Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: 20th Place
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"Wow, already 20th place?"
Shin Young-jun said with a surprised look on his face. The kids around him who overheard started glancing my way.
"Hey, Kim Sun-woo got 20th?"
"That's insane. How is that even possible?"
"Yeah."
"I heard from 30th onward, breaking through the ranks is pure hell. How high did he place in the evaluation test to jump eight spots?"
[23 students feel envious of you.]
[You acquire 1,000 points as a reward.]
"Wow, guess I need to step it up too."
Shin Young-jun muttered with a slightly stiff smile. That's when Lee Seo-jun walked over to me.
"Kim Sun-woo, you hit 20th this time?"
"Yeah."
"...Impressive."
Lee Seo-jun muttered softly in a tone that said he could hardly believe it. I narrowed my eyes at his words.
*This guy's building up to deceive me again.*
"Deceive you? What are you talking about?"
"...Nothing."
Lee Seo-jun tilted his head for a moment but then spoke up again.
"Anyway, jumping eight spots into the top 20 means you must've scored in the absolute top tier on the evaluation test, right?"
Probably. I'd gone pretty serious with my magic back then, so I figured I'd placed within the top three overall.
But I shook my head.
"No idea."
The teachers' lounge after lunch period ended.
The instructors who'd finished eating began settling back into their seats one by one.
The start of the new semester had a positive effect on them too, so everyone seemed more energetic than usual.
"Did you see the ranking evaluation test scores?"
"Yeah, I did. I was shocked when I checked."
Ranking evaluation test.
Students didn't get their exact scores revealed, but teachers could see who placed where and how many points they got.
"The destructive power was insane, but I never imagined he'd take 1st."
"Right? Beating Seo-jun too? I never saw that coming. Manifestation-types really do excel in raw destructive force."
"I figured a reinforcement-type like Seo-jun might lose since it was just measuring pure power, but still, isn't it kind of amazing?"
Amid the chatting teachers, Jeong-hyun sat at his desk, pulling up the instructor info system.
[2nd Year Class A]
[Kim Sun-woo]
"Hmm."
Kim Sun-woo.
From what he could see, it matched the info he'd looked into before.
Nothing particularly unusual—totally average.
The reason he'd investigated Kim Sun-woo wasn't so much about tracking the 'Child of Prophecy' but suspicion over Jang Ye's death.
His recent magic displays were utterly inexplicable no matter how you sliced it.
And today's revealed test scores for Kim Sun-woo exceeded even his expectations.
Kim Sun-woo.
He'd overtaken Lee Seo-jun for 1st place.
Even accounting for the difference between manifestation and reinforcement types, the result was hard to swallow.
He turned to the teacher beside him, Baek Hyun-woo.
"Um, Teacher Baek?"
"Yes, Teacher Chris?"
"I heard you taught 1st-year reinforcement class last year..."
"Yes, that's right. What's up?"
"How was Kim Sun-woo as a student? Like, his skills or attitude in class?"
"Sun-woo? Hmm. Well..."
Baek Hyun-woo rubbed his chin, lost in thought. Then he tilted his head.
"Huh? That's weird. I barely remember anything about Sun-woo. I definitely taught him... Hmm."
Jeong-hyun felt a twinge of doubt at Baek Hyun-woo's muttering. Barely any memory?
Was it because he had so many students at once?
Fair enough—thinking back, Kim Sun-woo in his 1st year had been completely unremarkable, so it was possible he didn't stick in his mind.
"...I see."
"Yeah, it's odd for me too. I thought I remembered all the kids. But why Sun-woo?"
"Oh, no reason. Just curiosity since his test score today has everyone talking."
"Hmm, yeah. The more you look at him, the more mysterious the kid gets."
Baek Hyun-woo nodded without suspicion.
After all classes ended.
Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara were having a sparring session for the first time in ages.
Powerful spells flew back and forth, creating tense moments.
Lee Seo-jun charged at her. Yoo Ara fired flaming orbs to block his approach. But he immediately unleashed sword aura with a light swing, slicing the fireballs in half.
Watching him, Yoo Ara gritted her teeth. In just one month, Lee Seo-jun had grown tremendously again.
She'd trained nonstop over break too, but the gap in skill felt like it was widening instead of closing.
"Hoo."
The 15-minute spar ended.
Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara sat on the floor for a moment, wiping sweat and catching their breath.
"Nice to spar again after so long."
Lee Seo-jun muttered just loud enough for Yoo Ara to hear. She stared straight at him.
He seemed more excited than usual.
His training enthusiasm was higher too.
Yoo Ara suddenly got curious.
"Lee Seo-jun."
"Yeah?"
"You're extra motivated today. You're not usually this fired up."
She and Lee Seo-jun had been sparring partners since 1st year, 1st semester.
Having faced him for so long, she could pick up on even small changes in his training attitude.
Lee Seo-jun chuckled softly.
"Am I?"
"Must be some change of heart."
"Change of heart..."
There was. Two reasons, actually.
First, watching Kim Sun-woo's evaluation test yesterday had lit a fire under him.
In front of the entire school, Kim Sun-woo had shown his true power—something he rarely let others see.
Lee Seo-jun didn't know what others felt from that magic, but to him, it was like a declaration of war.
A declaration that from now on, he'd push full throttle to climb the ranks.
