Chapter 11
Morning classes.
I wonder what’s wrong with that guy? Jae-Hyeok didn’t know why, but every time he opened his mouth, Kim Jin-Myeong’s expression turned sour.
……
Afternoon terrain training.
Jae-Hyeok’s bright smile seemed to inflict mental damage; at the sight of it, the other students—who were covered in filth and exhausted—collapsed.
It was a scene where a stranger would likely wonder if Kang Jae-Hyeok was bullying the whole class alone.
From the perspective of everyone besides Jae-Hyeok, that was indeed the case.
“It’s been a good day. Let’s go wash and eat,” Jae-Hyeok said as he stepped out of the swamp.
“T-that son of a… ”
“That bastard stepped on my back thirteen times.”
“By the time I’ve washed all the mud out of my ears, I’ll have missed dinner again. At this rate, I’m really going to die…. ”
The First Year Class B students were dying.
Terrain adaptation training was known for its extreme difficulty. Unfortunately for the students, the difficulty level had risen even further thanks to Kang Jae-Hyeok, who was a walking hazard. The moment they let their guard down, he trampled on their heads, shoulders, and backs, causing them to lose their balance and fall into the swamp.
“Kang Jae-Hyeok’s stats seem to be really high. Is his potential really only green quality?”
“Tsk. He must’ve raised his level before entering the school. I heard there are small- and medium-sized guilds that will help you level for a price.”
“Isn’t that a waste? The higher the level the more it takes to level up. Now that he’s in Lion’s Castle, the training process is the same for everyone. So we’ll quickly catch up while he has little to gain.
“I guess he just wants to pretend to be strong for a few months. Still, isn’t it crazy when thinking about it? Who performed Kang Jae-Hyeok’s admissions screening? Just how stupid is that person to put him in Class B without checking his level properly?”
…It was the chairman. Kim Jin-Myeong clicked his tongue. He’d confirmed it in writing. The chairman of the board had personally conducted Kang Jae-Hyeok’s admission screening, so he didn’t doubt the accuracy of Kang Jae-Hyeok’s results. How could the chairman make a mistake?
It was a strange feeling.
Kang Jae-Hyeok is definitely level 1. It’s just that his base stats are higher than others. Yet, he was still judged green… The magic-power measurement revealed a subject’s potential, and a green result meant that they could reach D-class at most. In other words, it was evidence of a poor Skill and stats at the time of awakening.
That was why the other students doubted the result of Jae-Hyeok's magic-power measurement. How could he have a green potential when his stats were so high?
Kim Jin-Myeong knew the answer.
To be green despite having high stats... Jae-Hyeok’s Initial Skill must be of a terribly low grade.
Although the instructor in charge of Skill training had praised Jae-Hyeok’s Skill as excellent, it was hard to trust that instructor’s judgment; he’d lost both arms in the first year of his debut as a player, shattering his dreams before they could even begin. He was just a low-level D-class player hired by the government as part of a welfare-to-work measure.
What a pity. Kim Jin-Myeong was reminded of how ruthless the world of players was.
He watched Jae-Hyeok’s back sympathetically.
Of course, he disliked Jae-Hyeok. He didn’t know why this burdensome kid had been transferred to his class. And yesterday, Jae-Hyeok had riled him to the extreme—so much so that later that night, he’d kicked off his blanket and woke from his sleep, mid-argument with a dream version of Jae-Hyeok.
But today, he had to admit that his view of the boy had changed slightly.
If he had such high stats at the time of awakening… then he’s worked hard.
To have such stats, Jae-Hyeok had to have worked extremely hard. It seemed that gaining a Skill at sixteen years old wasn’t just luck but a reward that matched Jae-Hyeok’s efforts.
I can only imagine how great the boy’s suffering was when he realized the Skill he’d developed was low-grade. And yesterday I even berated him about being lucky…. Kim Jin-Myeong’s expression became darker and darker. It felt like a thorn was lodged in his throat.
***
The motion of the hwando as it left its scabbard was the same as usual.
Fast, strong, and unwavering—it was a lightning-fast strike. Jae-Hyeok’s sword blended with the night, and his imagined enemy only glimpsed the sword through the dimming eyes of a severed head.
“Gasp... Gasp...”
Although the power of the strike was perfect, the person wielding the sword seemed on the verge of dying from exaustion.
Jae-Hyeok didn’t stop and prepared to strike again.
The sword-drawing technique that he pursued was one of perfection up to his last breath. Exhaustion was no excuse for poor form. He demanded perfection up until he lost consciousness or could no longer move his fingers.
Jae-Hyeok was familiar with the difficulty of his training sessions, so he noticed it when something felt off, as it did then.
It was just after 1 a.m. but he was already exhausted.
“Those guys... They’re… pretty helpful.”
After swinging his sword three more times, Jae-Hyeok focused on the sensation of his empty dantian while stretching his arms.
Before his body could be exhausted, he’d run out of mana first; it was the aftermath of the day’s swamp training. He’d been forced to consume much of his mana.
