Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Dungeon Exploration
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7:00 AM.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Ah...”
The persistent alarm jolted my eyes open, pulling me from a deep slumber.
My head felt foggy, the typical morning haze clouding my senses. As consciousness settled in, a stream of random, disjointed thoughts began to swirl. I have to go to school. Me? At my age? Back in a classroom?
“Haa.”
I let out a heavy, internal sigh and dragged my reluctant body out of bed. To kill the remaining sleepiness, I splashed cold water on my face and began the ritual of dressing. I started with a simple short-sleeved shirt.
Over that, I slipped on a crisp white dress shirt and knotted a necktie. Since the morning air carried a sharp chill, I topped it with a hoodie, followed by the school vest and a pair of sharp black slacks.
If there was one thing I had to appreciate about being back in school, it was the end of the daily struggle of choosing what to wear.
The Korea Hero Academy wasn't overly strict about the uniform, either—as long as you wore the basic shirt, tie, and vest, they didn't nitpick the rest.
I shoved my feet into the standard-issue sneakers, grabbed my bag, and stepped out into the hallway.
The academy was already alive; dozens of students were already making their way toward the academic wing.
“Hey, look. That’s him. The top student.”
“Don’t stare too hard, man. What if he takes it the wrong way and wrecks you? Did you see the aura he was giving off during the weapon selection?”
“...Is he really that impressive?”
Their distant whispers hit my ears with crystal clarity.
It was a side effect of my special stat, Nian. My senses had become far more acute than those of an average human.
I took my time strolling through the campus, casually observing my peers.
The walk from the dorms to the classrooms was short, and I reached the entrance to Class 1-A in no time at all.
Standing before the door, my mind raced with complex thoughts about the life ahead of me, but I shook my head to clear the clutter and pushed the door open.
Creak.
The collective chatter of a hundred students died instantly the moment the door slid back. Every eye in the room locked onto me like a spotlight.
Probing gazes, wary glances, suspicious stares... the weight of their combined attention pinned me in place for a heartbeat.
I maintained a cool, indifferent exterior and scanned the room for a seat. Even though I hadn't been particularly late, almost every prime spot was already taken.
The front rows were packed. Apparently, even superhumans weren't above wanting to be the teacher's pet.
Suits me fine.
I headed toward the window seat at the very back of the room.
“You look like you're already exhausted.”
A familiar, haughty voice rang out. I turned my head to find a pair of glowing red eyes meeting mine.
Hong Yu-hwa.
I stared in confusion for a moment. Why was she sitting in the seat right next to mine? Before I could process it, I noticed a movement in the row ahead.
Sky-blue hair caught my eye.
The protagonist this world seemed to revolve around was sitting directly in front of me.
“Mornings are my natural enemy,” I replied dryly.
“Slacking on your physical conditioning? So you really are just a mage after all?” Hong Yu-hwa asked with a smirk.
“A mage who cleared the trial in exactly one minute?” I countered.
She shot me a look as if I were some kind of freakish monster, while Kim Seo-hyun turned around, peering at me with genuine, keen interest.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, I felt another gaze—one that felt different from the rest.
Following the sensation, I saw a girl watching me with a faint, enigmatic smile.
Her eyes were unlike anything I had ever seen.
They featured platinum irises with star-shaped pupils, looking as if tiny, distant galaxies were embedded within them.
Erhil Merhen.
The girl who was arguably the most powerful student currently enrolled in the Korea Hero Academy was observing me. Curiosity flooded those starry eyes, as if she were silently asking: Where on earth did a guy like you come from?
“...Isn't she the one who took third place in the entrance exam?” Hong Yu-hwa asked, her tone noticeably tense.
“Yeah, she’s the third rank,” I confirmed.
“Right after me? She looks like a mage as well...” Kim Seo-hyun added, eyeing Erhil with fascination.
Erhil had cleared the trial about five minutes slower than Kim Seo-hyun, the combat genius. That alone made her a figure of intense scrutiny among the student body.
My knowledge of her? The game, of course.
In a normal timeline, she would be focusing her interest on Kim Seo-hyun. But because I had snatched the top spot with such an absurd record, her curiosity had swung entirely toward me.
Hmm.
Honestly, Erhil Merhen’s attention was the last thing I wanted.
She possessed a playful, unpredictable personality. And her power? It was absurdly overwhelming—essentially a walking natural disaster.
The issue was the nature of her ability. It was specialized to an extreme. Every drop of her potential was poured into the art of illusions.
She had used those illusions to breeze into third place.
To anyone else, she was the most dangerous person in the room. But for me? Things were fundamentally different.
I have the Reverse Heaven Body.
One of the primary traits of the Reverse Heaven Body was an absolute immunity to curses and illusion-based powers. Unless the transcendent being she harbored decided to manifest, Erhil Merhen posed no real threat to me.
Still, objectively speaking, she was a titan.
In this first-year class, only three people could meet her gaze as equals.
One was Kim Seo-hyun, the protagonist-tier talent. Another was a total recluse who had sealed away her own overwhelming power.
And the last...
My train of thought was cut off as the classroom door creaked open again. Every head in the room turned.
“...”
Speak of the devil.
A massive girl walked into the room.
