Chapter 15: Education (6)

The girl was incredibly sad.

She felt wronged and resentful.

Monk Haein… she had trusted him…

He said taking photos wouldn’t steal her soul!

Liar! She was trapped in the laptop now…!

All she did was lightly place her finger as the instructor said.

Who knew she’d end up trapped in the heretics’ soul prison because of that!

Would she be stuck here forever, unable to escape?

The trembling girl looked around, but saw no way out.

These evil people!

They’ve trapped her so thoroughly!

As the instructor pulled her along, the girl became as gloomy as a cow about to be slaughtered.

But no matter how the girl acted, she couldn’t stop the instructor walking ahead.

“Oh! She’s here!”

As soon as the girl entered the field, all eyes turned to her at once.

The group varied in age and gender, but at a glance, none seemed to be adults.

Thank goodness.

The sages in the basement, and the guests, were mostly adults.

The people here were slightly outside the range of the girl’s trauma.

“Come on, let’s go.”

The hesitant girl slowly approached the students.

Unable to meet their eyes, she stared at the ground.

“Hello! Are you Sinner?”

Her shoulders hunched like a shrimp every time someone spoke to her.

It was clearly an uncomfortable reaction for anyone to see.

Oh no.

The instructor finally realized the girl wasn’t sociable and hurriedly raised her voice.

“Everyone, today we’re measuring your limits. Getting to know each other is important, but the test is urgent, so I’ll start explaining right away.”

Tap.

The instructor let go of the girl’s hand and headed for the platform.

Immediately, the students who had been watching quietly swarmed around the girl.

Among them, Kim Seongyeong showed the most intense reaction, full of anger.

“Hey, what the hell. This little brat was the one who messed with me?”

The turbulent age of fifteen.

The age when he was just growing and found pleasure in bullying those weaker than him.

Moreover, learning that the child he thought was a boy his age was actually a smaller, prettier, and cuter girl.

“You, I’ll deal with you after this is over.”

He left a warning, deliberately loud enough for the nearby students to hear.

The girl noticed the anger, fear, wariness, and even desire filling the boy’s heart, but couldn’t react.

She naturally submitted due to the helplessness ingrained in her body.

In this awkward atmosphere that started with the two students.

“Though the conditions for an ‘Irregular’s’ second Awakening are unknown, research shows that most succeed in their first Awakening at a young age and adapt quickly.”

Whoosh-

Following the instructor’s gesture, a comically shaped wooden dummy rose from the field.

Its body was thick and triangular like a roly-poly toy, with skinny arms.

On the round head perched atop its neck was a crudely drawn face that looked like (@ㅠ@).

“So today, we’ll measure your limits. The potential for a second Awakening increases with the strength of your first Awakening ability.”

Surprisingly, this wasn’t just some toy the instructor made out of boredom.

“From now on, this is what you’ll need to do, so watch carefully and follow along.”

The instructor faced the wooden dummy.

“Tester, Yang Joya. Beginning the test.”

Speaking awkwardly as if acting, she bowed to the dummy.

The dummy tilted forward as if bowing back, its expression changing.

(༼.◕ヮ◕.༽)

“Damn. That expression is so annoying.”

As Kim Seongyeong muttered, the face seemed designed to get under people’s skin, as if saying “You’re trash, aren’t you?”

Even the instructor, knowing this, felt a surge of anger and unleashed her ability without holding back.

Zap-

A small spark that only a few students with quick eyesight could notice flew out, and then Boom-! A loud thunderbolt struck the dummy’s head.

“Woah!! Instructor, you’re so cool!!”

It was a flashy effect that made the students jump and cheer.

Only the girl thought, ‘Wasting the ability received from the almighty God like this… these heretics are so violent…’ while inwardly clicking her tongue.

Of course, it wasn’t just for show.

Fizzle- As black smoke rose, the wooden dummy was charred beyond recognition.

Its expression completely gone, a score rolled up on its thick belly.

[Stage 1 100 points!]

[You’ve got talent! Keep going!]

“This is stage 1. It measures precise power without any counterattack. Of course, healing or support abilities will be scored according to their own criteria.”

Surprisingly, this was all just stage 1.

As if not wanting to waste time, the instructor continued to demonstrate stages 2, 3, and 4.

The dummy ran away, defended, and counterattacked respectively.

The difficulty increased with each stage.

“Stage 5 is the last, but most will fail at stage 4. Just watch for now.”

Then what about stage 5?

Creak-! Boom!

The wooden dummy began to transform.

Legs sprouted, and the triangular body that looked like a roly-poly wrapped around its arms and legs like armor.

Its expression also changed to a fierce (｀ط´≠).

And so the battle began.

The wooden dummy threw a punch, and Kaboom! A small crater formed in the dirt ground, sand and dust scattering everywhere.

“…In-Insane!”

The students were shocked, and even the instructor chose to run away instead of facing it.

But the wooden dummy didn’t stop.

As soon as it confirmed it had missed the instructor, it leapt from its spot to block her path.

“Ah! I-I can’t watch!”

A situation where a terrible defeat seemed inevitable.

A timid female student closed her eyes and turned away.

But of course, someone without any skill wouldn’t be teaching Chungseong Guild’s promising students.

“When facing a stupid enemy, this method works too!”

