Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest

Arrogance is a privilege reserved only for geniuses.

So I think anyone who doesn't use that privilege is a fool.

"Got it? All you need to do is stay behind me. Don't step forward. Understand?"

It was an ordinary weekday evening, in the parking lot of a typical apartment complex. The moment our supervisor left, I told the girl in front of me as plainly as possible, and she nodded, wide-eyed.

"Don't use magic, don't step forward, and don't die. Got it?"

"Yes! I won't get in your way, Senpai!"

She nodded as if she'd just learned a new phrase. When I'd asked her age in the car, she'd said she was a sixth grader. Yet, she's almost as tall as I am in middle school. It's annoying.

"Well, as long as you get it."

I sighed, checking my phone. My final exam to become an exorcist required that I exorcise a "Second Rank" demon with this younger girl.

She, too, had lost her parents to a demon. She's unusual—a girl aiming to be an exorcist, just like me, but unlike me, she lacks magical talent.

To take on exorcist "work," you must pass rigorous exams. With the high fatality rate, only those who are strong, talented, and able to protect others are allowed to work as exorcists.

So my final exam is to exorcise a demon while being burdened with someone who is more of a hindrance than a help.

But I think a handicap like this is only fair. After all, I'm a "Third Rank," a prodigy who could use

Kai-Jutsu

at age four and exorcised a demon at age six. The exam, usually held upon graduating middle school, was available to me at fourteen because I'm a genius.

We made our way from the parking lot to the room where the incident had occurred—Room 305. Just in case, I decided to ask her one more question.

"What's your name again?"

"It's Tsumugi."

"Right. Have you ever seen blood?"

"Blood?"

"Yes, someone else's blood. The kind that flows."

"Well, my mother's, I guess…"

"That'll do. Just don't cry, okay?"

"I won't! I'm aiming to be an exorcist too!"

"…Right."

I don't say it out loud, but it's impossible. Even a Second Rank exorcist can still exorcise demons by joining the police force or working as a school-appointed exorcist. Whether that's her ideal of an exorcist is another story.

Still, since she's set on becoming an exorcist, she might just be useful, so I decide to ask.

"What kind of magic can you use?"

"Um, my name is Tsumugi! I can use basic attribute change magic… just a little…"

"Can you use

Combined Attributes

or

Trait Transformation

?"

"I'm still working on those…"

"Then really don't use any magic. You'll just get in my way."

Attribute transformation is basic to exorcists. But if that's all you can do, you'll be too slow for a demon. You'll be killed. It's better if she doesn't use magic and accidentally give away our position to the demon.

I reiterated the warning and stopped on the third floor. The sunset cast long shadows across the outdoor hallway, illuminating the quiet emptiness.

Everyone on this floor had fled after the incident, it seemed. I can't blame them. A family of three was found murdered in this very building, each of them tortured, their flesh slowly stripped away and used as pizza toppings.

Apparently, the demon had disguised the pizza and sold it through an ordinary delivery service, so some people had eaten it without realizing. If something like that happened next door, I'd want to leave too.

I feel bad for the family, and even for those who unknowingly ate the pizza. But if I'm honest, I'm more interested in how annoying this test is for me.

At the door to Room 305, I inserted the key given by the building manager and turned it, feeling the heavy clunk of an old lock.

"Are you ready?" I asked Tsumugi, who was standing next to me.

"…Yes!"

"Here we go."

I pulled open the door, and it creaked ominously.

"Eek…"

"…Ugh."

The moment I opened the door, Tsumugi let out a frightened gasp.

In the entranceway was the upper half of a man's body. Probably in his forties. He'd likely tried to crawl away; his lower half was missing, but the trail of blood showed he'd almost made it. His torso was covered in holes where chunks of flesh had been gouged out.

I glanced at the body and stepped inside without taking off my shoes. But when Tsumugi didn't follow, I turned back and smacked her rear.

"What are you doing?"

"S-Senpai! This…this is…"

Tsumugi's tall frame shook, her face pale. Every exorcist faces a trial like this, yet seeing her reaction, I could almost admire those who managed with such dead weight.

But it was more trouble than it was worth, so I shrugged and moved on.

"If you don't want to come in, you can stay here."

"P-Please, don't leave me behind…"

"If you're coming, then be quiet."

"…Yes!"

