The Conjurer of the Academy

Chapter 90

“There’s something here!”

“Ugh, what on earth is this? Is it really Park Jung-seok? He looks like a monster.”

Hunter Police officers, responding to the call, swarmed into the construction site.

“P-please forgive me…”

On the ground lay a grotesque, large toad, crying out in a bizarre voice. Even as the Hunter Police dragged him away, the toad—Park Jung-seok—offered no resistance, merely floundering his body.

‘Until his last breath…’

I silently watched from a high point in the construction site as the hunters took Park Jung-seok away.

‘He must suffer in the torment of his own deeds.’

The end of repeated murders led to deep and thorough self-destruction. Park Jung-seok would have to live his entire life in the hallucinations of the people he killed.

The illusions I showed were temporary, but the Yeouiju in Do-il’s possession made the long-lasting ones possible.

“Do-il, what are you going to do now?”

I asked Do-il, who was sitting next to me, seemingly lost in thought since earlier.

“I want to hold a memorial for my mother first. I couldn’t even bid her a proper farewell.”

[And after that?]

Suddenly, Yomi cut in.

[Even after a thousand years of training, if the end is bleak, the ascension will be out of reach, and you’ll live a cursed life. It’s better not to cling to becoming a dragon and instead live doing what you truly want.]

“What I want to do…”

Seemingly inspired by Yomi’s words, Do-il stood up abruptly.

“I want to travel with you, Hyung!”

“With me?”

Do-il looked up at me with bright, attentive eyes. While having Do-il, an Imugi, on my side would be reassuring, there were still some aspects that were hard to accept.

“You don’t need to feel obligated to repay me. I helped because our interests aligned, that’s all.”

The main reason I decided to help Do-il was because of the quest. It wasn’t out of pure goodwill, so I didn’t want Do-il to feel indebted over this.

[Don’t worry. An Imugi has the ability to see through good and evil, so he wouldn’t make a wrong judgment.]

Yomi snorted.

While everyone else treated Do-il like a child, Yomi was the only one who truly saw him as an Imugi.

“Then there’s another issue. Unlike yokai, Imugis are tangible ‘spiritual beings,’ so it should be impossible to conjure them.”

“Conjuring entity spirits or yokai is possible, but a living Imugi is outside the scope of Spirit Conjuration.”

Without the ability to conjure, I couldn’t carry Do-il around with me as a student.

[There’s no need to be too fixated on conjuration.]

Yomi puffed out her chest with confidence.

It was her signature gesture when she was about to share some insightful knowledge.

[Make a pact!]

A pact. While a Spirit Conjuration is a type of pact, what Yomi referred to was a more comprehensive concept.

[By making a pact on equal terms, you can simply borrow power when needed. Spirit Conjuration isn’t necessary.]

“That’s true…”

If it was just about making a pact, it wouldn’t bind Do-il excessively, and I could borrow his strength when necessary.

“You did well, our cutie.”

[Eek!]

I tapped Yomi’s head with my index finger, and Yomi wiggled around.

“Shall we make a pact, then?”

“A pact?”

Do-il’s gaze showed a tint of unease. A pact is, after all, a formal agreement. It’s not something that one side can simply decide upon; it requires both parties to have suitable stipulations for it to be valid.

“I’ve never done this before…”

Do-il looked hesitant, unsure if he could really fulfill such a commitment.

“Did you handle the Yeouiju like this before?”

“No, my body just moved on its own.”

Hearing Do-il’s response, I was certain. When he had judged Park Jung-seok earlier, Do-il had instinctively recited an enchantment to the Yeouiju. It wasn’t something he had learned; it was innate.

“It’s alright.”

I kneeled down on one knee to be at eye level with Do-il, stroked his hair to ease his unrest, and smiled reassuringly at him. Right after, a blue spiritual energy akin to an upward current burst forth from the ground.

“I, Seol Ha-baek, swear with my blood to become your spear, Do-il.”

I looked into Do-il’s eyes and nodded affirmatively.

“…”

Whether he felt the sincerity of my heart or not, Do-il also nodded back firmly.

Whoosh.

The rising blue energy was joined by a golden light.

Do-il shed his childlike exterior and metamorphosed back into the majestic form of an Imugi.

[-I, the Imugi Do-il, swear upon the Yeouiju to become your blade, Seol Ha-baek.]

The blue and golden energies resonated, creating a lush green hue.

[“With this, we form our pact.”]

The mixed spiritual energies separated back into their own, with golden energy flowing into me and blue energy into Do-il.

[I feel dizzy…]

Right after the pact was formed, Do-il laid his head on his coiled body, sticking out his tongue. It seemed that using his abilities as an Imugi drained a lot of his stamina, perhaps due to his young age.

“The pact is complete.”

[Hehe, I’m excited.]

Despite looking worn out, Do-il flicked his tongue joyfully.

Buzz—!

At that moment, the Yeouiju in Do-il’s possession began to vibrate, making him lift his body in surprise.

[W-what’s happening? Why is it acting like this all of a sudden?]

“This is…”

I cautiously approached the Yeouiju. It was resonating with me.

Hidden Quest Clear!

– You have captured Park Jung-seok!

– You have drawn out Do-il’s potential as an Imugi!

