Chapter 50
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Grades (2)
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The tail end of the top ten.
I barely made it.
"Haa..."
I let out a sigh of relief.
An SS rank was top of the year.
An S rank meant second through tenth place.
I'd taken first in both the written exam and physical fitness test.
My A ranks in overall attack power and dungeon survival skills were what had me clinging to the edge of the top ten.
Still, tenth overall wasn't bad at all.
Cheers erupted from all around as I was about to put the report card away.
"Wooooh!"
"Ooooh!!!"
"Top ten! We got a top ten from our class!"
"Whoa... congrats."
"Kang Tae-hyun! Kang Tae-hyun!"
The cadets gathered nearby let out cheers.
They started chanting my name louder than I was happy myself.
"Kang Tae-hyun! Kang Tae-hyun!"
"Hey, hey. Toss him up! Toss him up! Grab his legs."
"No, hey, you don't have to."
"Aw, come on. Up you go."
My classmates lifted me up, ignoring my protests entirely.
"Whoooaa!"
"Yeah!"
My body floated up and dropped back down.
Once wasn't enough—they tossed me three, four times.
"Hey, hey, enough."
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
In my previous life, I'd never gotten a celebration like this.
My mouth wouldn't stop grinning from the joy.
"Hey, quiet down. Quiet."
Ha Dong-hwan tamped down the excited atmosphere.
His face was full of smiles.
"We celebrate when it's worth celebrating. Now, onto the moment we've all been waiting for—C Class's ranking."
"Class ranking..."
"...Oh."
The class ranking combined individual and team evaluations.
The class president and vice president's roles were huge, so it was based largely on our performance in the tournament.
In my previous life, we were dead last—26th out of 26.
Even at the entrance ceremony evaluation, we were 26th.
C Class had been treated like trash.
But since I'd made changes, I had high hopes for our current ranking.
"Class ranking is..."
Instructor Ha Dong-hwan opened the report.
A number was written on it.
Ha Dong-hwan grinned, showing his gums.
"Fifteenth... fifteenth place!"
"Waaah! Fuuuuck! Fifteenth!!!"
My classmates cheered, forgetting even that Ha Dong-hwan was in front of them.
Class rankings weren't easy to climb like individual ones.
This was massive progress.
Our class president, Lee Jae-yeol, had earned high marks.
He'd run himself ragged for the evaluators without the class knowing, all to get good scores.
His efforts had paid off big time.
"Everyone did amazingly well. Keep growing like this, and number one overall at graduation isn't a dream anymore."
"Yessir!!!"
"Alright. Rest up until the end-of-term ceremony. A good break is the best training there is."
"Yes!"
Ha Dong-hwan stepped down from the podium.
Seeing this, Lee Jae-yeol shouted.
"Company, attention!"
C Class cadets shot to their feet at his command.
"Salute."
"Destroy!"
Ha Dong-hwan returned our salute.
He accepted our final salute of the semester and left the room.
That marked the end of first-year, first-semester official classes.
I slumped into my chair, leaning my head back.
I let out a deep sigh.
"Hooaa..."
Finally, vacation.
Six months had already flown by since my regression.
A lot had happened.
Yone's expulsion, friction with Yoon Seo-hyun, class president election, the Mana Manual, slime weapon, Irina's joining, Rio, and then CDT.
There had been exhausting times, but no lack of results.
I'd grown tremendously and even achieved transcendent awakening.
Thinking it was only just the beginning made me feel drained, sure.
But I had to keep moving.
For higher heights.
"Tonight's party time. Big bro, you're coming, right?"
"...Can you let me sit this one out?"
I'd planned to head to the mid-grade Mana Manual.
But Mitsuda insisted no way.
"What kind of party has no main character? Absolutely not. Right, guys?"
"Obviously. No vice president, no point."
"A good rest is the best training. You know that, vice prez?"
I couldn't beat their vibe.
Fine.
"Alright. Let's drink."
"Wooooh! Oooh!"
C Class roared as one.
And so, first-year first semester came to an end.
Tae-hyun walked down the bustling street.
His arms were loaded with cases of beer.
His gaze fixed on one spot.
A place crowded with people.
The bulletin board tallying the rankings.
'Ugh... can't see it.'
Too many people; the posted board was obscured.
"Ah, ah. Commoners. Ah, commoners... here too, commoners... there, commoners... so many... commoners..."
Irina Delebayne shuffled over, shoulders slumped.
She held just a single squid skewer.
Irina was starting to show her true colors as she adapted to the class.
Lee Jae-yeol scowled at her.
"Hey, you. Everyone else is carrying stuff—help out a bit?"
"...Me? I am helping. With this."
Irina waved the squid in her hand.
"Tch... what a pain."
She probably thought that counted as plenty.
Irina's mindset was just different from normal folks.
The sole heiress of a top-tier conglomerate, yet here she was scraping by on pocket change.
Academy external currency was worthless scraps inside.
Tae-hyun looked back at the board.
Still blocked by the crowd.
'...I'll check later.'
The board could wait.
Tae-hyun turned away.
Jae-yeol and Irina were still bickering.
"Hey! Hey, hey! Irina, where's that squid?"
"It was getting in the way, so I tossed it."
"Hey! How could you throw it away? And you didn't even pay."
"...Making such a fuss over squid. Once I'm out in society, I'll buy you a squid boat."
"What?!"
Their antics made him chuckle.
Vacation meant a mountain of tasks.
Above all, White Mask activities.
If they were starting to move, so did he.
If their goal was to tear the world down, his was to build it back up.
"Tae-hyun, come on. The others are waiting."
"Yeah, coming."
Tae-hyun hurried his steps.
Then, someone called out to him.
"Kang Tae-hyun."
