“Ruined.”
That was the only thought in my head as I stared at the untouched target before me.
“Wow, I can’t stop laughing.”
“This is insane. Haha.”
“What did I just witness?”
My own greed had led to this disaster. I pushed myself too hard, aiming to break into the top 10, and ended up completely draining my mana reserves.
“Did that tiny magic orb actually cause a mana outage?”
“Wow. How did someone like that even get admitted here?”
“Who is that guy?”
The audience couldn’t stop laughing at my expense. Honestly, I felt like laughing at myself. What kind of ridiculous humiliation was this, in front of all the underclassmen?
“Look how red his face is.”
“Man, I’d be dying of embarrassment too. Poor guy.”
The occasional pitying comments only made it worse. I desperately wished for a hole to crawl into.
“…Sigh.”
I had hoped to climb the rankings and earn some points through this test, but now it was a complete failure.
Worse, since I missed the target entirely, I was guaranteed to land dead last.
Dead last.
Even the old me had never ranked this low.
Ding!
[You have achieved the ‘Talent for Clownery’ milestone.]
[Reward: 5,000 points.]
[232 people have remembered your face.]
[Reward: 1,000 points.]
[Character ‘Lee Seo-jun’ has taken an interest in you.]
[Reward: 1,000 points.]
[Four major characters have taken note of you.]
[Reward: 3,000 points.]
What the…
Suddenly, a flood of messages appeared before my eyes, leaving me utterly dumbfounded.
What was all this?
Skimming through the notifications, I realized they were all related to the achievement and fame systems. There were so many. Adding them up…
5,000… 6,000… 7,000…
“…Ten thousand?”
I had earned a whopping 10,000 points from this one act of clownery.
If I’d ranked in the top 10, I might have received around 5,000 points at best. This was nearly double that amount.
Was this… actually a good thing?
“No, this is way better than ranking high!”
Without even intending to, I had stumbled into an incredible situation.
No, incredible didn’t even begin to describe it.
This was a jackpot.
“Why is that senior suddenly grinning?”
“Must’ve lost it.”
Their jeers didn’t even register anymore.
I had earned a ton of points—that was all that mattered.
[2nd Year, Class A: Test for Kim Sun-woo has concluded.]
“Kim Sun-woo, please proceed to the waiting area,” the instructor announced.
As I stepped off the stage and returned to the waiting area, the other students were quick to pounce.
“Hey, what was that just now? Mana burnout?”
“Congrats on securing last place!”
“Man, you really set the bar low. Thanks for taking the pressure off the rest of us.”
“Wait, weren’t you in the enhancement track? What made you switch to manifestation? Doesn’t seem like it suits you.”
Ignoring their remarks, I headed back to my seat.
The moment I sat down, the guy in front of me, Park Inhwan, turned around to smirk at me before facing forward again.
At least it was quiet now.
Though, given how much attention I’d drawn, I’d probably have to deal with this kind of thing for a while.
Might as well brace myself.
Still, I was floored.
Who would’ve thought that bombing a test would earn me this many points?
“Well, with all these points, it’s definitely a win for me.”
With time left before the test ended, and a surplus of points in hand, I figured I might as well do some window shopping.
After all, the benefits of being an outsider were mine alone to enjoy.
Just as I was about to open the points shop, I felt someone’s gaze.
Turning to my side, I saw Yoo Ara looking at me with a curious expression.
What now?
“What? I asked”
“…That thing earlier.”
Her tone was oddly hesitant—uncharacteristic for her.
“During the test. That was compression manifestation, wasn’t it?”
Ah, so that’s what this was about.
She wasn’t wrong, so I nodded.
“Yeah, it was.”
“How did you do it?”
“How else? Compress the mana during manifestation.”
My offhanded response seemed to irritate her, as she frowned.
“No, that’s not what I’m asking.”
Her voice carried a tinge of frustration.
“Then what do you want to know? Be clear.”
“How long did you practice for that?”
How long, huh? About three years?
But I hesitated to answer truthfully.
I was 18 now, so three years ago, I’d have been 15.
In this world, people usually awakened to mana at around 13 or 14.
It wasn’t normal for a 15-year-old to be practicing advanced techniques like compression manifestation.
When I didn’t respond right away, Yoo Ara stared into my eyes.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Uh… I can’t remember.”
I deflected, but her elegant eyebrows furrowed.
“What?”
“…Maybe about three years?”
“Three years? So when you were 15?”
“Probably?”
“Hmm.” Yoo Ara seemed lost in thought, tilting her head slightly as if something didn’t add up.
“Wait, three years?”
Her eyes filled with doubt.
Anticipating her next question, I quickly amended,
“Actually, now that I think about it, more like two years.”
“…Are you messing with me right now?”
Yoo Ara’s voice was laced with disbelief.
“No, seriously, two years. That sounds right.”
“…Hmm. Okay, two years is still impressive. You seemed pretty skilled at it, too.”
