Entering D-Class (1)
When I regained consciousness, I was lying with my head on Hwayeon's lap.
But with a single gesture, 25,000 TP vanished and I passed out. I have to make sure I don't use it again.
"Hmm~ I understand Franc's feelings, but abilities are like this: the more you use them, the higher your proficiency gets, right? The higher your proficiency, the more you can get big effects with less resources. At first it'll be tough, but isn't it important to practice often to raise your proficiency?"
"Raising your proficiency still means it's dangerous if you pass out like this. This training ground is open all around, so if a sniper takes a shot when you're defenseless, there's no way to undo it."
Proficiency... proficiency...
"Then what about in the Phase World?"
"In the Phase World? Seoha still has a little over 7 months until he becomes an adult."
"It's fine~. We already owe the Alliance a bit from Seoha's last entry, so if I charge a few high-grade phase stones with Seoha's ability and donate them, an early entry permit should come out."
"...Did you calculate the profit and loss while leaving Seoha behind?"
"How could that be!? Just in case, I made a debt to use as a hidden card in the political struggle! ...Originally, I was going to save it for when Seoha, as a detector type, is about to reach his prime moment, but with this ability, it's better to get the early entry permit."
Ah, Seoha. Are you okay?
Franc was the first to notice that I had regained consciousness while the three of us were talking with my eyes closed.
"Huh?!"
"Seoha? Are you awake?"
When I opened my eyes, it was like I was seeing two identical versions of myself—Hwayeon and Yeongeun—standing there, with Franc looking down at us from above.
Just like the three goddesses who show past, present, and future, their beautiful faces were looking at me with concern, and I felt a slight lift in my mood.
"Yeah. How long was I out?"
Instead of Hwayeon, who was supporting my head with both palms and her thighs, Yeongeun looked at the watch on her wrist and spoke.
"A little over an hour. Any dizziness or nausea?"
"I'm fine. I heard that other people can't regain their senses when their TP runs out, but I seem to be okay."
"Hehe. As expected, our special Seoha rejects the ordinary? As expected of Blue Ji......"
"Don't say that."
"Kyaa?!"
When I poked Franc's chest with my finger as she tried to break a taboo, she let out a shrill scream and stopped talking.
"How's your body? Did you gain enlightenment? Has your TP increased?"
I tried to sit up, but Hwayeon pressed my shoulders gently to keep me from rising.
Thinking about it, was this also enlightenment? When I first gained phase power control, it probably wasn't. Anyway, after listening to Hwayeon, I checked the phase power inside my body and saw it had risen to 35,000.
......D-Class and immediately +10,000 TP. Getting such opportunities so often makes me a bit scared.
"35,000? You hit the jackpot twice already. As expected, our Seoha is amazing~. Even later, you'll keep hitting jackpots while becoming S-Class, right?"
But Yeongeun, who heard my words, seemed unusually happy. Franc and Hwayeon were the same.
I felt a bit embarrassed and asked Yeongeun to change the subject.
"I heard the story about the early entry permit before I woke up. Isn't it only possible for direct relatives?"
"There are no people who would sacrifice their own family for others, so that's just a rumor, right? Old monsters in politics and business never sacrifice themselves or do things like adventuring for others. If there's a celebrity who will vouch for their identity with everything they have, that part is fine~. And I wouldn't mind giving everything to Seoha."
Really? Looking at Yeongeun smiling as if she was about to give everything like our mom, my heart gave a little flutter.
Hwayeon opened her mouth with a hum.
"Then if I also lend my strength together with the lady, the chances of getting the early entry permit will increase."
"Yeah yeah. Unlike when you get the early entry screening, this time it'll come out quickly, so you can look forward to it!"
"......Why are you saying that?"
"Huh? You don't remember how twisted your personality was back then? How much trouble I went through to shut up the Association that kept pestering me with questions."
"T-that's a story from when I was little!"
"Even if it's from when I was little, it's not 6 years ago! No wonder your personality started changing! It must have been thanks to Siha or Seoha! If you didn't have Seoha, you'd still be a half-baked idiot, ahhk!"
Hwayeon's face turned redder and redder from Yeongeun's torrent of criticism. Unable to hold back, Hwayeon raised her hand and poked Yeongeun's side hard.
......After learning her real birth secret, Hwayeon seems to have lost her hesitation in using her strength on Yeongeun.
