I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 242

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝟐

After that, I promised to pass on a message to Cheong So-ha someday, and then I began to ask Cheong Gi-beom about something that had been bothering me since earlier.

“What did you mean by what you said after the battle was over?”

“Huh, it’s nothing difficult. It means that those guys are also growing.”

According to Cheong Gi-beom, this was the second time his faction had fought Mahvabata.

“If possible, I wanted to settle it in the first battle, but he ran away and it failed.”

After that, they had finally been able to finish him off today, after he had been hiding and healing his wounds for a while.

And what Cheong Gi-beom wanted to say was just beginning now.

“At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but it wasn’t. In the second battle, he definitely had stronger powers than before.”

Some people might say that they had just gotten used to each other from the last fight, but it wasn’t that simple.

If Cheong Gi-beom had felt it with his own body, it meant that the difference in power was quite significant.

“Although it was only a few days apart, in fact, it felt like he had spent several years building up his strength.”

Cheong Gi-beom said.

It seemed closer to the feeling of regaining strength rather than getting stronger.

And I could roughly guess the reason for it.

「𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙮 𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞.」

There was such a description in the original work. However, it seemed that this aspect had been greatly enhanced by Hell difficulty.

And that was shocking news for all of humanity.

「𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧?」

I know the yokai that will be the true crisis of this 3rd Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.

And to be honest, I don’t even want to imagine the sight of them getting stronger.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮.」

At this very moment, a new policy of mine was set.

No matter who it is, I must confront them with all my might as soon as they show their face.

As if responding to my determination, I clenched my fist and looked at the sunset.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“This is ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“Don’t stick to me like a leech and get away from me. Were we ever so close?”

Between the corpses of the yokai, there were two men and women who were having a conversation that was in stark contrast to the bloodstains covering their bodies.

They were Cheong Ji-woon, the 10th elder of the Cheong family, and Cheong Juhwa, who was considered a thorn in the Cheong family’s side.

Considering their statuses, they were a mismatched pair.

“Ah, really, why did I have to run into this kind of human?”

“Do you have to be so harsh? If you think about it, we’re somewhat like schoolmates.”

“What kind of schoolmates? I just used your stuff without permission.”

Cheong Ji-woon had reinterpreted and created a grand spell from the unique spell of his family, Nine Favors and Ten Inscriptions.

After Cheong Juhwa saw it once and succeeded in recreating it, Cheong Ji-woon fell into deep thought.

An overwhelming talent that could treat him, who was called a genius, like a mere trifle.

In the end, Cheong Ji-woon decided to abandon all the customs and relationships he had built up until now.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m going to change my path. You will someday surpass even that Cheong So-ha, and if we just make up our minds, it wouldn’t be too difficult for us to stand at the very top of the family.”

“No, but I’m not interested in that. Really, why are you being so creepy?”

However, no matter how Cheong Juhwa refused, Cheong Ji-woon had already made up his mind.

He was that fascinated by Cheong Juhwa’s talent, and he was also convinced by his intuition.

「𝙄𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 5 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙣𝙤, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 3 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝.」

So rather than earning unnecessary hatred, he thought it would be better to show her unconditional goodwill and avoid becoming an enemy, if possible.

Honestly, who would know?

If Cheong Juhwa returns to gain strength with a grudge due to the past incident, Cheong Ji-woon’s faction will be ruined.

Before that happened, it would be better to clear up the karma in advance.

“I understand that you find it unpleasant. However, if you think about it, it was my own actions that caused that situation, and now, this is my true heart. Cheong Ji-woon and his faction have already decided to stand behind you.”

When he showed such persistent goodwill, even Cheong Juhwa couldn’t take it as a joke.

She realized that Cheong Ji-woon had really made up his mind to be on her side.

“So, what, are you saying that you’re going to join me now?”

“The wording is a bit off. It’s not much different from what you meant, but I’d like you to accept it as me supporting you.”

“Then what can you do for me?”

“Unless it’s something that would risk the existence of the faction, anything.”

Cheong Juhwa sighed at the outrageous declaration.

“So, what, can you gather everyone from your faction under me from now on?”

“. . .Why would that be impossible? If you wish, I will take responsibility and prepare for it.”

Although his eyebrows twitched slightly as if he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, Cheong Juhwa knew that this was an incredible act of lowering his pride.

“It seems that you’re really being sincere and not joking.”

“Didn’t I say so from the beginning?”

Cheong Juhwa fell into deep thought.

To be honest, it was something she hadn’t even thought about, but she had been thinking about her own future quite often lately.

And soon, she came to a conclusion.

