Chapter 29

An emergency meeting was held at Gaon Academy.

Looking at each and every staff member seated around the U-shaped table, Headmaster Jin ByungCheol laughed boisterously.

“Huh huh! You all watched the Dungeon Raid Competition that was hosted by the Association, correct?”

Even if China’s Skyscraper Academy took home first place, the second and fourth place were students from Gaon Academy: Adela and Shin YuSung.

“Our school’s prestige is being heightened through the incredible exploits of our first-year students.”

Seeing that the headmaster was in a good mood, Lin Xiao quickly began flattering the man in an effort to make up for the Jewel Island incident.

“This is all due to your excellent guidance, is it not?”

“Well, I’d say that it’s due to our YuSung and student Adela. I haven’t done anything, huh huh!”

The atmosphere became exuberant and a little more casual because of the talk about Shin YuSung and Adela. Jin ByungCheol had to belatedly pose the problem that he had gathered everyone to discuss.

“I never thought that this would be a problem, but…ahem, student Adela absorbed the 10,000-Year-Old Ice Crystal.”

Adela had become stronger due to it.

The ice crystal boosted the strength of her ice Trait, and she might even have gained a new Skill from it. However, it was forbidden to use artifacts for school exams like the intramurals. It was impossible to take the crystal’s boost away from Adela only for tests since she had already absorbed it.

“So she broke the rules,” said a female professor wearing glasses.

So HaeJung creased her forehead. Even before her career as a teacher, she had placed great importance on following the rules.

Lin Xiao snorted at So HaeJung’s words.

“How is this breaking the rules? The rules only state that students can’t be in possession of an artifact.”

“Even so, Adela is currently strengthened by an artifact since the ice crystal has been absorbed into her body. Am I wrong?”

So HaeJung did not back down from Lin Xiao’s retort. The other instructors were quiet, absorbed in thought, and unable to give an answer easily. Eventually, Jin ByungCheol opened his mouth.

“Please calm down, you two. It’s true that there are a lot of loopholes in the exam’s rules, so let’s treat this case as an exception.”

There had never been a case at Gaon Academy where a student had absorbed an artifact-grade elixir in their student years until this moment, which was why Jin ByungCheol thought up another method.

“However. It would be imbalanced if only Adela was allowed to use an artifact.”

So HaeJung slowly nodded at his words.

“Correct. Student Adela’s classroom, S Class, is already the strongest one out of all of the first-year classes. It is unreasonable that a student from that S Class is the only one who can use an artifact’s power.”

So HaeJung continued to talk lengthily without a single mistake in her intonation or pronunciation, Jin ByungCheol coughed.

“Ahem, which is why… I have decided to let students use artifacts in this exam.”

Lin Xiao began mumbling to himself with a sour expression on his face as the headmaster made his shocking announcement, even forgetting to kiss up to the man.

“…A-allowing artifacts?”

The instructors who were listening to Jin ByungCheol eventually began to speak up as well.

“Then the balance of the classrooms will…”

“Headmaster. What about the students without artifacts…”

“And on top of that, it’s the intramural competition… it’s hard enough to keep the students under control as it is…”

But it wasn’t like Jin ByungCheol had come to this decision without putting too much thought into it.

“A-hum, please listen to me first. During the intramurals, it is S Class and A Class who are paired up with each other, no? And who is in A Class?”

In A Class, there was the student who was second in the student rankings:

The granddaughter of the Shinsung group’s chairman, Kim EunAh.

“Ahh, come to think of it, I heard that student EunAh also has an artifact…”

“Not just one or two, I bet? Since they weren’t earned in competitions but bought with money.”

As they had said, Kim EunAh had been showered with gifts from the chairman. It wasn’t a problem for her to choose one of them to use for the exam.

“What about the other classes, then…”

Jin ByungCheol began to show a bothered expression at So HaeJung’s question.

“A-hum, we can just give an exception for each class, no? Since I believe that there’s at least one artifact per class. Let’s do that, then.”

As he said this, one of the instructors carefully spoke up.

“But, headmaster. If you think about it, doesn’t F Class… now have two artifacts?”

There was no way Jin ByungCheol didn’t know that Shin YuSung and Sumire both had artifacts. He had not brought it up because he was 100% on Shin YuSung’s side.

