There Are Many Peculiar Cadets in the Free Major Department (4)

Instructor Lee Suyeon found herself thinking back once more.

The purpose of this test.

To force the cadets to adapt to their secondary attributes as quickly as possible.

That's why I deliberately set the rules as a timed survival.

An Awakened's senses activate in moments of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crisis. With their primary authorities restricted, they would be thrown into chaos — stripped of the very power that defined their bodies. But if they adapted to that chaos quickly enough, their senses would sharpen into a blank slate of pure sensitivity.

Sensitive to every attribute except their primary one. In other words, their secondary attributes.

Well, first-year cadets who've barely started are hardly going to catch that intention. Today's only the first lecture, after all.

That was what she thought.

She was wrong.

There was a cadet who had figured out the intent the moment the test began.

That Lee Junwoo again.

The other cadets were still standing around the five mana stones, agonizing over their choices. Lee Junwoo didn't hesitate for a second — he picked the fire-attribute stone.

Don't tell me he's been thinking about secondary attributes all along?

Unlike ordinary cadets who tunnel-visioned on a single attribute until their perspective narrowed to nothing, he had clearly kept his senses open to the possibilities of other attributes. That much was proof.

And that wasn't all. His adaptation speed was blistering.

Lee Junwoo charged the mana stone in a rush. Injecting mana into it would convert the energy into the corresponding attribute — that much was true of any mana stone. But the charging speed varied wildly depending on an Awakened's innate talent, or their depth of understanding of the attribute itself.

Lee Junwoo fully charged his mana stone faster than anyone.

But in his case, it probably wasn't raw talent. If that charging speed had come from natural gift alone, he would have completed his second awakening long ago.

But Lee Junwoo's theory scores were clearly top-tier.

Which meant he possessed a high-level grasp of the basic attribute theory taught across every class. That theoretical foundation, combined with the special restrictions of the current situation, must have produced a synergy effect.

You could tell just from the way he navigated around that swamp earlier.

He had checked the mana stone's charge rate, then noticed that water-attribute mana — fire's natural counter — had spread through the surrounding area.

He must have calculated the charge rate per unit of time. That formula isn't easy, but he solved it almost instantly.

Having located the swamp, he turned the terrain against his rivals and eliminated three competing cadets. After that, on this War World–based test map — even in the brutal jungle terrain — he showed not a flicker of panic, and was the first to reach the high ground.

Not just combat sense, but the vision to read an entire battlefield?

At this level, he had already surpassed the category of raw gemstone. If Lee Junwoo possessed the physical specs of those top three High Class cadets — the members of Aegis — talk of him surpassing even the second-year elites of the so-called Golden Generation would already be circulating.

A cadet like that ending up in our department... I'm getting excited!

Of course she couldn't take her eyes off Lee Junwoo.

Then her gaze stopped.

On the high ground, two cadets had finally squared off. Choi Hana, the female cadet with excellent practical scores. And Lim Jaeho, the beastkin freshman who ranked first overall in the Free Major Department. They locked eyes, sizing each other up.

Oh. Those two? Might as well watch this.

Lee Junwoo had simply been too eye-catching. The cadet who had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tackling this test most like a true Awakened was none other than Lim Jaeho.

Clang—

Their weapons collided.

Securing the high ground first had been the right call after all.

The jungle map was filthy with treacherous terrain, which made rushing the key points just as difficult. Unless you were a veteran like me.

I sat atop the wooden watchtower built on the high ground, surveying the surroundings at my leisure.

Class 1 here. Higher level than I expected.

I hadn't assumed I'd take first place easily. Even inside this War World — practically home ground for me — I hadn't been able to stop moving for a second. My mind had been working just as hard.

The single most decisive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠factor separating levels of game play: the difference in fundamental concepts.

Even Jeong Siu, who had brushed past me earlier, wasn't easy. He was a major enemy character who appeared in the original's Middle Class training quests. And in this test, both Choi Hana and Jiyu were my enemies. Both of them were innate four-stars — enough said.

But Jeong Siu and Jiyu had already been eliminated. So had one other Class 1 cadet.

Jiyu fought pretty well, all things considered.

She was a Grand Master of the War World herself. She knew every hazard and pattern of jungle terrain. She'd leveraged that veteran advantage properly — the problem was her decision paralysis. She'd dithered among the secondary attributes, trying one after another, which meant the amount of attribute mana she'd charged into her stone had clearly been insufficient. On top of that, her primary weapon had been sealed. Her specialty as a textbook loner was stealth. But with no way to use her assassin techniques, simply making it to the high ground had been her best possible result.

Making the top five is still impressive, though.

BOOOOM—

An explosion roared from somewhere beyond. Two figures locked in combat came into view.

