GDDHM 6

6
Shinnam High School’s annex building, topmost floor: the VIP Lounge. Objets d’art worth hundreds of millions of won were scattered throughout as if they’d always belonged exactly where they lay.
Employees stood ready at all hours, providing beverages, pastries, and meals along with laundry service and phone charging—amenities extended to all. This was a place ordinary students could not enter. Which meant the man sprawled across the lounge sofa with his legs crossed possessed credentials of considerable distinction.
Above his designer-laden uniform, a golden badge gleamed. He was Jang Ki-han, second son of the Magical Noble Family Cheolhyeol Jang.
Whoosh—
A flame sphere hovering in empty air danced at a single gesture from his hand. His control had reached an extreme.
It was something others might envy, yet for him it was unremarkable.
Since childhood, Jang Ki-han had consumed countless spirit medicines and studied under renowned mages summoned to instruct him. The result: at seventeen, he possessed a third Circle in his heart. When his peers averaged 1.5 Circles, this represented an astronomical gap.
For Jang Ki-han—a man blessed with wealth, prestige, and power alike—life resembled a tedious journey undertaken without a smartphone to pass the time.
Everything came easily, yet nothing stimulated him. For this reason, he welcomed any disruption to his placid existence.
Such as, for instance, the news now reaching him through his phone.
“Kim Byeong-hak got beaten? By that tin can of a punk?”
As he listened to the report through the receiver, his lips twisted into a smirk.
—Yes, young master. They say he was utterly demolished at the Incinerator. Couldn’t cast magic, got completely outmatched.
“Huh.”
Sparks erupted between Jang Ki-han’s fingers.
Kim Byeong-hak was his toy, his hunting dog for handling unsavory tasks.
Among his peers, the boy had decent grit and respectable ability—a worthwhile choice.
And such a dog had fallen to a mere No-Ma?
“This is interesting. Fine, hang up.”
After ending the call, Jang Ki-han suddenly burst into laughter.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha. Strange feeling. I feel good, but it’s filthy.”
Laughing so hard tears began to streak his face, he withdrew a handkerchief from his inner pocket.
Pat-pat.
Then, with an elegant motion, he wiped the tears away.
“I wonder who it is.”
Eyes glittering with curiosity, he gazed down through the window.
In the distance, he saw a boy and girl crossing the athletic field.
Cheon Do-hyeon, and trailing behind him, class president Kim Seung-yeon.
To observe them more closely, Jang Ki-han rose and pressed himself against the glass.
“Curious. Who are they? Well. They’re the ones who broke my toy. I should inspect them directly.”
He thrilled at discovering a being who could stimulate him. His breath came in ragged bursts, fogging the windowpane. Behind that haze, Jang Ki-han’s eyes glinted with a terrifying light.
###
Meanwhile, in the 1st Year Class 2 Classroom.
The atmosphere was deathly still.
‘Kim Byeong-hak’s gang got beaten?’
‘Three mages attacked and couldn’t beat a single No-Ma?’
The students stole glances at Cheon Do-hyeon. Unlike Kim Byeong-hak’s gang, who had been carried off to the infirmary, Cheon Do-hyeon bore not a single scratch.
This was a seismic event.
Kim Byeong-hak, the real power in 1st Year Class 2, had been defeated by Cheon Do-hyeon, whom everyone had deemed weakest.
As of today, the food chain of 1st Year Class 2 had inverted.
Everyone was desperate to know the details, yet no one dared approach him.
No one, that is, except for one.
“Hey, Do-hyeon. Talk for a second.”
Class president Kim Seung-yeon pulled her chair next to his desk.
“Don’t talk to me. I’m exhausted.”
Cheon Do-hyeon slumped onto his desk.
It wasn’t a lie. He truly was worn out.
‘I’m so hungry my stomach feels like it’s tearing apart.’
It was as if a black hole had opened within his Dantian.
The hunger awakened by the Suseong Daebeop.
On top of that, the mana he’d consumed remained undigested, tormenting him.
“What was that earlier?”
Despite his cold dismissal, Kim Seung-yeon pressed on with her question.
“It wasn’t magic. There was no chant, no Circle. But Kim Byeong-hak’s flame sphere just vanished. What exactly did you do?”
At her words, the ears of every student in the classroom pricked up.
Feeling all eyes turn toward him, Cheon Do-hyeon’s irritation flared.
‘Does she have no sense of tact, or is she just shameless?’
Cheon Do-hyeon lifted his head and fixed her with a glare.
His bloodshot eyes gleamed with an unsettling light.
“Class president. Don’t go doing things you don’t normally do. Just live like you always have. It’s not like you to take an interest in other students’ business.”
“I can’t help being curious. I can’t sleep if something doesn’t make sense to me.”
Kim Seung-yeon shrugged without the slightest shame.
Cheon Do-hyeon clicked his tongue. She was relentless. She didn’t look like she’d drop this easily.
If he didn’t tell her, she’d probably keep pestering him from the sidelines.
But right now, Cheon Do-hyeon’s body was in no state to endure Kim Seung-yeon’s harassment.
“If you’re curious, figure it out yourself. Stop bothering me.”
Cheon Do-hyeon grabbed his bag and stood up from his seat.
“Wait, what? Skipping out early?”
“I’m sick. So I’m leaving.”
“Liar.”
“I’m serious. You’re making it worse.”
Staying at school any longer would only exhaust him. He needed to get home and resolve this “overeating” state as soon as possible.
###
That night, in the Old Dojo.
Cheon Do-hyeon sat in a cross-legged position, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Hummmmm—
His Dantian rotated like a grinding stone, pulverizing the clumps of Mana crammed inside his belly.
