Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 209

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 209

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 209

The Mask is to Hide the Ugly Truth (4)

Explosions continued, and smoke filled the ballroom.

People considered removing their masks and escaping through the glass windows, but they hesitated, waiting for Choi Jin-cheol, the owner of the mansion, to evacuate first.

The reason was simple.

“Elder, aren’t you leaving?”

“Me? Where to?”

“Well, outside the mansion. We don’t even know where or how these explosions started, so staying inside seems…”

“You fool! How dare you doubt the security and durability of our family’s proud mansion?! We entrusted the security to B-class [a mid-tier ranking in the story’s power system] guys, so there might be minor issues, but this mansion won’t fall because of some explosions.”

Choi Ju-seok firmly stated that he would not leave the ballroom.

He even settled into a seat and enjoyed his drink.

He appeared remarkably calm.

It wasn’t just confidence that explosions couldn’t harm him.

Even if facing a terrorist, Choi Ju-seok would have reacted the same way.

Among his invited guests were several A-class and S-class players [high-level ability users], including high-ranking officials from S-class guilds.

Furthermore, talents like Bang Seok-hoon were secretly present.

Magicians, captivated by the Angel’s Dust [a substance that enhances magical abilities] that they developed—or rather, that they were the exclusive recipients and distributors of—possessed skills exceeding A-class. Depending on their specialization, some rivaled S-class in power.

Certain combat-specialized magicians matched rankers [top-tier fighters] in destructive capability.

‘Whether it’s an explosion or a terrorist, it doesn’t matter. Whatever happens, this house is safe. Venturing outside is far more dangerous.’

Beyond the building’s construction, installing magical defenses and protective measures had cost hundreds of billions of won [hundreds of millions of USD].

Much of it was paid in ore, though.

The mansion’s construction involved an immense investment.

The place was secure, and plenty of talented individuals were present.

Choi Ju-seok firmly believed his mansion was the safest place in any situation.

“Yes, of course. After all, you own this mansion.”

“Haha, I was already enjoying a drink. I don’t know why the explosions are happening, but with the head of the family here, it’s not a problem!”

Life is about timing.

Quick-witted individuals seized the opportunity to flatter Choi Ju-seok amidst the anxiety. It was blatant, but Choi Ju-seok didn’t seem to mind.

Encouraged, those who had hesitated now pretended to be calm and raised their glasses.

Of course, many couldn’t manage it.

“Is this right…? Are you all crazy…?”

The woman, still trembling, stood in the corner of the ballroom, trying to suppress her fear.

Though masked and anonymous, she had attended the masquerade, hoping to forge connections with the Choi family for future benefits. She couldn’t simply run away.

Even if she did, wouldn’t they recognize her?

If someone questioned that, she would scoff.

Even with a mask, complete anonymity isn’t guaranteed.

Fingerprint or voiceprint analysis could easily reveal one’s identity. That’s why no one dared to escape the masquerade.

The beasts mingled among the real people.

Wearing masks, pretending to be human, and pouring alcohol.

Angel’s Dust amplified their magic and abilities.

The intoxicating pleasure and sense of accomplishment from growing stronger, combined with the alcohol, easily elevated their spirits.

The Talmud [a central text of Rabbinic Judaism] describes alcohol as a gift from the devil.

A product made from animal blood.

With one glass, a gentle sheep; moderately drunk, a monkey dancing happily; excessively drunk, a ferocious beast like a lion.

Finally, with alcohol poisoning, they commit ugly acts like pigs.

It criticizes alcohol and ridicules those who are drunk.

How does this situation differ from the teachings of the Talmud?

Humans, intoxicated with desire and pleasure, had long since become beasts.

The current human race was no different from those of centuries or millennia past.

Perhaps, in some ways, they had regressed further.

Their ugliness grew daily, inversely proportional to technological advancement.

Now, they resembled beasts even without alcohol.

How can those consumed by desire be considered human?

I can see their karma [the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences].

I can see the karma of those who kill for money, undermine the authority of family heads, destroy families, trample on others, and strive to climb to high positions.

The stench is worse than that of a demon who has given up on humanity.

The stench is their sin.

They will soon pay for their karma.

The arrogant beasts drank, oblivious that the smoke filling the ballroom was for smoking them out, removing their stench.

In that manner, about 100 people were slaughtered in the fog.

It was too late when people realized this.

Yes, when ‘people’ realized it.

By then, all the beasts had already been slaughtered.

* * *

Seung-woo’s explosion wasn’t meant to destroy the mansion.

It was a calculated maneuver.

A maneuver to drive people inside.

Initially, he intended to exploit the chaos as people fled, but the arrogant guests continued drinking and dancing, seemingly unconcerned by the explosions or potential terrorism.

