Every Fallen House Has Its Reasons
“I’ve been utterly obsessed with this scripture for the past three days, pulling all-nighters without a care for my dignity…! Its structure is more refined than any sorcery I’ve ever seen! Efficiency so impeccable it borders on obsession, with not a speck of waste allowed! If we apply the core principles of this scripture, it could revolutionize even other sorceries…!”
Heo Taegong, the professor, was endlessly praising the sorcery I had refined.
If this were some cliché template story, you’d expect an old-school professor clinging to outdated knowledge to get utterly dismantled by cutting-edge modern theory.
It had only been three days since the Void Resonance Art was made public.
And in that short time, he’d concluded that all existing knowledge was obsolete.
But having someone like him shower my refined sorcery with such praise didn’t feel bad at all.
In fact, his reaction exceeded my expectations by a mile.
My ultimate goal in leaking the Void Resonance Art was to completely erase Gongmyeongdang’s reason for existing.
To shatter Gong Jin-cheol’s ambitions of elevating the family to the ranks of great houses beyond his wildest dreams.
I’d already wiped out most of the high-ranking sorcerers affiliated with Gongmyeongdang, leaving Gong Jin-cheol with nothing to lean on.
“Next, allow me to introduce today’s special lecture assistant! The temporary TA who is, in truth, the true creator of the Void Resonance Art. The freshman representative who so generously donated this scripture to the academy—Gong Siwoo!”
Clap clap clap!
A thunderous applause greeted me, naturally guided by the professor’s volcanic enthusiasm.
The grand auditorium was packed with around 400 people—most of the academy’s students across all years, plus some professors.
It felt much like the opening ceremony, with nearly everyone from the Korean Sorcery Academy gathered.
Familiar faces dotted the crowd as well.
At the front of the freshmen section: the cluster of international students, led by Ren Tsuchimikado.
She stood at the center, waving delicately with elegant poise.
Unexpectedly, Choi Taeseong was there too, seated with his entourage.
His face flushed red then pale, eyes brimming with murderous intent—it was a sight to behold.
The Void Resonance Art I’d leaked was more advanced than Gongmyeongdang’s original.
Too valuable now for him to ignore out of pride.
And finally, in a corner of the third-year section: a woman isolated on the fringes, shunned by every group.
Gong Seoyul.
No matter how she huddled, she stood out.
Her gaunt, haggard appearance suggested she hadn’t eaten or slept.
She stared blankly at the sloppily stapled A4 pages of the Void Resonance Art.
What must it feel like to see her family’s most precious scripture bandied about on everyone’s lips?
Who cares.
It was far too late for me to spare a glance at my ex-fiancée.
A woman who’d betrayed our prearranged engagement without a shred of guilt, selling her body for her family and even getting pregnant with another man’s child.
No different from a whore.
Even if I were a novelist doling out contrived redemption arcs, I couldn’t imagine her living like a decent human again.
“Thank you for the warm welcome.”
I turned my attention away from her—the first to crumble—and took the microphone from Heo Taegong.
Without breaking stride amid the fading applause, I reached the spot where he’d tossed the basic theory textbook.
I picked it up, dusted off the cover, and tucked it away.
“As just a lowly TA, it might be presumptuous, but Professor Heo Taegong said these basics are now useless. I beg to differ.”
“Wh-what do you mean by that?”
The professor’s eyes sparkled even brighter, as if I’d pointed out something he’d missed.
His passion for sorcery was so palpable, it was clear he loved it from the core of his being.
I faced him directly and, for all in the auditorium to see, began scrawling large white text in the air.
Emphasizing the importance of basics—cliché if it was a cliché.
“Let’s start by reviewing the fundamentals of sorcery.”
Not even half the room could follow if I dove straight into excitedly explaining the Void Resonance Art right now.
“Joryeok is the energy drawn out by expanding the sorcerer’s soul.”
Different from mana.
Mana is like a battery: refining external mana from the Otherworld and storing it in the body.
Joryeok, regardless of the method, is the pure power drawn from one’s unique soul.
Inheriting bloodline means passing on that soul’s uniqueness. That’s why mere blood descendants can’t always wield family scriptures.
“Sorcery is, at its root, a supernatural ability activated by infusing that drawn joryeok with intent.”
Unlike magic with its standardized results via magic circles, sorcery’s outcomes vary with the intensity of one’s intent.
Since souls differ, each person must find the sorcery that best suits them.
Like my Unique Sorcery, Dimensional Arrival.
“Comparing the original Void Resonance Art with my refinements will make this clearer.”
Honestly, by modern times, most sorcery produced results no different from magic.
A flick of the hand spews fire, space rends—same spectacular supernatural feats.
The old ways of offerings or rituals lingered only in massive rites like grand sorceries.
I enlarged pages from the original and refined versions with simple sorcery, projecting them into the air.
“Same page 3. Notice how the refined version is denser?”
“This was one of the most shocking moments of my sorcery career! That lengthy theory created a groundbreaking leap in performance!”
As Heo Taegong said, this was why the Void Resonance Art was stealing the spotlight.
It was a scripture permitted only to Gongmyeongdang’s bloodline.
To wield it fully, I’d needed a theory encompassing my soul—and everyone else’s.
“Now look at page 15 of this basic theory textbook.”
“Why bring up that book all of a sudden…? Huh? Wha…?”
I projected the new page next to the refined version for easy comparison.
Kindly underlining the overlapping parts.
Heo Taegong belatedly noticed and let out a groan.
Even a professor couldn’t spot it in just three days.
The refined phrases filled gaps like puzzle pieces in the unfriendly original.
