Chapter 53

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Sponsored Chapter - 3/5...

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As he said, it was a really random question.  

What do you mean by a spirit?

All I could guess was the Spirit's Blessing, a talent that was temporarily created by wearing the Banshee Necklace.

“I’m sorry, but what does that mean?”

“Uh……  I'm sorry, that didn't make any sense."

Saying so, Ivan put the bow on the stand.

He then pointed to a chair behind him where he could sit and rest for a while.

“If it’s okay, shall we sit down and talk?"

I followed him and sat down on the chair.

Ivan, who sat down first, looked at me carefully and nodded as if he was sure.

"That's right. It definitely smells like spirits.”

“So, what is that spirit’s smell?”

"Wait, let me organize the words...… .”

Ivan looked like he was contemplating something and tapped the table with his fingers.

"In reality, there are surprisingly quite a few people who receive the blessings of spirits. Compared to the public perception.”

Ivan began to speak cautiously.

His fingers were tapping the table with a steady rhythm.

“Even if it’s a blessing, it doesn’t really mean much unless it's really strong. A person with a weak blessing may or may not be helped by spirits in his lifetime. And I don’t mean to say it with bad intentions, but, the blessing I feet from Ji-Hyuk is such a weak blessing."

I nodded.

As he said, the spirit's blessing attached to me was E-class, the lowest level, and it had the condition that it was temporary.

“But the smell of the spirits is different."

Ivan said so as if he were affirming.

In fact, I didn't even know what he meant by the smell of the spirit.

That's because the term smell of spirits had never been mentioned in the original story.

“The smell of spirits…… Is only wafted by a small percentage of beings."

“So, what exactly is that spirit’s smell?”

When I asked directly while he kept turning his words, he frowned as if he was trying to discern something.

Then he mumbled something, and after a moment, opened his mouth again.

“It's this, in a nutshell. If you have the blessing of the spirits, they will think of you in a friendly way and help you once in a while. To put it simply, the idea is similar to how people like dogs and cats. But if it smells of spirit, it's a little different. The spirits think that you are similar to themselves.”

It was kind of a vague explanation.

Seeing my expression, Ivan nodded.

“Simply put, they see you as friends or colleagues. It means that you have the attention of the spirits to the extent that it cannot be compared with blessing.”

As I listened to him, I had only one question.

Why?

Seeing that I had absolutely no idea, he tilted his head as if he didn't understand.

“Ji-Hyuk, you have been starting to smell lately. To be honest, I thought I felt it wrong at first. But it gets thicker as time goes by and the smell is a bit peculiar. It's as if you're eating part of the spirits over and over, how can you get such a peculiar smell...… .”

'Ah.'

Several things passed through my mind when I heard that.

Mandragora.

The spirit stone he used as his pillow.

The water was brewed by the two.

And I drank that water every day because I liked it.

“But the smell of spirits is actually not very good, so I said this.”

"Huh? Why?"

Wouldn't it be nice if the spirits were friendly?

Ivan said quietly, warningly, as if he already knew my thought.

“Not a single good thing will come from getting the attention of a spirit. Of course, you can get help, but...… Their way of thinking is very different from ours. Sometimes, for example, they help pour a glass of water and in return they make a ridiculous request to pluck out one eye.”

“… And if I refuse that?"

Ivan let out a small sigh.

“They stick persistently and bother you until they get their price. The problem is that it's a bother, which could be dangerous for some people."

I closed my mouth.

It was completely unexpected, so I needed to collect my thoughts.

“Um, if you become a Spirit user, can't you control it to some extent?"

“Of course it is possible.”

Ivan glanced at me gently.

“But Ji-Hyuk, um…… I hope you don't feel bad about it. But Ji-Hyuk, you have very little talent as a spirit user."

I nodded quietly, as this was something I had honestly expected.

Then, as if he took my silence as another meaning, he quickly opened his mouth.

“But that…… Right. It will be possible if you meet a spirit with a deep bond, Ji-Hyuk. It's only that you have very little talent, not none at all."

He sighed softly.

“The difference between 0 and 1 is large, but the difference between 1 and 2 is small.”

“Yeah, thanks for the advice anyway.”

With those words, it was when I was about to get up from my seat.

“Oh, the main point is from now.”

"What?"

“If you want, I was thinking of making something that can suppress the smell.”

"Huh?"

“I know…… Someone who is an expert in that field.”

Ivan Hunt added, hesitating for a moment.

And I knew very well why.

'It seems you and your mother are still not on the best of terms.'

Ivan Hunt.

A man who is the owner of the Magic Bow and is blessed by the Spirit King.

And the only being in the world who is half spirit and half human.

Ivan's father was an ordinary human, and his mother is a spirit of the wind.

Ivan was raised by his father from an early age, but when his father died, he naturally became independent on his own.

Meanwhile, his mother, whom he has never met in his life, suddenly appears in front of him.

As she reveals herself to be his mother, she teaches Ivan how to manipulate the powers of the spirits.

However, Ivan, who couldn't admit her sudden appearance, maintains a subtle relationship with her.

In the meantime, Ivan learns that his father was actually a member of a fallen family, and he comes to Orhe Academy to raise his name with the family's treasure, the Magic Bow...… That was his background.

And Ivan was now going to ask his mother, whom he was hesitant to even meet, for my sake.

