Miss!
Miss!
Miss!
As expected.
The squad’s attacks missed spectacularly.
King de Kong… A gorilla the size of a mountain was right in front of them, yet they somehow managed to miss every single hit.
This is F-COM!
“Is this the end?”
I calmly took my hands off the hologram. I just needed to pass. There was a time when I was obsessed with F-COM… (like Yoo Eunha).
But solving up to question five wouldn’t do me any good. Even an A grade was just a Wrangler trap.
Dudududu!
My squad’s turn ended, and now it was King de Kong’s turn to attack.
Miss!
King de Kong’s punch whiffed right past us.
Yeah… even a boss can miss…
That’s just how this game works.
But as expected of a boss, King de Kong went for a three-hit combo. No matter how fast or slow, my squad was bound to get flattened eventually…
Miss!
Miss!
“…?”
Three misses in a row?
“Well… I guess that can happen.”
That’s just how this game works.
But like any true boss, King de Kong wasn’t satisfied and prepared a six-hit combo. If three hits weren’t enough to vent his frustration, six would surely do the trick.
“Sniff… This isn’t a subject, it’s a disease… a disease…”
Yoo Eunha mumbled as she lay slumped over. She had a point. This needed to be regulated at a national level.
Trying to clear this was just a waste of time!
King de Kong’s six-hit combo!
Miss!
Miss!
Miss!
Miss!
Miss!
Hit!
“…?”
What’s worse than missing?
Missing even more.
The last attack did hit one squad member, but no one died.
[Your turn!]
The squad, who had endured the three- and six-hit combo, launched a counterattack.
[King de Kong is exhausted from using a six-hit combo!]
[King de Kong’s evasion rate has drastically decreased!]
A little while later…
“…Huh. We cleared it…?”
The squad that defeated King de Kong started taking selfies.
[Level #4 cleared]
[Proceeding to Question #5]
“You’re telling me… we beat it like this?”
I knew better than anyone, having once been obsessed with F-COM. Even with a perfect play, clearing it was nearly impossible…
“How the hell did you do that?”
Feeling a sharp gaze, I turned to see Yoo Eunha staring at my screen, her mouth hanging open.
“How did you pull that off…?”
“What do you mean? I just got lucky…”
“TELL ME!!!”
Yoo Eunha, comparing her completely wiped-out squad to mine, yelled in frustration.
“Kim Pirate! This is so weird. My squad fought like they had their eyes closed!”
“So did mine.”
My attacks were still missing.
It’s just that King de Kong missed even more.
“This is strange… No matter how I look at it, something’s off!”
“There’s nothing off. Look, we’re all gonna get wiped out anyway.”
My squad encountered the small mobs. From level five onward, even the small mobs were tough.
It was game over.
[The Specter’s Luck has been activated.]
[The enemy’s mistake probability has increased by one level.]
[The enemy’s misfortune chance has been adjusted to an absolute value.]
…Or so I thought.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, Lucy’s trait activated, and the small mobs’ area attack missed completely.
“…It was you all along, huh?”
[Lucy… Luck Stealer!]
[Lucy… Pirate King!]
“This… this is insane… Look at that skill… I don’t have time for this…”
Shaken by my apparent skill, Yoo Eunha broke into a cold sweat and restarted F-COM.
Thirty minutes later.
Bang bang bang!
Stop hitting the desk…
You’re gonna break it.
“Ugh, why! I practiced F-COM all break! I only studied F-COM theory for this!!!”
Waaah!
Yoo Eunha wailed in despair.
Looks like her weakness in theory remained unchanged.
Late at night.
The Wrangler Lab was bustling with people.
Haggard-eyed brain slaves!
Poor souls who foolishly chose to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees.
Today alone, 1,300 freshmen participated in F-COM, and, of course, grading their scores fell to these academic slaves.
Calling it grading was generous—it was more like intensive labor since they had to meticulously check the progress logs.
“Pass any unusual cadets to me immediately~”
Wrangler ordered while reading a book, the picture-perfect model of a professor.
“But professor.”
Rachel, the real boss of the lab and Wrangler’s right hand, passed out milk tea to the team as she spoke.
“There’s no full-clear cadet anyway, right?”
“Of course not. I made sure it’s impossible.”
“Then isn’t this just a massive waste of manpower?”
“It’s not just about the results. The process matters.”
Then why are you reading a book?
…Of course, I couldn’t say that aloud. A right-hand shouldn’t talk back.
Sighing, Rachel picked up her tablet and started grading.
One cadet… five cadets… ten cadets…
Then, suddenly, something caught her eye.
“Uh… Professor?”
Rachel was reviewing a cadet’s approach to Level #4.
It wasn’t unheard of for a cadet to clear it. By Wrangler’s standards, it was just barely acceptable.
