[All monsters have been eliminated.]
[Training complete.]
“Training’s over!”
I shouted as I threw Lucy to the ground. Of course, she immediately came back….
[Lucy… has returned!]
[Lucy… evil spirit!]
As if time had been cut away, she returned to my hand.
As I slumped down, the AI provided an overall assessment of the training.
[Total enemies defeated: 32.]
[30 enemies: Headshot.]
Except for two, all were taken down with headshots. As for the remaining two….
[2 enemies: Core destruction.]
They just didn’t have heads to shoot. Since they were squishy slimes, I aimed for the core instead—still a perfect score.
The shooting accuracy was flawless.
“Not a bad start.”
I threw Lucy away. She came back.
When I hold Lucy and aim, I feel at ease….
Lucy’s Target not found! must be compensating for my shooting skills.
“You’re quite the little monster.”
I threw Lucy away. She came back.
The assessment continued.
[Total combat time: 31.8 seconds.]
Combat time.
How fast were the enemies taken down?
Just as important as accuracy.
32 kills.
31.8 seconds.
A bit slow. If it were Han Taepyeong, he’d have wiped them out in five seconds, tops.
[Shooting time: 8.1 seconds.]
[Reload time: 23.7 seconds.]
A detailed breakdown followed.
Only 8 seconds spent shooting.
A staggering 24 seconds spent reloading….
Extreme.
It’s the nature of a revolver.
Click!
I opened Lucy’s cylinder.
A revolver only holds six bullets.
“Structurally inefficient.”
Since it’s practically the great-grandfather of firearms, there’s no magazine system.
“I’ll have to fix that later.”
If I eliminate reload time, 32 seconds could become just 8.
The assessment continued.
[Average enemy HP: 40.]
[Average damage dealt per enemy: 65.]
[Overdamage: +25.]
[Advice: Consider enemy max HP when dealing damage. Overdamage wastes stamina and mana.]
The AI kindly explained.
Fair point.
But it’s not something I can—or need to—fix.
“It’s not like I can shoot softly.”
[Lucy… impossible!]
[Lucy… too powerful!]
With swords or spears, overdamage is wasteful.
But firearms are different.
Whether you fire lying down or gritting your teeth, the damage remains the same.
“One cannot excel with firearms.”
Instructor Kim Heum-heum pointed this out to me too.
A gun’s strength and weakness:
Fixed damage.
It doesn’t benefit from a superhuman’s explosive strength or mana.
“Long live fixed damage!”
Not my problem.
For someone like me, who’s only ever chopped vegetables with a knife, this is the best.
The training assessment concluded.
“…Should I do a bit more before leaving?”
Honestly, training was just pulling the trigger, so I still had plenty of energy left.
I grabbed a bunch of training rounds.
[Lucy… demands early dismissal!]
[Lucy… refuses training!]
Lucy whined about going home, which only fuelled my motivation.
A small green space at the center of the first-year dorms.
EDM blasted from massive speakers, and loud chatter filled the air.
A blatant rule violation, but for today, the instructors turned a blind eye.
It was a party celebrating the entrance ceremony.
“Haven’t I seen you at the Commune’s talent facility before?”
“You’re from England? Are you some noble or something?”
“If only there weren’t a written exam….”
Perfect night weather.
Colorful sodas.
The atmosphere was pretty nice.
Groups of guys and girls, all dressed up, discreetly checked each other out.
“Hey, what’s your entrance ranking?”
“Me…? Ahem. 350th.”
“Wow. That’s pretty high? I thought you were just tall, but you’re actually impressive….”
Naturally, the main topic was entrance rankings!
A VIP lounge was even set up for the top scorers in the center of the party.
Of course, at any party, there are always those who don’t quite fit in.
“That would be me.”
Cadet Kim Seungtae.
“Hey there~! I’m Kim Minah! You’re…?”
“1111th.”
“…! Oh, I see! Have fun!”
The girl flinched, then scurried back to her group.
Apparently, the fact that someone ranked 1111th even showed up was shocking.
“At least she didn’t go back and badmouth me! An angel?”
That’s how it was.
In the Superhuman Academy, the line between insiders and outsiders was drawn by entrance rankings.
“This is my fate….”
Everyone had shown up in fancy party dresses and tuxedos.
The atmosphere was great.
“…Too great, actually.”
That was the problem.
How long had it been since I last hit up a club?
Before enlisting, I used to party a bit….
