Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: It's Okay Because I'm a Genius Despite the Time Limit
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Park Ha-yul's sensitive disposition had given rise to another trait: Sensitive Senses, akin to a kind of telescope.
[Trait: Sensitive Senses used.]
With a small amount of mana expanding my vision and hearing, the physical distance between the students and me shrank in an instant.
It was as if my clogged ears had burst open all at once, the flood of conversation crashing against my eardrums.
“Kuahaha, bulking up is love. I never get tired of it no matter how much I do.”
The loudest voice among them belonged unequivocally to Lee Dae-ho.
An overwhelming build over two meters tall, matched by fitting presbyopia—an impressive main supporting character.
As the rumor went that half his brain was muscle, he was a straightforward yet simple and dull character.
“You’ve gotta do everything in moderation. Agility’s just as important as strength, you know?”
And the male student chatting with Lee Dae-ho.
Only the back of his dark head was visible, but since he was familiar, there was no mistaking him.
“That’s you, the all-rounder Baek Sa-young. Not me. I’m just gonna dig one well deep.”
It was the guy.
Baek Sa-young.
The true protagonist of *Epic of Salvation*, who had abruptly appeared and mistaken me for a special task force member.
A handsome man with a radiant smile, lacking any grand background yet overpowering Taehak’s top geniuses—a living embodiment of Yoo So-young-style favoritism.
He’d been treated as dim-witted due to circumstances, but reality was far from it.
His integrated ranking among second-years was a staggering first place.
The sacred pinnacle of Taehak’s pyramid, a genius among geniuses.
Though he’d later reveal a twist tied to his birth secret, his excellent personality and affable nature earned him the love of all.
“Then...”
A name that always followed when Baek Sa-young was mentioned. I naturally scanned the opposite side for his rival.
“Your cousin brother got picked as vice-captain of the Assassination Unit this time, huh?”
“As expected of a prestigious house. Youngest ever, right?”
There, at the center of a somewhat rowdy group, I spotted a handsome young man with striking features.
“Cut the fuss. It’s a record I’ll break anyway.”
That arrogant line, heard just in time, laid his personality bare without filter.
He was a guy brimming with self-love and steeped in aristocratic pride.
True to his type who lived off his own superiority, his family was the Seol Clan of Shinpung, one of the Ten Great Houses. His integrated ranking was a solid second, neck-and-neck with first.
“That’s the only one left?”
Excluding Ju A-rin, whom I’d already met, there was just one main character left in Class A.
But I wouldn’t see her today. She’d be somewhere else instead of Taehak right now.
A bit of a shame.
Drawn as planned, she would’ve looked just like Yoo So-young...
In any case, as I observed the key figures, the time announced in the comm notice—9 a.m.—was drawing near.
The very moment it chimed 'ding,' the front door swung open.
Rumble.
“Everyone, take your seats!”
A low, heavy voice swept through the classroom.
Come to think of it, there was one more key figure I’d overlooked.
A professor, not a student.
“No first-day lunatic showing up late, I hope?”
A cynical voice mirroring his personality grated on the ears from the outset.
The man with perfect pomade hair and a short beard was an extraordinary figure known to every Taehak student.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Lee Taek-jin, the professor assigned to Class A for the next year. Rank: Fourth Class, Magic Division.”
Lee Taek-jin.
His skills placed him in the top tier even among Taehak’s elite professors, but he was infamous as a psycho grade-obsessed meritocrat.
“Damn it, this is Class B!”
Like a bolt from a clear sky, the despairing students let out silent screams.
One of them, in his excitement, crossed a line he shouldn’t have.
“Shut it for now. Get caught chit-chatting, and you’re dead. You know his mad dog temper, right?”
Mad dog.
To utter the nickname Lee Taek-jin despised most, right in front of him.
He’d probably whispered it, but the effort was pointless.
“You there, third row center—what’s your name?”
Hell’s gates cracked open on the first day of school.
“L-Lee Eun-seong, sir.”
“Lee Eun-seong...”
The low, chilling voice wrapped around the classroom.
Lee Taek-jin flipped open his faculty notebook—practically an extension of himself.
It looked like an ordinary notepad, but it was actually a fairly advanced armament.
Packed not just with high-level magic formulas, but also student profiles and every rumor floating around Taehak...
Among students, though, it was simply called the Death Note.
Because whenever it was opened, a bloodbath followed, just like now.
“Nothing impressive about you. Your rank... 589th. Correct?”
“......Yes.”
“You think that pitiful skill lets you pick your professor?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize to me. Save it for your parents. They went through hell birthing you, only for you to grow into a mannerless, talentless swine.”
Having caught his prey, Lee Taek-jin bared his psycho tendencies in raw form.
The verbal lashing dragged on for over ten minutes, leaving the poor extra, Lee Eun-seong, completely broken.
The rest were no different.
Everyone stiffened, backs ramrod straight with tension.
“Flowing just the same.”
In contrast, I remained unfazed. It matched the original plot.
The opening scene of Chapter 1 began with the professor’s brutal indoctrination.
“Make Lee Taek-jin as sharp as possible here. When he’s chewing the kid out about apologizing to his parents.”
“Like this?”
“No, more! Sharper!”
“......Like this?”
“Nooo, add something like arrowhead rain, like...”
“Screw it, I’m not doing it. Draw it yourself.”
