Ch.158Why Did I Even Make That Promise? – 1

You’re insane. Truly insane. Are you even human after doing this?!

Do you have a conscience or not? You’ve been capable of this all along while taking the evaluations?

Looking at Hyunwoo Lee who was staring at me from a distance.

I couldn’t help but sigh in disbelief, completely dumbfounded.

The protagonist, a genius of effort, talent proportional to sweat, and dual class.

Hyunwoo has everything when having just one would be cheating.

I had already anticipated that he would be extraordinary.

But that training demon far exceeded my expectations.

His body, thoroughly trained to perfection for each situation.

The surging magical power perfectly supporting that body.

And finally, he was showing remarkable skills not only in swordsmanship but also in martial arts.

“Hyaaah!”

He continuously mixes martial arts techniques while swinging his sword.

His main attack is clearly swordsmanship, but his martial arts can’t be ignored either.

I guarantee that if you take a direct hit from that, you’ll at least fracture a bone.

Every movement is concise without any waste, and above all, transitions flow like water.

Perfect speed—neither too fast nor too slow.

He doesn’t even look tired, suggesting he’s refined his techniques to minimize physical strain.

“Wow, damn. What’s this? He’s been wearing Bronze all this time?”

“I predicted this long ago. Hey, would someone truly Bronze be hunting A-grade monsters?”

“No… I thought he just got carried by a good team.”

“Nonsense. How could he get carried in that team without having connections?”

I can hear the students watching the evaluation talking nearby.

They must be greatly inspired by Hyunwoo’s overwhelming growth.

Nothing special—just training, getting evaluated, then training again.

Hyunwoo, who spent all his time doing only that, is now showing such an incredible performance.

There must be his own unique talent in there, but that’s irrelevant.

What matters to the students now is that proof has emerged that “effort never betrays you.”

The confidence that they too could achieve this if they grit their teeth and try harder.

“Examiner! I’m going all out for the final move!”

So everything until now wasn’t going all out? This guy is truly insane.

Even though this is an evaluation, I just recently received my S-grade.

Of course, the ink on my Superpower ID card hasn’t even dried yet.

Nevertheless, the fact that I’m a top-tier powerhouse remains unchanged.

But Hyunwoo seemed focused only on the evaluation, not caring about any of that.

Bwoong—woong!—

Hyunwoo’s sword cuts sharply inward with a chilling sound.

If you think his movement is exaggerated, that’s a big mistake.

If you fall for that and try to exploit an opening, you’ll be cut in half instantly.

Within that seemingly excessive movement, a hidden dagger lies in wait.

If you go in carelessly, your arm might be torn off completely.

‘Then I’ll just break through without going in.’

Is there a way? Of course there is. Crushing him with overwhelming magical power.

Though Hyunwoo may be in peak condition, the same goes for me.

“Ughk! Ueeeeek!”

Overwhelmed by my magical power, Hyunwoo couldn’t withstand it and was pushed back.

He ended up rolling backward until he crashed into the wall behind him.

“Your technique is really good, but what would you do if your opponent is strong enough to ignore it, Student Hyunwoo? Do you think creating a little wind in front of a tsunami will make it turn back?”

Though I said that, I was actually quite surprised.

Our protagonist has grown this much. Good for him.

But having grown this much, why was this kid still in Bronze until now?

It’s not like you can farm weaker opponents like in a game, so why did he do this?

This is completely perverted. Or maybe he’s just obsessed with evaluations.

In terms of the match, today is my victory again. Hyunwoo couldn’t win today either.

But what’s important now isn’t winning or losing. That’s just secondary.

“Student Hyunwoo.”

At my call, Hyunwoo, who had been sitting down, quickly stands up.

He swiftly dusts himself off, approaches, and stands at attention.

“Yes, Examiner.”

Hyunwoo gazes at me with bright eyes.

Ugh. Seeing those eyes full of confidence makes me want to fail him.

I shouldn’t do this, but I almost said, “Nope. Failed again today. Go home.”

“You’ve passed the Silver grade evaluation.”

“Ohh!”

What’s with that “Ohh!”? You were expecting this all along.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be right to keep someone who can fight evenly with A-grade monsters in Bronze.

It’s not about Hyunwoo, but it would put too much pressure on the other Bronze students.

“Congratulations. You’ve finally escaped Bronze.”

This is rare for me, but let me give some special service since it’s Hyunwoo.

I extend my hand for a handshake, and he grabs it with a bright smile.

– The Third Eye is activated.

◎ Sub-characteristic

: The Gatekeeper’s Heart

◎ Details

: You cannot forever firmly block the gate to Silver.

It is the natural order for someone with proper qualifications to emerge after great effort.

Individuals deemed to have ‘qualifications’ are not included in the penalty count.

– Sub-characteristic ‘The Gatekeeper’s Heart’ is applied.

– Penalty gauge does not increase.

What could be more comfortable than that message saying there’s no penalty?

