A Bomb Freak? A Human Demolition Crew? A Human Flashlight?

Kwaaaang!!!!!

One side of the wall blew apart, and dust billowed up.

“Cough, cough! Cough.”
“Lee Ro-un. Are you all right?”

Ro-un had used [Protection] at just the right moment when the wall burst apart, but it had not blocked the dust rising into the air, and he coughed violently.
Before the regression, he had only managed to raise it to Level 5, so he had never been able to know for sure, but if he raised it further, might it be able to distinguish and block even non-offensive hazards like dust based on whether they were harmful to the body?

‘At this rate, I need to level my skills up as quickly as possible. Since I even regressed, I should be able to raise them faster than before.’

The level cap was 10.
The average skill level of academy graduates or those just debuting as professionals was 4.
Among Lee Ro-un’s skills, there were only two above Level 4.
They were [Healing] and [Purification].
Thinking back on the process of raising those two skills, Lee Ro-un smiled cynically.

‘They really worked me like a dog.’

Just looking at how only the skill levels used for “health checkups” were so high was enough to tell how thoroughly he had been exploited as their personal physician.

“Lee Ro-un? You don’t look well! We need to get you to the infirmary right away.”
“Go where? I’m the healer here.”

And do you not know that the teacher in our academy infirmary isn’t even there right now?
Using [Healing] only on himself, Ro-un brushed off the dust and looked at the gaping hole in the wall.
Looking at the collapsed wall, Ro-un clenched his fist.
“What idiot is it this time?”

What admirable bastard had used a skill in the dorms again this time?
He had told them over and over not to use skills inside the dorms!

“Let’s see his face first.”

His mouth twisted upward as he said it.
A vicious light settled in his eyes.
Radiating a dangerous air, Ro-un boldly stepped over the collapsed wall.
Cheon Su-ho, who had been twitching and trembling, scurried after Ro-un.

“Lee Ro-un! Let’s go together!”
“Why are you following me?”
“Well, if something happens, I ought to protect you.”
“You? Protect me?”

Ro-un looked back at Cheon Su-ho as if the idea were strange.

‘Has anyone ever protected me even once up until now?’

When he entered passages to run errands or went out as hired support at the Association President’s orders, it had always been after the site had already been secured, so he had never needed an escort.
But once incidents started breaking out and manpower ran short, Ro-un had to be dispatched even to places where safety had not been secured.

‘That was when my [Protection] skill leveled up a lot.’

For someone like Ro-un, who had always been the one helping others or being shoved into dangerous sites, to be protected by someone else?
And by one of our academy students, no less?
Up to now, he had gone after unruly students as the student council president who represented and protected the academy students, but the students had never once protected Ro-un.
And the ones who at least did not cause trouble had all died before the Big Wave arrived three years later.
Thinking back on that hopeless future, Ro-un’s face darkened and he fell silent.
Completely unaware of what Ro-un was thinking, Cheon Su-ho puffed out his chest and answered brightly.

“I’m the team leader, and you’re my precious teammate, aren’t you. It’s the team leader’s role to protect his teammates. And besides, Lee Ro-un, you’re a healer, aren’t you. It is only natural that the strong protect the weak.”
“So it’s only natural for the strong to protect the weak….”

Cheon Su-ho said it without hesitation.
That protecting the weak was only natural.
It was the sort of thing only Cheon Su-ho, who had died standing against an A-rank passage boss in order to protect people despite having no mana, would say.
Ro-un turned to look at Cheon Su-ho and said,

“That sounds like you, Cheon Su-ho.”
“What do you mean by that, Lee Ro-un?”
“Nothing. Just that it sounds like you did a little studying for once, like a proper team leader.”
“Of course! While preparing for this field training, I looked up what a team leader’s role was supposed to be in advance.”

Should he admire the fact that Cheon Su-ho had only now, in his second year, looked something like that up, or be glad that he was seeing a new side of him he might never have gotten to see?

‘Whatever. I just have to stop the Calamity before this idiot charges in and dies again.’

Ro-un turned his eyes away from Cheon Su-ho and walked forward again.
Looking at the walls blown open in a straight line, Ro-un first notified the students in the affected dorm rooms about the condition of their rooms.
After even filling out a repair request for the facilities, Ro-un passed two or three rooms and finally reached the source of the explosion.

Step, step.

“Here it is.”
“The scorch marks started from this room. Judging by how they spread outward in a radial pattern, this seems to be the point of origin.”
“There’s only one guy in the dorms who’d pull something like this.”

