Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Show and Prove
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After school.
Shin Noda and Isia headed to a cat cafe together.
Meow. Meow.
The cafe interior echoed with cat cries from all around.
It looked like a typical cafe on the outside, but it was packed with cats and cat toys.
Ding.
As the vibration bell rang, Shin Noda picked up the coffee and dessert and brought them over.
“Yawn.”
Isia yawned, looking tired.
She had stayed up late the night before, investigating the person suspected to be the “Dark Knight.”
She had checked hundreds of nearby CCTV cameras to track where he went.
The last sighting was near the academy.
‘An academy teacher? Or could it be a student…?’
She suddenly realized that Shin Noda, sitting across from her, was in his late 170s in height.
‘No way… probably not.’
Awakeners generally developed well physically, so most of them were pretty big.
There were even some kids taller than Shin Noda.
Shin Noda snapped a photo of the food with his smartphone and asked.
“Isia-senpai, do you use SNS? Want me to take a photo for you? I’m pretty good at it.”
“...”
Truth be told, she did Twitter, but she quietly shook her head.
It was an account overflowing with love for the “Dark Knight.”
Something she couldn’t pull up in front of Shin Noda.
He subtly ignored her refusal and aimed his camera at her.
“Just tilt your head a bit to the left and lift your chin slightly. Yeah, like that.”
Click.
“Meow. Meow.”
Weak-willed as she was, she just went along with whatever Shin Noda said.
Shin Noda lightly edited the photo and sent it to her.
Isia was startled when she saw it.
It wasn’t her plain self—it was like some Instagram goddess.
She was incredibly satisfied with how she looked on the screen.
“Nyaah…….”
She expressed her gratitude.
[Thanks! You’re really good at taking photos?]
“Of course. I can take as many as you want.”
In his original world, Shin Noda had plenty of experience as a photo shuttle for female friends.
He knew how to make the same person look way better.
Shin Noda brought up something he’d been curious about.
“By the way, senpai, is your ability turning into a cat?”
Tap tap tap.
Isia’s fingers moved busily.
[It’s not a regular cat. It’s a monster called a ‘Magnus Cat,’ but it just looks like a cat the size of an elephant.]
Shin Noda pictured a giant cat.
‘Magnus Cat is a C-rank monster. That’ll be handy for now.’
Magnus Cats had an innate skill called “Predator” that inflicted a “fear” effect on weaker opponents.
The dungeon they were heading to was swarming with “Hell Ants” that were weak individually, so it wasn’t a bad match.
“Speaking of which, you’re not uncomfortable with going camping or anything, right?”
“Meow.”
[No way! I’ve always wanted to make some memories going out with friends!!]
Shin Noda smiled with visible relief.
“Phew, good thing. You’ve been so quiet, I was worried you weren’t into it. Haha.”
Just then, a cat rubbed up against Isia’s leg and nuzzled her face.
“Meow. Meow.”
Isia responded in kind.
“Nyaah.”
Shin Noda smiled at the two meowing figures before him.
“They say animals like beautiful people—guess that’s why the cats take to you so well.”
A message popped up.
[Beautiful? ㅠ I’ve always gotten along well with cats since I was little~ Do they think I’m one of them? ㅎㅎ]
[Speaking of which, it’s too bad Si-hoo and Ji-hoon can’t come ㅠ_ㅠ]
Si-hoo and Ji-hoon were the other two second-year members of the Hero Culture Research Club.
When the camping topic came up at today’s meeting, they’d bowed out saying they had plans.
“My cousin and her one friend are coming along too. They’re both good kids, so it’ll be fun. Oh, and they’re both girls, by the way.”
[Aha, got it! Anyway, hope we all have a blast!]
[(Moved emoticon)]
Isia had been inwardly worried about being the only girl on a two-day-one-night camping trip.
Thanks to Shin Noda’s timely words, she felt relieved.
They chatted like that before parting ways.
***
Shin Noda headed to the Awakener Administration.
To report his stat changes.
His Awakener registration card listed him as D-rank with only one skill: Telekinesis.