The mana control technique of the Kang family focused on concentrating and releasing mana from different parts of the body, making it easy to escape from the pressure of the swamp. Even so, the strain on his mana reserve had been greater than expected.
It was thanks to his classmates rushing at him like crazy. They’d kept trying to grab his collar, so Jae-Hyeok had been forced to fend them off, draining even more of his strength and mana in the process.
Everyone had taken on the role of a monster and attacked him with one heart and one mind, which was very helpful for his training.
Jae-Hyeok smiled wickedly. I’ll have to work harder starting tomorrow.
Had any of the Class B students heard Jae-Hyeok’s words, their sweet dreams surely would’ve turned into nightmares that night.
Jae-Hyeok touched the corners of his mouth. It felt like he’d been smiling a lot since entering Lion’s Castle.
At first, he’d forced himself to smile so others could see that he wasn’t shaken no matter how people disparaged his family. But, just a few days later, Jae-Hyeok’s smile became genuine.
He was enjoying his time here.
First of all, studying was fun. Learning new things gave him a sense of satisfaction that he’d never imagined.
He also liked the training. The new experience of rolling around in the swamp had helped him improve greatly, raising his stats at an incredible speed.
But above all, while at Lion’s Castle, he’d confirmed there were people who still respected his father.
Jae-Hyeok was grateful.
He was a child who’d grown up waking to the screams of protesters cursing his father with bone-deep hatred. Eventually, he’d also learned to fall asleep to that sound as his lullaby.
But now, it felt like something had slightly opened up his rotting heart filled with anger and killing intent.
I’m glad I was admitted. In the past, he’d only viewed Lion’s Castle as a simple escape. But it seemed like this place could become something more.
In the forest beyond the red line, a sudden commotion pulled Jae-Hyeok from his thoughts.
Moments later, a giant orc warrior emerged from the bushes and crossed the red line without even blinking.
The red line marked the boundary of danger zones, but what was the point if monsters could cross it so easily? Dammit. If they want to protect students. They should place the line further from the danger zone’s boundary. Having been attacked by monsters not once but twice here, Jae-Hyeok couldn’t help but curse.
Jae-Hyeok was exhausted from his training and hardly able to stand, so he was admittedly nervous. I don’t think I’ll be able to subdue it with my bare hands.
Thankfully, he’d had a short rest before the monster appeared.
Jae-Hyeok felt he could push himself to perform one last sword draw.
“Grrr.... ”
Two more orcs emerged from the bushes, following behind the first orc warrior.
It was hard to avoid killing when swinging a sword, and Jae-Hyeok was already too exhausted to hold back. It would be difficult to defeat three orcs in a single blow without killing them.
“Hah.” Jae-Hyeok laughed in frustration at the absurd crisis. He realized once again how valuable Skills were. One of the twenty-five Skills he’d developed, called Restoration to Life, came to mind.
[Restoration to Life]
[Type: Passive.
Return your body to a perfect state once critical damage is taken or your fatigue reaches the limit.]
Cooldown Time: 8 hours.]
If he were an awakener with an Initial Skill, he could’ve laughed at this situation. Skills are more overpowered than I thought. Knowing their importance, Jae-Hyeok only became more driven to get the strongest Skill. He resolved to work even harder to make sure of it.
Jae-Hyeok, who was steadying his resolve, didn’t know the great value of the twenty-five skills he already possessed.
He could become an S-grade player with any one of them.
But so what? Jae-Hyeok’s goal was to be a National Treasure, the strongest of the strong. So even S-grade Skills, a dream for some people, wouldn’t satisfy him.
“Come. I’ll just half-kill you.”
His daily training had accustomed him to exhaustion and become a weapon beyond imagination.
With razor-sharp concentration, he grabbed the hilt of his sword and tilted his upper body.
There were three targets.
The timing...
Now.
The three orcs rushed at him and Jae-Hyeok’s scabbard twisted half a turn. A hazy black light melted into the darkness of the night. The reverse edge of the sword struck the orc warrior’s throat and crunched the noses of the other two orcs almost simultaneously.
Kieeeeeeek!
“Yes, yes. You’re welcome for sparing you. It hurts my ears, so just forget it.”
Sneak sneak.
The fallen orcs screamed as they grabbed at their wounds.
Jae-Hyeok secretly stepped back, but he was exhausted and almost tripped over some rumble after stumbling. Thankfully, he caught himself, and little by little, he moved away from the scene.
Once again, the lion’s head statue on the gate watched him go, and the System whispered to Jae-Hyeok.
[One condition for the hidden quest of Lion’s Castle has been met.]
[The hidden reward will give you extra stat points.]
[The will of Lion’s Castle wants to talk to you.]
If others had known the content of those messages, they would have attracted attention from around the world, not just from South Korea.
However, Jae-Hyeok was oblivious.
The boy hadn’t awakened as a player, so the System’s messages were hidden even from him.
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