The Conjurer of the Academy

Chapter 97

It’s unclear when it began.

From the moment I regained consciousness to times when my mind wandered, I just ‘existed’ here as a single mass.

[…….]

My memories were fragmented. I couldn’t remember who I was or how I ended up bound to this place. Perhaps so much time had passed that I had forgotten everything.

Buildings were constructed and then torn down above me, and countless lives were conceived and extinguished repeatedly.

“Let’s play tag!”

“Then you’re it~.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

Eventually, even in my endless daze, change came to me.

“Found you! Now you’re it!”

“Eh, this is boring.”

Children would visit this place day after day, playing different games. Watching them, I began to feel something resembling ’emotion.’

[Pfft.]

For the first time, a mouth formed on my previously featureless face.

[What is this feeling I’m experiencing?]

[What are those children doing?]

[Is there any meaning in such acts?]

For the first time, I experienced ‘curiosity,’ having previously been content just existing.

[I want to try, too.]

It was the first desire that stirred within me, who had stood motionless like a stone for so long.

Driven by that desire, my blunt form reshaped itself into a human figure, with a head, chest, abdomen, and elongated arms and legs.

[Now I can be with you, too.]

But by then, a long time had passed. The children no longer visited.

[-there’s no one to play with.]

I realized too late that there was no one left to play with me.

[…….]

Once again, buildings were constructed and then torn down above me, and countless lives were conceived and extinguished repeatedly. During this time, I crouched in place, waiting again for someone to find me.

[Won’t someone come to play with me?]

Perhaps it was then.

[Ah, I want to play tag.]

That the emotion of loneliness began to grow within me.

* * *

“You needed a friend, didn’t you?”

The spirit’s technique of creating doppelgängers and undergoing personality splits all stemmed from loneliness.

A technique that only makes sense in the presence of others, perfectly mimicking someone else. This means, in essence, that the spirit needed others more than anything.

“You don’t need to be afraid.”

I sheathed the Sain-gum and approached the spirit. I had never intended to strike it down.

‘Just as I had no intention of harming it, perhaps it felt the same.’

Despite possessing dangerous techniques like doppelgängers and splitting itself, all the spirit had done was play crude games of Mafia and tag.

If it had genuinely intended to harm us, the situation might have been several times more difficult.

“So it’s okay to stop now.”

[B-but I…]

“Don’t worry. I know someone who loves playing as much as you do.”

I drew the Sain-gum from my waist and envisioned a young girl.

“Manifest, Baek-ah.”

Two streams of water shot up from the floor, swirling like a whirlpool. As the streams crossed, Baek-ah, dressed in a white robe, floated up between them.

“Hello!”

Baek-ah, floating in the air, leaned forward and grabbed the spirit’s hand with all her strength.

“You and I are really similar. I was locked away in a stinky restroom for a long time.”

[Th-th-that…]

The spirit’s face rippled as if in a wave. If it were a human, its face might have turned red.

“I’m Baek-ah. What’s your name?”

[…I don’t have a name.]

The spirit hung its head.

Seeing this, Yomi nodded.

[Of course. You’re not a ghost that was created from a dead human.]

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Yomi seemed to find a rare opportunity to show off, wagging her tail.

[That spirit is a spirit born from a massive accumulation of spiritual energy, like the kind found in a spiritual vein. If he had been lucky, he might have become a minor god or something, but…]

Yomi trailed off.

[But fate twisted, and it became an evil spirit.]

This was the true identity of the doppelgänger hiding in the old storeroom. It was a spirit born from a large mass of spiritual energy gathered in a spiritual vein, given sentience.

“Fate twisted, you say? Meeting me means your fate is looking up.”

“I planted the Sain-gum into the ground and formed the seal to conjure. Blue spiritual energy surged from the floor, and both Baek-ah and the spirit began to levitate slightly.”

[This is…?]

“Don’t be afraid!”

Baek-ah placed her fingers over the spirit’s hand. With a squishy sound, Baek-ah’s hand sank into the spirit’s.

“If you don’t have a name, I’ll give you one! Your name is…”

Baek-ah gulped.

“Nogdu!”

[……!]

In that instant, the slime’s core began to melt, and the surrounding clones lost their shapes.

“Do you like it?”

[Yes.]

As its physical form dissolved, the true form of the spirit, now named Nogdu, emerged.

[Very much.]

A green-haired child who looked about the age of an elementary school student. Tears streamed down from the mischievously smiling face. Round tears sparkled as they rolled down the child’s chin, catching the blue spiritual energy.

“Welcome, Nogdu.”

I performed the sealing ritual while looking at the boy, freed from his long loneliness.

“Now, it’s your turn to be ‘it.'”

In that moment, a flash of light exploded inside the dim storeroom.

* * *

[The spirit ‘Nogdu’ has been stored in the Spirit Conjuration Space.]

After the ritual was completed, a calm silence returned to the previously chaotic storeroom.

Pop

The lights, which had been out, flickered back to life, and the barrier surrounding the storeroom completely dissipated.

[Spirit Information]

– Spirit : Nogdu

– Rank: B+

– Unable to overcome the overwhelming loneliness, it eventually reached the point of splitting itself.

As I sheathed the Sain-gum, familiar voices emanated from the scabbard.

[Wow, this place is really spacious. What’s that?]

[That’s a jellyfish, it’s like a living balloon.]

[Balloon? What’s that?]

[Well, let me explain…]

It seemed that, being fellow spirits, they got along well with each other.

Circle Quest Clear!

– Solved the third school ghost story: the doppelgänger in the old storeroom! : Skill Points + 50

– Successfully conjured the spirit ‘Nogdu’! : Spiritual Power + 3

At that moment, one particular completion reward caught my eye, causing me to pause.

