Chapter 18

The academy’s practical exam.

It was extremely simple.

What are the limits of your ability? How strong is it? Is it dangerous? Is it safe? Can you control it? Or can you not control it?

They categorize abilities into detailed classifications, assign grades, and determine who is important and who is less important based on those grades.

The nation of South Korea liked to assign grades to people, and that was still the case now.

In fact, most ability management organizations or ability user groups abroad also tend to have grades or ranks.

‘There are rare individuals who possess multiple abilities, but there’s only one multi-ability user appearing in the story, and only four others who are merely mentioned in the background setting.’

In the end, if I could properly handle all the abilities I currently have, I could defeat almost all ability users except for a few.

There were beings who could overwhelm multiple abilities with just one, but considering the story’s progression speed, they would appear after becoming second-year students… or at the earliest, in the latter half of the first year.

Until then, I could run wild without worry.

The plan was to maximize the proficiency of my other abilities, complete the status window’s quests, receive rewards, and finally reach the ‘abstraction’ of shadow.

The ultimate goal… to return to the beginning of my life.

I want to walk the path I would have originally taken, where no one died and I lived an ordinary life.

‘If I just follow the story smoothly like this, it’ll be over soon.’

The final moment would come within 2 years, or at most, 3 years.

…That’s what I thought. I believed everything would flow smoothly like the story in the game, and I just needed to listen to the status window.

That it would be a very easy task.

An unexpected variable occurs.

“I have something to tell everyone.”

…The teacher with [Perfect Memory], Sayu.

Such an event where he makes an announcement at the exam site didn’t originally exist.

Feeling a sense of discomfort, I looked around.

I could feel an ominous presence… a gaze.

Someone beyond my current ability to handle is watching me. This is pure intuition, not an ability or anything else.

Like a rabbit trembling when sensing a life-threatening danger… my entire body was ringing alarm bells that I was in mortal danger.

“…Because the teacher in charge of this practical exam has retired due to sudden personal circumstances.”

He’s probably talking about Jisa. I killed him, and they’re covering it up as “sudden personal circumstances”—what an amusing excuse.

More importantly, what is this presence?

What exactly is Sayu trying to say?

That was the problem.

“A guest instructor has come from ‘The Shadow.’ Originally invited for advanced courses later… but I specially requested them to come early.”

…The Shadow, guest instructor, in charge of practical and field training.

Someone who could replace ‘Jisa’…?

There was a figure that suddenly flashed through my mind.

No, that can’t be. She’s not supposed to appear yet.

No matter how much I wanted to deny it, reality coldly presented itself. The figure reflected in my eyes was clearly someone I knew.

There was a person who absolutely should not be appearing in this place yet.

: Bia, it’s alright. This figure doesn’t affect the main scenario.

‘Why, why is she here now?’

: Because we killed Jisa. There aren’t many people who can fulfill the role of a teacher.

: So they must have found a replacement from another ability organization.

: This is good news. Our actions have slightly twisted the predetermined path.

‘Why… why her of all people? And what do you mean by predetermined path?’

: It’s simple.

The status window’s words weren’t registering properly in my eyes.

My pupils weren’t focusing properly to begin with.

A woman with an atmosphere strangely similar to mine slowly entered the auditorium.

Slightly short stature, faint dark circles under her eyes, a long coat, short bob haircut.

An umbrella she carried around like a trademark.

: Because she’s strong.

For the first time, the status window described someone else as strong.

The owner of [SAVE & LOAD] that I wanted so badly.

The condition for the forced defeat event in the second-year mock battle that was absolutely impossible to win.

The strongest as directly mentioned by the creator.

A variable that I thought would only appear after becoming a second-year student suddenly appeared now.

The status window was trying to reassure me, as if it knew something, but I wasn’t reassured at all.

I was uneasy from the start because it refused to explain about the “predetermined path.” Every time I heard nonsense about the “main scenario,” something shitty happened to me.

“Hello everyone!”

She began her greeting with a voice full of energy that didn’t suit her.

Students slowly began to realize her identity, and they looked at her with gazes filled with shock and surprise.

It was an enormous disconnect that a being who led one of the three most powerful ability user groups at present came to a small Eastern country to work as a part-time instructor at the academy.

One of the humans who had been active even before the existence of ability users became known to the world, with an unknown number of abilities, was here right now.

No one even knows how old she is. She might possess an ability that prevents aging.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you all. It would be boring to just proceed with the exam… so if you have any questions, would you like to ask?”

“Um, please proceed first. You originally requested to be in charge of the mock battle exam…”

“Shhh.”

She smiled lightly and put her index finger to her lips.

At first glance, it seemed like a playful gesture, but it carried different weight. Even the academy teachers immediately closed their mouths without trying to stop her actions.

As an awkward silence continued for a while, one brave student raised his hand and began to ask a question.

“…D-Do you have a lover?”

“…”

Instantly, the atmosphere in the auditorium froze.

To ask such a question to possibly the strongest ability user currently alive—it was a question that would be impossible without being insane.

Everyone swallowed and sweated from their backs.

The weight of the atmosphere was pressing down on the auditorium.

“Um… that’s an interesting question?”

“…”

“Well, I’m married.”

Some male students sighed in disappointment.

Do they really like such an old lady? Seriously? Her first confirmed activity was in 1952! Even if she looks like she’s in her twenties, it doesn’t make sense.

I hope I never have to meet her again.

: For now, you won’t encounter her after this exam and the next mock battle.

‘Now that’s good news.’

: You seem to fear her more than necessary. With your current abilities, you might be able to have a good match with her.

‘…Is that a joke?’

: I won’t joke anymore in the future. It wasn’t very funny. You would probably be killed within 15 seconds.

And so, whether I wanted it or not, the story began to proceed on its own.

The content of the practical exam was simple.

“Everyone, please bring out your abilities.”

She opened her mouth, and students with abilities that could be externally manifested fired their powers into the sky with full output, as if showing off in front of a woman.

Ryu Seong and I were quietly watching the scene.

I… just brought out a bit of shadow and moved it around. That’s all.

“Hmm…”

She tilted her head for a moment.

Doubt? Confusion? I wasn’t sure what emotion it was, but it didn’t seem like a positive one.

“Is this really it? Your maximum output?”

“We can’t bring out maximum abilities inside the auditorium. That’s the academy rule…”

“I know that. But I can roughly tell from the level you’ve shown now.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s nothing but low-quality trash here.”

The reason I feared her was simple.

It wasn’t simply because she was an impossible-to-defeat hidden boss in the original game, full of the creator’s affection.

It certainly wasn’t because she was the crystallization of unreasonable settings born from tremendous favoritism.

And it definitely wasn’t because she was just a simple fan service character who briefly appeared and disappeared as soon as the exam ended.

Then why do I fear her?

‘…Her personality.’

The skill-supremacist teacher who appears as a cliché in the academy.

If you have no skill, you’re trash; if you have skill, you’re a golden egg. She classifies and treats students based on this extremely simple dichotomous logic.

Right here, we all were classified as ‘trash.’

So, what awaits us?

“Let’s all go out to the field. I’ll change the date of the mock battle to today.”

“You don’t have that authority…”

“Are you looking down on me?”

“…”

Once again, she crushed the academy teacher with her authority and slowly moved her body.

She starts stretching as if doing gymnastics.

The auditorium doors opened as if they had been waiting.

…There was no sense of presence at all. She was clearly stretching on the auditorium stage.

The doors opened naturally as if touched by an invisible hand.

“Everyone, come out.”

Suddenly, the mock battle had begun.