I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 157

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝟕

Lee Doo-sik was the Red Unit’s vice-leader and a 1st-grade exorcist.

In terms of skill alone, he felt he was inferior to Yoo Jin-ho, but that didn’t mean he would fall behind any 1st-grade.

「𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 1𝙨𝙩-𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 2𝙣𝙙-𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚.」

So if he took on the 1st-grade and Han Kang-yoon took on the 2nd-grade, they would be able to subdue them sufficiently.

Rustle.

As he finished his judgment and waited, two men in disarray appeared.

One of them clicked his tongue and immediately launched an attack spell, and Lee Doo-sik deployed the high-level defense spell he had prepared.

Whoosh.

Screech!

Bang─!

“I’ll take on this big guy, so you break through that side!”

“. . .Let’s do that.”

The opponent was also quick to make a judgment.

Despite being an intermediate spell, the heavy blow was undoubtedly from a 1st-grade exorcist. Lee Doo-sik ignored the middle-aged man who had disappeared into the woods with Han Kang-yoon and his party, and focused on the opponent before him.

Whoosh.

Bang!

As they exchanged a few blows to gauge each other’s level, the man in front of him suddenly let out a sly laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Are you okay?”

“What?”

The man’s words were incomprehensible, but Lee Doo-sik felt a strange sense of unease from them.

And that unease soon turned out to be true.

“Are those kids over there recruits? If so, it will be hard to handle.”

“Huh, they are excellent recruits who can deal with 2nd-grades sufficiently. You have no reason to worry.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, hey, what are you talking about?”

The man continued, looking at him with disbelief and pity.

“That side is stronger than me. Judging by what you said, the outcome should be out by now.”

“. . .What?”

The Exorcist Headquarters had clearly informed them that there was one 1st-grade and one 2nd-grade. And the man in front of him was definitely a 1st-grade.

So, could it be that the information was wrong?

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨!」

Lee Doo-sik felt a strong sense of crisis creeping into him.

No matter how good your grades were in the academy or the qualification exam, actual combat between exorcists who were risking their lives was different.

Furthermore, the opponent was a 1st-grade exorcist who had experienced many battles and even committed crimes, and had killed more than ten people.

It meant that the difference in experience was overwhelming.

「𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥.」

Lee Doo-sik gritted his teeth and drew out more spiritual power, exuding a fierce aura.

The opponent in front of him was strong, but not at a level that he couldn’t win.

As he pressed the opponent and gained the upper hand, he began to sense someone’s presence from the bushes.

The number was one.

Lee Doo-sik swallowed his saliva and clenched his teeth when he confirmed it.

「𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙞𝙩, 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚. . . . . . .」

However, there was no time to dwell on regrets.

Besides, Han Kang-yoon and Arietta were not easy opponents either. They might have realized the difference in level and quickly withdrawn.

In that case, all he had to do now was to hold out against the two until the other members arrived.

Rustle,

The person who entered Lee Doo-sik’s field of vision, who was determined to do so, was a gray-haired man with a familiar face.

It was Han Kang-yoon.

“Huh, huh? How did you. . . . . . .”

“I have restrained the other one. I came alone because I needed someone to guard the place. I will support you.”

“What?”

That meant that Han Kang-yoon and Arietta had subdued the other one.

Lee Doo-sik turned his head abruptly, thinking that the opponent had been bluffing for a moment.

However, on second thought, it seemed unlikely that he would have the presence of mind to do so in such a tense moment, and the opponent’s eyes were genuinely bewildered.

At least he didn’t seem to be lying.

“This is impossible, it can’t be! That guy was definitely one step ahead of me!”

The man was furious, but he couldn’t change the outcome before his eyes.

And so, the man collapsed under the combined attack of Lee Doo-sik and Han Kang-yoon, and the other members arrived at the scene one by one.

It was the moment the situation was resolved.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Thud!

“Ugh.”

“Hey, man, you’ve been told not to fight. Isn’t the team leader’s word good enough? Geez.”

“. . . . . . .”

Usually, he would have retorted with a joke, but this time he had nothing to say because it was partly his fault.

Lee Doo-sik rubbed his throbbing forehead and asked Shin No-eul.

“By the way, what happened? If you don’t know, say you don’t know. Don’t give us the wrong information. . . . . . .”

“I heard that the guys deliberately caused confusion while escaping. It’s not like the guys at headquarters did anything wrong.”

“Whew. That was close. If the kids got hurt because of me. . . . . .Oh, just thinking about it is horrible.”

As he shuddered, Lee Doo-sik recalled the words the middle-aged man had uttered during the escort.

『. . .Those guys, are they really human? The headquarters was also raising strange monsters.』

The man who had been defeated by Han Kang-yoon and Arietta had asked such a question, as if his teeth were chattering.

As he was pondering what that meant, Shin No-eul, who was next to him, spoke up again.

“So, what do you think? Do you think it’s okay to just keep having them participate in battles?”

“. . .Considering our recruits, it’s fast, but I don’t think it’s irrelevant? The two of them are enough to catch a 1st-grade, so that says it all.”