Ah, right. Speaking of which, let me check how many Bittersweet Triumph stacks Hyunwoo has accumulated.

◎ Bittersweet Triumph

: Characteristic is activated.

: Target – Hyunwoo Lee

: Stack 72

‘Wow. Amazing. 72? When did he accumulate so many?’

It’s not like I evaluated him every weekend, and he was even hospitalized many times in between.

Honestly, I would have considered 50 to be a high number, but he’s exceeded not just 50, but even 60.

It made me realize anew how much Hyunwoo had been pestering me all this time.

– The characteristic target has finally crossed the gate.

– After enduring bitter pain, he finally achieves sweet results.

– All abilities of the characteristic target ‘Hyunwoo Lee’ are permanently enhanced.

I guarantee it. By next year, that guy might reach S-grade like me.

Even if it takes a bit longer, two or three years would be enough. What a monster.

Even with protagonist buffs, isn’t that too much of a cheat?

Come to think of it, he already had that cheating characteristic that doubles training effects.

Add to that the Bittersweet Triumph stacks and all the experience gained from fighting with me.

Thinking about it this way, maybe I should beat him up if he doesn’t reach S-grade within 3 years?

“Thank you so much for everything, Examiner!”

“It’s nothing. You worked much harder, Student Hyunwoo. Now that you’re Silver…”

“I’ll be counting on you in the future too! Hahaha!”

…What is he saying? You’re not Bronze anymore. You’re Silver. And now that you’re Silver…

“Even though I’m Silver now, I can still spar with you anytime, right? I already know everything! Hana Kang, some other students, and even Soohyun! You make time for them occasionally! Now that I’ve earned Silver, I’m qualified for sparring too, right?”

No, that’s just something I do as an after-service concept.

You don’t need that! Do you know how many Bittersweet Triumph stacks you’ve accumulated?!

There’s absolutely no reason for me to keep managing you! Go away! Shoo, shoo!

“You look like you’re having a lot of fun.”

For a moment, I almost snapped back with “Does this look like a happy expression to you?”

I thought I had finally escaped from that evaluation-obsessed guy.

Now instead of evaluations, he’s going to drive me crazy with sparring.

I wanted to say that, but I just swallowed it with a sigh.

“I’m happy, of course. Another excellent student has risen to Silver.”

“Silver in name only—he’s actually much more than that. My goodness, a Silver who hunts A-grade monsters.”

Jiyoon Han smiles with a chuckle, as if in disbelief.

“Ah, right. I almost forgot to tell you. We caught him.”

“Pardon?”

“That rat who leaked Academy information last time. The villain’s spy.”

A spy? Right. Is she talking about the bastard who leaked each team’s information during the field training?

Thanks to him, we almost had a serious incident that day. I had quite a fight with Hyuk Kwak too.

“Who was it?”

“An Academy employee. Not a newcomer who just joined, but someone with some years of service.”

“Why would they do such a thing?”

Jiyoon Han responds to my question with “Why do you think?”

I already know the answer, of course. I could hear it in her voice.

“Money. Enough money to make them forget their honor, pride, and the consequences of getting caught.”

“It’s both incomprehensible and understandable at the same time. So?”

“What?”

“There must have been someone else who caught this leak. It doesn’t seem like the villains approached the employee directly.”

There’s no direct connection between the villain and the employee. Someone else must have orchestrated this.

That person would have tempted the employee with money and passed the information to the villain side.

“Shockingly, it was an Academy student. Or rather, a former student.”

“You mean a graduate did this?”

“No. An expelled student. I think you might know who, Seojin.”

An expelled Academy student that I would know—there’s only one person.

“Don’t tell me, Yuhyun Jung?”

“Yes. That’s him. We discovered this by chance while searching everywhere to track down Sujin Hyun. Thanks to that, we were able to catch him before he could escape.”

That idiot Supremacist is digging his own grave after all.

The social atmosphere is already tense with all this talk of gates and monsters.

In this situation, a traitor? An internal spy passing information to villains? His life is ruined.

“Thanks to this, Rina Lee is being reevaluated. She was criticized for the Jin Group acquisition, but it turns out that was a place run by that damn rat’s family.”

Rina Lee being reevaluated? That’s quite interesting in itself…

“Ah.”

Damn it. I’ve been so busy these past few days that I forgot about it again.

A trial that might be even more grueling than the battle with that one-eyed S-grade monster.

The Crimson Witch on one side, The Yellow Madwoman on the other.

There’s a promise they extracted from me in exchange for their good behavior.

And from what I can see, that D-day isn’t far off.

“Seojin? What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing. Just… feeling sorry.”

For myself. I feel sorry for myself.

“Sorry? Come on. He made his own choice. There’s nothing to feel sorry about. He needs to take responsibility for his actions.”

That’s right. Both that idiot and myself.

We made our own choices, so there’s nothing to say.

Past me. What were you thinking when you readily accepted that promise?