A blue explosion surged upward.
The explosion, a mingling of lightning and flame, became a pillar that illuminated the area and shot into the night sky.
Kwararararak!
The explosion was spinning.
Like a lion’s claws lashing out, the writhing, vortex-like blast shredded every substance touched by its light, save for the point of origin within.
It went on to collide with So Hyeyul’s barrier, which covered the area in a hemisphere.
Kiiik!
The entire barrier trembled.
Cracks began to form in the wall directly struck by the explosion.
The cracks spread into fractures and, at last, radiated outward.
The barrier, invisible to the naked eye, could no longer withstand the impact and revealed its translucent form.
And then.
Chwareureuk!
The barrier shattered.
The fractured portions became fragments, and those fragments reverted to particles of mana, melting into the atmosphere.
Amid it all, the pillar of blue light no longer faltered, driving its momentum on and piercing the night sky.
───!!
For an instant, the sky flashed blue, and the night receded.
The sound of thunder resounded throughout the world.
It was a phenomenon no one on the Academy grounds could fail to notice.
That…. What?
An indescribable will, too, had sensed the phenomenon.
The red eye that suddenly appeared in the sky observed for a long time.
I must know its true nature.
Before long, the blue pillar of light was gradually losing its force.
The red eye looked down at the beam of light shrinking back toward its origin, trying to confirm the being that would be there.
At that very moment.
Chijik!
Sparks erupted around the red eye.
Static crackled.
The being, unable to withstand the force, warped.
The red eye shifted its focus toward the direction from which the energy was coming.
There stood the World Tree, located at the center of Academy City.
The World Tree….
Watching the World Tree sway in the wind, as if telling it to get lost.
No longer able to maintain its existence, the red eye slowly closed.
Resisting like that is useless.
* * *
Not long ago, in Hong Yena’s class, I learned how to burst a water balloon from the inside, and that had given me an idea.
The idea was that if I rotated hydrogen in several directions, I might be able to strengthen the power of Lion Nova.
—On top of that, I might be able to control the range of the explosion.
When I used Lion Nova before, I hadn’t controlled the hydrogen atoms separately, so the range and shape of the explosion differed each time.
It was because my swordsmanship wasn’t stable.
That was also why Grandfather had not acknowledged it as a special technique.
—But if my theory is right, then with a new Lion Nova….
I might be able to solve the problem.
Having come to that conclusion, I immediately began trial and error.
At that time, Yeon Haneul was a great help.
In my place, since it was too much for me to simultaneously perform a task as burdensome on mana control as the existing Lion Nova, she took charge of rotating the hydrogen atoms.
Thanks to that, I was able to complete a new Lion Nova.
The sword technique I used for the first time in actual combat was exceedingly destructive.
‘I did… this?’
No, it would be more accurate to say we did it.
While I used Dark Curtain’s Hongjo Sua to fight I Gahyeon, her collection dolls, and her subordinate monsters alone, beyond the curtain of darkness that covered all directions, Yeon Haneul, Hong Yena, and the others had secretly been creating streams of water.
If they had not lent me their strength, I would never have been able to produce such a result.
As the smoke that had thickly filled the area cleared, I could not hide my astonishment at the region struck by the explosion.
The ground had caved in everywhere except the spot where I stood, and it had been devastated in the literal sense of the word.
“Haneul asked me to help, so I did, but… just what on earth did you do?”
“…I know, right?”
All around us lay finely ground sand, as though we had come to a desert.
Mana stones, spellstones, and monster by-products half-buried here and there in the sand also came into view.
Hong Yena, who had landed beside me from the air, asked as if she could not believe it.
I had no proper answer to give.
Even if I had brought out the maximum output, this power was completely beyond what I had expected.
‘Looks like everything caught in the explosion was wiped out….’
It was a relief I had instructed everyone beforehand not to join the battle.
Otherwise, they might have been caught up in the explosion and lost their lives as well.
I could hear a few people muttering in a daze, as if they had thought the same thing. “Good thing we listened….” “Are we alive?”
“Gyeonu, are you all right? There’s nothing wrong with your body, is there?”
“Other than having almost no mana left in my body and my mana circuits throbbing, I’m fine. What about you guys? You didn’t get hurt fighting, did you?”
My friends, including Yeon Haneul, approached.
We checked on each other’s condition and relaxed.
Then we decided to sort out the situation.
The Guardian Bureau, Yu Noeul, and the other instructors seemed to be thinking the same.
Coming to their senses, they raised their voices.
“The Doll Ghost Lady’s soul stone should be somewhere! Find it at once!”
“Everyone, report to us as soon as you discover the soul stone!”
If I Gahyeon had not endured the explosion and escaped the scene, then the soul stone announcing her extinction should have fallen somewhere.
