The Price of a Wish
"Professor. I'm the one giving it to him, so why do you keep throwing a damn fit?"
"Wh-what?"
The professor looked completely flustered by the unfiltered trash talk. Han Yuri didn't care one bit. She kept her scowl firmly in place and kept running her mouth.
"Our class professor is staying quiet, so why are you the one making a scene? If the scores were even close, fine, but the top score from Class 2 is only five thousand points. Who the hell are you to criticize anyone? From what I see, even if every single kid in Class B jumped him at once, Lee Seonghyun would still wipe the floor with them."
Fuck. Don't say that.
"Does being dead last in the whole school mean you have no talent? Is it okay for a professor to casually pass judgment on a student's potential like that? What are you going to do when Lee Seonghyun ends up stronger than you someday?"
This crazy bitch... The man's face flushed crimson as he ground his teeth. Realizing his dignity was on the line, he tried one last desperate protest.
"Academic records prove a person's worth. Lee Seonghyun's grades are..."
"Professor."
A quiet, composed voice. It was Irena.
"That's enough."
"Ugh...!"
It was a de facto ultimatum. With both the supervising professor and the year-end evaluator acknowledging it, he had no grounds left to interfere.
Things are going to escalate faster now.
The growing conflict between the first-string and second-string groups. The rift between the two factions had been deepening, and this incident would only push their eventual head-on collision forward.
After that, the second and third place rewards were handed out and the closing ceremony finally ended. Irena stepped down from the platform and walked over to us.
"You'll be using the Wishing Stone right away, correct?"
"Yes."
"Follow me. I've cleared the training room."
Her eyes said she had known I would use it. The fact that she seemed to have me figured out left me with a strange feeling. Honestly, this professor made me a little uncomfortable.
Especially since I ignored every single text she sent telling me to come to class.
Surprisingly, she never brought up the ignored messages. Maybe she was more broad-minded than I thought. I followed Irena, with Han Yuri and Choi Ahyeon trailing behind us.
The walk to the training room was dead silent. The awkward atmosphere finally got to me, so I opened my mouth.
"Thanks for helping me back there."
"It wasn't anything special. I simply did what a supervising professor should."
"Still. During the grade evaluation, you showed up at exactly the right moment and saved me and Jihun."
Compliments were free, so I figured I might as well lay it on thick. But my answer must not have sat well with her, because her reply came three full seconds late.
"...Don't do anything that reckless again."
"You mean charging the Flare Wolf while my skill nullification was active?"
"Yes. You survived this time because you got lucky, but if you keep behaving that way..."
She bit her lip, carefully choosing her next words.
"You'll die quickly."
Her voice carried a heavy, almost sorrowful weight.
"...I'll be careful."
I wasn't completely clueless, so that was the only answer I could give.
Inside the training room. As I stood in the wide circular space staring at the stone, Han Yuri and Choi Ahyeon's voices reached me.
"Seonghyun! Skills before health, you know that, right?! You can worry about health after you're dead, but skills are different, so go all out!"
"Seonghyun, immortality skill! You have to pick an immortality skill!"
One was giving encouragement that didn't sound like encouragement at all. The other was making an impossible request. I waved roughly at both of them and looked at Irena. She gave a small nod. The signal to begin.
"Huu..."
The Wishing Stone. I'd only ever heard about it. Using it myself was a first. The mixture of anticipation and tension burned through my body.
I closed my eyes and pictured my wish. Nothing grandiose like conquering the planet or ruling the world. Just... just...
I wanted to live with the woman I loved. Sharing our feelings, learning about each other. And in the end, holding hands as we closed our eyes on the same day at the same time. That was my wish.
To make that painfully ordinary wish come true, I needed power. Enough power to shatter thousands of meteors. Enough speed to move even in absolute zero. Enough flexibility to slip free from chains that could bind a dragon.
The skill took shape inside my mind. But the clearer it became, the more intense the pain tearing through my body grew.
+1
It was proof that the pain value was rising rapidly. I'd overreached. I knew my vessel as a human being only had so much capacity. Even so, I couldn't give up.
EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE
Consuming 1% of pain threshold to strengthen body
My vessel was too small? Then I'd just make it bigger. Even if my body broke apart in the process!
As the pain increased, I kept activating Equivalent Exchange over and over. The thought Will you win, or will I? ran on a loop in my head. At some point, the sensation of every nerve in my body burning out washed over me and my consciousness began to fade.
Was this failure?
No. It wasn't.
Beyond the haze, past the blurry vision, I could see her. She was sitting in a flower field full of forget-me-nots. A warm energy that filled the empty spaces in my heart. Even if I failed to create a skill with the Wishing Stone, I thought, at least the attempt had been worth it.
***
Han Yuri asked herself a question. Who had the worst balance on our team? The answer came easily.
Lee Seonghyun.
