Chapter 4: True Education

“The crazy one is you, you bastard. Come outside. I’ve had a shit day, so let’s fight.”

When I shouted, Yang Han-gil started glaring at me, his voice shaky with confusion.

“Are… are you crazy? You want to fight? Here? In a bar? Fighting here will disturb everyone around us. Let’s postpone the fight to later…”

I grabbed Yang Han-gil by the neck and dragged him outside.

“You bastard. Pretending to care about causing a disturbance? You’re just scared of getting your ass kicked, aren’t you?”

From being expelled from the academy to hearing those vile insults, I was mentally exhausted in less than a day. The relentless harassment from my students, The Access logs that fucking Baek Hyun-seo had put on the intranet, and now this fool trying to scrape at my nerves. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. No, I wouldn’t hold back any longer. If I kept enduring this, I’d be nothing but a sucker.

“Hey, Yang Han-gil, there’s a magic training hall nearby. It’s one of the places I sponsor, so we can fight there. The owner told me I could use it whenever I needed. It’s perfect, right? No need to worry about disturbing anyone.”

“Please, calm down, man. I was only trying to comfort you because you seemed like you were having a hard time.”

“Call me ‘man’ one more time, and I’ll rip your mouth apart. Stop with the bullshit. You came here to brag about replacing me as an academy instructor, didn’t you? Have you lost your mind? Can’t even remember what you just said?”

-Whuuuum-

An immense amount of mana gathered in my hand, ready to explode. Yang Han-gil’s eyes focused solely on my hand, filled with fear.

Then, Seol Eun-ah’s voice interrupted from the side.

“Please, calm down, Mr. Joo-won. If you hit him with that kind of mana, he could really die. You might become a murderer.”

At that moment, Yang Han-gil’s expression twisted.

“What the hell, Seol Eun-ah? What did you say? I might die at this guy’s hands? Stop talking nonsense! I was just about to mess around with you because you’re cute, but you’re really getting on my nerves!”

Drunk and humiliated by the girl he liked, Yang Han-gil suddenly snapped.

Gone was the trembling mess from earlier, replaced by an overly excited loudmouth.

“Choi Joo-won, you pathetic bastard. Fine. Let’s fight.”

I smiled and answered.

“Alright. But the condition is that we fight until one of us dies, got it?”

“Ha, you think I’ll back down just because you say that? Do whatever you want. Today, I’m going to kill you.”

-Thud, thud-

I dragged Yang Han-gil by the neck to the magic training hall. Not wanting to look weak, he grabbed my arm in return, as if he were going along willingly.

-Ding-

The hall’s owner greeted me with a deep bow as soon as we entered.

“Ah, Mr. Choi Joo-won. Thank you for your generous donations as always. I can’t express how grateful I am. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to buy my daughter the things she wanted. You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

The owner was a man working hard to raise his young daughter on his own. I had visited this place by chance, and seeing that he was struggling financially, I began donating hundreds of thousands of won each month—an amount I had no trouble parting with.

As both a hunter and an academy instructor, I had amassed an overwhelming amount of money. I regularly donated to various places, not because of some grand sense of noblesse oblige, but purely for my own satisfaction. After all, I didn’t have much else to spend it on.

After finishing his bow, the owner finally noticed Yang Han-gil next to me. His expression turned uneasy as he alternated between glancing at me and the man I was dragging along.

“Mr. Choi Joo-won… Is something wrong? You seem very upset… And who is this person?”

The owner’s face showed obvious concern as he looked at the both of us.

Yang Han-gil was the one I was angry with. There was no reason to take it out on the owner, so I softened my expression when addressing him.

“It’s been a while, sir. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“We had a disagreement on the street, so we’ve decided to settle it with an honorable duel.”

“So, I’d like to ask if we could use your training hall.”

“Oh, of course, Mr. Choi. If you wish, I can even reserve the entire hall for you.”

“There’s no need to go that far. We’ll just use one section, and it won’t take long, so don’t worry.”

“Oh, you’re free to use it for as long as you need. I was planning to close up early today, so there are no other customers.”

“Why close early? Is something happening today?”

While I was talking with the owner, Yang Han-gil, still in my grip, suddenly thrashed and yelled.

“What the fuck, crazy kid! Is this the time to be chatting? Are you stalling because you’re scared now that the fight is about to start?”

‘Has this guy lost his mind?’

I wondered what was going on, then noticed Seol Eun-ah standing behind us. She must have followed us here.

I looked at Yang Han-gil and said, “Get ready. I’ll make today unforgettable for you.”

-Whuuuummm-

Gathering mana in my hand, I used telekinesis to hurl him into the training hall.

-BOOOM-

A tremendous explosion echoed as Yang Han-gil screamed in agony.

“Arghhhhh!”

His whole body trembled as he coughed and tried to catch his breath. Then, he yelled at me.

