Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy.

Episode 5: Entrance Ceremony (4)

The Black Heavenly Demon Sword emitted waves of power, announcing its presence.

“What’s that? It looks like an extraordinary sword at first glance?”

“Is that really what a top student is like? It seems to be at least S-grade.”

The students talked among themselves.

Seo Woo-ju inwardly agreed with the last comment.

The sword appeared unusual at first glance.

It emitted a larger presence than the Giant’s Sword and the Dream Book just moments before.

Yet, Seo Woo-ju had never heard of such a sword.

He had combed through related books several times before entering the armory.

‘I thought I knew all the weapons up to B-grade, let alone S-grade.’

Seo Woo-ju carefully observed Lee Seo-ha’s expression. He remembered how calmly Lee Seo-ha had taken the student council oath.

But now, Lee Seo-ha’s eyes openly displayed surprise and joy.

Did he know about this sword?

Seo Woo-ju thought he should report this to his superior.

‘This is…….’

Lee Seo-ha examined the sword.

Its blade was black.

A red line ran down the middle of the blade.

Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

He hadn’t expected to find this sword here.

‘…No, it was stuck here, so I couldn’t find it in the game all this time.’

Though it was S-grade, according to the documents from the game, its performance surpassed that of the average S-grade weapon.

With various functions focused on ‘growth,’ it was a sword veterans desperately wanted.

The Heaven Defying Body was a constitution no one had chosen until now.

And since only first-year students had the privilege of choosing their weapons, it was natural to know about it only through documents.

It was a weapon obtainable only by custom characters, not playable characters.

Lee Seo-ha felt a strange discomfort but quickly dismissed it.

Above all, he was pleased it was a sword. Before coming here, the sword was the only weapon he had any experience with.

‘With this, there’s no need to struggle, right?’

Lee Seo-ha’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

It was a weapon that ranked among the highest he could obtain now, and it would retain its luster even in the latter stages of the game.

But it’s true ability was not just that.

Only the Heaven Defying Body could learn the strongest Martial Vein through this sword.

‘Normally, I could only learn the first half of the Martial Vein.’

But with this sword, he could master even the latter half of the Martial Vein.

What was more astonishing was that even with just the content from the first half, this Martial Vein was considered one of the strongest contenders.

Lee Seo-ha smiled with satisfaction.

He picked up the Black Heavenly Demon Sword, feeling a strange concentration of gazes.

‘Should I imprint it as mine?’

High-grade weapons were very impressive in their own right. However, to use these weapons properly, one had to go through the process of owner imprinting.

Lee Seo-ha stood the sword blade up and touched his finger to the blade.

Drip.

“Eek.”

A student next to him made a weird noise. Lee Seo-ha frowned for a moment and smeared the blood flowing from his finger onto the blade.

Then:

[The Black Heavenly Demon Sword acknowledges you as its master!]

[The built-in skill, ‘Soulbreaker,’ is unlocked.]

[You have become the Forgotten Sword’s Master\! 10,000p awarded!]

The atmosphere around Lee Seo-ha changed. His ordinary demeanor suddenly dominated the surroundings.

“……Gasp.”

That power, albeit momentary, was enough to make Seo Woo-ju, a hero of considerable stature, feel suffocated.

‘Indeed. He was hiding his true self under the guise of being ordinary.’

The air became oppressively heavy for a moment. Seo Woo-ju’s eyes shone with a new light as he observed Lee Seo-ha.

It seemed that Lee Seo-ha’s power was gradually emerging as he subdued the weapon. Seo Woo-ju felt a chilling sensation tightening around him.

An overwhelming aura enveloped them.

Among the students, there were rumors that he had awakened talents like ‘Absolute Control’ or ‘Master of Magic.’

Seo Woo-ju began to wonder if those rumors might actually be true.

After weapon selection ended, Instructor Seo Woo-ju led us to a different spot.

We took a break for rest.

Some students obtained their weapons easily, but most were chosen by weapons after pushing themselves to their limits.

“I’m exhausted. Did you get a good one?”

“Hahaha… I barely got a B-grade.”

“Wow, I got a C-grade. But at least it’s my main weapon.”

The children huddled together, chatting. I slowly scanned the students.

“You, your name is Lee Seo-ha, right?”

A neutral-sounding voice called out, belonging to someone with sky-blue hair, more beautiful and pretty than handsome.

Kim Seo-hyun.

The chosen boy of this world.

Beloved by the world.

And the boy that was called ‘the protagonist.’

“Yeah, but why?”

“Just, I wanted to get to know you.”

Kim Seo-hyun said that with a gentle smile.

“I was actually curious. Who’s the person who surpassed me?”

Our eyes met, his sky-blue eyes burning brightly with intensity.

It seemed I had somehow ignited his competitive spirit.

“But you seem the same. Emitting such a fighting spirit.”

“…?”

