Chapter 2: The SSS-Rank Title

Since there was nothing wrong with his body and he had even awakened, Se-hyeon prepared to be discharged.

He had just changed from his hospital gown back into his everyday clothes when the door burst open.

“Oppa!”

His younger sister, who had been contacted by the foreman, rushed in breathlessly.

Judging by her state, she had likely sprinted here the moment her regular classes at the Academy ended.

“Oh? Se-hui.”

Se-hyeon gave a sheepish smile at his frantic sister.

Looking at him, Se-hui raised her voice.

“What on earth happened? Do you know how shocked I was when I got the call? They said you collapsed from overwork! I told you there was no need to push yourself that hard!”

Since their parents passed away, Se-hyeon was the only family she could rely on.

How terrified must she have been to hear he had collapsed?

Se-hui had been heart-stricken the entire way there, terrified that something might have happened to her brother too.

“Haha, it’s nothing serious. Anyway, what about school? Why are you here?”

“I finished all my regular classes before coming. And is school the priority right now? The foreman told me it happened because you were overexerting yourself, so I have to make sure you rest.”

Although the reason for his collapse wasn’t actually exhaustion, Se-hyeon nodded at Se-hui’s words.

“Alright. I will. I was actually thinking about taking a break anyway.”

While the loss of consciousness was due to a different matter, it was true that fatigue had been accumulating rapidly lately.

Besides, since he had awakened, he planned to rest for a while and slowly investigate his new abilities.

“But why are you already dressed? Are you planning to leave already?”

Se-hui narrowed her eyes at Se-hyeon, who was already in his street clothes.

Se-hyeon looked at her with the most pitiful expression he could muster.

“I’m perfectly fine now. And if I stay here any longer, I feel like I’ll catch a disease I don’t even have. Even if I rest, I’ll do it at home. They say the body only heals when the mind is at peace.”

Since it was being handled as a workplace injury, there was no burden of medical expenses, but a hospital wasn’t exactly a comfortable place.

The beds were hard, and being hooked up to IV drips made moving around a hassle.

He decided it would be a hundred times better to lie in his own soft bed at home.

“No, but still…”

“It’s fine, let’s go. I’ve already finished the discharge paperwork anyway.”

If the paperwork was done, there wasn’t much else she could do.

“Sigh, fine. But once we get home, you have to stay in bed. Roll around desperately as if you’ve resolved to die in that bed. Got it?”

“I was planning to do that even if you didn’t say so. And you seem to be forgetting—rolling around in bed is my specialty. I don’t need a resolution to do it; it’s practically second nature.”

After joking around, Se-hyeon left the hospital and headed home with Se-hui.

• Upon arriving home, Se-hyeon showered and went straight to his room.

Lying on his bed, he began to check the things he couldn’t verify at the hospital.

‘First, shall I check the titles?’

He had acquired a total of two titles upon awakening: Owner of Zelostan and Fragment of Kartemian.

[Title] Owner of Zelostan [EX] The owner of the magic ring Zelostan, which contains everything belonging to Zephyrus Kravan. -Leveling up Zelostan increases the owner’s growth stage and grants additional abilities according to the stage. [Growth possible through the common magic ‘Life Drain’.] -Additional Magic +1000 [Magic stat increases upon stage advancement] -Basic stats increase and additional options are granted upon stage advancement. -Additional rewards are granted during the stage-by-stage Memory Transference of [Magic Combat]. Stage 1 [Opens upon Memory Transference]

[Title] Fragment of Kartemian [SSS] One who possesses a fragment of the Black Dragon Kartemian. -Mana consumption decreased by [50%]. -Mana recovery rate increased by [50%].

The additional 1,000 magic points granted to Se-hyeon were thanks to the Owner of Zelostan title.

Furthermore, he could grow the magic ring Zelostan using the Life Drain skill, and as the ring grew, Se-hyeon himself would grow—a linked system.

In short, his awakening ability itself originated from this ring.

