Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: A Fulfilling Day
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Morning classes.
“But. Why. Who doesn’t know that?”
Every time Jae-hyeok opened his mouth, Kim Jin-myeong’s complexion grew more haggard.
Afternoon training.
Grinning broadly.
Every time Jae-hyeok beamed brightly, the mud-soaked students turned ghastly pale one by one.
To a stranger, it would look like Kang Jae-hyeok was tormenting the entire class single-handedly.
The problem was that to those involved, it was no illusion.
“Today was fulfilling too. Hurry and go wash up and eat.”
“Th-that bast...”
“That fucker stepped on my back thirteen times.”
“If I have to wash until the filthy water stops pouring out of my ears, I’ll miss dinner again today. I’m dying, seriously.”
The first-year B-Class students were dying inside.
Terrain adaptation training.
Already infamous for its hellish difficulty, but Kang Jae-hyeok made it even worse.
The moment you let your guard down, your head, shoulders, or back would get trampled by him, sending you tumbling off-balance into the swamp.
“Kang Jae-hyeok’s stats seem insanely high. He’s really green-rated?”
“Didn’t he level up before enrolling? You know, those mid-tier guilds that boost you for cash.”
“What’s the point? Training’s the same for everyone, so levels catch up fast anyway.”
“He must’ve wanted to show off for a few months. But now I’m pissed thinking about it. Who handled Kang Jae-hyeok’s entrance exam? How incompetent do you have to be to miss his level and dump him in B-Class?”
‘The chairman did it, you idiots.’
Kim Jin-myeong clicked his tongue.
He had confirmed in writing that the chairman had personally overseen Kang Jae-hyeok’s entrance exam. He hadn’t doubted the results for a second.
Which left him with a strange feeling.
‘Kang Jae-hyeok is level 1, that much is true. His base stats are just higher than average. But a green rating...’
The beginner Mana Orb predicts potential.
A green result means the subject has at most D-rank player aptitude—which is proof their awakening stats and skill quality will be subpar.
That was why the students doubted Jae-hyeok’s Mana Orb result.
But Kim Jin-myeong knew the truth.
‘High stats despite the green rating... means his First Skill is trash-tier despite awakening.’
The instructor overseeing skill training had called Jae-hyeok’s skill excellent, but his judgment wasn’t reliable.
The man had lost both arms in his debut year as a player and abandoned his dreams.
He was nothing more than a low-level D-rank player, hired by the government purely out of welfare considerations.
‘Poor kid.’
Feeling the player world’s brutality anew, Kim Jin-myeong gazed pityingly at Jae-hyeok’s receding figure.
Of course, he still disliked Jae-hyeok.
He’d even bolted upright in bed last night, kicking off the covers as he wondered why that kid had to transfer into his class of all places.
But starting today, his view had shifted slightly.
‘High stats at awakening means he worked that much harder for it.’
Beyond diligent—desperately so.
Awakening a First Skill at sixteen wasn’t mere luck; it was a hard-earned reward.
Yet he’d gotten a low-grade skill. The sense of loss must have been immense.
‘Did I really tell a kid like that he got lucky?’
It felt like a fishbone lodged in his throat. Kim Jin-myeong’s expression darkened further.
***
Spaang-!
The iaido blade shot out like an arrow, its momentum unchanged from usual.
Fast and forceful, swift yet unshaking—like a ray of light.
The imaginary foe Jae-hyeok targeted only vaguely glimpsed the ink-black blade melting into the night after its own head hit the ground.
“Huff... huff...”
The strike’s power remained flawless, but the wielder’s breath was on the verge of collapse.
Even so, he didn’t stop. He prepared the next strike.
The Quick Draw Jae-hyeok pursued had to be perfect, even in the final moment.
Naturally, he made no excuses like “I’m tired” during practice.
Only when he lost consciousness or couldn’t twitch a fingertip did he finally stop—which made his training pure asceticism.
That’s right.
The sensation of exhaustion was all too familiar to Jae-hyeok.
But this “timing” felt foreign.
It was just past 1 a.m.
Yet his body was already drained...
“These rookies... are helping after all...”
After three final swings, Jae-hyeok collapsed spread-eagled and focused on the hollow sensation in his empty dantian.
His mana had run dry before his body gave out.
An aftereffect of the terrain adaptation training.
To adjust quickly to the swamp, he’d had no choice but to circulate his mana.
The Kang Family Mana Operation Method emphasized “focus” and “release,” making it easy to escape the swamp’s pressure—but the backlash was worse than expected.