Yeongeun, who had quickly backed away to avoid Hwayeon who couldn't move with my head on her lap, started pressing Hwayeon with her words.
Hearing Yeongeun's excited voice and Hwayeon's flustered and angry voice, I closed my eyes and thought about the evolved spatial perception.
Hmm? When I closed my eyes, the two voices sounded similar. No no, I have to think about abilities.
First, the abnormal TP consumption of spatial manipulation.
As soon as Yeongeun mentioned spatial manipulation, I realized that spatial manipulation is an ability linked to spatial perception since I gained enlightenment. My intuition also said so.
Actually, I had thought spatial perception was weird. A detection ability with no TP consumption? The TP consumption for normal detection or sensing ability users is huge, but a cheat ability like spatial perception having zero consumption doesn't make sense.
So, before I got spatial manipulation, spatial perception was, as Franc said, half-baked.
"As Franc said, my ability was half-baked."
I-I never said that?!
Hwayeon and Yeongeun glared sharply at Franc after hearing my mutter, and Franc jumped in surprise and denied it.
"It's not about software and hardware. Anyway, although spatial perception had no TP consumption, since its own ability was so ridiculous, I couldn't even think that part was weird, but after getting spatial manipulation ability, it finally feels complete. Up until now, it was a half-baked ability."
While talking with my eyes closed, the atmosphere felt strange, so I opened my eyes and saw the three of them looking at me with annoyed expressions.
"Calling a talent like that half-baked...... uh! Now that I realized my ability, it's done. Although TP consumption is severe, when you reach B-Class, that part will become a strength."
"How can severe consumption become a strength?"
"Seoha~? That's not it. Generally, the efficiency or power of abilities is proportional to the TP consumption?"
Ah... so consuming 25,000 phase power without limit means its future potential is huge.
"And the fact that a dirt mound collapsed when I pointed with my finger can be seen as having uniqueness like lightning, light, and darkness. The basic foundations of fire, wind, water, and earth are ejection type, but light, darkness, and lightning are different?"
While blinking and listening, Yeongeun opened her mouth with a slightly hardened expression.
"With space distorting and the dirt mound crumbling and the school fence breaking, it might be even more fatal to living beings."
"It means breaking the tissue connections between cells?"
Yeongeun stood up from her seat and answered Hwayeon's question.
"To be accurate, we have to experiment from now on? I'll look around and come back. Seoha and Hwayeon, wait here for a moment. Franc, help me."
-Yeah.-
Seeing Franc float into the air at Yeongeun's request, I asked in surprise.
"Huh? Yeongeun and Franc don't talk to each other?"
It was more surprising that the two didn't talk than the fact that I directly experimented.
-Yeah. It turned out that Yeongeun and I were born at almost the same time, so we decided not to talk to each other.-
"Anyway, rest up!"
Yeongeun quickly stopped talking when the age story came up, and she ran eastward with Franc at a gallop. After watching Franc flying behind, I looked up at Hwayeon, who was just sweeping my head without any special expression.
Has her emotion toward Yeongeun been completely resolved? My guess is that Hwayeon has been trying hard to get recognition from Yeongeun for a long time, but to resolve such emotions in an instant...... um.
After the two disappeared, maintaining a subtle silence and waiting, about 10 minutes later Yeongeun returned with a few dead pigeons that were cleanly killed without a scratch and shrugged her shoulders.
"Pigeons keep increasing even though the seawater reclamation project is being carried out. Let's test on pigeons and bury them in the ground."
Pigeons are pests. In the West, they use special capture devices to wipe them out completely.
"Good work. It must have been hard finding them rather than catching them."
"Uhu. Then the reward is a kiss...... kyaa!"
Yeongeun approached me sneakily with a mischievous smile, but Franc shot her a fierce glare.
-Yeongeun? There's a proper order. If you keep doing that, I won't stay quiet?-
"Ahuk."
Yeongeun, who trembled from Franc's lightning, collapsed with a thud and reached out to me with difficulty.
After grabbing Yeongeun's hand that was spewing smoke and stroking her head, I used healing touch, and she looked up at me with a dazed face before her face turned bright red.
"Seoha. Since you consumed a lot of TP earlier, it would be better to rest more and do it again."
Hwayeon was worried that I might be about to throw TP and pass out again, but that wasn't the case.