Basic equipment and mediocre skills. He truly deserved the title of dead last in the entire school. Everything he possessed was pathetic. But she had seen it. In the goblin nest and during the Flare Wolf hunt.
What talentless idiot takes down two D-rank monsters?
He had soloed that wolf whose ridiculous speed made it so hard to catch. She hadn't seen the exact moment, but according to Lee Seol, he'd killed it in one hit. Talent practically overflowed from him.
Even if it's just a tiny bit, a speck the size of a bean, it would be a waste to let it rot.
Rather than letting it go to waste on the ground, it might not be so bad to pick him up and shape him into something more human. After discussing it with Choi Ahyeon, they had decided to hand over the Wishing Stone.
It better not be nothing special.
Han Yuri didn't take her eyes off Lee Seonghyun as he stood in the center of the training room with his eyes closed. One minute. Two minutes. Normally the skill would have manifested the moment he touched the stone, but far too much time was passing.
Choi Ahyeon tilted her head in confusion. Irena sensed something was wrong and glanced at her watch. At that exact moment, only Han Yuri understood the truth of what was happening.
Insane...!
It was the same killing intent she'd felt on OT day. The sensation of thousands of rats gnawing at her body from both inside and out. The bizarre feeling of prey devouring the predator raced across her skin. The instant Han Yuri shuddered, a scene caught her eye.
Crackle.
Small sparks flew from Lee Seonghyun's body. Black, white, and red. The three different sparks soon turned into streams of lightning that wrapped around him. They kept trying to burrow inward as if trying to devour him, but they failed every time.
She had never seen anything like it. But one thing was certain.
"Did he fail...?" Irena clicked her tongue softly and activated her ability. She was trying to stop him before he pushed himself any further.
A thousand tendrils. Dozens of hands made of mana stretched from Irena toward Lee Seonghyun. Right before they could touch him.
BOOM!
"Ugh...!"
The three lightning bolts sliced through every single hand.
"That's impossible... How could it cut through the professor's power...!"
Irena's rank was B. Yet those hands had been severed effortlessly. The three lightning bolts confirmed the obstacle was gone and began devouring Lee Seonghyun's body. His skin tore open. Blood flowed. But Lee Seonghyun didn't stop there. As if he were still starving, the lightning continued to grow.
When it had swelled to roughly ten times its original size, Lee Seonghyun coughed up blood. It was clear now. He had overreached. He had bitten off far more than his vessel could handle.
"Professor, this..."
"Yes. I know. Could you help me?"
"Of course."
"Professor! Yuri!"
Choi Ahyeon's urgent cry made them both turn. What they saw left them speechless with shock.
"Holy shit..."
"What the hell is..."
Golden lightning had erupted from Lee Seonghyun's body and was devouring the three colored bolts. In the time it took to blink, his entire body was already flickering with golden lightning.
THUNDER GOD S
You can manipulate lightning.
This actually worked...
The S-rank unique skill floating in my status window. The kind of thing only monsters like Han Yuri or Lee Seol should have. Having it myself felt strangely awkward.
"Lee Seonghyun student. Are you listening to me?"
"Y-yeah."
"You're not a goldfish. How can you have already forgotten what I said an hour ago? I told you not to overdo it..."
It was the first S-rank skill I'd ever obtained in this life. To be honest, Speedrun S had just felt like a support ability so it didn't hit the same, but Thunder God...
Crackle.
Golden sparks danced across my palm.
Damn. This is it.
The beautiful glow brought a smile to my lips without me realizing. Irena must have noticed I was completely absorbed in my new power, because she let out a long sigh.
"Ha... Anyway, I'm glad you didn't suffer any major injuries. Contact me if anything happens later. I have a meeting, so I'll be going."
"Yes. Take care."
The obstacle had finally disappeared. I activated the skill in my hand again. The sparks were almost too weak to even call lightning. At this stage it was closer to static electricity.
Right now it's like this, but eventually I'll be able to wield lightning freely.
The ultimate all-rounder. Thunder God. I had modeled it after the abilities of the Gold Dragon Yu Chel. The dragon's lightning from my previous round was still vivid in my memory. It was a unique skill I had genuinely respected, and now I had successfully made it my own.
I turned to show the girls, but Han Yuri and Choi Ahyeon were busy cleaning up the blood I had spilled. Some ominous instinct told me that if I approached them now, I'd end up helping with the cleaning.
Sorry girls, I'll leave the dirty work to you.
I quietly softened my footsteps and slipped out of the training room.
"Hey?! Seonghyun's running away!"
"Yah! Lee Seonghyun!"
I pretended not to hear and kept walking. Safe escape. No one was chasing me. I'd gotten Thunder God and avoided cleanup duty. I walked down the corridor with light steps when a shout came from the meeting room next door.
"Professor, you really have to pick a proper disciple this time!"
"Someone like me doesn't deserve a disciple..."
"Ugh, seriously... Professor, please..."
Through the slightly open door, I could see Irena engaged in a heated debate with a man.