This is a Boss?! # 1
This is a Boss?! # 1
In the end, I was stuck spending training time in a seriously tough way. All because Yu-ri kept beating the crap out of me every time my concentration slipped.
I lodged a protest that violence was illegal, but all I got back was some medieval-sounding answer about how violence isn't punishable under the Special Act on Awakened Individuals if there's a valid reason, and that it's only natural for a teacher to strike a student—along with a few more fist sandwiches for good measure.
"Anyway, you little shit. Why the hell can't you focus? Watch yourself. If you pull this again next time, I'll smash you to bits. Got it?"
"Yes! Instructor Yu-ri!"
"Whatever, damn it. Let's get out. Your back okay?"
—Slide.
Maybe she felt a little bad about hitting me, because Yu-ri rubbed my back.
"Agh! Hey! Don't touch it! It feels like it's about to break!"
"You little shit, you gonna exaggerate?"
"Aaaagh!"
The affectionate moment was over in a flash. Yu-ri drilled her fingers into my back plate—what is this, a finger drill?
Anyway, that's how Yu-ri and I came out of the training room together. And then we called Si-hoo over.
"Haah, haah. Oh, you're done? Let's go together."
"Looks like this little shit's been working hard."
The sight of him catching his breath was the picture of someone who'd busted his ass.
"Yu-ri, did Geun-cheol do it right?"
"This little shit was an absolute disaster today. Lee Si-hoo, you keep him in line."
"Geun-cheol...! I told you to work hard!"
"I did work hard!"
This is an injustice!
If it weren't for that chest attack, my condition really would've been top-notch!
"Hey. Lee Si-hoo."
"Yeah?"
"I'll be looking forward to the Ranking Battle."
"I'll look forward to it too, Yu-ri. Alright, Geun-cheol. Let's head in. We need to get some protein in you fast."
"Yeah, I better. Hey, Yu-ri. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
After seeing Yu-ri off, I went back to the dorm with Si-hoo.
"Geun-cheol. You seriously have got to bet your life on this now. If you don't want to die, the only option is getting stronger. But a disaster...! Do you want me to confiscate your Don-gapnaegi?"
"Hey, hey. Yu-ri was bullshitting. Stand up."
"Fine. I'll see it for myself."
I immediately picked up a training sword and stood in front of Si-hoo. My condition right now is top-tier. The person standing in front of me is Lee Si-hoo. A guy with no chest to speak of. This is totally different from Yu-ri just now.
"I'll watch you carefully, so come at me."
"Here I come!"
—Fwaaat!
I lightly kicked off the dorm room floor and swung my sword at Si-hoo. I was the one attacking one-sidedly, and Si-hoo blocked my blows while occasionally firing back counters.
—Shiiik!
I either dodged those counters with footwork or deflected them with my blade. This is easy. I can now see and dodge a sword strike that's picked up some speed, and I can redirect a blow loaded with power. I've become capable of fighting while reading the battlefield.
We traded offense and defense like that and then ended the match.
"Huh? Not bad, I think? Your reaction speed has really improved."
"Right? I told you I worked hard."
"Guess it wasn't a lie. No, but Geun-cheol, the speed you're improving at is kind of insane. If you compare the start of the semester to now, you've gotten crazy good."
"Which is exactly why I'm smashing everybody, wouldn't you say? Hehehe."
That's my talent.
"Yeah. If you're at this level, I can rest easy."
Si-hoo smiled and smoothed down his chest. The faster I get stronger, the more that psychological weight on Si-hoo's shoulders disappears.
Anyway.
"Oof."
As I waited for the chicken with Si-hoo, I did some light home training.
I did some work with a heavy dumbbell, then a set of headstand push-ups, and then some leg raises—you know, the exercise where you hang from the pull-up bar fixed in the doorway and lift your legs straight out at a right angle.
Si-hoo was doing something similar next to me.
—Ding-dong.
"Ah, Geun-cheol. The chicken's here."
"Let's eat."
Right away, I set out the cola and plastic gloves and put the chicken we'd picked up on the table.
"So, Geun-cheol. That, uh, monsterkin woman. Have you felt her gaze or anything? Any sense she might approach? None of that?"
Si-hoo, picking at the chest meat because she said she wasn't into drumsticks, asked me that... Si-hoo really is a good friend.
"Not yet. Doesn't really feel like anything yet."
"What's the feeling like when she creates a gate right in front of you?"
"Just a little. How do I put it? It's like a jolt where the mana inside my body gets triggered, just goes wham, and like that."
We'd talked about Kitty many times, but Si-hoo had a lot to be curious about.
"Sigh. This is seriously bad. A monsterkin with an ability like that."
"It really is a huge deal."
"If a bastard like that colluded with other high-powered monsterkin or villains, it might even be possible to assassinate key figures from various countries."
"Assassination?"
Assassination, huh.
"Even a high-ranking Awakened can't maintain a perfect combat stance 24/7, 365 days a year. What if they exploit that opening... and a large number of powerful monsterkin come jumping through a gate and all ambush them at once? That's the end."
He had a point.
"Yeah, that's true."
No one stands up well to a gang beating. No matter how strong you are, if ten or so guys whose skill is just under yours jump in, you're screwed.
"No, but why the hell is a creature with an ability like that coming after me?"
"Exactly. There should be a limit to what info she could even get out of Geun-cheol."
"Could she seriously have fallen for me?"
"Do you think that makes sense?"
Looking at how Kitty acts, it might.
