Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Singing Girl (2)
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"Spirit magic?"
It's a talent that literally summons and controls spirits. There are only a few people in the entire world who possess it.
"Hearing that makes me curious."
Intrigued by the rare spirit talent that only a handful of people worldwide possessed, I stood up from the bench.
I headed toward the source of the singing, where I witnessed a mystical sight of its own.
"―♪."
A female student singing softly with her eyes closed, surrounded by about a dozen spirits playfully darting around her body.
Her hair—Joo Ha-yeon's hair, to be precise—swayed as if dancing, likely due to the colorful spirits.
'Definitely worth seeing at least once.'
On top of that, Joo Ha-yeon's song drifting into my ears sounded pretty good.
But mixed in with the melody were pure, innocent voices that sounded almost childlike, yet free of any childish tone.
"You said let's play? We're playing with you like this, so why keep asking?"
"This one's keeping her eyes closed the whole time even though she wants to play."
"She's just sending the same intent over and over. It's annoying."
"Let's play among ourselves. She'll be satisfied eventually."
Realizing those voices belonged to the spirits, I turned to Lee Seojun.
"What kind of beings are the spirits here?"
They're a type of summon. Summons that perform magic-like feats without needing incantations.
"So basically, just summons."
Yes. The advantage is you can unleash indiscriminate bombardment without any cooldown. In terms of firepower, they're the best in their grade.
Mentioning advantages implied there were disadvantages too.
The downside is you can't control them perfectly. Spirits are so capricious that they tend to act on their own whims.
"What if you tell them not to act on their own?"
Spirits don't understand words in the first place. That's why Joo Ha-yeon infuses her songs with emotions to convey her intent.
Hearing about infusing emotions into song, I looked at Joo Ha-yeon again.
Listening closely, it wasn't just well-sung—actual emotions were palpable.
'Emotions like whining to play...?'
Feeling that from her song, I glanced at the chattering spirits.
"They're not completely incomprehensible."
I suspected no one else but me could hear the spirits' chatter.
Pardon? What do you mean by that?
"Maybe talking to the spirits could make communication possible."
With that short reply, I approached Joo Ha-yeon.
More precisely, I approached the spirits playfully clinging to her body.
"Huh? That human's coming over!"
"Another human? Should we mess with him?"
"Won't that get her in trouble if we prank him?"
"Who cares."
Regardless of whether words worked, their personalities varied wildly.
"You'd better stop."
"Huh?"
"Did he just...?"
My words made all the spirits freeze in place.
From their reaction, unlike with others, they heard me clearly.
"Whoa! I can hear this human clearly!"
"Amazing! Human! Say something else!"
"You can't understand other people's words, right?"
The spirits affirmed in unison.
"Yeah! Right!"
"We can't hear other people!"
"But we can hear you!"
As expected, humans and spirits couldn't communicate with each other.
On the flip side, ever since contracting with the Creator God, my language restrictions had been lifted.
Otherwise, I'd have struggled every time I crossed worlds, but thankfully, that never happened.
"Um, who are you?"
Joo Ha-yeon stopped singing and stared at me intently.
The spirits, who had been playing on their own, had suddenly stopped and gathered around me.
Lee Seongmin, what did you just say?
Moreover, when I spoke to the spirits, Lee Seojun reacted as if he hadn't heard it.
"I just chatted with the spirits for a bit."
Pardon?
"Pardon?"
Lee Seojun and Joo Ha-yeon both stared at me in surprise.
You talked with the spirits? That's impossible.
"Is what you just said true?"
Joo Ha-yeon pressed in so close our clothes nearly brushed, demanding answers.
Her fresh green hair, snow-white skin, and pretty features were all right there in plain view.
"It's true. Why would I lie about something so easy to expose?"
I turned to the spirits still babbling around me.
"Follow my hand gestures for a moment."
"Hand gestures? Playing a game?"
"Why should we listen to you?"
"He's a human we can talk to, though."
The spirits chattered among themselves but ultimately obeyed.
It felt like they were complying simply because they'd found a human they could communicate with for the first time.
'No way I can control them, though.'
That was obvious.
These weren't my summons, after all.
