The Conjurer of the Academy

Chapter 72

Gradually, my vision became clearer. Once fear is overcome, the fog is no longer an issue.

[Noona!]

At that moment, I heard Shin Seo-jun’s voice from the sofa. He was at a loss, unable to do anything as Shin Seo-ha continued to experience hallucinations.

Shhh—

A red fog began to rise from Shin Seo-ha’s body. This was the life energy being siphoned by the monster. If drained for too long, it could be fatal.

‘What kind of nightmare is she seeing?’

I drew closer to Shin Seo-ha. Though a strong shock could forcibly wake her, it might leave her mentally unstable for a while.

‘Is she seeing that day’s vision again?’

If there’s anything Shin Seo-ha fears most, it’s the vision of the day Shin Seo-jun died.

[Ha Baek, please save my sister!]

[Weren’t you going to wake her? Why are you hesitating?]

“Just a moment.”

Surely, Shin Seo-ha had already overcome that fear once.

‘Shin Seo-ha, you surely…’

I waited for Shin Seo-ha. I had overcome the same vision myself. There’s no way she couldn’t do what I had done.

“Hah, haah-!”

With bloodshot eyes, Shin Seo-ha’s body trembled. Her once dilated pupils contracted and expanded repeatedly. Then, she bit her lip tightly and shouted,

“Get out of my head!!”

With a piercing scream, Shin Seo-ha sat up abruptly.

[Noona!]

Shin Seo-jun rushed over, but as she got up, Shin Seo-ha passed right through him.

“You’re back.”

“We need to find Mom and Dad!”

Before I could ask what she had seen, Shin Seo-ha shouted urgently. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead.

‘Did she see a vision about her parents this time?’

I initially thought she had a nightmare about her parents, but there was a deeper reason she was desperately looking for them.

“Mom and Dad won’t be able to handle seeing Seo-jun’s vision!”

“Wait, Shin Seo-ha!”

Without giving me a chance to stop her, Shin Seo-ha dashed out of the villa. Her figure quickly vanished into the fog.

‘Is the storyline really going this way?’

In the end, Shin Seo-ha saw the same vision as last time—the one involving Lucid Dream. As expected, she managed to overcome the nightmare, but that anxiety manifested in another form.

[Noona…]

Shin Seo-jun’s lips trembled.

[It’s all because of me…]

He felt guilty that his family was experiencing the same vision involving him.

“Seo-jun, first, stay calm—”

[No, we have to save Mom and Dad!]

The siblings dashed out together. I rubbed my forehead, looking at the wide-open door.

“They even resemble each other in the things they shouldn’t.”

Tracking them through the fog wasn’t difficult. My Night Vision worked not just in darkness but also in fog, and I could follow their traces by sensing their spiritual energy.

“There’s Shin Seo-ha and Shin Seo-jun.”

Shin Seo-ha seemed to be quite lost and hadn’t gotten very far.

“Mom, Dad!”

[Noona!]

Like a game of cat and mouse inside the fog, Shin Seo-ha and Shin Seo-jun were chasing after each other. I had to trail them, neither as a cat nor a mouse, but as someone chasing both.

“Wait!”

“Why are you here?”

Finally hearing my voice, Shin Seo-ha stopped.

“If you’re here, then of course I’m here too.”

“You’re spouting nonsense again…”

Shin Seo-ha twisted her lips.

“You should go back. I have to find Mom and Dad.”

“I think the same way.”

I raised my hand and pointed to the sky.

Naturally, hidden by the fog, it wasn’t clearly visible, but—

“What? There’s nothing there.”

“Look closely.”

“What exactly is—?”

Finding something, Shin Seo-ha lowered her voice.

“A jellyfish?”

Hidden in the fog was a giant jellyfish. Not floating in the water but drifting through the sky, it was undoubtedly a massive jellyfish.

The monster, with its long tentacles hanging down, was emitting fog. Its size was comparable to a large building, and its tentacles reached all the way to the shore.

