Ch.216Chapter 9. S-Class Reader (1)

The “Grand Sports Festival,” a major event in May, had come to an end.

“Awesome, this is what an academy should be!”

“Let’s keep going like this!”

“What? Eliminated? That’s what they call lack of skill, lol.”

Although there was that incident where Ray Huang became Zenros in the finals, everyone managed to achieve somewhat satisfying results.

“So what do we do now?”

“???”

“The postponed Sports Festival is over, and there’s nothing left except continuing school, right?”

May’s events were finished.

Now all that remained was turning our attention to June.

“Are there any events in June?”

As academy undergraduates, they could only hope for some special event to occur.

Even though each event had brought major incidents like demons appearing or accidents happening, they still waited with the belief that such things wouldn’t happen again.

“In June… there are no events!”

For students in high school and below, June was just about going to school, studying, hanging out with friends, and talking.

“No way! Why not?!”

“Because university students have final exams.”

“That’s ridiculous! Our summer vacation starts in July!”

“University students aren’t the same as middle schoolers!!”

The curriculum for elementary through high school is completely different from university curriculum.

Though they both start around March and September, there are bound to be differences in between.

So what kind of month is June for academy “university” students?

“Hey!! Big university content just dropped!!”

“What is it?!”

“Final exams!!”

“Oh, damn!”

Starting from March and finishing about 15 weeks of undergraduate lectures, it was time to prepare for “final exams.”

“I don’t want to study…!”

“If you become a demon because you don’t want to study, society will see you as an idiot.”

“Tsk. I guess that’s true.”

Perhaps demonic energy couldn’t overcome the educational fervor rooted in the Korean peninsula, or maybe the social atmosphere held the perception that “becoming a demon because you don’t want to study” was particularly pathetic.

Academy undergraduates, one after another, began preparing for their final exams.

Although May hadn’t completely passed yet, without any special events, it would likely pass like an ordinary day.

But when things get boring, people tend to latch onto any gossip they can find.

“Hey. Does Ray Huang have any dark charisma or something?”

“He’s Chinese, why would he have dark charisma? Forget it. Even the dark charisma only kidnapped Koreans back then.”

“Chinese or not, he’s a mana powder user. It’ll be hell trying to rehabilitate him.”

Interest in the A-rank who had become Zenros was fading.

After all, many other Zenros had appeared before, and since it was revealed that Ray Huang had taken mana powder, public opinion about him wasn’t good.

Talking about it would only give them headaches.

So they turned to more positive gossip to pass the time.

“Yoon Yi-seon must be happy. She’s an A+ rank now.”

Gossip about Yoon Yi-seon, who had become the strongest A+ rank, began spreading across the internet.

“Huh? Isn’t it just a half-baked victory?”

Perhaps because Yoon Yi-seon hadn’t achieved an overwhelming victory against Ray Huang, some people refused to acknowledge her as the winner.

Was it to put an end to such public opinion?

Or did the student council want to hold some kind of event on their own?

Or perhaps she wanted to prove that she had truly reached a higher level?

“Hey! Yoon Yi-seon has challenged Armored Taejo!”

South Korea began to burn with new gossip.

* * *

‘The familiar smell of the underground archives.’

It’s not exactly that it’s been a long time, since I actually come to the library five times a week, but today the library basement seemed unusually empty.

‘Perfect time to slack off.’

I put my bag down on the desk, turned on the book checkout computer, and sat in the chair.

‘Maybe I’ll read a book until someone comes.’

One great thing about Sejong Island is that using the internal intranet, you can read e-books without having to go up to the second floor to borrow physical books.

The selection isn’t extensive, but scanned PDFs of older books are available.

‘They might be classics to others, but they’re all new releases to me.’

Sitting at the desk reading an e-book makes me look like I’m working, so no one can bother me.

Moreover…

“Excuse me, are you the librarian?”

“Ah, yes. And you are…?”

A female student wearing glasses bowed politely.

She was wearing the university division uniform and had a rather modest appearance.

“I was selected as a library work-study student.”

“Ah, you must be the student who was supposed to come today. Your name?”

“Min Jung-hee.”

“Come this way. There’s not much to do in the basement, so I’ll just show you what you absolutely need to know.”

The library director had “again” sent a work-study student (an ability user), and I taught her the basic skills needed to work in the library.

“Are you upset about being assigned to the basement?”

“What? Oh, no. It’s just…”

She seemed slightly displeased about working alone, but fortunately she doesn’t seem too unhappy now.

“What’s your ability, if I may ask?”

“Oh. I’m a telekinetic. I can move objects.”

