On a Monday morning about three days later…
I wore my school uniform and came down to the basement of the dormitory. The purpose of this was to use the dormitory restaurant that was open starting from 7 a.m.
However, I was a little late. I could already see many students lining up for a meal. Eventually, I was forced to wait at the end of the line.
“Huh.” Even though I had enough sleep, I still felt like I needed some more. It was really hard to get up. I lived as I wanted just a few days ago, but now I felt so tired mentally to live a regular life again.
“What should I do with today’s evaluation test?”
“Hey.”
“But you still have skills. I’m really screwed.”
This morning’s biggest issue was the all-year ranking test at 9 a.m. Listening to the rough talk, it seemed that they were worried that they may be embarrassed in front of many people rather than worrying about the ranking they would eventually receive.
‘Cute guys.’ I was confident in this test. In my previous life, I received several B-level promotions. I had deftly lived as a professional wizard, and I had no intention of averaging these babies. My goal was to be in the top 10 in the second year. This time, I would definitely make an eye mark and raise the ranking to take care of both achievements and reputation points.
After a long line, I sat in an empty seat with food on my plate like other students. Looking around, everyone could be seen having a good meal with their friends. Anyway, looking at the atmosphere, I could tell I was still the only one left eating alone
…Uh, this was a little sad. Or perhaps not.
As I looked carefully, there was one more person who was eating alone like me. It was Yoo A-ra, who was eating alone in a high-altitude posture right in the corner. I looked at her with a sympathetic gaze, and just then my eyes met with hers.
“…….” Yoo A-ra’s eyes frowned upon me as if she had not seen me at all.
* * *
After eating, students began to gather in the auditorium one by one. The ranking evaluation test would then take place in a while, so the atmosphere felt somewhat rigid. Soon all the students gathered in the auditorium. And at the appointed time, the sound of the microphone began to ring out in the auditorium.
[Let’s start the first-year test. Second and third years, please go to the stands on the 2nd floor.]
All the second and third years, including me, moved to the second-floor stands.
‘Oh, I’m so nervous.’
‘Me too…… How did the second and third years do this?’
The conversation of the first-year students, who were very nervous, came to the second floor. Perhaps for freshmen, the pressure on this test felt worse than for other grades. Even if it looked like a simple ranking test, first years also included the concept of a welcoming ceremony for seniors.
[Let’s start the first-grade evaluation test]
Was it starting now?
[Choi Seo-yoon, Jeon Minggi, Ko Jun-hwan…]
Choi Seo-yoon, the No. 1 player in the first year, was the first to be tested at the call on the podium. All the audience’s eyes were on her at her confident step. First years tested all four magical systems because their main specialties had not yet been determined. And the system with the highest score was rated.
“Choi Seo-yoon. Shall we begin?”
“Yes!” The first test was her most confident expression system magic. Before her came a moving target of a human model. It was a ‘doll’ made by magic of summoning. She saw it and stretched her hands forward. At the same time, a white ice window began to materialize over her back.
‘Wow. Look at the size of the window.’
‘She’s not #1 for no reason.’
‘That’s a little crazy.’
Even though it had not yet been magical or flown, admiration had already erupted among the audience. I also admired her talent. The first stage of “implementation” in charge of destructive power in the expression system was almost perfect.
This was a freshman that embodied such a level of magic. There was nothing lacking in detail and clarity. Perhaps the only second and third years who could implement that level were probably Yoo A-ra, the same expression wizard.
“Hot!” At her brief shout, a huge ice spear flew toward the target.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
A shrill sound then cut through the air. The huge sound engulfed the admiring students. The doll moved to escape, but it could not escape the ice spears flying at high speed.
– Quajik!
Once again, admiration erupted among the audience when the target was brutally smashed. “You’re really good.”
“She’ll be in the top 10 even if she’s in the second grade.”
“What do you mean? She’ll definitely be in the top 5.”
The test continued. And soon, tests of other affiliates, Ganghwa, Summon, and Auxiliary, were all completed. As a natural talent, she also showed excellent skills in other fields besides her main specialty, the expression system. After the test, Choi Seo-yoon politely bowed to the teacher next to her. And from there, she bowed her head again toward the stands on the second floor.
Her signature calculated smile then shot at the audience. When she raised her hands and waved them to the audience, cheers arose among the boys.
‘She looks just like an attention-seeker.’
* * *
The time then went by. After the first-year ranking evaluation, the second-year ranking evaluation began. “Wow! This is crazy!”
“How is that just a second year?”
“I heard that this second year is the best of all time, but it’s no joke.”
