I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 15 : New Semester (1)

After finishing the first day of the new semester, the instructors gathered in the faculty office for a brief assessment.

"Ohh!"

Among them, the most attention was on Class 1's homeroom instructor Kim Cheol-han.

"Well, how did it go?"

At Oh Chang-seong's question, Kim Cheol-han made a peculiar expression.

"Hmm."

'What's that, seems like it went well?'

'Yeah, looks like it.'

Oh Chang-seong and his junior exchanged glances.

"It wasn't bad. They did quite well."

"Ohh. That good?"

If such an expression came from Kim Cheol-han's mouth, it had to be considered high praise.

"I'm leaving first. Keep up the good work."

Instructor Kang Jun-man, who said this, had a beaming face with the corners of his mouth reaching his ears.

"Did something good happen?"

"Good? Well, my spine is still chilling..."

Then he oddly adjusted his pants.

"I almost couldn't have a third child."

'...What's he talking about now?'

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"Fuck!"

Park Chang-jun, returning to the dormitory after classes ended, roughly threw off his uniform.

Having been publicly embarrassed in front of instructors and cadets from the first day of the new semester, he was in a terrible mood.

Moreover.

With his enhanced hearing due to his Mana Tank characteristic, his ears didn't miss the laughter with undertones of mockery.

'Arrogant bastards.'

But the most irritating presence was someone else.

'Jeong Su-hyeon.'

Su-hyeon's actions, acting cleverly alone and monopolizing the admiration of instructors and cadets, made him uncomfortable.

'That orphan kid.'

It was already unacceptable that Su-hyeon had scored higher than him by luckily benefiting from Yu-jin during the entrance exam.

But he couldn't vent his anger on top-tier cadets like Seo Jun-seong, Lee Yu-jin, or Hwang Ji-su.

Instead, he felt he needed to play a small trick on the seemingly easy target Su-hyeon to feel better.

"Hey, have you heard?"

Park Chang-jun said to his roommate and friend who had dropped to Class 2.

"What?"

"That Jeong Su-hyeon is an orphan."

"Huh? Really?"

"Remember the Samcheok incident? At that time, in the orphanage..."

In the new semester where curiosity and vigilance about each other was fiercely exchanged.

The gossip about Jeong Su-hyeon, who had become a topic of conversation, spread like wildfire, so that by dinner time, everyone knew about it.

"Want to go eat pizza tonight?"

"Sounds good!"

When dinner time came, the cadets paired up and decided on menus.

Unlike lunch where everyone had to eat in the cafeteria by class, dinner allowed roommates or like-minded friends to gather and eat either in grade-specific cafeterias or various restaurants within the campus.

Moreover, given the academy's characteristics of strictly limiting external access, many marts and franchises had also set up shops on campus.

But still, the place with the most people was the first-year cafeteria.

"Mmm so delicious. It's on a completely different level from middle school~."

Yu-jin nodded at Song Yu-ha's words.

"Yes. They paid attention to nutritional balance, and the quality of ingredients is excellent. Especially the way they stir-fry..."

"Yeah yeah, I don't really understand, but it's good, right?"

If Yu-jin, the precious child of the Sword God's family, gave a passing grade, there was no need to further discuss the quality.

"So how was your day? Our homeroom instructor kept drilling the kids for hours, it was really..."

"We had practice."

"What? Already? What kind of practice?"

"Sparring. Our opponent was someone called Instructor Kang Jun-man."

"As expected of Class 1. Moving forward from the start."

Song Yu-ha, covering her cheeks puffed with food, asked.

"So how was it? He must have been incredibly strong."

"Yes. His characteristic is the ability to pass through anything, and when combined with jiu-jitsu, it was truly impregnable."

Song Yu-ha, hearing Yu-jin's explanation, clicked her tongue.

"Wow, that's right. Isn't that cheating? How can you win if you can't even touch him?"

"Hmph."

