The Clan's Secret Becomes Public Property
The cherished secret art that had been guarded so preciously had become everyone's common property. There was no reason whatsoever to protect a family secret after being disowned and nearly murdered for it.
Void Resonance Art was nothing more than a launchpad for my unique sorcery, Dimensional Arrival. A technique I could no longer feel any attachment to.
If I could reduce Gongmyeongdang's value to that of a useless bloodline, then scattering this so-called secret art as public property wasn't the least bit regrettable.
It was a problem born from hiding my power too well during my disownment, so I'd switched tactics—now, I'd reveal just enough to show them.
"This is one of the reasons Gongmyeongdang caught Hwaseong Group's eye. Void Resonance Art."
I picked up a thick stack of papers, printed in bulk and crudely stapled together.
There were two versions. Red and blue covers flapped limply without any care.
"The original before I touched it, and an even more improved final version beyond what Gongmyeongdang possessed. I've prepared both."
A sorcery clan's secret art, inaccessible to anyone outside the direct bloodline, now laid out in variants for all.
Gong Jin-cheol's biggest mistake was passing Void Resonance Art down to me.
Once I glimpsed the potential of Dimensional Arrival, a minor clan like Gongmyeongdang ceased to matter much.
I had no lingering attachment—enough to endure a 10-year binding, risking someone else seizing my position.
"You saw what happened to my classmates, chopped up like that. Even without Gongmyeongdang blood, it had that power. If you're sorcerers, you know its value."
A firm declaration of complete ownership transfer. The sorcerers, drooling with anticipation, lunged forward like unleashed beasts.
They swarmed like starving ghouls.
Watching a clan's secret sorcery devolve into worthless common knowledge brought a strange catharsis.
The freshmen who'd tasted spatial severing firsthand were especially desperate.
"Get out of the way! If I can even replicate a fraction of that power…!"
"D-don't push! Hey! Move aside after you grab one!"
Seniors pretending to stay aloof, professors supervising from behind—they all bared their greed and threw themselves in.
"So this is that bitch Gong Seoyul's family secret…."
"Ahem…! Maintain order! There are plenty of copies!"
"Professor! I saw you snag three!"
The auditorium turned into a chaotic marketplace. Sorcerers unable to contain their greed, scrambling for the secret art.
Finding the one person whose face I wanted to see amid the frenzy was easy.
Choi Taeseong, left alone in the freshman section.
His ashen face trembling—it was clear I'd dealt a massive blow to Hwaseong Group's plans.
Not quite his birthday, but a memorable entrance ceremony nonetheless.
Just as they'd bound me back then, I'd cast binding sorcery to make him watch the results clearly.
And my former fiancée, Gong Seoyul.
She staggered up to me on unsteady feet and shrieked hysterically.
"How… how could you do this?! Leaking the secret art…! You want us all to die together?!"
"To throw your words back: if you couldn't kill me all this time, that's on your incompetence."
If they'd opened a portal to the Otherworld and come for me, I'd admit it and take a hit.
But they hadn't—the price of their incompetence. The backlash of betraying me without finishing the job.
Her clutching her precious belly in disbelief was pathetically amusing.
Watching Gongmyeongdang crumble in real time from the VIP seats—what a feeling that must be.
Her only support now was Choi Taeseong. If she was already pregnant, they'd consummated as partners early.
A sorcerer gets one lifelong partner. Choi Taeseong couldn't abandon her now.
Or maybe, playboy that he was, he'd make her a side concubine and shove her in the back room.
Ending her life cleanly would be too merciful.
Like a true sorcerer, I'd make her feel the cost of her wrong choices for the rest of her life.
"Die together? I'm not even your bloodline. Replacements are everywhere."
"If you'd been that talented, I never would've broken off the engagement…! Why didn't you show it?! If I'd known…!"
Did she think I'd done this out of pure revenge?
To put it extremely, Void Resonance Art was no different from any common sorcery to me, without Gongmyeongdang blood.
Plus, I'd already set up safeguards.
Just like how I'd easily subdued Gongmyeongdang's sorcerers.
Sorcery nullification, reversal, ownership seizure. Countless counters.
No matter how many enemies wielded Void Resonance Art, they'd just expose their weaknesses.
Gong Seoyul screaming helplessly, Choi Taeseong frozen stiff.
I savored the losers' faces in my mind and left the academy first.
Didn't mean to, but I landed a solid hit on Hwaseong Group too.
I'd planned sequential revenge, but Choi Taeseong's reaction showed my disownment wasn't his solo act.
I'd thought he'd abused his power, dazzled by Gong Seoyul's looks like the thug he was—but that didn't add up.
No matter how declining the clan, a secret art and bloodline's value doesn't drop.
Offering both sealed their future plans. Even great houses couldn't meddle in another clan's affairs like that.
Even if Gong Jin-cheol allowed it, others wouldn't.
If absorption worked that way, everyone would've joined noble houses long ago—willingly or not.