Anyway. We talked it over while ripping into the chicken, and once we finished, we took turns washing up. Si-hoo took a while in the shower, so I went first. After we switched and I was messing around on the computer, Si-hoo came out.
"Phew, Geun-cheol. I'm all washed up. So. Want to watch a movie, or something?"
But this guy has a bizarre habit of coming out fully dressed.
"Hehehe, let's do it. What'll we watch?"
"Let's pick something out."
We got set up right away. I'd yielded the bed to Si-hoo, my honored guest. I spread a blanket on the floor and chose a movie.
"Geun-cheol. Let's watch this one. Awakened Serial Murder Case."
"Look at that title. That title. Si-hoo, you watch violent crap like this and you'll turn into a weirdo later."
"No matter how weird I get, could I ever get to your level, Geun-cheol?"
That's how I continued my cohabitation life with Si-hoo.
* * *
And that's how those days flowed on.
The final exams were suddenly right around the corner. Since no special incidents had occurred, I'd been able to focus on my studies—but with the test tomorrow, Leona grabbed me by the ear and dragged me to the study room.
"Kim Geun-cheol? You know the exam's tomorrow, right? We're going in hard today, so keep up."
"Hey, hey. Don't worry. You've seen how hard I've been working. This is just easy as hell for me. I might even score higher than you, Yu-ri."
"Bullshit. If you score higher than me, then I won't be your teacher—I'll be your slave, damn it. Slave."
Yu-ri as a slave!
"A Mirror Slave?"
"What? Mi-Mirror Slave? Want me to kill you, you little shit?"
"Let us study!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Anyway, time to buckle down. I worked through the practice book, and Leona reviewed it for me occasionally. Next to me, Si-hoo and Yu-ri were studying too.
"Hey, Si-hoo. How do you solve this?"
"Call Leona."
"I don't think it's to the degree of calling Leona."
"Then what am I? Anyway, this is... yeah. Here it is."
Even though she talked like that, Si-hoo still took good care of me. After studying for about two hours like that, I took Leona's pop quiz.
"Hehehe, at this level? For me, Kim Geun-cheol, this is nothing special."
"Solve it without getting cocky. Alright, start."
"Yes."
—Scribble scribble scribble.
I quickly worked through the math problems Leona had personally picked out. Honestly, I might have been a total scrub at the start of the semester, but I can study to some extent now, you know?
I exploded with that confidence and solved the problems.
"Whoa! Kim Geun-cheol, you're doing great!"
I passed it just like that.
"As expected—does this mean there's no second failure?! At this rate, I'll pull a 70 tomorrow, no problem!"
"See? What'd I tell you?"
I don't fall down twice.
"Oh, this little shit."
As I was smiling, Yu-ri stuck her head way over and looked at my test sheet.
"Were you that eager to make your teacher a slave? Huh?"
"You set that condition yourself!"
Inhumanly unfair!
"Hang on. Should we all bet on Geun-cheol? We each pick a number, and the one closest to Geun-cheol's average score wins. How about it? The rest of the losers buy the winner a meal one time each."
"I like it!"
"Yeah, I'm putting down 69."
"I'll take 77!"
"Geun-cheol, I'll go with 75."
Seriously.
"Guys. Could you... you know. Maybe 80 or something? Can't you at least put a number in that ballpark?"
"Shut up, Kim Geun-cheol, you just hurry up and pick one too!"
"So I'm betting too, huh? Fine! Screw it! I'm going with 80!"
I'm definitely taking first place!
Then I can mooch meals off all three of them!
* * *
The day of the exam came.
"Everyone, make sure you mark your answer sheets properly. This general-subject exam only assesses genuinely essential academic ability, so there's no need to feel pressured. It's just common sense. It only has things you'd all just normally know based on common sense."
It sort of felt like the instructor handing out the OMR cards was looking right at me, but I desperately ignored it.
What I'm thinking about right now.
Is nothing but the 'test.'
We'll settle everything after the tests are over.
I'll make you see me in a new light.
—Flutter.
The test papers were distributed, and I moved my pen with the intent of annihilating them. Because I'd studied decently well this whole time, there was no hesitation in the hand solving the problems.
Delete.
I was literally 'deleting' the questions.
"Heh."
I kept up that extreme focus until the end time came, and the moment I submitted my OMR card, I prepared for the next exam. When it started, I slaughtered the questions again. As soon as it ended, I repeated the process of prepping for the next one.
Having become like a demon that simply massacred test questions, I could think of nothing else anymore except solving the problems.
And like that, after the tests were all over.
"Alright, grade reports. Collect them in order of your number."
I took the report, which had come out surprisingly fast.
"Kim Geun-cheol? How'd it go?"
Leona came over, looking a little nervous.
"Needless to say, I scored 100 out of 100."
With a faintly tense expression, Leona swept her bangs back and pulled off an all-back hairstyle. No, but with her forehead exposed, Leona seriously looks like a noble lady.
If I did that, it'd just be a fivehead.
—Swish!
So I pushed my hair back too and spoke up.
"Average score of 71. I just barely scraped a passing grade."
"No, Kim Geun-cheol, you bet on 80 yourself! So you couldn't crack it in the end?"
"I chose not to crack it. On purpose."
But why 71? The feeling had been I would 100% clear 80. I could just die from the injustice.
"Bullshit!"
Anyway. I'd passed the general-subject exams perfectly.
I really have grown a lot.
But, let's see. So does that mean Yu-ri won first place? Yu-ri, who bet on 69 like she was openly mocking me, taking first place? It honestly makes my blood boil.