I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 18.1

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖

No way, seriously?

I tried to hide my bewilderment and quickly deployed a basic defensive spell. Then I asked, 

“Isn’t that a disadvantage for me?”

“Hmph. It’s nothing special. I’ll score you fairly based on all the circumstances and situations, I promise. So don’t worry about it and just do your best.”

In that case, there shouldn’t be a big problem. I just had to modify my tactics a little.

「𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚.」

In order to take the exorcist qualification exam early, I had to get promoted to a higher class from my current Class D.

That’s why I had to get good grades, regardless of anything else.

I observed the situation and read the atmosphere. Most of the gazes were focused on me, but surprisingly, no students attacked me right away.

「𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮. 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣?」

The rule that simultaneous attacks on a single target were prohibited was ingenious.

In this battle royale-style exam, attacking someone meant that you yourself were more likely to be targeted.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨.」

Also, because of that one rule, the so-called hyena play of delivering the finishing blow in the middle of a fight was impossible.

What did that mean?

It meant that the students who wanted extra points had to deal with the students who attacked me first before they could come after me.

「𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙨.」

This way, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything other than defense in the early stages of the fight.

The other students wouldn’t just stand by and let me get attacked, if only to get the extra points for themselves.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.」

That must have been what Go Daehye meant when she said it would be a fun match. It was somewhat impressive.

A brief moment of silence.

However, the word “extra points” was too sweet a bait.

Eventually, one student, unable to resist the temptation, cast a curse at my doll.

“Fear!”

A basic curse that amplifies the target’s anxiety and causes confusion.

It wasn’t a powerful type of curse, but I didn’t know the damage limit that the straw doll could withstand, so it was better to block it completely.

I added another appropriate spell to the defensive spell that I had already deployed.

Shhh.

Crack.

“W-what? he’s fine?”

Taking advantage of the moment when the student whose spell had been broken was panicking, someone who had been waiting for an opportunity immediately targeted the attacker’s doll.

It was Seo Jin-young, a student from Class B.

“. . .Fear!”

Screech.

Because the defense wasn’t properly deployed, the doll of the student who had attacked me started to catch fire.

“B-Back off, White Flower Advanced Brook. . .”

“Fear.”

Rip!

The student who had belatedly deployed White Flower Advanced Brook in an attempt to defend was too slow. In the end, the doll was completely burned, and the first person dropped out.

After that, it was complete chaos.

“Fear!”

“White Flower Advanced Brook!”

“Art of the Eight Directions.”

Surprise attacks were launched on Seo Jin-young, who had scored the first kill, and someone else targeted the student who had targeted him.

It was a complete tail-chasing procession. In the midst of it all, I also picked off the weaker students one by one, looking for openings.

“Fear.”

Rip!

“What? I definitely blocked it!”

I’m sorry, but the Fear that I use is quite different from the other students’.

The efficiency of the spell itself was different, and because of my high karma value, it was buffed.

Rip!

“Ah. Damn it.”

Thud!

“Huh? Who’s this?”

If there was someone with a clear opening, I would ambush them. Otherwise, I would always maintain an ironclad defensive stance.

I caught a total of three students like that.

Just as I felt that was enough and was about to focus on defense again, someone launched an elaborate curse at my doll.

“Secret Curse of Fear.”

Secret Curse of Fear was a spell that could be seen as an upper-level version of Fear, causing the cursed person’s negative emotions to overflow.

I was impressed by the powerful aura and blocked it.

“White Flower Advanced Brook.”

Whooosh.

Crack.

“. . .Wow.”

In the distance, I could see a student staring at me as if I were some kind of monster. It was Pyo Ji-eun, the only Class A student taking Forbidden Arts.

There was nothing she could do, no matter how she looked at it. What was she going to do about my spells being blocked at this level because of the buff?

After repeating the offense and defense a few more times, the end was finally in sight.

There were a total of three students left.

Pyo Ji-eun from Class A, Seo Ji-an from Class B, and me from Class D.

Hmm.

Hmm.

『Wow. I didn’t know he was that good. He deserves extra points.』

『That guy’s defense is just impenetrable. What kind of spell is he using. . .?』

『Even if it’s limited to Forbidden Arts, that’s definitely not Class D level. That guy will be taking the promotion exam soon.』

Seo Ji-an’s remaining was unexpected. Of course, her ability score was Class A level, so that was to be expected, but it seemed that she had been taking the class quite seriously.

The moment we faced each other and confronted each other, a curse was cast on me first.

Flinch.

Not at the straw doll used in the match, but at my physical body.

「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩?」

I panicked and deployed a mental defense spell. However, it was immediately broken. I felt the sensation of a curse crawling up my body.

Sizzle.

Slide.

This is bad. I took out the spiritual power that I had stored in Baryok Beads and thought of one of the best offensive spells that I could use at the moment.

Shhh.

“Six-Syllable Bright Truth Mantra.”

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