I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Cool-nerd (1)

It had been two days since Kim Dojun left the main building of the Salvation Society, which had already been wrecked.

"Huff... huff..."

Watching Shin Se-yeon, who was lying collapsed as if all her stamina had been drained after finishing training as usual, Kim Dojun clicked his tongue and spoke.

"How long are you going to keep dodging with just your body? You should be using astrology."

"I am using it already! But every time I feel like I'm managing to dodge, you just keep raising the difficulty and I can't avoid it anymore!!"

At his words, Shin Se-yeon jumped up and shouted in protest.

"Raising the difficulty?"

"Yeah! As soon as I start dodging, you just go even faster!"

She continued.

But Kim Dojun seemed to think for a moment, then shook his head.

"I haven't even started raising the difficulty yet."

"?"

"The next level after the toy hammer is this."

Ssshh—

"???"

He soon pulled out a handgun in front of Shin Se-yeon.

"This is what you could call the second difficulty."

"You insane bastard!!!! No way am I doing that!"

As soon as she saw the handgun, she screamed, her face deeply scrunched.

"Haaa, do you not want to kill your father quickly? Didn't I tell you? People only grow when they're pushed to the limit."

"I told you not to say things like that!? And if I mess up and actually get hit, I'll die before I even have a chance to kill him!"

"Well, it's not like I'm the one who'll die."

"???"

Silence fell between them.

Kim Dojun shrugged and continued.

"Also, don't think about it that way. You really think I'd shoot you to kill you?"

"... You just said it's fine because you won't die?"

"It is fine, you know."

"Aren't you seriously crazy!?"

"But you really do need this."

"Even if I don't die, it'll hurt like hell!"

"If you just get grazed by a handgun, it doesn't hurt."

Watching Kim Dojun talk nonsense, Shin Se-yeon let out a deep sigh, genuinely as if she had a headache, and found herself thinking about herself from a few days ago.

'I can't believe I thought this guy liked me....'

During the Salvation Gauntlet, she had been sure Kim Dojun liked her, but a few days ago, when she saw him spend over 160 million won with his card, she started to doubt his feelings.

And today, Shin Se-yeon realized with certainty again.

She had been mistaken.

There was absolutely no way this madman liked her...!

'Agh, so embarrassing...!'

Admitting that, she turned red-faced, stood up weakly and tried to walk away, snapping at Kim Dojun.

"Just get lost, seriously..."

But then—

"Oh, right."

Kim Dojun, as if remembering something, gave a short sigh and suddenly grabbed Shin Se-yeon's hand.

"Take this."

"...?"

He handed her a necklace.

"? ... What is this...?"

"It's a necklace, what else could it be?"

Kim Dojun replied calmly to Shin Se-yeon, who wore a bewildered expression.

"No, I mean, why are you giving me—"

"Shush, just make sure you wear it, okay? Don't ever take it off."

"?"

"Once you put it on, never take it off."

"No—"

As if he had no intention of answering any more of Shin Se-yeon's questions, he left the training hall first.

"Hey! What is this!!"

Left alone, Shin Se-yeon shouted after the departing Kim Dojun. Looking at his back and at the necklace left in her hand,

"Uuugh! Seriously, what is this...!"

She wrestled with her confusion.

But whether she was confused or not, Kim Dojun thought to himself,

'First, I've got her to wear the necklace.'

Of course, the necklace he gave to Shin Se-yeon wasn't simply a gift. It was a spiritual tool necessary to make Shin Se-yeon, who would become the boss in the future, an ally.

'With this, I've secured the minimum condition.'

Kim Dojun then looked down and took out the spiritual tools he had picked up from the Salvation Society two days earlier from his pocket.

----
Fragment of One Without Spiritual Power.
Grade: ??
Effect: Fragment of one without spiritual power. Originally separated into three pieces.
----

----
Unity (一體)
Grade: D
Effect: Can combine sorcery of "basic sorcery" grade.
----

Along with a blue fragment, there was a dark blue ring. Including the necklace he had passed to Shin Se-yeon earlier, these were the spiritual tools he had obtained this time.

'They don't seem that useful for now, but...'

Especially, the Fragment of One Without Spiritual Power had no effect, and the ring named Unity also seemed of no use to Kim Dojun. Yet he smiled.

'Aside from the necklace for Shin Se-yeon, these spiritual tools are the type that need to be combined with others to be useful.'

Composite-type spiritual tools.

Useless alone, but once the other fragments are gathered, they become very powerful. Knowing that, Kim Dojun was satisfied, thinking about the effects of items he could use in the future.

'But why were these spiritual tools left behind? The others I could get in the cult leader's room, but I should have only been able to get Unity after killing the cult leader...'

He wondered, but—

'Well, I got them in the end, so whatever.'

He decided to think positively, since pondering alone wouldn't solve the mystery anyway.

Just then—

Wuuuuu-!

[Etiquette injection twice a week.]

"Hm?"

Wondering at the name displayed on the smartphone, Kim Dojun hit the answer button.

[... I need your help.]

"?"

It was Dan's voice.

####

After receiving Dan's help request, at the end of the school day.

