Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Diagnostic Evaluation
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The next day at 7 a.m.
Professor Lee Tae-jin's office was impeccably neat, without a single thing out of place.
Knock knock.
"Professor, may I come in?"
Lee Tae-jin, savoring a quiet morning with his coffee, replied in a deliberately curt tone.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a stylish beauty bowed in greeting.
Her name was Kim Mi-young.
She was the top teaching assistant pursuing her associate professorship and enjoyed his particular favor.
"Five students have submitted class change requests."
"Five? Quite a few without any grit. They think switching paths will magically fix everything?"
Lee Tae-jin snatched the documents she offered like a hawk.
He flipped through them one by one, scanning the students' names.
As expected, they were all low-rankers, nothing noteworthy.
One switching from Superhuman Class to Support Class, another from Summoning to Magic.
They probably saw it as a life-changing bold move, but to Lee Tae-jin, it was just fancy excuses.
An escape from reality, no doubt.
His gaze remained heavy and sunken as he reviewed the papers.
"This guy..."
Until he turned to the very last page.
Lee Tae-jin furrowed his brow, comparing the name at the top of the application to the photo.
It was that punk.
The arrogant one who had dared to grab his hand with his filthy paw.
"Oh, Park Ha-yul submitted one too."
"Now?"
"Pardon?"
"Never mind."
Lee Tae-jin waved her off roughly, recalling yesterday's unpleasant incident.
Park Ha-yul of the Brew Clan.
From an arrogant family, with mediocre grades to boot.
Since he embodied everything Lee Tae-jin despised, he'd thrown an unplanned test at him.
The pretext was solid, and the problem airtight.
He was certain it would make the punk fail.
But the punk had answered.
With a response impossible to nitpick...
If it had ended there, he might have dismissed it as coincidence.
After all, it wasn't impossible if the kid had a personal interest in monster studies.
But to brazenly submit a class change request on top of that?
Trying to win pity votes from his clan by picking Brewing?
Or did he actually think he'd pass?
The thought made Lee Tae-jin suddenly scoff with derision.
Way too far-fetched.
Such a thing was one in ten thousand. No, one in a million.
The idea of that lowlife entering under his command was unimaginable.
"Approve them all. You're dismissed."
The conversation ended there.
Assigning meaning to every twitch of a lucky worm would just make the world exhausting.
A worm was just a worm.
Lee Tae-jin flicked his hand, and Kim Mi-young left without a word.
He hurriedly picked up his teacup, but disappointingly, his preferred temperature had already passed.
Pushing it far aside, he reopened his academic journal.
"..."
That's when the long scar on the back of his hand caught his eye.
A punk not even worth his attention.
"The Brew Clan, huh..."
Right, how long had it been since he'd encountered an heir from that arrogant house?
Too good an opportunity to let slide.
"Nothing teaches a sense of place like a good comparison."
A inscrutable satisfaction crept into Lee Tae-jin's twisted smile.
* * *
[Remaining Time: 17 hours 8 minutes 59 seconds]
Diagnostic Evaluation day had dawned.
My body ached all over, probably from the chaotic end to yesterday.
Dragging my heavy frame along, I soon arrived at the vast training grounds, Gwanggaeto Hall.
This massive circular arena where the evaluation would take place evoked the solemn grandeur of a modern Colosseum.
Who the hell designed this thing?
It impressed me instantly, but with no time to gawk, I hurried inside.
The interior of Gwanggaeto Hall was lined with what looked like shipping containers from a harbor.
Evaluation boxes. Self-contained sets.
Specially crafted spaces for assessments.
Deceptively small, but including hidden areas, each was the size of three soccer fields.
The result of advanced spatial magic like in the comprehensive training hall.
I found the 2nd-year Class A evaluation box and entered.
Waggling voices filled the air—
The room buzzed with a tense yet excited atmosphere.
Heading to a corner seat, I spotted a pair approaching from the opposite side.
"You trained late last night again?"
"Same as always."
"Take it easy. You'll wear yourself out."
Baek Sa-young and Cheon Seo-yun, who got along like kindred spirits with similar tastes.
But why were they coming this way?
Normally, I wouldn't care, but it had been less than nine hours since we'd last seen each other with flushed faces.
This is annoying.
Best to dodge, so I started to turn away stealthily.
"Huh? You, you're..."
Oh, come on...
"You're the one, right? From yesterday. Wow, small world~ Same class?"
"You two know each other?"
"Who? Her?"
"Yeah, not talking about Park Ha-yul?"
"Oh, so your name's Park Ha-yul. Knew of you, sure. We're acquainted, right?"
Cheon Seo-yun leaned in with gleaming eyes.
"Scraped at my nerves yesterday and slept well, I hope?"
"..."
"Oh, ignoring me again? Want me to turn off the lights? Gotta save on electricity~"
With Baek Sa-young beside her, she was going all out with the sarcasm.
Not incomprehensible, though. The blame was mostly mine anyway.
"Oh, it's you. The girl who started with the double curses from the get-go."
But that didn't mean I had to keep taking it.
Even if I came off poorly, I hadn't cursed her back, and I'd apologized where due.
"Double curses?"
Baek Sa-young glanced at Cheon Seo-yun, who raised her voice in fluster.
"Hey, what the hell are you saying?"
"Why? Didn't happen? You did yesterday."
"What did I do? Where's this slander coming from?"
"Slaaander?"
