Chapter 165

Chapter 165

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 165“I never imagined you had even taught him Solitary Evergreen, Father.”

Kwak Chun-sam swallowed hard as he looked at his father, Kwak Chun-sik, after witnessing the devastating scene before him.

But soon, he could only become puzzled.

Because he realized that the look in his father's eyes as he gazed down at Eugene wasn't much different from his own.

And.

“Huh? I've taught that brat less than I taught you, so what are you talking about?”

An answer that proved it wasn't his imagination.

Kwak Chun-sam's thoughts began growing complicated after hearing Kwak Chun-sik's words.

“Then... are you saying that boy reached that level on his own?”

“Right. You have to be at least that good to call yourself my chief disciple! Hahaha! As expected of my eye for talent! Wahahahahaha!”

But seeing his father clap and genuinely rejoice as though it were nothing, he sighed and looked once again at the boy standing alone in the sparring ground.

He'd heard the boy was still an Academy cadet, and only a first-year at that, yet he'd already reached that level...

Was that all?

If it were only a sense for martial arts, that would be one thing, but judging from what he'd just displayed, it was clear he possessed political talent as well.‘It pains me to admit it... but geniuses really do exist.’He suddenly remembered when he had succeeded his father.

How much had he struggled back then... he had no talent for either of those things, so it couldn't be helped.

Still, after tremendous effort, he'd managed to protect this position.‘He must have deliberately used Solitary Evergreen at the end too.’It was a kind of performance.

A way to cut off the seeds of suspicion others might harbor toward him.

In front of this many people, he'd displayed both his talent and legitimacy.

To solidify his own position.‘Never doubt me again. Otherwise, you'll end up like this too.’‘Just what kind of child did Father take as his disciple?’Kwak Chun-sam's thoughts couldn't help becoming complicated.

The principles and movements were undoubtedly the Aura Style he knew.

But they were far too savage.

Combined with that distinctive red aura, the way it looked as though it intended to swallow everything made it feel even more alien.

After his father retired, he had taken care of most of the administrative work, but this time his first concern was how he was supposed to explain this to outsiders.‘Ah, I just want to retire.’He thought he could understand why his father had handed the duties of family head over to him.

At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind.‘Wait, then couldn't I dump the work on someone else too?’The legitimate successor of Aura Style had conveniently appeared right before his eyes.

He'd even proven his skill in front of everyone.‘Then if I raise him a little more, put him in charge of the martial arts hall... and buy a villa at some resort with my wife and daughter...’“You brat!”

“Ah, yes? Yes?”

Kwak Chun-sam snapped back to his senses at Kwak Chun-sik's sudden shout.

“What are you doing! Go bring the antler already.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Good grief, you're so frustrating. Maybe I should just give it to him myself!”

Of course, judging from the situation, that still seemed like something far in the future.

______________

The reward ceremony was held in front of everyone.

“The winner, step forward.”

The Old Man spoke in a solemn voice as though making an official proclamation.

Wondering what all this fuss was about, I slowly approached him.

“Couldn't you have just given it to me normally?”

When I stood before him and whispered, Kwak Chun-sik answered in a whisper as well.

“This isn't mine. It's a family heirloom, so I can't just hand it over however I want, you brat...!”

As though he had a talent for ventriloquism, his lips didn't move at all even while he smiled and spoke.

“...

Tell me the details later and just give it to me quickly, Old Man.”

I'm getting dizzy here.

Perhaps understanding how I felt, he held out the box in his hand and nodded.

“Yes, yes. Were you that impatient? Here.”

At last, the ‘Qilin Antler’ entered my hands.

The box was covered in all sorts of elaborate engravings, as though declaring that it contained the genuine article.

“You used Solitary Evergreen at the end to show it off to the others, didn't you?”

He asked quietly while I stared at the antler in my hands.

His face was more flushed than usual.

“I was just showing some filial piety to the master who prepared the Qilin Antler.”

“Hahaha, is that so? For filial piety, the technique's completion seemed a little lacking...”

