Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Traitorous Bodyguard
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"I'm heading to the cafeteria."
"Ah."
Choi Seoyun nodded as if she understood. I scanned her up and down. She was dressed nicely, like she had something important early in the morning.
"Where are you off to?"
"I have to go back to the main house."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, Choi Seoyun spent almost all her days off at her family home.
She probably had to endure all sorts of family training that left her exhausted.
"......Good luck."
As always, that was all I could say. Choi Seoyun gave an awkward smile without a word. Then, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
"Right. Run to the main gate quick."
"Huh? Why the main gate all of a sudden?"
"Lee Seojun just left."
At my words, Choi Seoyun furrowed her brow.
"......What does that have to do with anything?"
"What do you mean? It's a perfect chance to be alone with Lee Seojun."
"Sunbae. You're being way too pushy lately, you know that just makes me more resistant?"
......Was I too obvious?
I'd been so anxious about Lee Seojun's safety lately.
"Ahem."
Her suspicious gaze turned to me. She let out a short sigh and glanced up at me.
"You're really desperate, huh, sunbae."
"What about?"
"......Nothing."
What? Now I'm super curious.
"But what are you up to today, sunbae?"
"Just sticking around school. I'll do some personal training, kill time, catch up on backlog assignments."
"Ah......"
Choi Seoyun nodded.
Just then, a man approached us from afar.
He looked mid-thirties. Dressed in a black suit with sunglasses, like a bodyguard straight out of a movie.
"Miss, you're running late."
The man bowed politely to Choi Seoyun. From the looks of it, he was a Choi family bodyguard.
With all the shady incidents around her lately, her family must have sent him.
I glanced at the man and casually used 'Character Insight'.
Name: Sung Jinhyuk
Age: 37
Race: Human
Status: Calm
Mana Grade: S-
Interest Level: 0
Hold up.
Sung Jinhyuk?
I knew that name.
The trusted aide of Choi Jaehyung, head of the Choi family. And I knew his hidden secret.
He was one of the people harboring a deep grudge against the Choi family.
So the guy in front of me was a villain. And that villain Park Jinsu from the recent mercenary request? He was a subordinate of this Sung Jinhyuk.
"Oh, this is someone who's been with our family for over ten years."
Choi Seoyun introduced Sung Jinhyuk. He looked at me and bowed politely.
"Pleased to meet you. Sung Jinhyuk."
"Kim Sunwoo."
"Kim Sunwoo?"
Sung Jinhyuk glanced at me, then opened his mouth as if realization dawned.
"You're the one who helped our miss recently."
Sung Jinhyuk smiled at me. Then he turned to Choi Seoyun.
A gentle gaze. But who knew when that gaze might turn into a blade aimed at her.
"Miss, we should get going."
Choi Seoyun let out a deep sigh and nodded as if to say okay.
"Sunbae, I've got to run with all this going on."
"Yeah. Go ahead."
With that, Choi Seoyun walked toward the main gate with the bodyguard.
Leaving her alone with a villain made me a bit uneasy, but Sung Jinhyuk's target wasn't Choi Seoyun.
It was her father, Choi Jaehyung, and the downfall of the Choi family.
He wouldn't attack Choi Seoyun to achieve his big goal. Not right now, at least.
"Hmm."
I watched Choi Seoyun head to the gate, then suddenly got curious about her info and used 'Character Insight'.
Name: Choi Seoyun
Age: 17
Race: Human
Status: Mild Fatigue
Mana Grade: B-
Interest Level: 1
I scanned through, but 'Mild Fatigue' in her status caught my eye.
Well, she got back to the dorm around 3 a.m., so she probably didn't sleep much.
"Tsk."
Somewhere in Korea, in a hidden demon lair.
In the darkness, a demon knelt before the throne.
The king looked down at the demon before him with a cold gaze.
"Sung Jin is dead?"
At the king's words, the demon slammed his head to the floor.
"Y-Yes."
"What happened? Did Lee Seojun kill Sung Jin?"
"No."
The kneeling demon was a subordinate of Sung Jin, the S-rank demon who ambushed Lee Seojun yesterday. He had ambushed Lee Seojun's group alongside Sung Jin.
He was the sole survivor. And he remembered Sung Jin's battle and conversation perfectly.
He relayed everything he saw and heard to the king exactly as it happened.
"......An unexpected outcome."
The king was shocked. Sung Jin, dead?
He hadn't even considered the possibility of an S-rank demon like Sung Jin dying, no matter the crisis.
It left a bitter taste. Sung Jin was one of the rare S-rank demons in the world. His death was a massive loss to demon forces overall.
And in the near future.
On the day they rose to dominate the human world, his death would surely have a big impact.
"An unforeseen variable. Who would've thought powerhouses like that were hiding behind Lee Seojun."
The king leaned back in his throne.
"......And the Child of Exorcism is likely someone else."
Had he gotten it wrong?
The king felt a sense of emptiness. Not only had his plan failed, but he'd lost Sung Jin, his right-hand man, in an instant. And he still hadn't found the Child of Exorcism.
A total loss.
"Things are getting messy."
The king muttered to himself.
"Cheonha."
"You called."
At the king's summons, the demon Cheonha emerged from the darkness.
Though only A-rank, he was highly regarded within the Ten Demons for his exceptional mission performance. The king valued him highly too.
"I heard one of your subordinates infiltrated the Wizard Academy."
"Yes, that's correct."
Cheonha bowed his head. The king looked him over carefully.
"I have a mission for you."
Late at night.
Red blood splattered! against the wall of a narrow alley. A human whose throat was slit by a sharp sword collapsed to the ground.
