Chapter 341
Chapter 341
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 342
Chapter Title: Seoul Wizards Association Top Floor, Chairman's Office
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342
Seoul Wizards Association, top floor—chairman's office.
Kim Jin-cheol was receiving a report from Kim Deok-hyun.
"Jin Cheon-woo showed an emotional reaction to Kim Seon-woo?"
"Yes. In contrast, when he saw Lee Seo-jun, there wasn't the slightest change in his emotions."
"......Hmm."
Kim Jin-cheol fell deep into thought.
He had suspected Jin Cheon-woo was hiding a few secrets beyond Kim Chang-hyun, but he never imagined one of those hidden secrets would be Kim Seon-woo.
"I figured that guy Kim Seon-woo wasn't ordinary......"
Association Chairman Kim Jin-cheol checked the file containing information on 'Kim Seon-woo.'
The information was suspiciously sparse.
Manipulating the association's data was impossible.
Unless he had done it himself.
"......Are you certain Kim Seon-woo isn't Jin Cheon-woo's spy?"
"From the circumstances, he seems more like a victim than a spy. But I think we should keep watching him."
Kim Deok-hyun, muttering to himself, cautiously asked,
"......But do you really not know, Chairman?"
"Hm? Know what?"
"No, I just wondered if maybe you manipulated it yourself."
"Me? Why would I?"
"......Like a hidden grandson or something?"
Kim Jin-cheol's eyes went wide. It was a genuinely baffled expression born of pure absurdity.
Kim Deok-hyun instantly picked up on his sincere emotions. And he thought,
*I messed up. I'm screwed.*
"It was a joke, Chairman."
"Get out!"
Kim Deok-hyun bowed his head and left the chairman's office.
It wasn't until evening that I could return to the National Magic Academy.
Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ah-ra had gone back to their families for a bit, so I arrived at school alone.
Instead of heading to the dorm, I went to the Manifestation Magic Training Grounds.
With the Wind Attribute Control Technique's rank-up so close, I planned to push it all the way now.
And so, I entered the private training room and began my session.
[Generating targets.]
[Setting target rank to 'Highest.']
After about three hours of repeating the training,
Just as my body was starting to reach its limits, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Wind Attribute proficiency has increased.]
[Due to the 'Blessing of the Great Nature' effect, additional Wind Attribute proficiency is acquired.]
[Wind Attribute Control Technique rank has increased!]
"......Done."
Wind Attribute Control Technique rank-up.
Following light and electricity attributes, now wind as well.
I'd fully mastered three attributes as my own.
In that moment of elation, another message popped up.
['Triple Attribute Perfect Mastery' achievement unlocked.]
[As reward, 5,000 points acquired.]
[Your body adapts to various mana attributes!]
['Attribute Affinity (B)' acquired!]
"Whoa. What is this?"
I hadn't expected to gain a new trait on top of it.
My lips curled into a grin at the unexpected bonus.
I immediately checked the trait.
［Attribute Affinity (B)］
Description: Magic attribute affinity has risen.
［Passive Effect］
►Attribute Affinity
Acquisition speed for all attributes increases by 15%.
Destructive power of all attributes increases by 10%.
Comprehension of all attributes increases by 10%.
"Ooh......"
A solid trait had been born.
It was one that provided multiple benefits for attribute magic.
This would be a huge help in raising proficiency for future attributes I'd acquire.
"Heh heh heh."
Now all that was left was to infuse the next attribute, 'Ice Attribute,' into ［Legacy of the Formless Spirit］.
"But where do I get ice?"
......Buy it at a convenience store?
With that thought, I stepped out of the private training room.
Right then, the side door happened to open at the same time, and a familiar face appeared.
I startled and took a step back.
"......Sunbae?"
"Seon-woo?"
The ones emerging from the side door were none other than Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young.
Judging by them coming out of the same training room, they'd trained together.
But I didn't think they were close enough to train together.
"Wow~ What? Seon-woo, you were in the room next to ours?"
Yoon Ha-young greeted me enthusiastically, like a puppy wagging its tail.
"Yeah, I had no idea. But......"
I looked back and forth between Yoon Ha-young and Choi Seo-yoon's faces.
"What happened to you two?"
Yoon Ha-young and Choi Seo-yoon were covered head to toe in frost, as if they'd been to a snowy mountain.
