novelraw Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3: I Have No Magic Power
Just as my vision was blurring from being unable to breathe properly.
Chwa-ra-rak-!
With the sound of a book's pages turning softly.
[Kkihihi! Candy! It's candy! I'm gonna lick-lick and melt it all awayyyy!!!]
The Tactical Manual made a fuss, flying around in the air with a clatter.
Candy? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?
Just as I was feeling perplexed.
The thing approached, stuck out its tongue with a ssuuk, and began to lick my face and body like a madman.
‘This son of a X.’
The rough texture of its tongue gave me goosebumps.
I could vividly feel the bumpy papillae.
In front, the murderous intent of the old man in the suit was crushing me, and at my side, a book was licking my face like crazy.
It couldn't get any worse than this.
[Ihihi! A rock! A rock!]
After licking me to its heart's content, the thing retracted its tongue, stepped back a hand's breadth, and then began to laugh crazily while repeatedly shouting ‘rock.’
‘What the hell is it-.’
And in that moment, I intuited that something had changed.
My mind, which had felt on the verge of collapse just moments before, had become calm.
What was this feeling?
It was as if I myself had become a rock…….
‘A rock?’
Only then did I realize.
[Mimicry Instinct: Mimics inorganic matter.]
The true nature of the trait called ‘Mimicry Instinct.’
The moment a capillary in my right eye burst and a single tear of red flowed down, the pressure crushing me vanished in an instant.
***
When he first witnessed the boy, Baekseok doubted his eyes.
Because the boy was handling something he should not be able to handle.
The boy’s arm had changed in an instant.
Into a pure white, ominous form.
The aura emanating from it was all too familiar.
‘Yaksha.’
A power that Baekseok himself had barely obtained after a lifetime of trials.
That power was being wielded by a boy he had never seen before.
‘He looks ordinary in every way.’
On the outside, he was just that.
A boy who wouldn’t even be remembered if you bumped into him on the street.
From him, who didn't even have a special presence, a trace of the Yaksha had emerged.
Could this boy truly be a being capable of handling that power?
Baekseok decided to find out.
The boy’s consent was not important.
In the end, what mattered was whether he could fully withstand that power.
Baekseok slowly raised his momentum.
With it, the form of a beast appeared distinctly in the air.
And he observed the boy's reaction.
But the boy’s eyes were aimed precisely behind him.
“So you can see it.”
The majority of humans find it overwhelming to even perceive this power.
An area where even perception requires qualification.
And yet this shabby boy was perceiving it accurately.
‘He even wielded that power. Albeit only a fraction of it.’
A chilling shiver ran down Baekseok’s spine.
Because the boy before him, who had been nothing but an ordinary brat, began to feel like a monster of unknown depths.
The moment that thought crossed his mind.
‘……Oops.’
Baekseok suddenly realized his mistake.
He had intended to test him, but he had not withdrawn the pressure for too long.
No matter what, he was just a boy.
Not only would his body have collapsed from the inside, but his mind would have also shattered into pieces.
And he himself would be the one responsible for it.
‘I went too far.’
A sense of guilt gradually began to creep in.
“……Hm?”
However, the boy did not break.
His face was covered in blood, and his breathing sounded as if it would stop at any moment.
But his blue eyes were still staring straight at him.
An unwavering gaze.
It wasn't just at the level of ‘enduring.’
He was readily confronting it. Like a solid rock.
“How can this be?”
Baekseok’s eyes scanned the boy intensely.
Truly tremendous potential.
Before long, his gaze toward the boy wavered slightly.
‘Am I feeling jealousy at this age?’
Baekseok let out a hollow laugh.
***
“Team B! Transport the injured on Row A first! Bleeding is severe!”
“Once first aid is complete, connect them to the evacuation line immediately! Why are you so slow!”
The shouts of the busy rescue team members echoed across the platform.
Medical drones hovered over the injured, and the scent of bandages and blood mixed in the air.
“Team Leader, the emergency patient transport is mostly complete.”
“Ah- thanks. Keep up the good work.”
Team Leader Kim, who had received the report, glanced at the opposite side of the platform and narrowed his eyes.
On a platform bench.
Baekseok was sitting there.
Next to him, a bloodied boy was lying half-collapsed.
And a single golden pill held in Baekseok’s hand sparkled as it entered the boy’s mouth.
Team Leader Kim doubted his eyes for a moment.
He could recognize what it was in a single glance.
The highest-grade elixir that could instantly heal any injury, the ‘Heavenly Jade Pill.’
The condensed magic power felt from the pill was certain proof.
‘He’s just giving that away?’
At that moment, the boy’s body twitched and convulsed.
“Kkeu-euk……!”
At the pained groan coming from afar, Baekseok just spoke calmly.
“Medicine that is good for the body is always bitter to the taste. Endure it.”
Team Leader Kim briefly passed on his rescue instructions and headed that way.
“Sir Baekseok. I’m late in offering my thanks.”
“Ah, Team Leader Kim. It’s been a while. Thanks for what. It’s fine.”
The two exchanged greetings as if they were familiar with each other.
Team Leader Kim turned his gaze to the boy.
“Who is this boy?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. I’m curious too.”
Baekseok still answered nonchalantly and brought a can of coffee to his lips.
The boy, thanks to the elixir, seemed to have his pain reduced and had quietly fallen asleep.
They talked for a while about this and that.
In the middle of it, Baekseok shifted his gaze and muttered.
“More importantly, you guys are going to have a hard time restoring that.”
“Pardon?”
Team Leader Kim followed his gaze and looked at the wall.
One wall of the platform was deeply distorted, as if physically torn by something.
