I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 252

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟐

In the original, I was able to confirm a certain amount of depiction, but Cheongra, which I saw with my own eyes, was a city that was more developed than I had imagined.

「𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙙. . . . . . .」

It was a magnificent city that could not even be compared to the village of White Stone Mountain, which I had visited only a few days ago.

The reason for this imbalance in development was easy to understand.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩.」

The appearance was similar to that of the Goryeo period or the Heian period of Japan.

However, I could not be sure of how many years ago it was exactly. The original production team did not give a definitive answer to that part either.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩, 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. . . . . . .」

That part is just a wild rumor and exists as an open ending.

There was no mention of it in the sequel, so it’s meaningless for me to think about it.

“What do you plan to do, benefactor?”

“First, I’m going to rest for a while and gather information. There are people I’m looking for.”

“I understand. If you need any help, please feel free to come to me, Heodu.”

With that, Heodu led the members of the upper group and disappeared among the people.

Now it was my turn to think about my next move.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙖 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡. 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧. . . . . . .」

Its importance was not great, and Yoo Ha-on and his party did not stay in this area for long.

In addition, the biggest problem was that their connection to the next destination was cut off when they were later transported to the sky with the help of a special yokai.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙤-𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮.」

Since Echinacea Lianqi told us to find him, it can be said that everyone’s goal is the same for now.

However, since it is highly likely that everyone has scattered, the movement route of them reflected in the original can no longer be trusted.

「𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩, 𝙃𝙤-𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙅𝙞𝙣𝙮𝙚𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.」

If so, the only thing that was clear was that the final destination was Jinyeon Mountain.

However, I do not know how far away it is from here, or how to get there.

For now, it meant that I needed to gather information in various ways.

“So-yul. Where should I go to get information here?”

“Oppa said he was looking for someone, so it would be faster to ask the merchants who have gathered from various places. Of course, I don’t know if that’s possible in this vast land. . . . . . .”

If I thought about it calmly, it had only been three days since I had fallen here.

I didn’t know if there was anyone nearby, and it was almost impossible to expect news of the party to have spread already.

First, I decided to find out the exact location of Jinyeon Mountain and the places that were mainly featured in the original, and then set out with So-yul.

“Jinyeon Mountain? I’ve heard of it several times. However, it must be quite a distance. . . . . . .”

“Is that so?”

“It’s not a nearby area in the first place. Even if we pass through villages along the way, it seems like it will be difficult.”

I had expected it to some extent, but it seemed that I would have to go through a lot of trouble to get to Jinyeon Mountain.

Since there were many who had never even heard the name, it was likely to be quite a distance away.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮. . . . . . .」

I have Black Bird and Black Yin, but they are not flight-type shikigami in the first place, so they are not suitable for traveling long distances.

After much deliberation, I felt the need to change my way of thinking and let out a small sigh.

In fact, if you look at it from a slightly different perspective, there is no need to be obsessed with Jinyeon Mountain now.

Unlike me, who knew the information of the original in advance, it will take time for the other party members to find Ho-chung’s whereabouts.

In the process, they will naturally grow, so now it is right for me to focus on increasing my own strength.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙞𝙣𝙮𝙚𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙮.」

Rather, it seemed that it would be more helpful for my growth to set a rough direction, move towards it, and hunt down famous yokai along the way.

With my goal set, I stayed in Cheongra for two days and started collecting information again.

This time, I targeted news from the surrounding area, especially that related to yokai.

As a result, there were three notable rumors in this area.

First, there was a rumor that a strange yokai lived in a lake that appeared when traveling one day’s distance west from Cheongra.

Second, there was a rumor that if you walked through the plains that stretched east, a non-existent city would sometimes appear and trick people.

And finally, there was a rumor that exorcists were recently being gathered in a city about four days’ distance to the north.

All three were quite interesting, so I thought about them carefully.

「𝙄’𝙢 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚.」

According to what I heard from the merchants, exorcists are already gathering from all directions after hearing the rumor.

Perhaps someone from the party might visit there to find the scattered members.

「𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚.」

There’s no rush. It’s enough to set out after checking out the other two rumors.

With that, I targeted the first rumor, which seemed the clearest and simplest, and headed for the lake to the west.

And in fact, I did kill the yokai that lived there, but it wasn’t as strong as I thought, so it didn’t help much.

「𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.」

Rather, the guy who was called a god on White Stone Mountain last time must have been abnormal.