The woman gripping the sword placed her hand on the human's body. Blood rose from the body and was absorbed into her hand. The human shriveled like a mummy.
The woman sensed the small amount of mana in the absorbed blood. She then drew the mana into her own body. It was faint, but she felt her physical mana strengthen.
Bzzz.
Then, her pants pocket vibrated with an incoming call.
"Yes, Cheonha-nim."
—Jang Ye. It's a mission.
"A mission?"
A mission? What was this all of a sudden?
—Yes, and it's one the king gave directly.
......Directly from the king?
Jang Ye listened intently to Cheonha's words, puzzled.
—Succeed in this, and the king will reward you handsomely. You'll probably make progress on that Kim Jinwoo investigation you want too.
At Cheonha's words, Jang Ye's hand trembled slightly. She still couldn't forget her father Jang Han's death.
She still ground her teeth whenever she recalled Kim Jinwoo's knight.
This was a chance. A foundation for her father's revenge.
"......What's the mission?"
—Investigate everything about the 18-year-old human inside the Duel Barrier during the midterms. Rumors, anything—don't miss a single detail.
Jang Ye nodded.
She didn't know exactly why they wanted the 18-year-old from then, but since it was a direct order from the king, she figured it was related to the Child of Exorcism.
"That's all?"
—No, one more thing.
"What?"
—Kill Lee Seojun.
In central Seoul stood a massive building. Fortified with powerful magic artifacts and barriers, it was a special place no unauthorized person could enter.
This was the headquarters of the 'Wizard Association'.
It maintained world safety and peace, preventing magic-related crimes and conflicts.
The top floor of the Wizard Association HQ was the space used by the Association Chairman, Kim Jincheol.
"Chairman, Lee Seojun is here."
"Let him in."
The top-floor door opened, and Lee Seojun walked in.
Lee Seojun looked at the white-haired old man before him. Snow-white hair and beard. Nearing 100 years old, yet his body was so robust that "hale and hearty" didn't do it justice.
"Grandpa, I'm here."
"Good, I heard the story, but you're more intact than I thought."
The white-haired elder, Kim Jincheol, scanned Lee Seojun and spoke.
"What brings you to call me?"
"Do I need another reason to call my grandson?"
"No, of course not."
Lee Seojun smiled faintly.
"Got curious and called you. Sounds like you've been through all sorts of weird stuff."
"Yeah, nearly died."
"Tsk......Drama queen."
Clicking his tongue, Kim Jincheol sat in his chair. Lee Seojun sat across from him.
"You seem really curious about yesterday. Want me to tell you?"
"Nah. Whether demons or Ja-un, I couldn't care less about small fry like that. Tell me about school instead."
Lee Seojun smiled wryly. Demons and Ja-un. Existences that terrified everyone in the world. But Kim Jincheol brushed them off like they were nothing.
"You'll find it boring."
"Made any friends?"
"Yeah, you know I'm good at that."
"Yeah? Who's the strongest among your friends?"
At Kim Jincheol's question, Lee Seojun paused for a moment.
"Hmm, not sure. Even I'm confused."
"Confused......Well, with your arrogance, no one else even registers as competition."
"That's not it. There's been one lately."
"Oh? Who's that? The Yu family kid you mentioned?"
Lee Seojun shook his head.
"No, someone else."
"Someone even better than him? I heard the Yu family kid has great talent."
"I don't know exactly. Just guessing they're pretty amazing."
"You feel them as a rival without even knowing? What's their rank?"
"72nd."
Kim Jincheol stroked his beard at Lee Seojun's answer.
"Hmm......Well, ranks aren't everything."
"Oh, right."
Suddenly curious about something, Lee Seojun looked at Kim Jincheol.
"Grandpa, do you know about the Power of Exorcism by any chance?"
The Power of Exorcism.
The name of the power the demon who attacked him yesterday was after.
The demon had mentioned during the midterms that the one who broke the barrier likely had the Power of Exorcism.
And he knew who broke the barrier then. Kim Sunwoo.
At Lee Seojun's question, Kim Jincheol gave him a strange look.
"Power of Exorcism? Why the sudden interest? Did the demon who ambushed you yesterday blab about it?"
"No, just got curious."
"The Power of Exorcism......"
Kim Jincheol sank into thought for a moment.
He knew a bit about that legendary power passed down as myth, but since it was just a legend, even he didn't know much.
"I don't know the details. It's a special power from legends of old."
"From the past?"
"Yeah, a story from 300 years ago about a human who had a power like the natural enemy of demons, called the Power of Exorcism."
Lee Seojun fell into thought.
A power like the natural enemy of demons....... So the mysterious magic that saved me then—was it really Kim Sunwoo?
Late evening.
I'd spent the day busy as usual.
Physical training, magic training, catching up on piled-up assignments—passing the time.
"Hmm."
With everything done.
I looked at the 'Shapeless Spirit Legacy' ring on my finger.
"Time to pick an attribute soon."
The ring was currently blue. Water attribute. But water wasn't a popular choice among wizards.
Some attributes had strong destructive power, while others were relatively weak—not all equal.
"What to go with."
Four came to mind right away.
Fire, ice, light, electricity.
Pure destructive power? Electricity was tops.
And since it required brutal training like electric torture, few could handle it—adding uniqueness.
But was electricity the best? Not necessarily.
Each attribute had pros and cons.
Ice had lower raw power but could solidify mana into weapons or alter terrain—great utility. Fire excelled against groups.
Light shone against demons or dark beings, sometimes outpacing electricity in specific situations.
"......Light seems best."
I had a feeling I'd tangle with demons a lot ahead.
They were fixated on Lee Seojun, and with story changes, demons were the most unpredictable faction.