Episode 11. Scandal

Lucy picked Lee Hoyeon as her sparring partner, but none of the cadets were interested in the content of the spar.

“I bet 50,000 won that Lucy takes him down in 30 seconds.”

“I’ve got 100,000 on 25 seconds.”

“No, this way, the bets aren’t even fun.”

Some cadets were even betting on how quickly Lee Hoyeon would lose the spar.

“Is Lee Hoyeon that weak? He’s A-Class too.”

“They say he hasn’t even been a mage for a month, switching from swordsmanship.”

“Huh? Really? Why’d he do that?”

“How should I know.”

Not many students knew yet that Lee Hoyeon had defeated a difficulty 7 Scrap Giant during the morning virtual monster training.

Even the students who saw it thought he just got lucky, and no one recognized Lee Hoyeon’s mana control.

Therefore, no one thought Lee Hoyeon would win against Lucy, a promising 1st-year student.

“Lucy’s all offense, but she’s strong.”

“But what’s up with Lucy? She doesn’t seem like the type to hate anyone.”

“Right? That’s weird. Maybe she’s interested in him?”

The A-Class students were talking about Lucy and Lee Hoyeon’s spar.

“Indeed, look at that face. Anyone would become interested.”

“I admit it, tsk.”

“Hey, it’s starting. Focus.”

“Oh, this looks interesting.”

Even the cadets who claimed they weren’t interested focused on the spar as soon as it began, as if they’d never said otherwise.

The sparring arena was enclosed by a mana barrier. This was to prevent the attacks inside from affecting the outside.

“3, 2, 1. Start!”

At first, it was a probing match, gauging each other’s level.

“Aww, Lucy’s going too easy on him. Favoring him because he’s handsome.”

“But you said he switched paths just a month ago, isn’t his mana operation pretty good for that?”

“It’s not even a month, maybe two weeks at most? And it’s pretty average, why are you overreacting?”

“Is that so? Now that you mention it, maybe you’re right.”

Even amidst this, there was a cadet analyzing sharply, but once a perception was formed, it was hard to shake off.

However, as the spar continued, the students’ reactions gradually reversed.

“What? Did you see that?”

“Wow, he dodged that purely by luck.”

At first, they thought it was luck.

“Wow, he just happened to jump into an empty spot luckily.”

“Hey, no. That… looked like he dodged it after seeing it.”

“Wait a second, I saw it too. His eyes didn’t leave the magic until the very end?”

Even within the same A-Class, there’s a division between the upper and lower tiers.

Han Suwon and Ha Hyeonseung, who were top-ranked in the entrance exam. When those two said that, others began to waver.

“No way, his physical abilities don’t seem that outstanding. How could he see and dodge that?”

“Right, it must have just been a coincidence.”

“Huh? Hey, why is his eye color like that?”

At that moment, someone noticed the change in Lee Hoyeon’s eye color.

Lee Hoyeon’s subtly glowing golden eyes, combined with his outstanding looks, created a mysterious aura.

“Is it a skill? I’ve never heard of a skill where eyes glow.”

“Whoa, a skill? But his eyes are fucking cool… looks like CG.”

All the students were watching intently, so they could tell.

His dodges weren’t luck; they were all intentional.

“Whoa, this is actually crazy.”

“Those eyes, it’s definitely a unique ability. Like an ability to see through magic?”

“Right, it’s not like any skill I’ve ever seen, and the ability itself doesn’t make sense.”

Watching Lee Hoyeon’s continued, unbelievable evasive maneuvers, the students gradually became speechless.

However, most cadets overlooked the fact that Lee Hoyeon wasn’t using magic.

The only time Lee Hoyeon used magic was that one time at the beginning to create a barrier against the fire arrows.

After that, he was only using mana for his physical abilities and body reinforcement.

The only cadets capable of seeing through to that extent were Nam Daeun and Alice.

As the highlight, when he brought the dagger to Lucy’s neck at the very end, the audience seats became deathly quiet.

“Instructor? Please determine the winner.”

“Uh, yeah, okay. The winner is Lee Hoyeon. Both of you come down.”

---

“This is crazy. Seriously.”

“This has to be a unique ability. I’m telling you, he read all the magic.”

“I saw it myself; he even took down the Scrap Giant with fire magic this morning.”

After the sparring class ended, the classroom was filled with talk about Lee Hoyeon.

Although Alice’s and Nam Daeun’s overwhelming skills were also notable, the protagonist today was Lee Hoyeon.

Lee Hoyeon’s beautiful movements captivated the cadets, and his handsome face certainly had star quality.

“Not only is he handsome, but his eyes shine gold. And when he put that dagger right to Lucy’s neck at the end, it was like a scene from a movie.”

“I recorded a video, you know? I’m definitely uploading it to ‘Everyday’.”

“At this level, won’t the 1st-year top spot change?”

“Hey, hey, watch what you say.”

“Huh? Uh…”

Nam Daeun was listening to the students’ conversation from the very back seat.

“Uh… we weren’t talking about you specifically… Sorry…”

“…”

Nam Daeun didn’t even glance up from her phone, making the student’s apology feel awkward.

It was as if she had no interest in these kinds of situations at all.

And amidst the cadets’ reactions, the person involved remained composed.

