Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Harvesting Rewards
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"Eleven points. The highest score in the history of our first tests."
A grinning Lee Dok-sa.
Eleven points.
Was that even a possible score?
"Didn't you say ten was the maximum?"
"The academy's first test has traditionally been out of ten. We only assign tasks that no one can complete perfectly from the start."
Lee Dok-sa hopped down from the window with a light, almost sound-effect-worthy grace.
"But Si-woo, you pulled it off perfectly. I gave you ten points for that."
She raised her index finger and wagged it playfully.
"Plus one more for the subjugation, making it eleven."
Did the academy's system really allow for that?
Getting a good score was something to celebrate.
But right when doubt about the evaluation system started creeping in...
Lee Dok-sa smiled and spoke up.
"Of course, it's an official rule. It just never comes up."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"I only learned about it from the principal myself."
...Me too.
I'd expected some gaps in [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy]'s detailed setting to be filled in automatically.
So I was prepared to some extent.
But I never imagined there'd be entirely new backstory for the academy exams.
'Acting too far outside the main story is risky after all.'
This time, luck had swung in my favor.
But the heavens wouldn't always side with me.
'Actually, they haven't before. The fact that my luck's holding now is suspicious.'
My distrust of good fortune was twisting my thought process like this.
"Si-woo, why the long face? Not happy with the score? Want me to lower it?"
Lee Dok-sa teased me with a mischievous glint.
"No, ma'am. I'm thrilled. Please give me the eleven."
Not that it mattered much...
But no take-backs.
Absolutely not.
I wouldn't let anyone snatch away what I'd already earned—not while I had eyes to see it.
"Hahaha! Just kidding. You're so unpredictable, Si-woo. Keeps things fun."
"Glad to hear it."
I smiled back.
...Was I turning into some weird character?
Lee Dok-sa read my expression and asked,
"That was the reason I called you here, but looks like you've still got business with me?"
Sharp as ever.
Now for the main point.
What I wanted from her was a recommendation letter.
To attend Kang Geom-seon's class, I needed one from his prized disciple, Lee Dok-sa.
'Not quite according to plan, but I've got her attention.'
I flashed a sweet smile.
"I have a favor to ask, Instructor."
"Oh? A favor...? I like you, Si-woo, but I won't bend the rules for fairness. You know that, right?"
She approached with a sly smile.
"Unless it's a date invitation. I might consider that."
...Guess I misread her.
This woman wasn't a proper educator.
She lived for teasing students.
"I know. I just wanted to ask for a recommendation letter."
"A recommendation?"
"For Professor Kang Geom-seon's class."
At the mention of Kang Geom-seon, Lee Dok-sa furrowed her brow slightly.
"Why his class?"
Better to be honest than polite fluff.
"I'm scraping by somehow, but with my lack of skillbooks, I need to train my body. He's the best with swords, and I hear he can completely transform people."
Lee Dok-sa toyed with her lip, pondering.
"Someone like you, Si-woo? He'd notice you without my letter."
No chance.
"I hear Professor Kang judges strictly by skillbooks. No matter what I say, I'd probably get cut on paper."
At my words, she pulled out a sheet and scribbled with a fountain pen.
"A request like this? Happy to help. Anyone else, maybe not—but you qualify."
She handed me the paper.
Recommendation Letter
The above student is exceptionally talented...
Thus, please allow them to attend the class.
Instructor Lee Dok-sa
Standard, formal recommendation.
Why this again.
Not what I wanted.
"I hear Professor Kang doesn't accept ones like this."
He only reads three-line summaries.
"You did your homework. Really want his class that bad?"
Lee Dok-sa burst out laughing, fanning the letter.
"Sorry. Students who know I'm his disciple sometimes ask for these. But anyone who knows him knows he won't take a stiff one like this."
She snatched the paper from my hand and crumpled it.
Then pulled out a fresh sheet and wrote boldly.
"You'd probably convince him without me anyway, Si-woo. Just teasing."
'My life... no, the fate of the [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy] world hangs in the balance. No pranks.'
"Here, take it."
