Academy's Bully in Charge, Episode 14
The development of magic had led the Rochette Kingdom to dazzling rapid growth, and the spread of martial arts supported that growth.
Among these cities, Jangan City was lined with tall buildings befitting a modern city. Mixed-use complexes were a given, and skyscrapers were not an uncommon sight.
‘I hope I can live in a place like that with Grandpa someday.’
While walking and admiring the forest of buildings, the real estate office that the academic affairs staffer had mentioned came into view before he knew it.
‘There it is. The first-floor realtor next to the park with the large statue.’
Stepping inside, it was not as spacious as he had thought, and there were not many listings either. There was only a modest-sized desk, a sofa, and a double-chinned licensed agent.
“Welcome!”
“Yes.”
Gelman, the heavily built licensed agent, mixed a sweet hot chocolate in a paper cup, handed it over, and sat across from the sofa.
“Is there something you’re looking for?”
“I’m looking for a house near the Academy that I can move into today.”
“You mean today, near the Academy? A monthly lease or a purchase?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
At those words, the agent broke into a beaming grin—*creak*—and raised his hand to tap a button floating on the tablet screen. Dozens of listing photos popped up.
“You must be an Academy student?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, these houses should suit you…….”
The three houses Gelman showed were grand enough in appearance to be called mansions.
“The first house.”
“Yes.”
The first house was made of high-quality solid wood and boasted a charming scenery that blended well with its surroundings.
“And the second house.”
“Yes.”
The second house had high walls that gave it the feel of an impregnable fortress.
“And lastly.”
“Hm……”
The last was a stylish mansion with a classical charm at first glance. However, perhaps because the walls had been left unattended for quite some time, paint was peeling here and there.
‘Still, aside from the walls, the other parts seem well maintained.’
“This last house is fine.”
Gelman gulped at Baek Iljin’s favorable reaction. In truth, this house had been uninhabited for eighteen years due to rumors of a ghost appearing.
Thanks to that rumor, he had been able to acquire it cheaply at auction, but the problem was that no one would buy it.
Well, there had been one person who came to purchase it.
It was someone claiming to be the Academy’s dean, and Gelman had been shocked by how stingy he was, offering one-tenth of the market price.
‘A ghost in a perfectly fine house—what ghost!’
Gelman, who had owned this house for over ten years, felt like he was about to burst. The cost of maintaining the upkeep magic was enormous, so it seemed there would be nothing left even if he sold it now.
‘No, if I hold onto it any longer, I’ll actually suffer losses……’
This time too, he had included the listing photo while inwardly resigning himself. But this time, something was different.
The student before him, who looked wealthy—and like someone who knew nothing of the world—seemed interested in this house.
‘This student has his heart set on this house right now!’
The student’s face was expressionless, but Gelman could tell. And his twenty-year veteran instinct told him that opportunities like this didn’t come often.
‘I have to seize it! Even if it’s cheap, I have to get rid of this house quickly.’
Afraid the customer before him might change his mind, Gelman quickly began his supplementary explanation.
“Speaking of this house, it was once home to an outstanding couple of mages, and the interior still has maintenance magic running constantly, and also……”
Gelman’s words went on endlessly. Before anyone knew it, white foam had formed at both corners of his mouth.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Baek Iljin, gradually growing tired of Gelman’s twenty-minute-long speech, coughed lowly and pointed at the photo on the tablet.
“That’s enough explanation. Can I see it in person?”
“Yes. Of course! Shall I take you right now? Let’s go in my car.”
“Yes.”
Baek Iljin, who had naturally been about to take off his shoes, stopped upon seeing Gelman getting into the car with his shoes on.
‘So you wear shoes when getting in a car.’
The first house was about twenty minutes from the Academy. The interior was cozy and the atmosphere quiet, so it looked quite decent.
‘And it’s made of wood, so the scent is nice too.’
Baek Iljin ran his hand over every corner of the house. The coarse texture unique to wood clung to his palm.
“It’s quite nice.”
“Haha, a house made of wood certainly has its charm. Then shall we go see the second house?”
The second house was as majestic as it had appeared in the photos. The problem was that it was quite far from the Academy.
“Hm…… This house is a bit far.”
“Haha, it is, isn’t it? But the next house is only a five-minute walk from the Academy.”
The last house really was about a five-minute walk from the Academy. It was slightly removed from the city center, so the surrounding atmosphere was tranquil as well.
Baek Iljin nodded, having taken the charming atmosphere and the commute time to the Academy into account.
‘I heard it’s hard to find a house near the Academy……. This isn’t bad.’
Although the white outer walls, which had borne the full brunt of time, had peeling paint, the house exuded a far more serene atmosphere than in the photos.
And looking roughly over the garden, just as Gelman had said, there was not a single weed to be seen, likely because the maintenance magic was actually operating.