Kim Dojun, having told Shin Se-yeon—who would always grin weirdly as soon as she saw him as of late—that they'd start training a bit later than usual, headed towards the walking path where he would meet Dan.

"You're here...."

"...?"

Arriving at the meeting place, Kim Dojun found Dan.

To be precise, a noticeably haggard-looking Dan.

"What's wrong?"

Recalling that Dan, though he had called for help, hadn't said anything more during their call, Kim Dojun asked.

"Hoo."

Dan let out a deep sigh and answered,

"... Today, Tam almost killed a student."

"Tam almost killed someone?"

"Yeah."

Dan nodded, then calmly explained what happened that day. Kim Dojun listened for a while, then, when Dan finished,

"... That's what happened."

Dan finished, and after a short pause, Kim Dojun spoke.

"So... to summarize: one of your class's nerds kept teasing you about not being able to use Tam, Tam didn't care at first, but when that guy made fun of me, Tam went wild... right?"

"That's right."

Dan, nodding repeatedly as Kim Dojun summed up, let out another deep sigh, waving a document in his hand.

"In the end, I was given a week's suspension."

"Hmmm..."

"On top of that, if I can't control my shikigami again after the suspension... they'll consider my spiritual power lost and expel me."

Finishing this, Dan sighed again, shaking his head as if it was all a big headache. Kim Dojun responded,

"Well, is that really so bad?"

"?"

"You'll have to drop out eventually when you become a boss anyway."

"... Are you serious?"

"Why are you so suspicious? Should I make you stop doubting me?"

Kim Dojun slowly made a fist.

Startled, Dan quickly changed the subject.

"E-even so, don't I have to stay in school until I become a boss?!"

"Well, that's true, it is a problem."

In fact, it wouldn't be good for Kim Dojun if Dan were expelled at this point.

'It'd be harder to keep Dan by my side.'

Of course, it'd only be a bit harder, he could still keep him close, but more important was that Dan had become the target of Twirsted Evil.

'If he stays in the Sorcery Institute, he'll be relatively safe even if Twirsted Evil learns his identity. But if he gets expelled, it'll get much more dangerous if Twirsted Evil finds out.'

Since Kim Dojun could roughly guess what Twirsted Evil would do, he knew it was risky to let Dan outside the Sorcery Institute before dealing with Twirsted Evil.

If Dan got expelled, was caught by Twirsted Evil, and ended up dead, nothing could be more troublesome for Kim Dojun.

'Dan only matters if he's killed by me.'

Thinking that, Kim Dojun watched Dan, who was looking gloomy, but when their eyes met, Dan put on a strange look and spoke.

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

"? What's wrong with my expression?"

"You look like you're imagining something really bad."

"Not at all, don't mind it."

"... Really?"

"Enough nonsense. Get Tam out already."

At Kim Dojun's dismissive remark, Dan, looking a bit displeased, nodded and formed a hand seal.

"You have to form a hand seal for this?"

"It won't listen, so I had to use almost all my spiritual power to forcibly seal it."

Dan explained, forming a hand seal for a while.

[Hi there!]

Soon, Tam rose out from Dan's shadow and greeted Kim Dojun energetically.

Although it had certainly eaten another Tam, it hadn't changed much.

'Should I beat it up?'

For a moment, Kim Dojun considered it. After all, the best strategy with Tam, past or present, was always to beat him up first.

'Physical therapy really is the most efficient...'

[Hi! Master!]

As Tam, apparently displeased that Kim Dojun didn't respond to his greeting, greeted again, Kim Dojun, lost in thought, suddenly had a 'hook' pop up over his head.

"Hmm? Come to think of it..."

[?]

"Hey, why do you call me master?"

Up till now, Kim Dojun had ignored whatever Tam said, but suddenly became curious and asked, looking at Dan.

"... You hadn't noticed that?"

"Did you?"

"As a shikigami sorcerer, it'd be weirder not to notice. In front of me, it shows total disrespect, but it greets you, doesn't it?"

"True..."

"Plus, didn't I say before? It didn't react at all to people insulting me, but flipped out as soon as someone insulted you."

"Ah."

"That's one reason I came to see you."

Accepting Dan's words, Kim Dojun nodded and looked at Tam.

Tam stared at him with an incredibly innocent face.

'He really has changed, hasn't he.'

After a short pause, Kim Dojun asked,

"Am I your master?"

[Yep!]

"Why?"

[You're stronger than me!]

"Hm..."

That's quite logical, Kim Dojun thought, brushing aside the fleeting thought. Then, pointing at Dan, he asked,

"Then what about him?"

[Him?]

Turning and looking at Dan at Kim Dojun's prompt, Tam pointed at Dan and asked again.

[Him?]

"Yes, him."

[Hmm.]

As if mulling over a monumental question, Tam fell silent, frowning slightly between his brows.

Dan looked dumbfounded, while Kim Dojun stared curiously at Tam.

After a brief silence—

[Ah!]

Tam, as if remembering something and flashing a light bulb over his head, pointed at Dan without hesitation.

[Cool-nerd!]

"?"

[Him! Cool-nerd!]

"..."

He said.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】