She muttered to herself, her tone tinged with a strange mix of admiration and frustration.
It looked like my use of compression manifestation had triggered her competitive streak.
I could tell she was irked that someone her age could do something she couldn’t.
“You’re better than I thought. Last year, you seemed so… unremarkable.”
“…Was that a compliment?”
“Yeah, it was. But why’d you learn it? You don’t even have much mana. Isn’t it overkill for you?”
Ouch. That one stung.
“…Didn’t you tell me yesterday not to talk to you?”
“I said don’t talk to me. I didn’t say I wouldn’t talk to you.”
Oh, I see how it is.
“Aigoo…”
After finishing all my scheduled activities, I returned to the dormitory and collapsed onto my bed.
My whole body felt heavy, likely from the effects of mana exhaustion.
I already knew my mana reserves were limited, but today’s test made me realize they were even smaller than I thought.
Who would’ve guessed my magic would dissipate mid-test because I ran out of mana?
Well, now that I’ve earned some points, maybe I should look around for something to buy.
[Activating the unique trait ‘Outsider’s Privilege.’]
[Entering the Points Shop.]
What should I buy? No, more importantly—what do I need right now?
The decision didn’t take long. I quickly opened the search bar.
[Using the search function.]
[Adding the category ‘Items.’]
[Adding the subcategory ‘Accessories.’]
[Search results for ‘Recovery.’]
━━
▶ [Item] Fairy King’s Earrings (S)
▶ [Item] Mana Circulation Ring (A)
▶ [Item] Fairy’s Bracelet (C)
▶ [Item] Necklace of Regeneration (D)
▶ [Item] Returner’s Wristwatch (B)
…
…
━━
Recovery is just as crucial as the size of one’s stamina and mana reserves.
No matter how large your mana pool is, if your recovery rate is slow, you’ll eventually hit a wall where you can’t use magic anymore.
Plus, the faster your recovery, the more training you can cram in, making recovery items an absolute necessity rather than a luxury.
Recovery traits are generally more effective when tied to items rather than inherent abilities. And lightweight accessories like rings or bracelets? Even better.
I skimmed through the list and selected the item that immediately caught my eye: the Returner’s Wristwatch.
━━
[Returner’s Wristwatch (B)]
Category: Item
Description: A wristwatch once used by a returner, imbued with special powers.
[Passive Effect]
▶ Turning Clock Hands:
- Increases stamina and mana regeneration rate by 200%.
- Increases stamina and mana by 2.
Durability: B
Price: 30,000
━━
“This looks pretty solid.”
It had everything I needed—stamina and mana recovery boosted by a whopping 200%, and an additional flat increase of 2 to both stats.
On top of that, its durability was excellent, and its design was sleek and sophisticated. An undeniably good item.
The only downside was its price: 30,000 points. I didn’t have enough to buy it right now.
Still, I already had 11,700 points. If I worked hard and kept racking up achievements, I could probably afford it in a few weeks. There were plenty of opportunities to earn points, especially this early in my reset.
“All right, into the cart you go.”
[Returner’s Wristwatch (B) has been added to your cart.]
Now, let’s see if there’s anything else worth adding to my list.
Just as I was about to browse for other items—
Ding!
[300 people have remembered your face.]
[You’ve earned 1,000 points as a reward.]
“Huh?”
…Oh.
This must mean someone somewhere is talking about me. I’d experienced something similar in my previous life, so I had a good idea of what was going on.
[350 people have remembered your face.]
[You’ve earned 1,000 points as a reward.]
…Wait, what?
Another message popped up almost immediately, with an increase of 50 people in such a short time.
How could my recognition spread this fast?
[400 people have remembered your face.]
[You’ve earned 2,000 points as a reward.]
“…What’s happening here?”
Something about this felt off. It wasn’t normal for my recognition to rise so rapidly.
Moreover, 400 people? That was more than the entire student body of the school.
Then, an unsettling thought crossed my mind.
“…Could it be?”
I quickly pulled out my smart student notebook and accessed the school’s community forum, The Grand Sage’s Forest.
“…I knew it.”
━━
<The Grand Sage’s Forest Anonymous Board>
[Who uploaded the second-year loser’s public test video? LOL]
[That guy is so done. LOL.]
[His name’s Kim Sunwoo, right? He used to be reinforcement-type.]
[The video’s already spreading to other sites, LOL. It’s hilarious.]
[This is kinda problematic, though. How did he even get into this school?]
[Other forums are blowing up over this, LOL. People are saying our school’s reputation is in the gutter.]
[Shouldn’t we seriously investigate admissions fraud?]
+
━━
As expected, the forum was flooded with posts about me.
So that’s why my points were going up.
Just as I sighed at the absurdity of it all—
Ding!
[You’ve achieved the ‘Bronze Star’ achievement.]
[You’ve earned 5,000 points as a reward.]
[1,000 people have remembered your face.]
[You’ve earned 5,000 points as a reward.]
“…Wait, what?”
A thousand people?
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