“Hmm…….”
The principal’s office of the Superhuman Training School.
The principal, the master of that place, was checking the documents before him.
“The Gate backflowed?”
“……Yes. They said it was a virtual Gate, and E-rank at that.”
“A virtual Gate backflowing…….”
Every matter concerning the school was handled in the principal’s office.
The school festival, the budget of the Superhuman Training School, approval for the maintenance of the virtual Gate.
And even the expulsion of a useless student.
“Casualties? What happened afterward?”
“There were no casualties. Two students somehow managed to escape the Gate, and one student closed the Gate itself.”
“He closed a backflowed Gate?”
The principal tilted his head as he listened to the report.
“I have never heard that such a talent existed in our school…….”
It was not just anything. It was Gate Backflow.
And he had cleared it alone. Regardless of how high the level of the backflowed Gate had been, it should not have been something one could handle alone.
A talent of that level had been hiding somewhere and suddenly appeared?
It did not make sense enough to understand so easily.
“Who is he? That remarkable talent.”
“……It is Kang Daehyun, whom you know well, Principal.”
Park Chigwon, who had been smiling happily, tapped the desk with his finger and fell into thought for a moment.
“Kang Daehyun……?”
The name sounded familiar, and yet it also felt somehow unpleasant. It felt as though he was on the verge of remembering.
At just the right moment, Park Chigwon flipped through the documents.
“As expected.”
After turning a few pages, one document appeared, and he frowned as if something were strange.
[Superhuman Training School Student Detailed Record: Kang Daehyun]
‘Kang Daehyun…….’
A failing student who ate away at the school’s budget.
A piece of trash who could not fulfill even one proper role despite being a healer.
Dueling and training. He was a student who had failed every physical activity conducted by the Superhuman Training School.
And when they had tried to assess his healing ability instead, his mana had been so lacking that he could barely heal a scratch.
“……Was there another Kang Daehyun in our school?”
“There is only one. The one and only student whom you know well, Principal.”
A Superhuman who could not fight.
No matter how one looked at it, he was someone who did not suit the Superhuman Training School.
‘……That was definitely the case.’
Yet that very person had suddenly cleared a Gate.
Not an ordinary E-rank Gate, but a Gate whose grade had changed because of backflow!
Park Chigwon raised his head and looked straight ahead.
“Is that true?”
“……It is true.”
“Ha ha…….”
It was like a dragon rising from a stream. No, it had merely been a stream, and then a worm had suddenly ascended into a dragon.
Had he been strong from the beginning? Or had there been some sort of trigger?
Park Chigwon’s face changed subtly.
“Let us keep an eye on this student for the time being.”
A middle-aged man with a wrinkled face and a half-bald head bowed to him.
Vice Principal Jang Taehoon. He was the principal’s closest aide, a person who always stayed by his side and assisted him.
“Our Superhuman Training School does not spare support for capable students. Do not forget that.”
“I understand.”
“Virtual Gate training will be prohibited for the time being, and we will also need to silence the students, aside from those involved. This incident will remain nothing more than a baseless rumor in our school.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Of course, that support was limited only to capable students who caught his eye, but so what?
This was the way Park Chigwon had lived for a long time.
“Actually…….”
At that moment, Jang Taehoon opened his mouth.
“Actually, there is one more thing I must report…….”
He hesitated and held out a sticky note toward the principal.
[✕✕ Bank - ✕✕✕✕✕……]
“…….”
The principal’s expression twisted.
***
That evening, on the day the virtual Gate backflowed.
As usual, Daehyun continued training on the mountain behind the dormitory.
‘……Some pain still remains.’
In a way, it was only natural. This was not his original body, and even though he knew that, had he not overexerted himself as a matter of course? If anything, the fact that he could move like this right now was a miracle in itself.
“Are you sure it is all right to go out? I do not think it is a particularly good idea.”
Even Kang Shinhyuk had said that and tried to stop Daehyun, but Daehyun had his own circumstances.
‘This is not bad.’
He smiled faintly as he looked at the Divine Shield that had appeared in his hand. Then he dispelled it and summoned a window.
Ding—!
[Quest]
[Preliminary Preparation]
[Details: You have overcome the second obstacle, but this is only the beginning. Many more obstacles await you. Train yourself for the next obstacle.]
[Completion Conditions: Run 50 km (50/50 km), Throw Punches 300 times (300/300), Draw Out Divine Power 40 times (40/40 times)]
[Reward: +5 Stat Points. (Choose one from Strength, Agility, and Divine Power.)]
[※ The ‘Preliminary Preparation’ quest can be repeated once per day until the next quest appears.]
‘I somehow managed to finish it.’
Because of the quest that had occurred inside the Gate, he had thought the “Preliminary Preparation” quest would no longer appear, but for some reason, it had appeared before Daehyun’s eyes again while he was eating dinner.
“I will choose Agility.”
[Reward received.]
[Stat, ‘Agility,’ has increased by +5.]
In the end, Daehyun had naturally come outside.
He wanted to rest, but there was nothing he could do.
If exercising a little gave him as much as “5” to a stat, he could hardly throw that away.
It was far too large a stat increase to spend the time merely resting.
“This should be enough for today.”
Daehyun lightly wiped away the sweat running down his face and sank onto the ground.
He had cleared the quest, received his stats, and done enough for today.
On top of that, because he had used a great deal of Divine Power throughout the day, his head was throbbing.
‘Hellhound…….’
The Hellhound that had appeared out of nowhere after the original master of the Gate changed.
