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“Instructor, it’s over. Stop now.”
Cheon Woo-jin raised his sword.
“If you move, I’ll unleash magic.”
The fireball that appeared in Amelia’s hand burned white.
Wiiiiing─
The magic bullet on Han Se-yeon’s gun flickered threateningly.
In a life-threatening situation surrounded in all directions.
“······Hmm.”
A flustered Kwak Jin-ho let out a sigh.
But his confusion wasn’t solely because he was surrounded by three people.
It was the fact that his magic was being suppressed by Yi Haesol that made him flustered.
While it might be unknown to ordinary individuals, for a perfected superhuman to have their physical dominance taken away by others was an unprecedented event.
It was impossible to obtain a powerful anti-magic force strong enough to momentarily push back his magic through conventional training methods.
This was abnormal.
And with abnormalities, there inevitably came risks.
To gain immense power, there must be something proportional to lose.
Whether it became a constraint or a cost, it was clear that with such anti-magic, an enormous risk was undoubtedly shouldered.
Kwak Jin-ho looked at Yi Haesol and asked in a surprised tone, “How big of a risk did you take?”
“A risk?”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you.”
Kwak Jin-ho clicked his tongue at Yi Haesol’s nonchalant response.
Indeed, concealing conditions or constraints of one’s abilities was natural if they existed.
To a superhuman, having the conditions of their abilities known to others was a fatal blow.
Anyway, Kwak Jin-ho’s confusion was only for a brief moment.
In the world of Eternity where all sorts of bizarre abilities exist, it wasn’t uncommon to encounter lunatics like Yi Haesol who bore immense risks, albeit rare, it wasn’t surprising given their presence.
The fact that he was an inexperienced novice caught him off guard.
The real issue was how to escape the current predicament.
Gwak Jinho quickly pondered his options.
In truth, pushing out the telekinetic force controlling his body was no challenge for him.
It was just a matter of time.
“2 seconds.”
It might even take longer.
That time was long enough for a superhuman to launch multiple attacks and still have time left.
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Of course, if Gwak Jinho fully unleashed his gift, that time could be significantly shortened.
However, this wasn’t a real battle, and there was no need to go to such lengths in a test.
It wasn’t entirely impossible to escape the current situation without fully revealing his gift.
“The problem lies with this guy.”
Gwak Jinho looked down at Yi Haesol clinging to his ankle.
Even if he could evade the attacks of the others, considering Yi Haesol’s speed in grabbing his ankle, moving at this distance was risky.
No matter how much of a superhuman he might be, dodging the blade that was approaching him was impossible.
By the way…
Gwak Jinho surveyed the three people around him.
Cheon Woojin, with his shoulder dislocated from Gwak Jinho’s blow, hadn’t even caught his breath from the sprint.
Han Seyeon seemed to have covered a considerable distance judging by the direction she appeared from.
As for Amelia, assuming she had been with Yi Haesol from the start, it was quite surprising for the two of them to appear simultaneously at such a crucial moment.
Gwak Jinho looked down at Yi Haesol and spoke.
“I never said you couldn’t use a smartphone.”
“If you didn’t want me to use it, you should have taken it away.”
“Fair point.”
Gwak Jinho chuckled.
Indeed, Yi Haesol had shared their location with the other novices through the smartphone.
Since he hadn’t explicitly forbidden it, Gwak Jinho didn’t dwell on it any further. Instead, he reiterated his earlier suggestion.
“Do you really have no intention of joining the Health Club?”
“No, I don’t.”
“If you change your mind, I’ll arrange a personal training room for you. We also support the Awakening System monthly.”
“I’m still not interested.”
Seeing Yi Haesol firmly decline, Gwak Jinho turned to Cheon Woojin.
“I’ll decline due to a busy training schedule.”
“You haven’t even said anything yet.”
“You’re not trying to recruit me into the club, are you?”
“Uh…”
Gwak Jinho scratched the back of his neck at Cheon Woojin’s words.
In reality, part of the reason he brought up joining the club was to inquire if there was any intention to join, but it was also to find a gap in his conversation. However, no one relaxed, and they all watched his movements attentively. In the end, Gwak Jinho raised both his hands.
“Surrender.”
Sizzle!
A red light sparked from Kwak Jin-ho’s bracelet.
─ Instructor Kwak Jin-ho, out! The exam is over.
***
“…Living long enough, you end up seeing Instructor Kwak Jin-ho being subdued too.”
“Laughing at the idea of a single cell being alive, that’s why you end up in such a state.”
