Chapter 22 : A Strange Career Counseling Session

“I’ve heard that even the Constellations were once human. 

So, has there ever been a case where a student of Pantheon Academy became a Constellation?”

“That’s an interesting question. 

Given the long history of Pantheon Academy, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was at least one. 

But unfortunately, while there have been some who came close, none have actually become a Constellation. 

That just goes to show how strict the requirements to ascend are. 

Of course, if you broaden the scope to include faculty members, then yes, there is such a case. 

Take Principal Dragos, for example—someone you’re all familiar with. 

Though he continues to decline it, he’s fully qualified to ascend to the rank of a Constellation whenever he chooses.”

What Professor Shiroko said was true.

In fact, in the Constellation Pantheon, there was even a route in the game where the player could form a contract with none other than Principal Lyn Dragos and reach the ending.

If memory serves, his Constellation title was something like Sky-Destroying Dragon.

Just by the name, you could tell—he wasn’t some low-tier Constellation, but a tremendously powerful high-ranking one who could make the game significantly easier.

The only downside was that during the early stages of the game, Dragos was still working as the mortal principal of the academy, meaning the contract couldn’t be formed at that time. 

So, by design, you were forced to play without a Constellation in the beginning—a slight challenge, but nothing too difficult.

“With all the new faces, things definitely feel more lively, but I think it’s about time the students more interested in the side dishes than the ritual itself take their leave. 

This course is officially Foundations of Dark Magic, not Constellation Studies 101. 

So for our new students, I’m afraid we’ll be jumping right into a pop quiz. 

Any students who fail to reach the top 30 percentile based on relative scoring will be permanently banned from this lecture hall. 

Don’t be too surprised—this was discussed with the original students two weeks ago. 

Surely none of you thought I would slow down the class just because some latecomers joined, right? 

That would be a serious disservice to the students who’ve been attending since the start of the semester. 

Now then, everyone, take out your pens.”

With a casual wave of her hand, Professor Shiroko summoned her familiar—a swarm of Devil Bats burst out from beneath her skirt and began distributing test papers to the students.

Surprisingly, the Devil Bats, artificial magical beasts with mechanisms similar to Devil Dolls, didn’t possess much combat power—but they were highly intelligent and could detect if a student was trying to cheat.

The fact that this was just a pop quiz and not even a midterm, yet was being conducted so strictly, meant that Professor Shiroko was dead serious about weeding people out.

And this wasn’t unique to Foundations of Dark Magic—similar things happened in most other classes as well.

At Pantheon Academy, during the spring semester, students could freely attend any class. 

But starting from the summer semester, only students who were truly committed would be allowed to continue.

Of course, the definition of “committed” varied. 

In some classes, it simply meant not falling asleep during lectures. 

In others, it required a certain level of academic performance.

“If it’s just short-answer questions and not essay-based, then getting a perfect score is totally doable. But that would draw too much attention.”

If a student who had consistently ranked at the bottom suddenly scored 100, it would inevitably raise suspicion.

So I counted the number of students currently in the class and tried to estimate what the 30% cutoff might be.

Given how many clueless students had shown up just to catch a glimpse of Iris’s face, I figured the cutoff wouldn’t be too high.

“Seriously? A quiz on the first day of class? That’s harsh. I don’t know a single thing about dark magic.”

“Well, it’s only our first day. This class has actually been going on for over two months. Ugh, whatever—let’s just guess some answers and head out for lunch.”

“Hey, quiet over there!”

At Professor Shiroko’s calm but commanding voice, the lecture hall immediately fell silent. 

The only sound that remained was the scratch of pencils on paper.

I had already completed all the easy, low-difficulty questions that even non-majors could solve, and on the harder ones, I had deliberately written nonsensical answers.

Still, I had time to spare. 

Pretending to doze off a bit, I casually checked in on how Iris was doing.

Iris, despite being from the martial arts department, was doing better than expected—maybe she had done some studying beforehand—but she was struggling with the final question.

Knowing her personality, she’d probably feel guilty if I gave her the answer, so I simply confirmed that she had scored above the passing line and returned my focus to my main body.

But the very next moment, I almost screamed without realizing it—Professor Shiroko was glaring at me from right in front of me with her signature cold, grey, triple-white eyes.