After silencing Tsumugi, I continued down the hallway. Beyond the corridor was the bathroom, its door closed. I could see through the frosted glass that the interior was pitch black, likely a blood-splattered mess.

The black blood meant the demon had lost interest in the body there.

If the demon was still in the apartment, it wouldn't be in the bathroom. I prepared

Doushi Silveit

, readying myself for the encounter to come.

Passing through the hallway, I entered the living room. Every inch of the room was painted red with blood.

Yet, there was no sign of the demon. That left only one other location to check. As I was considering this, I heard a rhythmic tapping from the kitchen.

The sound was like a knife chopping on a cutting board.

For a moment, the sound reminded me of my dismal "2" in Home Economics last semester, stirring up some unpleasant memories.

But at least the noise meant the demon was easy to locate. Typical Second Rank, acting without forethought or caution.

I leaned toward Tsumugi, speaking in a low whisper.

"I'm going to exorcise it."

Before she could nod, I launched myself toward the kitchen, casting a small pebble spell at the source of the sound. The pebble, infused with my magic, flew at supersonic speed toward the demon. It was my specialty in attribute transformation.

My magic struck the object making the sound—a floating knife—knocking it out of the air.

"…Huh?"

The knife clattered to the ground, but there was no demon. No trace of any creature, no black mist left behind.

"Why…?"

Could it be hiding elsewhere in the apartment?

No, that wouldn't make sense. The hallway and living room had been clear. If it was anywhere, it should have been here in the kitchen.

Uncertain, I prepared

Doushi Silveit

as a precaution.

A chime rang out suddenly, startling me into firing a shot toward the sound.

The microwave, which had been still, shattered.

With the destruction, the previously inactive timer began to beep, urgently filling the silence.

I shot another stone at the timer, which silenced it, but in the process, I accidentally broke the refrigerator too.

Invisible but able to move objects… Could it be a transparent demon? Just as I reached that thought, Tsumugi's shrill voice interrupted me.

"Sen-Senpai! The hallway!"

"What? Stop interrupting me!"

"But the hallway! Outside, it's…!"

Holding back my irritation at her trembling shout, I glanced at the corridor.

"…What?"

What lay before us was an endless hallway. Doors, crudely drawn like a child's sketch, stretched on forever in either direction.

Thinking it might be an illusion, I used

Doushi Silveit

to create a lens, but the view remained unchanged. It wasn't a hallucination; it was a transformation of space itself.

A chill ran down my spine.

Only a Fourth or possibly even a Fifth Rank demon could warp reality like this.

Then, a voice filled the air.

"Welcome to my kitchen."

The voice resonated throughout the room, as if it were coming from within me.

My body trembled involuntarily.

"You are my honored guests. Let's make sure we entertain them properly."

Only demons of the Fifth Rank or higher could create more demons.

The moment I realized this, a sickening sensation seized my gut, and I fought to keep down what little I'd eaten that day. But the stench in the air overwhelmed me, and I ended up vomiting.

"No messes, please. Clean that up."

One of the doors in the endless hallway opened, and a creature with its head twisted like a rag emerged.

"Walk straight. Straight like pasta."

Swaying from side to side, the demon approached us.

"Stay back!"

I hurled another stone, striking the demon's head and causing blood to splatter like a burst tomato.

The impact caused multiple doors to creak open, and massive, grotesque faces rolled out, licking up the blood pooling on the floor with long tongues.

"Ugh…"

Seeing the grotesque display, Tsumugi gagged but held back.

This was no longer an exam.

We couldn't hope to survive against a Fifth Rank demon.

"Run, Tsumugi! We have to get out of here!"

"But where…?"

"The kitchen!"

There was a window in that room. We could escape through it. With

Body Reinforcement

magic, even jumping from the third floor wouldn't injure us. We had to flee before it was too late, before we were killed!

Just as I spun around, my heart sank.

"…No way."

The path behind us had transformed into the same endless corridor. There was no exit, only an infinite stretch of hallway.

"Senpai! Behind you! That head!"

Tsumugi screamed, pulling me from my shock. I turned to see that the disembodied heads, having licked up the blood, were now rolling down the corridor toward us.

"…Tsumugi, get in front! Run!"

"Y-yes!"

I couldn't rely on her magic. I had to do something myself.

After all, I'm a genius.

