Chapter 34 : Honey in the mouth, a knife in the belly

Freshly cooked, steaming hot fried chicken, a whipped cream cake covered in fresh strawberries, and a single candle to celebrate the first victory.

It was partly to celebrate the first win in the Martial Arts Festival, but more than that, it was a self-gift to comfort myself after all the hardship I’d gone through.

But when I returned to the dorm holding food in both hands, an unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes—my cozy little cabin, which had been somewhat leaky but still comforting, had completely collapsed.

At first, I had been disappointed by how shabby it was, but after living in it for a while, I had grown attached to it.

So seeing it like this felt like the sky was falling.

“Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear.

There’s our eternal last-place finisher, Kim Sunghoon.

So, Cain Deathdoor, what exactly is your final reason for visiting this place?

Are you here to apologize on behalf of your son?

Or have you come to seek revenge?

You’ve been going on and on, sharing all sorts of unnecessary details since earlier, but conveniently skipped over that part.”

“Naturally… I came to apologize.

In the Martial Arts Festival, if the power gap is too great, surrendering is a student’s right.

Belimond trampled on that right and paid a harsh price for it.

But aside from that, as a parent who spoiled his child and failed to properly teach him basic decency, I wanted to offer a separate apology.

Of course, an apology in words alone lacks sincerity, so I’ve prepared compensation.

Choose one from these three.”

Cain Deathdoor took out three items from his coat: a small skull-decorated earring, a necklace with a finger attached, and a necromancy grimoire.

To be honest, ever since the fight with Belimond, I’d expected some kind of response from the Deathdoor family—but I hadn’t expected things to escalate so suddenly like this.

More than that—what the hell was Professor Parkelas doing camping outside my house instead of using his perfectly fine office?

My head was spinning in confusion for many reasons, but the core point was this: I had a chance to get an artifact for free.

Not only that, but Headmaster Lyn Dragos himself was guaranteeing the offer, so there was no risk of it being taken back later.

‘How do I play this… If I run my mouth and ask for all three, would he slap me?’

Actually, the real problem wasn’t getting slapped.

The problem would be having the head of the Deathdoor family personally bear a grudge against me.

Sure, inside Pantheon Academy, he wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me, but if I ever traveled to another dimension, he could just send an assassin after me.

That’d be game over.

So I swallowed my greed and simply chose the necklace with the finger.

The skull earring boosts a necromancer’s morale, and the necromancy grimoire is a learning manual filled with general knowledge and techniques about necromancy—but considering my necromancy aptitude is literally F rank, they were both pretty useless to me.

“Do you even know what that creepy-looking necklace is used for?”

“Ah, no. I just thought it looked cool.”

“Hmph!

Whatever.

Whether you make soup with it or sell it off to some other merchant, that’s your business.

In any case, since you’ve received both an apology and a gift, we can consider all grudges between the Deathdoor family and Kim Sunghoon resolved.

You must never do anything to stir things up again in the future.

Do you understand, Cain Deathdoor?”

“But of course. I’m just grateful that Kim Sunghoon accepted my apology so graciously. Belimond, you should apologize too, don’t you think?”

Crunch!

Cain Deathdoor was smiling with his mouth, but his hand gripped Belimond’s shoulder tightly—hard enough to crush it—as he pressured him into apologizing.

Even Belimond, who had always acted with arrogant bravado, seemed to feel the wrath of his father in that grip.

Uncharacteristically, he bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle and apologized.

“S-Sorry for the bad things I said… during the tournament.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Sorry for the bad things he said?

What a load of crap.

Human nature doesn’t change that easily.

Even as Belimond bowed his head, I could clearly see the vicious hostility still burning in his eyes.

Until now, I had lived like a loner, keeping my distance from all the other students.

But today, unintentionally, I had forged a strong link of enmity.

And the only way to break that chain of hatred… was overwhelming power.

So, while I smiled politely and watched the Deathdoor father and son leave, inside I was meticulously analyzing 11 ways I could use the Cursed Finger to grow stronger.

In front of Principal Dragos, I had pretended I just picked it because it looked cool,but in truth, I knew everything—its name, its specific effects, and even the side effects.