When Yoo A-ra’s turn was over, a reaction of surprise and astonishment erupted in the stands on the second floor. She was very enthusiastic about her overwhelming performance, which was not first but second. I also admired her magic.
“That’s great…….”
It was hard to believe that the enormous magic contained in it was the magic of a teenage student. Yoo A-ra came down from the test stand one by one.
Despite her perfect magic, her expression as she moved to the waiting room was not bright. I could see what she was thinking. She probably thought she was behind Lee Seo-joon again. Yoo A-ra’s magic was really fantastic just now, but Lee Seo-joon’s appearance before that was just like watching a professional wizard. If it wasn’t for Lee Seo-joon, she would definitely win first place in any generation. I thought it was a pity to see her born in the same generation as him.
[Next is Shin Young-joon]
[And Park In-hwan. Please wait in advance.]
“In-hwan, it’s your turn now.”
“Ha…… “
“I’m annoyed.” Park In-hwan, who sat in the seat in front of me, complained when they called the next name.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
“Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
Park In-hwan glanced at his followers. Then he sighed deeply and shook his head. “Never mind. You don’t have to know.”
“Tell me. What’s the matter?”
“……I got into a fight with a guy on the street yesterday. But I got caught by the association while I was beating him.”
“You got caught in an association?” Park In-hwan’s follower 1 looked absurd. “Well, thanks to you, the school has issued a warning.”
“Isn’t this your second warning?”
“Yes. If I get it again next time, I’ll be suspended at least. I’ll lay low for the time being.”
“……I have to be careful.” Park In-hwan sighed and lay down behind the chair. Then he made eye contact with a student next to me. “What are you looking at?”
“…….” Park In-hwan’s sharp words made the student next to him blink.
“What are you looking at?”
“..…Oh, I’m sorry.” The student next to me bowed. Park In-hwan, who saw that, shook his head pitifully.
“Phew.”
“Hey, I told you not to bother the kids, right?”
Lee Seo-joon, who was watching Park In-hwan’s atrocities, stepped up. Park In-hwan looked at Lee Seo-joon with a sour expression and got up from his seat. Such was the atmosphere of a fight about to break out.
Soon, however, Park In-hwan lowered his tail first. “Yes, yes. If Lee Seo-joon tells me not to do it, I shouldn’t.” The sarcasm was evident in his tone of voice.
Lee Seo-joon then looked at him with cold eyes. “Park In-hwan.”
[Park In-hwan from Class A, 2nd year, please come up]
Just in time, the sound of calling Park In-hwan on the podium rang. Park In-hwan shrugged. “It’s called from above. Iman.” Park In-hwan glared at the entire waiting room and climbed onto the podium. After a storm, the waiting room regained its original atmosphere.
* * *
From there, the test continued. The boring situation continued when all the top-ranked talented students were finished. “Oh, my.”
When I yawned, Park In-hwan, who sat in front of me, then looked back at me. I didn’t like the way he would look at me. Sensitive. I could try to say something, but if I got into a fight, I got lazy and ignored it.
I knew Park In-hwan played a crazy position at the beginning of the novel. There was nothing good about being tied up. What to do with the rest of the time?
While thinking alone, I suddenly became curious about my ability and checked my ability window.
━━ ━━ [Capacity]
Physical strength: 42.02
Strength: 34.01
Magic Power: 21.91
Speed: 30
Quickness: 32
Handicraft: 28 ━━
A small but changed ability.
The biggest change was mana. The magic power, which had been 21 on the first day of regression, reached 21.91 in three days. This was because I spent a lot of time on Mana’s experience for two days on Saturdays and Sundays. Thanks to this, I gained nearly 1 magic power. Of course, it was not a noticeable change, but if I worked this hard every day, one day my magic would definitely be worth using.
While designing for the future alone, I heard the sound of a microphone on the platform.
[Cho Minyoung and Kim Seon-woo. Please come out and wait in advance.]
Was it finally my turn?
* * *
The teacher’s waiting room was located in the corner of the first floor. Twenty teachers gathered here to share their thoughts on the test, which was full of snacks and tea. “The second year was definitely amazing.”
“Right? He’s the best rider of all time.”
Lee Hee-young, a teacher in charge of expression, shone. “Yoo A-ra was amazing earlier. Did you see Lee Seo-joon? Isn’t he amazing?”
“He’s such a good swordsman. How beautiful the magic on that sword was.”
“I’m worried. I was afraid that other students who made Ganghwa-gye their main specialty would be discouraged when they saw Seo-joon.”
