Chapter 6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: First Day of School (The Pigeon Has to Go to School)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Korean Martial Arts Genius Academy, commonly known as Hanmu Academy, holds its class assignment sparring matches two weeks before the entrance ceremony.
To me, it felt like ancient history, but every student participating in the class assignment sparring had already passed the entrance exam months earlier as freshmen.
If I were to compare it to the old imperial exam system, the entrance test was like the civil service exam that determined pass or fail, while the class assignment sparring was like the palace exam that ranked the successful candidates.
Of course, it wasn't as simple as putting winners in upper classes and losers in lower ones. Class assignments were determined by considering results from the entrance test, the sparring matches, and other evaluation criteria.
And so, I arrived at the class I'd been notified of via text not long ago and stopped in front of the door.
Class 1. It was the class reserved for the top 4% of Hanmu Academy freshmen. Naturally, it had fewer students than the other classes.
In the life I now called my past life—before my regression—this was the group of true late bloomers who would all become famous figures in the martial world after graduation.
Of course, if they failed to perform better in future class tests or got overtaken by rising stars, they could be demoted to lower classes. But as long as they held onto their spot in Class 1 until graduation, their future paths were guaranteed to be smooth sailing.
As I opened the door and stepped in, I spotted several familiar faces.
'Of course, it's that guy first.'
The first to catch my eye was Baek Chan. Even sitting at the very back by the window, his massive frame defied perspective, drawing gazes whether he wanted them or not. The desk and chair looked like toys next to him.
Though he'd lost to me in the sparring, Baek Chan had proudly been assigned to Class 1.
It was exactly as expected. He'd entered via recommendation on the entrance test... and swept awards at the Middle School Martial Olympics and various tournaments back in middle school.
That was why, at just seventeen, he had a flashy nickname like "Absolute Defense," childish as it sounded. If a single unexpected loss demoted him to a lower class, it would shatter the ecosystem there like a meteor strike—not an invasive species.
But one thing I hadn't anticipated was ending up in the same class as Baek Chan and the other geniuses.
By the time I'd regressed, the entrance test was already over, so the only factor influencing my class assignment was that one sparring match.
Was beating Baek Chan—the top prospect—just once enough to rank my skills in the absolute upper tier?
From the spirit medicine given by Chairman Baek Kang-mu to everything else, it seemed I'd benefited from Baek Chan's halo quite a bit since regressing.
At that moment, the front door opened with a sound, and my eyes met Baek Chan's as he looked up. He stared at me intently for a moment, almost glaring, before returning to his book.
'Yeah, looks like getting friendly won't be easy.'
Recalling my meeting with Chairman Baek Kang-mu—who bore a striking resemblance to Baek Chan—I scanned the classroom for a suitable empty seat.
-Kwang!
Suddenly, a massive bang echoed through the room. Someone had kicked open the back door.
The figure strode boldly across the classroom and thrust their head toward Baek Chan.
"Hey, Baek! Heard you got your ass kicked and turned into a cripple!?"
"......Tch."
Only then did I glance at Baek Chan's legs. His ankle was wrapped in thick bandages. Even with his monstrously tough body and the best doctors attending him, a wound from Gang Qi slicing a vital point wouldn't heal this quickly.
Baek Chan clicked his tongue in annoyance and muttered in his deep voice.
"Get lost, Veronica."
"Huh? What'd you say? Can't hear the loser's babble."
Whoosh! A menacing gust followed as Baek Chan's massive hand cleaved the air. But the intruder swiftly stepped back, evading the attempt to silence her mocking mouth.
"Why don't you tell me? Where'd my Chan get beat and cry like a baby? I could avenge you, y'know?"
"You... I'm really gonna kill you—"
Whoosh—! Before Baek Chan's furious words could finish, a gust blew right in front of me, where I'd been awkwardly standing amid the commotion, unsure when to sit.
"You the one who crippled our piggy?"
The blonde girl, who had closed the distance in an instant with advanced footwork, looked up at me from right under my nose. Her delicate yet sharp features and cat-like upturned eyes filled my vision.