This old man?

His face was completely relaxed, yet he was evaluating the Solitary Evergreen I'd struggled so hard to use.

Of course, from his perspective it must have been a miserable level, but considering my recent level, it was enormous progress.

“You only explained the principle a little and demonstrated it a few times. What did you expect? Teach me properly.”

“I keep telling you that if you use it properly at your current level, you'll die. Look at you now! The backlash is already hitting you and you look like you're about to die!”

“...

Is it that obvious?”

“You could fool a ghost, but not me! Tsk, tsk... sit here for a while. Once the event ends, I'll help you consume it.”Items like the ‘Qilin Antler’ contained tremendous energy, so if you ate them carelessly, there was a chance your body would simply explode.

That was why you needed someone beside you to regulate the energy.

It was the same principle as when Parnello had helped me consume the Thousand Poison Pill in the past.

“Then I'll be counting on you.”

I dragged my exhausted body back to the seat where I'd been sitting and dropped down.

When I glanced around, I noticed that the gazes directed at me had changed from before.

At first, there had been curiosity, jealousy, and fear.

Now, they seemed filled with awe and respect.

The latter certainly felt much better than the former.

Clang───Along with the spreading resonance of the gong, Kwak Chun-sam rose from his seat and shouted toward the surroundings.

“The sparring among the disciples, which can be called the flower of the General Assembly, has ended! Instructors of each branch, take care of the injured and move them to the treatment room, then gather in the conference hall! That is all!”

At his shout, the injured from the recent spar began being carried away, and the venue became chaotic.

At that moment, the Old Man rose and tugged on my hand.

“We should get going too. There's nothing in particular left for us to do.”

“Pardon? Weren't you going to the meeting in a little while?”

According to Kwak Chun-sam, most of the instructors would be gathering there.

Then it had to be a fairly important meeting...

“You brat. How long has it been since I retired? Why would I participate in every little thing like that? My son will handle it well enough. Isn't that right, Chun-sam?”

At Kwak Chun-sik's words, Kwak Chun-sam glanced over, then nodded with a sagging expression as though he'd given up.

“Yeees... do whatever's comfortable for you, Father.”

“See? Let's go.”

And so Kwak Chun-sik simply took me and left.

Leaving one man behind...

For some reason, seeing his shoulders drooping compared to when I'd first arrived made me feel pity for him.

“You brat, aren't you coming?”

“I'm coming.”

The place Kwak Chun-sik led me to was a dark room inside the martial arts hall.

“Where are we?”

“This is a place I used when I trained here long ago. It was the first place that came to mind where we wouldn't be disturbed from outside.”

This kind of space did indeed seem difficult to reach from outside.

“Why don't you check the item first? You've been clutching it tightly to your chest this whole time.”

At his words, I looked again at the box in my arms.

The security engravings that had bothered me earlier.

It looked like I'd need some kind of code to unlock them... huh?

Wait a second, this?

“Don't tell me this opens with aura?”

“Oh? You figured that out just by looking?”

I had merely mentioned the security method he often used in the past, but he seemed to interpret it differently.

Well, if he wanted to take it positively, that was fine.

“Of course. Looks like no one except you can open it. Go ahead and open it first.”

“Sure, sure. I'll unlock it right away.”

Kwak Chun-sik lightly placed his hand over the box as though patting a child's head.

Click─ Rrrrk── Clack clack── Rrrrk─At the same time, the sounds of locks disengaging came from the box, and the security engravings switched to an inactive state.

“There, done. Why don't you take a look?”

At his words, I nodded, swallowed, and slowly opened the box.

A vivid blue light leaked through the gap.

“Ah.”

At last, my treasure revealed itself.[Name: Qilin Antler][Rank: Semi-Mythic][Type: Elixir][Description: The horn of the divine beast Qilin that appears in ancient Eastern legends. Upon consumption, the consumer's muscles and bones are transformed into an optimized form and mana affinity greatly increases.]

I picked up the Qilin horn lying inside the box, wrapped in blue light and gleaming brilliantly.