Even if they are the main characters of all kinds of rumors, in reality, this level is probably normal.

Somewhat disappointed by the true nature of the rumor, I seriously considered skipping the second rumor and heading straight to the city in the north.

That was when the strange happened.

“Huh, what a strange thing.”

“It seems that the rumor was true.”

When I asked why it was so noisy around me, people pointed to the entrance of the city with one mind.

And there, several merchants in disarray were being escorted by citizens through the checkpoint, and from what I could hear, it seemed that they had encountered the ghost city of rumor.

“Ugh, I still don’t know what’s going on. I keep hearing hallucinations in my ears. . . . . . .”

“Calm down. I’ll give you some alcohol now.”

Hoo-woong.

A light blue light emanated from the man’s supporting hand, and the merchant’s complexion brightened a little.

After half an hour, he finally regained his composure and gave his testimony:

“There was still some distance left to Cheongra, so I decided to spend a day on the road. When I split up the party to look around the area, all of my colleagues who were guarding the luggage disappeared. Immediately after that, an eerie city appeared in the fog, and I felt an urge to entrust myself to that place. . . . . . .”

Fortunately, since there was a bit of distance, the influence was not strong, and it seemed that the party with the man hurriedly left the place and moved to Cheongra with their minds released.

Even during that time, illusions and hallucinations continued to confuse his head, and it was only now that he finally came to his senses.

“My missing colleagues must have all been taken in there. Ugh, damn it.”

The man bowed his head with a grim expression and covered his face with his hands.

Originally, there were about 20 people, but now only six remain, which means that he has lost most of his colleagues who had been through thick and thin with him.

And towards such a man, a group of people approached and started talking to him.

“It seems that we can save your colleagues.”

“Really?”

“We are Taoists from Daehwa-rym. We have killed countless yokai.”

“Oh, from Daehwa-rym. . . . . . .”

“Of course, there must be a price to pay to take the risk.”

The middle-aged man, who had a vulgar smile, made a sign with his hand and asked the merchants for a price.

Then the merchants exchanged glances among themselves, and soon bowed their heads to the Taoists with their eyes closed.

“We will give you the most precious trinkets we have. And if you succeed in saving our colleagues, you will also get their belongings.”

“Good. The deal is done.”

The merchants rummaged through their luggage and took out several gold-plated trinkets, and the Taoists from Daehwa-rym immediately said they would prepare and left somewhere.

And I approached them, who were tidying up their luggage and moving slowly to find a place to stay, and spoke to them.

“Excuse me.”

“What is it? My party is all exhausted and wants to rest first.”

As he said, they seemed reluctant to engage in any more private conversation, but I continued without paying attention.

“I saw that you entrusted the work to the Taoists of Daehwa-rym. However, they alone may not be enough.”

“What. . . . . .?”

“If all you said is true, the master of that non-existent city must be a very powerful yokai. And the Taoists from just now are a bit lacking in ability to deal with it.”

It was true. The confident Taoists from Daehwa-rym were, in modern terms, at a level between 1st-grade and 3rd-grade.

Even the strongest among them was only level 56, while the weakest was only around 43.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞, 𝙗𝙪𝙩. . . . . . .」

If the yokai of the ghost city was over level 60, they would have a hard time handling it.

“Huh, what did you say? Then what do you want me to do? If they are from Daehwa-rym, they are the largest force in this area, and they were the only ones who offered to help us. We have nothing more to say about it.”

The man’s words were not wrong.

Certainly, regardless of their strength, they were the only ones to ask for help in the situation just now.

With that, I realized that the conversation had progressed enough, and I made a proposal to them.

“I’ve heard that you are quite famous in this area. If I save your colleagues or defeat that yokai, can you help me for the time being?”

“No problem. Now that I see it, you have a unique temperament. We don’t have anything left to give you as a reward.”

“I’m not looking for a reward. I’m just telling you what will happen if I save them.”

In a word, it means that you will help me later.

At that, the man tilted his head as if he had heard something strange and bizarre.

“Don’t throw your life away by getting caught up in the enthusiasm of your youth.”

“It’s something I need to do.”

As I finished speaking, I summoned a large number of shikigami from the shadows and showed them to them.

Then I could see the man’s expression change at once.

“You won’t lose anything anyway, will you?”

At my words, they just nodded awkwardly.

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