[Lucy… pathetic!]
[Lucy… disappointing!]
“What?! Listen! I was too busy broadcasting to go clubbing! And do you have any idea how expensive the taxi fare is from my neighborhood to the nearest club? And my back hurts, so standing too long is a pain….”
Amid the dazzling atmosphere, someone was stubbornly listing out 50 Reasons Not to Go to a Club and failing to catch the rhythm.
“That’s me again, huh?”
Talking so much made my throat dry, so I grabbed a drink.
“Here you go!”
The bartender handed me a drink with a bright smile.
“…! Wait, this has alcohol?!”
I had no idea.
No wonder the mood was too good!
The cadets didn’t seem to care that they were only 17—they were drinking like pros.
As expected… from my 28-year-old perspective, I could already tell which ones were about to turn into animals, which were on the verge, and which wouldn’t even make it to roll call tomorrow.
“Seungtae’s done all three. Impressive, huh?”
I smugly bragged to Lucy,
sipping my cocktail as I made my way to the VIP lounge.
I had just finished physical training—now it was time for mental training.
I activated <Spirit Eye>.
[You have made contact with ‘Kim Minah’.]
[Your understanding of this person is very low.]
[Useless information has been updated.]
[Kim Minah (Minor Character)]
- Role: Healer
- Traits: Broke up with her boyfriend a week ago and cut her hair short. Currently regretting it.
I deactivated Spirit Eye.
Seeing the unseen was the ability of Spirit Eye!
But peeking into people’s love lives probably wasn’t its intended use.
[Tutorial for Spirit Eye!]
[Goal: Observe multiple strong souls using Spirit Eye.]
[Reward: Unlock Spirit Eye Stage 1.]
[Advice: The closer someone is to the main cast, the stronger their soul.]
Convenient timing.
A strong soul, huh….
The main characters were probably all in the VIP lounge.
“How do I get in?”
My rank alone was enough to get me turned away, but my plain white shirt sealed my fate.
Uuurgh!
At that moment, a male student was throwing up vigorously on the lawn.
Hmm. Let’s see.
“Hey, maybe you should’ve paced yourself.” I approached and patted him on the back.
He was wearing a rather expensive-looking tuxedo.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Uuuhhh… don’t care… don’t stop me… I’m drinking myself to death….”
“Wow, what a champ.”
“Uurrghhh… buaaarrghh….”
Each time I patted his back, he spewed more cocktail, and I slowly slipped off his tuxedo piece by piece.
A little while later.
Once I put on the tux, it was a decent fit.
The original owner?
Clinging to a lamppost, sobbing.
…What’s his deal?
I peered into his soul.
[Cha Insu (Minor Character)]
- Role: Tanker
- Traits: Broke up with his girlfriend a week ago and drowned himself in alcohol. Deeply regrets it.
…What a pity!
I couldn’t just ignore it, so I went to see Kim Minah.
“Hey, Kim Minah.”
“…? You were ranked 1111 earlier… More importantly, how do you know my name?”
“Oh, never mind that. Insu is over there…”
I pointed at Cha Insu, who was clinging to a streetlamp and sobbing. Kim Mina gasped.
“Am I seeing things…? How much did he drink?”
“About half of what’s on the floor here?”
“…Seriously?! Why is he like this…?!”
“He said he had something he wanted to tell you.”
“Whaaat?”
Kim Minah hesitated, then hurried over to Cha Insu. That should be enough to make my tuxedo worth the trouble, right?
Leaving behind their tearful reunion—complete with the likelihood of vomiting—I grabbed a serving tray and a few drinks.
A dazzling tuxedo.
Arranging the drinks neatly on the tray, I looked every bit the diligent attendant.
“Time to serve the nobles.”
There were a few guys managing security in the VIP lounge—probably seventeen-year-olds—but my outfit got me past them easily.
The atmosphere inside was noticeably different.
Outside, everyone was busy sizing up each other’s rankings. But here…
“It’s a bit more refined.”
The top twenty special admissions students were leading the fun, with those ranked around the top 100 lingering as extras.
Anyone with an awkward ranking was naturally filtered out, which made things easier for me. Most of the people here were familiar faces.
“Let’s see… Where’s the main character…?”
Han Taepyeong was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the center of attention was Shin Ohyul. Cadets were eagerly vying for his favour, treating him like royalty.
“They’re all working hard, huh.”