Judging by the room number, it was that guy.
Where the hell is he buried in all this?
Looking around for the owner of the room, Ro-un found a person wedged into the opposite side of the broken wall.
Seeing the student all crumpled up and blackened with soot, Ro-un let out a small sound of admiration.

“Oh? He’s alive?”
“Lee Ro-un. It sounds as if I can hear anger in your voice.”
“That’s right.”

Having already spent nearly a year at Jiri Academy, where accidents and incidents were a constant occurrence, neither of them was surprised to see a charred human body.
Tch, judging by the look of him, it seemed he had put on safety gear before using the skill, but had he been knocked out for a moment by the shockwave of the explosion?

“[Healing]”

The moment a gentle healing light burst forth, the small cuts on the unconscious student’s body disappeared as if erased.

“Oh! So this is the president’s healing!”
“Not President. Lee Ro-un.”
“Understood. Lee Ro-un.”

At his side, Cheon Su-ho started repeating his name to himself, “Lee Ro-un, Lee Ro-un.”
How the hell did he really place tenth in the whole school?
Even if the students at this academy were idiots, were they seriously dumb enough for this guy to make it all the way to tenth place?
Ro-un shot Cheon Su-ho a suspicious sidelong glance.

“Still, that’s impressive. For something with this much destructive force, to be able to control the direction so the force all goes one way.”
“What control?”

Lee Ro-un scoffed.
He could tell Cheon Su-ho had a head for analyzing a scene, but since he could not sense mana, there were limits to what he could figure out.

‘Still, he’s useful.’

He could probably trust him as team leader during this field training.
As Ro-un revised his evaluation of Cheon Su-ho in his head, he added an explanation.

“This isn’t control. The skill burst out in one direction because he failed to control it. Put simply, it’s like poking a hole in a water balloon and having all the water leak out through that hole.”
“Is that so? But how do you know that, Lee Ro-un?”
“How else? If you read the mana traces dispersed in the air, the answer comes right out.”

If you submitted dozens of building repair requests, you eventually learned to read mana residue at a glance.
Holy Power and mana were different kinds of energy, so by using Holy Power, reading the mana residue dispersed in the air was easy enough.
Ro-un looked down at the lump of charcoal that went around blowing buildings apart despite not actually being a bomb made for demolishing structures, and twisted his lips.
After confirming that he had been healed enough for the moment, Lee Ro-un nudged the fallen student with his foot.

“Hey. Wake up.”
“……”
“Is it really all right to wake him like that?”
“It’s fine. The students at our academy are sturdy.”

They were hardy little bastards who would not give in to a mere healer’s fist and still somehow found time to cause trouble.
Ro-un pulled at the corner of his mouth and put a little more force into his foot.

Thud!

“Wake up!”
“Um, Lee Ro-un? It feels like you put something more than just force into that kick.”

At the sight of Lee Ro-un kicking the soot-covered student with a terrifyingly refreshed expression on his face, Cheon Su-ho shrank his shoulders and weakly tried to stop him.
But as if he could not hear a word Cheon Su-ho was saying, Lee Ro-un’s movements only grew more intense.

“Joo Hee-jun! Wake up already!”

Wham!

“Uwaaaah!”

At the voice that seemed ready to rupture his eardrums, the fallen student, Joo Hee-jun, jerked his eyes open.
With a look of regret, Ro-un kicked him once more and said.

Thud.

“Ah. Maybe I should have kicked harder.”
“That already looked more than hard enough….”
“I’m awake! Stop kicking me!”

Cheon Su-ho shrank into himself like a frightened dog and watched Ro-un carefully.
The soot-blackened Joo Hee-jun, who had been unconscious, shouted and jerked his upper body up.
As he moved, his whole body covered in black ash until he looked almost like a shadow, a puff of dust rose up around him.

“Seriously, just like a student council president, you came the instant the explosion went off.”
“If you hadn’t blown my room’s wall to hell, I wouldn’t have come.”
“Bullshit.”

Thud!

“Ack!”
“I told you to watch your mouth, didn’t I?”
“Ah, seriously! I heard you’re not even the student council president anymore! Then why are you acting like this?!”
“Because! You! Blew! My! Room! Wall! Apart!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Wham!

“Ack! Ack! Aaack! Aaaack!”

As Ro-un punctuated his words with his fists like a rhythm chant, Joo Hee-jun curled up on himself.

‘Does the president have some kind of [Weakness Detection] skill or something? How does he manage to hit only the spots that hurt this much?!’