We searched the area thoroughly.
But even after digging through the sand, it did not appear.
‘Don’t tell me it was destroyed along with her. Or maybe she escaped….’
Neither was a situation I wanted.
At this point, I could not help feeling self-conscious around the others.
“Huh?”
It was then that I suddenly felt someone’s gaze.
I turned my head and blinked.
There stood….
‘Gang Hanbyeol?’
Gang Hanbyeol was standing there.
He was looking at me and smiling.
‘No, that’s not Hanbyeol.’
I corrected my misconception.
Gang Hanbyeol was currently digging through the ground like a mole together with Yong Haerang and Go Eunbi.
So the being before my eyes could not possibly be Gang Hanbyeol.
Moreover, judging from the others’ reactions, he seemed to be visible only to me.
Looking closely, his body appeared translucent as well.
“Who are you?”
Are you perhaps related to my reincarnation?
With that nuance in my words, I asked the being I had already encountered once at the shrine of the World Tree.
Then he moved his lips.
Chijik!
‘What?’
Sorry, but I can’t hear you.
The being in Gang Hanbyeol’s form flickered unstably, as if something were interfering with him, like a frequency wavering.
He was even turning into particles of mana and disappearing.
But through the movement of his lips, I was able to read the final words he offered me.
‘It’s a gift for you.’
‘What?’
I was certain that was what he had said.
To press him for details, I tried to ask another question.
However, the being resembling Gang Hanbyeol had completely vanished.
Immediately after.
Hwaaaak!
Particles of light gathered before my eyes.
The particles, emitting such colorful light that they drew everyone’s attention, soon became a certain crystal.
It was a soul stone.
‘Just… what happened?’
The soul stone fell into my palm.
As dumbfounded as everyone else, I looked down at it.
I brought up the information window.
[Soul Stone of the Doll Ghost Lady]
◆ Consumable Classification
—Soul Stone
◆ Detailed Description
—A soul stone that contains the soul of I Gahyeon, the Doll Ghost Lady of the Demon Society’s Six Demons.
—Highly valuable as a material for crafting equipment.
—Originally annihilated by Rabbit Do Gyeonu, but restored for some reason.
◆ Detailed Effects
—When used as a material for crafting equipment, there is a chance that the principle embedded within the soul stone will be reflected in the crafted equipment. (Success Rate: 6% / Failure Rate: 94%)
—When used as a material for crafting equipment, the will remaining within the soul stone may dwell in the crafted equipment.
It was I Gahyeon’s soul stone.
Judging from the detailed description, it seemed it had been annihilated after taking a direct hit from Lion Nova.
‘But he restored that….’
Just what was the being that resembled Gang Hanbyeol?
…I don’t know.
My questions remained unanswered.
Because this had never happened in the game.
* * *
I had intended to deal with I Gahyeon quietly, keeping it from becoming known to the world as much as possible.
But because I had unintentionally destroyed part of the barrier surrounding Dongsik Hall, the plan had gone awry.
There was no way the people that night had not seen the explosion of Lion Nova soaring into the night sky.
Moreover, many students and instructors had remained on the grounds preparing for the midterms.
From the next morning, the news spread rapidly throughout the entire school.
“Did you see that last night too?”
“Yeah, it was easy to see from the library. Everyone was so startled by the thunder that they went out to look.”
“What was that last night? I thought a bomb had dropped or something.”
“Maybe someone was practicing magic….”
“I thought it was a terrorist attack, but it was surprisingly quiet afterward.”
“By the way, what’s in the direction where the pillar of light was? As far as I know, there’s nothing but forest there….”
“There’s a building called Dongsik Hall. They say it’s an abandoned building that’s too old and worn down to use now.”
“What happened in an abandoned building?”
“I went there this morning, and the building had collapsed. The ground was dug out deep too.”
“Then did it collapse because of yesterday’s explosion? Why? For what reason?”
“…”
For students feeling stifled from devoting themselves to studying for exams, it could not help becoming gossip.
They put forward all sorts of theories, and some even visited the scene in person.
In the end, to prevent the rumors from growing and arousing suspicion, the Academy took action to extinguish them.
They came up with a plausible excuse.
“Don’t worry about the explosion that happened at Dongsik Hall the day before yesterday, and just study. Apparently, the building was showing signs of collapse, so they tried to demolish it with magic while they were at it, but they made a mistake adjusting the output.”
“From what I hear, they’re going to build a new building on the site where Dongsik Hall was torn down. What kind of building will it be… Well? I’m not sure about that yet either. Perhaps the chairwoman knows?”
Hong Yena and Yu Noeul spoke to the students in class as if it were nothing special.
I could not help feeling sorry toward the two of them as they worked to cover up the rumors.
Fortunately, the students accepted the Academy’s official answer and did not harbor any particular doubts.