Just as the instructor and wooden dummy were about to clash head-on.

As if she’d predicted everything, she clapped her hands sharply.

Kaboom!

A crescent-shaped shockwave shot out from the instructor’s clap, piercing through the wooden dummy.

It was an attack that precisely split the wooden dummy vertically in half.

[Stage 5 100 points!]

[You’ve got talent! Perfect!]

“Phew… See? It’s not that difficult.”

“……”

Not… difficult? This?

An icy silence fell.

Didn’t we… just learn about ability amplification and how to use abilities effectively until yesterday?

Either the instructor or Chungseong Guild must be crazy.

Otherwise, the difficulty wouldn’t suddenly jump like this.

“…W-well. Looks doable.”

Glance.

Kim Seongyeong looked at the girl and stepped forward, trying to act tough.

‘Heh. How scared must she be to act like that.’

He felt a surge of misplaced confidence because of the girl’s unhappy expression.

In reality, the girl’s expression was sour for a different reason.

The girl… had fallen in love…!

The instructor’s name was Yang Joya, right?

She’s so cool!

As if showing why she received abilities from the almighty God, she fought so impressively, sparking here and there.

Isn’t this what God’s messenger, God’s warrior would look like?!

I want… to fight like that too!

I want to become that cool too!

Then maybe God would see me, a sinner, a little differently?

Clench-

The girl unconsciously tightened her tiny fists.

An unknown energy surged inside her, making her heart race wildly.

She wanted to dash out right then and face the wooden dummy if she could.

“Really? Then, Seongyeong, you’ll take the test first.”

But she couldn’t.

“Yes! Hey, you watch closely. See exactly who you’ve messed with!”

Ignoring the other students, Kim Seongyeong pointed at the girl and rushed out confidently.

“Ah…”

If only I’d stepped up a little sooner.

Then I could have been the first to fight.

The girl focused on Kim Seongyeong’s test, pushing aside her regret.

Because of this, she didn’t notice the small rock under her feet crumbling to dust with a crunch-.

“I am Kim Seongyeong! I’ll start the test!”

As Kim Seongyeong bowed slightly to the wooden dummy, the dummy with its (༼.◕ヮ◕.༽) expression stretched out one hand and waved.

“…Are, are you ignoring me?!”

It was a clearly dismissive action, even more so than when it faced the instructor.

“You’re dead!”

Kim Seongyeong glanced back at the girl out of habit, then immediately dashed forward.

Poof- Kim Seongyeong’s figure vanished.

“Wow! As expected of Kim Seongyeong!”

His ability was the quite rare “acceleration.”

His speed made it hard to even notice his movements.

Of course, he couldn’t just run straight at the dummy and attack with speed alone.

If he threw a punch at this speed, he’d only smash his own hand.

Kim Seongyeong picked up a rock that fit nicely in one hand as he’d learned from the instructor, and threw it at the back of the dummy’s head, adding even more speed.

Crack!

The rock, flying faster than a bullet, hit the dummy’s head perfectly.

The back of its head was dented as if hit by a cannon.

[Stage 1 89 points!]

[You’ve got talent! Keep going!]

He passed stage 1 with a pretty high score.

Kim Seongyeong wasn’t satisfied with just this.

“I’ll, I’ll keep going until I can do it!”

“Alright. Courage is important for Awakened too.”

Of course, he glanced at the girl with every word he spoke.

And so Kim Seongyeong’s test continued.

Test stage 2 ‘Evasion’.

“Ah! Shit! I messed up!”

The wooden dummy’s speed was faster than expected, reducing the power of Kim Seongyeong’s thrown rock.

[Stage 2 63 points!]

[Hmm… is this it? You still want to continue?]

Unlike before, he received a terrible score.

“Eek!!”

Kim Seongyeong glanced at the girl and moved on to stage 3.

The ‘Defense’ stage, where the wooden dummy raised its arms to cover its face like a boxing guard.

Feeling a sense of crisis, Kim Seongyeong racked his brain.

He dramatically took off his shirt, gathered rocks in it.

Then he circled the wooden dummy at incredible speed, throwing rocks like a machine gun.

Papapapapak-!

The wooden dummy tried to block, but with the speed and incredible rate of fire, it ended up getting hit constantly.

[Stage 3 77 points!]

[Not bad! Keep going!]

Next came stage 4, the ‘Counterattack’ stage.

“Hah! I just need to take it down in one shot, right?”

Kim Seongyeong finally took out the dagger he’d received as a gift from his parents.

Made by Chungseong Guild’s blacksmith, the weapon itself had a ‘penetration’ ability.

The result?

Crack!

[Stage 4 100 points!]

[You’ve got talent! Keep going!]

He was able to pass with an incredible score due to the weapon’s effect.

“This is enough, right?”

This should be enough without risking getting hit to try stage 5.

After all, that small, pretty, and cute girl wouldn’t be able to get a score like his.

Kim Seongyeong returned to his spot, staring at the girl confidently.

“Did you see? Who you picked a fight with?”

And then, as if she’d been waiting for this, the girl pushed past Kim Seongyeong and stepped forward, raising both hands high.

“Me! Me, I want to try!”

Unlike her timid behavior until now, it was a shout that somehow felt manic.

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