No one welcomes a rival growing via loopholes.
"Maybe this works out better?"
Still, if Choi Taeseong's marriage as son-in-law got approved, Hwaseong Group paid a hefty price.
But the coveted secret art became public in an instant—they were left with just Gong Seoyul's body.
Even birthing yearly, one per year max.
Next time, maybe crush Choi Taeseong's balls.
Just one day after Void Resonance Art leaked.
Gongmyeongdang's dream of becoming a noble house crumbled overnight.
It had spread to every domestic clan already, and with international students at the academy, it was racing overseas.
"Aaaargh!! What the hell is this?! Hwaseong Group promised to clean it up!"
In the reception room littered with smashed furniture from his rage sat Gong Jin-cheol, bellowing at the center of the wreckage.
A man who normally wouldn't dare breathe loudly before Hwaseong Group had lost all composure facing his clan's doom.
"Gongmyeongdang is finished! The family secret art exposed! How will Hwaseong Group cover this loss?!"
"…Cover? You left cleaning up Gong Siwoo to me?! You idiots let the runaway escape in the first place!"
"You threw the tantrum to kill him! If you'd just bound him quietly and chased him off, none of this…!"
"If we hadn't killed him, he'd have plotted bigger revenge! Your info was wrong anyway! Useless cripple who couldn't use sorcery! Why'd the binding break that day of all days?!"
Slap!
A sharp crack echoed as Gong Jin-cheol's head snapped sideways.
Choi Taeseong, fearless, backhanded the clan head's cheek.
A reminder of who held the power in this deal.
Gong Jin-cheol clenched his fist but couldn't swing, swallowing a groan.
"Urgh…!"
"We couldn't kill him because your info sucked! 'Son' my ass—how little did you know? Turns out his binding started exactly 10 years ago! You got played by that orphan, gave him everything!"
"Y-you set the disownment on his birthday for the optics…."
"So it's my fault?!"
Slap! Slap!!
Unable to admit fault, Choi Taeseong relentlessly slapped Gong Jin-cheol's scarred face.
Gong Jin-cheol's face burned red with fury and blows, while Choi Taeseong—the attacker—somehow looked terrified.
"S-stop…! Fighting won't solve anything!"
"Shut your mouth, you baby-making machine!"
"Kyaa!"
Gong Seoyul tried to intervene, but even as his pregnant wife with their sleeping child, he struck without hesitation.
Thud! Thump!
Gong Seoyul desperately shielded her belly, enduring kicks; Gong Jin-cheol lit a cigarette, ignoring the scene.
The sight was too grotesque for a family.
Like master and slave—an impossibility in modern times.
"Ngh…! Hic!"
"Huff…. Huff…."
His excitement fading, Choi Taeseong slumped weakly.
His mind a mess, body heavy as lead.
"Ha…. How do I explain this to Father…."
No matter how thuggish his life, he couldn't defy Hwaseong Group's chairman.
His impunity stemmed entirely from the chairman's indulgence.
What would Father do about this failure?
Choi Taeseong clutched his head beside the pitifully sobbing Gong Seoyul.
My reputation peaked overnight.
The madman who'd leaked an entire clan's secret for revenge.
The whispering hadn't stopped, but favorable reactions dominated—a pleasant change.
Minor clans were dazzled by its refinement beyond their own arts; even nobles valued high-level secrets.
My improved Void Resonance Art was highly rated.
Spatial layering, severing, even subspace.
A perfect all-in-one with convenience—the undisputed king of versatile sorcery.
Soon, the sorcery ecosystem would transform around it.
But not everything goes smoothly.
From morning, I'd been summoned to the faculty office for a scolding.
"Understood? Siwoo. I get your circumstances, but skipping procedures unilaterally is unacceptable. The commotion went too far."
"Suspension on day one of enrollment, though."
"…We would've welcomed sorcery donations with academy consultation. Always have."
I'd weighed it all before acting, but still got harsh discipline.
Three-day suspension. Delinquent student suspended on first day.
Unavoidable for impact. No time for slow procedures.
"No leniency. We must adjust your status too—understand."
"You gonna assassinate me in the dorms for going nuts?"
"…Precedents exist."
"Hah."
Typical shady sorcery world. What do they think laws are?
Not that I'm squeaky clean.
"Suspension day one isn't great."
Leaving silently, I couldn't stop the escaping sigh.
I came to the academy for graduation mandate, but also for Estella.
Gongmyeongdang's sorcery was long exhausted; for years, I'd only learned magic one-way.
As her self-proclaimed master, I needed to teach her new knowledge.
"A moment, if you please."
As I pondered skipping class despite extension risk.
Someone called from behind.
"I'm Ren Tsuchimikado. Please treat me well."
Turning, a Japanese beauty in modified shrine maiden garb offered a handshake.
Speaking flawless Korean, no less.
"Abruptly, but would you be my fiancé?"
This stranger proposed engagement with unnecessarily fluent pronunciation.