Chapter 51

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 51

Chapter Title: Academy (2)

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Choi Si-woo looked around after beating up the idiot who had picked a fight without even knowing the subject. This moron had graduated high school and was still trying to bully his reincarnation body, Park Jin-gu.

'He got beaten by the guy he used to torment... I wonder if he'll even show up properly to the academy starting tomorrow.'

Si-woo shook his head. He noticed people staring at him in shock.

A 1-star cadet with the lowest innate mana had just pummeled a 2-star mana awakener bully.

'What a fucked-up world.'

Si-woo shook his head again. In this world, innate mana determined everything. They assigned grades to the mana you gained upon awakening.

From 1-star to 10-star.

It was a class system, plain and simple. Growth wasn't impossible, but those with higher innate mana grew faster too.

His reincarnation body's innate mana was at the absolute bottom. Rock bottom of society.

The thought of adapting to this bullshit world made him feel stifled. It was obvious there'd be assholes causing trouble everywhere he went.

'Should I just go all out?'

This was the moment right after entering this world. The perfect time to leave it without a care.

In the martial world or the modern one, he had things to lose, making it hard to go wild. But here was different.

It was a world where he could unleash all the desires he'd kept bottled up.

"Hm..."

As Si-woo pondered, someone approached him.

Helena Aihern.

The daughter of the northern duke who blocked monsters descending from the ruined North Korea.

'Her hometown's Gangwon Province, yet her name's Helena...'

Ridiculous, but that's how this world was.

Rifts had formed in overwhelming numbers compared to Si-woo's world, causing dimensional erosion everywhere.

The terrain was completely different from Hunter Earth, and so was the culture.

It was a world where humans and sub-races fought over territory amidst monsters.

As Helena approached, Si-woo furrowed his brow. Her eyes burned with desperate longing—nothing normal about it.

'Why are her eyes like that?'

Her waist-length hair fluttered as she hesitated, then spoke.

"Um..."

The Helena in his memories was the Ice Princess herself. But the one before him now was like an active volcano.

This wasn't normal. The shocked expression of the guy following her said it all.

"What?"

The crowd's shock grew louder. The academy pretended equality on the surface, but it was anything but.

Helena didn't care about that. Her eyes sparkled at his unusual reaction.

"The clock tower...! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Do you know what happened at the clock tower?"

"What...?"

Si-woo frowned at the out-of-left-field question. Disappointment washed over Helena's face at his clueless expression.

Her face darkened as if she'd heard someone had died.

She bit her lip, closed her eyes, and nodded faintly after a moment of serious thought.

"If... if you remember anything, no matter what, please tell me. I'll be waiting."

Whatever it was, Si-woo nodded. She left with a complicated expression.

The guy trailing her glared at Si-woo before hurrying after her.

After she left, Si-woo watched the ongoing spars and frowned.

Pathetic.

"Haaap!"

It looked like a contest of who could gather more mana in place. In the martial world, that style would get your head lopped off in one stroke.

'They've got filthy high mana for their skill level.'

There was a reason for it. The mana density in the air was thick—at least double that of Hunter Earth.

Plus the blessing from the Babel Tower bestowed on the sub-races.

'Status window.'

The biggest proof that this world's awakeners differed from normal people.

'Sigh... What the hell is with these dispositions?'

They couldn't affect him, but reviewing his reincarnation body's life still drew sighs. He'd lived like a total pushover his whole life.

He usually ignored the reincarnation body's past.

Once you started dwelling, there was no end to it.

As long as it didn't harm him directly, he planned to ignore it and turned to the trait.

-[Unique] Anti-Magic

Resists all magical phenomena.

'Damn.'

It looked good at first glance, but it had a fatal flaw. It rejected all magical phenomena regardless of will, so his reincarnation body hadn't gained any mana since awakening.

But Si-woo was a sword energy master.

He willed the ambient mana into his dantian, ignoring the body's fierce rejection and forcing it through.

Before the focus needed to form sword energy, even a Unique-grade Anti-Magic was helpless. The power level was low to begin with.

With proper focus, the status updated. His name changed, and the negative dispositions vanished.

'My name...'

Seeing his name update was novel, but the status window itself was already supernatural.

The trait's evolution eliminated the resistance blocking mana accumulation. Now this body could gather mana like anyone else.

'Anti-Mana... So now I can control what used to activate regardless of my will.'

Not bad.

'Oh...? Like a skill.'

If he could check a pretty girl's disposition, seducing her would be easier. Si-woo smiled in satisfaction and turned his head.