“Well then, I’ll be off. Tell Professor Parkelas that if he unleashes his mana inside the Academy one more time, I’ll burn down his entire insect breeding lab.”

“Um, excuse me, Principal Dragos. My dorm collapsed… what should I do about that?”

“Huh? Did I break it? Did I break that house? That was Parkelas too—he blew it up with his mana release. If you’re going to ask for repair costs, ask him.”

It seemed like Principal Lyn Dragos was already in a bad mood about

something, as he snapped before flying off into the sky.

So I sat down and used my broken wooden door as a makeshift table, and started eating the fried chicken and cake I had bought at the Academy Market.

The setting was a bit pitiful, sure—but maybe because it had been so long since I had a good meal, I wolfed it all down in the blink of an eye.

Then, by the evening, the Academy’s facility repair dwarf came by and—just like that—built me a brand new house.

Even better than the last one!

A clean and sturdy wooden cabin. (So long, constant flooding.)

Seriously, Principal Lyn Dragos is a total tsundere.

But when is Professor Parkelas going to wake up?

He’s not dead, right?

* * *

“That concludes the exam. Students, please submit your answer sheets to the Devil Bat and exit the lecture hall in an orderly manner.”

At Professor Shiroko’s sharp declaration of the end of the exam, many students let out sighs of relief.

That’s how difficult this midterm for Introduction to Dark Magic had been—it made the backs of the junior division students’ heads throb.

Of course, for me, it wasn’t hard at all.

I breezed through every question with the correct answers, and I even had the luxury of wondering whether I should purposely get one wrong just to avoid suspicion.

With a light heart, I shoved my answer sheet into the Devil Bat’s mouth and subtly glanced at Professor Shiroko.

Ever since she gave me the Book of Evil Spirits during the last pop quiz and then took it back, she had treated me like I didn’t exist—completely ignoring me.

Well, it seemed like she wanted to pretend that day never happened, so I didn’t push it either and quietly exited the lecture hall.

But as soon as I stepped outside, as if she had been waiting for me, Professor Han Seongryeong—the firearms instructor—called out to me.

“Kim Sunghoon, come with me. I have something to discuss with you.”

Her demeanor was more subdued than usual, so I followed her without saying a word.

When we arrived at her instructor’s office, which was decked out with all sorts of magical firearms, her Korean assistant handed me a familiar-tasting cold coffee.

“It’s instant coffee imported directly from Korea. I can’t say it’s top quality, but it’s one of the rare types you can’t easily find at Pantheon Academy.”

“Assistant Kim, could you give us the room for a bit?”

“Yes, Instructor. I’ll leave you two to talk.”

Once we were alone, Professor Han Seongryeong handed me a satellite image and said:”Last night, the first defensive line of Neo-Seoul was breached by Devil Dolls. Do you know what that means?”

“Hmm… not really. Ever since I enrolled at Pantheon Academy, I haven’t heard much about Earth’s current situation…”

“It means your home planet is on the brink of destruction.

Given that Korea restructured its national systems relatively quickly after the Devil Doll invasion, the fact that it’s in this state says everything—there’s no need to even mention other countries.

Dozens of VIPs are flooding in with evacuation requests every day, wanting to migrate to another dimension.

Since I work at Pantheon Academy as an instructor, they seem to think I can just dispatch the Albatross at will.

As if the Albatross were someone’s pet.

Without Principal Dragos’s permission, it can’t even take off.

By the way, do you have any family left on Earth?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I see.

That explains why you seemed so calm even after seeing the satellite images.

Ah, don’t get me wrong.

I’m not mocking you.

I just wanted to acknowledge the obvious reality.

My father, younger sister, and fiancée are still on Earth.

So when I saw the picture of the first defense line engulfed in flames, I couldn’t just sit still.

But according to the Academy’s regulations, instructors aren’t allowed to leave during the semester.

Now that the Summer Martial Tournament and midterms are over, I’ve got some time—but even as an instructor, I can’t freely travel between dimensions without a proper reason.

That’s why I created a special summer session framed as a field study trip to Earth.

And Kim Sunghoon, I’d like you to participate in it.”