Fighting spirit?

What was he talking about? From the beginning, I…

I was puzzled by Kim Seo-hyun’s words, but then it dawned on me.

Earlier, when I performed the owner imprinting on the Black Heavenly Demon Sword, I had fed it blood.

That’s when the skill activated.

‘Soulbreaker,’ it was called.

Soulbreaker.

It seemed to be a type of skill that gnawed at the opponent’s mind. But if it was always active, it could be quite troublesome.

‘Can’t I turn it off?’

With that thought, I glared at the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

[Soulbreaker subsides.]

Then I felt the students around me relax.

“Interesting. You can control that energy at will…”

Kim Seo-hyun was looking at me with intrigued eyes.

It seemed he had been under a grand misconception since earlier.

But since his misconception wasn’t bad for me, I decided to leave it as it was.

‘The next schedule is…’

Korean Hero School was known for its intense start from the entrance ceremony, with the first agenda being to prove one’s worth through weapon selection.

“The break is over. Everyone, stand up. We will move on to the next schedule.”

Seo Woo-ju wore a mischievous smile and said,

“The next schedule is ‘Dungeon Exploration’. Ah, don’t be too nervous about dungeon exploration. It’s just a labyrinth with not a single monster in it.”

Dungeon Exploration.

In reality, it’s merely a maze without monsters.

And in the maze, one gathered information, and the first to reach the end would receive a ‘reward’.

…or so it was commonly known.

‘Truly diabolical.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

Seeing it in reality, I could tell these people were genuinely malicious.

In fact, it was a trap.

It was a trap slightly modified from the Tower of Ordeals, made to appear as if monsters suddenly attacked the Korean Hero School.

One had to encounter the ‘monster’ created by the Tower of Ordeals and defeat it.

So, the second agenda was to respond to monsters that attacked suddenly, while pretending it was the second agenda.

This too was a selection process.

The Tower of Ordeals filtered out potential ‘Mines’ or ‘Villains’ and, in the process, nurtured heroes to confront them.

‘At least there will be no injuries this way.’

For some reason, though one felt pain when attacked by the monsters, it didn’t result in actual injuries or death.

Severe pain could cause shock, but the mystique of the Tower of Ordeals thoroughly protected even from that.

However, PTSD was another matter.

“Then, moving on to the next schedule… Wait, I got a call. Everyone, take a bit more rest.”

Seo Woo-ju received a call with an awkward expression and then headed somewhere.

Looking at him, it was clear that Seo Woo-ju was not skilled at acting.

As Seo Woo-ju departed, several students donned serious expressions, as though anticipating something.

And then,

Boom!

A loud noise accompanied the crumbling of one of the walls.

-Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrr───────!!

A five-meter-tall monster was howling through the crumbled wall.

“What, what is this? Why is there a monster in the school?”

“Everyone, be careful! Those confident in close combat, to the front! Magicians, to the middle… no, send them to the center!”

Following someone’s shout, students quickly grabbed their weapons and charged forward.

“A Mad Shadow Wolf?”

“What a nuisance. It has strong anti-magic properties, so magic doesn’t work well against it.”

Hong Yu-hwa drew her newly acquired weapon, the Crimson Magic Book.

The book reacted to Hong Yu-hwa’s magic power, emitting a crimson mana.

“Hey, Hong Yu-hwa! Fall back!”

“You go away.”

Hong Yu-hwa pushed aside the magician who was obstructing her.

The Mad Shadow Wolf might have strong anti-magic properties.

But so what? She was a Crimson Lotus sorceress. She could not afford the disgrace of backing down from such a challenge.

Flames erupted in the air, the crimson fire condensing into a point and eventually forming the shape of a spear.

A massive flaming spear, five meters in length.

It was more akin to a siege weapon than a spear.

“Wow, insane. That could pierce right through!”

“If it has strong anti-magic properties, just think about increasing the magical power…”

The students were awestruck by the display of magic. Hong Yu-hwa naturally searched for one person’s gaze.

Lee Seo-ha.

He was watching her with a languid expression.

As if to say, “Is this all you’ve got?” He seemed unimpressed by the magic she had summoned.

She ground her teeth.

She detested that look. Hong Yu-hwa launched the flaming spear straight ahead.

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrr───────!!

The flaming spear pierced the Mad Shadow Wolf’s belly. Blue magical threads appeared, restraining the beast’s movements.

As the finishing touch, Kim Seo-hyun charged forward, wielding an old sword.

The old sword vibrated, emitting continuous waves of energy. With a swift motion, Kim Seo-hyun bisected the wolf.

Lee Seo-ha observed them with a faint smile on his face.

Initially, he had seemed uninterested.

But now, his expression indicated a not-so-bad mood.

[Key characters have taken notice of you and feel competitive. They will remember you\! You’ve earned 3,000p!]

The sight naturally coaxed a smile onto my face.