"Manipulating nearby is low in TP consumption. As the distance increases and the range widens, TP consumption seems to increase rapidly."
If I use it nearby, is it dangerous...?
"When I broke the fence earlier, the vibration reached my body and arms, right? This seems like an ability that doesn't harm me."
I approached the dead pigeon, knelt on one knee, and extended my hand. Concentrating my senses on my hand while recalling the thrill I felt when I gained enlightenment and moved space.......
Soon, the space around the point of contact began to ripple and distort, and the pigeon's corpse disappeared into powder without a sound.
As the final check of the ability, I activated mana mode and checked the ring patterns inside my body.
"Hmm. As expected, it increased to 6 layers."
I gained spatial manipulation ability, spatial perception range expanded to 1.5km, and the number of healing wave stages increased by one, totaling 6 stages.
Other things like mana bullet, mana laser, and mana mode-acceleration physical enhancement efficiency also seemed to rise, but those were too noticeable abilities to check immediately, so it was a pity.
After the ability check ended, Yeongeun tried to pull my arm and go to her house, but I refused because there was a test starting tomorrow.
"Starting tomorrow is the semester test. I have to study at home."
I had memorized all the textbooks, but I still had to ask my sister about the subjects for tomorrow's test and memorize them. If my test scores bottom out in the current school atmosphere, I might become a laughingstock.
"......Should I abolish the test system?"
Yeongeun's absurd words made me stare in surprise, and she also smiled faintly and swept her hair back.
It was only 6 PM, and she was already trying to leave, so I was a bit sad too.
When I got out of the car at the apartment entrance, people passing by were whispering while looking at me rather than the car. Probably because I had been on a morning broadcast once.
Ability-related issues draw more attention than entertainment or political news.
"Ah, since we're here, let's greet Seoha's parents."
"Seoha, then let's see each other after the test. Bye."
Hwayeon choked Yeongeun's neck who was trying to get out of the car and bid farewell, then left the apartment complex. Watching Yeongeun fidgeting in the car, she seemed like sisters. Hwayeon was the older sister.
"At first she had a very charismatic look, but she seems to be turning into a fool like Sophia."
Pu. That was Yeongeun's original appearance. When she found her mental sanctuary, the mask covering her face was peeled off and her true self was revealed.
"Is that so?"
When I got home, my sister was sitting alone on the sofa watching TV.
"I'm back."
"Welcome. Hee hee hee."
On TV, a talk show featuring a talkative chef searching for restaurants and filming mukbang was airing, and my sister was hitting the cushion with a thud and laughing non-stop because it was so funny.
[Huh? Is this for two people?]
[No, I ate a little less. I was worried it might be too much.]
[......?]
"Ahahaha!"
[Hey, I ordered for two, but why are you giving 1.5 portions?]
"This restaurant is amazing! Hee hee."
[Usually they give more for filming. But why less here?!]
[You shouldn't eat too much.]
[(Crying) It's not that I want to eat a lot......]
"Puhahaha!"
The laughter of a grown woman was being held back...... Franc also became curious about the broadcast and sat next to my sister watching TV, and when she started laughing with a pu sound, I just went to the bathroom to wash up.
The training ground was also complete, and after the tests tomorrow and the day after, I could go to the training ground to practice hitting attribute bullets. Then, the phase stones in the phase stone vest would lose their meaning, so I had to charge them all and give them to Hwayeon.
Ah, is the phase stone sealing easy? What kind of materials would it be?
After washing up, my sister and Franc were still giggling while watching TV. I had to ask them to teach me after the program ended.
"Seoha~. How about dinner kal-guksu?"
"Kal-guksu is good."
When the TV showed kal-guksu, I suddenly wanted to eat it too. I like noodles too.
I sat at the desk, turned on the tablet, and selected the parts that might come out on the test, when Franc passed through the wall and spoke.
-Seoha? Siha-ssi went to the market. I'll go with her too.-
Mom must be late today. When I opened the door and went out, my sister was wearing shoes in a shopping outfit, so I called her and pulled out TP from my finger.
"Sister. Close your eyes."
"Huh?"
My sister looked at the TP sprouting from the tip of my finger, put on her shoes, stood up, and closed her eyes. ......It was a pretty face, as if it was the same person who was laughing like a year ago.
My sister received a buff and left the house smiling brightly with Franc. It was reassuring if Franc followed me.