Lee Hoyeon rested his chin on his hand, just staring blankly at the front of the classroom.

“Hey, go talk to him.”

“That melancholy gaze… I wonder what he’s thinking?”

---

Fuck, what’s wrong with my eyes.

This is scary.

After the spar ended, amidst the noisy classroom, I found myself with many things to think about alone.

Fortunately, the golden eyes returned soon after the spar ended.

‘They’re making a fuss about unique abilities and whatnot.’

A unique ability is a power manifested through individual effort and talent, not through formalized magic or mana operation methods.

Usually, geniuses awaken their own unique abilities, which are called unique abilities.

Most people cannot manifest unique abilities.

As the protagonist, Lee Hoyeon possesses quite a decent unique ability.

───――「 Combat Sense 」───――

▶ Unique Ability

▶ Receives bonuses for all actions determined to be ‘combat’.

‘The higher the danger level of the ‘combat’, the greater the effect increases.

───――───――───――───――

It’s a combat-related unique ability, a talent that exerts innate combat sense and combat intuition in all actions related to fighting.

And, [Eye Awakening].

———『 Eye Awakening 』—————————

▶ Unique Skill

▶ Concentrates mana into the eyes, maximizing eyesight power.

The ability to perceive and distinguish beings or forms imbued with mana is maximized.

---

‘Unique Skill.’

A unique skill of one’s own. They are usually created by mixing skills different from unique abilities, but this is a case where a unique ability and a perk were mixed.

The reason I could subdue Lucy with unbelievable evasive maneuvers earlier was because of [Eye Awakening].

The perk I received, [Mana Sensitivity]. I speculate that this worked together with my unique trait, producing a synergistic effect…

I never imagined there would be such a synergistic effect, but if this is the case, I’m glad I took the mage route.

“That’s amazing.”

“Huh? Ah, well, thanks.”

Kim Young-han spoke to me.

Thinking about it, he’s really unreserved. Others want to approach me but can’t, but he, besides his innate personality, is just as good-looking as I am.

Maybe that’s why he’s more confident.

“You were really cool. Your eyes were painted gold, I thought it was straight out of a comic.”

“You did pretty well yourself, though?”

“Nah, compared to your impact, I’m nothing special. But what was that about the gold eyes? Everyone was going crazy over how cool they were. Is it your unique ability?”

Kim Young-han asked with his characteristic refreshing smile.

“Well, that’s a trade secret.”

It’s not even a unique ability in the first place, but there’s no need for me to go around telling people what [Eye Awakening] is or what kind of ability it is.

Since I don’t know what strange things I might do later, it’s better to keep the shield of ‘unique ability’ remaining.

“That’s too bad. Want to grab dinner together after class? I found a great chicken place.”

“Sorry. I have a prior engagement.”

A dinner appointment with a guy? What a waste of energy. I rejected him decisively.

I’m busy trying to woo girls, where would I find time to eat dinner with a guy?

---

“Should I skip training today?”

My condition is too bad. You need to rest properly for growth to happen properly too.

“Yeah, let’s rest. Today is a reward for myself.”

On that note, I stepped out of the dormitory.

Of course, it wasn’t for training; I just wanted to go shopping because I ran out of snacks in my room.

Sometimes you need to indulge yourself for your body to grow well, right?

The shopping area hadn’t changed since I came two days ago.

I took a stroll through the park for no reason and sat on a bench, looking at the sky.

It still didn’t feel real that this world was inside a game.

After wandering aimlessly for about tens of minutes, I discovered a cafe with a large floor-to-ceiling window.

Cafe Nakwol (落月)

It was the cafe where I met Moon Surin last time.

I peeked inside, but Moon Surin wasn’t there.

“Should I at least look around?”

After meeting Moon Surin here, I remembered the game’s information.

This was a cafe Moon Surin quite liked. Since I didn’t know if I’d ever have a reason to come again, I thought I’d go in and check out the layout.

Anyway, it wasn’t closing time for the mart or convenience store yet.

Ting~

“Welcome-!”

Inside, there were several tables and stairs leading up to the second floor.

The charming interior showed off its presence in every nook and cranny, creating an atmosphere that women would like.

“One Clair Rose Latte, please.”

“Yeeep~”

For reference, I don’t really know what ‘Clair Rose’ is. It’s probably a new plant that came from a dungeon.

“Your Clair Rose Latte is ready~.”

I took my drink and casually took a seat in a corner.

The drink had a subtle rose scent.

Slurp.

I took a long sip of the drink through the straw.

At first, a sweet, subtle rose scent lingered in my mouth, then it became refreshingly cool like mint, and suddenly, a spicy taste began.

“Whoa, what kind of taste is this? Seriously?”

If I had to say, it’s a taste that would definitely wake you up… but why on earth would anyone drink this?

I was so dumbfounded I picked up the cup to look at the drink’s color.

It was a mix of light green and white, and even when I stirred it with the straw, the two colors didn’t mix, making it interesting to look at.

Ting~

Looks like a new customer arrived. I glanced over.

Moon Surin was ordering coffee.

“Cough!”

What the-really? Is the timing really this good?

After finishing her payment, Moon Surin looked around for a place to sit and made eye contact with me.

Since we made eye contact, I gave a light nod, and Moon Surin approached this way.

Huh?