The next morning, at seven o’clock.
Professor Lee Taekjin’s office was immaculate, not a single thing out of place.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
“Professor, may I come in?”
Lee Taekjin had been quietly savoring the morning with a cup of coffee when he answered in a deliberately displeased tone.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and an elegant-looking beauty bowed to him.
Her name was Kim Miyoung.
She was his chief assistant, currently pursuing the path toward becoming an associate professor, and a talented woman who had earned his favor.
“A total of five students submitted applications to change Systems.”
“Five? Quite a few lack perseverance. Do they think changing paths will somehow make them competent?”
Lee Taekjin practically snatched the documents from Kim Miyoung’s hands.
He flipped through them one by one, examining the students’ names.
As expected, every one of them was an unimpressive student from the lower ranks.
One wanted to transfer from the Superhuman System to the Support System, another from the Summoning System to the Magic System.
They had probably convinced themselves that they were making the greatest decision of their lives, but to Lee Taekjin, those grand resolutions were nothing more than respectable-looking excuses.
Their true motive was likely nothing more than an attempt to escape reality.
Lee Taekjin’s gaze remained heavy and indifferent as he reviewed the documents.
“This one……”
At least, until he reached the final page.
Lee Taekjin frowned as he compared the name written at the top of the application with the face in the photograph.
It was him.
That insolent bastard who had reached out with his filthy hand and grabbed his.
“Ah, Student Park Hayul submitted an application as well.”
“Now, of all times?”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind.”
Lee Taekjin waved her off roughly and recalled the unpleasant incident from the previous day.
Park Hayul of the Origin Sorcerer Family.
Born to an arrogant family, with utterly unimpressive grades to match.
He possessed nearly everything Lee Taekjin despised, which was why Lee Taekjin had administered a test he had never originally intended to give.
The justification had been perfectly reasonable, and the question had been decisive.
He had asked it with absolute confidence that Park Hayul would fail.
And yet the boy had answered.
With an answer that left him no room to find fault……
If matters had ended there, Lee Taekjin would simply have dismissed it as coincidence.
If Park Hayul happened to have an interest in Magical Beast Studies, it was not entirely impossible.
But he had even submitted an application to change Systems, as though deliberately proving a point.
Was he choosing sorcery arts in hopes of earning sympathy from his family?
Or could it be that he was genuinely aiming to be selected?
The moment Lee Taekjin’s thoughts reached that point, he suddenly gave a derisive chuckle.
That was going far too far.
The possibility was one in ten thousand.
No, one in a million.
He could not even imagine a low-grade student like that entering his direct supervision.
“Approve all of them. You may leave.”
That ended the conversation.
If one assigned meaning every time an earthworm happened to wriggle by chance, life would become unbearably tiresome.
An earthworm was still just an earthworm.
Lee Taekjin flicked his fingers, and Kim Miyoung left without another word.
He quickly reached for his cup, only to discover that the coffee had already cooled beyond his preferred temperature.
With a displeased expression, he shoved it far away and reopened the academic journal.
“……”
That was when his gaze fell upon the long scar running across the back of his hand.
The boy had supposedly been beneath even the slightest concern.
“The Origin Sorcerer Family……”
Yes.
How long had it been since he last encountered a scion of that arrogant family?
It would almost be a waste to simply let this one pass.
“Nothing puts someone in their place quite as effectively as comparison.”
An inexplicable trace of satisfaction appeared in the crooked line of Lee Taekjin’s mouth.
***
[Time remaining: 17 hours, 8 minutes, 59 seconds.]
The day of the diagnostic assessment had arrived.
Perhaps because of how unsettled I had been the night before, my entire body felt stiff.
Dragging my heavy body along, I eventually arrived at the Grand Training Arena, Gwanggaeto Hall.
The enormous circular structure where the diagnostic assessment would take place exuded a solemn grandeur, as though it had been designed as a modern Colosseum.
Whoever designed this place really knew what they were doing.
The sight immediately drew an exclamation from me, but I did not have the luxury of standing around admiring it, so I hurried inside.
The interior of Gwanggaeto Hall was lined with container-like structures of the sort one might expect to see at a harbor.
Assessment Boxes.
They were essentially specialized sets.
Spaces constructed specifically for evaluations.