The situation room, illuminated by urban training grounds.
At Ha Jin-woo’s surprised reaction, Noah, leaning on the sofa, clicked his tongue as if it were an obvious outcome. At that moment, as the situation room door opened, Kwak Jin-ho entered.
“hahahahah! Got a nice hit.”
As all eyes in the situation room turned towards him, Kwak Jin-ho laughed uproariously.
Thud!
A cushion flew and hit Kwak Jin-ho’s foolishly grinning face.
“Ugh!”
As Kwak Jin-ho grabbed the cushion with magic in it, Noah, who had thrown it, growled, “You find this funny now? My plans got ruined because of you!”
Indeed, Noah had planned to make Cheon Woo-jin the top scorer in this exam to show how excellent his training was to Yi Hae-sol.
However, Kwak Jin-ho, despite anyone seeing it as an obvious trap, chased after a dagger, only to be caught off guard and captured.
In an unprecedented move for an instructor, Kwak Jin-ho’s lackluster performance contributed to Yi Hae-sol taking the top spot in the final score rankings.
Up to this point, Yi Hae-sol and Cheon Woo-jin had tied scores, but ultimately, this time, the top spot belonged to Yi Hae-sol.
Although the written test remained, it was inconsequential.
Anyway, in this situation, even if Noah suggested training, Yi Hae-sol wouldn’t listen with even an ear.
“Kwak Jin-ho, good job. But why did you stay still at the end? If it was due to anti-magic, you could have escaped.”
At the question from grade head teacher Jung Hae-jun, Kwak Jin-ho scratched his head.
“You can’t fully unleash your gift in front of the kids, can you? Besides, even if you fully unleash it…”
Before finishing his sentence, Kwak Jin-ho smirked. If he fully unleashed his gift, he could easily manipulate the situation through amplified magic.
However, somehow, he felt that even if he did that, he would still fall into a trap.
As he recalled Yi Hae-sol’s figure, he couldn’t help but have a strange premonition that things would turn out that way naturally. The reason for this even Kwak Jin-ho didn’t know. But suddenly, the ‘blue flames’ that always accompanied fake popularity kept flashing in his mind. Surely…
“…No, it can’t be.”
“It’s not like it’s not!”
Thud!
Noah’s cushion flew again.
***
The rankings for the midterm practical exam were posted on the bulletin board right after the second period.
——–
【Midterm Practical Exam Rankings】
[1st Place: Yi Hae-sol]
[2nd Place: Cheon Woo-jin]
[3rd Place: Han Se-yeon]
[4th Place: Amelia]
[5th Place, Nicolai]
[6th Place, Elaine]
.
.
.
.
——–
“Hmm.”
Looking up at the rankings, the most shocked student was undoubtedly Nicolai.
Even though his performance was good enough to aim for 2nd or 3rd place without unnecessarily standing out, due to his impulsive decision to participate, he ended up dropping all the way to 5th place in the results…
“Stay strong.”
“Shh, it’s noisy, I’ll make up for it in the written exam.”
“Alright.”
Even though it seemed quite challenging to make up for it with the written exam since the top students were quite skilled, there was no need for him to go out of his way to confirm what he already knew.
Nicolai, carrying his bag and lunchbox, heading towards the library, was quite impressive.
“Even if I do that, my rank won’t change…”
In Eternity, even if someone achieves a perfect score in multiple-choice and short-answer questions, there will still be a difference in the essay section due to its relative evaluation.
It was impossible to beat Han Seyon in the essay section, who would write answers beyond conventional correctness, even causing a face-to-face meeting with the professor of the Department of Magic due to the essay answers he wrote during the midterms.
Therefore, Nicolai, who was originally 2nd in the written exam, had no chance of moving up in rank anymore.
“Well, he’s the type who keeps running without losing hope, even if the finish line is clearly visible…”
At least his mental strength is like steel, so it doesn’t matter.
Anyway, while Nicolai messed up the exam and headed straight to the library, on the contrary, there was another student who experienced a sudden rise in rank.
“I-I’m 6th place…!”
Looking at the ranking posted on the bulletin board, Elaine clenched a teddy bear in disbelief.
Most of the academy’s exams involved ‘endurance,’ but since it wasn’t the case for this midterm exam, it was natural for Elaine to have a good result.
Elaine chewed on grass with a face filled with emotion. Wait, grass?
“Oh, dandelions.”
It doesn’t make a big difference if you eat that… I should sell potions for the poor thing.
“Ow!”