With the midterms drawing near, they probably did not have the leisure to keep paying attention to it either.
‘So we managed to smooth it over somehow.’
In truth, rather than covering it up with lies, we could have simply announced that we had honestly eliminated I Gahyeon.
But while that might have earned applause from the world, it could also have alerted those who had infiltrated the Academy disguised as guest instructors, just like I Gahyeon.
We had to consider the possibility that, sensing danger, they might stop their investigations and suddenly vanish before we could even ferret them out.
There would surely be someone related to I Gahyeon among them—in other words, someone connected to the Demon Society.
‘There’s no way they won’t find it suspicious that I Gahyeon vanished overnight.’
If so, the actions they could take were broadly divided into two.
They might suspect something about this incident and cease their espionage.
Or, in order to discover the truth, they might risk exposing their identities and reveal noticeable movements.
Here, So Hyeyul, the other instructors, and I were aiming for the latter.
If things went well, we could use I Gahyeon as bait and lure them out.
To do that, we needed to conceal the truth.
‘I hope it goes as planned….’
This was an opportunity to steal internal information from the Demon Society and weaken their power.
I hoped they would take the bait.
My friends felt the same way.
So, to avoid inviting needless misunderstandings, we lived our daily lives as usual.
It was one day during that time that So Hyeyul summoned me.
“Hello, Chair—”
“Welcome, Student Do Gyeonu. Or should I call you a demolition expert? Next time there’s someplace that needs tearing down, I’ll ask for your help. It seems easy, convenient, and inexpensive.”
“Haha…. Please just call me a student like you always did.”
So Hyeyul greeted me with a bright smile when I visited the chairwoman’s office.
Having not only broken her barrier but also devastated the area around Dongsik Hall, I could only smile awkwardly.
‘But wasn’t it I Gahyeon who brought down Dongsik Hall, not me?’
That thought suddenly left me feeling dissatisfied, but I decided to endure it.
Because it was true that I had disrupted an operation that could have ended quietly.
After taking my seat, I decided to hear what she had summoned me for.
“It’s nothing else—cleanup for this incident is nearly finished. So I thought I should inform you of the progress, Student Do Gyeonu. You were the one who proposed the operation in the first place. And….”
Having expected as much, I nodded.
Just then, So Hyeyul took out a small box and pushed it toward me.
“Open it.”
“This is….”
“It’s the soul stone you submitted to me after the operation ended, Student Do Gyeonu. Based on my personal appraisal, there’s a high probability that it’s the Puppet Ghost Woman’s soul stone. The Puppet Ghost Woman truly was annihilated.”
“….”
“Try not to take it out of the box unless absolutely necessary. The Demon Society might detect its energy.”
Inside the box was Lee Gahyeon’s soul stone, just as So Hyeyul had said.
I gazed at the jewel, which held a dazzling light that shimmered like a haze.
When I secretly opened the information window and checked, it didn’t seem as though anyone had swapped it along the way.
‘The problem is who the ownership belongs to….’
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only person who had contributed to subjugating Lee Gahyeon.
Because of that, even though I wanted it, I couldn’t rashly claim ownership.
But judging from how things were going….
As it happened, So Hyeyul confirmed my guess.
“I thought a lot about who I should hand the soul stone over to… but I think it would be best for you to have it after all, Student Do Gyeonu.”
“…Won’t the others object? The instructors, for example….”
“There won’t be no objections at all, but… most of them will accept it. In the end, you were the one who defeated the Puppet Ghost Woman, weren’t you? You were also the one who noticed the existence of the Puppet Ghost Woman who had infiltrated the academy, and the one who proposed this operation. So take it. Don’t worry about what others think.”
“Then of course I’m grateful.”
To tell the truth….
If Lee Gahyeon’s soul stone had become fodder for the academy’s political infighting and was about to fall into the hands of some undeserving person, I had planned to argue using the very reasons So Hyeyul had just mentioned.
But since she readily handed over the ownership, I could only be thankful.
It was then that she added,
“And they say the soul stone suddenly appeared and fell into your hands, Student Do Gyeonu.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s something that has never been reported before, but in my opinion… I think the Puppet Ghost Woman’s soul stone may have chosen you as its master. Just as there are magic stones and artifacts that choose their masters, there may likewise be soul stones that choose their masters.”
“….”
“To be honest, that’s the biggest reason. If there’s a master it’s highly compatible with, handing it over to someone else would be inefficient. I also want you to become an excellent Hunter. So use it as a material to craft a weapon for yourself.”
So Hyeyul smiled.
To ensure that she didn’t change her mind, I put the box into my pocket and said the only thing there was to say.
“Thank you, Chairwoman. I’ll make good use of the soul stone.”
Now I have to think about what to make with it.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss