Ch.37Special Evaluation, Not Grade Evaluation – 1

Another day at the Superpower Academy draws to a close.

Official lectures all end around 6 PM.

After that, students have time to themselves.

They can rest, socialize with others, or if not that, realize their shortcomings and devote themselves to training.

Whatever choice they make is their freedom, and they bear the consequences.

“Huff, huff!”

In the empty training hall, Hyunwoo Lee had been running for over 30 minutes already.

Despite sweating profusely and breathing heavily, he never stopped.

Where others would have given up in disgust, Hyunwoo kept running and running.

Hyunwoo was convinced that he had no particular talent to speak of.

He believed that all he possessed was perseverance, nothing more.

So he used that perseverance to push himself to the brink.

If others did something ten times, he would do it a hundred times. If others did it a hundred times, he would do it ten thousand times.

Because he lacked talent, he worked hard. With effort, he could at least become comparable to others.

Believing this, Hyunwoo had continuously pushed himself without ever taking a break.

Beep beep—

The alarm signaled that he had completed his target distance.

Only then did Hyunwoo gradually slow down and come to a stop.

‘Good. Now one hundred sword swings.’

Others might have taken even a brief rest.

But instead, Hyunwoo immediately grabbed his sword and assumed his stance.

He’d heard that fights with monsters and battles with villains offered no leisure.

It was a battlefield where life and death hung in the balance, where not even a moment’s respite was allowed.

The lectures always emphasized this. The “field” was completely different from the Academy.

Here, you could rest when tired or receive immediate treatment when injured.

But in the field, such things would be luxuries, they said.

If you don’t want to die foolishly, you must become stronger.

If you don’t want to harm others, you must also become stronger.

Even if just to become famous, you must become stronger.

While some might substitute talent for the process of becoming stronger.

For Hyunwoo, the only way to become stronger was through effort.

Whoosh— Whoosh—!

Despite the intense training that should have exhausted his body, Hyunwoo didn’t waver.

His eyes remained alive, and his sword moved exactly where it needed to go.

‘Twenty more.’

While Hyunwoo was deeply focused on his training,

Two students passing by after finishing their lectures noticed him.

“Hey. Has he been running all this time and now he’s training without rest?”

“Leave him be. He’s Bronze. If you lack skill, you have to at least put in effort.”

“Does that even work? If effort alone was enough, everyone would be S-rank.”

Whether they meant for him to hear or were just talking among themselves was unclear.

What was certain was that their words reached Hyunwoo’s ears.

“…”

Normally, he might have ignored it. It happened all the time.

Everywhere in the world, people look down on those they consider inferior.

But strangely, today he didn’t want to let it slide.

Hyunwoo immediately stopped his sword. Then he approached them.

“What did you just say?”

He disliked being belittled, but he couldn’t let them trivialize “effort.”

He hated how they talked as if anyone could put in effort.

When in reality, none of those who spoke that way ever truly exerted themselves.

Yet they claimed they had tried hard but didn’t see results, which was disgusting.

“What’s your problem?”

“Apologize. For what you just said.”

“What are you talking about? Can’t we talk amongst ourselves?”

“You can talk amongst yourselves. The problem is when others hear it.”

Hyunwoo said this while blocking their path.

The male student who had made the “everyone” comment scowled.

“Hey, you. You’re upset because we disrespected Bronze, right?”

“No, I—”

“Don’t deny it. It’s written all over your face. And you’re a first-year too? Listen, Bronze junior. If you’re ashamed of your rank, don’t listen to others and just work harder to move up.”

“…”

“Are you upset that a Silver said a Bronze lacks skill? If it bothers you, get promoted. Simple as that.”

At those words, several retorts boiled up inside Hyunwoo, but he held them back.

However, his expression must have appeared different to this Silver-ranked student.

“What’s with that look? Oh. Do you think Silver and Bronze are basically the same?”

“Hey. Stop it. Let’s just go.”

“Go where? I’m already annoyed that a first-year disrespects his seniors, and now a Bronze who can’t even escape his rank is acting like this? This is why Bronze students keep disrespecting Silvers.”

The male student said this while taking off his outer garment and tossing it to his friend.

Then he drew his sword, pointed it at Hyunwoo, and said:

“If you’re so upset, let’s have a duel. I’ll show you why you’re Bronze and why I’m Silver. You’ll learn there’s a clear difference between Bronze and Silver.”

“…”

“Are you in or not? Speak up. If you’re scared, go back to swinging your sword quietly.”

There was nothing more to say. Hyunwoo grabbed his sword and stood before him.

Seeing this, the Silver-ranked male student smiled and continued.

“That’s right. It’s always the same. Bronze guys always think they can become Silver anytime, not realizing their own level. Junior, time for a lesson.”

Those who know the pain of effort, that lonely and difficult struggle, cannot belittle others’ efforts.

Yet those who do belittle others’ efforts don’t know the first thing about true effort.

For worthless trash like this, a beating is the only medicine.

That’s what Hyunwoo Lee, the “protagonist” whose effort devoured even talent, thought.

“Ugh!”

Just two seconds after the duel began, the Silver-ranked student was slammed to the ground.

Neither the one who requested the duel nor the student acting as referee seemed to understand what had happened.

“Is this the level of a Silver who talks about effort?”

“Urgh… you, you coward! How dare you attack right away!”

“What nonsense. I attacked after the duel started, how is that cowardly?”

“Don’t you know about the three-second courtesy? We don’t even know if there’s anything to discuss…”

Unfortunately, Hyunwoo had no patience for listening to such nonsense.

Crack—

He didn’t even need to swing his sword. A single punch was enough.

The opponent was too slow, talked too much, and above all, was too sloppy.

Flying through the air, the opponent sprawled on the ground once more.

‘Silver level is worse than Bronze.’

As it was, emotions had been building up over the past few days, whether he realized it or not.

Arbiter Seojin Baek. Being mercilessly crushed by him was the reason.

After taking so many beatings, stress had accumulated without him noticing.

Of course, he had no negative feelings toward the Arbiter. Rather, he was extremely grateful.

For someone who works hard, the most valuable defeat is losing to someone who has worked even harder.

It can become the driving force to put in even more effort.

As someone who works hard himself, he understood how much sweat Seojin Baek must have shed.

For a mere Support Class ability user to possess such skill would have required unimaginable effort.

If these were Silvers acknowledged by Arbiter Baek, it might be different.

But these guys were hopeless trash. That was Hyunwoo’s conclusion.

*

‘What’s going on? Why is the atmosphere like this?’

After arriving at school, Hana Kang sensed a strange current flowing through the Academy.

The tension among students, and the odd looks they gave each other.

She wondered if a fight had broken out, but it seemed different from that.

“Unni!”

As she entered the student council room, Dasom Yoo, who had arrived earlier, rushed over.

She too seemed quite shocked by something, her words and actions different from usual.

“Did you hear the news?!”

“Dasom, I just got here.”

“Ah. Right.”

Dasom tapped her head, saying “what am I thinking?”

“Anyway, it happened yesterday. A first-year Bronze rank had a duel with a second-year Silver rank.”

“A duel? They’re not even in the same year or rank?”

It was a combination that would almost never happen.

From a second-year’s perspective, winning would just break even, while losing would be humiliating.

From a first-year’s perspective, the chances of winning were so slim that avoiding it would be the right choice.

Some might say the difference between Bronze and Silver is minimal.

But even that minimal difference is still a difference. In the world of ability users, the gap is clear.

Why else would the Academy issue academic warnings to perpetual Bronze students?

It’s because there is a difference in level between Bronze and Silver.

Whether in how they use their abilities, or their mindset, or in some other aspect.

To Hana, who was Platinum rank, they all seemed similar, but there was still a difference in level.

That’s why no Bronze at the Academy had ever defeated a Silver rank before.

‘Wait a minute. No way.’

As that thought occurred to her, something flashed in Hana’s mind.

No way, right? It’s never happened before, so surely it couldn’t be…

Dasom shattered Hana’s internal speculation without hesitation.

“The Silver lost. To a Bronze. And it was a complete demolition.”

“That’s impossible…”

“But what’s even funnier is that he had more duels with other Silvers afterward!”

“Oh, come on. Surely he didn’t win those too?”

“Why wouldn’t he? Between yesterday and today, he’s already defeated five Silver-ranked students.”

At Dasom’s confirmation, Hana couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of disbelief.

It seemed the Academy was about to become very noisy.