Chapter 50
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 50
Early afternoon, just past lunch.
This was Gwanggaeto Hall, the grand training arena—a modern-day Colosseum where the diagnostic evaluation had been held.
Lee Taek-jin was once again, with his usual unshaken composure, expounding on the importance of the evaluation.
"The purpose of this evaluation is to assess individual mission-execution capability. As Awakeners......."
As his solemn tone rang out, the students became entirely different people from that morning.
Tension settled over faces that had been giggling, and slouched backs were now ramrod straight.
Only now did they finally look like Taehak students—a transformation dramatic enough that Professor Cha Myeong-hwan might have found something to sulk about if he'd seen it.
Man, he sure talks a lot.
I was thoroughly unimpressed.
Because the gist of it was just "do well on the evaluation."
"Always remember—absolutely remember—that Awakeners operate based on missions."
The only thing worth taking away was that last line.
Based on missions—
That was the core of this evaluation and the biggest scoring factor.
Lee Taek-jin finished his ten-minute long-winded speech and went up to the command control room.
Before long, an announcement came over the speakers.
-The task type for this formative evaluation is hostage rescue.
-Once you stand at the starting line, the five-paragraph operation order will first be issued, and time will be measured from the moment you start.......
When a task type never seen in previous evaluations was revealed, a small stir rippled through the hall.
But the proctor holding the microphone was not one to let such murmuring go unchecked.
-Superhuman Track, student Baek Sa-young, front and center.
He immediately called the first examinee. Baek Sa-young rose in response.
The final boss had appeared right from the start, but that was only natural.
This evaluation proceeded in descending order of combined ranking.
I watched Baek Sa-young stride forward with confident steps.
My gaze naturally carried on to the six-story building erected at the center of the field.
It was the main stage, where scarecrows disguised as hostages and Demonkin lay in wait.
Once Baek Sa-young took his place at the starting line, the view ahead shimmered and the mission was issued.
The building floor plan, the number of hostages to rescue, the number of Demonkin to eliminate, and so on.
The five-paragraph operation order Lee Taek-jin had emphasized was presented in hologram form. Baek Sa-young read through it meticulously.
Beeeeeeep—
Then, the moment the start signal sounded, he entered the building.
From then on, the situation was broadcast in real time on the screen installed in the waiting room.
"The layout's more complicated than I thought."
"Looks like you have to move while hiding your presence as much as possible."
The students' eyes blazed as they tried to glean information, while Baek Sa-young, sword drawn, moved through the building rescuing hostages.
Perhaps because he put safety first, he flatly skipped overly risky routes. Though a little slow, he kept every hostage safe while moving toward the extraction point.
Of course.......
He showed no mercy to enemies he encountered along the way.
He swung his sword more ferociously than usual, routing the enemies that clung to him in a single blow.
Baek Sa-young reached the vicinity of the extraction point in under fifteen minutes.
That was when a familiar face appeared.
"Good work. I'm assigned to friendly support, so leave the hostages with me and move to the extraction point."
It was Kim Mi-young.
She pushed up her titanium frames—practically her trademark—and gestured to Baek Sa-young.
"Then I'll leave them to you."
Baek Sa-young gave a polite bow, then drove off the ground with powerful force.
The gust that rose sent Kim Mi-young's hair flying.
Closing a distance of about fifty meters in a single burst, Baek Sa-young pressed the red switch at the extraction point.
Beep—
The mission-end tone rang out, and a record appeared on the display board ahead.
[Lap time: 14:34.14]
"......."
The students accepted the result in an unexpectedly quiet atmosphere.
Because he happened to go first, they knew he'd done well but had no benchmark for just how impressive it was.
-Next is student Seol Yoon-gi. Prepare yourself.
The evaluation continued after that.
Seol Yoon-gi, who had glanced over at Baek Sa-young, took his place at the starting line with the force of a drawn blade.
As if he had already gotten a feel for it, he skimmed over the mission order without really reading it, and the moment the beep sounded, he charged fiercely.
He rescued the hostages by the shortest route, brushed past Kim Mi-young, and sprinted through without a hitch.
As a result.......
[Lap time: 13:21.01]
He surpassed Baek Sa-young's record, and this time it looked as though he would finally avenge his previous loss.
"Doesn't that make Seol Yoon-gi first place?"
"But one of the hostages got hurt. So who knows."
However, as someone said, he hadn't guaranteed absolute safety.
Because of this, the waiting room quickly grew noisy.
"What do you mean, who knows? It's enemy territory, so getting out fast is the priority. The hostage didn't even die."
"What are you talking about? The task itself is called hostage rescue. Obviously safety comes first."
Time and safety.
The debate was over which mattered more.
This had a tremendous influence on the evaluations that followed.
The students split into two camps: those like Seol Yoon-gi who focused on record time, and those like Baek Sa-young who prioritized safety.
Each moved according to the value they deemed more important.
The same went for the other protagonists.
Lee Dae-ho prioritized safety, Cheon Seo-yoon prioritized time, and Joo A-rin used the Summoning Track's unique strengths to pursue both at once.
The evaluation proceeded relentlessly within that framework.
100s, 200s, 300s.......
After waiting endlessly, the 600s were called before I knew it, and just when I was too exhausted to keep my wits about me—
-Sorcery Track, student Park Ha-yul, front and center.