With the never-ending hallway looming, I summoned a wall of stone to block the heads. Layering

Attribute Transformation: Earth

with

Trait Transformation

to make it last, I felt the drain on my magic.

Moments later, the heads collided with the wall, making a loud thud that shook loose bits of debris from the ceiling.

I knew it would only hold for a short time.

Looking forward, I saw a door open, releasing a flood of demons from within.

"Tsumugi! This way!"

I grabbed Tsumugi by the collar, pulled her through a nearby door, and slammed it shut, sealing it with

Doushi Silveit

and using the last of my strength to reinforce it with stone.

Inside, I recognized the layout of a familiar kitchen.

For a moment, I thought we'd returned to reality, but there was no window in this room. It was a replica—a fake made by the demon.

At least there were no demons in here for now.

"…Are we going to survive this?" Tsumugi's voice was shaky.

"I don't know."

I wasn't going to lie to her. It was clear that we were no match for a Fifth Rank demon, even with all my skill and training.

Just then, a loud banging started against the stone-enforced door. Soon, it turned into a barrage of pounding, as if a crowd was trying to break through.

"Look around for a way out! Do you have a phone? Try contacting our supervisor."

"Yes! I do!" Tsumugi fumbled through her bag, pulling out a white iPhone. She quickly unlocked it, but the screen read,

No Signal

.

"It's out of range! Oh no, what should we do?"

"Stop panicking! If it's useless, we'll try something else. Is there any Wi-Fi here?!"

"Nothing! Look!"

Tsumugi held up her phone, showing me the screen, barren of any signal or connection.

"Is there a landline phone here?"

"What's that…?"

"How can you not know?!"

I pushed past her, searching the room. I thought maybe there'd be an old landline phone, but there was nothing.

Meanwhile, the pounding on the door grew louder, the cracks in the stone barrier widening with each impact. I could see the demon's heads smashing against it.

What do we do? How can we escape?

"No… I don't want to die… I don't want to die…"

In the midst of my racing thoughts, I heard Tsumugi's whimpering as she began to cry.

It was hopeless. I had to face this on my own.

There had to be a way to survive. I was born for this. I'm a prodigy, a Third Rank, someone who trained endlessly in magic. I wasn't meant to die here. I wasn't supposed to die at all.

Think, think, think!

The timer on the stove began to beep suddenly.

"…!"

The beeping became an incessant, shrill noise, tearing through my already strained nerves. My thoughts dissolved into chaos as all the sounds around me grew louder.

The banging on the door. Tsumugi's sniffles. The screeching timer.

It was too much. This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to exorcise a Second Rank demon, return to the facility, and be praised as a genius.

That was how this was meant to end.

"Why… why is this happening to me?"

I muttered weakly, my voice drowned out by the cacophony around me. Just then, the doorbell rang.

Ding-dong.

For a fleeting moment, everything fell silent. Even Tsumugi stopped crying, startled. Only the timer's shrill beeping remained, then it too was silenced as it abruptly shut off.

The quiet was short-lived. The chaos resumed, crashing down around us as the banging, crying, and alarms resumed in an unbearable torrent of sound.

"This isn't real…"

This was no place for me. This wasn't the life of an exorcist I had envisioned. I wasn't meant to die in my exam without achieving my dream. This wasn't what I wanted.

"No…!"

Reality was too much to bear, and as I tried to stifle a scream, tears began to pour down my face uncontrollably.

"Why…why does this have to happen to me? My parents were killed, I'm constantly belittled for being a girl, told I shouldn't become an exorcist! So why… why does this have to happen?!"

I slammed my fist onto the kitchen counter.

I had no magic left for reinforcement, and the pain shot through my hand, sharp and stinging.

"I hate this! I hate all of it! Why does everyone else get to live while I—?!"

I screamed, releasing every ounce of frustration, hoping somehow my situation might change.

But instead of silence, the doorbell rang again.

Ding-dong.

Then, a persistent, repeated ringing filled the air.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong…

Annoyed and furious, I yelled out in desperation, tears streaming down my face.

"Whoever it is, the door's open!"

"Oh? Really?"

Suddenly, the door swung open with a creak, and I heard a muffled, boyish voice.

Then, a deafening sound rattled the entire building, like a massive explosion had gone off. The stone barrier shattered, and the door to the hallway splintered apart, revealing the seemingly endless corridor once more.

