Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: The Regressed Extra Becomes a Genius
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"Because I overdid it with the Compression Manifestation Technique."
A small burst of laughter erupted among the teachers at Lee Hee-young's words.
"Come on, Teacher. Stop favoring Sun-woo so much. Compression Manifestation Technique? Really?"
"It's not favoritism. It's true."
"Even so, that's not right. The Compression Manifestation Technique is an advanced skill on par with Synergy, and..."
Jung-hyun quietly observed the conversation.
Lee Hee-young, the Manifestation Department teacher.
She was a fairly skilled magic instructor in the Manifestation field, with a natural eye for it, so Jung-hyun didn't think she would mistake it for something else.
"Hmm."
That meant the student had truly handled the Compression Manifestation Technique...
Jung-hyun felt puzzled.
An 18-year-old wielding the Compression Manifestation Technique.
Had there ever been a student with such talent before?
"Ah."
Come to think of it, Lee Seo-jun had handled Synergy today. On second thought, it wasn't impossible.
Stroking his chin, Jung-hyun looked at Kim Sun-woo, who had ascended the platform. Kim Sun-woo was scanning the audience seats without a hint of tension.
He hadn't thought much of it before, but it seemed he needed to watch this student's test closely.
Let's see if he truly has the skills to match the teachers' reactions.
At that moment, a target materialized in front of Kim Sun-woo.
Kim Sun-woo gazed at the target and began manifesting magic above his hand.
Woooong...
Strong mana began gathering in Kim Sun-woo's hand. Soon, the mana formed a circular shape, compressing into a perfect sphere.
"...What? It's real."
Just as Lee Hee-young had said, Kim Sun-woo was indeed handling the Compression Manifestation Technique. And perfectly, without any awkwardness.
His practiced movements made him look like a pro mage who had been active for quite some time.
Then, Kim Sun-woo extended his hand.
At the same time, it created the illusion that all the energy around him was rushing toward his fingertips. In that instant, the magic sphere was dyed silver.
Pang—!!
The compressed magic sphere left Kim Sun-woo's hand. It shot forward, leaving a white afterimage.
Its power was so immense that Kim Sun-woo's body was pushed back the moment it was released.
Shwaaaaa!
The magic sphere flew precisely toward the target.
As it neared, a massive explosion roared.
Kwaaaang—!!!
A fierce wind blew all the way to the teachers' waiting room.
He wanted to check the target's condition, but the massive smoke obscured it.
The auditorium fell silent in an instant. No one could close their gaping mouths.
However, since everyone still vividly remembered Kim Sun-woo from the first semester ranking evaluation, they couldn't accept this situation.
Jung-hyun muttered in a daze.
"...What is that guy?"
The smoke gradually cleared. There, the target was mangled beyond recognition.
[2nd Year Class A, Kim Sun-woo's test ends.]
The test was over. Seeing the target completely shattered before his eyes gave him a refreshing sense of satisfaction.
Having grown quite a bit in the past six months, he could produce this level of destructive power even without using the Heart of Great Nature.
In terms of mana capacity alone, he could probably rank in the top 30 in the school.
The audience seats were filled with faces of shock staring at him.
Thinking back to the mockery and ridicule from the first semester, the drastic change in reactions made him want to laugh.
['Man of Upset'] achievement unlocked.
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
[Character 'Jung-hyun' is shocked by you.]
[Reward: 1,000 points acquired.]
[450 students feel astonishment toward you.]
[Reward: 5,000 points acquired.]
He'd earned a pretty good haul of points.
Nine thousand points. Nothing beat drawing massive attention all at once for point farming.
As he checked the messages, he spotted a familiar name.
Jung-hyun.
Turning his gaze to the teachers' waiting room, he saw a strikingly blond man standing out.
His soul seemed to have fled, leaving a blank expression. It looked pretty funny.
He wondered if he'd drawn too much attention from the villain, but raising his specs quickly was beneficial in many ways, so it couldn't be helped.
He turned around and slowly descended the platform.
Returning to the waiting room, he felt everyone's gazes on him.
The reactions from the main characters were especially amusing.
Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ah-ra, Yoon Ha-young, and so on...
Of course, their expressions were closer to blushing than shock.
"Hey, what are you?!"
"That third place in the finals wasn't luck."
"Wow, amazing. Top 5 material, right?"
"Yeah. Pure destructive power-wise, he doesn't seem inferior to Lee Seo-jun or Yoo Ah-ra."
Some students who had snapped out of it approached and started talking to him.
He responded appropriately and took his seat.
"Hmm."
He'd made a solid haul of points.
His debut—no, comeback match had been flashy.
If this test footage spread online again, it would draw huge attention.
Especially with the heartbreaking(?) story of his mana discharge during the first semester evaluation, drawing everyone's ridicule.
How many more points would he earn from this afterward?
He couldn't help but smile in anticipation.
2 PM.
All schedules for the first day of the new semester had ended. Being the first day, it wrapped up about two hours early.
Students rose from their seats and began suggesting a welcome-back party. It seemed like everyone intended to join without exception.
"Kim Sun-woo, you're coming too, right?"
Lee Seo-jun asked in a sly tone.
In the original story, he'd gone through quite a bit of mental strain after the Night of the Pioneer incident, but his current expression looked bright, with most worries gone.
"Nah, I've got something to do today."
"Huh? What? You're not heading to the training room anyway?"
"No, something else."
"Something else?"
Lee Seo-jun looked at him with curious eyes.
"Huh? What? Kim Sun-woo ditching alone?"
At that moment, Shin Young-jun, who had been watching quietly, shouted loudly.
All eyes in the class turned to him.
"What? Why ditch? What's up?"