At that point, Yu-jin chuckled, and Song Yu-ha's eyebrows twitched as if sensing something.

"Oh what? Seems like there's something."

"Su-hyeon came up with an unexpected method."

"What method?"

"Yes. What he did was..."

"Wow."

Yu-jin excitedly began recounting Su-hyeon's fight.

"Tch."

Hwang Ji-su, who had to listen to that conversation as she was sitting nearby, nervously played with her chopsticks.

'The nutritional balance isn't bad, but the way they create flavors is crude for a first-class place. It's lacking as a delicious meal.'

"What's wrong? Doesn't taste good?"

At her roommate Kwon Seung-yeon's question, she twitched her eyebrow.

"Well, it's not bad for cafeteria food."

"Oh. So the third-generation chaebol is different?"

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No, no, not sarcasm. It's just that to my taste buds, all of this tastes good."

"You're going on a separate diet starting tomorrow anyway, right?"

"Yeah. I was planning to go grocery shopping later."

The two had been friends since middle school and became both classmates and roommates at the academy.

"You're so stubborn."

Hwang Ji-su, knowing the reason why Kwon Seung-yeon insisted on having a separate diet, clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"Don't be like that. This is just more comfortable for me."

"Do as you please."

"You're coming too, right?"

"I'll be at Paul Baguette, so come after you're done shopping."

"You're really serious about coffee."

"Of course. I can't live a day without coffee."

"Hmph."

Although Hwang Ji-su consciously tried to avoid it.

Eventually, the topic of their conversation also drifted to Su-hyeon, who had made the biggest impact today.

"By the way, that Jeong Su-hyeon has a different way of thinking. Is he smart? It feels a bit different from that."

"It's 'different,' not 'tlifferent.'"

Hwang Ji-su corrected for no reason.

"Anyway."

"Well, I heard he got a perfect score on the written test."

"What, really?"

"It's not that impressive. I easily got a perfect score too."

"I barely made the cut."

"That's why I told you to prepare for the written part."

"Hehe, as long as I passed, it's fine."

Kwon Seung-yeon, laughing cunningly, said.

"Anyway, they say he benefited from Yu-jin during the entrance exam, but seeing him today, he seems to know how to score points with the instructors."

Watching Kwon Seung-yeon mutter that luck is also a skill, Hwang Ji-su's mouth protruded.

"Hmph. Should that be considered talent too?"

"His body looks better every time I see him. He must work out really hard."

"Oh my."

Hwang Ji-su scoffed.

"What a gym rat."

"Hehehe. I need to find a workout mate too."

Kwon Seung-yeon, who was planning to start running from tomorrow since she hadn't done it properly yesterday and today, lowered her voice.

"By the way. Is it true?"

"What?"

"You know. During the Samcheok incident..."

Hwang Ji-su, who had heard about it from her mother, nodded.

"Probably. Why?"

"I heard kids talking about it here and there."

"Hmm."

"But where did he go? Did he go to eat something else?"

As Kwon Seung-yeon looked around, Su-hyeon's figure entering the cafeteria came into her view.

"Ah!"

All the cadets' eyes turned to him at once.

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"Oh! Hello!"

The first to approach and speak to Su-hyeon was Kim Ho-su from Class 1.

"I'm Kim Ho-su. Same class."

He was a boy with a height in the mid-170s and a somewhat thin appearance.

"Hi."

"You were really cool earlier. I got thrashed without doing anything."

"Thanks."

Kim Ho-su, who loved gossip more than anyone in the class and had a light mouth, wanted to confirm a rumor that had reached his ears.

"But you know."

Of course, as he had some tact, Kim Ho-su lowered his voice and asked carefully.

"I heard that you're a survivor of the Samcheok incident. Is it true?"

"That's right."

But Su-hyeon nodded calmly, making such concerns seem unnecessary.

'It's not something to keep secret anyway.'

In fact, someone like Nam Tae-hoon had already known since the entrance exam, so it should be considered something known to those who need to know.

