Chapter 21: Ranking Test (1)

“Go inside and rest.”

“If anything else happens, contact me immediately.”

Even though Chayeon insisted she was fine, Seohee escorted her all the way to the dormitory entrance.

“You should head in too, Teacher.”

“Alright, get plenty of rest.”

Seohee waved and vanished on the spot.

Thud, thud.

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the emergency staircase. It was a staircase she used often, but after the major incident, it felt strangely new.

The inside of the dormitory was quiet. Occasionally, two or three people would gather and chat softly.

The silence was broken by Heukgu’s voice ringing inside her head.

<<…Your mental state is a mess.>>

“You, you…!”

How long had it been since she heard that voice?

“You, you son of a b*tch!!”

Without realizing it, she yelled loudly, causing nearby people to stare at her with surprised faces. Chayeon quickly covered her mouth and went inside.

Beep-, Clank.

“You f*cker! You! What were you doing, showing up only now!”

<<Did I not tell you? I used a lot of power and slept for a bit to recover.>>

“How many days do you sleep!”

<<Judging by your words, quite some time must have passed. Your reaction is unusual; what happened? Did the Baekgumiho perhaps pay a visit?>>

His nonchalant voice reignited the anger that had subsided, making it surge to the top of her head again.

What happened?

What happened?

The memories from the daytime flashed through Chayeon’s mind again.

Horrible memories she never wanted to experience again, moments that could easily be called the worst of her life.

<<I see. So that’s what happened.>>

Heukgu said, having read Chayeon’s thoughts.

“Yeah! Ha, f*ck, calling yourself a spirit or whatever, but sleeping like a log when needed.”

“I almost…, I, I…”

<<I’m sorry.>>

“Huh?”

Caught off guard by the unexpectedly straightforward apology, Chayeon asked back in surprise.

<<I apologize.>>

Faced with such a direct apology, he found himself speechless.

“…Hah, forget it.”

“There’s no point dwelling on what’s already happened.”

<<You stabilized quickly. Indeed, there’s a significant difference depending on whether I interfere or not.>>

An incomprehensible statement emerged.

“Interfere? What do you mean?”

<<It seems best to tell you.>>

Heukgu continued.

<<Your ability to maintain composure in everyday life is largely thanks to my contribution.>>

Contributing to maintaining composure.

What did that mean?

<<Since you seem to have trouble understanding, let me explain specifically.>>

<<Becoming a female, the life-threatening situations upon entering Jindal, and even when fighting that pathetic demon.>>

A brief pause in his voice, and then.

<<I was interfering.>>

A bewildering explanation.

<<It’s natural for an ordinary human experiencing such things to feel fear and panic.>>

<<I was continuously using my power to stabilize your mind to prevent such occurrences.>>

Chayeon listened to Heukgu’s words, one by one, her mind feeling somewhat clearer.

<<However, this time, while taking a brief rest, I neglected to look after your mind.>>

<<It was complacent of me.>>

Why had Chayeon crumbled so easily this time?

Heukgu’s explanation provided the answer.

That’s a bit, ‘Embarrassing.’

It seemed Chayeon had a much more fragile mentality than she thought.

To find out Heukgu had been secretly taking care of her from behind the scenes… even hearing that Jo Namyeon was actually a virgin probably wouldn’t be more shocking than this.

Secretly interfering with her mind.

Should she be offended by this?

Or grateful?

Hmm.

Right now, there was something else to think about first.

<<That guy, you mean.>>

Heukgu’s low, deep voice resonated in her head.

“Yeah.”

“I need to make him pay the price.”

“But his ability is troublesome.”

“He claims he can freely control attraction and repulsion.”

“If that’s true, I don’t see a way to win.”

She had laid the groundwork for revenge, but whether it would actually work was uncertain.

Of course, the method Chayeon used could inflict some damage regardless of whether he won or lost.

But what Chayeon wanted was a thorough and perfect victory.

<<As things stand now, you cannot win.>>

Heukgu declared flatly.

“There’s no way?”

“You said you were strong.”

<<It’s not that there’s no way.>>

<<It means you, as you are now, cannot win.>>

<<Let me explain again.>>

Heukgu continued.

<<My ability is ‘Adaptation’.>>

<<Literally, it means adapting to the opponent’s ability and gaining the power to counter it.>>

<<To activate the ability, I need to experience that power for at least a few minutes.>>

“At least a few minutes.”

The first sparring match with Arena, and the fight against Lubrum-Luna. In both cases, she was initially helpless, but later, her physical senses became extremely heightened, allowing her to overpower them.

“But I’ve already been hit by that guy’s ability several times.”

<<I know.>>

<<But because I was asleep, it’s not enough.>>

<<You need to experience it a little more.>>

At a certain point, she becomes stronger than the opponent.

Indeed, Heukgu’s ability was, as he described it, worthy of being called the strongest.

But the risks involved were not insignificant.

Frankly, if she died before adapting, the ability was useless.

“Anyway, you mean I literally need to adapt more.”

<<Correct.>>

She needed to experience that power more, just enough not to be dangerous.

“Alright.”

“I’ll ‘get hit’ a bit more.”

It didn’t seem as difficult as she thought.

The next morning.

As Chayeon entered the first floor of the main building, a familiar back came into view.

The very sight of that back now sent shivers down her spine.

Chayeon cautiously scanned her surroundings.

There were many eyes watching.

This much should be safe.

She drew the wooden sword and gripped it tightly with both hands.