She handed over the new recommendation.
Recommendation Letter.
1. Great judgment.
2. Solid moves.
3. Genius.
Pledged by his prized disciple Lee Dok-sa!
You'll regret not taking him.
...This was what I wanted.
'But is this really okay?'
Reading my face, she said,
"That'll definitely work."
"Thank you."
In the end, I got the recommendation from Instructor Lee Dok-sa just like I wanted.
No need to mention Baek A-rin.
I'd claimed everything I aimed for in the first test.
"Bonus too."
The unexpected eleven points...
And the principal's interest—an opportunity I needed eventually: [Psyche's Stone].
Conveniently located in the principal's office.
'Freshly enrolled and first test done, so it's still far off.'
But having made my mark would make it smoother.
'Didn't expect Instructor Lee Dok-sa to take this much interest in me.'
She's the homeroom instructor for A-1 Class.
That's a gain too.
I checked my phone from my pocket: already 5 PM.
"Time to head out."
To my dorm, stuffed with treasures.
"Ninety-five."
Hoo-!
"Ninety-six."
Flames ignited relentlessly from her hand.
A brutal training method pushing herself to the limit.
'If it hadn't been a fake...'
Kang Hwa-yeon felt she couldn't sleep without this intensity.
If Panpagia had been real, countless lives would have been lost.
Not as the hero who vanquished Panpagia.
But barely subjugating it at the cost of over twenty comrades...
'Not even that.'
Far from hero—dozens dead.
And she wasn't even the lead in the subjugation.
Baek A-rin had been the protagonist.
'Because I'm like this...!'
Baek A-rin had corrected her 'wrong' approach.
Baek A-rin had led.
She couldn't accept it.
But forced to, she drove herself mercilessly.
This way, she'd never reach her father.
Not the daughter he expected.
"One hundred!"
Finally, Kang Hwa-yeon collapsed to the floor.
"Haa... haa..."
She wiped the sweat pouring like rain.
'How did A-rin know...?'
She knew Baek A-rin's info network outshone hers.
It was Baek A-rin's proud strength.
'But Panpagia in the first test? No way...'
Did Baek A-rin know about the test and use it for points?
"Doesn't add up."
Baek A-rin scored lower than her.
'No point then. So why...'
Kang Hwa-yeon couldn't shake the feeling her suspicions were fundamentally off.
'And too flashy for A-rin's plan.'
Over ten years as friends.
She knew Baek A-rin's style.
Too different for prior knowledge.
"Just coincidence?"
Possible.
But it left a nagging doubt.
'Unlikely, but A-rin knowing nothing feels more natural.'
She sighed at her tangled thoughts.
Then a memory surfaced.
-From the Anomalous Gate: Baek A-rin, her sister, and Kim Si-woo rescued. Sole injury: Kim Si-woo.
Clan matters reached her ears, like it or not.
Baek A-rin's sudden interest in him afterward seemed like curiosity.
'What if A-rin didn't know?'
Someone close to Baek A-rin, with info but unable to act alone.
"Kim Si-woo...?"
His face flashed by.
"I'm losing it... Why would he be involved."
Kang Hwa-yeon shoved the thought away.
"Overthinking. Get it together, Hwa-yeon."
Scolding herself, wiping sweat, standing—
The door opened. Her father, Kang Young-ho, entered.
"Dad...?"
"Heard about the academy. Took down a B-rank boss..."
"Just training."
"A subjugation's a subjugation."
"..."
It wasn't her credit, but words wouldn't come.
An awkward, heavy silence.
'He must already know.'
She squeezed her eyes shut.
But his words surprised her.
"...Well done."
"Pardon?"
Kang Young-ho turned away.
'Did Dad not hear the full story?'
Impossible.
Not the meticulous Chairman Kang Young-ho.
"...Well done."
How long since she'd heard praise?
Her brief elation drowned in burning shame.
'Dormitory G'
Ridiculously shabby exterior.
A wooden building on the verge of collapse.
Totally out of place in [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy]!
Perfect for a horror flick!
My sweet home from now on.
Wait for me!