I grinned and spat back the curses she'd fed me yesterday.
"Fuck."
"..."
"Crazy bitch asshole."
"...No. That... um..."
"Psycho."
Unable to take it anymore, Cheon Seo-yun shrieked.
"There were circumstances! At least explain why..."
"Circumstances? Whatever they were, it wasn't bad enough to deserve 'fuck' and 'crazy bitch,' right?"
"Eek."
At a loss for words, Cheon Seo-yun just flapped her mouth.
"You really said that?"
"No, I did, but... Ugh, this is insane."
She admitted it. End of story.
Baek Sa-young let out a shallow sigh and bowed her head slightly.
"Serves you right for pushing and making it awkward for everyone."
I'll live quietly if left alone, but touch me and it's on.
A lesson etched into my bones from my orphanage days tossed into society.
I brushed past the red-and-purple-faced Cheon Seo-yun and headed to the back seat.
Still an uncomfortable, grating face to look at long.
* * *
Cheon Seo-yun occasionally shot sharp glares my way, but time flew by.
Right on 9 a.m., he appeared as expected.
"Seems everyone's here. Let's start. I'm TA Kim Mi-young. Get familiar with my face; you'll see a lot of me."
The beauty TA was with him this time.
Kim Mi-young.
A woman with an unassuming name but an impressive career.
One of the top graduates who'd shaken the academy four years ago.
She popped up occasionally in the original story, but never with much weight.
"The purpose of the diagnostic evaluation is to gauge your levels. It factors into grades, but only minimally."
Before the evaluation, Lee Tae-jin launched into an unexpected lecture.
"Still, give it your all. Outside eyes and ears are starting to pay attention. Set goals and strive endlessly. As long as it's not utterly ridiculous, it'll be worthwhile."
But from the moment he barked 'utterly ridiculous,' his gaze lingered on me.
Talking to me specifically?
Feeling oddly uneasy, I watched as Lee Tae-jin and Kim Mi-young finished and headed to the upper control room.
Soon, the announcement broadcast began.
-The task type for this diagnostic evaluation is Breakthrough.
-Scores will be calculated based on time to reach the goal point.
-Enter in the order called.
It was Kim Mi-young's voice.
Fitting for the professor's TA—down to the formulaic tone.
-Special Scholarship Candidate, Superhuman Class Student Cheon Seo-yun. Enter the field.
The evaluation proceeded as in the original.
"Go, Seo-yun! Fighting!"
"Cheon Seo-yun. Do well."
Like a vanguard, Cheon Seo-yun strode forward confidently.
Rolling up her sleeves at the starting line, a gust fluttered her bobbed hair.
"Perfect timing. I was in a foul mood anyway. Gonna smash everything."
Fresh off the earlier spat, she exuded a chilling aura.
Beeeep!
The start signal blared, and dummy obstacles swarmed from all sides.
Pushing aside discomfort, I focused on her.
Breakthrough tasks required piercing enemy lines to the goal—tricky, demanding careful strategy...
"Rawrgh! Come at me! Gonna sweep you all at once!"
...But Cheon Seo-yun just charged straight in, kicking off the ground.
Well...
Come to think of it, she even matched that hot temper perfectly.
Her world's creator, that is.
* * *
Cheon Seo-yun's family, the Lightning Cheon House, rivaled the top of the Ten Great Clans in might.
They could manifest the superior Lightning attribute or infuse it between muscle fibers for body enhancement.
Cheon Seo-yun was no exception, though whether she used it was another matter.
She herself rejected it.
Boom.
So she faced the dummies with pure mana alone.
Was she weak for it? Hardly.
Think of it like this.
A massive steel pipe—er, her sword swollen like a club with infused mana, bashing innocent dummies...
Possible only because of her monstrous innate mana reserves.
"Does that even make sense? Pure talent."
"Jealous. She pours it out and it doesn't even dwindle."
Riding waves of envy and admiration from the students, Cheon Seo-yun advanced relentlessly until a shout halted her.
"She broke through Section 1 already!"
Upon entering a specific zone, the dummies vanished.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The ground quaked, and a thick, massive wall erupted.
She'd entered the final Section 2.
The dark wall's surface crackled with constant minor sparks.
Likely a 2-circle shield spell.
Smash that to reach the goal.
"Huu."
Cheon Seo-yun drew in a deep breath and exhaled.
Superhuman Class folks controlled mana via breathing, they said.
Fierce mana gathered on her sword.
Darker than before, topaz-hued mana coiled around the blade. With a calm expression, she thrust her arm forward.
Kwaaaang.
In an instant, a massive boom and blinding flash erupted.
No more, no less—just one strike.
Rumble rumble.
That single slash crumbled the fortress-like wall and shield.
Playfully easy.
At least, that's how it looked to me.
Beep!
[Run Time: 2 minutes 11 seconds 04]
The front panel displayed the final record, and the students erupted in cheers.
Even the grade-obsessed Lee Tae-jin grabbed the mic himself.
-Well done. Return to the waiting room.
Even he was pleased, it seemed.
I was impressed too, but not shocked yet.
Cheon Seo-yun's integrated ranking: 8th.
Two higher ranks remained: Baek Sa-young and Seol Yun-gi.
The 2nd-year integrated 1st and 2nd place holders.
I looked forward to their show.
Probably...
"They'll be at least as good, if not better."
Huh?
A prickling sensation hit, followed by an unfamiliar voice, turning my head.