Chapter 5
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 5
Main Quest #1 — Reward for selection as a special scholarship student: a full 7 days.
From the start, I had never considered giving up. I had only been watching for a chance at contact, just in case.
"How dare you touch me......."
Lee Taek-jin roughly shook out his hand, his eyes a mixture of irritation and contempt.
It was a violent reaction, as if he had gotten shit on his hand, but.......
[Keyword: Reason for successful Majeong Crystal implantation]
[Search successful.]
[Appraising as much as possible.]
I had bought enough time.
After a brief pause, a change soon began.
Hissssss──────!
Mana drained out of me and a fierce headache swept in. After that, unfamiliar information surfaced in disorderly fragments.
[Appraisal halted due to insufficient mana.]
[Comprehension: 90%]
The realization was almost instinctive.
Monster Studies knowledge I'd once had practically none of now hovered dimly in my mind—barely a hair's worth, but still something.
Before it was too late, I broke the silence.
"It's not the recipient."
"......?"
"The change wasn't in the human subject but in several of the Majeong Crystals used in the experiment. Some of the properties that made them reject humans had changed. For example......."
Still, I figured I needed to make this convincing, so I brought up the sudden physical contact from a moment ago as an example.
I had improvised the explanation somehow, but at least the bullshit had a certain plausibility to it.
"Was that a sufficient answer?"
I looked at Lee Taek-jin with a much more relaxed expression.
His face, which had been full of confidence, twisted in an instant like a scrap of paper tossed into a trash can.
Well, that probably meant it was the right answer.
"Is that true?"
"I don't know either."
The students buzzed at the unexpected turn of events.
"Did anyone know the answer?"
"How could they? Who studies the latest trends in Monster Studies?"
The commotion, which had started small, soon grew loud enough to ring in the ears.
"Quiet!"
Lee Taek-jin barked the next words.
"......Unexpected."
"Is it correct?"
"It's rough, but you're on the right track."
He could have just said it was correct.
If beating around the bush like that was a skill, then it was a skill.
"......The second test will be combined with tomorrow's diagnostic assessment. It is an evaluation directly tied to the scholarship selection, so you should do your best."
Lee Taek-jin turned sharply and strode away.
Wait, that was it?
It was a successful finish, but for some reason I felt unsettled. At that moment—
Lee Taek-jin, who had by then recovered his characteristic blank expression, handed me a small slip of paper.
"Ah, I almost forgot. Park Ha-yul, three demerit points. You must pay the price for touching a professor's body without permission."
"......."
Of course. I had wondered why that man would ever let something slide.
Since I had no interest in grades anyway, I didn't care.
"That concludes today's schedule. If anyone wishes to change tracks, submit an application by 6 p.m. this evening."
The orientation ended slightly past its scheduled time.
Lee Taek-jin left the lecture hall, closing the door with a bang.
"Ugh, I thought my heart was going to drop. How are we supposed to deal with that attitude for a whole year?"
"We'll manage somehow. Let's just go eat."
The students who had been venting their complaints soon brightened and gathered their things.
A few people glanced this way, but no one actually came up to talk to me.
I also gathered my things and tried to leave.
Time was limited, and there was a lot to do.
Tzzzt.
But the shimmering space in front of me stopped me in my tracks.
[Achievement-431: Rival to Professor Lee Taek-jin achieved]
[15 hours added as a reward.]
[Remaining Time: 1 day 15 hours 4 minutes]
[10 SP (Story Point) acquired for a satisfying development.]
[Current SP: 10]
An achievement?
It seemed additional rewards were given depending on my actions.......
Getting 15 hours for free was a big gain, but my eyes lingered especially on the last message.
StoryPoint....... Wasn't the Main Quest reward this too?
It couldn't have been a coincidence that 4885's message suddenly came to mind.
Survival and a satisfying development. Remember only those two things.
"So survival is the remaining time, and a satisfying development—no way......?"
I had thought it would be a long journey.
Pitch-black darkness.
A night street where not even moonlight seeped in, where I couldn't see an inch ahead.
It felt as if a single streetlamp had clicked on to light the road ahead.
* * *
Pleasant sunlight beat down, and a mild spring breeze blew.
With orientation over, Taehak was lively for the first time in a while.
The streets were full of chattering voices and ringing laughter.
