Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Autumn Confessions
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In response to my casual words, Han Se-yeon followed suit and emptied her small glass of liquor.
She then opened her mouth again.
"It's starting to feel like autumn now."
Han Se-yeon murmured while gazing at the trees outside the window. The leaves were very subtly beginning to turn red.
"You must be feeling the autumn blues. Lately, I've been thinking about my childhood memories a lot."
She suddenly brought up some random childhood memory.
"I've lived without ever lacking anything since I was little. The reason was simple. Whenever I wanted something, my brother always got it for me. To others, we probably looked like a sweet pair of siblings."
I looked at Han Se-yeon. What on earth was she trying to say?
"But as I got older, I realized the reason. My brother had brainwashed me. He'd give me everything I wanted, as long as I didn't covet Hanseong Group. He said it was his."
Han Se-yeon continued, gently stroking her glass with her pale, slender fingers.
"It's awkward to say this myself, but I have a ton of greed. I'm a very avaricious person. As I grew up, I started wanting more and more things.
One day, I wanted a house with a big garden, so I asked my brother to buy it for me. But he said no."
Han Se-yeon flashed a deep smile.
"That's when I realized it. My brother couldn't give me everything. And... to get everything I wanted, I had to become the head of the Hanseong family."
I already knew about her intense greed. When she wanted something, she'd do anything to get it.
Whether it was money, objects, or people.
Han Se-yeon had inherited the Hanseong blood thicker than anyone else.
"I just suddenly felt like sharing some childhood stories. That was pretty random, huh?"
Han Se-yeon gave a slight smile as she refilled her empty glass. She then looked back into my eyes.
"What about you? Tell me about your childhood too."
Meanwhile, at a brand-name café somewhere in Seoul, Choi Seo-yoon and Song Seung-ah were studying theory together.
Choi Seo-yoon usually went back home every Saturday for training, but with exams approaching, her family had given permission for her to focus on theory studies.
Song Seung-ah, deep in her studies, glanced at Choi Seo-yoon.
"But is it okay for us to be doing this?"
"Doing what?"
Song Seung-ah's sudden comment made her tilt her head.
"I mean, we should be prepping for practicals, right? Is theory study the right move now?"
"...I'm confident in my practical skills."
Choi Seo-yoon replied without taking her eyes off the textbook. Song Seung-ah furrowed her brows.
"What? You kept saying let's study together, but this feels like I'm the only one losing out."
Choi Seo-yoon looked up.
"Too many people around. Shh."
That made Song Seung-ah feel unnecessarily annoyed.
"Ah, there's something I don't get. Maybe I should ask Sunbae Kim Sun-woo. Wonder if he'd teach me if I asked."
Choi Seo-yoon's pen paused mid-note.
"Sunbae Kim Sun-woo?"
"Yeah, he's good at studying."
"...You'd get totally ignored."
With that, Choi Seo-yoon went back to her notes.
"You never know. Ah, probably not. He's been super popular lately anyway. Oh yeah, there was that stalker incident with Sunbae Kim Sun-woo before. Wow. That person must've known his true colors from way back."
"...Stalker incident?"
She remembered. The minor incident with Kim Sun-woo's fake account that had passed like a small hiccup.
It was that weird case where a user got caught promoting Kim Sun-woo in the comments online.
Fortunately, Kim Sun-woo verified his own smart account, and it all blew over, but that account went inactive after that day.
Most students thought the stalker got scared off by the growing interest within the school and stopped.
"I've been thinking about why that sunbae had a stalker, and turns out there was a good reason. That person has great taste. Right?"
"...Yeah, seems so."
Choi Seo-yoon replied and fell into thought for a moment.
Who was behind that stalker incident?
Someone who knew Kim Sun-woo's skills early on and stayed close by.
Then she recalled the event a few days ago in the school park.
Kim Sun-woo and Yoo Ah-ra's late-night rendezvous (?).
Come to think of it, Yoo Ah-ra seemed to have known about Kim Sun-woo's skills for a while.
And they appeared to share secrets she didn't know about.
Could it be Senior Yoo Ah-ra...?
...No way. She was 100% sure it wasn't.
Even so, why the two of them met at that hour remained a mystery.
"Hmm..."
As Choi Seo-yoon's expression turned serious, Song Seung-ah smiled.
That's when a man appeared at the edge of Choi Seo-yoon's gaze, by the window.
A man with brown hair wearing a mask. Next to him was a woman who looked suspiciously shady in a mask and sunglasses. They looked like a celebrity couple or something.
But the man's face felt oddly familiar. Maybe because she was looking from afar.
...Probably just her imagination.
Choi Seo-yoon ignored it and focused back on her studies.
Back home, Han Se-yeon finished showering and lay on the sofa.
She blankly closed her eyes, then recalled her conversation with Kim Jin-woo from earlier.
—Tell me about your childhood too.
Kim Jin-woo's face had stiffened briefly as he thought.
Then the heavy words that came from his opened mouth.
—It was ordinary. Ordinary family, ordinary environment.
He said it was ordinary, but there was a subtle tremor in his voice. His eyes held a wistful gaze, like reminiscing about a longed-for past.
As if there was some story behind it.
—Really? Any hobbies?
—I liked books. Read a lot of novels. Got scolded for it a bunch. Yeah, that's how it was.
She had investigated Kim Jin-woo's past before, but nothing had come up.
Just the bare basics like his name.
But seeing him now, it seemed like he did have a past.
—...What about family?
—Dad and Mom. Just the two. That's it.
Han Se-yeon picked up the documents on the table in front of the sofa.
It was a list of Wizard Academy students.
Rustle. Flipping through the pages, she found one student's name.
［Kim Sun-woo］
The eyes in the photo looked similar. Could he be related to Kim Jin-woo somehow? Like a hidden little brother or something? she wondered.
