I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 175

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕𝟓

Eventually, the man shared a more detailed account with us.

Following the declaration of an emergency, the hospital first moved the critically ill patients to the safe zone, in accordance with protocol.

Then, as the remaining staff were being evacuated, they seemed to have been drawn to this unknown garden by some unknown trigger.

「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.」

Although we occasionally saw people in hospital gowns or nurse uniforms, their numbers were small, and they didn’t seem to have any problem moving around on their own.

The man nodded and continued speaking.

“This is considered an abnormal situation, so the remaining exorcists initially tried to eliminate the cause and escape from here. However, . . . . . .”

In short, they were unable to stand up to the yokai that had taken over the garden and ended up trapped here.

As I finished talking with the man, several people approached us from behind and asked questions.

“Y-You said you came from Sadang Shelter? Then, by any chance. . . . . . .”

Upon checking, three of them were family members of the evacuees we were looking for.

They must have encountered the situation while wandering around and fled to the hospital, which seemed relatively safe.

「𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚?」

If what the man said was true, we wouldn’t be attacked as long as we didn’t trespass into the garden area and waited here.

However, that couldn’t be a fundamental solution.

There was no food or water here, and more importantly, ordinary citizens wouldn’t be able to withstand this thick miasma.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.」

Concluding my thoughts, I sighed and said to the man,

“No matter how I think about it, we seem to have no choice but to break through. How many exorcists do you have left?”

“Including me, only two. But I also think that. . . . . . .”

Surprisingly, it was not the man but the ordinary citizens who reacted strongly to my statement about entering the garden.

“Oh no, you can’t. Student! The student can’t see that horrible sight.”

“I-I saw it from the side, but that wasn’t something a human could handle. . . . . . .”

“. . . I think so too. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to provoke it rashly.”

The citizens were utterly terrified.

Given that they would have welcomed the exorcists’ actions, the fact that they were now pleading with us to stop meant that the previous exorcists must have been slaughtered without even putting up a fight.

At the same time, the middle-aged exorcist in his 50s added,

“. . . It’s impossible with just a search party. Even though I pride myself on being one of the best in the 2nd-grade, I can’t imagine being able to fight it.”

“But don’t you know? We’ll starve to death before another high-ranking exorcist finds this place.”

“That’s true too. Damn it, I don’t know what to do.”

To the man who had completely given up thinking, Lee Min-hye, who was behind me, said,

“. . . It might be worth a try. I saw him earlier, and he was taking down high-ranking yokai all by himself.”

“Excuse me? Are you saying there’s an exorcist of that level?”

When Lee Min-hye pointed at me with her finger, the man’s face twitched as if he didn’t understand what was going on.

Then, as if he had just realized that I, a young person, was acting as the leader of the group, he asked with a puzzled expression,

“Excuse me, but what grade are you. . . . . . ?”

“3rd-grade.”

“. . . . . . .”

The man glared at Lee Min-hye, thinking she was joking in this critical situation, but Lee Min-hye didn’t back down and pushed on.

“No, he’s the, the top student. Top student. He’s just a 3rd-grade because he’s young, but his skills are real. Tell them, guys.”

Only then did the other exorcists, who had been watching cautiously, start to back up Lee Min-hye’s words.

“She’s right. He’s definitely amazing.”

“I’m a 2nd-grade too, but I’ve never seen anyone with skills like his.”

“At the very least, he’s clearly the best among us.”

As if something came to mind from their words, the man raised a finger and asked me with a long, drawn-out expression,

“If you’re the top student, then are you by any chance the so-called genius of shikigami, Han Kang-yoon?”

“I don’t know about the genius part, but I am Han Kang-yoon.”

At that, the man’s expression brightened noticeably. It was as if he had found a way out of a crisis.

“I’ve never met you in person, so I didn’t recognize you. I’m Kwak Yoon-tae, a 2nd-grade exorcist from the support center in Seocho-gu. If you have any way out of this, I’ll do my best to cooperate.”

What a sudden change of attitude.

When I expressed my doubts about it, Kwak Yoon-tae replied as if it were obvious.

“I heard that you participated directly in the S-rank subjugation of the Red Unit. I heard from an acquaintance there that you were actually one of the biggest contributors. Can’t we trust the judgment of someone with experience?”

There were murmurs of agreement from all around.

The citizens, who were not familiar with the gossip among exorcists, were also well aware of the significance of the title S-rank yokai.

“T-Then. Can we get out of here?”

“I can’t give you a definite answer, but I’ll try to find a way.”

The situation was still unchanged, but the citizens were noticeably relieved and rejoiced.