And Lee Seo-jun had a vague sense of just how strong Kim Sun-woo really was.
So to not fall behind, he had to train harder than ever.
"Just been a lot of stimulating stuff lately."
"Talking about Kim Sun-woo, huh."
Lee Seo-jun smiled lightly at Yoo Ara's quick insight.
"That's part of it. Other things too."
Like the recent Pioneer Night incident, for example.
His dream was to become like Chairman Kim Jin-cheol, who'd raised him from childhood.
An absolute existence that all villains feared.
But Pioneer Night had shown him how weak he truly was.
"I realized how weak I am. And how much I still lack."
Yoo Ara stared at him in disbelief at that answer.
"Don't talk nonsense. How are *you* weak?"
"Nah, I felt it recently. I'm really nothing special."
Yoo Ara narrowed her eyes.
If *he's* weak, then what does that make *me*?
"...You know..."
"Hm?"
"You're subtly deceiving me, right?"
Lee Seo-jun blinked at Yoo Ara's words.
Come to think of it, Kim Sun-woo had said something similar to him today.
But he didn't get it.
*Deceiving you how?*
After dinner and personal training, I returned to the dorm and opened the door.
Rustle.
Something crinkled under my foot. It was the plastic bag from yesterday's convenience store food.
"...What the?"
I looked ahead.
Something felt off from the entrance.
The floor was messier than usual, like it'd been trashed. It definitely wasn't like this when I left.
I took off my shoes and stepped inside. As I entered the room, I heard a faint rustling sound from somewhere.
Seemed like it was coming from the kitchen.
"Huh?"
The kitchen floor was even messier.
Food scraps were scattered everywhere.
In the middle was a wooden... figure. Gretel's back.
"Gretel?"
At my call, Gretel turned toward me.
She had a sausage dangling from her mouth, munching away.
"What are you doing right now?"
"Nngh."
Looks like she'd gotten hungry and ransacked the place for food.
If I'd known she was the type to eat meat, I'd have left some out.
But seriously, what kind of tree eats sausage?
"Who told you to make this mess while eating?"
Gretel looked up at me and finished swallowing the sausage. Then she drooped her head, like she understood.
It was kinda cute, so I smiled.
That's when I noticed something above her lowered head.
A tiny green orb hanging from a small twig.
Wait... is that a fruit?
I stared blankly at the thing on Gretel's head.
Looked like fruit no matter how I saw it.
It wasn't fully ripened, so it was pretty small, but definitely fruit-shaped.
Maybe some kind of elixir?
I immediately activated Outsider's Benefit.
[Mysterious Demonic Tree Fruit??]
Description: A mysterious fruit from the Demonic Tree. Its effects and efficacy vary based on the Demonic Tree's mood and growth. Wait for the fruit to fully ripen.
"...What."
A fruit whose effects change based on mood?
I couldn't know the exact effects yet, but it seemed Gretel was a summon that provided elixirs to her summoner.
I'd hoped for a combat summon, but this had its own appeal.
Mood-dependent effects, though.
Guess I had to keep Gretel happy.
I stared blankly back at her. Her bright eyes didn't look upset.
As I gazed at Gretel, I reached for the fruit on her head. She flinched and pulled away from me.
"Does it hurt?"
Gretel nodded. Since effects depended on her mood, I should apologize.
"Alright, sorry."
Even then, she kept stuffing sausages into her mouth.
How does that tiny body hold so much food? Wild.
I squatted down to inspect her and noticed the wide-open fridge, sparking curiosity.
"Gretel. But how'd you open the fridge?"
Gretel was just a bit bigger than my palm.
No way she could open it alone.
Gretel looked up at me with a sausage in her mouth and tilted her head.
Hm. Didn't understand "fridge"?
I closed the fridge door with my finger.
"This box thing. How'd you open it?"
Gretel finally got it and nodded, then toddled over to the fridge.
She leaped to an insane height, latched onto the handle, and opened the door with nimble movements.
I was dumbfounded.
"Whoa, what the hell?!"
Saturday, the first weekend after school started.
Busy day ahead.
The battle maniac trait's 'Victory Chronicle' cooldown had reset.
For fast growth, I needed to spin it every weekly cooldown, so finding opponents was key.
I arrived in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do.
Didn't take long to find my target.
I had personal info on some criminals plus Outsider's Benefit: Person Insight.
"Grraaah!"
Right now, my target—a demon clutching his half-vanished shoulder—glared at me.
Eyes straining like he was scrutinizing my face, but I'd fully covered up with a hat and mask today.
"Grr! Sneaky ambush!"
I formed a new light orb above my hand.
Opponent was at least B-Grade demon.
Situation favored me, but stay tense till the end.
Then the demon spoke to me.
"You... Kim Jin-woo?"
I froze for a second.
Even with my identity fully hidden, he recognized me.
"...That reaction confirms it."
Were rumors about me spreading among demons?
Makes sense—every time I took one down, the media mentioned it. Weird if they *didn't* know.
Instead of answering, I unleashed light magic.
Boom!
"Argh!"
The spell pierced his gut. Light mana slowly burned his body.
I followed up, peppering his battered form with light orbs.
"Aaagh..."
He was a wreck all over. Even a B-Grade demon can't survive full of holes.
Situation tilting my way. Maybe time to try *that*.
It was part of today's goal anyway.