That made the teachers laugh. “You’ve definitely improved during the vacation.”
“You’ve improved more.”
“Of course, I’m at the age of improving my skills.”
“On top of that, I think I can’t help but improve my skills because I’ve been taught by Chairman Kim Jin-cheol during the vacation.”
At that time, a teacher who was drinking coffee quietly asked as if she had remembered. “But what does Lee Seo-joon have to do with Chairman Kim Jin-cheol?”
“He’s a student.”
“No, I thought there was something else to do with him.”
“Oh, I don’t know that. Rumor has it that Chairman Kim Jin-cheol raised Seo-joon since he was young. He has so many secrets.”
When Lee Hee-young suddenly remembered, he stirred… “Isn’t it Chairman Kim Jin-cheol’s hidden bloodline?”
“Then I understand that talent, too.”
“Oh, aren’t you writing too many novels?”
“Is that so?”
[Kim Seon-woo, a second-year A class]
The teachers stopped chatting when they heard the microphone sound on the podium. “He’s a student in my class,” said Jang Won-cheol, a homeroom teacher of Class A, who was silent among teachers.
“Kim Seon-woo? Who is it? I was in charge of the first years last year.”
“He was in my class last year. Seon-woo may not be able to remember because he doesn’t have much presence.”
“Um. I thought I memorized all the faces of the students.”
While the teachers were talking, Kim Seon-woo came up to the test table. The teachers looked at him and spoke their thoughts. “He looks more relaxed than I thought.”
“I know. He seems confident,” one of the teachers said after looking at the student list. “Looking at last year’s grades, he’s a talented student in Ganghwa. The ranking is 112th,” a teacher tilted his head at that.
“Ganghwa-gye?”
“It must be martial arts or physical strength.”
“The table here says you used a sword.”
At that time, a doll was summoned in front of Kim Sun-woo on the podium. The fact that the doll was summoned… It was that he was taking an expression system test. “It’s an expression system.”
One of the teachers laughed as if he didn’t expect it. “Well, there are students like that sometimes. People who specialize in the field they like rather than in the field they are good at.”
“There are sometimes…”
“….”
While the teacher was talking, Kim Seon-woo, who was at the test table, reached out. A white shining sphere was created over his hand.
It was an ordinary sphere at first glance. At that time, Lee Hee-young, an expression teacher who was quietly watching, felt something strange. “That kid….”
It was the mana sphere embodied by Kim Seon-woo. The compressed mana was felt in the little sphere. “Compression implementation?”
Compression implementation. It was a technology that compressed small magic power in the ‘implementation’ stage, the first stage of expression magic. By reducing the size of the magic, the next steps of implementation, “release” and “manipulation,” could be used more comfortably.
“……Oh, second-year students have that skill.”
However, compression implementation was a skill only used by some experienced veteran wizards. This was because young students emphasized the importance of emission responsible for “speed” and manipulation responsible for “hit” rather than implementation responsible for “destructive power.”
However, it was only 112th place. Even a few months ago, a student who showed his specialty in the Ganghwa world was using low-level technology. It was not clumsy but perfect. “That student. He’s pretty good,” Lee Hee-young nodded to a teacher who heard him next to her. It wasn’t easy for a B-class wizard to compress and implement magic power.
Meanwhile, Kim Seon-woo’s magic sphere emitted a strong light. To emit a strong light. Now, the second stage of the expression system, “release,” began. And as expected, Kim Seon-woo’s magic sphere was fired at the target, leaving a white afterimage.
Looking at the flying sphere, Lee Hee-young had thought that, in the second grade, there were many talented children other than Lee Seo-joon and Yoo A-ra.
“…….”
“…….”
However, an unexpected situation occurred. “……Huh?”
Teachers also felt something strange and expressed their doubts. Why was it so quiet?
“What is it?” The teachers, who felt something strange, stood up and looked at Kim Seon-woo. Kim Seon-woo also looked stiff, as if he had not expected the situation.
‘What is it?’
‘The magic sphere had disappeared during release.’ ‘What? Why disappear?’ The teachers also asked again because they didn’t understand the situation. What the hell happened?
Magic could disappear during release? It was then… They heard laughter somewhere inside the auditorium.
“Phew.”
That was the beginning. Soon the laughter began to fill the auditorium like an epidemic.
“Laughing out loud!”
“LOL! What’s that?”
“Oh, that’s so funny. Who’s that?”
“I filmed a video of it.”
“Wow. I couldn’t keep that little magic tool and destroyed it.”
It took quite a long time for the laughter to end inside the auditorium.
