Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 35
Aaaargh! My, my eyes! My eyes!!!
What? Want me to splash more on your eyes?
S-stop! Stop it! Please stop!
Nah.
Il-yeong, who'd taken a direct hit to the eyes from the gu poison, let out agonized screams.
Black blood streamed from his eyeshe must have gone blind.
Just in case, though, I poured more of the pooled poison on the floor.
And damn, did he love it.
Gaaahhh!! My body! What have you done to my body?!
He was groaning so wildly, it was like he was in ecstasy.
Uploading this scene to SNS would definitely get slapped with an adults-only rating.
Still, gu poison really packs a punch.
I brushed off my hands, which I'd dipped into the gu poison puddle, ignoring Il-yeong's screams behind me.
My veins bulged prominently, and flakes of skin peeled away, just like a severe burn.
Even with Ten Poisons Immunitysupposedly blocking all ten types of poisonI was still getting mildly poisoned by it.
Looks like my poison resistance needs work.
I'll have to build it up some more.
I ignored Il-yeong as he thrashed in agony from the poisoning. At this rate, he'd die on his own for sure.
M-my arms! I can't feel my arms!!!
Blind now, Il-yeong groped around with both arms in place of his eyes.
But he felt nothing there.
No way to tell if it was nerve toxin or paralysis poisonor if his fingertips had simply corroded away.
His legs were the same.
Unsure if his leg nerves were paralyzed or melted, he collapsed to the floor.
His flailing looked just like a frog's.
He's about to croak now.
Il-yeong couldn't see it, but he was floundering straight toward the poison swamp. With a body that couldn't even swim, drowning was inevitable.
But he couldn't die just yet.
If he had to go, he'd do it after a name change from Il-yeong to Sim-yeong.
No! I-I'm supposed to survive and become a guild heavyweight
Those were his last words.
Il-yeong sank completely into the gu poison puddle.
Bubble bubble. As air bubbles rose, I quickly fished him out. Fortunately, he wasn't dead yet and was barely clinging to consciousness.
Perfect timing.
Foam bubbled from Il-yeong's mouth
Slash!
I wrapped my hand in [Solar Vein] and chopped down.
The cleanly severed crotch of his pants rolled away, then sank into the puddle and slowly corroded, losing its shape.
Surgery complete.
No bleeding either, thanks to the [Solar Vein] on my hand blade. Now Il-yeong was reborn with the cool new name Sim-yeong.
If only his filthy personality got reborn alongside the name.
Hah hah You dare cut off my, my junk. Even though you've got me now
Still hadn't come to his senses.
Thud!
I kicked him square in the chest with my foot.
No matter how hard he kicked with his weak body, it wouldn't faze a trained assassin's frame.
But Sim-yeong's gu poison-soaked body had gone soft like tenderized meat, and he hacked up blood repeatedly.
I planted my foot on his chest and watched.
No second chances for you. Shut up.
Guhhh!! Kill me then!!
Me? Why would I? I'm not killing you.
I flashed a grin as I said it.
Sim-yeong, pickled in poison and gasping under my foot on his chest, had no choice but to listen.
I'm gonna save you. A failure like you can't go back to the guild anywayyou'll have to come crawling back to me.
Just accept my mercy already.
Thud!
I kicked Sim-yeong without hesitation and dipped my hand back into the puddle, stirring it around.
A half-dissolved pant crotch floated up.
Good thing all the flesh had corroded awayno eyeball terrorism here.
Now I gotta absorb it, and you're making it all gross.
Ugh, nasty. I rolled up my sleeves and cursed Sim-yeong's flesh.
A gu poison puddle overflowing from Go-ui's corpse.
From the thing that devoured everything in the dungeon, its depth rivaled a decent swamp or mudflat.
The bubbling, boiling poison swamp.
I plunged my hands into it without hesitation.
And activated the skill at the same time.
Essence Absorption
I sensed a centipede lurking in the depths of the puddle.
That was Go-ui's resentment hidden in the gu poison.
I absorbed the resentmentpuddle and all.
[Absorbing the essence contained in Gu Poison.]