They might not have looked impressive from the outside, but including the concealed interior spaces, each was probably large enough to contain three soccer fields.
Like the Comprehensive Training Ground, they were products of high-level spatial magic.
I found the Assessment Box assigned to Year 2, Class A and entered.
CHATTER—
Perhaps because of the tension, the atmosphere inside was unusually lively.
I was heading toward a secluded corner when a man and woman approaching from the opposite side caught my eye.
“I heard you trained until late last night.”
“I do that all the time.”
“Take it easy. You are going to ruin your body at this rate.”
It was Baek Sayoung and Cheon Seoyoon, who got along particularly well because of their similar interests.
But why were they coming this way?
Normally, I would not have cared.
Unfortunately, fewer than nine hours had passed since Cheon Seoyoon and I had parted on unpleasant terms.
What a nuisance.
Avoiding her seemed like the best option, so I was quietly turning away when—
“Huh? You, you……”
Damn it……
“It is you, right? The guy from yesterday. Wow. Of all places, we meet again here~ We were in the same class?”
“You two know each other?”
“Who? Him?”
“Yeah. You mean Park Hayul, right?”
“Oh, so your name is Park Hayul. Of course I know him. We have met before, have we not?”
Cheon Seoyoon widened her eyes dramatically and thrust her face toward mine.
“Did you get home safely after irritating the hell out of me yesterday?”
“……”
“Oh, are you going to ignore me again? Should I turn off the lights for you? We have to save on electricity~”
Perhaps because Baek Sayoung was beside her, she had apparently decided to mock me as thoroughly as possible.
Well, I understood why.
Regardless of the circumstances, I had been the one at fault.
“Ah, you are that girl who started swearing at me the moment we met.”
But that did not mean I had to keep putting up with it.
I might have acted pathetically, but I had not cursed at her, and I had already apologized for what I had done.
“Swearing?”
Baek Sayoung looked at Cheon Seoyoon questioningly.
Flustered, she raised her voice.
“Hey, what are you talking about?”
“Why? Am I wrong? That is what you did yesterday.”
“What did I do? Where the hell are these accusations coming from?”
“Accusations?”
I smiled and repeated the curses she had thrown at me the previous night.
“Fuck.”
“……”
“Fucking lunatic.”
“……No, that was……”
“Crazy bastard.”
Unable to endure it any longer, Cheon Seoyoon shouted.
“There was a reason! You should at least let me explain……”
“A reason? Whatever it was, I do not think turning off a light justified calling me a fucking lunatic.”
“Ugh.”
Cheon Seoyoon opened and closed her mouth, unable to respond.
“You really said all that?”
“No. I mean, I did, but…… Wow, this is driving me insane.”
She admitted it.
Then the matter was settled.
Baek Sayoung let out a quiet sigh and lowered his head.
“That is why you should not have come over and made things troublesome for both of us.”
I intended to live quietly, but if someone came after me, I would not simply endure it.
That was a lesson I had learned down to the bone after leaving the orphanage and being thrown into society.
I walked past the red-faced Cheon Seoyoon and headed toward the back.
Even now, hers was a face I found uncomfortable and irritating to look at for too long.
***
Cheon Seoyoon occasionally shot sharp looks in my direction, but time passed quickly.
At exactly nine o’clock, he appeared without fail.
“It seems everyone is here, so we will begin immediately. This is Assistant Kim Miyoung. You will be seeing her frequently, so remember her face.”
This time, he had brought the beautiful assistant with him.
Kim Miyoung.
Despite her ordinary name, she had quite an impressive career.
Four years ago, she had been one of the top-ranked graduates who had caused considerable excitement throughout Taehak.
She appeared occasionally in the original novel, although she never played a particularly significant role.
“The purpose of the diagnostic assessment is to determine your current level. It will affect your grades, but only to a limited degree.”
Before the evaluation began, Lee Taekjin launched into an unexpected lecture.
“Even so, you should give it your best effort. You are reaching the point where outside eyes and ears will begin paying attention to you. Set goals and work toward them relentlessly. As long as your goals are not utterly absurd, the effort will have value.”
But the moment he said ‘utterly absurd,’ his gaze lingered noticeably on me.
Was that directed at me?