Suddenly, the sound of a wolf howling next to her ears was piercing.
Turning her head, she saw Eungaye kicking the hallway floor with a troubled expression.
“What’s wrong with him again?”
As Elaine tilted her head, Eungaye scolded Han Seyon with a pouting expression.
“It’s a test to see if you can gather magic for a bookstand.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“But even if you gather magic, the books fly away, how can you pass?”
Oh, was that it?
Eungaye’s magic was so wild that even she couldn’t control it. Even if she managed to gather it, her magic fluctuated.
Even if pressed down by gravity, the foundation was shaky, so it was inevitable for the book to fall.
“It’s unfair, isn’t it?”
Eungaye was in tears, complaining that the damn assistant wasn’t letting her pass due to sticking to principles.
Han Seyeon nodded her head, listening to each and every complaint of unfairness.
Of course, Han Seyeon, who couldn’t empathize with others at all, had a transparent white soul once again.
That was a sign that she wasn’t even listening to Eungaye’s complaints of unfairness. But still, pretending to empathize perfectly made Eungaye’s expression soften in an instant. Han Seyeon grabbed Eungaye’s hand that had loosened up.
“Shall we go now?”
“Huh? Where to?”
“Where else, to study.”
“But shouldn’t we take a break now?”
“What are you saying? Tomorrow is the written exam.”
“Can’t I just rest a bit before that?”
“As much as you failed in the practical today, you need to make up for it in the written exam.”
“Uh, wha-what?”
Like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse, Eungaye was dragged to the library.
Due to her obsession with feeling indebted for causing harm to others from a young age, Han Seyeon was fixated on the idea of having to help others. ‘Studying’ was part of that duty.
At that moment, when the classroom door creaked open, Cheon Woojin came out with a sword. I asked, wondering.
“Are you going to practice?”
“Swordsmanship.”
“But the practical exam is over. Tomorrow is the written exam, right?”
But going to the swordsmanship hall? What about studying?
“Just studying for one more day won’t significantly improve my grades. I’m going to the hall to refine my mind.”
“Uh, I see.”
There really aren’t any normal ones here.
Watching the leading actors who seemed to be losing one screw at a time, I was reminded once again of how normal I was.
“I’m tired, I should get some rest.”
I shook my head and headed back to the dormitory.
***
Speaking of the results of the written exam, fortunately, my scores turned out quite well.
The one-on-one tutoring sessions with Han Seyeon at the library since last month were a great help, but the Rune exam had the most significant impact.
It was a notoriously difficult subject, so getting a perfect score in Rune, overflowing with ‘Runepoza’ in Eternity.
Nicola, who had stayed up all night at the library the previous night, managed to maintain his rank······
Anyway, after the written exam passed, a festival came to Eternity.
Usually, in regular schools, festivals are held at the end of the year, but uniquely in Eternity, they are held around this time.
It’s said that holding a festival after the end of the year or after summer, when magical incidents are frequent, could lead to trouble.
Indeed, it would be terrifying if ghosts popped out during the festival.
So, it was the Monday after the midterm exams during lunchtime.
After having lunch, in the classroom where everyone gathered, class president Han Seyeon stood at the podium recruiting class officers to help with the festival preparations.
The role of class officers was to stay after school to print materials, set up accounting books or posts, and, especially, fold the paper cranes to be used during the festival.
They would be performing a spectacle of controlling hundreds of paper cranes. Well, that’s school for you.
“I used to fold a lot when I was young.”
It was a trend to fold cranes into glass bottles, so I have memories of folding them out of inertia. I never even filled half of one and stopped.
Nostalgia washes over me.
Anyway, when becoming a class monitor, everyone would tilt their heads, citing various reasons to avoid such miscellaneous tasks.
“Sorry, I have work after this…”
“I have to go to the fencing club.”
“I need to take care of guild duties.”
Being a class monitor was just a title; in reality, it was akin to being a class slave, so it was natural for no one to want to do it. Staying after school to fold cranes voluntarily? No way.
For a prodigy, it was advantageous to use that time for more training.
“Is no one volunteering?”
“······.”
Silence filled the classroom. Han Seyeon, with her index finger at her lips, had a pensive expression.
“Well, I guess I have to pick someone myself then.”
*Gulp.*
Everyone avoided Han Seyeon’s gaze, fearing they might be chosen.
I was absentmindedly lying on my desk without a thought. And then, what Han Seyeon pointed at was······
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’re the class monitor.”
Han Seyeon nodded with a grin.