This was why public opinion was so powerful.

And as if he didn’t like that kind of atmosphere, a sharp voice suddenly rang in my ear.

“How noisy. You never get tired of setting foot in this place. It’s really annoying.”

Soon, a graceful woman appeared on the border between the forest and the garden.

She was the owner of this garden and the one who had slaughtered the exorcists.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Ting!

【Flower Spirit Ghost (花精鬼)】

▶Level 54

▶Ability Scores

【Stamina: C+】

【Power: S】

【Spellcraft: A+】

【Mental Strength: B】

▶Traits (7/10)

【Agility (S)】

【Song of Flowers (S-)】

【Life Absorption (A)】

【Guardian (B+)】

【Frenzy (B)】

【Spiritual Power Amplification (B)】

【Poison (B-)】

‘. . . What the hell is this?’

When I first checked the level, I was puzzled. After all, it was only at the A-rank level, far lower than Kwak Yoon-tae’s testimony.

However, after checking the ability scores and traits, I realized that Kwak Yoon-tae’s assessment was actually accurate.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚.」

First of all, the S-rank Power and the A+ rank Spellcraft. In fact, this combination alone makes for a formidable force.

However, the truly surprising thing was the traits.

Not only was the lowest-ranked trait B-, but all of them were traits that were known to be highly effective at their respective ranks.

In the original work, it was nearly impossible for anyone other than a player to stack high-level traits like this.

To be honest, if a yokai that wasn’t even a main boss in the game had been made like this, I wouldn’t have anything to say even if I heard complaints about the balance being broken.

「𝙄𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎-𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝘼𝙜𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩.」

As its name suggests, it effectively gives the owner an advantage in all actions, depending on their will.

In other words, it’s a trait that can’t be bad no matter where it’s attached, such as increasing attack power when attacking and increasing defense power when taking a defensive stance.

Looking at me, who was completely frozen, and the terrified citizens, the woman continued speaking as if she were annoyed.

“My name is Hwa Baek. I am the master of this garden. I clearly told you not to set foot in my flower garden and to wait for death like a sitting duck. If you keep bothering me like this, I will not show you any more mercy.”

The exorcists were so intimidated by her overwhelming aura that they couldn’t move.

However, from that situation, I was able to figure out one more piece of information.

“That’s not true.”

“What?”

“You can do whatever you want.”

Everyone around me looked at me in bewilderment at my words.

“. . . Really, since the citizens are attached, there’s no way to provoke it, right?”

“It’s okay. The guy probably can’t touch us as long as we don’t trespass into the garden area.”

“Is that really true?”

In short, I said that, but in reality, I meant that she was bound by such constraints and had no choice but to leave us alone.

My words must have hit the mark, because Hwa Baek frowned and glared at me with those creepy eyes.

“There’s one smart little rat. That’s right. It’s really funny that a yokai would show mercy to a human.”

Now that I knew what kind of yokai she was, I had my own strategy.

However, I was more interested in exploring other possibilities than that right now.

「. . . 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

Hwa Baek is the perfect gem.

She possesses talents that are virtually on par with the essential characters that are often found in party-building games.

If I could just subjugate her, she would undoubtedly excel in any situation, regardless of the circumstances.

「𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮?」

It wouldn’t be easy by ordinary means.

In the case of Geusdae, it was possible because he was sealed from the beginning and there were several conditions that were favorable to this side of the contract. Originally, it was extremely rare to succeed in subjugating a yokai of this level.

However, if my guess is correct, Hwa Baek is a half-demon of a fairly special classification. Furthermore, she was likely originally human.

If I could exploit that fact, I might be able to find a way.

“You seem to have quite a story.”

“That’s funny. You’re spouting such nonsense after seeing my face once.”

“I’d like to talk to you.”

Everyone’s eyes darted around in confusion at the situation that was going in a completely incomprehensible direction, and Hwa Baek replied to me with a condescending smile and a seemingly kind demeanor.

“Then, cross this line alone and step into the garden. You don’t have the right to talk to me if you can’t even do this much.”

It was obvious to anyone that she had an ulterior motive, and the exorcists who realized this naturally tried to stop me.

“You mustn’t be fooled. She clearly has an ulterior motive.”

“. . . You’re the only one we have left now. You don’t have to take the risk.”

Of course, I knew that much too. Rather, I had said it with the hope that she would come out like this.

That’s why I reassured them and replied,

“I’ll go in alone. I won’t do anything reckless, so if you trust me, you must never trespass into the garden and wait.”

And so, I slowly turned to face her and took a step forward.

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