drawing, there was, no matter how he looked, neither the framework, the shape, nor the lines.

Or, to be precise, it looked like he was attempting to draw the framework, the shapes, and the lines—but it was so jumbled that it was hard to even call them that.

'Is he just scribbling whatever comes to mind?'

That was the thought that suddenly popped into Kim Younghan's head.

But he immediately dismissed the notion.

Because, for just random scribbling...

Tak-!

Kim Dojun's expression was just too serious.

His hand was moving decisively as he drew the sorcery array, but of course, Kim Younghan couldn't make any sense of it.

He glanced at the students to see if it was just him, but it was the same.

All the students looked utterly confused, as if they couldn't even guess what Kim Dojun was drawing.

Even Shin Se-yeon, who had entered the Sorcery Institute at the top of the class, was wearing exactly the same expression.

Maybe that was why.

Kim Younghan finally drew a conclusion in his heart.

What Kim Dojun was drawing right now wasn't even a sorcery array.

"Tha—"

He was just about to voice that conclusion when—

"...!?"

Kim Younghan saw it.

Just as he was about to speak, Kim Dojun, who hadn't stopped drawing, shot him an overtly mocking smile.

Kim Younghan instinctively shut his mouth.

The smirk he had just seen felt as if Kim Dojun had been waiting for him to open his mouth to point out the flaws in the array.

Then, the next moment—

"Tsk."

"!"

A faint tongue click sounded from Kim Dojun's lips.

A sound so small that almost no one else could hear.

Yet the sound rang loud and clear in Kim Younghan's ears.

Once again, Kim Younghan turned to look properly at the sorcery array Kim Dojun was drawing.

No matter who looked at it, it was so utterly lacking in structure that it could only be considered a random scribble.

In some spots, lines even strayed outside the circular areas that were presumably the framework, drawn so carelessly that it looked like a child's doodle.

But ever since he had heard Kim Dojun click his tongue, Kim Younghan began to believe in a certain hypothesis.

That Kim Dojun was laying a trap.

Fully convinced of this, information about Kim Dojun began to flash through Kim Younghan's mind.

The student who, at the Sorcery Institute's entrance ceremony, had destroyed the levitating stone for the first time in history, earning the designation of 'sorcery genius'.

The student rumored among faculty to be the disciple of Explosion God.

'No way....'

Recalling all this, Kim Younghan reached another conclusion.

What Kim Dojun was drawing might actually be a sorcery array capable of neutralizing the modified Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation.

But even with that conclusion, Kim Younghan still couldn't understand Kim Dojun's array.

At least to Kim Younghan's eyes, what Kim Dojun had drawn was so grotesque, it could have passed for something a child had scribbled.

'... What on earth....'

Just as he was thinking that—

Tak.

Having finished his work, Kim Dojun turned and looked at him.

Kim Dojun looked him straight in the eyes, as if curious to see how Kim Younghan would react. Staring back at Kim Dojun before quickly glancing at the chalkboard again, Kim Younghan racked his brain.

'How should I respond?'

A flood of thoughts ran through Kim Younghan's mind, but in the end, only one answer was possible.

The only way to avoid falling into Kim Dojun's trap, even though he had understood nothing.

"... Excellent."

Kim Younghan decided to simply praise him without asking anything.

####

Later that afternoon after class,

It was the third day since Kim Dojun had told Shin Se-yeon to read 'Basics of Astrology'. On his way to meet her by a secluded walking path—

"What was that sorcery array supposed to be?"

He heard Shin Se-yeon ask.

"What?"

"That modified Eight-Fold Primal Demon Formation. Didn't you just break the sorcery a little while ago?"

At her question, Kim Dojun paused to think, recalling the class from earlier.

"Oh, that."

"... How did you manage to break that? I saw the sorcery array you drew too, but I couldn't understand it at all."

She sounded like she wanted a detailed explanation of the sorcery array, but Kim Dojun had nothing to say.

He had drawn the array, yes, but in truth, he didn't actually know what he had drawn...!

'Honestly, I still don't really know what happened.'

Though he wouldn't call himself a veteran, Kim Dojun had played the game intensely for about a week, so he remembered a few distinctive sorcery formations.