According to the teacher and Kang Shinhyuk, it seemed to be called “Gate Backflow,” and as far as Daehyun remembered, the system had called it a “Demon Realm Rift.”
“The name does not matter.”
What mattered was that he had barely managed to eliminate a single Hellhound.
And if he had not managed to activate his shield, he would have suffered a miserable defeat.
‘A monster from the Demon Realm appeared on Earth, and in a virtual Gate at that…….’
Something that happened once could happen twice.
There was a possibility that countless obstacles like this would unfold before him from now on.
‘I have to become stronger.’
He had to repeat training, repeat real combat, and become stronger.
He had no time to regret the power that had already left his hands.
This body had its own ways to become stronger, and although it was different from Demonic Energy, Divine Power also seemed quite useful, did it not?
“……I may need to go outside for a while.”
There was still much he did not know about this world.
Daehyun lightly nodded and headed back to the dormitory.
***
Click—.
When Daehyun opened the door and entered, for some reason, all the lights were on today.
“Oh, Daehyun, you are back?”
Not only that, but Kang Shinhyuk was not asleep either. He was holding the tooth-like object Daehyun had received from the Crimson Witch and wearing a strange expression.
The reason Kang Shinhyuk was acting like that was because of the conversation they had had before Daehyun left to train.
“This is…….”
“I feel like I have seen it somewhere, but I cannot remember. Daehyun, can I keep looking at this for a while?”
Apparently, he had continued observing it while Daehyun was out training.
Daehyun wondered why he was doing that when nothing would come of it, but on the other hand, Daehyun was also curious, so he decided to leave him be for now.
“I did say you could check it as much as you wanted. So, do you have any idea what it is?”
“First of all, this is a tooth.”
“I can tell that just by looking at it. Do not tell me you spent two whole hours confirming that.”
“No, that is not it…….”
At Daehyun’s firm reply, Kang Shinhyuk scratched his head and spoke.
“It is probably a monster’s tooth. And from the boss of at least an S-rank Gate.”
“S-rank?”
Daehyun tilted his head.
S-rank was a grade that ordinary Superhumans could not clear easily, even if a number of them gathered together.
“Are you sure you saw it properly?”
“Hey. I may look like this, but my father was an artifact appraiser. And my grandfather was also…… No, never mind that.”
“Hmm?”
“Anyway, what I am saying is that there is no way my eyes are wrong.”
Furthermore, if it was a trophy that came from that boss, then if one tried to sell it, it would easily go for several hundred million won, and depending on how one looked at it, it might be an item that could not even be priced.
“Why did she give this to me?”
It was far too expensive to hand over to someone she had just met, and a student at that.
“Something like this is not just used as is. It is probably used to craft weapons exclusively for Superhumans.”
“Superhuman-exclusive weapons……”
Come to think of it, had they said that ordinary human weapons did not work on monsters above a certain level?
As Daehyun wore a questioning expression, Kang Shinhyuk spoke first.
“Come to think of it, you still do not have any personal equipment, do you?”
“Equipment?”
Before he lived as the Fist King, his original self had used a spear.
But Daehyun placed Divine Power into his bare fists and struck with them, so there was not much meaning to it.
That was more comfortable as well.
“Whether in duels or in virtual Gates, are you going to keep fighting with your fists from now on? No, your fists are impressive, but……”
“My fists are comfortable.”
When he heard Daehyun’s firm answer, Kang Shinhyuk tilted his head.
“I know you have become stronger than before. But still, would it not be dangerous to at least go in with nothing?”
“It does not……”
It does not matter.
Daehyun was about to say that, but he hesitated for a moment, then immediately examined his own body.
He had gained some muscle, but he was still weak, and he did not have the swift agility to take on a hundred by himself.
If he could get close, he was strong enough not to lose to anyone, but that was only when he could get close to his opponent.
‘If I take a few ranged hits, I will collapse.’
Certainly, even if it was not a weapon, he did need something.
Superhuman-exclusive equipment called artifacts.
He might need to look into them a little.
“Anyway, I am jealous that you even received a gift from the Crimson Witch. Daehyun, are you actually popular with older women?”
“You just stay quiet.”
“I am joking, man.”
Seeing Daehyun’s expression grow even more serious, Kang Shinhyuk rose from the chair and lifted the tooth.
“So what are you going to do with this? Are you going to sell it?”
“Hmm.”
Daehyun stared for a while at the tooth illuminated by the fluorescent light.
‘Something does not add up if she simply gave it to me out of nowhere.’
At first, he had thought it was a simple antique or accessory, but when he considered that it was a trophy from a high-rank Gate monster, it seemed to carry a slight burden.
‘Have I ever seen that woman before?’
At least according to Daehyun’s memories.
He had never encountered her in his previous life.
Of course, not in the Demon Realm either.
‘It is not as though she entrusted me with disposing of some troublesome trash.’
An S-rank Gate, no less.
A grade that could barely be cleared only by bringing several S-rank Superhumans along.
A trophy that came from such a place could hardly be called trash in terms of price to begin with.
‘……She said she liked me, did she not?’
Above all, Daehyun knew.
That woman.
She had looked into Daehyun’s eyes and seen through something.
His life and hardships.
Because the caliber of their souls differed, she could not have grasped everything, but she must have realized at least that the current Daehyun was not an ordinary human.
For that woman, that much seemed possible.
‘I should keep it for now.’
There might come a day when he would use it.
Thinking that, Daehyun accepted the tooth.