Inexplicable
"Haa... haa... I'm sorry. I just... got startled all of a sudden..."
I had no idea what the reason was, and it definitely wasn't because of me... but something shocking must have happened.
"I patched it up in a hurry for now, but... what do I do about down there..."
She was sitting there with her legs spread, her skirt hiked up so her panties were fully exposed, and yellow liquid was blatantly leaking out between them.
"Wha... why?"
She looked like she was denying the reality that she had peed herself. The fact that the guy in front of her had seen her panties didn't even register.
I pulled a handkerchief from my inventory and handed it to her.
"Maybe wipe it off with this...?"
"Hic..."
Her face flushed beet red with embarrassment, but she took the handkerchief and wiped the wet spots.
"I'll wash the handkerchief and give it back later..."
"No, keep it. It's fine."
A handkerchief soaked in a girl's urine? It might be some people's fetish item, but that wasn't my thing.
After wiping herself clean, she evaporated the puddle on the floor with her energy.
"Give me a moment to change clothes—could you look away...?"
She pulled a spare outfit from her inventory.
"Got it."
I turned around immediately.
Swish.Swish.
The sound of her sliding off her skirt. The sound of her peeling off the wet panties and slipping into fresh ones. The new skirt brushing against her legs.
With my senses honed by 59 Agility, every sound hit me crystal clear.
"I'm dressed now. You can turn around."
After her voice, I turned back. She stood there, much calmer now, clothes neatly adjusted, looking at me.
"Thank you... If it weren't for you, I really would've been in deep trouble."
"That's just how people help each other. I'd have done the same for anyone."
She shook her head.
"No. There are way too many people out there who just want to see me mess up. If I end up in a bind, they don't help—they use it to grab leverage or spread it around to tear me down."
Someone as famous as her must live a totally different life from mine.
That's why I hate getting famous.
Once you're in the spotlight, rumors swarm you, and every little move gets scrutinized—like hers. All against hordes of people dying for you to fail.
"Even born into a great family, life's full of hardships..."
"Yu-won, you have impressive skills too, right? Aren't you from one of Korea's prestigious families? Maybe your father's name is..."
Prestigious family heir? She was seriously underrating me.
Five lifetimes as an orphan, clawing my way to survival—orphan specialist, max output. That's me, Kim Yu-won.
Prestigious family? Hell, I've never even been born to regular parents. Sure, if I had any, they'd have gotten a short-lived son after 30 years, so no complaints there. But did the last life need to make me an orphan too?
I gave her the rundown on my family situation in response to her rude question.
"I'm an orphan. No family, no parents."
"What...?!"
She jumped in shock at my words.
Here I was, the guy who'd saved her from becoming the pants-wetter, and I'd hit her with the orphan reveal right off the bat. She fidgeted anxiously and spoke up.
"S-sorry...! I didn't mean it like that..."
On TV and YouTube, she always came off as bold and flawless, never messing up. But in front of me, she was just a normal 17-year-old girl.
The media image is fabricated. This might be the real her.
"It's fine. How would you know I don't have parents? Unless... you did it on purpose?"
I tossed in a light tease to ease the mood.
"Absolutely not!!"
She emphasized it hard. Yeah, I knew she didn't mean it that way.
"Anyway, things are mostly sorted here, and I need to head back to my group?"
Time had flown—exams should be wrapping up, with the pass list out soon. There was still the second practical; couldn't be too late.
"Yes. Oh, um... keep today's incident a secret...?"
"Won't tell a soul, don't worry."
Even if I did, hardly anyone would believe she peed herself.
"Thank you... We'll meet at the academy anyway, so let me buy you a meal this weekend."
The academy was dorm-based, but weekends allowed outings. A rich girl offering to treat? Sounded promising.
"Sure. See you then."
I dispersed the Mukroe Byeokryeok Singong energy cloaking the area, said goodbye, and headed to the bulletin board for the pass list.
"Hmph... What was that guy...?"
Elis Strauss—heir to one of the world's Ten Great Families, wielder of A-rank telekinesis—pondered the identity of the man she'd just met.
Her family possessed a special ability unrelated to awakening, passed down through the main bloodline: the power to judge others by their aura.
It revealed their current strength, abilities, potential, and status—auras varied accordingly. By scouting and recruiting the valuable ones, the Strauss family had built its immense power.
But that Kim Yu-won guy? Something was off.
Inexplicable.
He appeared as an incomprehensible tangle of countless elements, radiating endless sensations. One moment like a demon who'd slaughtered masses, the next like a hero who'd saved the world. Utterly unknowable.
Physical contact would reveal more, so she'd even shaken his hand. But the instant their palms met, fragments of his myriad memories flooded her mind. Overwhelmed, she shut off the family ability.
Too late, though—she ended up peeing on the floor.
"Still, he shielded me, blocking off the surroundings..."
Her life had been all calculated relationships. Cold-blooded father, mother pinning all hopes on her. Siblings lurking to steal her heir position. People tearing her down, using her, or groveling for scraps.
He was the first to offer pure goodwill without wanting anything.
If not for her final promise to buy him a meal, he really wouldn't have asked for a thing.
Why...?
The Strauss heir position held vast value and influence. Even with it decided, siblings still schemed to sabotage her before she claimed the head seat.
"I need to watch him."
She didn't know what he was yet—ally or threat?
For the first time, the girl who'd always graded people by her ability wanted to truly know someone.
A unique man her power couldn't grasp, harboring no ulterior motives toward her.
"I want to know."
What kind of person he was. A spark ignited in her heart for the first time.
"Whoa, we all passed?"
After parting with Elis and rejoining the group, the instructors posted the pass list right away. All our names were there.
"An obvious outcome."
Yeon said it, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Sure, practicals make sense, but acing the written exam in just a week? That's the real feat."
Shin-woo was right. That written test was C-rank hunter level—something you needed a year of steady study for. And we'd crammed it in a week? One day was even spent on Korean lessons. Insane.
It meant their Intelligence was at least A-rank hunter level.
"Shin-woo, speak casually. Aren't we classmates now?"
He looked awkward for a sec, then steeled himself and nodded.
"O-okay..."
Knowing their ages roughly, casual speech must've been tough. Good on him.
"Just the final test left."
The passers were already set, but the entrance exam dragged on for one reason.
To rank us for admission.
The last test filtered qualifiers since abilities vary in ease, but didn't rank fairly. So first practical picks passers, second ranks them.
The second practical changed yearly—no prep possible.
"All passers, follow the instructor inside."
The instructor headed into the building from the written exam. People on the list trailed behind.
"Let's go."
We blended into the crowd and followed.
Last time was upstairs; this was downstairs. Way bigger than expected, with 50 capsules inside.
"Those are..."
"Virtual reality devices, right?"
Each one cost billions—top-tier gear. It replicated your real body in VR for all sorts of activities.
The instructor at the front spoke up.
"This second practical's theme is survival and conquest."
Survival and conquest? What kind of test was that?