[Taeheo Honyuon Simgong – Digestion]
The foreign matter was crushed, becoming pure black Internal Power that flowed through his veins.
The severe stomach pain subsided, and a heavy strength filled his entire body.
“Whew…”
After a deep exhalation, Cheon Do-hyeon slowly opened his eyes.
The energies raging inside his body had settled stably into his Dantian.
‘So this is the power of Taeheo Honyuon Simgong…’
If Suseong Daebeop was a brute force that indiscriminately devoured, then Taeheo Honyuon Simgong was a digestive agent that forcibly made it his own.
Cheon Do-hyeon reached out his hand and stirred up the energy.
‘I think I understand now why you have to learn Taeheo Honyuon Simgong before mastering Cheonma Singong.’
Over his palm, black energy shimmered like heat haze.
[Achievement: Suseong Daebeop 3-Stars]
The Divine Book’s voice whispered in his mind.
Cheon Do-hyeon smiled with satisfaction.
He’d properly absorbed only one 1st Circle mage. And yet his achievement had risen.
‘What if I’d absorbed both of them?’
Regret lingered, but there was another achievement to make him forget it.
Cheon Do-hyeon flicked his finger.
Crack—
The black energy expelled from his fingertip tangled like a chain in the empty air, binding the sandbag in front of him.
Magic? No. There was no formula, no structure.
It was merely the residue of magic he’d consumed bundled together and expelled.
“This actually works.”
Reflection.
A technique that returned the power drawn in by Suseong Daebeop directly to the opponent, rather than converting it into Internal Power.
Though it was single-use, if magic came flying at an enemy convinced they couldn’t use it—
It would be more than enough as a trump card.
“Why did Grandfather hide such power…”
Power that erased magic, stole it, and even returned it.
This was a calamity for mages.
With power like this, there’d be no need to hide and live in the Slums as he did now.
Powerful strength found use anywhere it went.
If strength alone were recognized, he could rake in money whether he worked as a cop, a mercenary, or even just volunteered for Contaminated Zone purification work.
Questions piled upon questions, but there was no one in this world to answer them.
Cheon Do-hyeon shook his head, brushing away the idle thoughts.
‘Focus only on what I can do now.’
There was only one thing he could do: turn the page of the Divine Book and grow stronger.
Trusting that this mysterious Divine Book would one day give him answers, he closed his eyes again.
###
The next morning, in the classroom.
The moment Cheon Do-hyeon opened the door, a familiar voice called out.
“Cheon Do-hyeon!”
Cheon Do-hyeon’s face crumpled.
An expression of pure exasperation.
“That look won’t get you anywhere,” she said.
It was Kim Seung-yeon again.
She’d dragged a chair over to Do-hyeon’s desk and planted herself firmly beside him.
He exhaled slowly and spoke.
“I’ll grant you this much—persistence, at least.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. But you really need to be more careful.”
Kim Seung-yeon’s expression turned serious. She glanced around before lowering her voice.
She leaned in close to Do-hyeon, making sure no one else could hear.
“Do you know who’s backing Kim Byeong-hak?”
“I don’t care.”
“Hwanggeum-yun. Ever heard of it?”
Do-hyeon’s hand stilled.
Hwanggeum-yun—a massive criminal organization operating drug trafficking and loan-sharking in the underworld.
Kim Byeong-hak wasn’t just some street thug, then. He had ties to them.
“That’s not even the worst part. There’s talk that Hwanggeum-yun was actually founded on a whim by one of the young masters of a Magical Noble Family. So what you’ve done isn’t just stepping on a criminal organization—you might’ve stepped on something far more dangerous.”
“And?”
“And what? You’re in serious trouble! Do you have any idea what kind of people they are?”
Kim Seung-yeon looked utterly exasperated.
But Do-hyeon’s reaction remained calm.
“So I should’ve just let Kim Byeong-hak’s spell hit me and died in an explosion?”
“No, that’s not what I mean—”
Do-hyeon let out a small laugh as he watched her reaction.
“It’s done. Water under the bridge. Actually, I’m fine with it. This means dangerous mages might come flooding my way by the truckload from now on, right?”
Do-hyeon’s eyes gleamed. He’d consumed one measly Circle 1 mage and his Suseong Daebeop achievement had risen by a full star.
Stronger, richer prey coming to him of their own accord—that was something to look forward to.
“Are you insane? These people commit murder!”
“Class president. You’re supposed to be the information broker, right?”
Do-hyeon cut her off and stared at her directly.
“That mentally unhinged person who founded Hwanggeum-yun for fun—can you find out who they are?”
“Ugh, seriously? Am I your secretary? How am I supposed to—”
“If you do find out.”
Do-hyeon leaned forward and whispered to her.
“What I did at the Incinerator that day—I could show you a little of it.”
…!
Kim Seung-yeon’s eyes widened.
Was this guy seriously trying to make a deal with her?
But she couldn’t refuse—her curiosity was too intense. Besides, for a mage, curiosity directly translated into magical achievement.
For Kim Seung-yeon, stuck at the threshold of Circle 3, this was a critical crossroads.
Seung-yeon swallowed hard and asked.
“For real? If you’re lying, I’m hitting you with a penalty barrage using my class president authority.”
“I’m not lying.”
Do-hyeon smiled faintly and leaned back in his chair.
His gaze drifted toward the window.
A storm was gathering. But somehow, he wasn’t afraid.
If anything, he was desperately looking forward to what was coming.
Though, come to think of it—could a class president even actually levy penalties?