Anyway, when I gestured, the watching spirits moved in sync.
"......"
Joo Ha-yeon stared blankly at the spirits following my hand signals, her expression full of disbelief.
Figuring I'd shown enough, I stopped gesturing, and the spirits halted too, resuming their chatter.
"No more?"
"This is fun!"
"Do more!"
Spirits got enjoyment from something like this?
"Later."
As I replied vaguely, Joo Ha-yeon asked me urgently.
"H-how did you talk to them? Tell me too."
She reacted intensely just to the fact that communication was possible.
While I eyed her curiously, Lee Seojun explained on my behalf.
I mentioned earlier that spirits can't be controlled. But if you can talk to them, that flaw disappears—which explains her reaction.
In short, it meant her spirit magic would become even stronger.
After pondering Lee Seojun's words, I addressed them both.
"If words don't work, couldn't you just use hand gestures?"
Joo Ha-yeon shook her head immediately.
"If that worked, I wouldn't be struggling like this. Spirits don't even understand the concept of hand gestures."
'Isn't it like training a dog?'
I recalled that rewards were key in dog training.
If there was nothing to reward the spirits with, training would be tough.
I nodded.
"I get the gist, but..."
That said, I couldn't grant her the ability to talk to spirits.
There were ways, but nothing I owed her.
"Is it an innate ability?"
Innate ability?
Claiming that here would make three innate abilities public.
Warlord's Weapon, controlling swords.
Collection Cuisine Summon, summoning food.
Language Restriction Release, talking to spirits.
Lee Seojun said multiples were possible, but three at this point felt like too many.
'Nothing else comes to mind but innate ability, though.'
With no other choice, I nodded, acknowledging it as my third innate ability.
"Ah... If it's innate, there's nothing we can do."
Joo Ha-yeon spoke with evident disappointment.
Observing her, I checked her potential out of curiosity.
Excluding the off-the-charts Cheon Seo-yun, Joo Ha-yeon's was impressively high.
Spirit magic was rare worldwide, and her potential matched that hype.
"But I can relay messages between you and the spirits."
"Huh? Oh! Right!"
With that, I decided to start by getting closer to Joo Ha-yeon.
She lit up with joy at the prospect of talking to spirits through me.
I never imagined spirits could converse like people.
After being roped into three straight hours of interpreting for Joo Ha-yeon, I finally escaped.
She said it felt like her rapport with the spirits was improving through the talks, but I wasn't so sure.
Anyway, back at the dorm, I nodded to Lee Seojun and pulled out the metal plate.
By the way, Lee Seongmin, you're not targeting Joo Ha-yeon too, are you?
I'd planned to use Item Replication and Equipment Evolution to check the higher rune, but paused at his question.
"I'm thinking about it."
You're giving up on Cheon Seo-yun?
"I'm targeting both."
Whoa...
Lee Seojun sounded genuinely impressed.
What if you get stabbed?
"I've got Absolute Clone, so it's fine."
Absolute Clone? Ah, so you won't die even if stabbed?
I'd meant I could handle both simultaneously thanks to Absolute Clone, but he interpreted it differently.
I didn't correct him, just nodded vaguely and activated Item Replication on the metal plate before me.
Fwoosh—
Now there were two plates. I combined them with Equipment Evolution.
Flash—
"So this is the advanced rune for Flame Imbuement."
For reference, Item Replication and Equipment Evolution could be used in tandem.
If this was a level-2 rune, I could go on to level-3, level-4, and beyond.
"A level-3 rune should suffice for Instructor Park Tae-yong, right?"
More than enough. It'll cause quite a stir, though. Ah, better yet—move your other body here.
"Creating a body to act outside?"
Yes. Finish this quick so you can get moving too.
I nodded and started shifting my other body to the dorm—then stopped.
I'd sensed a familiar figure approaching my dorm.
Lee Seongmin?
"Ah, someone's here at the door."
Knock knock—
Right on cue, knocking sounded.
Only one person would enter my dorm anyway, so Lee Seojun guessed and nodded.
Knock knock knock—
I got up, walked over, and opened the door.
"......"
Standing outside was Cheon Seo-yun, who had visited once before.