Chapter 18

No, that person?

I suppressed my bewilderment and first deployed a basic defensive art. In that state, I posed a question.

“Isn’t this disadvantageous for me?”

“Huhu. Nothing special. I swear on my name that I will grade fairly, considering all circumstances and positions. So, don’t feel burdened and just show your skills to your heart’s content, okay?”

If that’s the case, there shouldn’t be any major issues. I just had to slightly modify the strategy I had been considering.

‘Although I think my grades are already in a safe zone, it wouldn’t be good to receive a low score just in case.’

To take the exorcist qualification exam early in the future, I absolutely had to escape my current D-Rank and get promoted to a higher rank.

Therefore, regardless of various incidents, I needed to secure a good grade first.

I observed the situation and read the atmosphere. While most eyes were on me, surprisingly, no student immediately attacked.

‘As expected. That’s the intention.’

The rule that simultaneous attacks on one person were impossible. That was exquisite.

In this battle royale-style exam, attacking someone meant increasing the likelihood of becoming a target yourself.

‘If they attack me, they simultaneously become an appetizing target for other students.’

Also, because of that one rule, the so-called hyena play of taking the last hit during a fight became impossible.

What did that mean?

Students wanting extra points had to first deal with the student who attacked me before they could target me.

‘I’ve become a public target, but at the same time, everyone has become my shield.’

In this situation, I could focus solely on defense in the early stages of the fight without any problems.

For other students to secure extra points themselves, they wouldn’t just stand by and watch me get hit.

‘It’s certainly become an interesting composition.’

This must have been what Ko Dahye meant by an interesting match. It was somewhat admirable.

A brief silence.

However, the word ‘extra points’ was an irresistibly sweet bait.

Eventually, one student who couldn’t resist the temptation cast a curse at my doll.

“Fear Wave!”

A basic curse that amplifies the target’s anxiety and causes confusion.

It wasn’t a powerful type, but since I didn’t know the damage limit the straw doll could withstand, it was better to block it completely.

In addition to the defensive art I had already deployed, I recalled and deployed another appropriate art.

Tszzzt.

Pashik.

“Huh? It’s fine?”

Taking advantage of the moment the student whose art was shattered was flustered, someone who had been waiting for an opportunity immediately targeted the attacker’s doll.

It was definitely a student named Seo Jinyoung from B-Rank.

“…Fear Wave!”

Chiiik.

Because the defense wasn’t properly executed, the doll of the student who attacked me began to burn slightly.

“W-wait, White Transformation Advancing…”

“Fear Wave.”

Whoosh!

The student tried to deploy White Transformation Advancing Channel belatedly for defense, but Seo Jinyoung’s finishing blow was faster. Eventually, the doll completely burned up, determining the first elimination.

After that, it became complete chaos.

“Fear Wave!”

“White Transformation Advancing Channel!”

“Art of the Four Pillars and Eight Trigrams.”

Seo Jinyoung, who got the first kill, was ambushed, and someone else targeting that student deployed another curse.

A complete chain of retaliation. Within that, I also seized opportunities to eliminate manageable students one by one.

“Fear Wave.”

Whoosh!

“What? I was definitely blocking it!”

Sorry to say, but the Fear Wave I use is significantly different from other students’.

The efficiency of the art itself was different, and corrections were applied due to my high Forbidden Arts value.

Whoosh!

“Ah, shit.”

Whoosh!

“Huh? Who is this?”

If someone showed a clear opening, I ambushed them; otherwise, I always maintained an ironclad defensive posture.

I eliminated three students that way.

Feeling that was enough, around the time I focused on defense again, someone fired a carefully deployed curse at my doll.

“Fear-Bringing Delusion.”

Fear-Bringing Delusion. An art that could be considered an upgraded version of Fear Wave, causing the target’s negative emotions to overflow.

Sensing its quite powerful energy, I admired it and blocked it.

“White Transformation Advancing Channel.”

Huuung.

Pashik.

“…Whoa.”