“Y-You bastard… That was cheating…”

“We agreed to fight without any rules, remember? There’s no such thing as cheating, you moron. Weren’t you the one eager to fight? I made sure you could fight as soon as possible, so what’s your problem?”

Yang Han-gil quickly gathered mana in his hands, and in an instant, a large fireball came flying toward me.

‘Is this pathetic fool really the one who replaced me as a class instructor?’

The fireball Yang Han-gil shot looked big, but the mana density was pitiful. It was like a balloon full of air—impressive in size, but lacking in substance.

“All style, no substance. You focused so much on making it look big that it turned into this inefficient mess.”

“D-Don’t talk nonsense! This is the fire magic I’ve spent my whole life refining! It’s a spell so unique that someone like you could never even begin to imitate it!”

“Oh… really?”

I wondered how best to shatter his ridiculous pride. Then, a good idea came to mind. I’d use the weakest, most pathetic spell I had to deal with him.

“Magic Missile.”

To be honest, casting Magic Missile doesn’t even require an incantation. It’s just a simple matter of gathering mana into a small point and firing it.

Still, I said the spell aloud for one simple reason: I knew it would piss him off even more.

-Pang-

The Magic Missile I shot pierced straight through his fireball in an instant.

-Whoosh-

With a gust of wind, the large fire spell he’d launched disintegrated in midair. And it had been defeated by the weakest spell of all—Magic Missile.

“W-What is this?”

Yang Han-gil stared blankly into the air, disbelief written all over his face. Smiling, I addressed him.

“How do you like it? This is the Magic Missile I’ve dedicated my entire life to. I poured all my youth and health into perfecting it. Sadly, I haven’t yet found a forbidden tome in the Magic Tower. If I had, I could have combined black magic with it to create the world’s strongest Magic Missile.”

“You bastard! Don’t mock me! I may have been tempted by forbidden magic for a moment, but I’m still a skilled wizard officially affiliated with the Magic Tower!”

“Hey, get it right. You were affiliated with the Magic Tower for a brief time. And didn’t you only get in because of connections? With these skills, what kind of fucking magic tower is this?”

“Arghhhhh!”

Yang Han-gil began gathering all the mana within his body. His hands slowly turned a dark, ominous color.

-BOOOOOM-

In an instant, the entire training hall began to shake violently. Yang Han-gil’s body started to swell grotesquely, while an enormous amount of dark energy gathered in his hands.

This sinister energy, clearly different from mana, grew larger and more unsettling by the second.

‘This one’s different. Is this magic from a forbidden tome?’

If the fire spell Yang Han-gil had used earlier felt like an empty shell, this one was not only massive, but also incredibly dense.

‘But does this idiot even know what he’s doing?’

Black magic from forbidden tomes allows the user to cast powerful spells far beyond their usual mana capacity by harnessing dark energy. However, it comes at a cost—it drains a portion of the user’s life force. In other words, this fool was burning through his own lifespan.

As far as I remember, Yang Han-gil was someone who cherished his body so much that he even took daily herbal supplements. Now, he’s willing to risk his life in a battle just because his pride got hurt? It didn’t make any sense.

‘Is he stupid? He must have read only the spell incantation and skipped the rest.’

‘Why didn’t the other wizards at the Magic Tower tell him about this?’

The thought crossed my mind, but seeing how ridiculous he looked, I figured maybe his colleagues kept it hidden on purpose, hoping he’d get himself killed.

Either way, if he keeps using black magic like this, he’s going to die on his own without me having to lift a finger.

When I first came to the training hall, I planned to leave him half-crippled, but after seeing how foolishly he’s acting, I’ve changed my mind.

‘I’ll neutralize this life-draining spell in the most anticlimactic way possible.’

• [S] Magic Enhancement skill activated: Magic power increased by 200% temporarily.
• [S] Magic Enchant skill activated: You have chosen [Divine Power]. Your magic is temporarily imbued with divine power, granting strong resistance against dark energy.

‘Hmm… This should be enough. If I overdo it, the entire training hall might blow up.’

‘Now, for the finishing touch.’

• [S] Magic Form Transformation skill activated: Please choose the spell and its new form.
  ‘I’ll use Magic Missile. Change the form to something small, like a soap bubble.’

-Confirmed.

At that moment, a massive orb of dark energy shot towards me from Yang Han-gil’s side. After launching the dark energy, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted, and screamed at me.

“You… you bastard! Block this if you can… You’re dead!”

I looked at Yang Han-gil and smiled warmly before whispering,

“Magic Missile.”

The moment he heard my incantation, Yang Han-gil burst into hysterical laughter and mocked me.

“You idiot. Trying to play it cool until the end, huh? Go ahead, say your last words. I’ll make sure they’re carved on your gravestone.”

Smiling at him, I replied,

“Do you really think your spell can withstand this?”

At the same time, I unleashed my mana with full force.

In that instant, the weakest, most insignificant-looking Magic Missile, shaped like a tiny soap bubble, flew towards Yang Han-gil’s black magic.

To be continued…