The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 43

Han Siha frowned and looked up. Although he still couldn’t see anything, the oppressive weight pressing down on his shoulders told him everything he needed to know.

“Hoo….”

It was the boss.

The creepy atmosphere was on a different level compared to the ghostly figures they had faced so far, which now seemed like mere toys in comparison.

It was as if the air itself could freeze at any moment.

Won swallowed nervously, his face pale. Adela, who had been setting traps earlier, froze at the sight of the boss’s massive size.

“Oh….”

“This isn’t going to work—not even close.”

“We’re screwed.”

Adela resumed her efforts, and Natalie, who couldn’t see what was happening, trembled as she gripped her staff.

“It’s okay, Natalie. We can still take them all down, right?”

There was a reason why her staff was famously called the “Staff of Moses”.

She was a water mage, known for her merciless attacks that could drown all her enemies, leaving none behind.

That was how Natalie had made her name.

“….”

Natalie glanced at Han Siha, fear in her eyes.

For some reason, despite everything, she felt reassured.

‘Yeah, I got it. I’ll set you free.’

‘It’s over. See? It was quick, wasn’t it?’

Han Siha had smiled when he saved her from being kidnapped by necromancers and students.

She remembered realizing then that even though he must have been terrified standing before someone as powerful as Seymour, he smiled to comfort her.

And now, Han Siha was smiling again.

He had borrowed Won’s blindfold for a moment, and his mouth was wide open in awe as he looked directly at the boss.

“Wow, it’s huge.”

But then….

Why is he smiling?

Natalie sensed something was off, but the thought quickly faded when Han Siha smiled and nodded at her.

“I’m ready. You’re confident too, right, Natalie?”

“I can do it!”

Natalie clenched her fists and shouted with determination.

And that’s when it happened.

Ziiing—.

A sharp frequency cut through the air.

The sound was grating, like nails on a chalkboard, forcing everyone to cover their ears.

This was the signature move of the Ghostly Forest boss—a mental attack that read the memories of its victims and mercilessly invaded Han Siha’s team.

“Aaah!”

Natalie was the first to be affected. She staggered momentarily before beginning to chant a spell.

She was holding up better than expected.

Casting a protective barrier in her condition was no easy feat.

“Ugh, this is too much.”

The boss’s attack was widespread, and Won, with his weaker mental fortitude, was the next to be affected. Sensing his mind growing foggy, Won gritted his teeth.

Their formation, which had momentarily faltered, snapped back into place.

They had to hold out. They had to withstand it somehow.

The only one entirely unaffected by the mental attack was Basilus, who charged forward.

Fwoosh—.

Basilus unleashed a Fire Spike. Pillars of flame erupted on either side with a thunderous roar.

The boss ghost, startled by the intense heat, flinched and hesitated.

Han Siha smirked, spinning a basketball-sized orb of magic in the air.

At the same time, he pulled two potions from his bag with his other hand.

“Basilus, catch!”

Crash.

The sound of breaking glass echoed as Basilus caught the potions with his body and dashed even faster.

At that moment, Han Siha’s magic orb shot through the air.

“Graaaagh!”

The ghost’s scream reverberated through the forest, shaking the trees. The magic orb had struck its neck with precision.

But the boss wasn’t going down that easily.

With a furious glare, the boss ghost charged at Han Siha.

Kicking his horse into motion, Han Siha quickly turned and headed in the opposite direction.

“Just a little more… just a little more….”

Adela and Natalie were still working on their trap.

To buy them time, Han Siha knew he had to be the bait.

“Basilus!”

Whoosh.

As the shadow of the boss ghost loomed over Han Siha, Basilus lunged forward, intercepting it just in time.

A perfect feint.

Han Siha dropped his bow and retreated.

Crack.

Basilus’ spike struck the boss ghost like a lightning bolt, once again hitting its neck. This time, the pain was even more intense.

The ghost thrashed and screamed in agony.

“Kraaaagh.”

The cold emanating from it was palpable.

It seemed to be preparing another mental attack, as a dark aura shimmered in the air.

But it wouldn’t work.

Mental attacks hadn’t worked on Han Siha even against the Demon Tree, and they wouldn’t start working now.

“Han Siha, over here!”

“Should I fire one more shot?”

“One more! Draw it in closer so it gets trapped!”

“No problem.”

Han Siha grinned, confidently guiding his horse around the trap that Adela and Natalie had set.

The boss ghost, in hot pursuit, fell right into the trap without hesitation.

Adela shouted loudly.

“Natalie, now!”

“It’s ready!”

Their plan was flawless—trap the boss and attack.

Despite its challenging mental attacks, the boss ghost had relatively low physical endurance. A few well-placed hits would finish it off.

The team, having run through countless simulations, worked together to corner the ghost.

It all happened in an instant.

Rumble.

The ground shook as a wide-area magic circle began to glow.

Adela started lifting stones buried in the ground as easily as if she were picking up marbles, stacking them into a wall around the ghost.

Panicking, the boss ghost frantically searched for an escape.

But Natalie was faster, flooding the trap with water.

Han Siha, watching from a step back, signaled Basilus.

The trap itself wasn’t sturdy enough to hold the ghost for long—it could easily break free with a little effort.

But it was enough to buy them time.

The boss ghost, confident it could break free, suddenly hesitated at the cold chill in the air.

And then—

“…!”

A bolt of lightning from Basilus struck the water-drenched ghost.

“Graaaagh!”

Zap.

The attack was so powerful that it could have taken out any ordinary enemy in one shot.

The ghost writhed in agony, its body convulsing violently. Watching this, Won shouted to Natalie.

“Just a little more!”

“I’m almost there!”

Water surged back into the trap, filling it rapidly.