“Fog Jellyfish.”

Even professionals rarely witness this rare monster. Its rank is at least A+, and its mere appearance is said to bring disaster.

It causes large-scale hallucinations by emitting fog, and anyone whose life force is completely drained turns into fog and disperses.

‘That explains the missing people.’

Its entire body emitted a faint red glow, a marker indicating it was feeding on the life force of its victims. This was why only missing persons were reported, not fatalities.

“There’s more than one.”

While Shin Seo-ha might not see it, I could spot another jellyfish beyond.

Seeing such a rare monster once in a lifetime was remarkable—seeing two at once was extraordinary.

“Your parents are likely on the other side.”

Shin Woo-taek and Han Ga-young were likely on the other side. Our paths had probably crossed.

“Should we go back?”

“No, it’s too late for that.”

Going back would take too long. There was only one option left.

“We’ll break through head-on.”

“What?”

Shin Seo-ha frowned.

“How are we supposed to take down something that big?”

“Why not? You took down a golem with a single punch.”

Glancing at the jellyfish, Shin Seo-ha shook her head decisively.

“Alright, let’s give it a shot.”

Flames ignited in both of Shin Seo-ha’s hands.

“No matter how big it is, if we keep attacking, it will eventually die.”

“Wait a minute.”

“What now?”

Shin Seo-ha frowned, her concentration breaking.

“The jellyfish usually only emits fog, but if it senses danger to its life, it will abandon feeding and go on a rampage.”

“So that means—”

“If we don’t take it down in one go, this whole area will be devastated.”

That’s the scariest thing about the Fog Jellyfish. Not only do they emit hallucinogenic fog over a wide area, but if they feel threatened, they use those tentacles to lay waste on everything around them.

“In that case…”

Shin Seo-ha’s flames subsided. I hadn’t intended to scare her, but I had inadvertently made her hesitate.

[It’s okay, Noona.]

Shin Seo-jun placed his hand over Shin Seo-ha’s. While she couldn’t feel or hear him, his intent was clear.

“It’s okay.”

So I had to convey the message instead.

“Let me hold your shoulder for a moment.”

“What are you—”

Shin Seo-ha flinched. I understood she was uncomfortable, but there wasn’t time to explain.

“Steady your breathing.”

I held her shoulder and adjusted her aim. The target wasn’t the jellyfish’s body but slightly above it.

“There’s nothing there.”

“Look more closely.”

What’s visible is just a mirage. The actual body is hidden deeper within the denser fog.

“I can see it.”

Shin Seo-jun, now a spirit, merged with Shin Seo-ha, enhancing her vision to pierce through the mirage and see the true form of the hidden Fog Jellyfish.

“I feel like I can take it out in one blow.”

Wings began to sprout from Shin Seo-ha’s back, and a massive flame ignited in her clenched fist.

‘This won’t be enough.’

Considering the distance to the jellyfish, this level of firepower wasn’t sufficient.

“Hey, what are you doing? You’ll burn your hand!”

“Don’t worry.”

I placed my hand over her fist. The moment our hands met, a blue foxfire enveloped Shin Seo-ha’s red flames.

“This should be enough.”

“It’s beautiful…”

Shin Seo-ha was mesmerized by the sight. The two-toned flames dancing harmoniously on her palm resembled two koi fish chasing each other’s tails, or the Taeguk symbol, representing the balance of souls.

“Let’s go!”

As her wings unfurled, Shin Seo-ha thrust her fist forward.

Whoosh—!

The flames shot towards the sky, engulfing everything. The mirage wavered, and the true form of the jellyfish was revealed.

Wooooong—

The method to kill the fog jellyfish completely was simple: incinerate it entirely.

Enveloped by flames, the jellyfish twisted and let out a deafening roar.

Crash—!

As the dying fog jellyfish fell into the sea, massive waves crashed onto the shore.

“Ugh…!”

As Shin Seo-ha turned her head away, bracing against the water’s force—

“I will collect the spirit.”

