Day Five: One Last Chance
I folded my arms and looked out over the barren expanse.
An entire mountain had vanished, opening the view wide. The sky, darkened by the Hyakki Yagyō, had cleared again, and the sun blazed brilliantly overhead.
So this is the scenery I created.
Power beyond all measure — enough to erase a mountain whole.
Thunder Heaven Style. Extreme Technique: Thunder Heaven's Decree.
Of course, this power would be hard to use in reality. My real-world specs simply couldn't keep up with what I had here.
I don't think I'll never be able to use this technique again. Once I hit S-Class… I should be able to pull it off, right?
I couldn't be certain. But I would grow stronger than S-Class. With the Amusement Life app, it was more than possible.
So I need to remember this sensation right now.
Thunder Heaven's Decree, the Extreme Technique I had created myself, was hard to even call a technique in the usual sense. Its power was tremendous, but its structure was simple.
The principle is Thunder Heaven Style's Thunder Resonance — a technique that makes two or more lightning bolts resonate with each other.
And it wasn't just any resonance. There was a condition: you had to perfectly control every bolt you made resonate. By real-world standards, Thunder Resonance maxed out at roughly six bolts. Push it and you might manage eight.
But Thunder Heaven's Decree resonated thousands of lightning bolts across the sky. Control was impossible, of course. All I could do was set the direction.
There are so many bolts that if you just get the start right, they resonate on their own even without control.
The principle of Thunder Heaven's Decree was simple. And it had a simple problem, too.
Energy. Generating thousands of lightning bolts takes a massive amount of energy. And once the resonance starts, you can't stop it. Though that second part isn't really a problem.
Could an S-Class hunter's mana fuel Thunder Heaven's Decree? I was skeptical. The only reason I had been able to use it just now was that the ghost qi released by hundreds of dying spirits had filled the entire space.
If I cut down the number of resonating bolts, the power won't come out right… and the resonance itself can fail mid-process. Is the answer just to crank my mana stat through the roof?
I thought it over carefully. Thunder Heaven's Decree was the first Extreme Technique I had ever created for the Thunder Heaven Style, and I was attached to it.
Then, far off in the blue sky, I saw clouds drifting slowly closer.
Clouds… Right. If I used thunderclouds, I could fire off Thunder Heaven's Decree without burning a massive amount of mana. But environments like that don't just conveniently show up. Having the power to control clouds… no, the weather itself would make things a lot easier… Hm?
Something felt like it was slipping out of my head. No — it wasn't just a feeling. Something pitch-black actually pulled free from between my eyebrows. It took form about five meters in front of me.
A muscular man with long black hair. Fangs jutted past his lips like Dracula's. His skin was a near-ashen black. The sclera of his eyes were black, the irises red — the classic demon look. In his right hand he held a blade identical to the Ghost-Slaying Blade in mine.
"You. Dojin?"
"I am."
"What, you can come out now?"
"I temporarily materialized using ghost qi. My true soul remains inside your mind."
"Given up on taking my body, then?"
"Don't make me laugh. I built that flesh. While I was trapped in that damned jar, I gathered ghost qi bit by bit and reconstructed the body myself!"
"I'll give you that the body got better. But my body is mine."
I had zero intention of handing my body over to Dojin. My body was mine. I held the reins tight — which was exactly why Dojin had to use ghost qi just to materialize at all.
"…Wait a second. You used my ghost qi to materialize without my permission."
"Your ghost qi? Don't be absurd. That ghost qi is mine as well."
"Bullshit."
I checked my condition. My ghost qi had dropped by about ten percent.
So that's roughly how much he can draw on.
Dojin swung his blade through the empty air in sharp arcs. His eyes were full of fighting spirit and murderous intent as he looked at me.
"For the time being, I will leave control of the body to you. But make no mistake — I will reclaim this flesh of mine, no matter what."
"So you're sticking around."
"What. Were you hoping I'd leave?"
"No. I'm relieved. If you left, I couldn't use ghost qi anymore."
Ghost qi was the power of ghosts. Without being a ghost, you couldn't use it. If Dojin vanished from my body, I'd just be a human with a good physique.
Now that I know how convenient ghost qi is… you think I'd let you go?
Honestly, having some guy parasitizing my mind was deeply unpleasant. But if I wanted to keep using ghost qi, there was no other way.
"Seong Yujin. You'd do well to stay on guard. From inside you, I will analyze you and grow stronger. And someday, the moment this body surpasses you… that flesh will be mine again."
"That's never happening."
"Ha. I wonder how long that composure of yours will last."
Dojin settled into a stance — weight dropped slightly lower. It was a stance I knew well: the one used for Thunder Heaven Style's Lightning Flash. Of course, once you reached a certain level with Thunder Heaven Style, the forms stopped mattering much. What mattered was that he was imitating it at all.