The boss ghost, already half-crazed, darted its icy gaze around in a frantic attempt to attack anything it could find.

Then, its eyes locked onto Han Siha.

It was trying to immobilize Han Siha, the one controlling Basilus, to break their rhythm.

Han Siha, who had been running alongside Basilus, suddenly froze in place.

“Oh….”

Zing—

A short, piercing sound rang out, and Han Siha’s consciousness was forcefully yanked away.

The attack had targeted him directly.

* * *

“Damn it.”

Han Siha found himself in a dark, empty void—a place devoid of anything, even sensation. The unsettling, alien feeling left him disoriented.

“What… is this?”

This was the boss ghost’s most advanced mental attack, the Void Chamber.

It would drag its victim into this place, perhaps to replay some boring, old memory based on that person’s past.

A cowardly attack, but one of the most effective.

Everyone has a weakness, after all.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

But that tactic would only work if Han Siha were still his original self.

Just like with the Demon Tree, the attack couldn’t touch his “real” memories.

The suffocating pressure bore down on his chest, making it hard to breathe, yet Han Siha chuckled and spoke with calm defiance.

“Go ahead, show me.”

No matter how painful the memories, they weren’t truly his. He was confident he could endure whatever it showed him.

But the second attack wasn’t something he could brush off so easily.

Memories he had tried to suppress began to surface.

Not Han Siha’s memories, but those of his “true” self.

Han Siha gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath.

“…Even after all this time.”

Some things never change.

“This is absolute hell.”

* * *

“You killed him, you bastard.”

“I’m sorry.”

“If you didn’t think you could handle it, you should have quit sooner. Why did you act like you could do it?”

He looked down at his trembling hands, struggling to catch his breath. A cold, unforgiving glare was fixed on him.

The person berating Han Siha was his senior in graduate school and his supervisor at the university hospital.

Someone who didn’t just dislike him but outright hated him.

From the beginning, Han Siha had always been the black sheep.

‘Isn’t that the guy who stabbed his senior?’

‘Yeah, that’s him. Hey, don’t mess with him. He’s the crazy dog of the intern world.’

‘Kids these days… no fear at all.’

People who shouldn’t have been doctors were abusing their power, engaging in what could only be described as malpractice, until an innocent life was lost.

Han Siha had reported them without hesitation, even though the person he reported was two years his senior. He didn’t care.

He never once regretted being labeled a whistleblower.

He thought he had done the right thing.

But the medical community was small.

By the time he was transferred to a hospital in Seoul, everyone already knew.

Han Siha, who never quite fit into their world, was unexpectedly talented.

And that only made things worse.

No matter what he did, it drew criticism.

The relentless criticism gradually ate away at his mental health.

Even Han Siha, who had always dealt with people with a smile, began to withdraw.

Eventually, he couldn’t even enter the operating room.

The result was a tremor in his hands.

It was absurd.

A veterinarian who needed steady hands to perform surgery, now dealing with a tremor.

Worse still, it was a psychological condition that only manifested when he was about to enter surgery, making it a chronic issue no hospital could resolve.

A sharp voice rang in his ears.

“What made you think you could apply for this clinical trial? You idiot.”

“….”

“He wasn’t this incompetent during undergrad, was he?”

“He was the top of his class, the department’s best.”

A chuckle echoed.

“Must have just sat there doing nothing but studying.”

“Just quit already. If I were you, I’d be too ashamed to hold a scalpel with those hands.”

“Yes, I won’t hold it anymore.”

“What?”

“I’m leaving now.”

Because it was dirty and humiliating?

No.

It was because, as those people said, he felt guilt and shame toward the animals that would end up on his operating table.

He didn’t owe those people any apologies, but he did feel sorry for the lives that would be under his trembling hands.

Unable to control his emotions.

With a fragile mind that left him shaking.

It was better to quit.

So, he walked out of the hospital.

Listening to the ridicule trailing behind him.

An astonishingly incompetent, weak, and untalented Han Siha.

Not the Han Siha of SLC Academy, but the original Han Siha he had tried to forget.

“….”

At that moment, Han Siha, who had been lying in defeat, lifted his head at the faint beam of light that pierced the darkness.

A faint red glow.

A glowing object, shining like a lamp, caught his eye, and the light returned to his gaze.

“The hidden item….”

Damn. There was no time to waste like this.

* * *

“Han Siha!”

“Hey, snap out of it!”

Graaaagh.

The boss ghost, having finished its mental assault, charged at Han Siha with murderous intent.

It may have expected him to remain unconscious, but Han Siha’s eyes were now blazing with an intensity unlike anything before.

Unlike before, the dim light now glowed brightly.

Recognizing it as the hidden item and the ghost’s heart, Han Siha focused all his attention on that faint light.

Magic Arrow.

The arrowhead ignited with flames.

Han Siha drew his bow and muttered under his breath.

The vivid, old memories still lingered in his mind.

“Amazingly incompetent.”

Thwack—

“Weak.”

Thwack—

“Untalented….”

The final magic arrow pierced straight through the boss ghost’s heart.

Three arrows in total.

Han Siha, who had fired them all with perfect precision, took a step back.

The attack had been precise and sharp.

Graaaagh.

With a pained scream, the boss ghost staggered. Its collapse happened in an instant.

The creature that had stubbornly resisted finally fell.

Only its heart remained.

“Argh!”

Han Siha dismounted and seized the glowing heart with his hand. Hot magic surged within his grasp.

This was proof that he had cleared the dungeon.

And so, the old memories playing in his mind were all wrong.

An astonishingly incompetent, weak, and untalented Han Siha?

“They were all wrong.”

Han Siha chuckled and lowered his hand.

“I’ve always been perfect.”

Now he understood.

He had always been right.