I moved swiftly around the lounge, holding my serving tray.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Oh~ Thanks~”
The special admission students lounging on the sofas readily accepted my service. It made my job easier.
Except for Han Taepyeong and Shin Ohyul.
Ranks three through twenty.
The spirits of these special admission students were clearly different from the minor characters outside.
Each had their own unique presence and aura.
“Hahaha! I’m telling you, those two have always had a terrible relationship. No, actually, it was one-sided—Shin Ohyul always pushed him away.”
“So what happened?”
“So Han Taepyeong ended up—”
That was Yoo Eunha talking among the cadets. Had she been drinking? It was hard to tell since she was naturally like that.
As the top healer student, she attracted a lot of attention.
The extras were probably thinking about factions, but they should forget it. Yoo Eunha had zero interest in that kind of thing.
“This is pretty fun to watch.”
As I observed the students, someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
I turned around, only to be met with a blindingly shiny bald head.
“Ugh, so bright.”
“What’s your deal?”
Glint!
That shining head… It was Jung Muok.
His ranking hovered around 50th place. He was the type to bow to the strong and bully the weak—a classic cheap side character.
What did he want?
“Octo— I mean, Muok.”
I almost called him by his nickname.
“The hell? Do I know you?”
“Yeah, of course. But can you let go of me?”
My shoulder creaked under his grip.
Jung Muok was in the martial arts department.
I had no chance of resisting his brute strength.
Squeeze!
Argh…!
I swear, he’s squeezing the juice out of me!
“You better answer properly. What are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m serving drinks…”
“What? I personally interviewed all the serving staff. You weren’t on the list!”
“……!”
What the hell?
Did he take on the role of VIP lounge enforcer or something? Typical of him to suck up to those ranked above him.
“You’re caught red-handed. Spill it. Why’d you sneak in here? Trying to cozy up to the special admission students?”
…Please stop!
This is too cringe!
Jung Muok was way too into his self-appointed security role. What should I do?
As I was thinking fast—
Someone appeared before us.
“You two.”
Jung Muok and I both frowned.
This was an unexpected person.
“Uh… Um… Uh…”
Jung Muok, who had been so confident a moment ago, suddenly couldn’t even speak properly.
Well, of course.
This was the 6th-ranked student.
A genius raised by the prestigious Caulfield family.
For someone like Jung Muok, who lived by the strong-weak dynamic, even addressing her was a challenge.
I seized the opportunity.
“Wow~ Miss Caulfield~ It’s been half a day since we last met! What brings you to the party?”
I had a guess why she was here.
And I had plenty of reason to be nervous.
But I played it cool and greeted her cheerfully.
Jung Muok’s eyes widened in shock.
“Hah. You’ve got some nerve.”
Marie Caulfield narrowed her eyes.
I could feel her cold anger.
“Aha~ We still have unfinished business, don’t we?”
“You know it. Shut up and follow me.”
“Shall I? But see, I’m kind of busy. I was just having a chat with Muok… Weren’t we, Muok?”
The tentacle-like grip on my shoulder suddenly released.
Despite acting like he’d never let go, it was like magic.
“Well then, Muok. Keep up the good work with security.”
I rolled my aching shoulder and followed Marie Caulfield.
“Hey, Miss Caulfield.”
“Kim Seungtae… You should’ve known when to stop. You’re screwed.”
“I’m not Kim Seungtae, though…?”
“What are you talking about? Are you denying it?”
“Not exactly, but…”
Great.
I dodged the octopus, only to run into a lion.
Since things had come to this, I decided to observe Marie Caulfield’s spirit.
Her blue-coloured aura, embodying integrity, seemed slightly withered compared to others.
[You have observed a powerful spirit.]
[You have successfully observed multiple strong spirits.]
[Spirit Eye tutorial complete!]
[Spirit Eye Level 1 unlocked!]
[Spirit Eye abilities enhanced!]
Alright. Time to find a way out of this.
I needed something—anything—to justify my trespassing before I got beaten to death.
Around Marie Caulfield’s aura of integrity, floating words appeared.
Were they key phrases?
Was this the enhanced function?
“……?”
Reading those words, my jaw dropped.
I was so shocked that I completely forgot about the trespassing issue.
“Hey…”
“Don’t talk. Just keep walking.”
“Hey, Miss Caulfield.”
I stopped walking.
Marie Caulfield, who had been walking ahead, turned around.
I asked—
“How are you even alive?”
This woman was a walking bomb.
(Continued in the next chapter)
