I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

For Midterms... (1)

Guatemala 'was' a country located in Central America.

Yes, up until just 30 years ago, that is.

Thirty years ago, it still maintained the form of a nation, but thanks to the 'Phantasm Memory' incident that occurred at that time, it became a place where people could no longer live.

Now, all that remains there is barren land and ruined buildings, and remnants of maglignant spirits—like lingering radioactivity from the incident—that even S-class sorcerers find chilling.

Beyond this, the only things that could be found there were the innumerable possessed entities and spiritual entitiess, so people no longer called it Guatemala. Instead, it was referred to by a new name: the Magic Abyss (魔境).

At the very center of that Magic Abyss.

In the basement of a huge high-rise building located right where S-class sorcerers are said to have no way of escaping unscathed from the sky-swimming spectral whale possessed entities, several in number—

At the center, amid countless spiritual entitiess and higher-ranked possessed entities making a ruckus with eerie howls as they roamed, was a massive lump of flesh.

And inside it, a girl who until now had kept her eyes closed—

"..."

—opened her eyes.

Ssssss—

A glimmer of life began to return to her amethyst-like eyes, and before long, the girl lying on that mysterious hunk of flesh raised her body.

Thunk—

The girl set her bare foot down, entirely naked.

Her body looked incredibly frail.

And yet, even so, the possessed entities and spiritual entitiess that had been roaming about moments ago seemed to sense fear, freezing in their tracks and holding their breath without making a sound.

The spectral whales circling the high-rise building were no longer in the air, but descended to the un-swimmable earth, neutralizing themselves.

All of this happened merely because the girl opened her eyes and placed her feet on the ground.

She clearly appeared fragile, but was not perceived as such at all as she gazed upon those holding their breath endlessly.

"Hmm—"

For the first time, she let out a voice as melodious as jade beads rolling.

Tremble tremble tremble—

Just from that tranquil, languid-sounding voice, all beings nearby shook as if confronted by a very thing they feared most.

"Gatura of Salvation has perished... How untimely."

As her calm, yet questioning voice continued, a violet spiritual power began to envelop her naked body.

Immediately afterward—

"So that means... it's begun, hasn't it?"

With the generation of a set of slightly fancy clothing that perfectly fit her figure and her expressionless muttering ceasing—

"Then, I suppose it's about time..."

—she, the very one who turned Guatemala into the Magic Abyss (魔境),

"Let's see—"

Mongsang smiled, scattering violet spiritual power.

"shall I go meet them?"

####

Two days after signing the contract with Yagrat of Ambition, Kim Dojun was meeting Han Soyeon at a café in Sorcery Institute's city center.

'If I recruit Han Soyeon as a companion, it'll definitely help.'

The reason was to immediately invite her to join as a companion.

Although Han Soyeon's power was never properly showcased in the game, according to her background she had tremendous talent. Kim Dojun's plan was to develop her and use her as a companion.

'Of course, two guys beating someone is better than one, and three's more efficient than two.'

That was his plan...

"It's really, really a shame."

"... Is that so?"

"Yes, it's so frustrating he died a peaceful death before I could really torment her."

"Getting possessed isn't exactly a peaceful death, is it?"

"No, it is a peaceful death."

"... Why?"

"I planned to gradually torment her, tear her limbs apart, break her mind, and leave her a half-wreck for life."

"Wha...?"

Looking at Han Soyeon, who had been bemoaning the death of Ju Yu-dam with a scowl for nearly ten minutes straight, Kim Dojun began to wonder if he was doing something he shouldn't.

"... I see."

"Yes, but thankfully, there are still others left, so I can torment them a bit more."

Han Soyeon smiled as if genuinely delighted.

'... Indeed, no matter how I think of it, becoming a boss after being tempted by a maglignant spirit through Sorcery Killing Technique definitely isn't for someone normal.'

Watching her, Kim Dojun was once again convinced that the personalities of those who became bosses that way were anything but normal, and he began to question whether raising her as a companion was the correct choice.

'... Maybe I should hold off on recruiting her for a bit. After all, if I want to use her as a companion till the end, I have to get 'that' before Han Soyeon awakens.'

He made his decision for now. Then, as he talked with her, he shifted the topic to a thought that struck him.

"Come to think of it, you're not wearing your glasses today?"

"Ah."

At Kim Dojun's words, Han Soyeon smiled brightly and replied.

"You noticed right away?"

"I guess?"

Recalling the normally large, round glasses she always wore around her eyes, he commented, and she answered without erasing her smile.

"They were uncomfortable, so I took them off."

"Really?"

"They kept getting splattered, and cleaning them was a chore."

"Splattered with what?"

"With blood."