While I was feeling increasingly uneasy, Lee Taekjin and Kim Miyoung finished speaking and went upstairs to the control room.
Not long afterward, an announcement came through the speakers.
-This diagnostic assessment will use a Breakthrough-type exercise.
-Your score will be determined by converting the time required to reach the objective point.
-Students will enter the field in the order they are called.
It was Kim Miyoung’s voice.
As expected of Lee Taekjin’s assistant, even her formulaic speaking style resembled his.
-Special Scholarship Student applicant, Superhuman System student Cheon Seoyoon. Please enter the field.
The assessment proceeded exactly as it had in the original story.
“Seoyoon, good luck!”
“Cheon Seoyoon, do well.”
Cheon Seoyoon marched forward without hesitation, as though she were leading a charge.
She rolled up her sleeves and stood at the starting line just as a gust of wind swept through, tousling her short hair.
“Perfect. I was already in a foul mood. I am going to smash everything.”
She sounded so vicious after what had happened earlier that even I felt a slight chill.
BEEEEEP!
The starting signal rang out, and interference dummies immediately rushed toward her from every direction.
Setting aside my personal feelings, I focused on her.
A Breakthrough-type exercise was difficult because the participant had to overcome enemy interference and reach the objective point.
A careful strategy was essential—
“Aaaagh! Come at me! All of you at once! I will sweep you away together!”
……But Cheon Seoyoon immediately kicked off the ground and charged straight ahead.
Right.
Come to think of it, even that impatient temper was exactly alike.
Exactly like the creator of this world.
***
Cheon Seoyoon’s family, the Thunderforce Cheon Family, was powerful enough to compete for the highest position among the ten great families.
Its members could manifest the Lightning Attribute, one of the higher attributes, or force lightning energy between their muscle fibers to strengthen their bodies.
Cheon Seoyoon was no exception.
Whether she actually used that ability, however, was another matter.
She refused to use it of her own accord.
BAM!
Instead, she fought the dummies using nothing but raw mana.
Did that make her weak?
Not at all.
CRACKLE!
The easiest way to picture it was this.
Imagine a towering candy bar.
In other words, she was holding a sword swollen to the size of a club by the enormous amount of mana packed into it, then beating the innocent dummies senseless.
She could only do something so absurd because of the monstrous amount of mana she had been born with.
“How does that make any sense? That is just talent carrying her.”
“I am jealous. She is pouring out that much mana and it is not even decreasing.”
With the students’ envy and admiration behind her, Cheon Seoyoon advanced with unstoppable momentum until someone shouted.
“She already cleared Section One!”
The instant she entered the next area, the interference dummies vanished.
RUMBLE—
A thick, enormous wall rose from the ground with a vibration that shook the earth.
She had entered Section Two, the final stage of the assessment.
Small sparks constantly crackled across the dark surface of the wall.
It was probably protected by a Second-Circle Shield spell.
She would have to destroy it before reaching the final objective.
“Haa.”
Cheon Seoyoon drew in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
So Superhuman System users really did control mana through breathing.
A fierce concentration of mana gathered around her sword.
Topaz-colored mana, darker than before, wrapped around the blade.
With a calm expression, Cheon Seoyoon extended her arm.
BOOOOOOM!
A tremendous explosion erupted, accompanied by a blinding flash of light.
It took exactly one strike.
RUMBLE—
With that single slash, the fortress-like wall and its shield collapsed.
Far too easily.
Almost like a joke.
At least, that was how it looked to me.
BEEP!
[Lap Time: 2 minutes, 11.04 seconds.]
The final record appeared on the display panel ahead, and the students erupted in cheers.
Even Lee Taekjin, who was notoriously sparing with praise, personally took the microphone.
-Good work. Return to the waiting area.
It seemed even our results-obsessed professor was satisfied.
I was impressed as well, but it was still too early to be amazed.
Cheon Seoyoon ranked eighth overall among the second-year students.
Two people ranked even higher were still waiting.
Baek Sayoung and Seol Yungi.
First and second overall among the second years.
I was looking forward to seeing what they would show.
They would probably……
“If anything, they will be even more impressive.”
Huh?
A sharp sensation suddenly ran through me.
At the same moment, an unfamiliar voice reached my ears, and I turned my head.