Joo A-rin and her friends also chattered nonstop, using what had happened earlier as their topic.
"But what's up with that Park Ha-yul?"
"What about him?"
"I mean, did we even have a guy like that in our class? Did you see him say everything he wanted right to Lee Taek-jin's face?"
"Yeah, I saw. He was like, 'I'll prove it with my skills, so I don't think you need to worry.'"
"Hehe, it was cringey, but his vibe was okay."
"Right? I wasn't the only one who felt that, was I? His family's decent, he's tall......."
"And what else?"
"His face too......."
"What. So it's his face again in the end?"
"Hey! That's not what I meant!"
Everyone's eyes were full of interest.
Except for one person with an indifferent expression.
"A-rin, what about you?"
Joo A-rin, who had been walking side by side with them, answered in a tone as flat as her expression.
"Not interested."
"Whyyy? He's handsome."
"Not my type."
"His family isn't bad either, though?"
"That's even less appealing."
Her attitude remained as steady as a bed that wouldn't budge.
Rather, as if she was dissatisfied with her friends' interest, she frowned her delicate brow and spoke.
"You all know he's ranked 700th, right? If someone from a prestigious family is at that level, doesn't that tell you enough?"
"Tell us what?"
"Never mind. Anyway, drop it. He's not a good person."
Joo A-rin's attitude seemed like that of someone who knew more than she was letting on, beyond just being exasperated.
"Hmm. A-rin, you're suspicious. You know something we don't, don't you?"
"Right! You're both from prestigious families! Didn't you already meet him at some social gathering or something?"
Her friends, sensing an opening, squealed and made a fuss, but she firmly lifted her chin and walked ahead.
"I don't know. I've never met him."
"Heyyy! Aren't you going to eat? I heard a decent French restaurant opened nearby."
"I'm busy because it's the first day of the semester. I also need to prepare for tomorrow's diagnostic assessment."
It wasn't an excuse made up on the spot.
In fact, Joo A-rin was one of the busiest students at Taehak.
Appearance, family, grades, and so on.
Even though everything about her was top-tier, she had never neglected her efforts.
It was because of her harsh family traditions, her innate ambition, and her belief that it was a natural duty.
It was a kind of noblesse oblige.
The dignity she must not lose as a member of a prestigious family.
The lofty pride that must not be broken.
She was constantly tempering herself for that purpose.
* * *
Meanwhile, the physical training room, the day before the diagnostic assessment, was so packed with students who had steeled their resolve that there was no room to step.
"Whoa, did he just lift that without any mana?"
"Hey, look next to him. Lee Dae-ho isn't losing in strength either."
On the far side, where the heat was especially intense, the competition between Taehak's famous figures, Baek Sa-young and Lee Dae-ho, was in full swing.
The barbell had reached its maximum load, heavy enough to draw jealous stares, and the two held on with trembling arms, enduring and enduring—
THUD.
They set it down at the same time, as if they had agreed on it.
Baek Sa-young wiped away the flowing sweat and let out a pained sound.
"Wow, I can't keep up with your strength."
"What? Is that something you should be saying in front of me? With your weight class? No, what kind of training did you even do over the break?"
"You know. My usual workout routine. Want me to recite it?"
Lee Dae-ho was a full head taller than Baek Sa-young.
He too was an elite shining at 15th place in the overall rankings, but in the end he raised both hands as if fed up.
"Forget it. What's the point of hearing it? It'll just make me feel worse about myself. Let's go to the lounge. It's a draw, but it's basically a loss for me, so I'll buy drinks."
"Sounds good. Let's rest and then do one more set."
"You lunatic."
Baek Sa-young grinned as he looked at the grumbling Lee Dae-ho.
"If we're going, let's hurry. Cheon Seo-yoon is coming this afternoon too. We really won't be able to rest then."
"......Ah. Cheon Seo-yoon? She skips class but comes to training?"
"She had something going on this morning. Why, do you not like her?"
"How could I like it? A training-crazy guy....... Ah, right, she's not a guy. Anyway, that's one more nutcase. She'll probably suggest training until dawn."
The two bickered as they headed to the lounge next to the training ground.
They each pulled out a can of drink and sat in a corner spot.
The conversation moved on from the diagnostic assessment to today's unexpected incident.