The mark, twisted as if its shape was warped, could not be explained by a simple collision or destruction.
“Is it a remnant of the Gate? The crack in space is quite deep.”
Baekseok shook his head.
“It’s not the Gate.”
“Then what is it?”
“Immaturity. He can’t handle the power properly yet.”
“Power? Are you saying it was carved intentionally?”
“…….”
At Baekseok’s meaningful silence, Team Leader Kim quickly looked down at the boy.
A face covered in blood, a limp body, and above all, a boy who was not yet an adult.
But an elixir had been unhesitatingly administered into this boy's mouth earlier, and now Baekseok was quietly watching over him.
Then the culprit who carved the crack was……
“……A monstrous boy.”
“Perhaps.”
Holjjak- Only the sound of sipping canned coffee filled the silence.
***
-Imae Station Sudden Gate Incident, Resolved by the Actions of the 'Sword Saint, Baekseok,' Who Appeared After Breaking His 20-Year Seclusion…….
The day after I was caught up in the incident, news articles covering the event heated up the media.
They said it was rare for a Sudden Gate to occur underground.
Moreover, a special species, the One-Eyed Orc, had even appeared.
‘I was just extremely unlucky…… no, wait, was it actually lucky for me?’
Being in danger was not a good thing, but being able to learn a skill for the first time was.
[Tactical Manual]
[Swordsmanship]
-Hundred Night Yaksha
-Grade: Special
And it was a Special Grade, no less.
Of course, it wasn't free.
I almost died, after all.
‘He was a crazy old man.’
Just because I copied his technique once, he summoned some kind of spirit and almost crushed me to death with his aura alone.
The fact that my face was covered in blood and I passed out says it all.
When I woke up, I was surrounded by the restoration team.
The old man was already gone, and I was told that he had put an elixir in my mouth.
‘Is he trying to call it even with that?’
Well, it’s not like I can do anything about it even if I’m dissatisfied.
For now, I decided to consider it the price for learning the skill.
Thanks to that, despite being caught in a Gate incident, I was able to arrive at Zero Academy on the exam date.
‘……By the way, it still hurts.’
My other injuries were all healed, but my arm was still throbbing.
The bruise was distinct, and I could still feel a sense of heat.
Come to think of it, it was absurd for my current self to use a Special Grade skill.
‘Special Grade’ skills required very high stats even in the game.
I had forcibly activated a Special Grade skill in a state where I fell far short of those requirements.
The backlash must have returned as this bruise and pain.
A pain that even an elixir couldn't completely heal.
[The effect of Intermediate Rehabilitation Art has ended.]
[Activating Intermediate Rehabilitation Art. 100SP is consumed.]
I was barely holding on by repeatedly using ‘Rehabilitation Art,’ which increases natural healing power and alleviates pain, every time its cooldown was up.
My SP is being nibbled away. Damn it.
***
Zero Academy.
Korea’s best hero training institution.
Regardless of status, background, or specialty.
Only one thing was important here.
Do you have the qualities of a hero?
Qualities could include many elements such as courage, judgment, and a spirit of sacrifice, but in the end, the most important thing was ‘ability.’
‘Can you stand against the enemy to protect the citizens?’
That was the essential condition of a hero.
The academy’s exam was largely divided into a written test, a physical ability test, and a ‘final exam.’
And I was currently taking the written exam.
A life where I had built a wall between myself and studying.
Having used textbooks as a sleeping aid, I could only hang my head in great frustration at the fact that the first test was a written one.
Just as I was wiping my face, trying to soothe my hopeless heart while facing the empty answer sheet.
Udeuk! Udeuk!
[Tastes bad! Tastes awful!]
The moment it faced the exam questions, the Tactical Manual reacted.
The thing was chomping in the air as if swallowing something.
The sound was so gluttonous and loud that it gave me a headache.
‘Agh, it’s disturbing my concentration during the exam-.’
This malignant hooligan bastard that only I can see and hear.
If I fail the exam, it’s all that monster’s fault.
I was just unlucky.
In the first place, why is there a written exam in a combat game!
Just when I was about to break my pen in anger.
[3! 4! 1! 5! 3! Tastes bad!]
“……!”
Like an ancestor calling out lottery numbers in a dream, the Tactical Manual suddenly shouted out numbers.
‘……Are you kidding me?’
I was about to ignore it, but I glanced at a question near the front.
The beginning part was mostly basic common sense questions.
The answer to the first question is 3…… correct.
‘For real?’
I traced the numbers again, comparing them to other questions.
‘It’s correct three times in a row.’
I still couldn’t fully believe it, but I had to guess on the problems I didn’t know the answers to anyway.
Instead of the test paper, I focused my senses on my ears and picked up my pen.
‘It’s the same whether I guess randomly or guess what it’s calling out.’
[3! 1! 2! 2! 1!]
‘Say it a little slower!’
Because the thing was shouting out the answers so quickly, my hand moved before my brain could.
And the result.
[Written Score - Ryu Jinwoo]
[Total 384 points]
‘This is insane.’
All correct, except for a few questions I missed because it spoke too fast.
They say even a slow-worm has its day.
Anyway, thanks to that, I avoided the label of an idiot who got cut at the written exam.
Next was the practical, the physical ability measurement.
“Examinee number 456, please place your hand on the sphere.”
An examiner in the physical assessment hall called me in a monotonous voice.
When you place your hand on the sphere, a micro-magic current flows and reacts with the magic power in your body.
Depending on how much it reacts, the magic power is quantified and displayed as a value.
[Ryu Jinwoo: 0]
When I placed my hand on it, the number 0 appeared.