Just as he was thinking something he did not dare say aloud, the fists suddenly pulled away.

“Lee Ro-un. Calm down.”
“Let go of me!”
“Why are you so worked up? This isn’t like you!”

Cheon Su-ho, for once serious, came up from behind and pinned Lee Ro-un by hooking his arms under his armpits.

“Hoo.”

Dangling in midair, Lee Ro-un steadied his breathing and tried to calm himself, but one look at the cowering Joo Hee-jun made anger surge up in him again.

‘Those goddamn experiments! Experiments! Why the hell are you doing that kind of experiment outside the training grounds?!’

The training grounds inside the academy were, at the very least, places built to withstand the training of Awakeners. Yet he left those alone! The academy was already falling apart in every direction because the management had been stealing from it left and right, so why did he have to do his damned experiments outside of the training grounds and make sure nothing survived intact!

‘If it weren’t for that, holding out three years later would have been so much easier!’

And he probably would not have gone berserk doing pointless nonsense like this either.
To Lee Ro-un, it was as though a bomb with its fuse lit was walking around right in front of him.

‘That bomb, I swear! I’m going to yank that fuse right out!’

The moment a murderous light entered Ro-un’s eyes, both Cheon Su-ho and Joo Hee-jun began trembling.

“Lee Ro-un, calm down first.”
“Th-that’s right! Stop hitting me!”

Joo Hee-jun, crouched down with both hands over his hooded head, called out timidly.
Lee Ro-un looked at Joo Hee-jun with utter disdain and said.

“Hey, demolition crew. Do you not know you’re not supposed to use skills inside buildings?”
“Demolition crew?! My name is Joo Hee-jun!”

Joo Hee-jun flared up at being called demolition crew.
But among the students, he was already known as building demolition crew, bomb freak, dynamite, and the like.

“Joo Hee-jun or demolition crew, whatever! Do you not know that because of your trait, you absolutely cannot use your skill recklessly inside buildings? Skill usage is already restricted outside designated areas in the first place, but for you it’s even more true. You absolutely cannot use it anywhere else!”
“Ugh! What was I supposed to do when I’d already used up all my training-ground time?!”
“Then rent a private training ground!”
“Hm. Lee Ro-un’s right. If I remember correctly, the bomb freak’s trait has the modifier ‘unstable,’ does it not?”
“I said I’m not a bomb freak! I’m not demolition crew or bomb freak either!”

Sure you aren’t, when everything you use your skill on blows up.
Ro-un looked down at the shouting Joo Hee-jun.
Demolition crew, no. Joo Hee-jun possessed a trait.

S-rank trait

A dream trait coveted by every magic-type Awakener, yet one that had become a shackle because of the modifier ‘unstable.’

‘That’s why he ended up here, at Jiri Academy. Like an S-rank trait should, his mana capacity surpasses the average for his age, but his mana control is the worst, worst, worst, worst. Even so, it looks like he’s trying to get rid of that ‘unstable’ modifier himself, but his whole approach is wrong from the start!’

Still being held by Cheon Su-ho, Lee Ro-un stared steadily at Joo Hee-jun.
On the receiving end of Ro-un’s gaze, Joo Hee-jun curled up again.

“Wh-what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’ll never fix your trait by training like that. So from now on, do. not. use your skill inside buildings.”
“Shit! President, what would you know! You’re a healer!”
“If I say don’t use it, then don’t use it!”

Just as Ro-un was about to physically suppress Joo Hee-jun’s complaints, the watching Cheon Su-ho spoke up.

“? Lee Ro-un, can you perhaps fix the bomb freak’s trait?”

This guy.
Every now and then, he was annoyingly sharp for no reason.
At Cheon Su-ho’s words, Joo Hee-jun jerked his head up, and when their eyes met, Lee Ro-un answered a beat too late.

“No.”
“That’s a lie.”
“You do know, don’t you!”

Ah. This had become annoying.

Having found a path in the darkness, Joo Hee-jun naturally latched onto Lee Ro-un.
Lee Ro-un tried to shake him off, Joo Hee-jun clung on like his life depended on it, and after Cheon Su-ho stepped in to mediate, they all ended up gathered in his room.

‘Why am I here?’

Even with the wall blown open, I still want to go back to my room.

‘Because that idiot went and submitted that application for no reason!’

Thinking back on what had just happened, Ro-un glared at Cheon Su-ho.
He had met the grade requirement, so he wanted to go to the chairman and ask him to sign the consent form, but the chairman had flatly refused.

