0. The Entrance Exam
This was one thing I loved about being a snake.
Even if my opponent turned invisible, I could still pinpoint exactly where he was.
Aside from having to flick my tongue about, I really couldn't complain.
Not that knowing his location did me much good, anyway—
Siwoo and Sia didn't seem to have any way of tracking him like I could.
And so I found myself pondering how to signal his direction to them.
"There!"
Sia swung her sword through empty air with a sharp kiai.
Right behind her, Siwoo's blade carved through that same patch of nothing.
To anyone who didn't know better, it would have looked like wild flailing. It wasn't.
The two of them had attacked precisely where the Invisible Man stood.
He must have been flustered, because I could feel him darting back and forth, this way and that.
Siwoo and Sia, on the other hand, didn't waver. They held their swords at the ready, waiting.
They were waiting for the Invisible Man to come to them, most likely.
I mulled it over for a moment, then settled into a stance.
I'd already gotten a touch on Siwoo and Sia—so the next thing he'd come after was clearly me.
Sure enough, I felt the Invisible Man charging straight at me.
I slowly drew one arm back, clenched my fist, and swung it at the space where I knew he was.
Naturally, he dodged.
Given how he'd evaded Siwoo's and Sia's strikes earlier, I doubted anything but exceptional speed would land. If I wanted to hit him, I'd need to attack at least a half-step ahead of him.
"Siwoo, Sia! I'll tell you where he is—can you hit him?"
"Of course we can! Where is he?"
"Just call it out calmly and we'll take care of it! My brother and I are strong, you know!"
"I do love the confidence."
I backed away, muttering to myself.
The moment they realized I had a way of tracking his position, the Invisible Man seemed to fixate on me.
He probably intended to knock me out first and quickly, then deal with the two of them afterward.
But I had no intention of playing along, so I drew on Manifestation to raise my physical abilities just a notch.
Then, flicking my tongue, I locked onto his position and shouted.
"Three o'clock, from my position!"
"There he is!"
"Got it!"
The Invisible Man, sprinting toward the three o'clock mark, tried to stop—
but you can't just plant your feet after running full tilt like that.
He ran right onto Sia and Siwoo's blades, drawing a thin line of blood.
And apparently flowing blood was something even he couldn't hide—the tiny wound hung suspended in midair, plainly visible.
"Nice! Got him!"
"Keep up, oppa! We're the ones taking down the villain!"
"That's right, that's right! Let's go!"
Siwoo and Sia pressed the attack relentlessly, as if they'd seized their opening.
They swung their swords again and again, showing no sign of tiring.
Of course, the Invisible Man kept dodging—but he couldn't seem to evade everything.
What's more, the two of them weren't limiting themselves to their swords.
They pulled out other weapons whenever the moment demanded it, and I could see the Invisible Man slowly being cornered.
When he tried to press inside the sword's reach, one of them would have a dagger out.
When he tried to retreat beyond it, a moondae spear or a long polearm came sweeping in to threaten him.
I watched the three-way battle unfold for a while.
They hadn't been boasting—Siwoo and Sia really were fighting remarkably well.
He'd taken a wound, yes, but it was nothing serious.
Yet the two of them were fighting an invisible opponent by deducing his position from that tiny cut.
That was genuinely impressive.
It wasn't as if they had some convenient sense for locating a transparent person the way I did.
So Siwoo and Sia kept at it, hammering away at the Invisible Man.
The astonishing part was that they actually seemed to be pushing him back, if only slightly.
If my memory served, the Invisible Man was an A+ Rank hero.
Considering that A+ Rank could hold its own against even most S-Rank villains and monsters—
Siwoo and Sia were holding up extraordinarily well.
Truly, I never expected them to not need my help at all.
And so I stood there, watching the pair take on the Invisible Man, when—
"Huh!?"
"What, oppa?! Watch out!"
"Wh-where is he?!"
"Feel him out! Not with your eyes—use your instincts!"
The Invisible Man had suddenly vanished.
I could still tell exactly where he was, but Siwoo and Sia looked completely thrown.
Well... it wasn't all that strange.
A mere scratch wasn't going to give away the man's location forever. Up until now, you could charitably say he'd been going easy on the students.
Still, I could sense his position, so the moment I opened my mouth to call it out for them—
"Five o'clock from Sia...!?"
Sia and Siwoo collapsed face-first to the ground, nearly in the same instant.
...In other words, while I was calling out five o'clock, he'd closed the distance behind them in a blink and knocked them both out with a strike to the backs of their heads.
A+ Rank, indeed.
And now I was the one who had to face that hero.
I was a little scared—scared enough that I felt tears might come.
"Haha! Invisibility makes me invincible!"
The Invisible Man dropped his ability and revealed himself.
I watched him run a hand through his golden hair and did my best to force a smile.
I had no idea why he felt the need to stare at me with those wide, sparkling eyes, but...
