First Lesson at Zombie's Tomb
I narrowed my eyes, scanning the cadets seated in the classroom one by one with a piercing gaze.
Hmm, does it require physical contact?
I stared intently at the cadets sitting nearby, but no status window appeared. My eyes just hurt. It seemed the skill definitely required physical contact to activate.
Being able to assess someone's abilities through physical contact with the Information Viewing skill was almost cheat-like. It was truly befitting an S-rank skill.
I absolutely can't tell anyone about this.
I resolved not to breathe a word of it to friends, family, or anyone. Just mastering the skills of the guy sitting next to me would get me to at least A-rank. And that wasn't all. The professor I'd met yesterday was a full-fledged S-rank hunter. Stealing and learning just one of his skills would more than pay off.
As I was lost in thought, the professor entered the classroom.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Professor Kim Hee-yeon, and I'll be teaching your Introduction to Magic Studies course this semester."
"Woooah~"
The cadets erupted in cheers and applause at the entrance of the professor, whose beauty could outshine any celebrity ten times over and then some.
Wait, Kim Hee-yeon? The Kim Hee-yeon who's the director of the Hwarang Guild's research institute?
I was shocked for a different reason than the other students. I recalled Dr. Kim Hee-yeon, who had made the greatest contribution to elevating Hwarang Guild to Korea's top guild.
Back then, she had been instrumental in bringing non-combat awakeners—who were once shunned—into the spotlight. And she herself was a non-combat awakener. An S-rank one, at that.
Her ability was item appraisal, right?
Her talent for precisely determining the uses of various byproducts from dungeons and developing items from them was unparalleled. Thanks to her, Hwarang Guild nearly monopolized the production of hunter-exclusive items, amassing enormous funds. With that as a base, they recruited top-tier hunters and steadily grew, eventually becoming one of the top three guilds in the country.
And now she was teaching here as a professor?
Jackpot! Jackpot!
I fought to keep my lips from curling into a grin as I inwardly cheered.
First things first—handshake time. I grinned like an idiot throughout the class, barely noticing the time pass, fixated on learning her skills.
The moment class ended, I bolted into the hallway and waited by the front door for her to emerge.
"Hm?"
She stepped out and looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Hello! I'm Cadet Kang Min-ho, the new enrollee. I've always admired you, Professor. It's an honor to meet you!"
Before she could respond, I bowed deeply and thrust out my hand.
"I see. Nice to meet you, Cadet Kang Min-ho. Looking forward to working with you."
Thankfully, she shook my hand without suspicion.
The instant I felt her soft touch, I activated the skill.
Information Viewing.
"Um? Cadet Min-ho?"
She tilted her head as I stared blankly at the status window.
"Ah? Y-yes? Sorry, Professor. You're just so beautiful, I zoned out."
I mumbled an excuse and released her hand. Only then did I realize I'd been holding it the whole time. Not like some creep.
"Hohohoho, such flattery right from the start. See you next class."
I watched her leave with a light laugh, muttering to myself.
"Jackpot... Not even an Irregular, yet she has inactive skills? And two S-rank ones at that?"
Back in my room, I grabbed a pen and jotted down what I'd learned so far, organizing my thoughts.
I thought only Irregulars could raise their ranks, but that's not the case?
Honestly, Professor Kim Hee-yeon's case was a first for me. Awakening rank A, but with two inactive S-rank skills.
So if those get activated, does she jump to S-rank?
That was typically how Irregulars leveled up—by learning new things. Otherwise... there must be a flaw in the ranking system itself. Or maybe they knew and left it that way.
I had a strong hunch it was the latter. Without someone like me who could detect inactive skills, it wouldn't even be an issue.
Professors are the best targets right now.
It made sense why she, whom Hwarang Guild had paid a fortune for, was teaching at the Magic Officer Academy. Her key Appraisal skill was inactive, so no buzz.
So how do I learn that Appraisal skill?
I could only copy and understand a skill if they used it. No way to learn one even they didn't know about.