"... Huh?"

"Oh, did you know? Blood is surprisingly hard to wipe off glasses once it splatters on the lenses."

It was a fact he neither knew nor wanted to know, but Kim Dojun just nodded.

"So, since I can enhance my eyesight with my manifestation anyway, I decided to just quit wearing glasses."

"... That's, uh, a handy ability. To enhance vision."

"Right? Plus, if I push it further, I can lower my opponent's vision too. Though... that takes a bit of brute force."

"Uh... I see?"

"Yes, indeed,"

"... Uh, I know I asked before, but lately, you haven't been, you know—hearing any voices?"

"Voices?"

"Yeah, you know, like—'Don't you want to kill them all? I can help you,' that sort of thing."

Worried Han Soyeon might already be under the influence of a maglignant spirit, Kim Dojun asked.

"I don't hear anything like that, but I do sometimes think, 'wouldn't it be fun to torment them more like this?'"

"...."

At that, Kim Dojun fell silent, staring at her with an expression of being at a loss for words.

'... Is Han Soyeon... maybe not someone possessed by a maglignant spirit, but just a maglignant spirit herself?'

He began to seriously wonder.

####

Another two days passed, and it was Sunday.

With midterms suddenly just a day away, Kim Dojun—

"Hoo..."

—was studying sorcery.

... No, to be precise, he 'had been' studying sorcery.

'I came up with this brilliant new plan to make companions, but I still figured I should study sorcery, so I tried....'

Kim Dojun, lying in bed, stared at the stack of sorcery books tossed in the corner of his room.

Of course, he hadn't thrown them all there from the start.

But exactly one hour after he began studying, the Sorcerer King's books ended up like that.

Because Kim Dojun couldn't understand a single thing in the books.

'... Now all that's left is to try Shin Se-yeon's class, I guess.'

With that thought, Kim Dojun suddenly remembered something and pulled out his ghost liquor bottle to check the date, mumbling to himself.

"About two weeks left?"

In reality, since he couldn't properly use sorcery at the moment, he had no use for spiritual power, but he needed to use his spiritual tool. And to use a spiritual tool, spiritual power was essential.

"Not long now."

Kim Dojun hoped the ghost liquor would mature quickly.

He was sure that the spiritual power from the vengeful evil spirit sealed in this wine bottle would help replenish his own parched, drought-like spiritual power enough for him to use the spiritual tool, even if not properly.

Holding his ghost liquor bottle, Kim Dojun stared at the Sorcerer King's books crammed in the corner and reflected on his own intelligence. Who knows how long that lasted.

"... Should I just go to bed?"

After checking the late hour, Kim Dojun went to sleep.

The next day—

When he arrived in the classroom, Kim Dojun saw students displaying a range of emotions.

"Ah, do we seriously have to take this midterm? We've had so much to do already, can't they skip it, jeez..."

"Seriously."

Among them were a group mumbling in annoyance.

"We're screwed... Maybe I should just give up."

"Why do the first day's all theory classes, damn, I suck at theory..."

"Ah, if I fail, I'll get demoted to an 8-person room..."

There was a group already despairing over the midterms.

"Eight-person rooms aren't as bad as you'd think. I've been there, and it's not terrible."

"Agreed. To be honest, since I'm in an 8-person room, there's nowhere else to fall."

"If everyone screws up here, maybe I can make it to a 4-person room?"

Some students saw this as an opportunity, others were laid back since they had nowhere lower to fall.

Each student traded their own stories.

Kim Dojun noticed Shin Se-yeon quietly studying at her desk as if possessed, staring through her textbook with a hint of madness.

Time passed.

"Alright, clear everything off your desks."

The instructor entered the class the moment the bell rang with unnerving precision and immediately gave the command, and all the students groaned in unison, clearing away their things.

"As you know, the first subject is 'Sorcery Theory'."

Exam papers landed on each desk.

As soon as the papers appeared, more murmurs arose among the students.

But if there was one thing they all had in common, it was the sighs of disappointment and regret.

"The test is sixty minutes."

No matter how despondent the students sounded, the instructor paid no mind.

"Begin."

And with that, the test began.

And as it truly started—

Kim Dojun, like the others, looked down at his test paper.

'I have no idea.'

That was his honest reaction.

There were a few parts he understood, but the test was designed so he could never pass it with just the basics he knew.

Still, Kim Dojun was not flustered.

Naturally.

'Ready?'

After all, he was fully prepared to ace the midterm without even looking at the test paper.

[I have certainly memorized everything.]

Hearing the voice of Yagrat of Ambition, Kim Dojun smiled—

"All right then, let's begin."

—and picked up his pen.

The Ghost Test King.

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