WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈

Chapter 39: Would You Like to Come to My House?

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She was surrounded by pitch-black darkness.

Young Si-yeon clutched her little brother's hand with trembling fingers.

Her younger brother had been bedridden with a fever.

Something like a black shadow hovered over his body.

Was it a grim reaper, or some nameless evil spirit?

The shadow was pulling something pale from her brother's chest.

Young Si-yeon instinctively knew it was his soul.

‘No...’

Si-yeon desperately reached out. She tried to grab the pale thread stretched taut enough to snap.

But.

Swoosh.

Her small hand swept helplessly through empty air.

She couldn't catch it.

The thread slipped through her fingers and finally snapped.

"No...!"

.

.

.

"...Gasp!"

Her eyes flew open.

A desk.

She must have fallen asleep face-down on her lab desk.

Peeling the research papers stuck to her cheek, Si-yeon blankly looked up at the monitor.

Her back was soaked with cold sweat.

That dream again.

Maybe it was because of what had happened yesterday.

It had always been like this. Ever since childhood, Si-yeon's soul had slipped out of her body whenever it pleased.

Uncontrolled out-of-body experience.

Whether she was asleep or sitting there blankly awake.

At some point, she would find herself floating near the ceiling, looking down at her sleeping body.

It scared her.

Once, she had nearly failed to return forever.

To everyone else, Si-yeon looked exactly like a strange child.

The hospital had called it idiopathic narcolepsy.

They said it was caused by a deficiency of some hormone that regulated sleep.

‘That's not it.’

Si-yeon knew.

Even after leaving her body, her consciousness remained perfectly clear.

She could see things no one else could.

Giving it a diagnosis changed nothing.

Being different was enough of a reason for people to ostracize her.

That was how her peers came to call Si-yeon a possessed freak, leaving her all alone.

‘...This can't go on.’

So she made up her mind. She would find a way to control the soul that kept slipping out of her body.

She couldn't keep running from it just because it scared her.

It was a body she had to live with for the rest of her life.

If she could control this thing that might leave her body at any moment, perhaps she could live normally like everyone else.

At first, that was all she wanted.

That was how Si-yeon began digging into what was happening to her body.

Where did the soul leave from?

How could she bring it back?

After countless efforts, she eventually reached the point where she could consciously induce an out-of-body experience.

It was much later that she gave it the name Soul Separation Technique.

Then one day, strangers came looking for her after hearing rumors.

‘...Pardon?’

They told her there was a place where people like her gathered. If she went there, many of her problems would be solved.

That was how she came to Korea Sorcery University.

And it was true.

She wasn't the only person who could see ghosts.

Others said their ability, which had seemed like a misfortune, could make them money and set off down the path of sorcery. Si-yeon didn't.

She had a goal.

She wanted to complete this Spell Formula.

Everyone only scoffed, saying it was dangerous research with no use, but Si-yeon didn't care.

‘...It's not useless.’

Perhaps the nightmare that repeated every night refused to let her go.

Still, she believed.

That one day, it would surely be useful. That it would be worthwhile.

Then yesterday, that belief had become reality for the first time.

The student whose soul was being sucked away by a Soul Stealer.

Without even realizing it, Si-yeon pulled her own soul out of her body and embraced the student's soul as it was being drawn in.

She had only one thought.

She couldn't let it go.

And yesterday, she had managed to pull it back.

Though if she had been even a little later, she would have been devoured whole along with that student's soul.

The Cursed spirit escape that had thrown the school into chaos yesterday was swiftly resolved thanks to the young artisan's actions.

Every Cursed spirit that had escaped was sealed again, without a single one missing, and hardly anyone had been seriously hurt.

The school returned to normal with unbelievable speed.

So now, that was all anyone talked about.

"Hey, hey... I saw him running with Professor Gu yesterday. Seriously... He's basically a freaking idol."

"Professor Gu is gorgeous too, though."

"No, you haven't seen him in person. There's no comparison."

"Come on, he's too young. I'll take Professor Gu."

"Yep, gross old-man fetish~"

"Cut the crap. Heh heh."

The labmates had been chatting among themselves for a while when they suddenly turned toward Si-yeon.

"Hey. Song Si-yeon."

"...?"

"You saw that person up close yesterday, right? What was he like?"

"...I don't know. Everything was so hectic."

"Figures. What would you know?"

One of them snickered and turned away.

Things weren't much different here.

Even in the Occult World, bloodlines and families seemed to matter. They only stuck with their own kind.

"Is Do Emperor still at the school?"

"You didn't hear?"

"Someone just posted another sighting on Goblin Fire. They said they saw him near the library."

"No way, really?"

Bang.

The lab door opened, and the Necromancy professor entered.

Si-yeon's academic advisor.

"Professor, hello..."

Thud.

A bundle of documents landed on her desk.

"Sort out the conference materials with the others. I'll be away on business this afternoon."

"...Yes."

The professor glanced at Si-yeon's Soul Separation Technique materials.

"You're still hanging on to that? How long has it been since I told you to change your research topic?"

"..."