As Baek Iljin was looking around here and there, Gelman approached him.
“Do you like it?”
“I’ll look around the corners too.”
While he was looking around the remaining corners, a subtle energy encircled Baek Iljin. That tingling energy brushed past his cheek like a gentle touch.
*Thump, thump—*
Drawn by that energy, Baek Iljin’s pulse began to race.
‘What is this feeling?’
He raised his senses to find the source of the energy, but it had already hidden its trace.
‘Was it my imagination?’
*Thump, thump—*
While he was looking elsewhere, that same energy stimulated Baek Iljin’s heart once more.
This time, it lingered around him a little longer than before.
In that instant, he felt an inexplicable familiarity. The kind of sensation one might feel in Rea, where he had lived with his grandfather.
‘No.’
Rather, it was similar to the energy he had felt from that gigantic eye he saw within Decant’s barrier magic.
Baek Iljin approached Gelman, who was smoking a cigarette near the car.
“Mr. Gelman, is there something in this house? I feel some kind of energy.”
“……Yes?”
Hearing that, Gelman made a fuss and broke into a fit of coughing—*cough, cough*—before putting out his cigarette and rushing over. His waddling gait was quite comical, but his expression was dead serious.
‘What do I do, tell him? Or not?’
Gelman wavered over whether to deceive Baek Iljin with a lie, wanting to sell the house quickly.
But as a licensed agent for whom trust is important, there was no way he could cheat a customer.
“To be honest, there are rumors that this house is haunted. Though I’ve never actually seen one myself.”
“Hm…… Understood for now.”
*Gulp—* Gelman’s saliva went down his throat. Baek Iljin left Gelman with trembling eyes behind and continued looking around the mansion.
The more he looked around every corner, the stronger the unfamiliar familiarity grew. And separate from that, Baek Iljin was gradually liking this house more and more.
Baek Iljin, who had come outside, turned his head to take in the entire mansion.
‘The location, the exterior, and the size—nothing could be better.’
He had wavered between it and the first house made of wood, but his heart was already leaning to one side.
‘The mysterious déjà vu, the exterior, and the location are all good.’
And though he didn’t know why, the constant sense of familiarity stirred his desire to own it.
‘I’m also curious about that ghost or whatever he mentioned.’
Baek Iljin walked over to Gelman, who was sitting in a chair wiping his sweat, and pointed at the house.
“How much is this house?”
“Yes? Ah, this mansion, let me see……”
Gelman, barely calming his twitching lips at those words, waddled over and tapped the tablet as if calculating something.
“Originally, it’s 453 million gol including the brokerage fee, but since you’re a student, I’ll take only 350 million.”
At 350 million, it was an amount where he could take no margin—rather, he would suffer a loss—but he didn’t mind. He even felt grateful toward the student who wanted to buy it despite being told it was haunted.
Even if Baek Iljin didn’t know much about the world, he knew the price Gelman offered was very cheap. Before he knew it, Baek Iljin had taken a card out from his subspace and spoke to Gelman.
“I’ll buy it. I can move in immediately, right?”
“Yes? Ah, yes, that’s right! Let me get the documents.”
Gelman waddled quickly to his car to find the documents.
“He really doesn’t care about ghosts at all……. He’s an incredibly cool type, despite appearances.”
Gelman, who had been rummaging around the passenger seat, hurriedly pulled out documents and a pen.
Receiving them, Baek Iljin scanned the contract once and began to write.
The tip of his pen, which had been writing without pause, halted.
‘Personal details……?’
Aside from his name, he didn’t have any personal details worth writing. Neither an address nor a source of funds.
After pondering for a moment, Baek Iljin thought of something and continued filling out the documents.
‘I should roughly write that I’m from the Hwangbo Clan.’
Having filled in all the personal details, Baek Iljin handed the completed documents to Gelman.
Scanning the contract he received, Gelman muttered, “Hoo—the Hwangbo Clan,” and nodded to himself. Then he displayed the account number on his tablet and showed it to him.
There were originally more documents he needed to collect, but seeing the personal details that read “Hwangbo Clan,” Gelman decided to gloss over such things.
What person in the world would dare falsely invoke the name of the Hwangbo Clan, one of the Five Great Clans?
“Now, if you just transfer the amount to this account number, you can move in right away starting today.”
“Understood.”
Baek Iljin imbued the card he had made previously with internal energy. Along with a bright light, a holographic window appeared above the card, displaying the balance.
[Account Balance – 736,864,057G]
“Transfer 350 million gol. Account number, Magic Tower Bank, 1509-09516, Gelman.”
[Would you like to confirm the transfer of 350,000,000G to Gelman’s account?]
“Confirm.”
Along with a *ding—* sound, Gelman’s card lit up.