"Why's Kim Sun-woo skipping alone?"
"Hey~ Come with~"
Even guys he didn't know started acting chummy and calling out to him.
It was a touching scene compared to the early first semester, but he really had something to do today.
"Ah, busy. Anyway, not today."
"Why not? You got a date or something?"
"What? Sun-woo, you have a girlfriend?"
Yoon Ha-young popped up out of nowhere, as if teleporting.
"...Girlfriend? What?"
This Shin Young-jun guy always veered toward that topic. Everything led back to it.
"Tch. Guess no choice then."
Shin Young-jun muttered disappointedly to himself. He shrugged.
"Anyway, I'm off."
With that, he left the classroom alone.
['Voluntary Outsider'] achievement unlocked.
[Reward: 2,000 points acquired.]
"What the hell is this."
Disguised as Kim Jin-woo with a hat and mask, he headed to a park near Seoul Station.
The reason he came here today was to meet the buyer for the sword he put up for auction.
It was 7:03 now. They were definitely supposed to arrive by 7.
Then, his smartphone vibrated.
[Sorry, running about 5 minutes late.]
"......Hmm."
Well, he had time to spare, so he could be generous. Five minutes was nothing when they were buying a sword for 10 billion.
[Yes, waiting at the meeting spot.]
He replied and sat on the bench, killing time blankly.
Then, the smart student handbook in his pocket kept alarming.
He couldn't pull out the handbook in front of people while disguised as Kim Jin-woo, so he checked the contents via an external view.
[Photo]
[Photo]
It was the 2nd Year Class A notice and class group chat.
They were posting photos of eating at restaurants and playing games, bragging among themselves.
Staring blankly at the photos, he noticed Yoo Ah-ra sitting with a subtle expression.
It felt like she'd been dragged into it by Yoon Ha-young. The look was amusing, so he chuckled lightly.
There were quite a few other messages too.
Like from Choi Seo-yoon or Jeon Min-gi.
Seemed like congratulations on the test.
"Um... weapon seller?"
Then, a voice came from in front of him.
Snapping to attention and looking up, a 30-something man in a beanie was staring at him.
Honestly, his scruffy outfit didn't scream "100 billion sword buyer."
He also seemed vaguely familiar.
"Yes, that's me. You're the one who bid on the sword on Yuday, right?"
"Ah! Yes! That's me!"
The man grinned brightly at him.
"Then, can I see the item?"
"Sure."
He handed over the sword slung on his back.
The man looked at the sword and his eyes sparkled.
"Wow, so this is how it's made. Oh, here it's like this..."
The man inspected the sword from all angles, appraising it.
When he subtly infused mana to separate the sword, the man flinched in surprise.
"Whoa~ That's cool."
From his reaction, he didn't seem to be a mage.
A sword collector, maybe?
It could go on forever, so he spoke first.
"All done looking?"
"Ah! Yes! Condition's good, but the finish is a shame."
"Huh?"
What was that? He was raving about it moments ago.
"The money?"
"...Any chance of a cool trade down?"
"Did you come here for a trade or what?"
"No. Seeing it in person, it's kinda meh. I'd buy at around 2 billion."
2 billion? Was this guy insane?
"You're joking, right?"
"Ah, 2 billion too low? Then 3 billion..."
"Hey."
He lowered his voice, and the man flinched.
"..."
"Yes?"
"You're here to buy, right?"
"Ah, well..."
The man looked at him and bowed his head deeply.
"...The item's condition isn't great. I won't buy. Sorry."
He grabbed the back of the man's head as he tried to bolt.
"Ack!"
"Where do you think you're going?"
Terror filled the man's eyes as he looked at him.
He seemed like a civilian who could handle a bit of mana, not a pro mage, so yeah, scary.
"S-Sorry! I just really wanted to see the sword up close with my own eyes, so I...!"
The man bowed repeatedly toward him in apology.
He stared at the man in bewilderment. He was on the verge of kneeling and kowtowing, making it hard to even get mad.
"Convince me properly."
"Well... Actually, I'm a craftsman by trade. I was looking for swords worth studying and committed this grave discourtesy. You mages know too, right? From A-Rank onward, they're dozens of times rarer than B-Rank... And an A-Rank weapon with so many options like this is my first..."
"...Craftsman?"
Craftsmen were mana users with item creation abilities who worked in workshops called 'forges.'
They could be called a type of support magic lineage, but magic fields were so diverse that he didn't know much.
All he knew was that if a craftsman's skill, materials, tools, enchantment, and time harmonized fantastically, they could even produce miraculous S-Rank items.
Of course, S-Rank items born from human hands numbered fewer than 15 in total, extremely rare.
"So you're a craftsman, and you wanted to meet because it looked like something worth studying?"
"Yes! Exactly! Haha..."
"Haa."
His head started to ache.
What a pointless waste of time. He hadn't expected to get tangled with someone like this.
"Sorry once more! As atonement, I'll kowtow."
Had he ever seen such a nuisance.
Of course, it was partly his fault for not preparing for this scenario.
"Tch."
He figured he should at least get the name, so he used 'Character Insight' on the man.
Name: Yang Tae-min
Age: 29
Race: Human
Status: Tense
Mana Rank: D
Interest Level: 0
"...Yang Tae-min?"
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
He'd blurted it out in surprise. The man stared at him with wide eyes.
*Ahem.*
He cleared his throat.
"Especially. I'll pretend today's incident didn't happen."
"Huh? Oh! Thank you, Mage!"
"In exchange, give me your contact or business card."
At his words, Yang Tae-min looked at him with puzzled eyes.
He flashed a business smile toward him.
Yang Tae-min was taken aback by my sudden goodwill