TRPM 303

chapter 303

The Next Day.

I headed to the academy to transfer the soul sealed in the book into the doll.

I lost some time this morning because I forgot it was vacation and started searching for my uniform right after waking up….

Habit is truly terrifying.

Still, thanks to waking up early, I wasn’t going to be late for the appointment.

If it looked like I really might be late, I wouldn’t be riding the subway like this—I would’ve just run all the way to the academy on my own legs.

“Anyway….”

I quietly looked at the book in question.

Even now, I still didn’t know why this soul had been sealed in the book.

I’d only find out after reviving the soul and asking them directly.

And then…

I wonder, in this round too, will this person try to expose Shin Han-ji’s real name?

That would make things interesting.

Well, maybe not for Shin Han-ji.

[Next stop, Seoul Awakened Academy… Seoul Awakened Academy Station. Doors will open on your…]

As I stared at the book, lost in thought, the subway had already arrived.

I stood up and walked to the door, waiting for it to open.

Not many people today, must be because it’s vacation.

Normally, tons of people going to and from the academy would get off here, but this time only a handful did.

Which was natural.

Unlike universities, which still hold seasonal lectures during vacation, the academy truly ran no classes during breaks.

Instructors at the academy were at least veteran awakeners, so their wages weren’t cheap. Keeping them tied to the academy during vacation would be difficult.

And the Seoul Awakened Academy wasn’t like others—it had more foreign instructors and cadets than Korean ones.

Most who lived in the dorms would’ve returned to their home countries by now, leaving very few behind.

Though the academy doesn’t completely shut down, of course.

Exiting the station, I looked at the academy gates right in front of me.

Dorms, cafeterias, and training halls still operated for those who couldn’t go home, and even facilities not in use would still be cleaned and maintained.

But the place I was heading today was one of the facilities that normally didn’t run during vacation.

The ritual practice room, wasn’t it?

That hadn’t existed in the pre-regression academy, but thinking about its location, I could guess the reason.

It was built on the expanded grounds that appeared in this timeline.

Most likely created when they recruited the shrine maiden as a ritual instructor this round.

“Oh….”

The ritual practice room was in a fairly remote part of the vast campus.

That made sense—rituals were easily influenced by the environment, and at the same time, they could harm the surroundings.

For safety, it was best built far away.

“Student Geon-woo, you’re here? Welcome.”
“… Finally.”

Inside the building lobby, Shin Han-ji and the shrine maiden were waiting with drinks.

But the shrine maiden’s complexion looked terrible.

… Guess being alone with Shin Han-ji was quite the ordeal.

There was no way her health had declined overnight.

After all, the shrine maiden was just a famous Japanese ritualist and an instructor, while Shin Han-ji was a world-renowned archmage and academy director. The difference in stature was overwhelming.

No wonder she felt so pressured.

“Fufu… Geon-woo, I heard you’re planning to perform a ritual to revive the person sealed in that book?”

So Shin Han-ji asked while glancing at me, clearly already aware of the details.

I hadn’t told her, which meant the shrine maiden must’ve explained everything… or Shin Han-ji simply deduced it from her reactions.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

I’d be performing the ritual right in front of her anyway.

Still… I’d like to surprise her. Maybe I should keep the book hidden until the last moment.

Since she personally knew the one in this autobiography, she might figure it out immediately just by looking at the cover.

“Yes. So, where should we perform the ritual?”

“Straight to the point? Sounds like you’re hiding something.”

“That’s true, but I thought it’d be better to show you directly than explain.”

“Oh? Then you must be planning something that’ll shock me, aren’t you?”

…Good grief.

Every time I answered, she threw another question back.

Clearly she was curious about the secret I was hiding.

But there’s no way she’s guessed who it is I’m trying to revive.

Even the shrine maiden had only managed to hide that much.

“To think a soul was sealed into a book… what a pitiful person.”

With that, Shin Han-ji led us to the ritual practice room.

Odd—it should’ve been the ritual instructor guiding us, not her.

I glanced at the shrine maiden.

(Ugh… it felt like my mind was unraveling…)

…She was in no state to guide anyone.

Could she even perform the ritual with me like this?

“This is the ritual practice room.”

The entrance was…

A vault…?

It looked like a massive bank vault door.

“Not just the practice room—storage rooms for ritual items are built with vault doors too. It’s dangerous to intrude during a ritual or meddle with ritual tools carelessly.”