Well, they were eyes like sapphires, so it wasn't an unpleasant feeling.
Anyway. I supposed it was my turn now.
"Teacher, one question."
"Oh, go ahead! What is it?"
"Would it be all right if I did a little... doping? As I understand it, there's nothing in the rules against it."
"...As long as you submit whatever you take to the academy afterward, there's no problem at all."
"It's just an ordinary painkiller. You know that."
Technically speaking, it was a Narcotic Analgesic disguised as an ordinary painkiller.
It was potent enough to be classified as an actual narcotic, in fact.
If I used it carelessly and got the wrong people's attention, I could well have been hauled away for it.
Naturally, I had no intention of submitting this one. What I'd hand over later would be an identical-looking painkiller bought from a pharmacy.
All told, Auntie Ailee and the other uncles were frighteningly capable.
They'd known a day like this would come, and that was why they'd made these painkillers for me.
Truly, I resolved to give them a call to check in, once this was over.
With that thought, I slowly fished a single narcotic analgesic out of my skirt pocket.
"...!"
The moment I bit down on the pill, euphoria began washing over me.
My body was frantically flooding itself with endorphins, desperate to erase the pain to come.
I savored the feeling for a moment, then activated Manifestation.
It felt like my entire body was creaking and groaning all at once.
Every joint in my skeleton began to shift and reshape, while each muscle felt like it was being torn to ribbons.
There was pain like my eyes were being pulled from their sockets, and a blazing agony like my skull was being split open.
But when it was all over, I felt an exhilaration surging through every inch of me.
I felt omnipotent, too—as if there were nothing in this world I couldn't do, right now, in this moment.
I hadn't turned my lower half into a serpent's tail, but it hardly mattered.
In this state, I was more than enough to take on the Invisible Man.
Just as my aunts and uncles never tired of telling me—I was their masterpiece, after all.
"I'll let you have the first move."
I said it with a smile.
He must have grasped the gravity of the situation, because the Invisible Man had already turned invisible long before I finished speaking.
I had to give him credit for quick instincts.
The me of right now was considerably stronger than before.
Even for the Invisible Man, winning without taking me seriously wouldn't be so easy.
And above all—he had to subdue me.
I liked that part so much that I flicked my tongue and laughed.
I could tell exactly where he was by scent alone.
He was running in a zigzag pattern at the moment.
Presumably to keep me from knowing whether he'd come at me from the left or the right.
But the me of right now could tell which direction he was coming from almost instantly.
Because the tip of my tongue was forked in two.
"You're coming from the left."
I slowly raised my arm and blocked the left side.
A heartbeat later, the Invisible Man swung his fist at me.
With a jolt of impact, I slid back a single step.
But it did no meaningful damage.
It felt less like being struck and more like being lightly shoved.
It was nothing like what my uncle had been.
Word was that the Invisible Man earned his rank through masterful use of invisibility and physical enhancement rather than raw strength.
Maybe he was holding back—or maybe I'd simply grown too strong—but either way...
I figured I could handle this much without much trouble.
Still, I didn't let my guard down.
Snakes never do.
I could simply wait, patient and still, biding my time until the prey walked into my trap.
That was all it took.
So I waited calmly, absorbing the Invisible Man's attacks as they came.
The narcotic analgesic was still working in my veins, after all.
And I had several more pills. Dragging this out into a war of attrition suited me fine.
But standing there taking hit after hit didn't exactly feel good, I'll admit.
So I wanted to land one of my own.
There was no need to hold back on power, either.
The other students around us were all already shielded, and by all appearances those barriers looked sturdy enough to shrug off just about anything.
Which meant I could probably swing with everything I had at least once.
And if it truly got dangerous, the Invisible Man would dodge on his own. Presumably.
So that was the plan—and I fixed my gaze on the spot where the Invisible Man stood.
"...!?"
"Frightening, isn't it?"
I smiled, my tongue flicking out.
I wanted to ask him how it felt to be prey cornered before a predator—but there was no time for that.
I had to strike in the instant that fear froze him solid. That was my only real chance of winning.
So the moment I locked eyes on the Invisible Man, I charged forward and swung my fist with everything I had.
I'd put serious weight behind it, so I figured I could allow myself a little hope.
The Invisible Man dropped his invisibility, gave me a languid once-over, and smiled a smile of certain victory.
I ignored the feint entirely and drove my fist straight into him.
He crossed his arms to take the blow—and was launched backward a good several meters by my fist.
He didn't just fly, either. He went flying clean through the wall.
I looked at the Invisible Man sprawled on the other side of it, and laughed.
Truly, I never expected a villain to be this weak.
Granted, he was probably pulling his punches since he was up against students...
But he still fell short of expectations.
It felt like he could afford to come at me with everything he had, honestly.
Besides, going all-out reminded me of my days as an experimental subject. It made me feel good.
But now that things had come to this, there was nothing for it.
This fight. It's mine, isn't it?