At last, I was called, and the long wait came to an end.
I rubbed my stiff shoulders and rose from my seat.
As if she had been waiting for exactly that, Lee Min-ha from two seats over came scurrying over.
"Ha-yul, which side are you on?"
"What?"
For reference, she was as consistent as ever.
She clearly paid no mind to the negative reactions around her.
"I mean, which are you going to pick—record or safety?"
"Ah, that."
I paused for a moment, then, since it would come out soon anyway, answered honestly.
"Both are wrong."
"Huh?"
"Think carefully about the purpose of the evaluation."
I walked past Lee Min-ha's blank expression and headed to the starting line.
When I stopped, the five-paragraph operation order was issued.
1. Situation
- Four Demonkin, estimated at Green Grade, are holding three hostages captive. The enemy has refused repeated calls to surrender.......
2. Mission
-Rescue all hostages swiftly and escort them to the extraction point.
.
.
5. Combat Service Support
-No separate support. Resolve with your own capabilities.
As I read through it carefully, I smiled at the fact that there were four Demonkin and no separate support.
As expected.
Just like the original, Kim Mi-young was the point.
Hoping some out-of-nowhere achievement might pop up, I reached toward the building floor plan displayed beside the five paragraphs—the map showing the estimated positions of the hostages and Demonkin.
"Appraisal."
The moment I murmured it, recognition came in a flash.
Soon, a building identical to the one before my eyes rose in my mind.
The positions of the hostages and Demonkin marked on the floor plan transformed into a three-dimensional image and rose vividly into view, as though I could see through the walls.
Over that, the optimal route I needed to follow was drawn in.
Closing my eyes made almost no difference.
......Was that an exaggeration?
Beeeeeep—
Anyway, when the signal sounded, I kicked off the ground and launched forward.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the command control room overseeing the evaluation.
Lee Taek-jin sat alone in the darkness, contemplating the monitor.
His face deeply furrowed, as if he were chewing on shit.......
"Tch, how many more hints do I have to give them?
"I'd repeatedly stressed that they had to understand the five-paragraph operation order and act according to it or face penalties.
"Maybe it was because they were still inexperienced rookies.
"They were only chasing the obvious results in front of them—time and safety.
"None of them was focused on the mission itself, the thing that actually mattered.
"Not one of them even showed suspicion or hesitated."
Lee Taek-jin leaned back in his chair, nearly half resigned.
Suppressing his foul mood with effort, he called the next examinee.
-Sorcery Track, student Park Ha-yul, front and center.
Then that disagreeable fellow walked out.
Still, unlike before, Lee Taek-jin felt neither disgust nor a surge of anger.
Even a grub knew how to roll; by now, the boy had proven himself useful to a degree.
He had protected Cheon Seo-yoon during the final-point occupation battle, and the monster-related report he had recently written was quite excellent—surprisingly so.
But that was all.
"This one will be the same as the rest, no doubt."
What Baek Sa-young and Seol Yoon-gi had failed to see through, this one could not possibly manage.
Lee Taek-jin stared at the monitor with sunken eyes, then pressed the start button. Beeeeeep—
Park Ha-yul kicked off the ground with that characteristic leisurely smile.
Whoosh.
He formed a sorcery formula, floating four small fireballs into the air as he entered the building.
And a moment later.
A sudden glint entered Lee Taek-jin's eyes as he watched the monitor.
"Hm......."
How should he describe this?
There was no way the boy had memorized the entire floor plan in that short time.
......Should he call it luck?
He seemed to move lazily, without thought, yet at the end of every path there was always a hostage.
He also happened to pass through blind spots outside the Demonkin's field of vision, and even when he did encounter one, it was facing away, not toward him.
So the only "combat" amounted to slamming sorcery into the backs of defenseless Demonkin.
"That brat......."
Lee Taek-jin felt his "Park Ha-yul aversion," which he had thought half shaken off, flaring up again.
Because the boy was advancing with infuriating ease, completely ignoring the evaluator's intent.
"But this is as far as he goes."
When Kim Mi-young appeared, Lee Taek-jin immediately relaxed and sneered.
The core of this evaluation, which not a single person had passed so far.
A deception born of familiar relationships—a test of mission comprehension encountered at the very edge of success.
No matter how quickly or safely one arrived, if one failed to see through it, it was all for nothing.
Lee Taek-jin leaned back in his chair, anticipating the sight of Park Ha-yul about to be fooled.
Last time, doing this had made him spring upright at once, but this time he was certain it would be different.......
But.
Was this déjà vu, or the mischief of the gods?
"Good work. I'm assigned to friendly support, so......."
"Move, you Demonkin bastard. Unless you want to die."
"......."
In an instant, Park Ha-yul's shout cut off Kim Mi-young's words.
An awkward silence followed that crude outburst, and even Kim Mi-young—every bit as composed as he was—began to stammer.
"......Ah, was I not supposed to treat it like a real situation? But you're not standing here as a teaching assistant right now. You're a Demonkin disguised as an ally to extract the hostages."
Park Ha-yul scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"That mudskipper-faced little......."
Lee Taek-jin flew into a rage and slammed the desk with a bang—
......Again?
Discovering that he had reacted exactly the same way as last time, he chewed his lip.