"Isn't Professor Lee Taek-jin too much?"
"What about him?"
"He gave that nasty problem as the first test. Baek Sa-young, didn't you know it either?"
"Of course not. Monster Studies is one of the subjects I hate too."
Gulp—
Baek Sa-young, who had taken a swig of his drink, recalled the problem Lee Taek-jin had presented.
Actually, it was a problem that strayed far from its purpose.
Despite supposedly testing basic knowledge, it was a question you couldn't answer without prior information.
"But how did Park Ha-yul know it? He really is a unique guy, just like the rumors say."
"Unique?"
"Yeah. I heard from a friend who was in the same class in our first year. He apparently holed up in the dorm and barely came to class....... Anyway, he wasn't normal."
"Is he sick or something?"
"Maybe? But I don't get why a guy like that applied for the scholarship. He's from a prestigious family, so there are plenty of strings he could pull."
"Well, there's probably something going on that we don't know about. He hasn't become a scholarship student yet either."
"True, the odds of him not making it are high."
Objectively, Park Ha-yul's chances of passing were close to zero, so debating it further was meaningless.
"But hey. We met Park Ha-yul for the first time today, right?"
"What? Why are you asking me that? We were in different departments before and our clubs never overlapped. Unless you met him personally, today would be the first time."
"Hmm......."
"Why?"
"His build and voice feel familiar somehow......."
"Didn't you see him on TV? There's probably an actor who looks like him. That bastard is good-looking, after all."
Baek Sa-young, who had been frowning slightly, soon waved his hand as if it was nothing.
"Anyway, never mind. I guess I was just mistaken."
"What, that's random."
"Let's get up now. We've rested enough."
"A-already?"
"Yeah, resting too much makes it harder."
Baek Sa-young, who had stood up first, lightly reached toward the trash can.
Thunk—
The crushed can was sucked in cleanly enough to put a hole-in-one to shame.
* * *
An empty lecture hall that everyone had left.
As a result of sitting alone in the gloom and repeatedly racking my brain with deductions, predictions, and assumptions,
I concluded that SP absolutely had to be collected.
I still didn't know exactly how to use it, but who knew?
If I gathered more than a certain amount, perhaps I could obtain information related to Yoo So-young.
So for the sake of even the slightest possibility, completing quests and achievements had become an absolute necessity.
Even if it meant twisting the original story's development if necessary.......
That had always been true, but now I was even more desperate.
"Let's hurry."
I calmed my stirred-up heart and decided to focus solely on the Main Quest, the special scholarship selection.
The selection method was simple.
Since selection depended solely on the diagnostic assessment results, there was no need to weigh anything else.
Four people would be selected, so it meant I just had to place within the top four.
Moreover, thanks to taking the first test today, the number of applicants had dropped to six in total.
In terms of competition, it was less than two to one.
"Hm."
Still, the raw numbers were misleading.
Baek Sa-young and Lee Dae-ho. And on top of that, the one who had been absent today.
These three formidable applicants were as good as confirmed, so realistically, only one spot remained.
Tch.
Once I sorted it out, I did lack confidence.
"Confidence I'd fail, that is."
No matter how I thought about it, the remaining spot was mine.
I knew the evaluation format and even had Manifestation, so failing would actually be the harder outcome.
If there was a problem, it was the method rather than the result.
In an official setting, I would have to use Sorcery rather than manifesting an Armament.......
I took the phone grip out of my pocket.
As soon as I attached it to the back of my phone, a bluish light began to swirl.
[Academic Integrated System 'Gauri' is launching.]
[Name: Park Ha-yul]
[Track: Superhuman Track]
[Approved.]
As expected, I was still in the Superhuman Track, not the Sorcery Track.
He was a case of someone from a sorcerer family who had given up early because he lacked related talent and chosen a different track.
Probably the fact that Heightened Senses and Enhanced Recovery were body-related traits had also played a part.
"I'll need to change tracks right away......."
Once the rough outline was drawn, I checked my assigned dormitory first.
I planned to unpack simply, head straight to the training ground, and start practicing in earnest.
The essence of Eastern supernatural arts, Sorcery.
Though Sorcery had fallen out of favor these days, pushed aside by Magic for being complex and slow, it possessed greater destructive power than almost anything else.