“More precisely, it’s universalization. It started with loosening conditions so anyone could use it without limits, but somehow it surpassed the original.”
—So Gongmyeongdang’s bloodline wasn’t anything special, huh?
My final mocking sneer echoed softly through the now-silent auditorium.
Truth be told, after awakening Dimensional Arrival, I’d refined its power with Estella’s help.
Reproducing its effects with magic, then reverse-engineering to trim inefficiencies.
Through endless research, I cut the fat and filled the gaps.
Thus, the Void Resonance Art boasted efficiency leagues beyond other sorceries.
Enough that no one could complain about me trashing the original creator and his family for completing the scripture.
I glanced at the students diligently flipping pages and continued.
“I think these basics are far superior to some piddly scripture. Sorcery anyone can use? Compare that to scriptures or Unique Sorceries limited to a select few—it’s absurd.”
“That’s… certainly…”
Heo Taegong eyed the basic theory textbook I handed back with fresh appreciation.
Outdated methods with no advantages or efficiency.
But universal sorcery lingered under that stigma because information was controlled.
Scriptures by a handful of geniuses.
Nice resonance, but locked tight for their bloodline only.
No new knowledge flows in, no progress—just talented rejects drudging through hand-me-downs.
Paradoxically, that meant their safety was proven across generations.
To reiterate, my goal was spreading the Void Resonance Art until Gongmyeongdang became irrelevant.
If only a genius few or their descendants could access it, that’d be pointless.
“I misspoke. I forgot I’m an educator at heart. I’ve lived my life with these basics… but the new knowledge turned my head.”
Heo Taegong regained his composure and took back control of the lecture.
He promptly retracted his dismissal of basics and led the students with expert finesse on spatial sorcery.
Comparing basics to Void Resonance Art, improvising explanations anyone could grasp—professor material through and through.
That was as far as I, a mere TA, could interfere.
“…Gong Siwoo! Would you consider being a TA again?!”
Toward the end, as I moved to leave, unsatisfied with that much, his booming call blocked my path. I replied:
“What about Gongmyeongdang? It’s not a scripture only I knew, and plenty have more talent for teaching.”
Gazes converged on Gong Seoyul, who’d been quietly listening, pale as a ghost.
Her already ashen face drained of all color.
The house dreaming of greatness would soon crumble, leaving a group specialized in now-common universal sorcery.
The parasites clinging to my talent would be demoted from chaebol hopefuls to mere home tutors.
They’d even pine for the humble days before I came along.
Ignoring the crowd swarming Gong Seoyul, I was the first out of the auditorium.
“Arrrgh! Gong Siwoo…! You fucking orphan bastard!!”
Bam—! Bam bam!!
In the ruins of what was once Gong Siwoo’s workshop, Gong Jin-cheol trampled the debris wildly, heedless of the ash dirtying him.
Gongmyeongdang teetered on total collapse.
All 50 key sorcerers sent to eliminate Gong Siwoo: missing.
Hwaseong Group now saw Gongmyeongdang as unwelcome guests.
Never a large house to begin with, repeated failures had forced asset sales.
He’d come here himself out of desperation—too cash-strapped to smash up his own home recklessly.
“That fucking ingrate I raised!!”
Kaboom—!
The special lecture on Void Resonance Art spread beyond the academy’s confines, engulfing the entire sorcery world in moments.
The trend now: competing in Void Resonance Art mastery.
Rival houses at similar standings offered mock battles, graciously footing the bill.
A fool blinded by greed, disinheriting the heir.
A moron who botched the cleanup and ruined his own house.
Gong Jin-cheol’s reputation was already in the abyss.
“Calm down. You protesting in front of me right now?”
“Does this look calm to you?! What the hell is Hwaseong doing?! How far will you let my house fall before you’re satisfied?!”
“…It’s been in freefall since the scripture leaked.”
Facing Gong Jin-cheol as always: Choi Taeseong.
But gone was his usual hotheadedness—replaced by eerie calm.
“You gonna play it off as none of Hwaseong Group’s business?! We have evidence of your collusion! Even a wastrel like you won’t—”
“Hey. Think being Hwaseong direct lineage makes me shit my pants?”
No matter how Gong Jin-cheol bared threatening killing intent, Choi Taeseong remained nonchalant.
As if something good had happened.
“Heh. You might not have heard the latest. Let me fill you in.”
Choi Taeseong tossed a newspaper at Gong Jin-cheol’s feet, pulled from somewhere.
The headline screamed: ‘Hwaseong Group Chairman Falls into Coma!’
“Lucky break—my dad got ambushed. A spatial sorcery sneak attack, no less.”
“Ambushed…? The Hwaseong chairman was near Special Grade…”
“Who could it be? Someone specializing in spatial sorcery, at least 1st Grade strength. Someone with a serious grudge against Hwaseong Group.”
The Void Resonance Art leak had exposed every detail of Gongmyeongdang.
Gong Jin-cheol’s aims, Gong Siwoo’s disposal, Hwaseong’s backing.
Even the mass murder of Gongmyeongdang and Hwaseong sorcerers under the president’s watch had trickled out.
Gong Jin-cheol’s face hardened, rage evaporating.
Even exploiting Hwaseong’s top powerbroker exceeded what a shaky house head like him could handle.
“Don’t tell me you…?”
“Hey.”
Choi Taeseong pressed a finger to his lips toward the suspicious glare.
The clichéd shush gesture.
“How could I take down my old man? I’d get caught midway and spanked.”
Clearly beyond a wastrel barely scraping 2nd Grade.
But his blatant, unhidden attitude screamed his involvement in the scheme.
“Kuhuhu.”
Choi Taeseong grinned leisurely at the news of his father’s critical condition.