“It’s not bad. But let me tell you this in advance, I don’t have any intention of taking over the family by pushing aside Cheong So-ha.”

Moreover, in Cheong Juhwa’s opinion, Cheong So-ha and Han Kang-yoon’s relationship had been strange lately.

She often got the impression that Cheong So-ha, who was practically the head of the Cheong family, was following Han Kang-yoon’s lead instead.

She didn’t know what kind of interests were between them, but she didn’t want to influence it unnecessarily.

“Yes, even that much doesn’t matter.”

From Cheong Ji-woon’s point of view, there was no need to rush.

His first priority was to earn Cheong Juhwa’s favor, and if she gained power, his status would naturally rise as well.

And so, the interests of the two people finally coincided.

Gently clasping her hand, Cheong Juhwa immediately gave her first order.

“Then gather everyone under you right now.”

“. . .Weren’t you joking?”

“Why would I joke with you? Time is precious. Or, what, are you going to have a serious three-way conversation with azure dragon? He’s been making a huge fuss because he wants to see your face right now.”

“I will gather everyone.”

Cheong Juhwa wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, but she knew that she needed to sort things out now that she had joined hands.

Moreover, weren’t there a lot of things that needed to be done right before her eyes?

“At least in this neighborhood, I plan to clean up everything myself.”

“. . . . . . .”

She said it as if she were joking, but it was by no means an easy task.

And as Cheong Juhwa watched, Cheong Ji-woon had a hunch.

As expected, his choice had not been wrong.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Nearly a week had passed since the day I had begun to act in earnest.

During that time, I had searched for high-ranking yokai without rest, and I had finally managed to obtain the two traits that I had been aiming for.

【Tenacious Struggle(A+)】

▶You gain a bonus to all ability scores when fighting in unfavorable conditions.

【Giant Slayer(A)】

▶You gain a bonus to all ability scores when the enemy’s level and ability scores are high.

As you can tell from the names and effects, these two are traits that show great effectiveness when dealing with strong enemies.

They would definitely be of great help in the upcoming battles, where I would only be facing strong enemies.

“Junior, wouldn’t it be better to rest for a bit?”

“Yes. I plan to rest for a while starting today.”

The trigger for the Tenacious Struggle trait, unfavorable conditions, has a very wide range.

Like Giant Slayer, fighting against strong enemies is also included, and it also takes effect in various situations, such as when you have injuries on your body or are exhausted from repeated battles.

So, in order to get a feel for the numbers, I deliberately stayed up all night hunting yokai and repeated trial and error to see how it worked.

Since my fighting style involves calculating everything, including the ability score bonus of the traits, a small error could lead to disastrous consequences.

And the results were quite satisfactory.

「𝘼𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨.」

Not only do I have to fight against strong enemies, but there are also a lot of yokai, to the point where I’m fighting more than ten times a day.

In such a situation, its effect was definitely unrivaled among traits of the same rank.

「𝘼𝙣𝙙. . . . . . .」

There was another reason why I had decided to take a break from the repeated battles.

It was because I had begun to feel, to some extent, that the end of this last grace period given to us was approaching.

「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」

Ring!

【Han Kang-yoon】

▶Level 60

▶Ability Scores

【Stamina: B+】

【Spiritual Power : A-】

【Spellcraft: B-】

【Mental Strength: A】

▶Traits(8/10)

【Shadow Assimilation(S)】

【Witch’s Echo(A+)】

【Dragon’s Body(A+)】

【Tenacious Struggle(A+)】

【Giant Slayer(A)】

【Spirit Absorption(A)】

【Challenger(B+)】

【Mental Spellbook(B)】

Thanks to the fact that I had chosen to fight only strong enemies and had fought in high-density battles, my level had also grown explosively.

To be honest, I was a little surprised that I had managed to overcome the level 60 wall so easily.

「𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

Of course, it wasn’t difficult to guess the reason.

It must be because I had already met that condition through the trial of the Blue-White Soul Mirror.

“. . .It’s starting, isn’t it?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Arietta had also heard the general story from me, so she understood the situation intuitively.

And as if to confirm that such thoughts were correct, the ominous aura that had been floating around for the past few hours began to intensify.

The grace period was over.

Now, the monsters that had been called calamities in the old days would finally break free from their shackles and come to this world.

And soon, I was able to obtain information about the first enemy that would herald the beginning.

Jingle!

Tick.

“What’s wrong?”

『What you told me to look out for seems to have appeared.』

Seo Ji-an, who had sent me a signal through a specially made communicator, spoke to me in an uncharacteristically trembling voice.

『There’s something huge near the Han River. . . . . .It looks like it’s wrapped in something like a cocoon.』

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