Tae-hyun turned, still holding the beer cases.
A familiar-faced man stood there.
Nearly 2 meters tall, short hair.
A British man with blue eyes.
Ex-Royal Guard, William's top fighter.
Top ten, seventh overall.
Roy Armstrong.
He approached slowly, stopping right in front of Tae-hyun.
"...What? Got business with me?"
"..."
Roy Armstrong looked down at Tae-hyun silently before speaking.
"His Highness has his eyes on you. Watch yourself."
"His Highness? You mean William?"
"...Don't speak His Highness's name lightly."
Woooong...
Heavy mana flowed.
"...Now that you're in His Highness's sights, it won't end simply. Remember that."
"..."
Roy Armstrong turned and walked away after that.
Honestly, provocations like this were routine—no surprise.
"What a guy..."
Tae-hyun shrugged it off.
But he'd grasp the warning's meaning a bit later.
Knock knock.
"Miss... it's Smith."
...
Knock knock.
"Miss... you need to eat."
No reply even to Smith's words.
Smith bit his lip.
Blood seeped from it.
'...Damn it. What happened...'
Smith left the tray and newspaper by the door and turned away.
Several dried-up trays were already in her room.
Hong Ga-yeon had watched an S-Rank die right before her eyes.
Seeing him die so gruesomely had broken her mind.
She lay under the covers, expressionless.
Two days now without eating a thing.
But Hong Ga-yeon wouldn't touch food.
Her red eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
Ga-yeon huddled her legs, head down.
'...An S-Rank... died... an S-Rank...'
Gary Oldman.
Low-tier S-Rank, but still S-Rank.
Yet the S-Rank hunter she'd seen was just a lump of meat.
Flesh bursting, blood spraying, limbs torn off like toys.
True terror.
True disparity.
She'd faced it.
It terrified her.
Her vow to become S-Rank was starting to waver.
'...S-Rank... S... Rank...'
Hong Ga-yeon, who prided herself as the strongest of the 32nd class, was still just an 18-year-old girl.
Death was too hard for a girl to accept.
Gary's death dredged up childhood memories.
'...Oppa...'
Her brother had probably died just as pathetically.
Unjustly.
Screaming to be saved.
'...Born to die... I'm here to... die...'
Hunters were born to fall on the battlefield.
That's what they'd been taught, brainwashed with.
She'd become a hunter to die for humanity.
So she'd aimed for S-Rank to avoid death.
S-Ranks were invincible.
The only survivors.
"...Sniff... sniff..."
Ga-yeon wiped her tears.
She acted tough, but knew she was the weakest inside.
Better than anyone.
Death she'd have to accept someday.
...That's why she lived.
"Your Highness. Dinner is ready."
"...No need."
William skipped dinner that night.
He gazed at the moonlit garden.
An inexplicable sadness washed over him.
No food, no water.
He didn't know why.
Drunk classmates.
They'd overdone it last night.
Passed out everywhere.
'Ugh... kids these days. Tough livers.'
I dragged my queasy body outside.
The night had already darkened.
Everyone was asleep.
Fresh air helped a bit.
As I rested in a chair, someone appeared and sat beside me.
Yoon Ah-young.
She handed me hangover relief.
"Uh... thanks."
I took it from her and downed it in one go.
My stomach settled.
Come to think of it, she'd drunk more than me, yet she was fine.
Doesn't look it, but holds her liquor well.
"What're you doing for break?"
"...Dunno yet."
Yoon Soo-ah had invited me to the Yoon Family, so I couldn't exactly refuse.
Needed to think it over.
"You?"
I looked at her and asked.
She hesitated, then spoke.
"...Going back to the Yoon Family."
I asked in surprise.
"You decided to go back?"
After the bet with Yoon Seo-hyun, she'd said she was leaving the family.
Relations hadn't mended since.
Ah-young smiled brightly.
"Nah, going back to leave for good."
"That's..."
"I'm out. There's a Yoon Family magic tournament during break. Flunk that, and they'll probably kick me out."
"..."
"But."
She clenched her fist.
"I'm taking first and walking out. Feels right that way."
She'd made up her mind, then.
Whatever it was, I'd respect her choice.
What mattered wasn't affiliation, but skill.
Yoon Ah-young would handle what came next.
"...So, here's the thing."
"Yeah?"
She looked at me.
Her brown eyes widened.
"Wanna come to the Yoon Family with me for break?"
"...Me?"
Bit out of left field.
"Yeah. You could get an advanced Mana Manual. Of course... you'd have to win the tournament."
"Tournament?"
"The world's top magic contest. Yoon Family hosts it; prize is an advanced Mana Manual. Tempted?"
...Yoon Ji-yeon.
Training with her would help me.
An advanced Mana Manual? Perfect.
Tempted for sure.
With Yoon Soo-ah's invite, no reason I couldn't join the Yoon Family.
"...Seo-hyun and I are entering too. Advanced ones allow other families' participants. I'll submit your entry."
"...What kind of tournament?"
"Simpler than you think. Conquer a dungeon. No other family has ever claimed an advanced Mana Manual from it."
"Why?"
"...Dunno the exact reason. First time for me too."
I fiddled with an empty bottle.
If I could snag an advanced Mana Manual, I'd grow even more.
And training with Yoon Ji-yeon? Huge boost.
Get that manual, and I'd get way stronger.
Decided.
"Alright. I'm in."
"Really??"
Yoon Ah-young beamed.
"Yeah. Can't pass up an advanced Mana Manual."
"...Phew. Glad. Feels safe with you around..."
This break: mana training.
Trials? Always ready.
"Oh, but. My family's kinda... unique."
"Huh?"
She grinned sheepishly.
I didn't get what she meant.
(To be continued)