Kwak Chun-sik smiled in satisfaction and spoke.

“What do you think? Beautiful, isn't it?”

“Yes, it's beautiful.”

In terms of rank alone, it was one of the finest elixirs, comparable to Vivian's Spring Water.

I swallowed as I stared at it, then suddenly had a question.

“But Old Man, how am I supposed to eat this?”

“What?”

“No, normally antler is made into an extract before you eat it. How do I eat this?”

In the game, I could simply press a Consume button, but now that this had become reality, I had no idea how I was supposed to eat an actual horn.

At that, Kwak Chun-sik let out a hollow laugh as though dumbfounded.

“What do you mean how? Just chew it up and eat it, you brat.”

“This?”

No matter what, chewing antler seemed a little──“If you don't want it, I'll eat it.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

I immediately bit into the antler like a chocolate bar and swallowed.

It took about ten seconds to cram the whole thing into my mouth and chew it down without even stopping to breathe.

It looked incredibly hard, but once I started chewing hard, it broke apart into powdery pieces.

Wait, this actually chews?

If I had to describe the taste, it was like biting into a hardened lump of soda-flavored sugar.

I was relieved it wasn't nearly as unpleasant as I'd expected.

I could feel the antler passing down my esophagus and entering my stomach.

Preparing for the wave that was about to come, I closed my eyes and sat down──Booooom───!

A sound like an explosion went off inside my stomach, and overwhelming pain began crashing into me.

“Ghk!”

At the same time, a gagging sensation slammed into my throat.

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and it felt as though my insides were being wrung out, but I stubbornly endured it.

Do you have any idea how much what I just swallowed is worth...?!

No way I'm throwing it up!

“Endure it!”

I felt Kwak Chun-sik's hand, positioned behind me, rest against my back.

I could tell he was slowly regulating the energy rampaging throughout my body.

But that didn't mean the pain diminished much.

Booooom──! Booooom──! Booooom──!

Would this be what it felt like to hug a bundle of grenades?

I wanted to twist from the agony that felt as though my organs were exploding and scream, but trusting the traits 【Hitman】 and 【Natural Healing(A)】, I clenched my teeth.

The ‘Ancient Berserker's Ring(True)’ began emitting an ominous red energy, apparently because I'd bled so much inside my body.

That meant even it recognized receiving the elixir as damage.

Thanks to it, my physical abilities increased and the pain eased enough to make it slightly more bearable.

It was an ironic situation, reducing pain by bleeding, but I'd never been more grateful for the ‘Ancient Berserker's Ring.’

“Imagine absorbing the power through your muscles and bones!”

Hearing Kwak Chun-sik's voice from behind me, I concentrated more deeply on the inside of my body.

I overlaid the image of melting the energy continuously erupting from my stomach into my body.

Into my muscles.

Into my bones.

Into my blood.

I repeated the thought of absorbing every bit of energy again and again.

Crack──A horrible sound came with the pain of my joints twisting.

My muscles and bones had begun to change.

Crack── Crrrk──Pain kept surging through my knees, ankles, shoulders, and waist.

Before I knew it, blood seemed to be flowing from my clenched gums, staining my lips bright red, but the ring absorbed even that as though it were delicious and immediately converted it into my strength.

How much time passed like that?

The pain gradually subsided, and just as I began to feel my body warming, I opened my eyes.

“...

That hurt like hell.”

Pain I never wanted to experience again.

Just remembering it made me shudder.

“But you didn't die, did you? Hahaha! So, how does your body feel?”

Kwak Chun-sik smiled and patted my shoulder as though he hadn't been worried at all, despite his disciple dripping blood right in front of him.

At his words, I stood up and looked over my body.

“I don't know if anything changed drastically. I'm pretty sure my aura moves faster... hm?”

Something.

Something was strange.

“Old Man.”

“Hm? What is... huh?”

“Were you always that short?”

A place that should never have been visible before.

The top of the Old Man's head had started coming into view...

Did I get taller?