[Your organs have been poisoned by a massive dose of gu poison!]
[Immediate treatment required!]
As the gu poison puddle shrank, my hands turned blacker by the second.
The poison went beyond poisoningmy veins swelled grotesquely like necrosis.
Intense pain came with it, but I still hadn't absorbed all the resentment coiled deep in the puddle.
I sucked up the whole damn thing.
No hiding place left for the resentment.
I drained every last bit of resentment and essence.
[Poison Tolerance has reached its threshold.]
[Adapting to gu poison, gaining resistance to poisons!]
[Skill Ten Poisons Immunity integrates into skill Weak Body Resistance Physique.]
Living things adapt to any stimulus.
By exceeding the threshold.
And for poisons, I'd blown right past it.
[Congratulations! Skill Weak Body Resistance Physique (F+) has grown one rank.]
[Weak Body Resistance Physique: F+ E+]
Weak Body Resistance Physique
Rank: E+
Description: A trace of new organs created by the gu, steeped in hundreds of poisons, to produce antibodies against them in real time. Not a specific internal organ or animal group's concept. Adapts to any organism's form and evolves with each stimulus exceeding the threshold.
*Adaptability
Once a frail body receives stimulus past a certain level, it adapts based on that threshold.
*Hundred Poisons Immunity
Immune to a hundred poisons. For moderate ones, gains antibodies and immunity quickly. Notably immune even to lethal gu poison, which no one could normally withstand.
The skill evolved, integrating Ten Poisons Immunity into Hundred Poisons Immunity.
Losing one skill cluttered my list lessbetter this way.
From ten poisons to a hundred.
Most poisons won't touch me now.
Proof: my blackened skin and flushed veins returned to normal.
Finally done.
I collapsed to the floor.
Stamina and mana fully depleted.
No strength left to standor even the will.
But
Oh, right. Thats still left.
Two tasks remained.
One: cook up the bait-fish I hooked.
The other: save the guy dying from gu poison resistance in my blood.
Slice.
I formed a thin mana blade on my fingertip, slit my wrist, and brought it to Sim-yeongs mouth.
Open wide.
No clue how much blood he needs for gu poison antibodies.
Might as well fill his lungs?
Sim-yeong looked up at me with trembling eyes.
Pickled in gu poison, he couldnt move limbs, jaw, or tonguenothing but shiver.
So I interpreted his shakes as consent, my way.
Aw, worried about me? Dont be.
I can replenish blood with mana anyway.
The blood in me now holds over a hundred poisons and the intense positive energy of Solar Vein Blockageultra-acidic stuff.
So drink up, no holding back.
Probably wont die.
Right?
* * *
Outside the Ephnels Garden dungeon.
A crowd of reporters had gathered.
From a single tip-off.
Hello, Hunter Broadcasting.
Yeah, Ive got a dungeon tip.
We dont take dungeon tips.
I caught Baek Seung-woo entering one.
Where?
Baek Seung-woo was the hottest topic right now.
The hero who saved students during the Chilseong Academy raid.
But scandals galore, inversely proportional.
True or not, reporters could spin juicy stories off him.
His Heavenly Fox Baek Family Head status added fuel.
A high noble they'd rarely touch otherwise.
Juicy articles on such nobility? And the family imposed zero media restraints, so stories grew ever more sensational.
A follow-up on Baek Seung-woo? Reporters wouldn't miss it.
Senior, isnt that the Gwireum Broadcasting crew?
Lemme see. Yeah. They sniffed it out too.
Damn. Exclusives gone; we might not even get breaking news.
We got the tip first.
But rival papers and stations sent reporters after smelling blood.
Common in modern society.
Tips go out to multiple outlets simultaneously.
And speed is life.
But dungeon players emerge unpredictablyyou just wait.
Now more reporters piled in, making exclusives tougher.
At least we arrived first and snagged prime spots.
True, front rows all our cams. Still sucks, though.
Thats the game. Waitings the art.
Sounds like my fishing-obsessed dad
Life demands patience.
Reporter work and fishing had parallels.