So what caught Rachel’s attention wasn’t the score. It was something else…
“Alright, alright. We’ll wrap up grading by four.”
“Professor, you are absolutely not dying a peaceful death. Anyway, look at this. Something’s off.”
Rachel handed Wrangler a tablet showing a cadet’s solution process.
Pushed along by the endless coursework, another day passed.
Day two of classes.
Yesterday was lucky—only theory classes. But from today onward, practical exercises were included.
And practicals… were my kryptonite.
I spent all night in the simulation training room, but there was no way I’d improve overnight.
I wasn’t the only one. Every 1-A cadet gathered at the outdoor training ground looked slightly tense.
[Lucy… Outdoor Phobic!]
[Lucy… Homebody Approved!]
An outdoor-phobic homebody, huh…?
Did she just want to say something cool?
Instructor Kim Heum-heum approached.
“I’ll explain the rules!”
Kim Heum-heum shouted, skipping all unnecessary details.
“Today’s exercise is <Diversity Team Battle>. The specifics vary, but the basics are simple: five-person teams will spar against each other. You all did this countless times in middle school, so I’ll skip the rest!”
Skipping the details again, huh.
Just then, Class 1-B entered the outdoor training ground.
“Our opponents are Class 1-B! Haha! Let’s give a round of applause to Class B for coming to donate their points!”
Clap clap…
Hardly anyone responded to Kim Heum-heum’s provocation.
Most were just tense. Sure, everyone had sparred a lot before, but this was the Superhuman Academy.
The training institute for next-generation superhumans.
Every cadet here had ranked at the top of their previous schools.
In other words,
Even a simple sparring match could turn into a junior superhuman martial arts tournament.
“Of course, that doesn’t include me.”
I clapped like a happy seal.
Because I had confidence.
In losing!
Objectively, there wasn’t a single opponent I could beat.
I just needed to see the detailed rules.
The rules of <Diversity Team Battle> changed every time.
They might restrict weapons.
Or limit magic use.
Or even block certain senses.
And if I wanted to survive, at the very least, they needed to allow <Weapons> and <Team Battles>…
“Today’s rule is… this!”
At Kim Heum-heum’s shout, a message spread across the sky.
[Diversity Team Battle]
- Format: 1v1, five rounds
- Prohibited: All weapons
- Encouraged: Magic application
- Field: Training ground, flat terrain
Wobble.
I almost collapsed.
No weapons allowed, and it’s a 1v1 format.
The worst conditions possible.
Basically, they’re telling us to fight barehanded… The last time I fought was in third grade. I won by wildly swinging my arms up and down.
“That’s completely useless, isn’t it?”
This is bad.
Every cadet here has trained for 17 years. If I get hit, I’ll be crushed like a cake.
Nervous…!
“Alright, time to announce the team formations! Just so you know, the teams were assigned purely based on average scores, with no external influence or intervention!”
At Kim Heum-heum’s loud declaration, a message displaying the team formations appeared.
I searched for my name…
“Huh? Who’s Kim Seungtae?”
Someone muttered while adjusting their blue jiu-jitsu uniform. I checked my name as well and—
I went to greet my team leader.
“Captain, that’s me.”
“What?! You’re…?”
Yoo Eunha’s mouth gaped open.
The blue jiu-jitsu uniform suited her ridiculously well.
“Kim Pirate…!”
“It’s Kim Seungtae, you brat. What’s your problem? You trying to bully me or something?”
“Ohhh, I see, I see. So we ended up on the same team, huh? Guess we’re pretty tied together! But what did you just say?”
“…Nothing.”
This healer… Once something gets stuck in her head, she never corrects it. Like a broken golem.
“Anyway, this works out. Kim Pirate, remember what I told you last time?”
“Uh… what was it?”
“That I’d take care of you later! Yoo Eunha, top of the Healing Department, always keeps her word!”
Yoo Eunha confidently extended her hand for a handshake.
“Take care of me,” huh…? Oh. She probably said that when I woke her up from a nap.
However.
The other teammates gathering around us didn’t look pleased.
Cold stares!
“Isn’t he that guy?”
“From the Ghost Department… no, wait, the Necromancer Department?”
“Why would someone with that aptitude even join the Superhuman Academy? So annoying….”
Within ten seconds of forming the team, I was already being treated like dead weight.
They were absolutely right.
“I’ll just hop on the bus.”
I shook Yoo Eunha’s hand.
Thunk!
Her hand was as hard as a rock.
It wasn’t just toughed—more like a brick.
“Whoa. It’s insanely tough. Feels like even an industrial grinder wouldn’t smooth it down.”
“You little—”
“Eek!”
I attempted a small act of revenge for her calling me Kim Pirate… but my hand ended up feeling like a damp rag instead.