Additionally, Fragment of Kartemian seemed to be a title given to one who possessed a piece of the Black Dragon Kartemian, though he was unsure why such a title had been granted.

Since he was unconscious when the Necklace of Kartemian was unsealed, his confusion was natural.

However, since it reduced mana consumption by 50% and increased recovery by 50%, the title options themselves were nothing short of a cheat code.

‘Crazy! SSS-rank and EX-rank? Are these even possible ranks? Ha! Just looking at the title ranks, I’m a total munchkin! Anyway, so that extra 1,000 magic was because of the Owner of Zelostan title.’

Based on the ranks alone, they were astronomical.

Given that the highest known title rank was S-rank, there was nothing more to say.

‘Well, moving on, shall I check the skills?’

The next thing to check after the titles were the skills.

In a way, this was the most important part, as it would dictate his future combat style.

[Passive] Magic Combat [Max] A unique combat martial art created by Zephyrus Kravan himself. -Exclusive skill [Memory Transference] available for Magic Combat. -Imprints combat techniques through the [Memory Transference] skill. -[Memory Transference] is optimized according to the current stage; upon advancing stages, an additional [Memory Transference] can be performed to upgrade to optimized combat techniques for the new stage.

[Passive] Multi-Casting [Max] A function that allows for the simultaneous manifestation of multiple spells. -Up to 10 spells can be manifested simultaneously.

Magic Combat, a passive skill, was something Zephyrus had created personally—a technique to suppress enemies with the most optimized movements using his magic.

Through the Memory Transference skill, it seemed he could imprint it immediately without having to practice for a long time.

Also, Multi-Casting was a passive that allowed up to 10 spells to be cast at once, which seemed highly efficient for combat as it allowed attacking while using utility or duration-based spells.

‘Ho, so it imprints immediately through Memory Transference without any special training? This is pretty good. I should try it later when Se-hui is asleep.’

Since he couldn’t predict if there would be side effects or what might happen during the process, he decided to do it secretly while his sister slept.

‘Lastly, the active skills?’

Having checked the titles and passives, Se-hyeon finally checked the active skills.

[Active] Boots of Wind [Max] Grants the power of wind to the caster’s feet. -While Boots of Wind is active, the user can levitate at least [10cm] and at most [30cm] from the ground. -Friction coefficient is zero while Boots of Wind is active. Casting Time: [Instant] Duration: [Until canceled] Mana Consumption: [1 mana per 2 seconds] Cooldown: [10 minutes]

[Active] Shadow Orb [Max] A powerful sphere containing the power of darkness. -Creates a sphere imbued with dark energy. -Can create a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 30. -Explodes upon impact with an enemy. -Can be moved in any direction through control. Casting Time: [1 second] Mana Consumption: [100] Cooldown: [None]

[Active] Life Drain [Max] Absorb the vitality of the dead and make it my power. -Can absorb the residual vitality of dead organisms. -Only possible for organisms dead for less than 24 hours. -Up to 500 entities can be absorbed simultaneously. -Absorbed residual vitality is used for the growth of the magic ring [Zelostan]. -Cannot be used on living organisms. Casting Time: [Instant] Mana Consumption: [50] Cooldown: [30 seconds]

There were three active skills in total: Boots of Wind categorized as Light Magic, Shadow Orb categorized as Dark Magic, and Life Drain categorized as Common Magic.

Boots of Wind was a skill that imbued the feet with wind, allowing the user to levitate 10 to 30 centimeters off the ground to move quickly.

By making the friction coefficient zero, it allowed for much swifter movement.

Shadow Orb, the dark magic, could produce dozens of spheres at once and, most importantly, could be controlled in any direction.

Considering most ranged attacks only travel in a straight line, a Shadow Orb that could be controlled would be able to chase down an enemy even if they tried to dodge.

Of course, that would require a high level of control ability.

As for their power, it was hard to gauge without testing them directly.

Finally, Life Drain was a skill used exclusively to grow the magic ring, Zelostan.

