#16. U Academy King (4)
I took a moment to steady my breathing. I wasn't sure exactly what had improved, but since I'd been through this countless times before, I had no doubts. Composing my expression and exhaling evenly, I moved my lips.
"You okay? Must've been a shock."
The line spilled out naturally. Honestly, it was such an embarrassingly simple bit of dialogue that calling it "memorized" felt like a stretch. And yet, despite how easy it was, I hadn't nailed it properly until now.
This time feels solid.
Whether it was the boosted stats or just a placebo effect from the upgrade, my tongue had rolled a lot smoother than before. It came out pretty clean. No, really good. So why no reaction?
"How was it? Felt like I nailed it this time."
"……."
"……."
"What's the deal? Why are you both just staring?"
Kang Jun and the trainer teacher exchanged glances, neither daring to speak first. Finally, the trainer broke the silence.
"Be honest. What'd you do in the bathroom?"
"...Took care of business."
"Don't lie. Spill it. Did you take something?"
"Ew—?! For real?!"
"What kinda nonsense is that? And you, Jun—why are you chiming in like that?"
The trainer's question was absurd enough, but Kang Jun jumping on it pissed me off more. I grabbed his cheeks and stretched them out long.
"Aaaah—hyung!"
"You think this makes sense? Sure, you might feel different going in versus coming out, but this is about acting skill, not mood! Why the sudden jump? Did my yelling awaken something in you?"
Obviously, no awakening from yelling. I'd spent 30 coins on acting via the new AI status window, and this was the result. Honestly, I couldn't even remember the trainer's harsh critiques anymore. Someone pissed me off way more.
Those fucking bastards.
I couldn't help cursing. Switching from the tampered terminal to a normal status window showed just how much bullshit I'd been putting up with.
Hope they choke on it proper.
I prayed the terminal I'd slipped them gathered solid evidence. Only then could I savor that sweet revenge buzz.
"It's not that. Just shifted my mindset a bit, and it clicked."
"Nah, doesn't add up. Do it again. Make it a longer line this time. I can't wrap my head around it. Why the sudden improvement?"
At the trainer's urging, I redid it with a different line.
"That's way better too!!"
Even I was amazed. Why had I struggled so long with something this simple, eating shit for it?
The trainer looked stunned, like she'd been scammed, as I handled more lines decently.
"Heard you get called a 'man-ripping monster,' but damn, you're pulling some manhwa protagonist shit."
"But teacher, hyung's always been like this."
Kang Jun said it casually, like he was letting her in on a secret.
"Honestly, seeing it now is weirder to me. Hyung's skills just spike outta nowhere. Yesterday he was at this level, next day he's way ahead, blowing through practice alone. We all whispered he was a cheat character. Total talent freak."
"Oh yeah, heard about that. But that was singing and dancing. Acting? No talent there."
"Maybe 'cause hyung never cared about acting before? All his focus went to singing and dancing."
"No interest means talent vanishes?"
"Could be? Right before the bathroom, he said he'd start taking acting seriously. I'm used to it, so not that shocked."
"Why are you egging this on? He just hit basic short-line level."
"No hype. Hyung killed that last one!"
Blatantly telling the acting teacher I'd never taken it seriously—what the hell, Jun?! I waved my hands frantically to cover.
"Anyone'd think I was some award-winning actor. Embarrassing as hell, cut it out. Just got a feel for it this way... that's all."
"The change is too drastic, kid."
"It's not like I'm pro-level now. Stop teasing and teach. Sucks feeling inferior over barely scraping by."
Going from trash to average in minutes probably hit hard. Objectively, my acting still sucked for any real role on camera.
"Hah, fine. Seeing you improve fires me up. Thought maybe I was teaching wrong since you lagged so bad. But you grow too. Direction's solid. Relieved!"
"Teacher didn't believe it, but hyung's a real talent freak. Watch for more spikes."
"Really? I can look forward?"
"...Just don't mess around and leave me back at square one."
The hyped trainer, buying Jun's words, started hurling tough lines my way.
"How'd you breathe that one?"
"Teacher, spare Jun?"
"Worried about Jun now?"
"...My bad."
Fired up by my progress, the trainer poured passion into the lesson. Jun grinned, cool with me hogging attention. Ugh, that dense idiot! He'd probably grin like a pushover even if I out-acted him. Kids were all too damn nice, borderline stupid.
Man, coin boosts hit different. Once you taste this, no going back to vanilla body.
Using 130 coins on the new AI window jacked my acting to a whopping 28.3%. Didn't expect that leap. First 30-coin spin shocked me with the gain, so greed kicked in for another 100. No biggie act aside, near-30% jump explained their shock.
*Grind*
Damn, thinking about it grinds my teeth. Those shitty pricks.
I'd wasted coins stunted like that. Realizing how screwed I'd been boiled my blood.
New status window—hate to sell, but gotta.
The bathroom miracle? All thanks to the new AI status window. Focusing on class, I recalled it.
？ ？ ？
20 minutes before class—in the bathroom.
Welcome. Loading ID card.
■■□□□□ (Loading)
■■■■□□ (Loading)
■■■■■■ (Complete)
Loading complete. Smooth connection welcome, 'Poni'.
The empty bathroom flashed with light. The new status window from the box booted up, hologram blooming.
"...Looks way cleaner and packed."
Tutorial ready for unfamiliar users. Run it?
AI caught my mutter.
"No time, later. Spend coins first. 30 on acting."
Attach terminal to body for command.
"How? It's just a box. Palm-holding not enough?"
Can morph to preferred wearable. Recommend ring, necklace, earring, watch.
"Ooh, like that? Ring then."
Visualize ring form.
"Anything fine. Plain, no flash—can't wear showy."
Simple mental image, and the box became a sleek silver ring. Perfect match.
Whoa, convenient as hell.
Tempted to keep it over selling. Slipping the ring on, hologram auto-launched the familiar stat boost window.
Using 30 coins on Acting.
[Acting: 0.61% → 8.3%]
"30 coins for 8%?!"
Insane growth. Early stats inflate, sure, but still ridiculous.
"This normal?"
Yes. Error-free normal application.
What kinda war was I fighting? How'd they tamper it?!
Couldn't stay calm. Pretty body, decent job—they'd hooked me, but any guilt? Gone. Fuck 'em. Break more!
Without fixing, I'd have slaved away unfairly, grinding coins.
"Why so high? Normal?"
Talent and skill type dependent. High talent = high gain. Lifestyle skills outpace combat. Early boosts strongest. Gains drop by bracket: 0-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, 31-40%, 41-50%.
"Old vs new different rates?"
Of course. Identical on old models. Body unchanged = rates unchanged.
"Boost acting more. 100 coins. Oh, dance too. 50 on dance."
Complex order to test.
Using 100 coins on Acting.
Using 50 coins on Dance.
[Acting: 8.3% → 28.3%]
[Dance: 42.3% → 47.33%]
Instant spikes. Dance nearing 50% jumping 42 to 47? Motivational. Normally, 100s of coins for that.
"50 on stamina too."
Stamina always overperformed unlike dance/singing—had to check.
[Stamina: 49.65% → 53.05%]
"50 coins: Dance +5%, Stamina +3%."
Back to normal variance. Same coins, different gains due to bracket diffs—expected.
Stamina stat exceeded 50%.
Special power awakens in body.
"Special power? What's that?"
50% is peak for powerless. Beyond: mana infuses body, awakening special power.
"……."