The results confirmed that the middle-aged man the two had faced was indeed a 1st-grade exorcist.

Honestly, it couldn’t be helped but be surprising.

“These kids are really amazing these days. Can they do that without any real battle experience?”

“It must be a talent. Maybe for them, there’s not much difference between a friendly match and a real battle.”

Shin No-eul and Lee Doo-sik quietly recalled their school days.

However, the more they thought about it, the more questions they had.

“I couldn’t do that even when I was twenty.”

“If you put it that way, I was still a 2nd-grade until I was almost thirty.”

At this point, all they could do was laugh in frustration. But on the other hand, if they could bring such talented people into the Red Unit, it would be an incredible achievement.

“Let’s just put them next to the recruits and give them the same role. They should be able to handle that much risk.”

“Yes. I think that’s the right thing to do.”

In the end, Han Kang-yoon and Arietta, who had not even been in the Red Unit for a week as probationary members, began to be treated the same as the other 1st and 2nd year recruits.

Although it hadn’t been long since its foundation, it was a moment when the tradition and history of the Red Unit were overturned.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

「𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡.」

No, it’s really going smoothly. From the general atmosphere, it seemed that they had established themselves as a solid force for the Red Unit through this mission.

“. . .Was I okay?”

“Yes. All the new spells you’ve learned are passing by my standards.”

In fact, the opponent we faced this time was quite strong. Honestly, if I had faced him alone, I wouldn’t have been confident of winning.

「𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧. . . . . . .」

Arietta was already a 1st-grade exorcist in name and reality, even if I didn’t know it.

Add to that Arietta’s special spell, which came from my shadow spell and the True Noble Blood trait, and the opponent was repeatedly bewildered and put on the defensive.

“. . .Junior. How is the situation?”

“It won’t be long before we have a worrying situation.”

Now that I have been given a plausible role, I must now solve the mission, get in sync with the members, and gain more trust.

Only then will we be able to fight Myudusa with one heart and one mind at the decisive moment.

「. . . . . . .」

And so, a week passed.

“Hey! Han Kang-yoon! The Team Leader is preparing for training!”

“Yes. I’ll be right there.”

Kim Seung-soo, a 2nd year member of the Red Unit who was not much younger than me.

At first, he used to show me subtle hostility and pressure, but after a few sparring sessions, he realized the difference in our levels and began to talk to me openly.

Thanks to him, I was able to interact with the other two new members, so he was a rather thankful existence for me.

「𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.」

The Red Unit is a very systematic team.

Even in a large-scale battle, there is a role assigned to the lowest-ranking 3rd-grade exorcist.

If I could be absorbed into this team and develop synergy with them, it would not be impossible to somehow catch Myudusa.

As I headed to the training ground after making my preparations, the emergency siren suddenly sounded throughout the building.

An emergency signal, meaning that at least a rapid response was needed.

“. . .Junior.”

“Let’s go check it out.”

We quickly ran to where the other members were, and soon learned the situation from Shin No-eul’s explanation.

“Gyeonggi-do, Uijeongbu, and Ansan, there are simultaneous high-level yokai appearances. We are going to support Ansan.”

There were simultaneous high-level yokai appearances, and the yokai in Ansan, where we were headed, was already estimated to be A+ rank.

「𝙎𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨. . . . . . .」

I don’t feel good about it. There was definitely such a description in the original when the Myudusa incident occurred.

I really felt like the decisive moment was just around the corner.

Maybe today was that day.

I tried to hide my trembling heart and followed the members to Ansan, and joined forces with the exorcists there to subdue the A+ rank yokai, Ujangmansangtae.

And so, on the way back home after completing the mission, something happened.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

“How was it, Vice Team Leader? We were in the back, so we don’t know exactly how it went.”

“He was a really strong guy. I haven’t seen a monster like that in thirty years.”

As the members congratulated each other and cheered each other up after overcoming today’s crisis, Shin No-eul, with a grim expression, immediately deployed her detection spell.

And shouted to the members.

“Everyone, get out of━!”

At that moment. A typhoon struck.

Kwaang!

Kuogua, kuogua━!

The surrounding buildings, trees, and even the ground.

All of them completely lost their shape as if they were exploding, and the members were blown away in an instant.

If Shin No-eul hadn’t warned them, there would have been serious injuries from this attack.

“Wh, wh, what. . . . . . .”

“Gasp, gasp!”

The powerful demonic energy that crushed everything made the 1st and 2nd year members next to me panic and gasp for air.

“This is ridiculous, how could there be such, such a fearsome aura. . . . . .!”

“W-We have to run away! Where are the Team Leader and Vice Team Leader?”

Where had all the determination they had been training so hard for gone? They were looking around in fear like children.

It wasn’t as bad as them, but to be honest, my heart was not much different.

「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝?」

S-rank yokai.

In the game, it was just a number in terms of status, but not in reality.

S-rank.

The word meant a disaster in the truest sense of the word.

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