Chapter 19 - The First Lesson
Having hurriedly finished preparing and stepped outside, a sleek black van caught my eye, parked conspicuously nearby. I dashed over to it, and the driver's side window rolled down with a whir.
Kim Jihye, head sorcerer of the Seoul branch. She peered through the window, chewing on her cigarette with a furrowed brow.
"...Hey."
That face—like she was saying, Why didn't you pop out on time?—made me quickly hand her the coffee.
"Last time, you said no coffee after 5 PM, but I brew a mean cup... haha."
You can't spit in the face of a smiling customer. That was a lesson I'd learned dealing with all sorts of patrons at the cafe during break.
Plus, throw in some service, and even pissed-off ones cracked a smile. Kim Jihye eyed the coffee I offered, then snapped her fingers.
"I'll taste it first."
She swapped the cigarette for the coffee, took a sip, and her eyes twitched slightly.
"...Good."
Kim Jihye quietly pointed behind her with a hand. Just as the manager had taught me—the perfect ratio. I silently thanked her in my mind and climbed into the back seat, where a familiar face greeted me.
"Hm! Good to see you, Hanjun!"
A giant frame, bald head, rippling muscles—Kim Charyeok. The guy was so huge he'd crammed himself into the back seat. Unfazed, he grinned at me, flashing his gums.
"...Yeah, good to see you."
The guy's always so positive. I greeted him back, and Kim Charyeok nodded.
"Must be all that exercise over break—you look hangover-free."
"What kinda bullshit is that?"
Chatting away with the guy spouting his usual nonsense about his "everything-is-muscles" theory, Kim Jihye set down her empty coffee cup and lit another cigarette.
"...Shut it."
"Yep."
"Got it."
With that, Kim Jihye loaded us up and drove off somewhere.
Sand and scattered weeds—an abandoned athletic field like place. Kim Jihye parked there and hopped out of the driver's seat with a tough swagger. Kim Charyeok and I trailed after her.
In the middle of the empty lot, she stopped, scratched her head, and turned to us.
"Hm..."
Chewing her cigarette, eyes closed as if organizing her thoughts, Kim Jihye finally spoke slowly.
"First off, what I'm teaching you today is basic common sense."
Basic common sense. The subject was obvious—sorcery and youkai. The fundamentals of the world we'd be entering. Kim Charyeok and I leaned in.
"Anyone in that world—sorcerer or youkai—knows this stuff cold. Most learn it from birth, but..."
Kim Jihye glanced at us and continued.
"Sudden admits like you wouldn't. I'll drill it in Korean-style, rote learning, so listen up."
She snapped her fingers. A water bottle appeared in her hand. With a blank expression, she unscrewed it and poured it onto the ground.
"Watch—this is yin."
Once the water was all spilled, she snapped again. The wet ground suddenly steamed as the water evaporated into vapor.
"And this is yang."
"...?"
I stared, utterly lost. What the hell was she on about?
"No clue, right? That's fine. Most know it but don't really know it."
Kim Jihye smirked and went on.
"Everything's made of yin and yang. Sun's yang, moon's yin. Rising heat is yang. Flowing water is yin. Feel yin and yang, alter the world's principles accordingly—that's the basis of sorcery."
"So... everything's binary? Like men are yang and women are yin?"
I threw out the familiar terms yin energy and yang energy as an example. Kim Jihye shook her head.
"Wrong but right. Yin and yang cycle, transform, convert."
She snapped her fingers. Another water bottle appeared. She unscrewed it, flipped it upside down—but the water didn't fall. It beaded up and rose into the sky.
Kim Charyeok and I gawked as she snapped again, evaporating it all.
"...That's the gist. Just know yin and yang exist, and you use sorcery with them."
"Got it."
"Understood."
I had no idea what was what, but I filed it away. Glancing sideways, Kim Charyeok nodded with his usual smile. Relieved he was clueless too.
"Yin and yang are so complex and profound, most sorcerers die without grasping them. That's why most use the five elements underneath—water, fire, wood, metal, earth—to perform sorcery."
"What about youkai?"
So far, only sorcery talk, so I asked. Kim Jihye shrugged it off.
"Same principle. Difference is, youkai are heavily tied to bloodlines. Power varies wildly based on the energy they're born with."
So sorcerers were like RPG characters starting equal, youkai like gacha pulls ranked from the get-go.
"...Youkai are like ninja villages."
Kim Charyeok seemed to think the same, referencing some manga he'd seen.
"So today, the five elements?"
Kim Jihye pulled out a cigarette, chewed it, and stated flatly.