Because his classmates had swarmed him relentlessly.
They’d lunged to grab even a sleeve, forcing him to expend far more stamina and mana than planned.
With everyone united in playing the monsters, it had been tremendous practice.
‘Gotta push them harder starting tomorrow.’
News like a bolt from the blue to the first-year B-Class students.
Their sound sleep would surely twist into nightmares around now.
Heh heh.
Jae-hyeok touched the corners of his mouth, wearing a wicked grin.
He’d been smiling more often since enrolling at Lion’s Castle.
At first, it was forced. An effort to declare that no matter how they slandered his father and House Kang, they couldn’t shake him.
But in just a few days, Jae-hyeok realized he was smiling for real.
For one, studying was insanely fun. Absorbing knowledge he’d never known before brought an unimaginable sense of fulfillment.
The training content suited him too. Tumble-rolling in the swamp was a novel experience that greatly aided his practice. His stats had skyrocketed as proof.
And above all, he’d confirmed that people still respected his father.
Truly grateful.
Jae-hyeok was the boy who’d used the protestors’ curses against his father—curses that went beyond hatred into outright malediction—as his morning alarm to wake and lullaby to sleep.
It felt like a tiny breathing hole had opened in his heart, which had been rotting away with rage and malice.
‘Enrolling was the right call.’
It was the moment Jae-hyeok thought that Lion’s Castle—which he’d seen as a mere refuge—might turn out to be something special.
Rustle.
A sound came from the forest beyond the red ribbon.
Then a massive shadow burst from the parting underbrush, brazenly crossing the red ribbon.
“No, damn it...”
Beyond the red ribbon was supposed to be the danger zone?
What was the point of the marker if monsters crossed it anyway?
‘They should’ve put the ribbon further back.’
Having suffered monster attacks twice now, Jae-hyeok cursed involuntarily. He barely stood, tensing up unusually.
‘Too tired to subdue barehanded.’
He was genuinely exhausted.
Thanks to the brief rest lying down, he might manage one sword draw...
Growl...
Trailing behind the Orc Warrior were two more orcs.
Three in total.
To take them down in one strike each, he’d have to kill them. No room to swing while avoiding vitals.
“Ha.”
A dry laugh escaped at the absurd peril. Jae-hyeok felt anew just how invaluable skills were.
He recalled one of the twenty-five skills he’d awakened: [Regeneration].
<Regeneration>
Type: Passive
When suffering fatal damage or fatigue reaches its limit, restores the body to perfect condition.
Cooldown: 8 hours
If he’d been an awakener equipped with a First Skill.
He could’ve laughed even in a pinch like this.
‘Skills are even more broken than I thought.’
Which meant he had to grind even harder. Until he claimed the ultimate skill.
Jae-hyeok had no idea.
Just how phenomenal the twenty-five skills he’d awakened truly were.
Acquiring even one would guarantee S-rank player status.
But what could he do.
His goal was National Treasure—the pinnacle among them.
Not even an S-rank skill, a dream to others, could satisfy him.
“Come on. I’ll kill exactly half of you.”
His familiarity with exhaustion became an unimaginable weapon.
Gripping the hilt and leaning forward, Jae-hyeok’s focus sharpened like a blade edge.
Targets: three.
Timing...
‘Now.’
The instant the three orcs leaped, Jae-hyeok’s scabbard twisted half a turn.
Spaang-!
A hazy sword gleam melted into the night’s darkness.
The reverse-drawn iaido blade from the twisted scabbard simultaneously smashed the Orc Warrior’s throat and the noses of the two trailing orcs.
Kuuuueeeek!!
“Yeah, yeah. Grateful I spared you? Save the thanks—my ears hurt.”
Slither, slither.
As the fallen orcs clutched their wounds and shrieked, Jae-hyeok stealthily backpedaled. He nearly tripped over a crumbled wall segment, but it was a minor mishap. He gradually put distance between himself and the scene.
The lion statue atop the gate watched over him faithfully today as well.
[[Lion’s Castle] hidden quest trigger condition 1 fulfilled.]
[Hidden reward: stat bonus points acquired.]
[[Lion’s Castle]’s will wishes to converse with you.]
The system message whispered to Jae-hyeok.
It carried content that would draw attention not just from Korea but the entire world if revealed.
But it circled futilely, unable to reach him.
The boy had yet to awaken as a player, so he couldn’t commune with the system.