"Hah, forget it. Have it organized by next week. Good work."

The moment the professor left, the others slowly began getting up as well.

"Hey, Si-yeon, we're going to grab some food."

"Could you sort this out for us? You're so thorough, you know?"

Without waiting for an answer, they started gathering their things.

Their mouths still didn't stop moving.

"Hey, so where did you say Do Emperor is?"

"The library. The library. Come on, let's hurry over."

"Let me touch up my makeup first."

"Are you insane? What, are you going on a date?"

Silently, Si-yeon took a sip of cold coffee.

It was bitter. And she was so sleepy.

She hadn't slept a wink last night either.

Just then.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the lab door.

"...Come in."

The door opened, and a man walked in.

Black hair, sharp eyes, and an alluring beauty mark beneath one eye.

Flashy earrings and a cool expression.

"...!"

The labmates who had been about to leave froze in place.

It was Do Emperor himself, the person they had only heard rumors about.

"M-Master Do...?!"

One of them stammered in a trembling voice.

They all assumed he had come to see the professor and hurriedly moved out of the way.

"The professor just left on a business trip...!"

Do-hyeon shook his head.

"No. I'm not here to see the professor. I came to see Ms. Si-yeon."

"......"

The lab instantly fell silent enough to hear a mouse breathe.

The labmates who had been looking down on Si-yeon moments ago gaped, glancing back and forth between her and Do-hyeon.

"...M-Me?"

Si-yeon pointed to herself with a dazed expression.

* * *

At a small reception table in the corner of the lab.

As Do-hyeon sat across from her, Si-yeon fidgeted as she offered him a paper cup of instant coffee.

She glanced over.

Through the glass partition, she could clearly sense the labmates who had supposedly gone to eat lingering in the hallway, unable to leave as they peeked inside.

‘...’

Pretending not to notice, Si-yeon turned to Do-hyeon.

"...Um, is coffee okay?"

"Yes. Thank you. But you seem to have been very busy lately. Your complexion..."

"Pardon?"

Si-yeon flinched.

Do Emperor was quietly studying her face.

"You have severe dark circles. It looks like you haven't been sleeping much."

"Ah, that's..."

Si-yeon hurriedly covered the area under her eyes with the back of her hand.

It must have been obvious.

"Th-That's... I've had something to do at night..."

After saying that, Si-yeon quickly waved her hands.

"N-No! It's nothing."

"...?"

Do Emperor tilted his head slightly, but he didn't pry any further.

"Oh, right."

He asked something else instead.

"I thought you were a teaching assistant in Sealing Studies. I saw you in the auditorium yesterday."

"Ah... Professor Gu was short-handed, so he asked me to help out for a little while."

In truth, a labmate had quietly dumped the work on her, but she didn't feel the need to mention that.

"So you wanted to ask about the Spell Formula I used yesterday?"

Si-yeon asked as she took a thick stack of research materials from her bag.

"Yes, that's right."

"That... is called the Soul Separation Technique."

Si-yeon carefully began.

"You've heard of an out-of-body experience, right? It's... well, something that temporarily separates the soul from the body."

Without a word, Do Emperor accepted the materials and began turning the pages.

Si-yeon kept stealing glances at Do-hyeon as he read through her notes.

‘...He really is handsome.’

Even more so from this close.

Maybe younger men were my type.

‘No, what am I thinking right now?’

Si-yeon hurriedly shook her head.

"Haha... As you can see, it isn't a completed Spell Formula. It probably won't be much help to you."

"......"

"It consumes far too much Spiritual Power. And if you lose focus even a little, the soul could just scatter... Everyone says it's too dangerous."

Useless.

Dangerous, with no practical value.

How many times had she heard those words?

"......"

Do-hyeon didn't answer.

He only continued reading through the materials page by page with a serious expression.

Feeling awkward for no reason, Si-yeon only fiddled with her cold coffee.

Then Do Emperor looked up.

And met Si-yeon's eyes directly.

"Could you show me?"

"...Pardon?"

"That technique. I'd like to see it for myself."

"...You want me to show you? This?"

"Yes."

Not one person had ever asked Si-yeon to show them that Spell Formula.

Everyone had only called it useless.

"I think it's a Spell Formula I need right now."

Something deep in her chest felt strangely ticklish.

The words, I'd like to see it for myself, and I need it, made it feel as if he were telling her that this Spell Formula had value too.

"B-But... it would be difficult here."

"Difficult?"

"Well... returning is much harder than leaving."

She had to maintain her concentration to the very end.

Until the moment her soul returned to her body.

"So I always practice somewhere familiar. In my room. At night."

The same place, the same environment, every day.

That way, her soul wouldn't lose its way and could return to her body.

"...Ah."

After saying it, she felt strangely embarrassed.

Didn't that basically sound like she had invited him to her room?

A man she had just met.

"S-So, I don't mean it like that..."

Si-yeon hurriedly began rambling out excuses.

"Then let's go there."

As if it were no big deal, Do-hyeon coolly stood up.

"...Pardon?"

"To a place where you can show me."

Footnotes:

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