As the quest was completed, a quest window appeared. Normally, I’d see a summary of the rewards, but nothing was displayed this time.

‘No way…’

My body trembled reflexively.

In my experience, there was only one reason for a quest window to not show a summary of the rewards.

Special Condition Achieved!

– The Yeouiju reacts to you!

– You can choose one of the rewards below!

A. Acquire Skill Points and Stats

B. Resonate with the Yeouiju

※ If you resonate with the Yeouiju, one of your artifacts, skills, or stats will be randomly adjusted to a new rank.

For a moment, I felt as if my breath had stopped.

In rare quests, fulfilling hidden conditions can grant special rewards.

However, the conditions and whether they apply can change each cycle, making it common to miss out entirely on some cycles.

In that sense, meeting the special reward conditions was quite lucky.

‘But why does it have to be…’

I stared at the quest window, deep in thought. The special reward (B. Resonate with the Yeouiju) was exceptionally tempting but had a concerning aspect.

‘Randomly…’

The implication was that if it failed, the current rank could derank by one level. In short, it meant high risk, high reward.

In the worst-case scenario, the level I painstakingly raised for Spirit Conjuration could be downranked, or the strength stat I built up while being dragged around by Han Yu-seong could hit rock bottom.

‘What should I do?’

Choosing the safe path would undoubtedly be A.

But backing down now might lead to future regret.

‘Go big or go home!’

I decided to make the less regrettable choice.

I placed my hand on the Yeouiju.

Fwoosh.

A burst of golden light erupted. The light was so intense that I instinctively squinted my eyes against its brightness.

[You have chosen ‘B. Resonate with the Yeouiju’.]

[One of your artifacts, skills, or stats will be randomly adjusted to a new rank.]

My heart felt like it was shrinking. Is this what it feels like to gamble your entire fortune on horse racing or stocks?

[Your skill ‘Spirit Sight (A)’ has been randomly adjusted to ‘Spirit Sight (B)’!]

“Auugh…!”

[Are you okay, Hyung!?]

The result was a disaster.

As I collapsed to the ground, Do-il approached me with a worried look, his tongue out.

‘The skill level I worked so hard to raise…!’

I was cursing my choice a few seconds ago when,

[4% ‘Luck’ has been applied.]

[The result will be adjusted.]

The Yeouiju emitted light once again, and my knees, which had buckled, straightened up.

‘Did my luck stat just trigger?’

The luck stat usually affects item drop rates or skill critical rates. However, it can also give you a chance to adjust random results, as it does now.

My luck stat had recently increased by 3 due to the exchange student event. Combined with my original luck stat of 1, the total was 4. This meager 4% chance gave me another roll of the dice.

The result of the rerolled dice was,

[Your skill ‘Spirit Sight (A)’ has been adjusted to ‘Spirit Sight (S)’!]

A crazy good adjustment result.

But before I could rejoice, an immense pain struck my eyes.

“Kkuuh…!”

It felt like my eyes were being crushed at the cellular level. The agony was so intense that I almost wished the rank hadn’t increased.

“Hoo…”

Only after the pain subsided could I lift my head. I fumbled for my smartphone and switched the camera to selfie mode.

‘My eyes…’

My pupils had turned a bright blue, fully assimilated with spiritual energy.

Spirit Sight (S)

– Provides complete immunity to mental manipulation states such as hallucinations, illusions, and mind control.

– Allows glimpses into the memories of the world beyond.

Complete immunity to certain status effects.

Considering the recent jellyfish incident, this wasn’t a bad ability. But it felt somewhat underwhelming for the final stage.

‘What does the second part mean?’

My attention was drawn to a note at the bottom of the skill window.

[※ Additional rank increase upon meeting certain conditions]

It was a note indicating that an additional rank-up for Spirit Sight (S) was possible. Normally, S-level is the highest rank for skills, but some skills have an even higher rank.

‘Unique Rank.’

Similar to the unique skills attached to the S-class artifact that Cheon Tae-seong had recreated, some skills can be raised to a ‘Unique’ Rank.

However, meeting the conditions for this is extremely difficult, and since the conditions themselves are unknown, it requires a lot of trial and error.

‘No need to overthink it.’

Let’s not complicate things right now.

What matters is that I succeeded in the gamble, saving 500 skill points, and that Spirit Sight (S) still has not reached its growth potential.

[Skill Points]

– Skill Points: 130

– Spirit Conjuration (A): 0/500

* Yomi (A)

* Fog Jellyfish (A)

* Baek-ah (B)

* Crystal Giant (C)

– Spirit Sight (S)

– Maiden Ghost Mimicry (S)

– Command of Imugi: Leed Do-il (Unique)

Additionally, being able to call on Do-il’s help in emergencies is a significant gain.

‘Glad I decided to come out this weekend.’

This result was more than satisfactory. It felt worth spending my weekend out here instead of resting.

[Are you okay, Hyung?]

It was only after Do-il’s tongue brushed my cheek that I realized I had been too preoccupied.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Despite my reassurance, Do-il’s expression didn’t immediately ease. He was probably worried that I might have gotten hurt because of him.

‘There’s still some time left before curfew.’

I gently stroked Do-il’s head.

“Feeling hungry? How about we grab something to eat?”

At last, Do-il’s worried expression softened a bit.

[Okay!]