Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy.

Episode 6: Dungeon Exploration (1)

7:00 AM.

Beep-beep-beep.

“Ah.”

The alarm went off, and I woke up automatically to its sound.

My head was foggy from just waking up, and then random thoughts flitted through my mind. I have to go to school. Do I really have to attend school at this age?

Sigh.

Internally sighing, I sluggishly got up, washed my face to wake up a bit more, and hurriedly put on a short-sleeved shirt.

I donned a white dress shirt over the short sleeve, added a necktie, and, since it was a bit cold outside, I layered a hoodie on top. I chose tights and black slacks for my pants.

One aspect of school I particularly liked was not having to fuss over what to wear.

Besides, at the Korean Hero School, you could get away with any outfit as long as you wore a dress shirt and necktie with tights. As long as you wore those, you weren’t violating the uniform policy.

I casually slipped into the sneakers provided by the school, grabbed my bag, and headed outside.

Outside, many students were already bustling about, ready for school.

“Look over there, it’s the top student.”

“Hey, don’t stare. What if you make him uncomfortable and he beats you up? Didn’t you see him during the weapon selection?”

“…Is he really that amazing?”

I heard their whispers from a distance with crystal clarity.

It was due to my special stat, Nyeom (念).

As I walked, I looked around leisurely.

The distance from the dormitory to the school was short, and I arrived in front of my classroom soon enough.

And finally, I stood before the door of class 1-A.

My thoughts were a jumble as I stood there.

But I soon shook my head to clear them and opened the door.

Creak.

The chatter ceased instantly as the door swung open. All eyes turned to me.

Curious glances, wary stares, suspicious looks…

Every type of gaze was directed at me.

Pretending to be unfazed, I searched for a seat. Despite my leisurely pace, most were already taken.

The front seats were all occupied, and only the back near the windows was empty. Considering everyone here was superhuman, seat location shouldn’t have mattered much.

‘It’s fine by me.’

I walked toward the back, near the window.

“You seem pretty tired.”

I heard a familiar, haughty voice. Turning my head, I saw eyes that burned bright red.

Hong Yu-hwa.

Why was she sitting next to me? I looked at her confusedly when I sensed someone in front.

Blue hair caught my eye.

The protagonist, favored in this world, sat in front of me.

“I’m a bit weak in the morning.”

“Looks like you’ve neglected physical training. So, you’re in the wizard course?”

“A wizard who dealt with it in just one minute?”

Hong Yu-hwa looked at me with eyes as if seeing a monster.

Kim Seo-hyun was looking at me with an intrigued expression.

“Hm?”

Then, I felt another gaze.

Following the gaze, I saw a girl smiling with her eyes.

Her eyes were unusual.

Platinum-colored irises with star-shaped pupils, as if adorned with twinkling stars.

Ershil Merchen.

The girl who was practically the strongest student at the Korean Hero School was looking at me.

Her eyes, like stars set in the sky, were full of curiosity. A gaze that seemed to wonder where such a person had sprung from.

“…Is she the one who ranked third in the entrance exam?”

Hong Yu-hwa asked with a tense expression.

“Yeah, she’s the third.”

“She’s next after me? She looks like a wizard too…”

Kim Seo-hyun looked at Ershil with interested eyes.

Ershil, who cleared the test about five minutes after the melee expert Kim Seo-hyun, was said to be a person to watch out for among the students.

The source, of course, was the game.

Originally, she would have looked at Kim Seo-hyun with great interest, but since I had taken the top rank from him, her curiosity seemed to have shifted to me.

‘Hmm.’

Honestly, Ershil’s interest was not good.

She had a playful nature, and her immense power made her a literal walking natural disaster.

However, the problem was with Ershil’s ability.

Her ability was extreme. She used all her powers for illusion.

In reality, she had achieved her third-place rank in the entrance exam through illusion.

Normally, she would have been the person that you would be most on guard against in the school, but the story was quite different for me.

‘I have the Heaven Defying Body.’

Heaven Defying Body.

Absolute immunity to curses or illusion-based abilities.

Unless the transcendent being she possessed intervened, Ershil Merchen was not a big threat to me.

At least, not to my existence.

Objectively speaking, Ershil Merchen was strong.

There were only three people in the first year who could meet her gaze equally.

One was the protagonist-like Kim Seo-hyun.

Another was a loner girl who was so strong that she sealed her own power.

The other one was…

While I was thinking, the door opened with a ‘click’. My gaze naturally followed.

“…”

Speak of the tiger, and it appears.

The one who opened the door was a tall girl.

Her bangs were grown out, covering half of her eyes, and her hair in the back reached down to her waist.

She was exceptionally tall for a girl at around 175 cm. And despite wearing a large sweater, her prominent chest was unmistakable.