“In fact, their arrogance made hunting them easier.”

But there was a problem.

Several beasts escaped the siege.

They broke through the net with their sharp fangs and desperately fled.

‘Even a rotting beast retains its natural claws and teeth. If you don’t remove them all, you might suffer an unexpected blow.’

That’s why I used fire and smoke to drive them back in.

However, a few individuals proved more intelligent than anticipated.

First of all.

“I caught one.”

“S, save me…!”

“You have too much blood on your hands to say that, haven’t you? Why did you kill so many people while running a loan shark business in this day and age?”

The man reveled in killing people under the guise of a loan shark business.

As he desperately tried to remove his lion mask and apologize, I pierced his abdomen with fire.

How dare a beast attempt to shed its skin?

A beast should die like a beast.

“Now, are there ten left?”

Flutter.

Seung-woo unfolded the ledger.

The list of masquerade participants.

While the masquerade was supposedly anonymous, an invitation was required for entry.

It seemed they had marked each person differently.

‘In the end, it wasn’t anonymous.’

It was a masquerade filled with lies and deception.

I’ve never enjoyed a masquerade, but this was undoubtedly the worst.

‘The guest caught forging an invitation must have been lying too.’

Someone had forged an invitation.

That’s why they emphasized showing invitations upon entry, recording everyone who participated.

Of course, Seung-woo’s name was also on the list.

‘I need to manipulate it.’

First, erase my name and replace it with someone else’s.

Especially the elders of our family and their cronies.

Connect them to the Choi family.

‘Even if it has a minor impact, I can keep them in check.’

That’s enough.

The plan to eliminate them won’t be easily successful.

The more fortified the iron fortress, the more damaging the small hole in the floor.

In the distant future, that hole will lead to their destruction.

I manipulated the list and secretly hid it elsewhere.

Given the large-scale massacre, the police and the association would inevitably be dispatched. I planned to hunt down the remaining rats, even providing hints for their capture.

Thud!

The moment I stepped on something, a rat bit me.

Not literally, but I was attacked.

‘This is… poison, no, an illusion-based magic?’

Stepping on something disoriented me.

As I tried to inflict pain to regain clarity.

I felt excruciating pain.

I hadn’t even touched myself yet.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

It’s a strange pain.

I felt nauseous, like I was going to vomit.

It was far beyond indigestion.

It felt like an invisible hand was gathering and mixing my internal organs and skin. My internal organs coming out, and my flesh going in.

I felt like I was going to faint after repeating that feeling several times.

‘I’m going crazy. I’ve lost consciousness countless times.’

In fact, I had already fainted.

The fainting spells were brief, but Seung-woo’s mind was consumed by pain and chaos.

Each blink brought fleeting moments of consciousness.

“…It’s fortunate it’s me. Anyone else might have died from this alone.”

“Even the great Baek Seung-woo can’t handle this. I intended this attack, but it seems I’m just wasting money.”

“No, the attempt itself was excellent.”

I felt disgusted, and I felt disgusted with the person who tried this.

But the attempt itself was meaningful.

He successfully launched a mental attack.

Seung-woo spoke to Bang Seok-hoon, who emerged from the corner of the mansion.

I thought it was a strangely poisonous magic.

Having worked as Nam Hwa-yeon’s assistant for so long, it was natural to possess deadly attacks. Imagine what one could learn under her.

“Usually, mental attacks involve brainwashing and hypnosis. But the pain of fluctuating between reality and imagination, manipulating my internal organs, was quite interesting and meaningful.”

“Then why didn’t you just die quietly?”

“Unfortunately, a mere minute of pain isn’t enough to break my mind and kill me in agony.”

Seung-woo’s mind was strong.

That level of attack wasn’t fatal.

More importantly.

“I’ve been suffering from it, so I’ve developed resistance. Can’t you tell by the fact that I’m looking straight at you right now?”

“Damn it, you monster. You’re so toxic. You’re still not dead?”

“Monster, thank you for the compliment. I never imagined I’d hear that from a beast who has given up on being human like you.”

After enduring the pain repeatedly, I quickly developed resistance.

The novel pain provided a stimulus exceeding twice the threshold.

Bang Seok-hoon’s attack uniquely wounded Seung-woo, triggering 「Weak Resistance Delay」, which had no prior resistance.

[Pain has reached the threshold.]

[The mental armament becomes stronger against the powerful mental disturbance that shakes the body beyond the mind.]

[Creates skill, 「Iron-Blooded Monarch’s Endurance」.]

……

[Skill, 「Weak Resistance Delay」 is confirmed to be a derived skill. Combine the two into one.]

[Skill, 「Iron-Blooded Monarch’s Endurance」 is incorporated into skill, 「Weak Resistance Delay」.]