Crack. Crackle.
Lightning sparked from Dojin's blade. It meant he understood Lightning Flash completely.
"Well, I'll spar with you about once a month."
I was still completely at ease. Just because Dojin could use Thunder Heaven Style didn't mean he was my equal. Physical performance, total thunder energy — I overwhelmed him in every category. In game terms, it was a level-10 Dojin trying to fight a level-100 me.
"Listen carefully. This is a one-strike kill. Let your guard down and even you will take a fatal wound."
"Let my guard down? You're the one who's careless."
A high-pitched hum.
Thunder Heaven Style — Lightning Flash.
I swept past Dojin and swung my blade. He hurriedly swung back in counter. Two trails of lightning crossed in midair.
Mine won, of course. Dojin was carved open, blood spraying everywhere as he collapsed to the ground. I didn't even look back as I spoke.
"Slow… even at falling."
"Gaaah… you bastard…!"
"Don't talk so tough. It just makes you look weaker."
"Someday… I swear…!!"
Listening to Dojin's voice break apart, I hurriedly moved my ghost qi. It surfaced across my chest. There was a shallow cut where Dojin had nicked me.
Shit. Embarrassing. Can't let anyone see this.
I poured ghost qi into the wound to boost my regeneration, and it vanished without a trace.
"Anyway, as long as you're parasitizing my mind… my orders are absolute."
"…The logic of power, is it. Fine. For the time being, I'll play along with you…"
Dojin's materialized body dissolved into ghost qi and vanished.
Day 5 Checkpoint has been saved.
Day 5 dawned.
Back home, I cut off my cumbersome long hair and went to sleep. I had rushed through Day 4 to prevent any unexpected variables from cropping up.
With this, I shouldn't have to go through Day 4 again.
Day 5. Today was the day of the final battle.
I put on my school uniform and headed to school. On the street I ran into Shin Ojeong. His eyes went round when he saw me.
"You've gotten taller, and your skin's even whiter. What the hell happened yesterday?"
I was bored, so I told him everything. There was no real reason to hide it.
"You took in a Rakshasa Ghost that was sealed in your family storehouse and used it to wipe out the Hyakki Yagyō?!"
Shin Ojeong, after roughly processing what I'd said, clenched his fists with sparkling eyes, thoroughly worked up.
"He who fights with monsters becomes a monster himself… Kh! Nietzsche-sensei was right all along!"
"You're way too into this."
Shin Ojeong. This guy's reactions were pretty entertaining. Not only that — he never crossed the line.
"How do you use ghost qi? The standard way — physical enhancement and telekinesis?"
"Physical enhancement is basic… Telekinesis, not sure. But I can do stuff like this."
Crackle.
I generated lightning across my palm. Shin Ojeong's eyes bulged. He took several deep breaths, then muttered under his breath.
"Lightning Fairy Seong Yujin…!"
"You little shit."
Suddenly crossing the line.
Whack!
I cracked him over the head with my fist. Shin Ojeong took the hit without wilting and kept walking beside me, chattering away about the information he'd gathered online the night before — intel on ghosts not just in this neighborhood, but all across Korea.
I let it go in one ear and out the other. The whole reason I'd been exorcising ghosts until now was to lower the Ghost Qi Degree so I could face the Seolnyeo. But now that I had a ghost's power myself, there was no need to bother running around for exorcisms.
Once I crossed onto campus, I immediately changed direction and headed for Seol Jiyoung's class.
"Is Jiyoung-sunbae here?"
"Jiyoung? She hasn't come in yet. She usually gets here first thing… She's a little late today."
She wasn't late. She wasn't coming at all. She'd pulled something, no doubt.
I smiled coldly and turned away.
The reason I'd bothered coming to school to look for Seol Jiyoung was to give the Seolnyeo one last chance.
In the original, the Seolnyeo was a beauty, after all.
So I'd given her an opportunity. If she'd abandoned her ambitions and returned to ordinary life, I would have quietly let it go.
So she's dead set on going up against me. Well, I already know where she'll be.
I left the school and headed for the abandoned hospital.
The ghost qi felt far denser than the last time I'd been here. What did that mean?
She's gathered every ghost in the neighborhood. A final stand? Ah — does she know I wiped out the Hyakki Yagyō?
For all I knew, the Hyakki Yagyō itself might have been the Seolnyeo's doing. She was Japanese in origin, after all.
Maybe she tipped them off, and that's why they came after me under the pretext of a prophecy.
Well, it hardly mattered now. The Hyakki Yagyō was dead, and the Seolnyeo couldn't handle me.
I took the Ghost-Slaying Blade I'd brought along and stepped into the abandoned hospital.