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Morning came.At the hour when In-woo, who had burned through all her energy on Friday night, was still fast asleep, Lee Ro-un headed for the annex of the Awakener Association.The ones who had arrived first greeted him.
“Lee Ro-un!”“So you were already here.”“Hwaaaam. Why are you so late?”“And why are you here?”“I-I came to cheer him on!”
At least wipe the sleep from your eyes before saying that.After taking in the area around the annex, already beginning to crowd with examinees, Ro-un pulled his cap down lower and led the two of them away.
“Did you eat?”“Hahahaha. I ate breakfast after my morning workout and came here.”“If I eat something in the morning, it upsets my stomach.”“If you want to become an excellent Awakener, you mustn’t skip meals.”“Sleep matters more than food.”
And yet somehow that guy had managed to come out this early in the morning.Ro-un checked the time.8:20 a.m.Considering the exam began at 9, they had arrived with a bit of room to spare.
‘Better than being late.’
As he led the two along, they ended up at the snack shop.Perhaps because few people wanted to eat at the shop right before an exam, it was quiet despite the morning hour.“Cheon Su-ho, you already ate breakfast, so you’re fine, right?”“Lee Ro-un. You still haven’t had breakfast?”“Yeah. I overslept.”“Eh? Even the great student council president oversleeps?”
The truth was, he hadn’t really slept at all.Part of it was because he had roamed the night market with In-woo, but more than that, Gu So-ye’s words from yesterday had kept circling in his mind.
‘I was thinking of those bastards far too reasonably.’
They were creatures filled with lust for power. If he had just thought a little further, he would have realized there was no way they would easily let go of someone who could preserve that power for them. He had underestimated their greed.
‘Come to think of it, there’s no way normal people would have clung only to their own power and wealth even while the land was ruined and people were dying. I need to crush them more thoroughly. Or else… wipe them out before the Calamity comes at all.’
Ro-un acknowledged his own limits.Lee Ro-un was still lacking, and there was still too much he didn’t know.He should never have thought of them as fellow humans.They were hungry ghosts consumed by greed for power and money, sinners risen from hell.Thinking of the incidents they had caused and the disasters they had hidden before the regression, nausea rose in Ro-un’s stomach.That he had known all that and still intended to follow them anyway meant that, before the regression, his judgment had plainly been broken.
‘At least I understand it now. Proprietress Gu So-ye. Once I finish tomorrow’s request, will I be able to speak with you once more?’
He wanted to meet once more with the woman who had warned him to be careful.Joo Hee-jun called out to the Ro-un , who was lost in thought.
“Hey! Lee Ro-un!”“Hm?”“What is with you, seriously? What did you do yesterday that you look this out of it?”“…Nothing. I just didn’t sleep well.”“Really?”
In truth, he had not slept a wink.
“What did I just say?”“I asked what you wanted to eat.”“I’ll just have one roll of gimbap or something.”“Lee Ro-un. Will just that be enough?”
Cheon Su-ho looked at Ro-un with a pitying expression.The way his eyes swept over him was exactly like someone looking at a person so starved they might collapse at any moment.It felt like he had gotten a similar look yesterday too….
“Hey. I’m fine, okay?”“You have to take proper care of your body. If you fall under <Weakness> or <Starvation>, your stats will drop, so you need to be careful!”
No, even if I skipped one meal, isn’t it a bit much to start talking about <Weakness> or <Starvation>?Ro-un stared at Cheon Su-ho in disbelief.But Cheon Su-ho was genuinely worried that Ro-un might actually end up under those status conditions.
“Auntie. Five rolls of gimbap and one bowl of udon, please.”“What? Hey, who do you think is eating all that?”“Cheon Su-ho. Isn’t that a bit much?”
The healer and the mage both recoiled in shock at the warrior’s order.
“Mm? This is only because it’s breakfast.”
Really, people who used their bodies for a living were impossible to like.The kind where everything they eat goes straight into muscle!Ro-un felt an indescribable unfairness and almost choked on it.
“My, such handsome students, and so close too. Are you here for the promotion exam today?”“Yes. That’s right.”“It’s not all three of us. Just him.”“We came to cheer him on.”
After Cheon Su-ho and Joo Hee-jun answered, Ro-un added,
“So you came to cheer on your friend. How sweet. Here, eat this and pass in one go!”
The lady running the snack shop handed each of them a sausage.The three of them took their sausages and food and sat down together at a table.Tearing open the sausage wrapper and taking a bite, Joo Hee-jun, still half asleep, looked blankly around the shop.
“Hey. There’s even a kid over there who came in uniform.”“Because school uniforms are excellent combat uniforms.”“Ah. Right. That’s true.”
There was a reason school uniforms were entrusted to specialized manufacturers.Academy students held a quasi-military status and had the duty to be mobilized in emergencies to defend this land.Speaking of duty, that reminded him.
“You know monsoon season is coming soon, right?”“Hm? So what?”
Ro-un looked at Joo Hee-jun in disbelief.