The monstrous mental strength, already bordering on madness or iron will.

Became even more solid.

There are no gaps in his mind anymore.

It’s thorough and safe.

[Congratulations! Skill, 「Weak Resistance Delay」 grows one level.]

[Weak Resistance Delay : D+ → C+]

The grade of 「Weak Resistance Delay」 rose another level.

There is a limit to the grades and number of times you can go up in the future, but I needed one mental resistance.

There will definitely be abilities that I can’t handle with my mental strength alone.

So, I expressed my pure gratitude.

Bang Seok-hoon’s face contorted.

“That… I’ve been wondering since earlier, what’s with that tone? Is it a mental mechanism to separate Baek Seung-woo from ?”

“There’s no great meaning. I’m just playing the role of an arrogant and noble person.”

“…You crazy bastard. That’s why my mental attack doesn’t work.”

Seung-woo imitates the mask of others.

Just as those beast-like things imitate humans, he also plays the role of a perfect iron man as someone who hasn’t learned.

is the same.

A villain with an arrogant tone.

It wasn’t a very difficult role.

“Oh, my…”

That’s a bit harsh.

Then it’s only natural to counterattack right away.

Let’s think about it, what kind of response would be like to Bang Seok-hoon, who is spewing out curses? The words I chanted after a short thought were simple.

“You’re possessed by Mara [a demon that obstructs spiritual development].”

“…That’s why you’re a psychopath.”

“Mara, just because I mention him doesn’t mean I dream of becoming a Buddhist monk. I just know about most myths and religions.”

“You’re a cultist.”

“I don’t believe in religion. It’s just a branch of knowledge.”

Mara.

There are many ways to call evil in Buddhism.

The clearest name is Mara.

It is a word that has been reduced to a joke among religious people in modern times, even if it was not hundreds of years ago. For example, in the nuance that your head is full of Mara.

“Ha, is that so? It’s good that the head of Cheonho Baekga is smart. Since you’re a high-ranking person, you must have deep knowledge in that field. Unlike a guy like me.”

“Hmm? It’s not like I accumulated knowledge with that intention… well, interpretation is originally up to each person. Just like the interpretation of a single word is divided, and the interpretation of scriptures made up of sentences is divided.”

Just like the feeling that Mara gives is different for Seung-woo and Bang Seok-hoon.

Interpretation is different for each person.

And that difference encourages people to fight.

It is to affirm oneself that one’s opinion is right and to force the other person to submit. People have been affirming themselves and living like that.

The events that will happen in the future will also be one of the most natural things that have happened to mankind several times.

Seung-woo will define him as evil and solve the subsequent events in his own way.

Bang Seok-hoon, well. It wasn’t worth discussing at the point where he couldn’t perfectly estimate his attack intentions. He’ll do whatever he wants.

“Oh, you’re a learned person after all. The level of conversation is different from mine.”

“Don’t be sarcastic, just spit out what you want to say. Your words are not worth interpreting, and there will be no disagreement in the interpretation.”

“You’re too harsh. Still, to put it simply, I didn’t understand most of the things you said because they were all difficult.”

Words are difficult.

If it’s difficult, the magic books in the library would be several times more difficult.

It wasn’t a word that a magician would say.

That’s when I noticed.

He was preparing an attack by handling the increased magic power very subtly while taking Angel’s Dust.

“I know the words, but isn’t it too profound to say? Especially, it’s too exaggerated to say that with just one word, Mara.”

“Think carefully about whether your culture is lacking.”

“There’s no need to think carefully. I originally have no culture.”

A magic bullet flies from Bang Seok-hoon’s hand.

It wasn’t a magic I remembered.

It was his own magic.

“Unlike you, I didn’t learn properly…!”

The level of magic that can be seen is B-class.

However, it is different from what Seung-woo knew in many ways.

Increased power.

Increased speed.

It was threatening in many ways.

“If you didn’t learn properly, make up your mind to learn now.”

“I don’t want to!”

“You can’t even do that, but you’re complaining.”

But it’s not enough to try something on Seung-woo.

Even if he took Angel’s Dust like that, there was a limit to overcoming the skill between Seung-woo and Bang Seok-hoon.

「Pyrokinesis」

Whirr.

A calm flame divided the two.

The magic that was activated without any words or prior preparation devoured Bang Seok-hoon’s magic miserably.

It was truly an overwhelming gap.

Bang Seok-hoon’s mouth shrank the moment he faced the firepower.

He was no longer in a position to complain.

So… he struggled.

At that moment.

Thud!

Seung-woo’s right arm was cut off.

At this time, I instinctively sensed it.

It didn’t seem easy this time either.

‘Damn it.’