I bowed gratefully for his favor.

“I would really be grateful if you did that. I will definitely repay this favor.”

“Hey, we’re on the same team and we’re friends. There's nothing to be grateful for."

Ivan said and waved his hand.

And he asked me in a cheerful tone as if to change the subject.

"Speaking of which, Ji-Hyuk, have your family said they'd be coming to this invitation?"

"Uh…… .”

Ivan tilted his head as I slurred the words.

I thought it would be better to just talk casually here, rather than changing the subject.

"I don't have a family."

"Ah."

Ivan's expression hardened for a moment, then he quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry. I really didn’t know.”

"It's okay. I don’t really care.”

"But…… .”

“It’s okay.”

With those words, I got up from my seat.

“I’m going to do some archery practice now. I'll see you later. It was nice talking to you."

"I enjoyed it as well."

I roughly waved to him and stepped forward to practice archery.

That's why I couldn't hear him murmur in a low voice at the end.

"But…… It smells like he's been marked...… .”

* * *

I thought that there would be few surprises after coming to this world, but every day was still a series of surprises.

In particular, this was the first time I had seen so many people gathered together in person, not through a screen.

The noise made by so many people was so loud that just looking at it made me dizzy.

It was the first day of the guild invitation meeting.

And on the first day of the invitation meeting was literally nothing short of pandemonium.

“Hey, man! Don't cut in line!"

“Everyone please move in order!”

“Mommy, I’m hungry!”

“If you have a ticket or student's family member, please go over there! This place is for visitors only!”

“Hey, hurry up!”

“If you wait your turn, it will be over soon! Please show your dignity, everyone!"

I silently waved the guide stick as I watched the sight of such pandemonium right in front of me.

At Lee Ye-Eun's suggestion, I volunteered for the temporary student council, and thanks to that, I have been volunteering since this morning.

There are three main events that take place at Orhe Academy.

First, the guild invitation.

Next is the commemoration.

The last one is the end-of-year exam.

Naturally, there was at least one major event involved in each of these three events.

And aside from the fact that the event was involved, the other two were also larger than the Guild Invitation, and not small in scale.

If so, does it mean that I have to go through this chaos at least twice more?

I sighed deeply for the first time in a long time.

Because I thought I had dug my own grave.

“Oh, Ji-Hyuk. Come with me.”

"Yes."

As I was guiding and leading people mechanically, one of the 3rd-grade male students said so.

When I asked what was going on, he answered kindly.

“Ah, what is that? You know that Hunter Lee Myung-Joon, the head of the Thunder Lord's Hammer Guild, is at the academy right now, right?"

"Yes, I am well aware of that."

“The other five guilds allied with the Thunder Lord's Hammer Guild have just arrived. So there will be a rush of people, so I'm going to go ahead and try to organize and prepare the scene.”

He then murmured in an excited voice.

“Wow, whenever I see those people, they're really...… How many guild masters are coming this time? Last time, only one of them attended. But looking at it...… wow, this is going to be a story. It's amazing that six guilds have formed a blood alliance, but all the guild masters are part of the ten strongest......!"

I answered his words appropriately and began to organize my thoughts.

The six guilds had a lot of weight in the original story.

The most representative was Lee Myung Jun's Thunder Lord's Hammer.

And the one where Ahn Do-Hoon's uncle, whose name I can't remember, is.

I remember the rest roughly, but I couldn't remember the name or the guild's name in detail.

The other things that I can remember are that each has a gimmick of Vanguard, Knight, Guard, Sniper, Caster, and Supporter. [Note: '기믹'- Gimmick]

It was just the fact that each one specialized in these six different positions.

There was also the fact that they were members of the Ten Strongest, and although they were praised as strong, their treatment in the original story was the same as a death squadron.

From Lee Myung-Joon, who implicitly assumed the role of the leader in the first place, to this point in the original story, he had already died, so I wondered if there was any need to say more.

“I'll be there in a little while.”

And I breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that I could see them so close.

I thought it was really good to volunteer for the temporary student council following Lee Ye-Eun's suggestion.

Because among the six guilds, there was a spy and traitor.

During the guild invitation, Orhe Academy was attacked by outside forces.

And the existence of the traitor who communicated with the outside forces was different depending on who the character was playing.

This was the reason why I couldn't give Jin Ye-Seul an accurate answer.

Depending on the main character, the external forces that attack the academy change, and the identity of the traitor with whom he communicates also changes.

However, there was a very easy way to identify the traitor.

It was because of the setting that the person who comes with the guild master was always the traitor.

This principle had never changed.

First, I would reveal the identity of the traitor to some extent, and then secretly tell the story to Lee Myung-Joon.

And after finding out about the guys behind him, we could come up with a countermeasure.

There was also no way I could misrecognize the Guild Master was because the third-year student next to me would tell me.

I was thinking like that.

“Wow, this is so crazy! Is it really possible?!"

As I was thinking like that, the guy next to me let out a fierce cheer.

I looked back after him, thinking that he had finally arrived, and after a while, I instinctively realized that something was wrong.

“… Huh?"

Next to me, who made a blank voice, he shouted as if he couldn't believe it.

“All the guild masters are attending, this is absolutely unbelievable!”

…Why are you all coming together?

I couldn't help but mumble like that with a blank expression on my face.

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