"...Guess not."
What Kim Jin-woo had told her.
It didn't feel like a lie.
It was a sincere childhood memory spurred by the alcohol.
His family seemed ordinary too.
Han Se-yeon set the documents back on the table.
If Kim Sun-woo had no connection to Kim Jin-woo, there was no need to pay attention anymore.
Focus on the top students.
...For now.
Late at night, I returned home.
Not the dorm—my place. An apartment in Seoul.
The alcohol after so long put me in a good mood, and I ended up drinking heartily with Han Se-yeon.
I might've said some unnecessary things in the process, but since it was Kim Jin-woo's identity, not Kim Sun-woo's... it should be fine, I thought.
Suddenly, I thought of Gretel alone in the dorm.
I worried a bit that she might feel lonely without me.
But there was no helping it. I'd drunk too much today, and running into a student could cause a fuss if they smelled the alcohol.
Plus, lately more people were acting friendly toward me, making it even riskier.
I grabbed water from the fridge, drank it, and lay on the bed.
Next week, the first midterm exams start. My mindset is different from the first semester.
Back then, I just aimed to raise my grades, but now, with higher scores, a new possibility has opened up, giving me a clear goal.
Enter the top 5 overall by year's end.
So I have to give it my all.
And in the main exam, the captain battle, I need to beat Lee Seo-jun....
Can I really do it?
Lee Seo-jun never once gave up the top spot in exams in the original story.
Sure, he placed 2nd or 3rd in some performance evaluations, but in major exams, he always held 1st.
I have to beat that Lee Seo-jun.
I activated Outsider's Benefit.
And checked my stats after a while.
［Stats］
Stamina: 70.8
Strength: 59.6
Mana: 49.5
Speed: 37.9
Agility: 57.1
Dexterity: 29
"Wow. I've grown a lot."
My mana had surpassed 49.
It started at 21. More than double now.
Stamina's at 70. At this rate, it'll hit 100 someday.
I've worked hard for it, training non-stop and taking down villains.
Next, I checked my points.
[Owned Points: 95,000]
"95,000 points."
A decent amount accumulated.
It felt like only about two months since I bought Rune Barrier and bottomed out my points, so this is fast.
Well, I stood out a ton right after the second semester started, so it's expected.
Now's the time to spend some points on something.
Buy a trait or skill to prep for midterms.
[Entering Point Shop.]
Time for some shopping after a while.
With Outsider's Benefit, the buys are mainly traits or skills.
But with midterms next week offering chances for more points, I won't buy anything too pricey.
Better to save for superior traits.
Target grade: B-Grade.
A-Rank's a bit heavy on points, so B-Grade feels right.
[Filtering by 'B-Grade.']
A ton of traits and skills listed before me.
I scrolled through and selected one skill.
One I'd had my eye on for a while.
［Instant Acceleration (B-Grade)］
Description: Your body's movements explosively accelerate for an instant.
［Effect］
►Instant Acceleration
Uses mana to accelerate instantly for 2 seconds.
*Cooldown: 3 minutes
Price: 30,000
Instant Acceleration.
Exactly as named—speeds up your body's movements in a burst.
Short 2-second duration and 3-minute cooldown, but decent for a B-Grade trait.
Great for escaping crises or chasing foes.
Plus, the sudden speed boost could land a critical hit in key moments.
In the captain battle, my role is 'captain'—not defeating others, but surviving. This skill would definitely help against strong foes like Lee Seo-jun.
"Yeah, this one's perfect."
I checked other skills and traits, but nothing as survival-worthy in this price range.
I bought it without hesitation.
[Purchased 'Instant Acceleration (B-Grade).']
A bright light rose and seeped into my body. The usage instinctively imprinted in my mind.
"Done."
Wanted to test it outside right away, but still had things to do.
I entered the Point Shop's 'Basic Stat Shop.'
［Basic Stat Shop］
►Stamina 0.1 - 100 points
►Strength 0.1 - 100 points
►Mana 0.1 - 100 points
Time to buy some stats.
I hadn't bought basic stats yet because the efficiency is amazing at first.
Even when growth plateaus, you get fixed mana gains, so I planned to buy when limits hit.
My mana now: 49.5.
Growth is slowing—right on time.
"Hmm."
0.1 for 100 points.
Increases by 10 points every 10 buys, so how much for 10,000 points?
I calculated mentally.
"0.8. For 10,800 points."
Insane cost-performance.
Need to save for later plateaus, so maybe just 10,800 points worth.
[Purchased Mana.]
[Mana has increased.]
['Mana' in Basic Stat Shop now 0.1 for 180 points.]
['Over 10,000 Points Stat Purchase' achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
Another bright light filled my vision and seeped in.
I felt the vitality of rising mana.
No need to check the status window—I knew it had gone up.
［Stats］
Stamina: 70.8
Strength: 59.6
Mana: 57.5 Speed: 37.9 Agility: 57.1 Dexterity: 29
"Perfect."
Mana up from 49.5 to 57.5.
Top-tier among students now.
Can't compare to monsters like Lee Seo-jun or Yoo Ah-ra yet, but I'm not the type to win on mana class anyway.
"Heh."
I chuckled quietly, then opened the door and headed out.
My destination: the wizard-exclusive training ground on the 2nd floor of the apartment.
The next day, early morning.
I returned to school. Being weekend morning, I didn't run into any students.
"Kim Sun-woo?"
Walking toward the dorm, a voice called out.
I turned to see Yoo Ah-ra in black training wear, hat pulled low.
Her heavy breathing suggested she'd been exercising since morning. Quite diligent for a weekend dawn.
"What? You're just getting back now?"
"Yeah... something like that."
"What've you been up to that you're coming back now?"