– Ise-ah ★※ ◀◈₣₯◀Ω! : Luck + 2

The letters at the end of the quest window were severely distorted.

‘I’ve never seen this before.’

It was the first time there were glitches in the status window itself. It seemed to be related to Ise-ah, but no matter how much I tapped the window, there was no sign of it fixing itself.

‘Now that I think about it, Ise-ah…’

I approached Ise-ah, who was collapsed on the floor. Covered in slime, she had completely lost consciousness, but fortunately, her pulse was beating normally.

“It looks like she won’t wake up for a while.”

Humans lose consciousness when their bodies can’t adapt to external changes. It could be due to physical exhaustion, but it’s also likely that her mind couldn’t handle several events at once.

‘Can’t be helped.’

I hoisted Ise-ah onto my back. I could feel a squishy sensation on my back due to the slime. Considering she didn’t even flinch while I picked her up, she must be sleeping quite deeply.

‘But where is Jin So-yul?’

The Jin So-yul who had joined us in the middle was a fake created by Nogdu. I wasn’t too worried since it was the real Jin So-yul after all, but it was hard to pinpoint her location since the spiritual energy embedded in the slime hadn’t dispersed yet.

“Save meeee~”

About halfway through the storeroom.

I heard Jin So-yul’s voice from between the collapsed shelves.

“Senior?”

“Ha-baek-ahhh~!”

Carefully stepping over the shelves with Ise-ah on my back, I found Jin So-yul covered in sticky slime in a corner.

“…What are you doing there?”

“Well, you see…”

Jin So-yul started rambling and whining, speaking incoherently.

“Ha-baek, you said you found Se-ah, so I followed you here, but it turned out to be a fake. Since then, I’ve been stuck in this slime, unable to move…”

Jin So-yul was hanging, entangled in the slime. I had a hunch, but to think she was actually captured.

“Hold on a second.”

I carefully set Ise-ah down on the floor and drew the Sain-gum.

“I’ll free you now.”

“Oh, my true friend.”

“Please, stay still.”

Using the blade of the Sain-gum, I sliced through the slime binding her arms and legs, and with a “Gah!” Jin So-yul fell to the ground with a thud.

“Are you alright?”

As I approached to offer my hand, she suddenly exclaimed.

“You’ve fallen for it, you slime bastard!”

Jin So-yul sprang up and aimed a karate chop at my head. Before her hand could strike my crown, I swiftly caught her wrist.

“What are you doing, senior?”

“You blocked my secret move?”

“That’s because I’m not a slime.”

Had my Spirit Sight not caught her movement, my head might be sporting a hole right now.

“I’ve already dealt with the slime.”

“…I see.”

“Were you disappointed just now?”

I stepped onto a fallen shelf and surveyed the storeroom.

The inside was already a complete wreck, with large fallen shelves and scattered items. It’s fortunate that we were all Awakeners; otherwise, any normal person caught in this would have likely been crushed to death.

“I think I’ll have to transfer schools.”

“Why?”

“Tomorrow, I might actually get killed by Senior Geum-bi.”

Jin So-yul nodded with her arms crossed.

‘Now that you mention it, that’s true.’

I whispered quietly, not wanting Jin So-yul to hear.

“Yomi, can’t you fix this with the fox orb like last time?”

[Normally, that would be possible, but it’s tough right now.]

“Why?”

[Why do you think? You manifested Baek-ah and even made a spirit contract, so there’s no way you still have enough spiritual energy.]

“That makes sense.”

Accepting the reasoning quickly, I turned to Jin So-yul.

“We’re oddly on the same page.”

While I fully agreed with Jin So-yul’s idea, fortunately, there was still a way out.

“Let’s say we came into the storeroom to avoid the rain and got trapped by the slimes. We then defeated all the slimes.”

“I’ll go with that scenario.”

We both nodded at each other. If we matched the details just like we did when the restroom was destroyed, we might be able to get away with it again.

“Anyway, I’m glad Ise-ah seems to be alright. When we got separated earlier, I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do.”

Jin So-yul glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping Ise-ah. It was rare to see Jin So-yul’s brow furrow.

“There’s no need for you to blame yourself. I was the one who lost track of you both in the first place.”

I knelt down again beside Ise-ah. Right now, it was more important to quickly move her to the infirmary than to argue over whose fault it was.

“This is going to be uncomfortable, but bear with it for a bit.”

As I hoisted Ise-ah onto my back,

“Mm…”

Her eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

“Seol… Ha-baek?”

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“Yeah….”

Ise-ah nodded her head.

I expected her to freak out when she realized she was on my back, but surprisingly, she remained calm.

“So cute….”

“What?”

Was she still not fully conscious?

Ise-ah, resting her chin on my shoulder, muttered in a dazed voice.

“Little fox… so cute….”

“[Huh?]”

I paused and slowly turned my head towards my shoulder. Judging by the look on Yomi’s face, she was just as surprised.

“Ise-ah, can you see this white pig?”

[White pig! You scoundrel! I am a noble fox spirit, though most of my spiritual energy is sealed-]

“Hehe, so cute.”

[Ack, don’t pet me! Why is it that everyone—!]

Not only could she see Yomi, but she could also touch him.

– Ise-ah ★※ ◀◈₣₯◀Ω! : Luck +2

At that moment, the quest completion window from earlier popped up again. The glitches began to clear.

– Ise-ah has temporarily gained the ability to see spirits! : Luck + 2

The previously hidden details were now revealed.

—-
(T/N): Nogdu means Green Bean in korean