She was Kim Ara, who had restrained her own power because it was too strong.

If she fully unleashed her strength, there were very few who could face her head-on.

Even the instructors couldn’t beat her in a test of strength.

“Is she the one with the ‘Giant’s Sword’? She looks weaker than I thought.”

“There’s talk that she’s the child of the Overlord.”

“Her? That can’t be true.”

The kids whispered among themselves and then withdrew their gaze. They didn’t consider her a rival in their competition.

“Seo-ha, what do you think about her strength?”

Kim Seo-hyun asked me casually.

This was the problem with being an insider.

“She’s strong. If it were just about strength, you wouldn’t stand a chance against her… If you fought her, at best you could hope for a draw. And that would be extremely difficult.”

“…Really?”

Kim Seo-hyun looked at Kim Ara in astonishment after hearing my words. Hong Yu-hwa also alternated her gaze between me and Kim Ara with skepticism.

Doubt filled their eyes. After all, Kim Ara couldn’t properly control her own strength and, for some reason, disliked attracting ‘attention.’

That’s why she had deliberately scored moderately on the entrance exam.

Her aversion to attention was quite related to her background.

I shifted my gaze forward.

Kim Ara, unbeatable in sheer strength by anyone in the school.

Ershil, who harbored the soul of a transcendent being that had reigned as the ruler of a world for a thousand years.

Hong Yu-hwa, the heiress of the Red Tower and future usurper of the Crimson Lotus.

And Kim Seo-hyun, the one favored by the world.

Among those mentioned, I looked at a girl whose talent was no less compared to them.

Seo Ga-yeon.

A girl who had barely managed to enter the Korean Hero School, yet to fully awaken her talent.

The owner of ‘Starlight Magic,’ a sacred power opposite to the evil energy ‘Ma.’

‘Luckily, she managed to get admitted.’

I sighed in relief, knowing that Seo Ga-yeon, whom I had worried about the most during the entrance exam, had been admitted.

Creak.

The front door opened.

Instructor Seo Woo-ju, dressed in a neat suit, stood at the podium.

“Everyone has rested well after the entrance exam, right? It’s always important to rest after training. The body becomes stronger with training, but pushing too hard can lead to injury.”

Instructor Seo Woo-ju spoke with a stern expression.

“In that sense, our first lesson will be physical training. Excuses like focusing on academics or having weak physical strength won’t be accepted.”

I sighed internally at his firm tone. As expected, Instructor Seo Woo-ju didn’t take things lightly.

“Especially since mana is clearest in the morning, next to dawn. Training in the morning and then practicing mana will yield purer mana.”

Instructor Seo Woo-ju said this contentedly.

“Everyone, change into your activity clothes and gather at the sports field.”

“Attention, everyone!”

Instructor Seo Woo-ju called for attention.

“Some of you might be unhappy about morning training. But as heroes, even such thoughts can become a luxury in the future. The more you sweat now, the less blood you’ll shed in the future.”

Instructor Seo Woo-ju glanced over us and said,

“In that sense, we’ll let it pass today, but from tomorrow, gather here by 5 AM. From now on, you’ll train every morning without fail.”

His words, although meant for physical training, felt truly dreadful.

“All warriors, take one of these bracelets.”

Instructor Seo Woo-ju called the warrior class students and distributed bracelets.

These bracelets, though ordinary-looking, were enchanted to have an effect similar to sandbags. Each bracelet weighed over 50 kg.

Kim Seo-hyun, being at the top of the first year, not only wore bracelets on both hands but also on his legs, maximizing the weight for his training.

He was truly inhuman.

“Now, let’s start with a light jog.”

Saying this, Seo Woo-ju started running. The mages, knowing their role, also began to run.

Mages, usually protected on the battlefield, face more than just monsters. If targeted by treacherous mines or villains, they must rely on their own abilities for self-defense.

So, everyone started running without complaint.

After five minutes.

“Wow, the top student has a clear weakness, huh?”

“Pant, pant. Stay away.”

Ershil Merchen passed by with a mischievous smile.

“Seo-ha, you need to train regularly. It’ll be dangerous if you’re like this later.”

“Al-alright, pant, don’t, pant, make me talk.”

Kim Seo-hyun had spoke to me with a worried voice.

Honestly, I might have underestimated myself. I thought a strength of 5 would be sufficient for running.

But it was unfair.

I had run a distance of 3 km.

And that too at full speed, to keep up with Instructor Seo Woo-ju. Yet they, wearing weight bags, were still so energetic.

“Pant, pant, the top student, pant, struggles with just this much running, pant, I’ll take that spot soon, pant.”

Hong Yu-hwa pompously gasped for air beside me.

I really wished she would just go away.