“Ugh… Captain. My hand won’t move. Can I forfeit?”
“Shut up! Stop whining, Kim Pirate! Overcome the pain with willpower! Focus on crushing your opponent, and it won’t hurt!”
Yoo Eunha, forcing the spirit of endurance upon me!
Is she really a healer…?
Anyway, our opponents were Jang Yunho’s team <Martial Arts Department>.
Jang Yunho was ranked around 30th and was from the
Martial Arts Department, huh. That put him in the same category as Yoo Eunha.
I studied the aura radiating from her.
[Observing the target’s soul.]
(Supporting Character)
- Role: Healer
- Traits: Overconfident. In top condition.
- Magic: 2+
- Strength: 2++
- Agility: 2++
- Endurance: 1+
- Luck: 1+
- Mental: 1+
- Yin-Yang: 3+ (Unique Stat)
As expected of a top-ranked transfer student from the <Healing Department>.
Stats theoretically max out at 9.9.
Yet Yoo Eunha already had 2++ in Strength and Agility.
Two-plus-plus.
Almost reaching 3, meaning she was just below the superhuman tier, already an agent-level combatant at 17.
The problem was…
Is this really a healer’s stat spread?
Her mental stat, which governs willpower and learning ability, was just 1+.
Barely above average!
And yet, she had an incredibly strong will. Meaning that most of that Mental stat was just pure determination—her capacity for calculation and logical reasoning was practically nonexistent.
She was the type who got a headache from reading books.
That was Yoo Eunha, the healer.
“Let’s just throw the Ghost Department guy away.”
“If we want Eunha to take down the second seed…”
Dazed…
While the teammates discussed the match order, Yoo Eunha just sat there, staring blankly.
Too complicated for her, huh.
I had no say in the strategy discussion, and Yoo Eunha just sat there with her mouth open.
A familiar face approached.
“Hey! Han Taepyeong!”
“Oh, Eunha.”
Yoo Eunha walked over to Han Taepyeong. That was another reason she was popular.
Unfortunately.
She never got together with him, and due to her growth limitations, she faded into the background later in the story.
She was just a side character.
“Why didn’t you come to the party?”
“Party? Ah, well… just ended up that way.”
“‘Just ended up that way’? You skipped the entrance party? Wow. Acting all high and mighty like a protagonist, huh.”
“Nah. I just don’t like loud music.”
Yoo Eunha crossed her arms.
“See? Acting pricey again! What do you think, Kim Pirate?”
“Han Taepyeong is the protagonist, so it’s fine.”
“Hmm… true?”
Literally true.
At the ongoing discussion, Han Taepyeong shot us a glare.
“Stop slapping weird labels on me. Besides, there was already a protagonist—Oh Yul.”
“Shin Ohyul? Nah, that guy’s the opposite. He acts too much like a protagonist. Super annoying, honestly.”
The room instantly fell silent.
Everyone pretended not to hear. Shin Ohyul’s reputation was legendary.
From a prestigious family, immensely talented.
Rude, arrogant, untouchable.
The perfect heir of a noble house.
Unlike Marie Caulfield, Shin Ohyul was dangerous in a different way.
Only someone with Mental 1 like Yoo Eunha could freely talk about him.
“Oh yeah! I heard a weird rumour. Taepyeong, did you really give up your penthouse suite…?”
“Not a rumour. It’s true.”
Yoo Eunha and I simultaneously screamed.
“WHAT?!”
“WHY?!”
Finally.
The reason Marie Caulfield ended up in the penthouse was revealed.
She was ranked 6th.
If someone gave up their suite, she’d move right in. I had suspected as much.
But you were the culprit, Han Taepyeong…?!
“You… YOU IDIOT!”
Yoo Eunha pointed at him in fury. I clenched my fist.
Curse him for me, please…!
[Lucy… loading profanity!]
[Lucy… attack! You spirit-like bastard!]
The ghost living in my head cheered me on.
Not very helpful, though.
“It was too big for one person. Though, I did like the five different bubble bath options.”
“Wait, if it’s vacant, can I move in? I’m ranked 13th.”
“Too late. The 6th rank took it. Some guy named… Murray Coldman?”
“…That name sounds terrifying.”
“Right? Sounds like a ruthless bald assassin.”
“Definitely shouldn’t mess with them….”
They were the only two in the class who didn’t know Marie Caulfield’s name.
Soon, the match order was set.
I was the last fighter.
It was a safe strategy. Win three rounds early and finish before I had to fight.
Then our opponent’s lineup appeared. Since it was blind selection, mind games were crucial.
I rubbed my forehead.
“What now?”
Fifth fighter.
Jung Muok.
The Octopus…?
Of all people, he ended up on the opposing team….
(To be continued.)