Wait a sec?
Awakener abilities generally followed a certain progression. Take Professor Park Cheol-gyu, an S-rank. His skills suited a hunter or assassin perfectly. No inactive skills meant that was his limit.
Mastering lower skills naturally led to understanding higher ones. For example, to acquire the A-rank Marksman skill, they'd have an Irregular start with C-rank One-Shot, progress to B-rank Multi-Arrow, and eventually reach Marksman.
Guilds used that method to train Irregulars.
What if it wasn't limited to Irregulars? For Professor Kim Hee-yeon at A-rank, mastering her A-rank Core Insight could unlock the S-rank Appraisal. Her rank would naturally rise to S, and her value would skyrocket from academy professor to a hot commodity guilds fought over.
And as a bonus, I'd learn those skills too.
Is this what they call mutual aid? Or living in harmony with society? Something like that. Helping others grow to help myself. Felt like I was doing some good deed.
Weird feeling.
Ultimately, it was all for my benefit. But this was just a theory, so I'd test it and rethink later.
Then, one person popped into my head.
That bastard Lee Jae-wook.
I grinned, picturing the guy a year below me, busy building his body.
Don't worry, bro's gonna raise you right.
"Pfft! Huh? What the—? Sudden chills?"
Lee Jae-wook, shirtless and pumping out push-ups, tilted his head.
He had the B-rank Body Reinforcement skill and instinctively loved training his body. Even if inactive, his innate tendencies remained.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
He opened the door, waving cheerfully with his sweat-glistened upper body on display.
"Working out?"
"Yeah, if I don't move, my mind wanders to dumb stuff."
"Gotcha."
A perfect response from someone with the A-rank passive Indomitable Will. Inactive for now, though.
"You trust me, right?"
I fixed him with a gleaming stare.
"Uh? Trust you with what?"
Lee Jae-wook backed away warily. I eyed him up and down like tasty prey.
Why cover up with your hands, dude? I turned with a satisfied smile.
"Come with me for a sec."
"Where to?"
His voice trailed as he scrambled into his clothes.
"Yeah, got a spot. A good one."
"..."
Good one, sure. You'd roll till you drop, though.
The area around the Magic Officer Academy in Gyeonggi-do had been left in near-ruin, the terrain drastically altered. An S-rank dungeon had once gone berserk, unleashing monsters for three straight years of nonstop combat.
The academy's location symbolized humanity's victory in that war. Also, the land was dirt cheap.
Anyway, aside from the academy grounds, the surroundings were largely abandoned.
Found it!
Now, the spot I'd dragged Lee Jae-wook to was one of the undiscovered dungeons. Things had changed from my past life in various ways, so I'd been worried, but dungeon locations seemed mostly the same.
Good, the big picture's intact.
Humm.
Midway up a modest hillslope, in a deep crevice invisible unless you looked closely, a black vortex hummed and vibrated.
"Dude, where the hell are we—wait, is this...?"
"Yep, exactly what you're thinking."
"No way, how'd you know about a dungeon here?"
"Got my sources. Whaddya say? Unconfirmed dungeon—wanna raid it together?"
"J-just us two?"
"Yeah."
He stared at me, face tense.
"It's an F-rank dungeon. Unique type."
His eyes widened at my explanation. His awakening rank was D, plenty capable of soloing an F-rank. Dungeons E and below lacked bosses, so they were low-risk bonuses. Crowded raids split loot thin, but with just two, it was pure honey.
"If you're not in, I'll go alone."
I turned toward the entrance without hesitation.
"Wait, dude! I'm coming too."
Bingo!
I smirked without looking back.
Its official name was Zombie's Tomb, an F-rank Unique Dungeon.
Later, it would be called the Irregular training dungeon.
Not hard, but perfect for grueling practice.
Clueless, he hurried to my side, afraid I'd go solo.
Humm.
As Lee Jae-wook and I entered, the lightly vibrating entrance turned transparent and slowly vanished. A chill spring breeze whispered through the empty space.