Through the dust and debris, a young boy, no older than a first or second grader, walked calmly toward us.

…Was he human? Or… a demon?

I couldn't tell. But he walked past us without so much as a glance in our direction, striding purposefully down the hall.

Shakily, I wiped my tears and followed him, leaving Tsumugi behind.

The endless corridor had become a war zone, its walls twisted and fractured, with chunks of black mist—the remnants of a destroyed demon—spilling everywhere.

"Roughhousing isn't allowed in the store, you know."

"This is an apartment, not a store."

The boy's voice carried, as if he were speaking to the demon directly.

Conversing with a demon? I had never seen anyone do that.

As he reached out, his hand moved in a scooping motion, and a bound figure materialized before him: a headless human with a gaping mouth in its stomach—a monster.

In that instant, I knew. That creature was the demon that had trapped us here.

And this boy… he was an ally.

"There are supposed to be two exorcists here."

"The customer's privacy is our priority, you know."

"Then I'll find them myself."

With a single, swift motion, the boy clenched his hand, and the demon disintegrated into black mist.

"E-Excuse me…"

The boy's shoulder tensed as he turned to look at me, finally noticing my presence.

"Oh, you're okay! There was supposed to be another girl with you…"

"Y-Yes, she's… she's in that room."

"You'd better come out of there soon. This 'Closed World' will vanish any moment now."

"Closed… World?"

I didn't understand what he meant. But the boy didn't wait. He walked back into the room, easily lifting Tsumugi, who was much taller than him, and carrying her outside.

"This way."

He led us through a door, and I followed. Cold air brushed my face as we exited.

We were back under the open night sky, surrounded by the lights of Shinjuku's towering buildings. I turned to see the familiar door to the old apartment building behind us.

"We… made it out."

Still in the boy's arms, Tsumugi whispered, barely able to believe it.

My knees felt weak with relief. Everything—the nightmare, the hopeless situation—all of it was gone.

As I gazed at the young boy who had saved us, a question began to burn in my mind.

"How… how did you get here?"

"I was on a mission nearby. I was scanning for demons using concealment, and this place caught my attention."

"Concealment…?"

It would take a tremendous amount of magic to break through that.

"Then I contacted Akane-san. She said there were two girls taking an exam here."

He let out a sigh, one that seemed to carry away all his tension and relief.

A prodigy. The word wavered in my mind, its meaning faltering. My confidence, my self-image, was shaking.

I had heard stories, distant rumors about a child genius who had exorcised a Sixth Rank demon at the age of five. A prodigy, one of the rare "Seventh Rank" exorcists born once in a few centuries.

When I'd heard it, I had laughed it off as just a story. I didn't want to believe such an exorcist could exist.

But now he stood before me.

"Support will arrive soon to take care of things. If you're hurt, I can heal you."

Tsumugi looked up at him in amazement, eyes wide, and shook her head.

"No… I'm fine."

I understood her reaction. He knew

healing magic

. A boy younger than us, yet more capable.

"And you?"

"…I'm fine."

"Good."

With a soft sigh, he looked relieved. In that moment, he appeared his age—a regular kid. Yet, he had just destroyed a Fifth Rank demon with ease.

I knew his name.

"You're… Itsuki Kisaragi, right?"

"Yes… but how did you know?"

He set Tsumugi gently on the ground, his face twisting with discomfort.

"Of course I know. You're famous."

"…Famous…"

His face showed only mild displeasure. Why did he seem annoyed by that?

They would arrive soon to handle the aftermath, leaving us little time to talk. I had one last question.

"Thank you for saving us. I just want to ask… why are you so strong?"

The boy looked surprised, as if he hadn't thought about it before. Then, after a pause, he answered simply.

"Because… I don't want to die, I guess."

"…Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Arrogance is a privilege reserved for geniuses. That belief of mine hadn't changed.

But it's easier to accept a genius if they act accordingly. To see them as someone who looks down on others.

But if there exists a genius who is simply facing themselves… someone who just lives honestly…

How am I supposed to come to terms with that?

In that moment, I realized something—something that shattered my self-image.

There are true prodigies in this world.

I am not one of them.

The moonlight shone over the hallway, casting a cold glow, and I felt smaller than ever under its silver light.