Three left now. Me, Choi Hana, and the male cadet who'd punched a water bomb into oblivion just earlier — Lim Jaeho.

Of course those two end up fighting each other.

Lim Jaeho was a werewolf of beastkin origin. One of the innate four-star human-rights characters. And depending on the story route, he could turn into a genuinely nasty enemy. Oripiel the elf — one of the main story's major shadow figures, a beastkin supremacist — had him marked as a primary recruitment target.

Lim Jaeho has a lot of resentment toward his father.

His father was a guild member of Valhalla's Apostles, and a well-known brawler who had once worked alongside Choi Hana's father — the boss. His combat prowess as a hunter was reasonably famous, but as a hero, Lim Jaeho's father had zero reputation.

Because he was nothing more than Song Yuhwan's useful tool.

Song Yuhwan, Song Sia's father. As that guildmaster's subordinate, he had handled every dirty, brutal job thrown his way. But because of his werewolf heritage, Lim Jaeho's father never rose to an executive position in the guild. Discrimination against beastkin was supposedly a thing of the past — yet Song Yuhwan, ironically, still treated beastkin as nothing but tools. The man who saw even his own daughter Song Sia as a tool. Hardly surprising.

So Lim Jaeho's hatred of everything connected to Valhalla's Apostles was only natural.

I will never live the way my father did.

That was the line Lim Jaeho spat like a habit in the original. Which made him easy prey for Oripiel's persuasion. That man was sitting on a prophecy left by some archmage, and the prophecy pointed straight at Theia Academy. He would be looking to make a move any day now.

As early as next week's Hell Week, if things go that way.

But what mattered right now was this: Lim Jaeho was an innate four-star. And if I could prevent his villain corruption, he would make an excellent party member for Choi Hana's underworld content. Unknown's goals and Choi Hana's were aligned, so it was a win for me too.

As a werewolf, if I could defeat him in a way he found convincing, he would become an absolutely reliable ally. The catch was that he despised unmanly contests of any kind — especially provocation and cheap shots.

Step wrong and I'm dead.

Even so, I had to take first place in this test no matter what. Going at him head-on was a guaranteed slaughter. I'd leave no impression on him and lose the first-place reward in the process.

I need to leave an impression on Instructor Lee Suyeon too.

That was the higher priority right now. There would be plenty of time to win over Lim Jaeho later.

CRASHHHHH—

Another thunderous impact. Choi Hana and Lim Jaeho's match ended almost immediately. True to her alchemist nature, Choi Hana had fought well even with a secondary attribute —

"Kh... I've lost."

The secondary attribute she'd chosen was fire. Lim Jaeho had water — the perfect counter. Superior combat skill plus type advantage. Game over.

She couldn't overcome Lim Jaeho's debuff, then.

That was when it happened.

"So you're the only one left."

Lim Jaeho, having dropped Choi Hana, looked up at me.

Smells me out like a proper wolf.

A massive frame, mid-to-late 180s. He hadn't revealed his true beastkin form the way Song Sia did — he still looked human — but those gray eyes were packed with a werewolf's raw ferocity.

Just locking eyes with that gaze is a high-grade debuff.

This had nothing to do with authority skills. It was a debuff radiating through the bloodline of a born alpha werewolf.

But I didn't look away.

"......"

Our eyes met, and he spoke in a low voice.

"Come down. Let's settle this in one round."

Lim Jaeho, true to form — always craving a frontal fight.

I grinned and answered.

"Nah. Don't feel like it."

I provoked him to his face.

Lim Jaeho was thinking hard.

What am I supposed to do?

Even if his father was nothing more than Song Yuhwan's tool, the mere fact that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the man came from Valhalla's Apostles put him at the absolute top of the cadet cartel. Free Major Department. Middle Class. The instructors at the class placement evaluation had said as much — coldly speaking, he didn't belong in this department or this training group.

The only reason he'd chosen this place was that he wanted zero contact with Song Sia, Song Yuhwan's daughter. Naturally, every cadet whose background had even a thread of connection to Valhalla's Apostles treated Song Sia like a queen. Lim Jaeho had found that spectacle revolting since his days at Theia High Academy.

My father even tried to force that same loyalty onto me. Damn it!

Werewolf society followed the leader's will without question. He didn't hate his father on an emotional level — but he could never accept Song Yuhwan as a leader.

Which was why Lim Jaeho had been on edge since before the first lecture even started today.

What the hell is that Lee Junwoo? What kind of guy is he?

Honestly? Lim Jaeho was afraid of him. Lee Junwoo was nothing like his father — nothing like him.

Still, he forced the words out.

"Come down. Let's settle this in one round."

"Nah. Don't feel like it."

At that answer, cold sweat beaded on his skin unbidden. He looked up.

A genuine madness was burning in Lee Junwoo's eyes.