Their faces were pale too...... What was going on?
Choi Seo-yoon gave an awkward smile.
"Ah, well...... We got a bit intense with our training."
"How intense could the training have been to......"
By pure chance, I caught sight of the inside of the training room they'd come from.
I was speechless for a moment.
The entire interior of the training room was frozen solid, like a freezer.
The groundskeeper would grab their neck and collapse if they saw that.
"......How did you train to turn the room into that?"
"Ice attribute magic is heavily influenced by the surrounding environment. So we were experimenting with freezing natural mana to create a favorable setup and......"
Come to think of it, Choi Seo-yoon had mentioned something to me before about altering the surrounding environment.
I'd thought it seemed impractical, but seeing this in front of me, it didn't look impossible.
Her talent is insane.
"......Well, alright. Good luck."
"Heh heh."
Choi Seo-yoon flashed another awkward smile.
"Ah! We have to go report to the groundskeeper about the ice in the training room, so we'll head out first!"
"Yeah, sure."
With that, Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young disappeared somewhere.
I stared at the spot where they'd vanished for a moment, then turned my gaze to the frozen interior of the training room.
"......Guess I don't need to buy ice separately."
I infused mana into ［Legacy of the Formless Spirit］ and touched the ice on the wall. At the same time, the ring's color shifted to white.
I opened my palm and focused my mana.
The mana hovering above my hand froze, transforming into an ice orb.
When I opened the dorm door, the living room was dark.
There was usually a light on, so I looked around and spotted Gretel sleeping soundly on the living room floor.
"You turned off the light to sleep, huh."
I smiled faintly and stroked Gretel's hard head.
She'd hit puberty(?) and gotten a bit prickly in personality, but she was still cute when asleep.
Worried that turning on the main light might wake her, I switched on a small lamp and headed straight to the shower.
After washing up thoroughly, I came out and plopped down on the sofa.
"......Phew. Home really is the best."
Just sitting on the sofa relaxed my body and mind.
Part of it was that my personality wasn't very outgoing, but it was also the effect of battling outside every single day.
"Now that the Aporia incident is over, I can focus on the demon incidents and Kim Chang-hyun for a while......"
Reviving Jin Cheon-woo would take quite some time.
Resurrecting the dead required a ton of materials.
Above all, the essential material for Jin Cheon-woo's revival, 'Lee Seo-jun,' was still not 'ripe' according to Ja-un.
"Ripe......"
Right then, by pure chance, something new on Gretel's head caught my eye.
No way, that's......
I slowly approached Gretel.
"......There it is."
Atop Gretel's head hung a small fruit,
［Mysterious Demon Tree Fruit］.
From its size, it seemed to have grown within the last day.
"Hmm......"
I wondered how long it would take for this fruit to fully ripen.
Then it hit me—Gretel's fruits changed effects based on what she ate.
"......Maybe feed her some spirit medicine?"
She loved meat so much that I'd always given her just that, but occasionally, shouldn't she eat veggies—no, something good for her?
"Spirit medicine...... Spirit medicine......"
I already knew someone who could supply spirit medicine.
I pulled out my smartphone and typed a message.
At the same time.
Han Se-yeon was receiving a call from the head of the intelligence guild affiliated with Hanseong Group at the mansion.
[The mystics in the group say it looks like Kim Chang-hyun is trying to open a pathway to another dimension.]
"......A pathway to another dimension?"
Han Se-yeon felt baffled.
A pathway to another dimension?
She'd at most imagined 'terrorism'...... or on a grander scale, 'world destruction,' so this startled her.
Wasn't this on an even bigger scale than world destruction?
"Do other dimensions even exist?"
[It's an unconfirmed field, so I can't say for sure, but...... theoretically, the possibility is high. I don't know what world it is, though.]
"What's the purpose of opening another dimension? Calling in aliens to destroy the world or something?"
[Probably not. Theoretically, physical matter can't cross dimensions.]
"If matter can't move, what can?"
['Concepts'...... I suspect.]
"......Concepts?"
[For example, theories from certain fields, souls, spells...... things like that.]
Han Se-yeon sank back into thought.
If her guess was right, Kim Chang-hyun was using Kim Jin-woo for his goal.
But that goal being opening a door to another dimension?
Then what connection did Kim Jin-woo have to it?
"......Understood for now. Please report any new info immediately."