“I’m saying we might get sent to support flood recovery in a village near Mount Jiri.”“Huh? Ah! Right. That’s true.”
Joo Hee-jun slumped over the table like a deflated balloon.Still, the Namhae Imugi incident won’t be happening, and thanks to the Gokseong dual passage being resolved, the flood damage would be less severe than before the regression.The reason the Gokseong dual passage had become such a huge issue was because the passage had collapsed during severe monsoon flood damage, giant creatures had poured out, and the destruction had grown worse. But now that would not happen, so this round of field support should end more easily than it had before the regression.
‘At least this time I won’t have to see that sight.’
The thought that he would not have to see someone howling in grief, nor something crushed beneath the giants’ feet, eased his mind a little.He was aware he had done something good for others, but he decided to think of it as an incidental benefit attached to treating his own trauma.
‘What matters is stopping the four Calamities. Once that’s done, I’m disappearing immediately. The item has to be finished by this winter. Mass supply may be impossible, but at least several dozen need to be made.’
The fact that he had stopped a small incident only for something far larger to be approaching made his chest seize, but Ro-un forced it back down as he swallowed the gimbap in his mouth.
“Huh? Gah! Hey! Hurry up and eat! It’s already eight fifty!”“How am I supposed to finish all this?”“You two… really do have small stomachs.”
That was not something he wanted to hear from an enhancement-type.Ro-un asked the shop lady to wrap up the remaining gimbap, took the bag, and hurried off.Fortunately, Cheon Su-ho made it into the exam hall without issue, but there Ro-un encountered an unexpected figure.
‘Why… is that dragon the official in charge of the promotion exam?’
Baekdu Academy chairman Yong Chang-jin had come as the official in charge of the A-rank promotion exam.
The person originally assigned to today’s A-rank enhancement-type promotion exam was an A-rank enhancement-type Awakener from Iron Hawk.Before being assigned as an evaluator, the Iron Hawk enhancement-type Awakener, who could strengthen his body and draw out twice his normal strength, had received a call.
‘If possible, would you mind swapping the order?’
The request had been absurd enough coming out of nowhere over the phone, but the moment he learned who was calling, he snapped to attention.The other party was no ordinary person.Even the Association would not normally grant a request to swap the order so easily, but if the one asking was him, that changed things.
‘Yong Chang-jin.’
Publicly, he was the chairman of Baekdu Academy, but everyone knew his true identity was that of a Divine Beast, a dragon.Not once since the Association was founded had a Divine Beast ever taken part in one of its events.Yet now, a dragon had shown up there on his own two feet.Naturally, the Association accepted Yong Chang-jin’s proposal.
“Oh my. I trust you had no trouble coming here?”
A higher-up from the promotion department came running over in a fluster and welcomed Yong Chang-jin with his whole body.Watching him come running, Yong Chang-jin reflected that he had still deliberately come here today, when the A-rank promotion exam was being held, despite knowing humans would be a nuisance.
‘So now I’ll be able to see with my own eyes the human whose fate Lee Ro-un changed.’
Since Baek Ho-yeon had seen it himself, there was no question that Lee Ro-un had changed someone’s fate, but Yong Chang-jin was the sort of Divine Beast who would tap even a stone bridge before crossing.He was also curious about the human whom Lee Ro-un, who subtly showed signs of disliking humans, had personally stepped in to change.Masking his true thoughts, the dragon cut off the human babbling beside him and asked,
“Have the examinees gathered in the measurement room yet?”“Haha. Given the hour, yes.”“I’ll head to the exam hall at once.”“Chairman Yong Chang-jin. The measurements will be handled by the machine anyway, so there’s no need for an evaluator to oversee even that part. Rather than that, perhaps you could rest in my office for a while—”“I came here as a promotion official. I have a duty to watch the examinees.”“Ah, ahem. That is true, but the machine will handle everyth—”“So the measurement room is over there. Then please excuse me.”
Ignoring the human waving regretfully after him, Yong Chang-jin headed for the measurement room.Beyond the area divided by special glass, a cylindrical measuring device could be seen.The researcher, who also managed the measuring equipment, belatedly sprang to his feet at Yong Chang-jin’s arrival.
“Uh, um, uh!”“Hello. Please don’t mind me. Just continue doing your work.”“Uh-up, yes sir!”
Watching Yong Chang-jin nervously, the staff member switched on the microphone and called in the examinee.
-“Examinee number one. Please come in.”
Examinee number one entered the measurement room.After checking the application documents and biometric information, the staff member operated the machine.
Wooooong!
With a humming vibration, the cylinder opened at an angle.The cylinder opened like wings unfolding, and inside it blue lines of light traced geometric patterns.
That was the device said to embody the totality of dimensional revolution technology and objectively measure the abilities of Awakeners.It would have been a fascinating sight to ordinary people, but neither the examinees nor the staff, all of whom had seen measuring equipment many times before, were in the least surprised by Record Wing.
-“We will begin measurement. Please do not move.”
When the staff member operated the device once more, the unfolded wings returned to their original position, forming a cylinder again.Inside, blue light moved about as it measured the examinee’s abilities.