Cadet No. 1, Kang Su-ho, was approaching. He'd watched Helena's back as he walked, looking displeased.

He glanced at the female cadets following him, then smiled brightly.

"Jin-gu. Why'd you do that?"

"What?"

Si-woo eyed Kang Su-ho, who approached with annoyingly handsome features.

'Fucking pretty boy.'

His own looks had improved post-awakening—balanced proportions, clear skin—but this guy was on another level.

Handsome enough to make a living off his face. If he became an actor, fans would go wild.

This guy was from the same high school as the reincarnation body, supposedly a close friend.

No, the reincarnation body thought so.

To Si-woo, he was no friend. A psychopath who subtly bullied him and gaslit him into lacking confidence.

He spoke in a charming voice matching his handsome face.

"How could you hit your friend like that? Even if it's a spar..."

The girls enchanted by his voice chimed in.

"Right? Punching like a brute... Pfft!"

"He fought pretty well, though? Both were pathetic, but still."

"Ah... To me, it looked like Jin-gu, who usually just takes beatings, suddenly charged and surprised him. Ah! Not that you're wrong, Jin-gu. Just... seemed a bit cowardly. Why not apologize?"

Si-woo sighed midway through. He wanted to smack the bratty kids yapping, but that'd get him expelled and dumped into the classist world.

The academy's surface equality was still better.

Si-woo looked at Kang Su-ho and offered one last mercy.

"Whatever. Mind your own business."

He slapped away the hand on his shoulder. Kang Su-ho's face stiffened briefly, but he smiled soon after.

"Oh, right. What happened with the girl I introduced you to last time?"

"Who?"

"What...?! You already forgot? You were bawling and begging."

Why ask what he knew? The girls behind asked Kang Su-ho.

"What happened?"

"Ahh. I introduced him to someone I know, and get this—he bought her a luxury bag and begged her not to break up. No idea what happened after."

"What? Kyahaha! Buying luxury bags like some old dude?"

The reincarnation body had scraped together his hard-earned money, only for her to take it all without even sleeping with him and bolt.

'Hah... This fucker's crossing the line.'

Unpleasant memories surfaced.

-You're not my type. I only met you because Su-ho asked... Sorry.

He recalled her sauntering off with the designer handbag.

Si-woo smirked, having dredged up that far into the reincarnation body's memories.

He'd ignore the body's past, but Kang Su-ho had crossed into his territory. He was trying to fuck with Si-woo now.

Si-woo pondered how to torment Kang Su-ho. Just beating him was too easy and boring.

He wanted to gift him deeper despair.

Then the supervising professor yelled irritably.

"No. 93! No. 93, what the hell?!"

Kang Su-ho, who'd been teasing Si-woo, startled and rushed to a girl, trying to wake her.

"Amelia!"

She was curled up on the floor, sleeping with her knees hugged.

Her massive breasts rested on her knees like pillows, puffy cushions propping up her face.

Kang Su-ho cherished her like a jewel. Clearly smitten.

He could've shaken her shoulders, but he only called out verbally. There was a reason. Lately, she'd been dozing off constantly and snapped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if touched.

'Probably since her awakening?'

They'd gone to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same middle and high school, so he knew her face. The reincarnation body had secretly liked her but never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dared speak.

"Amelia! Amelia, wake up! It's your turn."

At his words, the girl with violet eyes frowned and rose. Exhaustion etched her face.

"Yawn... Sleepy."

"Amelia! It's a spar—snap out of it."

"Got it, so shut up..."

The instructor glared unpleasantly.

"Falling asleep when you can't even hold it in...!"

Amelia ignored his scolding with a blank face. She trudged to the sparring ring, fatigue plain.

Her opponent glared, offended by her attitude, crouching low to charge the moment it started.

The instructor furrowed his brow and shouted.

"Begin!"

Snap!

Amelia flicked her finger lightly at the start. But the result was anything but light.

Boom!

"Arghhh!"

Her charging opponent shot skyward. Hit by a compressed air bomb of wind.

Thud!

"Ughhh."

He flew over ten meters, botched the landing, and writhed on the ground. His arm seemed broken, trembling as he groaned. The professor clicked his tongue.

"Tch... No. 93 wins."

Amelia yawned, her huge breasts jiggling.

Kang Su-ho fussed over her as she squatted to sleep again.

Si-woo was quite taken with Amelia's beauty too.

'Pretty. Observe.'

Si-woo licked his lips.

He grew curious about Kang Su-ho's reaction if he stole Amelia away.