“Then you can start by quickly sorting books. You can insert them one by one, but once you get used to it, you can directly place the books piled on the cart.”

“Um, is this really all there is to it?”

“Yes. Another student will come to arrange the books neatly.”

“There are other students too…?”

“They come to work during their free periods. I’m just managing them.”

The number of books on the shelves is enormous.

Even though there aren’t many people on this floor, it’s a university library, and students interested in science or health often come to borrow books.

“When you feel like you’ve finished everything, you can read a book. Then check everything again about 10 minutes before your time is up. That’s all you need to do, Jung-hee.”

“Is… is that really all?”

“Of course. What would normally take someone like me two hours to complete, an ability user can finish in 10 minutes.”

It’s rather bitter to see the difference between non-ability users and ability users even in places like this.

“Student, how much do you get paid per hour for work-study?”

“Um, 90,000 won.”

“If we hired a regular person to organize shelves with the amount you get paid for an hour, they would make much less progress than you do in the same time. Based on minimum wage.”

“…Is that so?”

Min Jung-hee scratched her head and smiled.

Judging by her name tag and the excess mana flowing from her, she seemed to be around D-rank.

“Oh. Did you get promoted recently? Your uniform insignia looks new.”

“Ah, yes! I was promoted. Fortunately, I went from E-rank to D-rank.”

“Wow, congratulations. I hope you’ll rise to an even higher rank next time. Let me know if you need anything. You don’t have to tell me if you’re going somewhere, and if you want to read, there are sofas between the shelves where you can read.”

The best thing is for her not to disturb me.

After sending Min Jung-hee into the stacks, I returned to the desk and immediately picked up the internal phone.

“Ah, yes. Director? This is Do Ji-hwan.”

[Oh my, Ji-hwan. What brings you to call…?]

“I see you’ve sent another scholarship student. Thank you very much. It will make my work much easier.”

[Oh, what are you saying! Since you joined, the library has been running so well! Please ignore anything the other librarians might say….]

“Of course. Oh, Director, remember those stocks you consulted me about? Yes, the Southeast Asian ones. I hear the outlook isn’t good. If you have any stocks or funds, you should withdraw them and hold dollars for the time being.”

[Oh, is that so? My goodness. I keep getting such good information from you, Ji-hwan, but I feel bad I can’t do more for you. Ahem. Oh, yes! Come in a bit later! …Ahem. Well then, Librarian Do. Please contact me if you need anything.]

“Certainly.”

[…….]

“…….”

I waited for the call to end, but when they didn’t hang up, I ended the call myself.

In library terms, I’m a junior librarian and Baek Ok-gi is the director, but in Syndicate terms, I’m at the director level while Baek Ok-gi isn’t a member but receives sponsorship from the Syndicate.

Someday when the Syndicate conquers the world, he’ll become a member too.

Until then, all I can do is help him increase his wealth legally.

‘The Syndicate is truly remarkable.’

The method of drawing people who have infiltrated various parts of society into the Syndicate is, to put it bluntly, “money.”

Even in the age of special abilities, since capitalism remains the foundation, money is something that tempts everyone, whether they have abilities or not.

And now, a historic gambling opportunity has presented itself.

“Yoon Yi-seon versus Armored Taejo. Who will be the winner?”

I checked the headline prominently displayed on the front page of the paper morning newspaper.

The newspaper tried to maintain a dignified tone in its article, but the thrust and direction of most articles judged Yoon Yi-seon’s action as “reckless.”

In one sentence:

-Do you think Armored Taejo is a pushover?

Even though Armored Taejo is an S-rank appraiser, there’s a reason he’s at the bottom of S-rank.

Many A+ ranks have claimed they were S-rank, but none could surpass even Armored Taejo.

The difference between major and minor leagues is stark; if S-rank is the professional first division, A-rank is merely the second division.

If someone were to surpass Armored Taejo, that person would be classified as S-rank.

There have been cases like Cheok Jun-gyeong and Thunder Empress who became S-rank that way, but those cases are extremely rare.

-So is Yoon Yi-seon as exceptional as Cheok Jun-gyeong and Thunder Empress?

-The girl who couldn’t even beat Ray Huang?

That’s how the world is currently disparaging Yoon Yi-seon’s audacity.

And that’s how it should be.

Why?

-Student Council President? Yoon Yi-seon? I’ll appraise her. Hehehe.

-Armored Taejo accepts the challenge! He invites Yoon Yi-seon to Busan Sports Complex!!

‘Can’t resist the long odds.’

My 1 billion won is now placed on Hero Toto.

“Betting against the favorite.”

That’s right.

I’ve bet 1 billion won on Yoon Yi-seon’s victory.