Bending her knees, she instantly closed the 15-meter distance.

Superhuman physical abilities that only manifested when holding a sword, gained after the decisive battle with Lubrum-Luna.

Just as Chayeon reached Ju Jiho’s back and was about to swing the sword.

“Ugh!?”

An irresistibly strong force pushed her away from Ju Jiho.

Chayeon, suspended in mid-air, was sent flying backward.

Ju Jiho had already turned around and was looking at Chayeon.

Crash!

“Kuh!”

Chayeon’s flying body was slammed against the hallway wall, this time by an attractive force.

The impact traveling through her arms and shoulders made her head spin.

“Kyaaah!”

“What the!?”

The sight of a girl suddenly flying and hitting the wall instantly threw the surroundings into chaos.

Murmurs arose from here and there.

“Ugh.”

“Hi?”

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to greet me first?”

Tap, tap.

Ju Jiho approached her.

He was wearing an eyepatch over his right eye.

“I owed you one for yesterday.”

“Nice seeing you again after just one day.”

“Die!”

Chayeon quickly swung the sword towards Ju Jiho’s head.

However, the blade never reached his head, and once again, a huge pressure sent Chayeon’s entire body, along with the sword, flying.

Chayeon tumbled and rolled before barely regaining her balance.

Dizzy.

The world felt like it was spinning.

“The list of participants for the ranking match is posted in the hallway.”

“You’re participating, right?”

Whoosh-

Chayeon’s body slammed straight into a marble pillar.

Thwack!

“Ack!”

Whoosh-, Bam!

“Kuhk! Cough.”

Pushed away again, Chayeon’s body hit the floor face-first.

Pain flared in her chest.

It felt like she had broken ribs.

“I thought you weren’t participating.”

“I don’t know what strings you pulled, but that’s good.”

Ju Jiho approached the fallen Chayeon.

Her whole body was pinned flat to the floor, unable to move.

Standing close, Ju Jiho crouched down and whispered into Chayeon’s ear.

“Go ahead and struggle.”

“I’ll break you down completely, you b*tch.”

“Hey, what are you doing over there!”

Someone shouted and ran over from a distance.

“…Ju Jiho! You, again!”

“Oops, the police senior has arrived.”

Ju Jiho stood up, grinning widely.

“What do you think you’re doing inside the building?”

“You should know well that using abilities on people outside of training hours is punishable, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

“I was just messing around with a friend.”

He completely ignored the fuming woman, put his hands in his pockets, and walked past.

“Are you okay?”

Once Ju Jiho disappeared, the woman quickly approached and helped Chayeon up.

“Cough, cough.”

“Yes.”

“I’m okay.”

“…That bastard, doing this again!”

The woman bit her lip, looking furious.

“I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

“No.”

“I’m really okay.”

“Thank you.”

Chayeon bowed her head and declined.

It wasn’t a lie; thanks to her rapid recovery, she felt fine now.

<<As I’ve regained much of my power, you’ve acquired remarkable healing abilities.>>

Heukgu conveniently resolved the question that popped into her mind.

‘So, how is it?’

‘Are you adapted?’

<<Aren’t you already feeling it yourself?>>

Heukgu answered the question with a question.

But he was right.

This was the third time experiencing it, this fundamentally changed sensation.

Moreover, there was a difference from the previous two experiences.

If the previous ones were purely enhancements of physical abilities, what she experienced this time was something different, a feeling like she could resist an unseen, intangible force.

It was a very unfamiliar feeling.

Like awakening a new sense beyond the five senses.

‘Yeah.’

‘I feel it.’

Everything needed was ready.

The day of the ranking match arrived quickly.

The B class, which Chayeon belonged to, currently had twenty-three students.

They were divided into a total of six groups.

Chayeon was in Group 3, while Ju Jiho was in Group 6.

The three or four members within each group would compete first.

Unlike the year-end comprehensive exam, which thoroughly evaluated ability output, attack power, defense power, and situational response skills, the ranking match was decided purely through sparring.

The first match, corresponding to the preliminaries, involved all members of the group competing individually.

In Chayeon’s case, it was 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1.

Only one person advanced from the preliminaries; those who lost were recorded as C rank.

Essentially, almost 75% of the participants received a C, with only about 25% advancing higher.

“It’s tougher than I thought.”

Those who advanced from the preliminaries—six people in the case of Chayeon’s B class—were then paired up for one-on-one spars.

The winners received A rank, and the losers received B rank.
Divided into these three categories, they would then be deployed on various missions called assignments.

Excluding additional matches within C rank, the ranking match essentially consisted of only two rounds: the preliminaries and the finals.

On the first day, many locations within the academy were used simultaneously for large-scale matches.

The next day, the final matches would take place sequentially in the main building’s auditorium.

The finals, featuring a relatively small number of contenders, would draw the attention of the students.

The ranking match wasn’t just a simple test; it was a kind of large-scale event.

In the case of B class, the winners of Group 1 and Group 4, Group 2 and Group 5, and Group 3 and Group 6 would meet.

If they both passed the preliminaries, Chayeon and Ju Jiho were set to meet in the finals.

The Almighty God had helped.

Incidentally, for Chayeon recently, “almighty” referred to Seohee.

[In a moment, the first match of the ranking competition will begin.]

[Students, please gather your equipment and move to your assigned arenas.]

[Repeating the announcement.]

[In a moment…]

An announcement flowed through the classroom speakers.

Chayeon gathered her belongings and stood up from her seat.

The ranking match had finally begun.