In the distance, I saw one student looking at me as if I were a monster. The only A-Rank taking the Forbidden Arts Studies course. Pee Yujin.

Can’t help it if she looks at me like that. Because of the corrections, at this level, any art I roughly use gets blocked, what can I do?

After repeating several more attacks and defenses, the end finally began to appear.

Three students remained.

A-Rank’s Pee Yujin, B-Rank’s Seo Jian, and me, D-Rank.

Murmur.

Murmur.

[Wow. Honestly, I didn’t know she was this good, she deserves extra points.]

[Her defenses just don’t break. What kind of art is she using…]

[No matter how limited to Forbidden Arts Studies, she’s absolutely not D-Rank at this level. She’ll probably take the promotion exam soon.]

It was surprising that Seo Jian remained. Of course, her stats themselves were A-Rank level, so it was possible, but it seemed she had been taking the class quite seriously.

The moment we faced each other, looking at one another. The first curse flew at me.

Flinch.

Not targeting the straw doll used for the match, but the physical body itself.

‘What?’

Startled, I deployed a mental defense art. But it shattered immediately. I felt the sensation of the curse climbing up my body.

Pasusu.

Sreuk.

This is serious. I even drew out the Spiritual Power stored in my Bari Jade Bracelet and recalled one of the top Unbinding Arts I could currently use.

Tszzzt.

“Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra.”

Hwaaak.

Pashak!

Only then did the curse that was about to infest my body finally shatter.

There’s no way Seo Jian or Pee Yujin deployed such a vicious curse. As I was about to speak, sensing something wrong, Ko Dahye cried out in an urgent tone a step ahead.

“Stop!”

Then she quickly scanned the surroundings and showed a puzzled expression.

“…No one’s here, who on earth.”

At that moment, Pee Yujin next to me suddenly grabbed her neck and began choking.

“Khek! Keheuk!”

Glancing aside, I saw black, wriggling Jooeon climbing up Pee Yujin’s neck.

Ko Dahye quickly ran over, checked her condition, and prepared an Unbinding Art.

“How dare, attack with a curse while I’m here?”

As Ko Dahye took out a straw doll and held it against her, the patterns flowing over Pee Yujin’s body were quickly absorbed into the doll.

Picking it up, Ko Dahye deployed another art. It seemed to be a type for tracking the opponent.

“Huhu. Found it.”

Chwarak!

Huuung.

As she scattered black talismans around and recited the incantation trigger, a barrier formed surrounding the students.

The assistant who had handed us the dolls before the evaluation began approached Ko Dahye. Ko Dahye instructed the assistant.

“The request for support?”

“I’ve reported it to the nearby Guard Unit.”

“It doesn’t seem to be human, right? Probably around C or D-Rank. It’s crouching by the lake. I’ll send a curse back, so go and subdue it.”

“Understood.”

The lake must be where Seo Jian and I had our conversation earlier. Watching the assistant running quickly, I used the Appraisal function.

‘Appraisal.’

Ding.

【Heo Taeyeop】

▶Level 35

▶Stats

【Stamina: C+】

【Spiritual Power: B】

【Art Formula: C+】

【Mental Power: B-】

▶Traits (4/10)

【Iron Heart (B+)】

【Spiritual Power Amplification (B)】

【Agile Hunter (C+)】

【Strong Body (C-)】

A level capable of handling a C or D-Rank specter. Also, with support from Ko Dahye, who’s over level 40, there shouldn’t be a problem.

‘Was there such an incident?’

At a glance, it’s a curse-type specter.

Probably stimulated and jumped out because we were fighting with curses right nearby.

However, I don’t particularly remember such an incident in the original. If so, there likely weren’t major casualties either.

Coincidentally, Ko Dahye reassured the students as if it were nothing.

“It’s okay~ It’ll be dealt with quickly, so let’s wait at ease.”

But something was off.

The Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra I used earlier is a fairly powerful intermediate-rank Unbinding Art. I completely shook off the curse targeting me, and the opponent must have felt it.

