NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14 - Headmaster (1)
Chapter 14 Headmaster (1)
“Finally, I’m home.”
It had been two days since I regained consciousness.
I was finally able to return home after a long time.
I always felt this way, but once again, I realized it.
Home was definitely the coziest place.
“I couldn’t get up for two days…”
For two days, I couldn’t get up and just lay down.
I thought I was going to die of boredom.
I couldn’t move my body and could only use my phone.
I usually don’t use my phone much, so it was a continuous state of boredom.
Well… Lee Se-ah, Jin Juha, and Sung Harim did come to visit from time to time.
[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Faces Demons’ is urging you to quickly use the Holy Fire.]
“I’ll use it right away, so please stop urging me.”
After the subjugation of the demonic species was over,
I received a total of three rewards from the system.
The ‘Book of Green Shade’ as a reward for subjugating the demonic species.
The contract with ‘The One Who Faces Demons’ as a trial reward.
And finally, the skill ‘Burning Holy Fire’.
First, the ‘Book of Green Shade’ was an item that appeared in the original work.
It allowed one to learn the ‘Green Shade Divine Art’, one of the mana control techniques.
‘A legendary level.’
The grade was legendary.
Considering most mana control techniques were fairy-tale level, it was a high grade.
Just learning it would mix the power of wood into the mana, allowing the use of mysterious powers.
The mana control was also an excellent technique.
It was an item I desperately needed.
‘The condition to acquire it is to read it twice.’
That could be done in two days.
Until two days ago, I couldn’t do anything but lie down.
From today, I planned to read this book steadily.
And the Holy Fire.
Although I could use mana properly,
due to the need for absolute stability, I could only use the skill after being discharged.
“..Is this how you do it?”
I raised my finger and moved the mana to that point.
Then the skill manifested.
[Skill, ‘Burning Holy Fire’ is activated.]
Whoosh-
A yellow flame burned from my fingertip.
At a glance, it was a flame that could be called golden.
‘Basic flame damage with additional damage to enemies with ‘evil’ attributes.’
It was a bit different in nature from the Wallwood.
This was much more aggressive.
Wallwood was excellent for defense, but I liked this one better.
“Anyway, it’s good to have a utility skill.”
Now, I had three skills that could be used directly in battle.
The Nine Heavens Sword, Purifying Wind, and Burning Holy Fire.
Each was a close combat attack, a buff, and a ranged attack with a conditional buff, making them a good combination.
These skills could create variables in battles.
It was a significant improvement from the time when I only had a close combat attack.
“How should I explain this?”
I was simply happy when I first got the skill.
But thinking about it, it was quite a tricky situation.
There were skills obtained by acquiring them, but most skills,
especially direct attack skills, were given by constellations.
‘This skill is not related to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl.’
But my known constellation, the ‘Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl’,
was different in nature from this holy flame.
There could be someone suspicious about it.
[The Constellation, ‘Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl’ says not to worry.]
“Do you have a method?”
[The Constellation, ‘Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl’ says no one will refute if you claim it as another of her inheritances.]
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl continued.
Constellations were not well-known beings to humans.
Especially the Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl, who rarely appeared even in the mythological era.
She said there were many unknown powers she possessed.
Adding one flame would be acceptable.
It was forced, but…
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl had an image of being a god of incense.
“And there’s no precedent…”
Most importantly, there was no precedent.
This fact would make this forced logic acceptable.
In this world, it was common sense that a contractor only had one constellation.
It would be hard to imagine someone having contracts with multiple constellations.
So, it meant I just had to be careful.
[The Constellation, ‘Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl’ supports you.]
[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Faces Demons’ looks forward to the contractor’s holy war.]
“…Holy war? I have no intention of facing demonic species for a while.”
I had no desire to go through that crazy ordeal again.
Thinking that, I went to the backyard and practiced the Nine Heavens Sword.
Even if it was home, I couldn’t skip training.
#
Aside from returning to my daily routine,
the academy incident became a huge controversy both internally and externally.
A ‘demonic species’ appeared in the first-year dungeon managed by the academy.
This was not a simple matter.
The danger of demonic species was well known to any experienced contractor.
Their strength was on a different level from other monsters.
That alone was a significant threat, and there were precautions against it.
Contractors with the power of ‘Demon Breaking’ would cast spells.
Creating demonic species wasn’t easy.
A small amount of power was enough.
Until this incident.
“Lost reputation, falling academy… Where are the murdered students…? These crazy reporters. Isn’t this too sensational?”
It was natural for the academy to be criticized.
It was an unprecedented event.
Although the academy did its best to handle it,
reporters and people loved sensational stories and attacked without considering the circumstances.
And soon, the issue would cool down.
This scandal wouldn’t last long.
‘But why did it happen?’
Reading the articles, the question arose again.
It was a question I had since facing the demonic species.
An event that didn’t occur in the original work.
Why did a demonic species appear in the dungeon?
There was no answer.
Information was needed.
It was hard to conclude without any information.
But I realized something from this incident.
‘I can’t blindly trust the information from the original work.’
The change in Lee Shinwoo’s personality.
The existence of Lee Se-ah.
And this demonic species incident solidified this thought.
I couldn’t blindly trust the original work’s information.
I didn’t know what variables might occur.
I was thinking that when it happened.
“Hey, it’s starting, so focus.”
“…Already?”
Jin Juha tapped my hand, which was holding my phone.
We were currently at the academy’s funeral hall.
It was a funeral for the first-year students who died due to the demonic species.
There were a total of seven deaths.
They seemed to have killed several groups, not just one.
“It’s unfortunate… They had only been at the academy for a month.”
“I’ll pray for them to go to heaven.”
The funeral hall was overall gloomy, but not unbearably so.
Once one became a contractor,
once one became an avatar of the stars,
death on this path was always possible.
The students who made a contract with a constellation and entered the academy
were already prepared for death.
‘But they were just first-years, kids.’
Of course, they were still young and weak.
Moreover, experiencing the death of someone close wasn’t common even for contractors.
Knowing and experiencing were different.
“So, when will you use that wish?”
After the funeral, Lee Se-ah, Sung Harim, Jin Juha, and I headed to the garden inside the academy.
We didn’t feel like going back right away.
So we gathered, but maybe because it was right after the funeral,
everyone was gloomy.
Trying to lighten the mood, Jin Juha spoke to me first.
“Well. I don’t have any specific ideas yet.”
“Use it as soon as possible. If you keep delaying, I’ll cancel it.”
“There’s no time limit.”
“I didn’t expect it to take this long.”
It wasn’t that I had no ideas.
I had too many.
Like visiting the
Her status and abilities were useful in many ways.
“What… How incredible are you planning to ask for?”
“…?”
It wasn’t a big deal for her.
Why was she so tense?
I was thinking that when someone suddenly called me.
It wasn’t one of the three around me.
“Are you Yoo Jinwoo?”
It was an old man.
A face that mixed both Eastern and Western features.
White hair and a wrinkled yet solid body.
And a subtle but strong aura emanating from him.
If you were enrolled in the academy, you couldn’t not know him.
I also knew him very well.
“Let’s have a talk.”
The headmaster of the academy and contractor of
Robert Han called me.