…Did they really need to bring in actual vault doors, though?

Well, considering Seoul Awakened Academy gathered people from around the world, maybe such security was justified.

“Let’s go in.”

Shin Han-ji opened the door, and the inside came into view.

“Oh….”

A pitch-dark room with no light.

Clearly, even outside light had been blocked to maximize ritual stability.

For novices, such an environment was absolutely necessary.

Click.

Shin Han-ji flipped a switch, lighting up the room.

And inside… it was spotless.

Not just tidy, but utterly clean. Not a speck of dust on the floors, walls, or ceiling.

Even a hospital’s sterile room wouldn’t be this clean.

It must’ve been specially enchanted to remove all possible variables.

“Well then, shall we watch Instructor Ayano and Student Geon-woo’s ritual skills in action?”

She retreated to the corner to avoid interfering.

The shrine maiden finally closed the door and turned to me.

“I’ll handle the western part of the circle. Can I leave the eastern side to you, Geon-woo?”

I nodded, and we began drawing the circle we had designed yesterday, placing tools from my subspace where needed.

“Oh….”

Shin Han-ji’s eyes sparkled as she watched.

She didn’t know much about ritual arts, but since this was built upon a magic circle, she could at least see the structure.

“Mmm… hmm…”

And she clearly wanted to comment.

After all, she was far more knowledgeable in magic than either of us.

It’s instinctive—veterans can’t help but advise newbies.

But without real knowledge of ritual arts, she hesitated.

I noticed and spoke first.

“Say what you want. We’ll filter out anything irrelevant to rituals.”

“Oh my, really? Then…”

Almost eagerly, she began pointing out flaws.

The shrine maiden only understood about half, but since I’d studied both magic and rituals, I followed most of it.

“For starters, the first part you mentioned can’t be changed. It’s fundamental to handling souls. But the second point—you’re right, we should fix that.”

“What… Why does that second part need fixing?”

“To put it simply—rather than fully inscribing all six paths, we can simplify the symbols to…”

I translated into terms the shrine maiden could follow.

She nodded.

“Ah, simplifying… I see. But then, we’d also need to adjust other sections to maintain balance.”

She pointed out the new problem.

I was about to suggest a solution when—

“Balance? Could you explain so even I can understand?”

“Well… if we only fix this part, mana distribution would become uneven, forcing manual adjustments during the ritual.”

“Ah, I see. Then how about also changing this section and this one?”

Her suggestion was even better than what I had planned.

And so the three of us kept modifying the already-overhauled circle even further.

“Oh, it’s already 1 PM.”

“My, you’re right.”

“…Time sure flies….”

It was lunchtime before we knew it.

Strange… We had expected the ritual to take only about 30 minutes, yet we’d been revising the circle for over three hours.

“But this result looks quite satisfying, don’t you think?”

“Yes. And the ritual itself won’t take long. Let’s eat afterward.”

“Agreed.”

Satisfied at last, we prepared to begin.

I placed the doll that would house the soul at the center of the circle.

“Oh my… that doll is…”

“A doll…? Wait… Wasn’t that the ‘Artist’s’ clone? It was a doll all along?”

Shin Han-ji recognized it instantly, having seen it before. The shrine maiden looked a bit surprised.

Then, I placed the book on top of the doll.

“…That book…?”

At last, Shin Han-ji’s eyes widened.

She realized who we were about to revive.

“W-wait—!”

She tried to stop me, but it was already too late.

The ritual had begun.

“Ugh… no… this can’t be…”
“Director?”

The shrine maiden tilted her head at her strange reaction—

But then fell silent.

Because Shin Han-ji’s face showed a whirlwind of emotions.

Expectation, joy, longing.

She clearly recognized the soul inside.

And also—

Anxiety, despair.

“Ugh….”

As we watched her expression, the ritual ended.

The soul left the book and entered the doll.

“Huh…? Huh…?”

The doll slowly began to move.

Awkwardly, unsteadily—it hadn’t adapted yet.

But it could move its head, eyes, and mouth.

“…Where… is this?”

It looked around, wary of the unfamiliar surroundings.

Then its gaze fell on Shin Han-ji.

And in disbelief, the doll spoke.

“…Mal-ddong?”

“KYAAAAAAAAAHHH…!”

Shin Han-ji screamed.