Yet, they immediately attacked Pee Yujin again?

‘Unless they have no intelligence at all, they must be quite confident.’

We overwhelmingly outnumber them. Instinctively, they should know that.

My anxiety soon became reality.

“Khek! Keheuk!”

Despite being protected by the barrier technique Ko Dahye deployed, one of the students began showing the same symptoms as Pee Yujin earlier.

“Huh? What?”

A flustered Ko Dahye hurriedly performed an Unbinding Art. But the attacks didn’t stop there.

“Kehek!”

“Kuleok!”

“This can’t be, how are they all piercing through the barrier…”

Ko Dahye busily repeated Unbinding Arts, but she was clearly short-handed. Eventually, the moment a gap appeared, black Jooeon began to burrow into Ko Dahye’s body.

“Kuhk!”

Of course, Ko Dahye wasn’t easy. The moment she realized it, she immediately used an Unbinding Art on herself too.

However, her appearance was clearly not that of someone at ease.

‘This won’t hold.’

Simply judging by the curse’s intensity, it’s weaker than the attack that came at me earlier. It shouldn’t be a problem for Professor Ko Dahye.

But since Ko Dahye’s barrier has become useless, she was already short-handed just protecting the students.

‘Looking at the situation, the assistant Heo Taeyeop must have been hit too.’

In other words, until the requested support arrives, we are helpless.

“Professor! What about the support?”

“H-here, since it’s in the mountains, it’ll take a bit…”

The ones barely holding on by themselves were A-Rank Pee Yujin or Seo Jian, who has similar stats.

Glancing at Ko Dahye’s face. It was a completely hopeless expression.

Only then could I recall one fact I had forgotten.

‘Right, it was definitely mentioned in the original.’

It wasn’t described in detailed circumstances. But thinking back carefully, there was a part that made sense.

Before the 1st Semester Comprehensive Exam, i.e., before the Yeongwoldo Incident began. A rumor that helped shift the game’s atmosphere and instill tension in the player.

The story that during the midterm evaluation, students who went outside the school had an accident, resulting in multiple casualties.

‘And it was the Forbidden Arts Studies course.’

Among those killed were definitely an A-Rank student and the course’s assistant professor. It was a MacGuffin used to instill anxiety in the main characters of the first year, who were also A-Rank, and to foreshadow the upcoming Yeongwoldo Incident.

‘That means support won’t arrive in time.’

The outcome is predetermined.

Unless someone changes it.

Ko Dahye, busy protecting the students, can’t do anything more.

In other words, the only one who can move now is me.

Seo Jian, with an uncomfortable expression, looked towards me, who was making a subtle face.

“Yoo Ain is nearby.”

“Are you asking me to catch that?”

“…She won’t leave my side.”

Well, we can’t be sure the enemy is only in the lake. If it’s Yoo Ain, who prioritizes Seo Jian above all, others’ sacrifices would be secondary.

‘But that means I’m in danger too.’

It’s certain that Ko Dahye’s limit will come before support arrives.

Given the mention in the original that multiple casualties occurred, it’s highly likely the specter in the lake would attack here, seizing that opportunity.

‘Right now, I have the capacity to respond somehow.’

But my Spiritual Power has been steadily depleting from blocking the curses that have been intermittently hitting me since earlier.

One of my biggest weaknesses right now is the amount of Spiritual Power.

The moment it decreases, I lose the ability to lead the situation myself. That was dangerous.

I quickly made a judgment.

‘It’s safer to deal with that thing while Ko Dahye is struggling.’

To Seo Jian, who had somehow approached my side, I conveyed with a calm demeanor.

“It might be a bit dangerous. Are you willing to help?”

“…I have no choice. It’ll be troublesome if you’re gone.”

Since things have come to this, I decided to create a new trump card in preparation for the Yeongwoldo Incident.

‘Since it’s a Forbidden Arts type, it’ll come in handy.’

The third method of employing a Shikigami mentioned before.

‘I’ll catch it first.’

It was time to attempt local procurement.