Of course, for rumors to spread to this extent, there must have been another catalyst.

'Must be Park Chang-jun.'

At this point, an event would occur where so-called "trash talk" would come in if achievement points exceeded 1000.

Sure enough.

Park Chang-jun, making eye contact from a distance, was smirking as if to show off.

But.

'Tragic stories usually become reasons for sympathy and emotional support.'

Su-hyeon thought.

'The idea of trying to trample it by simply labeling someone as an orphan is too one-dimensional.'

"These fuckers talk too much like losers. What does it matter?"

Indeed.

Hong In-hyeon, who had the most delinquent image even within Class 1, was raising his voice to scold his friends.

"Is there anyone in today's world living without some tragedy?"

"Hey. Your words are a bit..."

To his friends who were trying to stop him, thinking he was speaking too carelessly, he clicked his tongue.

"Would he want you to sympathize with him? He's confident, so why are you all gossiping behind his back?"

"!"

Though it was directed at his friends, it was practically meant for all the cadets in the cafeteria who were gossiping about Su-hyeon.

"In this field, it all comes down to your ability. Right? And that guy ranked 6th in the entrance exam. What rank are you?"

"Tsk."

So the cadets listening had to smack their lips with embarrassment.

'He's much better than these pig bastards who boast because they were born to good parents.'

Seeing Hong In-hyeon's face hiding such inner thoughts, Su-hyeon chuckled.

'A fellow who can't be honest.'

Just then.

"Still, being an orphan is pitiful."

Park Chang-jun, dissatisfied with the atmosphere where whispering about Su-hyeon was subsiding due to Hong In-hyeon's rebuke, finally opened his mouth.

"Come to think of it, the kid does look somewhat poor. Like the clothes he wore to the entrance ceremony. Isn't it a bit sad?"

"...!"

The voice was loud enough for everyone to hear clearly.

'Ah, that crazy bastard.'

'He really talks dirty.'

The air in the cafeteria froze as if it were winter.

[A quest has been generated.]

[Sub-quest: Respond to Provocation]

[Park Chang-jun wants to tarnish your image and humiliate you. Show a cool response.]

[Warning: Using your characteristic to fight will be grounds for disciplinary action!]

"What did you say?"

Su-hyeon walked towards Park Chang-jun with an ice-cold face.

If it were just barely audible, pretending to be unrelated to him while grating on his nerves, he might have ignored it.

But when someone stepped forward to blatantly trample on him like that, avoiding or enduring it wasn't patience or anything.

Above all.

It felt like Jeong Su-hyeon's body itself was reacting to those words.

"Hey hey, stop them!"

Cadets, sensing trouble, tried to intervene between the two.

"It's fine. Let them be."

Hong In-hyeon stopped them.

'Manifesting characteristics without the pretext of sparring or practice is grounds for disciplinary action.'

If those two had any sense, the matter would end with just a fistfight at most even if it escalated.

And if that's the case, it's cleaner to let them sort it out themselves, whether they hit each other or whatever, was Hong In-hyeon's thinking.

"Stand up."

Su-hyeon's calm face looking down at Park Chang-jun seemed to be filled with anger, or just looked indifferent and nonchalant.

Facing an opponent who doesn't easily reveal their emotions despite clear provocation.

In front of such an opponent, the one who first becomes emotionally agitated was Park Chang-jun.

"What? Got something to say?"

When he asked, hiding such inner thoughts, Su-hyeon retorted.

"Does my being an orphan somehow harm you?"

At Su-hyeon's cold question, Park Chang-jun snickered.

"Harm? I just find it pitiful to see an orphan like you struggling and flailing around."

Everyone was stunned at the offensive remark that could explode at any moment.

"What can you do? It's not your fault you became an orphan. Just live proudly like you are now. I'm cheering for you, okay?"

If he responds and refutes each of these cheap provocations, the one who gets held back would instead be Su-hyeon.