“Looks like my quiz was a bit too easy for you, huh? Would you like me to swap in a harder one?”

“Ah, n-no. I just didn’t sleep well last night, so I must’ve dozed off for a moment. I’m sorry, Professor Shiroko.”

“Didn’t sleep well, huh. Well, I suppose it’s a time in your life when you’ve got a lot on your mind. If you ever want career counseling or anything like that, feel free to visit my office. After all, it’s not just the gods who guide lost little lambs.”

As Professor Shiroko gently patted my back, she subtly injected some dark mana into me.

Suddenly, I found myself overly aware of the curve of her hips and the line of her legs beneath her skirt.

A faint heat flushed through my body as if I were going into heat, and I felt a certain stirring down below.

There was no explanation other than that Professor Shiroko had cast a curse of seduction.

But it didn’t last long—suddenly, a foreign energy that wasn’t my own mana surged up from my dantian, instantly nullifying all the abnormal effects.

‘Wait… could it be that the effects of the Absolute Dragon-Phoenix Decoction are still lingering?’

Back during the Trial of the White Night, and even now, it was impossible to overstate how much that decoction had benefitted me.

Still, the fact that a student had neutralized a curse cast directly by Professor Shiroko might raise some eyebrows—it was bound to be seen as strange.

That’s why I decided to visit Professor Shiroko after class to spy on her a little.

I had no idea what her intention was in casting such a subtle curse of seduction, but it definitely didn’t seem like it came from a good place.

Anyway, once the time for the pop quiz was over, the Devil Bats promptly gobbled up the answer sheets.

Seeing them distribute and collect the tests, as well as monitor for cheating, made it clear why Professor Shiroko didn’t need a TA.

“That concludes today’s class. The graded results will be announced later in writing. For those who fail—hopefully, we won’t be seeing each other again.”

Drawing a clean line with the underachievers, Professor Shiroko clicked her heels and exited the lecture hall.

I also quietly slipped out, blending into the crowd of students holding their heads and groaning about how they left the paper blank or how the final question was too hard.

I headed straight for Professor Shiroko’s office. 

Fitting for someone in charge of dark magic, the place was packed with all sorts of creepy occult antiques.

But the most shocking thing of all was none other than Professor Shiroko herself. 

She had clearly been wearing a long skirt earlier, but now she had taken it off and was lounging in just a garter belt, smoking a cigar.

I barely had time to react to the sudden shift in atmosphere—as if she had gone from professor to mafia boss—when she walked over to me with a smirk.

“Wow, you must be really desperate—coming here right away like this. But surely you didn’t actually think I’d sleep with a loser like you, did you?”

“Huh? N-No, that’s not it at all. I just came because you mentioned you offer career counseling, Professor Shiroko…”

“Ah, playing it cool, huh? 

Let’s see here. 

Name: Kim Seongheun. 

From Earth. 

Notable trait: Hasn’t once avoided coming in dead last since the semester started? 

Puhahaha! 

Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to just drop dead? 

I mean, what’s the point in staying at this academy? 

No constellation would ever take in a nobody like you—not even as a grunt.”

“Your words are a bit harsh. Even if I end up dying from reckless defiance, I would never take my own life. My will isn’t that weak.”

“Hah, I thought you had given up on life and were just coasting along, but you’re more interesting than I expected. Alright then, I’ll give you a chance. Have you ever heard of a Spirit Wraith?”

“No, this is my first time hearing about it.”

“A Spirit Wraith ranks just below a Constellation, but even so, it’s an incredibly powerful spiritual entity by human standards. 

If you form a contract with one, at the very least, you won’t be stuck living as a doormat like you are now. 

What do you think? 

Tempted?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued. But if it’s really that impressive of a being, I doubt forming a contract would be easy. Is there some kind of trick to it?”

“Oh, absolutely. Take this book and have a look.”

The moment I accepted the book that Professor Shiroko pulled out of a subspace, I couldn’t help but recoil in shock.

Because it wasn’t a quest item like Moongrave that lets you form a contract with a Spirit Wraith—but a notorious cursed item known as the Book of Evil(Or Malevolent) Spirits.