Groooo…
The rough breathing of the green giant echoed.
A towering height of over two meters.
The weight of its gaze bore down on me.
The monster before me was merely a puppet created by a summoning mage, yet it felt as if I were facing a real beast.
Kraaaaah!
It let out a roar.
At this point, I started to doubt whether it was truly just a puppet.
“Hu…”
I took a deep breath and immediately leaped into battle.
Extending my hand, I conjured a magic sphere and fired it toward the creature.
Kwaaang—!
But the giant simply crossed its arms and blocked the attack with ease.
Only a slight scratch marred its tough hide, but no real damage was done.
This outcome was more or less expected. The green giant’s skin possessed a high resistance to magic.
But this was just a probing attack, meant to gauge its level.
I immediately focused my mana into my lower body.
With legs strengthened by magic, I kicked off the ground and lunged at it.
—Ooooh!
Cheers erupted from the crowd, likely because they hadn’t expected such an aggressive charge from a manifestation mage.
As I closed the distance, the giant swung a fist at me.
I ducked and slid between its legs.
Its punch cleaved through the air, missing its mark.
Now disoriented, it frantically searched for my location.
But it wouldn’t find me.
Because I was behind it.
Two magic spheres floated in my hands.
The green giant’s skin was tough and resistant to magic.
However, even creatures like these had weak points—two, in particular.
The first was the back of the knees.
I released my magic at both of its knee hollows.
Kwaang!
Kraaaagh!
The green giant let out a pained howl and collapsed onto both knees.
My first effective strike.
Without hesitation, I aimed for its next weak spot.
The second weak point was the nape of the neck, where the head connected to the body.
The giant had its back completely exposed, utterly defenseless.
I focused on its neck.
A transparent sphere of light materialized above my palm.
Unlike before, I compressed and reinforced my mana.
This should be enough to pierce its neck.
I fired.
Shuuuuung!
Kwaaaaang—!
The compressed magic sphere tore through the giant’s thick hide and struck the ground beneath it.
A massive impact rang throughout the hall.
The green giant collapsed limply with a final, guttural groan.
“Huu.”
The battle had lasted only moments—so short that I hadn’t even broken a sweat.
[Second-year Class A, Kim Sunwoo, test complete.]
And just like that, my first exam ended—almost disappointingly so.
With Kim Sunwoo’s test concluded, a wave of uncertainty spread through the audience.
At first, silence hung over them as if stunned.
But gradually, people began to recover and exchange words.
“What… what did I just witness?”
“Right? The magic itself wasn’t anything extraordinary… but he took it down so effortlessly, like flowing water.”
That was the general talk among the spectators.
Meanwhile, some guild scouts were frantically digging through data on Kim Sun-woo, hurriedly compiling reports.
“How long did that take?”
“Around twenty-five seconds?”
“Huh? That fast?”
[Second-year Class A, Kim Sun-woo, 22.43 seconds.]
—Woooooah!
As Sun-woo’s official time was announced, another wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.
“Damn! Where does that rank him? Top five?”
“What were the times for the other top students again?”
“Lee Seo-jun had sixteen seconds, Yoo Ara did eighteen.”
“He’s barely behind them?”
“By the way, are the back of the knees and nape really weak points? His attacks broke through so easily.”
While the audience remained abuzz with discussion, one observer, Kim Deokhyun, quietly muttered to himself.
“That kid… he’s good.”
At his words, the man beside him, Jung Hyunsoo, nodded with a serious expression.
“Agreed. His magic itself wasn’t anything special, but… should we call it combat sense? Or battle intuition? He has a remarkable talent for it.”
Indeed, Kim Sun-woo’s raw combat power wasn’t overwhelming.
His magic’s destructive force was average.
Even his speed, enhanced by mana reinforcement, was fast—but not exceptionally so.
Yet, he had taken down the green giant with ease.
Because he possessed an instinctive battle sense that was shockingly refined for an eighteen-year-old.
But something didn’t sit right with Kim Deokhyun.
“Is that really just battle sense?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t think that’s something you’re simply born with.”
“Then what? That kind of skill isn’t something an eighteen-year-old can just learn through training.”
Jung Hyunsoo’s question made Deokhyun pause.
He hesitated, wondering if he should voice the absurd thought forming in his mind.
After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke.
“Experience.”
“…What?”
“That wasn’t just talent. That was battle instinct forged through countless real combat experiences.”
“No way. Where would an eighteen-year-old get that kind of experience?”
That was the real question.
If Sun-woo’s instincts had been honed through countless battles—then where had he fought them?
“But, honestly, I get what you mean. His movements had a certain… veteran-like composure.”
Exactly.
Most students his age relied solely on their strongest specialties.
They didn’t seamlessly integrate their secondary skills like Sun-woo had.
On top of that, he was a manifestation mage—yet he had charged forward without a second’s hesitation.
That, in particular, stood out.
“Interesting.”
Kim Deokhyun watched as Sun-woo descended the stairs toward the waiting area.