Knowing this well, Su-hyeon nodded expressionlessly.

"Thanks for cheering me on."

'Look at this guy.'

Park Chang-jun, guessing that he was trying to coolly move past it, laughed even more arrogantly.

"No need to thank me. We're fellow cadets."

"Since I received encouragement, I should reciprocate."

"Well. Thanks, but isn't that beyond your means?"

"I wonder."

Su-hyeon smiled.

"Isn't it quite embarrassing for you to have lower grades than an orphan like me? I worry about how disappointed your parents must be."

"Hahaha!"

Unexpected counter-mockery caused laughter to burst out from around.

"What did you say, you bastard?"

Blood rushed to Park Chang-jun's face.

"I'm saying it out of envy. How enviable it is to have such generous parents. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, that's definitely enviable."

Nam Tae-hoon chuckled and chimed in.

"But at seventeen, it seems about time to leave the parents' embrace."

"Right. It's about time."

Nam Tae-hoon's follow-up perfectly irritated Park Chang-jun.

"During the entrance exam too, he was busy running to find his mother's embrace as soon as Instructor Oh Chang-seong appeared."

As Su-hyeon's sarcasm continued, Park Chang-jun's fist finally rose.

"This bastard, after listening to all that!"

But before he could extend his fist, Su-hyeon's hand approached Park Chang-jun's face first.

"Huh?"

Without even time to react, Park Chang-jun helplessly allowed the approach, and Su-hyeon tapped his cheek as if treating an underling.

'How did this bastard?'

He couldn't understand why he hadn't reacted.

"We'll be seeing each other plenty during classes anyway. I'll play with you all you want then, so if you have energy to waste, go train more. Don't act like trash."

Tap. Tap.

Unlike the soothing tone, the humiliating action of slapping his cheeks instantly broke Park Chang-jun's short self-restraint.

"You fuck!"

Spitting profanity, Park Chang-jun swung a right hook towards Su-hyeon's face.

A telephone punch with large movement and clumsy weight transfer.

'That's how you should come.'

It was a fist so obviously visible that there was no need to activate Eye Power.

Su-hyeon, as if he had been waiting, bent his knees and lowered his upper body in a weaving motion to avoid the hook, then,

Wham!

He planted a left body blow right on Park Chang-jun's exposed liver.

"Kuuugh!"

Park Chang-jun, hit squarely by a punch without muscle protection, clutched his stomach and rolled on the floor.

"Shit, it fucking hurts...!"

"If we continue here, it'll be disciplinary action. What do you want to do?"

"...!"

"Oh sorry. You probably can't get up anyway."

Su-hyeon looked down at Park Chang-jun rolling on the floor and then turned his back.

"Let's eat."

"Yeah. I'm hungry."

The cadets murmured as Su-hyeon headed towards the serving counter as if nothing had happened.

"Did he just get knocked down with one hit?"

"He starts shit, takes one hit, and now he's crying snot and tears."

"Ah... he's really fucking pathetic."

"Utterly disgusting."

Hong In-hyeon didn't hide his contempt for Park Chang-jun, who despite having high entrance grades within the top 10, a great background, and decent looks, was destroying his own reputation down to the seafloor.

"Fucking idiot."

Instead, his interest was focused on Su-hyeon.

'This kid. He's got attitude.'

Hong In-hyeon smiled as if he approved.

'Did he learn boxing somewhere? It's ingrained in him.'

He wouldn't have had the money or opportunity to learn boxing separately.

'He's definitely an interesting guy.'

[Sub-quest, Respond to Provocation cleared.]

[Skill point 0.3P awarded.]

[You've made Park Chang-jun a laughingstock to everyone. The cadets believe that Park Chang-jun, with his vulgar character, got what he deserved.]

[Achievement points 50 awarded.]

"Hmm."

Su-hyeon, looking at the status window, snorted.

'Since he's just a small fry, the reward isn't much either.'