It couldn’t be used on living beings and only worked on those that had been dead for less than 24 hours.

‘Hmm, they definitely seem like something special, but I’ll only know for sure once I use them. I’ll have to find a good time to test them out.’

He felt he would only know the efficiency of these skills in hunting once he used them.

Therefore, he planned to conduct a practical test at an appropriate time before registering as an Awakened.

“I think I’ve checked everything for now. Shall I check out the Awakened community?”

Hunter World, the world’s largest Awakened site, covered everything from item sales and purchases to auctions, dungeon info, monster info, and details on various classes and skills. It was a place only those registered with the Association could join, so unregistered villains or ordinary people couldn’t access it.

However, separate from that, various communities existed where Awakened provided information to the public, and Se-hyeon had often used these sites.

Since his sister was an Awakened, he had a strong desire to gather information to help her in any way he could.

Of course, now he was looking into the community for himself, not his sister.

Just as Se-hyeon got up from the bed and sat at his computer…

Knock! Knock! “Oppa, it’s me.”

Se-hui knocked on his door.

“Yeah, come in.”

At Se-hyeon’s word, Se-hui opened the door and entered the room.

“What are you doing? Are you getting on the computer? I told you to stay glued to the bed.”

“Sleeping isn’t the only way to rest. Clearing your head is also a form of rest. I’m giving my exhausted brain a break right now. I’ll go to sleep after a bit, so don’t worry.”

At Se-hyeon’s words, Se-hui sighed and spoke.

“Sigh, fine. Just do it moderately and go to sleep. And, you know…”

Seeing Se-hui trail off, Se-hyeon asked with a curious expression.

“What is it? If you have something to say, say it. Don’t beat around the bush.”

After a brief hesitation, Se-hui spoke cautiously.

“You know I graduate in six months, right? Because of the Academy rules, I can’t contact guilds right now, but in six months, everything will change. I’ll definitely be able to sign a contract with a huge signing bonus.”

Under the pretext of protecting their Awakened, the Academy did not allow any guild to approach students until graduation.

Not only were simple approaches forbidden, but any behavior that could cloud the judgment of the Awakened student was not tolerated.

So, while their situation wouldn’t improve immediately, everything would change once she graduated in six months.

As a B-rank Tanker with S-rank potential, there was a high probability that she would receive love calls from large guilds, as well as the super-large guilds known as the Big Five.

“Of course you will. Look whose sister you are.”

“So, just rest now. You’ve earned the money to support us until now. From now on, I’ll be the one earning, so do everything you want to do, eat everything you want to eat, and play as much as you want.”

She likely hesitated because she thought these words might bruise Se-hyeon’s pride.

At Se-hui’s words, Se-hyeon gave a small smirk and spoke.

“I was planning to do that anyway. But, you know, to live off the money my sister earns, I at least need a justification, right? I’m currently building that justification. Like, ‘I raised you with this much effort, so from now on, you take care of me.’ That kind of justification?”

“Whatever. If you worked hard enough to collapse from exhaustion, that justification is already more than filled.”

“Is that so? Got it. I did feel like I’ve been piling up a lot of fatigue, so I was planning to rest for a bit. So don’t worry about your brother, and just focus on graduating from the Academy without any trouble. Besides, you’ll be going out for your final exams soon, so be careful not to have any accidents.”

The final evaluation for the third year of the Academy consists of practical field training.

Usually, high-rankers show great performance, but occasionally there are those who show brilliant combat sense despite not having high ranks, and these factors are applied to the evaluation, proving useful for guilds when judging the Awakened.

And for Se-hui, that final field training was not far off.

“Look who’s worrying about who. I’m Jang Se-hui. The Jang Se-hui who is a B-rank Tanker with S-rank potential. Anyway, you said you’d rest for a while, so make sure you keep that promise.”

With that, Se-hui left Se-hyeon’s room.

Se-hyeon watched her leave with a warm smile.