Soul Devouring Alchemy (3)
“A guy's room on his own gets a bit messy.”
While Do-gyeol cleared away the clutter, Seo Tae-yun glanced around. His eyes landed on a familiar item.
……Is that what I think it is.
Blue tape. Left out in the open, so he was still using it, apparently. Maybe it really was helpful.
“Sit here.”
Do-gyeol finished tidying roughly and patted the bed.
This guy, with that sleazy look like he's making excuses to his girlfriend, and now straight-up on the bed……
Seo Tae-yun pulled up a chair with a wary expression and sat down.
“……So, your answer.”
“What'd you ask again?”
“What I saw today.”
“Right, right.”
Do-gyeol chuckled and perched on the bed opposite him. He held out his hand.
“Wanna try spreading your hand once?”
Seo Tae-yun eyed him suspiciously.
“Come on.”
Do-gyeol's hand wiggled right in front of him. No clue what it was about, but he played along and opened his palm.
In that instant, Do-gyeol shot his arm forward. Closing in fast like he was about to interlace fingers, Seo Tae-yun yanked his hand back in horror.
“You seriously……”
“Argh! Stop imagining weird shit! I don't have that kind of taste!”
Do-gyeol protested with genuine grievance.
“I'm trying something here. It's the answer to what you asked, too.”
Seo Tae-yun still scanned him with distrustful eyes. But eventually, he extended his hand again.
Two hands hovering a few centimeters apart. It almost tickled, or maybe that was just his imagination.
What the hell is he planning.
Just as he opened his mouth to ask—
Smack!
Without his control, his palm slammed against Do-gyeol's like a magnet snapping to metal.
“……!”
Seo Tae-yun jolted and pulled away. It resisted like glue.
“You just……”
Do-gyeol calmly looked down at his own hand.
At this distance, even for Seo Tae-yun's level, I can pull in the yeong-ryeok?
Not full absorption, and he couldn't grip hard. But the fact that it tugged so easily when relaxed was key.
“Wanna try extending again?”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“You'll see. Even the top ranker lacks that much intuition?”
Seo Tae-yun's eyes wavered.
“Knew you'd catch on.”
“Yeah. Trying some trick to hold my hand……”
“No!!”
Do-gyeol bellowed. This guy had some serious self-consciousness issues, surprisingly.
“It's yeong-ryeok flow control practice. Testing if you can interfere with someone else's yeong-ryeok, not just your own.”
“What……?”
Seo Tae-yun's eyes narrowed.
Interfere with another's yeong-ryeok?
Unbelievable, but the sensation was crystal clear. His body had been pulled like the yeong-ryeok was yanking it.
“So extend it again. You gotta feel it to resist or use it, right? Isn't that why you're curious?”
Do-gyeol beckoned with his hand. Seo Tae-yun hesitated, then stuck his arm out.
But this time, no pull. He hadn't even tensed up against it.
Then—
Zzt!
Seo Tae-yun reflexively snatched his hand back. A static spark-like sensation from inside his palm, not the surface.
While the chat buzzed, Do-gyeol stared at his hand.
Wavelength change works too? Definitely easier up close. Absorption should be plenty possible.
The chat said absorption was tough without killing. But he'd confirmed it. In contact, breaking that resistance didn't seem hard.
Of course, they won't just sit still while you change their wavelength.
In real combat, your throat could be slit in that split-second window of touching and shifting. But with enough skill for a surprise attack? Or if they'd been subdued?
Totally doable.
He figured he'd need more practice, then belatedly glanced at Seo Tae-yun. He was eyeing his own hand suspiciously. Maybe from the violated wavelength sensation, or still doubting Do-gyeol's intentions.
“……So.”
Seo Tae-yun spoke slowly.
“That's how you did what you showed today?”
“Yep.”
“Never knew mastering yeong-ryeok control lets you interfere with others'.”
What's the point of telling him that here.
As Do-gyeol thought that, Seo Tae-yun's gaze shifted somewhere, and he stood up. His expression more complicated now.
“Thanks. That's plenty for my question.”
“Glad it helped.”
Do-gyeol grinned.
Helped me a ton, too.
Got his confirmation. At this range, you're fair game.
*
“What's his deal.”
“Crazy……”
“Contagious disease?”
The Je-ryeong Class kids buzzed about someone again today. Surprisingly, not Do-gyeol.
That lunatic.
Do-gyeol shook his head too. Seo Tae-yun had tape over his nose and mouth.
Guessed it when he borrowed it yesterday, but coming to school like that……
He'd done it himself, but seeing someone else was absurd. Especially the class president.
While the chat cackled, the door opened and Pi Yu-jun entered. He froze spotting Seo Tae-yun.
……Why's he like that?
Pi Yu-jun glanced between Do-gyeol and Seo Tae-yun. Do-gyeol looked away at distant mountains; Seo Tae-yun stared back with resolute eyes.
Did being on the same team rub off?
He'd told them not to overdo it. But it made sense. Do-gyeol's show yesterday must've spurred him.