My sister's homemade mushroom kal-guksu, which she made with effort for the first time in a while, tasted like a drug. Once I started eating, I couldn't stop.
The side dish was only kimchi, but the soup with the topping of minari, mushrooms, and seafood was rich and refreshing, drawing out an indescribable umami.
Especially the broth soaking the noodles...... cruu~.
But my sister made four portions even though she couldn't even eat one. Well, since it was delicious, I ate it all.
"Uwa. My stomach is going to burst."
"Sit and rest. I'll bring some plum tea."
"Yeah. And since there's a test starting tomorrow, teach me some study too."
"Yeah~."
She emptied the soup without leaving a drop, and she seemed really happy. She looked very happy.
Mom really likes it when I eat all the food without leaving anything. Dad has a short mouth and doesn't eat a variety of things.
Mom makes it and deliberately puts it in my mouth and on top of rice, so I eat it, but I don't try to eat on my own. My sister eats only as much as a new feed for body management.
That's why Mom really likes it when I eat well, and that personality seems to have been inherited by my sister too.
While drinking the plum tea my sister brought and receiving a genius private tutoring in the living room, around 9 PM my mom and dad came home from work.
When I asked why they were so late, they said there were many emergency patients before they left work, so they had to treat them all and came late.
When Mom spoke, it sounded like a treatment-related statement like emergency care, but when Dad spoke, it seemed like they had processed and eliminated them.......
Anyway, while looking at the studying day, Mom made snacks saying she was kind and we all ate together and studied until 11 PM while receiving my sister's private tutoring.
Thanks to that, I think I'll do well on tomorrow's test.
"Ah~! Damn it!! I failed!!"
After the last test of the 4th period ended, I looked at Kim Chang-hyun, who was burying his head on the desk and shouting in despair, and asked Cho Min-ho.
"Why is he like that?"
"H-he misunderstood the test range and studied the wrong part......"
"Idiot. There are separate things to misunderstand. Why did you misunderstand the part to study?"
Han Go-eun's mocking words made Kim Chang-hyun look up with a start, and he shouted at Han Go-eun as if his heart was about to burst.
"The bookmark was recorded wrong! Aaaaa~!"
"That's~ your fault~? Pu!"
Wow. Kang So-ra was laughing very annoyingly. Kim Chang-hyun went into a frenzy from Kang So-ra's taunts, and Kang Ju-chan, who had been smiling awkwardly, tried to calm Kim Chang-hyun.
"Haha. Still, Chang-hyun, since you usually listen well in class, you shouldn't have a bad basic score."
"Uuu~. If my test score is bad, my dad said he'd cut my allowance. What to do......"
"There are still two days left for the test, so cheer up."
Kang Ju-chan, who was comforting Kim Chang-hyun, watched by Su Yu-ri, who smiled like a rabbit and asked me.
"Seoha, how about you? Did you do well on the test?"
"I got tutoring from my sister yesterday. Thanks to that, I think it'll be okay."
"Kuaaaak!! Jealous kid!!"
I left Kim Chang-hyun, who started to go even more wild, and stood up from my seat.
"Are you going to Time River again today?"
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
"Ah, Seoha! Wait!"
When I was about to leave with my bag, Han Go-eun called me.
"Do you have plans on Saturday after the test? I received an invitation to the newly opened hotel swimming pool for a after-party, so how about going together?"
Swimming... I remembered Dad warning me to be careful, um.
I looked at Franc standing behind the kids, and Franc smiled brightly and pointed to her left wrist. The location of my authenticator.
"Can I bring a few more?"
"Huh? Yeah. The invitation is for 3 people, 1 per person, so I can invite 2 more."
Me, Kim Chang-hyun, Cho Min-ho, Kang Ju-chan, Han Go-eun, Su Yu-ri, Kang So-ra—that's 7? Then I could invite Hwayeon and Yeongeun too... wait, no, Yeongeun can't. Then maybe invite my sister? I had to ask.
"Okay. Then reserve two seats."
My words made Kim Chang-hyun turn around with a snap and run over to grab my shoulder with sparkling eyes.
"Who who are you inviting? Maybe? Maybeee?"
"What are you talking about."
I gave a little strength and pressed Kim Chang-hyun's head, then told the kids with a bit of heart.
"We can't even play together...... Thanks for calling me often."