But 'distinctive' just meant the ones he'd used endlessly during the latter parts of Sorcery Killing Technique.

All he had really done was copy the one most clear in his memory.

Not that he could accurately reproduce it—he had just stitched together the bits he could remember, and, on top of that, his grades in art class had always been abysmal at best.

In other words, the chances that Kim Dojun had drawn a decent sorcery array were practically zero.

But Kim Younghan had called his array excellent and praised him for it.

'Do they have things like 'parachute students'* at the Sorcery Institute too?'

That was what he was thinking.

No matter how he looked at it, whatever distorted mess he'd drawn was too misshapen to even qualify as the array he thought it was supposed to be.

Still, Kim Younghan had given it a glowing review—was his eyesight minus or something? The question inevitably came to mind.

In any case, since he himself was baffled by the praise, Kim Dojun had nothing to say when Shin Se-yeon asked him.

"Doesn't matter."

He brusquely dismissed her question and continued immediately before Shin Se-yeon, who seemed to be getting defensive, could ask anything else.

"So, did you finish all the basics?"

"... I did."

Shin Se-yeon replied with a face full of dissatisfaction.

Unbothered by her mood, Kim Dojun took the Basics of Astrology she handed him and flipped to another book.

"...'Astrology Fundamentals?'"

"This is what you'll be studying next."

"...."

Looking at the new book, Shin Se-yeon seemed even more disgruntled.

They had only met twice so far, but Kim Dojun could already see her getting riled up soon, demanding to know why she had to study this stuff. So he quickly started fiddling with his smartphone.

"Alright."

"?"

"... What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Instead of raising a fuss, Shin Se-yeon meekly accepted the new astrology assignment.

Kim Dojun was taken aback by the change.

'Well, this is better.'

In fact, it would be easier for him if Shin Se-yeon just quietly followed instructions. In a good mood, Kim Dojun said,

"Then, let's meet again in five days."

With that, he left the walking path.

####

That night.

"... Is that true?"

"Embarrassing as it is, yes."

Kim Younghan, the instructor in charge of 'Basic Sorcery Theory', was currently meeting with a man.

"Hm...."

That man's name was Ataki Sasaru.

He was one of only three team leader-level instructors at the Sorcery Institute and taught the subject of 'sorcery formations'. As the person in charge of all the instructors, he was considered extremely knowledgeable about sorcery formations—not just in the Sorcery Institute, but even compared to outside experts.

The reason Kim Younghan had sought him out was:
"So, if I piece together your story, you're saying you couldn't interpret the sorcery array drawn by the rumored 'disciple of Explosion God'?"

"... That's correct."

It was to try to interpret the sorcery array Kim Dojun had drawn in class.

'I absolutely couldn't make sense of it myself.'

In reality, after class, before wiping the board clean, Kim Younghan had taken a photo of Kim Dojun's array and tried several times to analyze it.

But he had ultimately failed.

No, in truth—

'No matter how I look at it, it just looks like a picture.'

To Kim Younghan, the array Kim Dojun had drawn looked like nothing more than a badly drawn picture, so he'd come to Sasaru for help.

There was no one at the Sorcery Institute more knowledgeable about sorcery formations, and even beyond the Institute, there were few who could match him.

"Let me take a look."

"Yes, sir."

Ataki Sasaru took Kim Younghan's phone and studied the photo of Kim Dojun's sorcery array.

To Kim Younghan, it still looked like nothing but a ruined drawing.

Ataki Sasaru silently examined the screen, then even took Kim Younghan's phone for a closer look.

"...."

"...."

A heavy silence fell.

Ataki Sasaru continued to study it, saying nothing.

Kim Younghan waited, a hint of anticipation in his expression.

He knew he could not possibly understand the array, but he hoped that Sasaru could give him an answer.

After a long wait, just as Kim Younghan had hoped, Ataki Sasaru finally broke the silence.

"... You said this was a nullifying array?"

"That's right."

Kim Younghan nodded eagerly.

At that,—

"... This is... astonishing...!"

Ataki Sasaru spoke, full of surprise.

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