The examinee’s stats and skills appeared on the hologram screen.The examinee nodded to indicate he had no objections to the results.
‘So it interferes with the soul? Since it can’t access the System, it touches the soul instead.’
There was still much about the Awakening System that remained unknown.Many scholars had tried to approach the System, but nothing had been uncovered beyond the fact that even Constellations were restricted in how they could interfere with it.The same was true for Yong Chang-jin.No one clearly knew where the System had come from or how it worked.The only confirmed fact was that the System supported Awakeners and sought to stop the invasion of the otherworld.
‘If one could defend the soul perfectly, then it would be possible to fool Record Wing’s detection.’
That might work on an immature young Divine Beast or Spiritual Being, but it would be useless against beings like Yong Chang-jin, Baek Ho-yeon, or Gu So-ye, all of whom had one foot in the divine realm.As Yong Chang-jin thought about Record Wing’s flaws and how they might be corrected, he watched the examinees’ abilities being measured.
‘How dull.’
Even so, thinking of the human he would meet shortly, Yong Chang-jin endured the tedium.
Cheon Su-ho finished his ability measurement without issue.Seeing Cheon Su-ho’s results, Joo Hee-jun recoiled in shock.
“Hiiiik! Look at this guy. In what world are these academy-student stats?”“After gaining mana, it feels like my body moves much better.”“Mana does support bodily movement, after all.”
Even taking that into account, Cheon Su-ho’s stats were terrifying.To put it another way, up until now, that guy had been crudely turning the wheels with his own hands, but now a proper engine had started turning them for him.
“A+, B, S, S?! In what world are these the stats of someone taking an A-rank promotion exam!? And why is his mana already S!?”“Hahahahaha. I think I may have inherited the white statue’s stats.”“You ridiculously lucky bastard!”
Joo Hee-jun flew into a fit.If anything, what was more shocking was that he had managed all of that until now with no mana at all, using only pure physical strength.
‘That means he made it to B-rank relying solely on physical ability.’
Ro-un felt that now he would not have to worry about Cheon Su-ho dropping dead somewhere.
“Next is skill casting and a spar with a higher-ranked Awakener, right?”“That’s right!”
In the sparring test, which measured actual ability, someone one rank above the examinee would step in.
“They said we can observe from here on, right?”“Examinees stay on the first floor, people who want to observe go to the second.”“Then we should head up. Cheon Su-ho, do well on the next part too.”“Hahahaha. Understood.”
Judging by Cheon Su-ho, promotion did not seem to be something worth worrying about.After seeing Cheon Su-ho off, Ro-un went up to the second floor with Joo Hee-jun.On the second floor were people who looked like parents, friends, and colleagues, all there to cheer on family members, friends, and acquaintances.
“My kid really needs to pass this time.”“My kid failed last time because he got stuck with the wrong staff member.”“Oh my. Was it Team D by any chance?”“Good grief. Yes.”
From the chatter drifting around, it sounded like the last promotion exam had been handled by Awakener Response Team D.
‘Then this time it won’t be Team D.’
In many ways, things were breaking in Cheon Su-ho’s favor.Joo Hee-jun seemed to have heard the talk as well, because his eyes were sparkling.
“Hey. I think Cheon Su-ho’s really going to make it this time.”“If not for the mana issue, Cheon Su-ho was always more than capable of making A-rank.”“I know that too, okay? Me too, me too!”
If you’re going to talk, talk properly.If all you say is ‘me too,’ who’s going to know what you mean?But Ro-un understood what Joo Hee-jun was trying to say.
‘He means that if not for his unstable trait, he’d have made it past C-rank himself by now.’
Give me a break.There’s more wrong with you than just that.Ro-un clicked his tongue at Joo Hee-jun.
“Oh? Looks like it’s starting. Oh? Oh! Hey, Lee Ro-un. Look over there.”
What is it with him now?Shaking off the clinging Joo Hee-jun, Ro-un lowered his gaze.At the same time, the dragon below looked up toward the second floor where he stood.
‘Why… is that dragon the official in charge of the promotion exam?’
Seeing the badge around Yong Chang-jin’s neck marking him as the official in charge of the promotion evaluation, Ro-un was left stunned for a moment.Was there seriously an SSS-rank evaluator present at an A-rank promotion exam right now?
‘Does that dragon really have nothing better to do?’
The dragon, having spotted Lee Ro-un, tilted his head slightly in greeting.Ro-un returned the greeting reflexively and blinked.
‘If that dragon is here, then that means…’
Puh-eok!
Something slammed into Ro-un’s side.It wasn’t threatening, but the solid weight made him stagger.When he lowered his head, he saw soft-looking white hair.
‘Of course.’
The head lifted, and a familiar face peeked up at him.
“Ro-uung!”“So you came too.”
Yong Chang-jin and the black imugi hatchling.Ro-un scooped Yu-jeong up at once and held him with one arm.Yu-jeong wrapped his arms around Ro-un’s neck.
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