Forming a seal with my hands, the Sain-gum at my waist began to vibrate. The light dispersed in the sky converged into a single point and was swiftly absorbed into the Sain-gum.

[Spirit Information]

– Spirit: Fog Jellyfish

– Rank: A

– Variety of Poisons: The fear that gnaws at the human mind is the deadliest of all poisons. The only thing that can overcome the toxin is one’s own will.

– Fog: Shows the target the hallucinations the caster desires.

“Success.”

I successfully conjured the jellyfish spirit.

The first A-rank monster spirit. A tremendous power could be felt within the Sain-gum.

[We barely managed to defeat it.]

Shin Seo-ha’s wings disappeared, and Shin Seo-jun reappeared, panting heavily from the significant spiritual energy expenditure.

[We need to catch up with them… quickly.]

“Wait.”

I interrupted Shin Seo-jun’s urgency to think for a moment.

“Maybe we can meet your parents without you manifesting.”

[If the rules are broken, he might be completely erased.]

Just as Yomi said, there was a risk of Shin Seo-jun being erased if he met his parents directly. However, there was one way they could meet without Shin Seo-jun disappearing.

“Shin Seo-ha.”

Specifically, it came to me just moments ago.

“What?”

“Stick close to me.”

“What did you say?”

“Just do it, quickly.”

“Huff…!”

I grabbed Shin Seo-ha’s arm and pulled her closer. She made a sound like the wind being knocked out of her, but there was no time to worry about that now.

“We don’t have time to go back. We’ll go straight over.”

“But it’s not a height we can just jump over.”

“Don’t worry.”

I formed a seal. Given the sandy ground, whether it would work or not was uncertain, but it was worth a try.

The seal formed a vertical alignment with the Sain-gum planted in the ground, and a large amount of spiritual energy flowed from my body into it.

“Manifest: Crystal Giant.”

Soon, the ground rumbled, and a giant emerged from the sandy ground.

“Let’s go.”

“Crystal Giant?”

The Crystal Giant began walking across the sand with large strides. Remembering the giant she had seen before, Shin Seo-ha frowned.

“What exactly is your ability?”

In this world, very few people awaken multiple abilities. Until now, Shin Seo-ha likely thought my ability was controlling foxfire.

‘Should I reveal it?’

Even in the diverse abilities in RollHun, the power to conjure spirits wasn’t widely known. Revealing that I could see and conjure spirits would mean explaining Shin Seo-jun’s existence as well.

She might even come to hate me for approaching her while pretending not to know about Shin Seo-jun.

‘There will be a better opportunity.’

I could reveal it to her, but now wasn’t the right time.

“You’ll find out eventually.”

There were more pressing matters right now.

* * *

Before Shin Seo-ha and Seol Ha Baek overcame the hallucinations and dashed out of the villa.

“When the disappearances happened, thick fog was always present in the area.”

“No sightings of the monster probably mean it’s hiding within that fog.”

Han Ga-young and Shin Woo-taek stood on the shore, watching the approaching fog.

“We’ll have to touch the fog to find out.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Oh, mind if I smoke?”

“Just one.”

“Thanks.”

Shin Woo-taek pulled a cigarette from his pocket and placed it in his mouth. He rubbed the tip with his finger and it lit up.

“Whew, that’s better.”

He exhaled a puff of smoke and took a deep breath, his gaze still fixed on the horizon. The rapidly approaching fog would soon engulf the entire coastline.

“People who come into contact with the fog reportedly see hallucinations.”

“Yes, they experience intense traumas that are difficult to escape from…”

Just as Shin Woo-taek’s cigarette burned down,

Whoosh—

The fog enveloped the two hunters standing on the shore. Beyond the fog, the same silhouette became visible to both of them.

“Mom, Dad.”

The hidden figure was revealed, and Han Ga-young covered her mouth.

“Seo-jun?”

The desperate call came from the voice of a son who had died long ago.