A panel we’d fussed over with five or six revisions between Yoo So-young and me.
If I’d known, I would’ve just drawn it his way.
I didn’t believe in regrets meant for dogs, but sitting there alone, watching the novel unfold in real life, left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Listen up, everyone. Class A’s benchmark isn’t the other fourteen classes. It’s the greatest generation in Taehak history...”
Bitterness aside, the orientation proceeded without incident.
Clichéd and dull, I didn’t pay much attention.
“Finally, we’re recruiting a special scholarship student to assist me at the class office. Those interested, stand.”
At least it was nearing the end—small mercy.
I’d hoped he’d skim the last item, but quite a few students, led by Baek Sa-young and Lee Dae-ho, signaled their interest.
“Not a bad number of honor-knowing students.”
Lee Taek-jin noted down the applicants’ names, his gaze lingering conspicuously on Baek Sa-young and Lee Dae-ho.
I could only scoff.
They touted it as a connection for top students and professors, but it was just the prof’s personal gofer in the end.
There were a few related episodes, but nothing mainline, so I’d judged it safe to skip.
───────────────
[Main Quest #1]
[Goal: Pass Special Scholarship Student Selection]
[Reward: +7 days to remaining time, Time Shop unlocked, 10 SP]
───────────────
That is, until the new quest appeared.
Tch. Seven days?
Flustered, but my decision was faster than light.
Psycho’s gofer? So what.
“Anyone else? If not—”
“One moment, Professor. I’d like to apply too.”
I shot to my feet and called out.
* * *
Maybe because it was a main quest, but the rewards were substantial.
Even setting aside the mysterious Time Shop unlock and SP, no one on a time limit could refuse a full seven days.
“Your name?”
“Park Ha-yul.”
Lee Taek-jin opened his Death Note with a distinctly displeased look.
“Grades: 700th out of 750, bottom tier... Family: Brew Clan?”
He glanced up briefly, then fixed me with a piercing stare.
Damn...
I’d only just applied, and already he was glaring like he wanted to devour me.
Not incomprehensible, though.
Near-bottom grades paired with a Brew Clan background—the polar opposite of magic.
I, Park Ha-yul, embodied everything Lee Taek-jin loathed.
With a sneer, he said to me,
“You serious?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if it’s worth stepping up when you’ll fail anyway. Student Park Ha-yul, 700th place.”
What the hell, man?
I wanted to yell it was bullshit, but I swallowed it down upon checking my remaining time.
“Well... I’ll prove it with my skills, so no need to worry.”
“Is that so? Then how about proving it right now.”
So that’s why it felt ominous...
The situation veered into completely uncharted territory.
“Think of it as the first test. Ah, and it won’t just be you—two other applicants below 500th will join, so no doubts about fairness.”
“What do you......”
“P-Professor, that’s unfair.”
I wasn’t the only one feeling wronged; some male student piped up boldly.
“Unfair? The application conditions include ‘basic proficiency in the professor’s subject.’ Tailoring it to 500th place sounds like benevolence to me. Disagree?”
“......”
Lee Taek-jin continued matter-of-factly, and the male student could only bow his head in silence, unable to retort.
He’d dressed it up logically, but he couldn’t hide his blatant intent.
Drop the riffraff under the guise of a test, no matter what.
The grade meritocrat viewed mid-to-low tier applicants as an insult.
“For a simple evaluation, Demonic Beast Studies will do. I’ll ask questions—answer correctly, and you pass.”
He proposed it almost charitably. I, on the other hand, was thrown for a loop.
No matter that I was a webtoon artist—even I wouldn’t know nitpicky, gross details like Demonic Beast Studies lore.
But whether he took my silence for assent or not, Lee Taek-jin launched into his questions.
“A month ago, an impromptu experiment made waves. Implanting a mana core extracted from a Grade 5 demonic beast into a human yielded surprisingly positive results.”
Esoteric knowledge no non-major could possibly know.
In other words, a load of useless preamble before getting to the point.
“—Which brings me to this: I’m curious about your takes. How did the implant recipients handle the mana core’s turbid mana?”
Lee Taek-jin approached each applicant one by one, as if applying silent pressure.
“Refinable unique bloodline?”
The unassuming female student shook her head and gave up early.
“Or a specially evolved heart?”
The bold male student bit his lip but offered no answer.
With each failure, Lee Taek-jin’s smirk crept higher.
“Finally, Student Park Ha-yul’s turn. Speak.”
By the time he reached me, his expression screamed certainty of the outcome.
It was a question designed to flunk me, after all...
“If you don’t know, just sit. Don’t waste precious time.”
“......”
I might not know the answer, but I agreed time was precious.
Snicker.
So we laughed together.
“Laughing?”
Should I cry? Cling to your leg and bawl for mercy?
Not like you’d care.
You threw the first jab, so no kid gloves here.
“Professor. If I may.”
I didn’t hesitate to grab Lee Taek-jin’s outstretched hand.
Grab.
[Trait ‘Perusal’ used.]
[Can search and acquire information from the medium.]
Perusal was a trait that triggered upon contact with a medium.
[Effect reduced if medium is a living being.]
[Medium vastly exceeds your level.]
[Auto-perusal canceled.]
[Please specify keywords.]
First time on a person, but it activated fine.
Before he could shake me off, I rushed on.
“The reason the mana core implant succeeded was......”