"......Yeah! Ehehe."
Han Go-eun listened to my words, smiled brightly, and teased Hwayeon with "You like that~?", "Go-eun's mouth will split." while poking her side.
When I arrived at the training ground after school, I asked Franc for protection in case I passed out and started practicing close-range spatial manipulation and mana mode.
I wanted to practice the ultimate technique that Hwa Joong-kang uncle used, but I couldn't show my strength yet.......
While practicing the basic form of Kwon-gak-sul that Hwayeon taught me intermittently in a place where the slate roof blocked the sky and the walls and mounds blocked external views, when TP recovered, I tried close-range spatial manipulation.
Kwon-gak-sul was honestly just following the form, so I practiced while receiving advice and criticism from Franc, but I was skeptical whether this really helped in combat.
Franc also looked at me with pitiful eyes every time I practiced Kwon-gak-sul without saying anything.......
But close-range spatial manipulation felt very exciting as it became mine the more I used it. The usage delay gradually decreased, and I could increase and decrease the TP consumption a little at will.
After finishing the practice of mana mode-acceleration, I sat on the bare floor, sighed while waiting for TP to fill, and thought.
I was also D-Class now. I had nothing but felt like I was eating for free, but I was at the level of a mid-tier raider. In terms of phase power alone, it was a little higher than Choi Soohan's. But I still couldn't show my abilities in front of others, so I felt a bit frustrated.
I thought I was more mature and had stronger patience than the other kids, but I felt frustrated because I couldn't use my abilities freely, which was the same as anyone else.
......
I glanced up at Franc floating in the air, and when she received my gaze, Franc tilted her head cutely, blushed, and pressed the middle of her skirt.
-Seoha. Upskirt is not allowed!-
"Ah, I'm not doing it! Where did you learn that word?!"
Upskirt! It's a sexual harassment word!
Ah, even though I've done everything with Franc, every time she says that, I feel like dying of embarrassment.
My face was heating up, so I started fanning myself and clenching and unclenching my fists.
By the way, if I practiced a little more...... it wouldn't be bad, right? It wasn't a blatant demonstration, and it was secret practice.
External views were blocked, and there were no surveillance or voyeurism devices within the spatial perception range, so for a moment.......
While feeling my heart beating pleasantly, I recalled Hwa Joong-kang uncle's ultimate technique of grinding his balls, and I started condensing TP on my palm a little at a time as uncle did.
I was condensing with all my might, but to avoid danger, slowly, a little at a time...... adding rotation.......
When condensing TP without thinking on Bosom Mountain, it wasn't compressed much, but following Hwa Joong-kang uncle's movements, TP was condensing layer by layer! Wow, this is exciting?!
-......Seoha? What are you doing now?-
"Huh? ......Eh?! W-what is this? When did it gather so much?!"
I had just turned my attention for a moment, but my palm now had 5,000 TP condensed, and like uncle, my hand was trembling and tingling from the fingertips.
"W-wrong. This is dangerous!"
Ah?! H-how did you gather phase power like this?!
Franc also started panicking like me. The TP gathered on my palm was about 5,000. I'm not a normal ability user, and if that explodes, it's 100 times the power, so 50,000...... heek!
I couldn't imagine what would happen if it exploded right in front of me. No, I'd die! Mana bullets also affect me unlike spatial manipulation!
-Seoha! Shoot it into the sky!-
While holding my trembling arm and panicking, Franc also turned pale and told me to shoot mana bullet into the sky!
T-that's right! Rather than dying, it would be better to have my ability exposed!
......No, since I'm here, I should test it!
"Franc! If I pass out, take care of the aftermath!"
-N-net?!-
The goal was as far as possible! Thanks to standing near the top of the hori-bottle shaped training ground, the distance was sufficient! The roof was covered, so there was no risk of being filmed! As I expected, I wouldn't have my ability exposed!
-Seoha! No......!-
Franc tried to stop me in shock, but I couldn't hold back anymore. The mana bullet, which was trembling as if it was about to fly out of my palm at any moment...... no, the mana cannon condensed in the form of dark space was fired forward.
Thiiing!!
With a sound like plucking dozens of strings of a guzheng at the same time, it distorted space and flew away like lightning.
I aimed at it with spatial perception, unfolded spatial manipulation, and distorted space while pointing at the flying mana cannon.
"Disappear!!"