[Yes, understood.]
Click.
The call ended.
"Haa......"
Han Se-yeon let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes for a moment.
From company matters to her brother and Han Se-jin's issues—mountains of work, yet all her focus felt pulled toward Kim Jin-woo.
And now stories of dimensional pathways made her head even more complicated.
Ding.
Right then, her smartphone chimed with a message notification.
Thinking it was from the intelligence guild head, she checked it without much thought.
[Han Se-yeon-ssi, I have one favor to ask.]
It was a message from Kim Jin-woo.
Three days had passed since the Aporia incident.
Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ah-ra, and I had returned to our normal lives at the National Magic Academy, diving into training to prepare for the upcoming midterms.
Naturally, Ja-un's Aporia terror incident had spread worldwide, causing a huge uproar.
Articles titled 'Association's Humiliation' proliferated, and Association Chairman Kim Jin-cheol issued a public apology without excuses.
"Ngah!"
And after school.
I was walking Gretel at the foot of a secluded mountain on Ganghwa Island.
Delighted by the long-overdue walk, Gretel grinned from ear to ear as she scampered around.
Right then, I sensed footsteps behind me.
Turning around, I saw today's appointment partner, Han Se-yeon, approaching.
Her striking face always drew the eye, no matter how many times I saw it.
"Jin-woo-ssi."
Han Se-yeon smiled and greeted me.
It had been a month since we'd met in person, but frequent contact made it feel less like ages apart.
I mirrored her with a slight smile.
"You arrived early. Our appointment isn't for a bit yet."
"You're always early, Jin-woo-ssi."
She murmured that, then held out the bag in her hand.
"Ah, this is the spirit medicine set you requested."
"Ah, thank you."
I opened the bag with both hands.
There were raw spirit medicine ingredients like 'mushrooms,' 'ginseng,' and 'deer antler.'
These were the materials I'd specifically asked for to feed Gretel.
Processed spirit medicines on sale didn't allow easy access to raw ingredients, so I'd sought Han Se-yeon's help.
Just then, Han Se-yeon's gaze turned to Gretel. She looked at it curiously and said,
"This is for that kid to eat, right? But she's grown a bit since last time."
I'd once teamed up with Gretel to take down the demon that attacked Han Se-yeon.
Since it wasn't our first meeting, she didn't react with shock at seeing Gretel.
"Yeah, that's right. She's been growing steadily, bit by bit. Gretel!"
At my call, Gretel, who had been frolicking in the park, stopped and turned toward me.
Then, spotting Han Se-yeon, her eyes sparkled as she came running.
"Ngah!"
Han Se-yeon stared at Gretel for a moment before asking,
"Is this one a boy or a girl?"
At the question, I glanced between Gretel's legs(?).
"......Beats me. I'm not sure."
"She won't bite if I touch, right?"
"Ah, yeah. She's not a dog or anything......"
Han Se-yeon poked Gretel's cheek. Gretel beamed innocently and grabbed Han Se-yeon's finger with both hands.
Gretel's smile overflowed with charm.
She hadn't shown me that kind of cuteness lately.
"Looks like Se-yeon-ssi has won her over."
"......Really?"
Just then, Han Se-yeon's gaze shifted to the fruit on Gretel's head.
"......Is this the thing you mentioned, Jin-woo-ssi?"
"Yes, exactly. Maybe process this into......"
Right at that moment, Gretel seemed to catch the implication in my words and startled, hiding behind Han Se-yeon.
"Ngah!"
"......This is why I hate smart kids."
"Ngah ngah!"
Han Se-yeon, finding Gretel adorable, laughed and picked her up.
Gretel snuggled right into Han Se-yeon's arms.
She prefers Han Se-yeon over me, huh?
Han Se-yeon chuckled again and said,
"We'll talk about that later. But is it true this kid is immortal?"
"Yes. It's true."
"......Immortal. Must have insane vitality."
Han Se-yeon murmured, gazing at Gretel.
But the look in her eyes toward Gretel wasn't just simple 'adoration.'
It was the 'greed' flowing in the blood of the Han family.
As she touched the twig on Gretel nestled in her arms, Han Se-yeon said,
"......Mind if I cut off one twig?"
At that instant.
"Ngah!"
Gretel freaked out, leaped from Han Se-yeon's body, and threw herself into my arms.