Her bangs were grown out long, obscuring half of her face, and her hair trailed all the way down to her waist. She was exceptionally tall for a girl, standing at a solid 175cm. Even under the loose school vest, her physical presence was impossible to ignore.
Kim Ara. The girl who had sealed her own strength because the world simply couldn't handle it.
If she ever unleashed her full potential, very few people on the planet could face her head-on. In a pure contest of strength, she could likely embarrass even the academy's instructors.
“She’s the one who was chosen by the ‘Giant’s Blade,’ right? She doesn’t look that tough to me.”
“I heard a rumor she’s the Overlord’s hidden child.”
“Her? No way, look at her posture.”
The whispers quickly faded as the other students dismissed her as a non-threat.
“Seo-ha, how strong do you actually think she is?” Kim Seo-hyun asked me, acting chummy as if we’d been friends for years.
Damn these insufferable, naturally popular kids.
“Strong,” I said simply. “In a test of pure strength? You wouldn't stand a chance. If you fought her right now, you'd be lucky to aim for a draw, and even that’s being generous.”
“...For real?”
Kim Seo-hyun gawked at Ara in disbelief. Hong Yu-hwa eyed me and the tall girl suspiciously in turn. Their doubt was understandable—Ara had intentionally performed at a mediocre level during the exam to avoid attention.
Her aversion to the spotlight was deeply rooted in her origins.
I shifted my gaze forward, taking in the heavy hitters of the class.
Kim Ara, the raw power that remained unmatched. Erhil Merhen, the host of a transcendent soul that once ruled a world for a millennium. Hong Yu-hwa, the heir of the Crimson Tower. And Kim Seo-hyun, the boy blessed by the world itself.
Then, my eyes found the one girl whose talent didn't pale in comparison to those monsters, despite her current standing.
Seo Ga-yeon.
The girl who had barely managed to scrape into the academy, her true gifts still dormant and waiting for a spark. She was the owner of "Starlight Magic," a holy power specifically designed to oppose the evil energy of the Demons.
Good, she actually made it in.
Seo Ga-yeon had been my biggest concern during the entrance exam phase. I let out a quiet breath of relief.
Creak.
The front door opened for the final time. Instructor Seo Woo-ju stepped up to the podium, looking sharp in a crisp, dark suit.
“I assume you all took the entrance exam and managed to get some proper rest? Good. Always remember: recovery is part of training. The body grows tougher through hardship, but if you push it without mercy, it will simply break.”
Seo Woo-ju’s expression was uncharacteristically stern.
“With that in mind, our first official class will be physical conditioning. I don't want to hear any excuses about focusing on academics or having a weak constitution.”
I sighed internally. He really wasn't the type to go easy on anyone.
“Mornings offer the clearest mana just after dawn. We train our bodies in the AM, then cultivate mana afterward for the purest possible results.”
He offered a small, content smile and continued calmly.
“Change into your gym clothes and assemble on the training field in ten minutes.”
“Attention, everyone!” Seo Woo-ju’s voice boomed across the open field.
“Some of you might want to gripe about training this early in the morning. But once you graduate and become heroes, even the time to complain will become a luxury. The more sweat you shed now, the less blood you’ll spill when it matters.”
He swept his commanding gaze over the assembled students.
“We’ll skip the full routine today, but starting tomorrow, you will assemble here by 5:00 AM. Daily dawn training is now a requirement. No exceptions.”
We all knew the importance of physical fitness, but his words were still a brutal reality check.
“Warriors, step forward and take these bracelets.”
He began handing out plain-looking metal bands to the warrior types. They looked ordinary, but they were enchanted like gravity sandbags—each one weighed over 50kg.
I knew that by the middle of the year, Kim Seo-hyun would be wearing these on his wrists and ankles at maximum weight without breaking a sweat. He wasn't entirely human.
“We'll start with a light jog.”
Without another word, Seo Woo-ju took off at a brisk pace. The mages were forced to follow suit.
Mages were usually protected on the battlefield, but the academy taught that enemies weren't just lumbering monsters. Assassins, demons, and villains would target the backline first, and only a mage's own physical resilience would save them in a pinch.
So, we all ran. No one dared to complain.
Five minutes in.
“Wow, it looks like the top student has a very clear weakness, doesn't he?”
“Huff... huff. Get... lost.”
Erhil Merhen breezed past me with a playful, effortless grin.
“Seo-ha, you really need to train consistently,” Kim Seo-hyun added, sounding genuinely concerned. “If you can't keep this pace, the later classes will be dangerous for you.”
“Got... it, huff... just... stop... talking... heek.”
Honestly, I might have underestimated the stats in this world. I thought a Stamina of 5 would be enough to get by.
But this was hell. We were 3km into a full sprint just to keep up with Instructor Seo Woo-ju’s ‘light jog.’ And these monsters around me were acting fresh while wearing 100kg of extra weight?
“Huff, huff... Is the... top student... huff... really struggling... at just this?” Hong Yu-hwa panted haughtily beside me, though she was clearly feeling the burn too. “Haah... I’ll... take... that #1 spot... from you... very soon.”
I didn't have the breath to reply. My only thought was: Just... shut up and run.