If there was too big a gap between that and his actual performance, it could draw suspicion.
He planned to reveal his abilities moderately.
‘Magic Engraving and Polymorph should be fine to show. Anyway, when I’m active as Dark Knight, the Hermit’s Leather hides everything.’
On the way, he ran into a familiar face.
“Sang-hyeon hyung?”
“Noda? What are you doing here….”
“I’m heading to the Administration. Getting a re-measurement.”
“Gigantic Ancient Forest is closed, right? You must’ve trained really hard.”
Stats usually went up via “Orbs of Growth,” but that wasn’t the only way.
Constant training worked too.
It was highly inefficient, but it did raise them a tiny bit.
That was why few people trained diligently.
A week of training paled in comparison to eating one Orb of Growth.
Only a handful of earnest students trained at the training grounds.
Like Park Ha-yeon, for example.
She trained until sunset unless something came up.
“Yeah, I worked hard. What brings you here, hyung?”
Lee Sang-hyeon felt a surge of awe.
At first, rumors hadn’t spread fast, so he hadn’t known, but after looking into it, Shin Noda really was impressive.
Killing a “Luna Bear” in one hit as a first-year was amazing enough.
Even Teacher Park Ho-yeol hadn’t held back on the praise, holding him up as an example.
‘His foundation is just on another level.’
To Lee Sang-hyeon, Shin Noda was proof of what happened when talent met hard work.
“My family home’s around here, so I came to grab my sword.”
“Already at that point, huh.”
A recent permit allowing Awakener weapon carry.
After that, carrying weapons around the academy had become a trend.
Most did it to show off, while others felt forced to keep up.
Lee Sang-hyeon was the latter.
“Mind if I tag along and watch?”
He wanted to see the much-rumored rookie’s power for himself.
Ability measurements showed a person’s limits, after all.
“Sure, if you want.”
***
Evening.
Awakener Administration.
Employee Han Min-gi was annoyed about the overtime.
It was supposed to be a godly 4:30 retirement job, but if someone booked a measurement slot, one unlucky staffer had to stick around.
And that unlucky one was usually Han Min-gi, the most junior.
Two male students in academy uniforms walked in.
‘These guys?’
One who looked like a delinquent strode up to the counter.
“I’m Shin Noda, here for a re-measurement booking.”
Han Min-gi responded curtly.
“Yeah, yeah. Minor stat bumps can wait….”
He pegged Shin Noda as one of those stat-inflating types.
‘Picked up an Orb of Growth somewhere, huh?’
Measurements weren’t perfect—sometimes they read higher than reality.
Some abused this to snag a higher rank on their card and show off.
A true D-rank still got treated as C socially with a C on the card.
Mid-tier C~D Awakeners pulled this crap a lot.
The problem? They demanded re-tests daily.
It doubled the office’s workload.
Han Min-gi tapped at his computer.
Searched “Shin Noda.”
Data scrolled up.
『D-Rank Awakener Shin Noda』
‘Knew it. These mid-tiers are the worst.’
Shin Noda spoke up.
“My stats shot up big time, and I got new skills too. Might come out overall B-rank.”
“Huh? You were D last year. Even dungeon-crawling nonstop wouldn’t jump you two ranks.”
“I’ll show you and prove it.”
Han Min-gi sneered inwardly.
‘What, you some genius? No way. Kid’s too young—doesn’t get reality.’
It wasn’t impossible.
Heaven-sent talent, wealth for masses of Orbs of Growth, tireless effort.
All three together made it feasible.
One A-rank Hero was such a case.
But to Han Min-gi, Shin Noda didn’t look the type.
They headed to the testing room.
It held various equipment.
No monster-simulating glass box like at the academy.
Too new and pricey—budget hadn’t allowed it yet.
Han Min-gi pointed to a punching machine-like device.
“Strength first. Hit that.”
Shin Noda took a moment to stance up.
“Whew.”
He took a deep breath, then threw a punch.
Boom—
The machine shook like a bomb had gone off.
The display spat out the result.
X XXX → A 133.
“Gasp.”
Han Min-gi and Lee Sang-hyeon both gaped.