“Oh, it’s complete. Finally, if you just stamp your personal seal here, I’ll take care of the rest of the registration procedures.”
“Yes, understood.”
As he was stamping his seal, Baek Iljin’s dantian began to ache—*pang, pang—*. Looking at the sky, the sun was already setting.
‘Is it already time for qigong breathing?’
Seeing Baek Iljin’s expression suddenly harden, Gelman asked with a look that seemed to ask if something was wrong.
“Are you unwell somewhere?”
“No.”
Contrary to his answer, Baek Iljin’s physical condition was not good.
The pain that started from his dantian soon spread to his heart and head. His complexion gradually paled, and his left leg began to lose sensation.
His strength drained away in an instant, and his body swayed. Barely steadying himself and taking a deep breath, he calmed slightly.
‘Ugh.’
But the pain immediately resumed. Before he knew it, his upper garments were soaked with cold sweat.
‘Hoo, I need to send this man away quickly and start my qigong breathing……’
But Gelman, unaware of the situation, kept talking. He looked very excited, even wiggling his body.
“Ah, and I included a bed, sofa, and dining table as options, so you only need to purchase home magic products—items for household use made with magic stones.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And the backyard isn’t affected by the maintenance magic, so……”
The chatty Gelman tried to explain more, but Baek Iljin cut him off.
“……Yes, I’m tired and would like to rest now.”
“Ah! Yes, thank you! If you need real estate again in the future, please come find me again.”
“Yes.”
Even after that, Gelman didn’t leave right away, bowing his head more than ten times to express his gratitude before leaving.
Leaving behind only the acrid smoke from his portly car that resembled him.
* * *
Entering the mansion’s interior, the inside was better maintained than expected, as if the maintenance magic was running diligently. However, the maintenance magic apparently couldn’t handle odors, as a musty smell assaulted his nose.
He tried to open the window to ventilate, but feeling that if he delayed any longer his dantian would truly tear, he slumped down right where he was.
Qigong breathing had been with Baek Iljin since the beginning of his memory. Until his whole body felt like tearing, until it felt like exploding, until it felt like going mad.
But today was different from usual.
Even though it was already time to finish his qigong breathing and get up, Baek Iljin did not break his meditation posture.
‘Why is it like this today.’
The internal energy that should normally be properly controlled to achieve Greater Circulation was throwing a tantrum and escaping his control.
A bead of sweat that had gathered on his chin fell to the ground with a *plip—* sound.
‘Huu……’
*Fwoosh—*
In an instant, a tearing sound came from his stomach. One part of his dantian had been torn away. Immediately, internal energy began trickling out through the torn meridian.
The leaking internal energy traveled through his blood, spinning around inside his body, and eventually entered the mana circuit in his heart.
‘Ugh……’
Immense agony found Baek Iljin.
Though his torn dantian was a problem, the mana circuit that couldn’t control that energy was the bigger issue. The energies that lost control soon began to rampage.
‘Huuu……’
Baek Iljin urgently tried to circulate the energies that had been sucked into the mana circuit back to his dantian. But the energy, already riding its momentum, couldn’t be controlled and stretched straight out.
It was a type of qi deviation.
The energy absorbed from outside, his internal energy, and the mana from the mana circuit clumped together and ran amok. Blue veins bulged and protruded from all over his body.
*Tremble, tremble, tremble—*
His body shook as if an earthquake were occurring due to the increasingly violent backlash.
“Ugh.”
Having gone into a state of hyperventilation, he lost strength in his body and slumped down. At the same time, *tuk— tuk—* sounds were heard from inside his body.
It was Baek Myeonghak’s restrictions coming undone.
“Haa……”
The moment the restrictions that had blocked his meridians came undone, energies that had been sleeping within swept through his body.
Soon, the skin unable to withstand the energy began to split and peel off entirely, and black scales began to cover it.
The pupils visible in his slightly opened eyes had elongated vertically like sharp slitted eyes.
*Grrr—*
His senses, expanded in an instant, lapped up all the surrounding energies as if devouring them. His brain, having accepted too much information all at once, heated up as if it would burst.
Finally, his body swelled up like an overinflated balloon and was pushed to the brink of bursting.
Then.
A somehow familiar and intimate energy quickly surrounded Baek Iljin. That energy gently caressed Baek Iljin’s body, which looked like it would explode at any moment.
The ashen energy that caressed every corner of his body gently covered his entire body, and in that moment, his swollen body subsided. His overheated brain also began to return to its normal temperature.
‘Huu……’
Perhaps an hour passed like that.
As the pain subsided, Baek Myeonghak’s energy, which he thought had disappeared, restrained his body once more, and new flesh sprouted over the scales.
Going through that entire process, his closed eyes opened.
*Flash—*
In that moment, his eyes were dyed ashen.