Her smirking face brimmed with feral mischief. Her sky-blue eyes seemed to flicker with flames.
Blonde hair, blue eyes. Classic Western features you wouldn't see on an average Korean.
That didn't make her some British princess studying abroad, though.
She was born into a family that once wielded the might of a royal house.
The last survivor of Britain's Lionheart Family, once counted among the Ten Great Families.
"Hey. Hey, you gonna fight or what?"
Her fluent Korean curses came because she wasn't a foreign student—she was a naturalized Korean who'd fled here a decade ago to escape her clan's near-total annihilation.
Her current nickname was probably Lion Princess. Though she'd hate it.
But I knew another name she'd earn ten years from now.
'Level 1 Martial Public Enemy, Blood Lion Demon Queen......'
She was the target of a near-total annihilation bounty on the vagabond team I'd once been part of.
Locking eyes with her glowing red pupils in the darkness... I'd truly thought I was done for. John and I barely escaped with our lives back then.
And a Martial Public Enemy title required both infamy and skill. She'd achieved it before even turning thirty.
Her genius talent, the youngest ever to earn such a title, wouldn't have gone unnoticed in her teens.
She'd placed third on the entrance test after Baek Chan, but her skills likely matched his. At this point, they'd be evenly matched.
In other words, even if I fought her seriously now, victory wasn't guaranteed.
Beating Baek Chan had relied heavily on a surprise blow, and the same trick wouldn't work twice.
Though her taunts sounded dismissive, she was wary of me—the one who'd toppled her rival Baek Chan. I could tell from the subtle probe of her energy pricking my skin, gauging my strength.
"You look kinda scrawny...... Did you really beat him?"
Veronica scratched the back of her head and asked. Her hand hovered near the hilt of the greatsword slung on her back, ready to draw.
The students—even Baek Chan, who'd seemed ready to smack her—watched the bizarre standoff silently. On the first day, with a fight brewing in class, you'd think someone would step in.
I got the picture.
'They wanna see my real strength on this chance.'
All Hanmu freshmen were late bloomers, but Class 1 students had been top-tier prodigies since middle school.
Veronica and Baek Chan seemed like longtime acquaintances. The dozen or so kids in this class probably knew each other before enrolling. Everyone except me.
They wanted to know if this random new guy's intrusion was luck or skill.
'Veronica doesn't seem calculating... She's probably just doing this out of her fiery temper. No way she's actually gonna draw her sword here?'
The tense standoff was doused by a girl who silently entered through the door Veronica had flung open.
It had to be that way.
Her footsteps were so quiet they barely touched the ground, but her aura was as immense as everyone's in the class combined.
Her actual combat power was no less. Even if the entire Class 1—filled with kids who'd been called geniuses at least once—rushed her, suppressing her would be impossible... She was beyond genius.
One of only three EX Ranks in the world. The granddaughter of Wind Duke, a master even higher than Chairman Baek Kang-mu, whom I'd met before.
She'd long surpassed mere student level... and after regressing, she was the person I'd most wanted to meet.
Unlike the tall Veronica, who matched my height, the girl who looked barely middle-school age—Son Ha-rin—set down the massive golf bag on her back and quietly moved her lips.
"Loraya."
"......Tch."
At Son Ha-rin's words, Veronica whipped her head away from me.
Veronica scowled and glanced around for an empty seat, tossing her bag onto the nearest desk by the back door and slouching into the one beside it.
Son Ha-rin stood silently in front of it before asking with an expressionless face.
"Can I sit?"
"Can't you see the bag?"
"I see it."
"Then go somewhere else."
"Okay......"
Rejected from sitting next to Veronica, Son Ha-rin circled the classroom once before coming to my side—where I'd already taken a suitable seat—and asked.
"Can I sit?"
"Uh, sure...?"
I answered awkwardly. I had a lot to ask, but "regression" wasn't a topic for casual chat here.
"Thanks."
I side-eyed Son Ha-rin's inscrutable face as she unpacked her things.
The morning bell rang, beginning my strangely bizarre first day of school after regression.