Rush for scoops, wait doggedly for dungeon exits.
Though reporting and fishing are totally unrelated, obviously.
Why? I think theyre alike.
Thats cause you fish every weekend, senior.
The senior shook his head at the juniors jab.
Theyre similar, surprisingly. Fishing waits for big catches; we wait for scoops. Nice venue too.
Ephnels Garden Thought no more players would enter.
Koreas top three unconquered dungeons.
Ephnels Garden, famed for lowest difficulty among them.
Guilds tried and failed.
Even rare S-rank Nine-Tail Guild backed off.
No need to mention others.
No way he went in to clear it.
Obviously. Unconquered for a reason. Probably to dodge media glareand got caught.
But we nabbed him.
Not one reporter here thought Baek Seung-woo had cleared it.
Made sense.
Even catching the raid culprit didnt spotlight his skills.
Public view on him split two ways.
One: hero who saved students.
Two: his scandals types and depravity.
People favored the latter, naturally.
Sensational rumors over bland hero worship.
Digging into those scandals, no one imagined him clearing Ephnels Garden.
The moment everyone dismissed a clear
Reporters filming the entrance froze.
H-hey, whats that?
Dungeon distortion. Break incoming?!
Idiot, breaks turn the entrance red beforehand! That just means cleared.
Cleared Ephnels Garden?
Scoop Scoop!
Turn on all cams!
Reporters grabbed gear.
No cam? Phones out.
All held breath, waiting.
A foot emerged from the rift.
Click-click!
Shutters fired everywhere.
But they didnt last.
The figure wasnt who they wanted.
Too squat for Baek Seung-woo.
Who?
That uniform! Chilseong Academy!
Embroidered chestfirst-years wore that color, right?
Whys an academy kid emerging from the dungeon?
Duh. Baek Seung-woos a TAmustve lured a student in.
Reporters nodded sagely.
Ijis mind blanked, though.
Dozens of cameras and eyes on her. Phones pushed it past a hundred.
What the hell? She turned backand got it.
Teacher cleared the dungeon!
The impregnable Ephnels Garden.
Player powerhouse Koreas shamean unconquered dungeon, cleared.
Such a feat explained the spotlight.
But one question nagged.
Teacher wouldnt call reporters. Why so many here?
Public opinion on Baek Seung-woo sucked right now.
Iji, whod watched him dash during the academy raid from afar, ignored the scandals.
He had conviction, skill, wisdomperfect teacher material.
But the world didnt see it.
Knowing that, Baek Seung-woo wouldnt summon press.
Culprit obvious.
People hunting and gathering in the dungeon.
They fled the mountain-sized gu poison.
They mustve tipped off.
You! Chilseong Academy student, right?
Did you enter with Baek Seung-woo? If so, why?
Saw how he cleared Koreas top three unconquered dungeon? What was it?
Iji turned away, ignoring the questions.
Reporters badgering raid-traumatized students still burned in her mind.
No comment
Then a thought struck.
Staring at hundreds of cameras, Iji mused.
This could bury teachers scandals with achievements.
Golden opportunity.
Such intense spotlight? Rare.
Could overwrite rumor-heavy scandals with feats.
You really wanna know how the dungeon was cleared?
Reporters leaned in.
Cameras flashed on Iji.
Know the Ephnels Garden clear method?!
Tip said Heavenly Fox Baek Family Head Baek Seung-woo enteredis the clear confirmed?!
Boss monster looks? The plant-type most expected?
Iji answered the excited barrage in order.
Each reply scoop-worthy.
Though Baek Seung-woo praise sprinkled in felt off.
Still valuable for breaking newsspread fast.
Meanwhile, footsteps from the dungeon.
Seung-woo watched the reporters and Iji, tilting his head.
His tail mirrored it.
Whatre they doing?
Oblivious to coverage on him.
He hailed a cab to the city.
By chance, the same elder whod ferried him bragged about the clear. (P.S. Sim-yeong clutched his crotch, shadow-traveled away.)
New master or not, he needed treatment before the wound worsened.
Wouldnt fix what was gone, though.