Despite achieving a near-perfect result, he showed no excitement.
It was as if this level of performance was expected.
“…Come to think of it, he used compression manifestation too.”
Deokhyun recalled a video from MeTube featuring a public ranking test.
Back then, he had assumed that if Sun-woo was skilled at compression techniques, he must have neglected other areas of training.
But now, it was clear that wasn’t the case at all.
A slow smirk spread across his face.
‘Kim Sunwoo… I’ll have to remember that name.’
I stepped down the stairs from the testing platform.
The cheers from the audience behind me gave me a strange sense of exhilaration.
As soon as I left the platform, numerous messages appeared before my eyes.
[You have achieved the ‘B-Class Prospect’ achievement.]
[You have received 2,000 points as a reward.]
[Six characters you have yet to encounter feel great curiosity toward you.]
[You have received 5,000 points as a reward.]
[Character ‘Kim Deokhyun’ has taken an interest in you.]
[You have received 1,000 points as a reward.]
[Character ‘Park Inhwan’ feels humiliated by you.]
[You have received 1,000 points as a reward.]
“Oh.”
Just from one test, I had earned a total of 9,000 points.
Perhaps because of the low expectations that came with being ranked last in the school, the results felt even more dramatic.
As I entered the student waiting area, I could feel countless gazes fixed on me.
All of them held the same emotion—astonishment.
“Sun-woo, that was amazing!”
“What the hell? Why are you so good?”
Students got up from their seats to talk to me.
Their reactions were completely different from when I took the public ranking evaluation test last time.
How could people change so easily?
I responded to them appropriately before heading back to my seat.
As I sat down, I noticed Park Inhwan glaring at me from across the room.
His eyes burned with the same intensity as when I had beaten him in the reinforcement magic sprint test last time.
‘Come to think of it, I did get a message saying he felt humiliated…’
But still—humiliated?
Did he have some kind of grudge against me?
“Hmm…”
It seemed I had provoked Park Inhwan’s competitive spirit.
He was the type to consider everyone beneath him except for Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ara, and Shin Young-joon.
And now, the school’s last-ranked student was suddenly climbing up the ranks—it was probably getting under his skin.
‘What was his time again today? 25 seconds?’
I had clocked in at 22 seconds… That was a three-second difference.
Three seconds was a pretty big gap.
From his perspective, it was probably a humiliating result.
I met his gaze.
And then, finding the whole situation ridiculous, I let out a quiet chuckle.
‘What am I even doing, competing with kids like this?’
At that moment, Park Inhwan’s expression stiffened.
He abruptly shot up from his seat and stormed out of the waiting room.
A dark alleyway not far from the Mage Academy.
A man leaned against the wall, waiting for someone.
From a distance, a silhouette approached.
As time passed, a beautiful woman emerged from the shadows, illuminated by the bright moonlight.
“Lord Cheonhae. It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has, Jang Ye.”
Cheonhae called her name in a detached voice.
Park Minye—no, Jang Ye—studied him for a moment before speaking.
“I heard you attended the second-year exams today?”
“I did.”
“Did you find the ‘Child of Prophecy’?”
“If I had, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Jang Ye nodded quietly.
“But aside from that, I saw something rather interesting.”
Cheonhae let out a small, incredulous laugh, as if he still couldn’t believe it.
Jang Ye tilted her head in curiosity.
“Something interesting? Oh, do you mean Lee Seo-jun or Yoo Ara?”
“No, not them. Someone else.”
“Who?”
“There was a kid who looked just like Kim Jinwoo.”
“…Ah.”
Jang Ye immediately knew who he was talking about.
That cocky second-year student who had tried to flirt with her the day before—Kim Sun-woo.
“So you already know who I mean.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why didn’t you mention him?”
“Because it’s just a resemblance.”
She swallowed down the memory of Kim Sun-woo’s foolish attempt to hit on her.
“It’s more than just a resemblance. Could he be some kind of relative?”
“No. That person… has no family.”
“Did you check?”
“Yes, I looked at his school records. The family section was completely blank.”
Cheonhae met her gaze.
“The family section was blank? The way you say it makes me even more suspicious. It’s not common for humans to have no recorded family at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just strange. The last-ranked student suddenly displays exceptional skills, and he stands out in multiple ways.”
“Are you saying he might be some hidden relative of Kim Jinwoo?”
“I don’t know for sure. But it’s too soon to rule it out completely.”
“Hmm…”
Indeed, there was something off about Kim Sun-woo’s background.
There were no apparent connections to Kim Jinwoo, but he was far from ordinary.
‘Maybe I should look into him further.’
As Jang Ye pondered, Cheonhae suddenly spoke.
“That aside, the reason I called you here is to deliver some news.”
“News?”
“Yes. It’s an order from the ‘Ten Magi Council.’”
…The Ten Magi Council?
“The day after tomorrow, there will be a terrorist attack inside the Mage Academy to flush out the hidden ‘Child of Prophecy.’”
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