“Morning roll call.”
Pi Yu-jun ignored Seo Tae-yun's getup and continued.
“Afternoon's the off-campus combat drill I mentioned. Team missions go to your leaders separately.”
*
“This our zone?”
Do-gyeol eyed the sealed tunnel entrance. A faded 'No Entry' sign hung crookedly.
“Yeah. Catch one yeong-ryeong here and we're good.”
“Hold up first.”
Yun Ga-eun pulled something out.
“Bujeok?”
“Yep. Real combat, right? Prepared ahead.”
She slapped it on the entrance.
“Done. Let's go in.”
“What'd that do?”
“Barrier. Nothing fancy—hides the commotion inside, keeps yeong-ryeong from escaping.”
The three entered the tunnel. Damp air. Moldy stench from blooming fungi.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed eerily in the quiet depths for a while.
“……Wait.”
Seo Tae-yun stopped.
“Something's off.”
“Why?”
“That graffiti from earlier. This one.”
He pointed at the wall. Spray-painted messily. Definitely the one at the start.
“Huh? For real?”
Yun Ga-eun's eyes widened slightly.
“No way……”
“How do you walk straight and loop back? Just similar graffiti?”
Instead of answering, Seo Tae-yun scraped the wall marking.
“Might be right, Do-gyeol-ah. Let's check again. If it's looping, we'll hit this trace.”
And soon after.
“Trapped.”
The mood sank instantly.
“This that infinite corridor thing?”
“Nah. That's just linking spaces—this feels different.”
Yun Ga-eun scanned around, muttering.
“Knew it… Cognitive distortion barrier. Messes with our sense of going straight, so we end up circling or backtracking.”
“How do we get out?”
Do-gyeol asked.
“Kill the jusa. Slay the one who set this and it breaks.”
“Last time killing got us caught; now we gotta kill to escape?”
“Yeong-ryeong traits vary wildly, like sorcerers. More with higher grades.”
Do-gyeol's eyes sparkled.
“Yun Ga-eun, you know so much. Cool.”
She blushed. Praise in this mess?
“Just basics, really……”
She glanced at Seo Tae-yun.
“You knew too, Tae-yun-ah? Pretended not to yesterday to boost me?”
“Nah. No clue.”
“Huh?”
“Unlike you two, parents are normals—no one to teach me. Learned Cheongram and Je-ryeong Class hype from entrance exam chatter.”
Yun Ga-eun's eyes went wide. Do-gyeol looked surprised too. Figured sorcerer family.
“Whoa, but you got first place? Impressive.”
“Don't know types or theory like you, but practiced jujul steadily.”
Do-gyeol tilted his head at that.
“'You guys'? I first learned jujul at the entrance exam too.”
“……What?”
Seo Tae-yun and Yun Ga-eun stared at him. Eyes full of doubt.
This guy passed entrance, got Je-ryeong, even shone yesterday? No way.
Missing the vibe, Do-gyeol grumbled.
“But seriously, this school teaches nothing but throws us into real shit? Where's theory class.”
“Je-ryeong kids learn more in combat. Theory's useless compared to hands-on. Even non-jujul stuff.”
Do-gyeol grinned at Yun Ga-eun's explanation.
“Guess I'm that level.”
“Doesn't help. We're trapped as a group. Caster's invisible.”
Mood dropped again at Seo Tae-yun's cold point. Invisible foe. Endless tunnel. They'd wither here otherwise.
“Worst case, homeroom comes? Knows we're here.”
“If time flows different in the barrier, waiting……”
Yun Ga-eun trailed off.
“Sent us somewhere that deadly?”
As Do-gyeol tilted his head, chat scrolled fast.
Then one caught his eye.
Do-gyeol's brow twitched.
Others pushed back.
Logical counter. But the proposer held firm.
He ranted on.
They always split opinions.
Do-gyeol pondered briefly. No time to be picky now.
Just try it.
He closed his eyes. Probed his danjeon via nae-hoheup. A deep, dark abyss he'd normally gloss over. Focusing consciousness there, something stirred.
Wriggle.
The black mist from yesterday. It lingered, undigested.
What? Thought it converted to my yeong-ryeok, traits gone?
Wrong wavelength causes rejection—that's why convert. Or maybe honing on the trace let him access the old frequency?
Dunno what, but.
He felt certain he could use it.
Use the hallucination guy's power for hallucination resistance.
Do-gyeol concentrated deeply. When he opened his eyes, they blackened like the mongma's—then normalized.
His vision shifted. Flickering fluorescent tubes, spray graffiti, damp moss. All noised out like static, then sharpened. Fake from real.
“I see it.”
Do-gyeol muttered.
“See what?”
Seo Tae-yun asked.
Do-gyeol pointed at empty tunnel air, bare concrete to others.
“There. That gap.”
To him, space crumpled like paper layers—a cognitive blind spot. And tucked in it, tasty prey.
So this is Sigyeong's true power.
A thick smile spread on Do-gyeol's lips.