"No. You learn yin-yang."
"Pardon...?"
Lifetime sorcerers never fully get yin and yang, she'd said. Teaching it to total newbies like us? A question slipped out.
Kim Jihye took a deep drag and exhaled.
"You're sorcerers, but closer to youkai."
She pointed at my necklace.
"Kang Hanjun, I told you before—what's overflowing in your body?"
"...Yang... yang energy."
"Right. You're human-shaped, but think youkai—it makes it easier. A youkai chosen by absurd pure yang from birth."
She snapped. My necklace clattered to the ground. I snatched it up, but she shook her head—no putting it back on.
"Normal youkai or humans hold yang and yin to their vessel's capacity. But you? It's overflowing, spilling out."
Without the necklace, I definitely felt something. Vitality surging, senses sharpening. As I fidgeted, Kim Jihye continued.
"You don't need to understand yang energy. Big downside, though—if even a speck of yin mixes in, you can't use that sorcery."
"Isn't all sorcery made of yang and yin?"
"Told you—yin and yang mostly transform and cycle. Most sorcery has at least a trace of yin. But... one exception."
One memory surfaced. Grandmother, always kind and smiling, teaching me gravely.
"Jin Gang Ri Ling."
"Yeah, Jin Gang Ri Ling. Useless command spell with no subject—but perfect for your overflowing yang."
She nodded at my mutter, snapped her fingers, and said,
"Jin Gang Ri Ling."
A thin golden light shot from her fingertip, stabbing the ground. Unlike mine, it didn't scatter—clear, defined form. My eyes widened; she added,
"What I'll teach you is transforming it like that. Want to teach others, but your state now? Other spells would make yang explode and kill you. Get it?"
Kim Jihye stared. No words needed—I knew.
Enroll in Sorcery Youkai Academy, take the virginities of the youkai girls there, supplement with yin energy.
"Haa..."
I'd shoved it down, but facing the brutal truth again drew a sigh. Why me—the guy who'd avoided women—turn into a virginity bomber at the academy...?
Thinking of Miho, guilt crushing me, Kim Charyeok piped up beside me.
"Hm...! So what do I do?"
Hand raised, head gleaming, he asked. Kim Jihye answered.
"Just watch from the side."
"...? What?"
"Literal. Told you—you're youkai-close too. Chosen by a special talent called 'constitution'."
She snapped. Golden light shot—not at ground, at Kim Charyeok.
"...Hm!"
He whipped his head. The light grazed his cheek, vanishing beyond. Blood trickled from the shallow cut.
"Felt it?"
"...Hm! Felt it."
He wiped it with his arm like nothing, nodded.
"Yeah. Your body's chosen—more sensitive to yin and yang than anyone. So whenever he uses sorcery, feel the energy beside him."
"Got it!"
Kim Charyeok nodded vigorously, stepping aside naturally. Left alone, I blinked at Kim Jihye. She jerked her head—what're you waiting for?
"What...? No Jin Gang Ri Ling?"
"Th... you're not teaching the transformation?"
"Think you can use it from the start? Learn by doing it right first."
"...Can't you at least explain simply?"
She sighed irritably but answered straightforwardly.
"Normal sorcery manifests with rote form. Transformation? Build an image on that."
Snap! A cigarette appeared in her empty hand. Chewing it, she said,
"But pure mental imaging's too abstract, so most sorcerers set a trigger. Mine's snapping fingers, chewing smokes."
"Ah."
Explained her habits—snapping, chewing and spitting cigs. Reflex from sorcery use.
She waved me on—hurry up.
"You don't know that stuff anyway. Set 'expel the spell' as your trigger and try. Won't work anyway."
"Yep."
First time using sorcery was days ago. Advanced transformation? Would take ages. I decided to start as instructed.
I breathed in deep. Felt the itchy foreignness in my body, visualized.
Golden wave surging forward. Not scattering everywhere—just straight ahead. Falling down was yin; mine rose like heat haze—yang.
Eyes closed. Body's foreignness as heat, open space ahead as sky.
Eyes open, I invoked.
"Jin Gang Ri Ling."
Golden light burst out. Thicker than before, it roared forward, kicking up dust.
"Wha... huh?"
Did... did it work? I spun around—front hazy with dust, but behind? Eerily calm.
Kim Charyeok grinned gums-wide, clapping beside me.
"Well done, Hanjun!"
Kim Jihye's eyes bulged; her chewing cig froze. Staring thoughtfully a while, she muttered softly,
"...Like father, like son..."
Too quiet to catch, but her dazed, lonely figure tugged at me for some reason.