‘Hm? You’re dropping out when your field training application’s already been approved? That won’t do. If you file the application and then say you’re dropping out, the procedure would be, mm. Very complicated, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yes. Very complicated.’
‘See. So let’s talk again after the field training, Saint.’

That was all the tiger sitting in the chairman’s seat had to say.

‘Dropping out is a filthy pain in the ass.’

Soothing his frustrated insides, Ro-un looked toward the door.
He wanted to get out of here.
But the two who had chased him all the way to the chairman’s office were obviously not going to let him go so easily.

“Hey, President! Do you really know a way to fix my trait?”
“Not President. Lee Ro-un.”
“Whatever!”

Oh?
When Ro-un’s eyebrow twitched, Joo Hee-jun flinched and quickly corrected himself.

“Do you know one?”
“So what if I do.”
“I’ll do anything I can for you!”
“You?”
“Yeah, yeah!”

Joo Hee-jun nodded vigorously.

“Then money.”
“Uh, well. I live off an allowance, so I don’t have any money right now.”
“Then my withdrawal.”
“For that, why don’t you go ask academic affairs instead of me?”

Ro-un looked at Joo Hee-jun as if he were the most useless thing in the world.
Realizing what that look meant, Joo Hee-jun grew desperate.

“But if you help me, I can pay it all back later!”
“I don’t do delayed payments.”

He was sick to death of deferred payments by now.
Ro-un forcibly crushed down the bullshit words of those pigs and dogs who had once said they would pay him all back later when they were grown, before those memories could rise back up.

“I-I’ll do whatever you tell me to!”
“Oh?”

Now that might be worth hearing?
He had needed an item(?) to bring along on field training anyway, and this guy looked like he could be used a few times.
Ro-un looked Joo Hee-jun up and down from head to toe as though checking how many uses a consumable item had left.
Joo Hee-jun flinched under a look that seemed to measure how much meat might come off a carcass, but he waited for Lee Ro-un’s judgment all the same.

‘While I’m at it, I can also use him for the circuit design on that business item I’ve been planning.’

Because he had taken part in the research process, Ro-un had the circuitry memorized too, but a mage was still much better suited for the item design than a healer.
Maybe he could make that guy handle the circuit design and work him to the bone until a prototype came out.
It also didn’t seem like the guy would get greedy for the design just because he taught it to him.

‘Because this guy is the youngest son of a chaebol family.’

A bit of pocket change(?) like that probably would not even catch his attention.
Just then, Cheon Su-ho shot his hand up as if he had a brilliant idea.

“Lee Ro-un! How about bringing the bomb freak along on the field training?”
“I said I’m not a bomb freak!”
“Could probably get a few good uses out of him.”
“What do you mean? Why me? What’s wrong with me? I’m useful in my own way too, you know? My average stats are around C! And my mana is a full S!”
“My Holy Power is SSS.”

It was EX, actually.
At his side, Cheon Su-ho laughed loudly and said,

“That’s about the same as my average stats. Except I have no mana!”
“See! I’m more useful than him, aren’t I? I can actually enter a passage!”
“Hahahahaha!”

Joo Hee-jun sprang to his feet and shouted excitedly.
Still laughing, Cheon Su-ho pressed down on Joo Hee-jun’s shoulder with one hand.

“Ack! Aack! It huuurts!”
“With a body that fragile, can we really make use of him inside a passage?”
“Aaack! I’m a precious magic-type worker, damn it!”
“I’m an even more precious healer.”

At the words of a precious healer, something in short supply all over the world outside Europe, Joo Hee-jun shrank down.

‘I’m not exactly lacking compared to anyone else either, so why does it have to be Lee Ro-un of all people?’

A healer. Not just that, but an ultra-special prodigy called a future Saint and possessing an SSS-rank trait.
Compared to an ultra-special prodigy personally nurtured by the World Awakener Association, Joo Hee-jun’s face twisted in aggrieved defeat.

“Good. I was already uneasy about bringing only a single lighter, so this works out nicely.”
“Wh-what? A lighter? I’m a lighter? You’re using me, a precious magic-type Awakener, as a lighter?”
“Hahahaha! Lee Ro-un, instead of a lighter, how about flashlight?”
“A flashliiiight?!”
“If you do exactly what I tell you, I’ll help you fix your trait.”
“Please call me human flashlight.”

Joo Hee-jun, who had been raising hell just moments before, dropped to his knees before Ro-un in a pitiful pose.
Lee Ro-un had secured a high-class labor force.