‘Good eye. I’ve been doing this all for our YuSung, after all.’

There was a rule that the class in last place couldn’t do any extracurriculars.

‘Wouldn’t it be a huge problem if YuSung couldn’t go to the Representative Selection because of those rules?’

Jin ByungCheol laughed at the instructor’s question and gave a reply.

“Well, the reason why F Class has two artifacts is because they showed great prowess during the Dungeon Raid competition… as long as we’ve allowed artifacts, it wouldn’t be fair to single them out based on quantity, would it?”

The instructor could not take any further issue with F Class, as the headmaster had spoken.

“Now, now. Let’s end the meeting, then.”

Jin ByungCheol had looked out for Shin YuSung without the boy’s knowledge.

* * *

* * *

In the classroom after the end of school…

Sumire, alone in the room, looked at the Immortal’s Ring and muttered to herself in a small voice.

“…The ring that Shin YuSung-ssi gave me…”

The artifact, Immortal’s Ring.

Even if the ring was Sumire’s part of the rewards for participating in the raid, it was also a present from Shin YuSung, the team leader. As she stared at the ring, she remembered the sight of Shin YuSung protecting her against the lich.

[…To think that you cornered a boss with an artifact of such power.]

She hadn’t somehow ruined the dungeon clear and had not disappointed the person who had believed in her. This was a huge relief to her.

[…It really is a good thing that I signed you up for this raid.]

Shin YuSung’s words then came to mind. Unable to stop them, the corners of Sumire’s mouth curved up.

“…U, heehee.”

It was a laugh that Lee SiWoo would call creepy if he had seen it. Sumire’s delusions did not stop there. She was completely lost in her happy musings, carressing the ring around her ring finger.

‘A ring…’

In Japan, giving someone a ring was tantamount to a proposal.

‘Shin YuSung-ssi gave me a…’

Sumire’s face became redder and redder to her growing delusions, and she missed the fact that the door to the classroom had slid open.

‘I’m already busy enough as it is… huh?’

Renia, who had happened to come back to the classroom to pick up an item she had forgotten, stopped walking as soon as she saw Sumire with her back turned to her.

‘…Looks like someone else was here.’

But something seemed unusual with the other girl.

“Fu, huhu, heeheehee…”

Sumire was laughing unpleasantly in front of the window, the glow of the sunset bathing her in harsh orange light. The top of the ring reacted to her mana and released a dark aura.

‘What’s going on?! That’s terrifying!’

In tears, Renia backed up and ran out of the room without even retrieving her item.

‘I-I’ll have to get it next time!’

Sumire had scared Renia without even meaning to do so.

* * * *

The high-class dorms of the Sevens…

After returning to the dorms, Shin YuSung checked the Pocket's information on the Black Dragon’s Hide on a hologram.

‘So I can take a look at items without taking them out of the Pocket, huh.’

The Pockets that hunters had strapped to their wrists were incredibly useful, as they had many functions.

Notably, after the book ‘Tower Records’ was found in a dungeon, almost all information regarding artifacts was inputted into the Pockets.

[ Rare

Info – Clothes given as a reward while clearing the Tower. The golden dragons embroidered onto the fabric bless the owner with reinforcement magic.

Heavenly Rotation of the Black Dragon (Skill) –

Turns the mana used by the caster for this Skill into a protective shield.

Black Dragon’s Ripple (Skill) –

Sends out the mana used by the caster for this Skill in a shockwave pattern.

Thanks to that, Shin YuSung could read up on the Black Dragon’s Hide in one organized place.

‘Heavenly Rotation of the Black Dragon, and the Black Dragon’s Ripple.’

These two Skills perfectly complemented the weaknesses of a martial artist. Heavenly Rotation of the Black Dragon was a shield that could block long-range attacks, while the Black Dragon’s Ripple could attack enemies at a distance using his mana.

‘These are both Skills that I absolutely need.’

Artifacts could be used as much as one wanted during the newly updated intramurals as well as in the Representative Selections.

With this artifact’s powers adding to Shin YuSung’s already monstrous skills, he was more or less soaring over the competition. But winning in the Representative Selection was equivalent to representing all academies in South Korea. He could not let his guard down.

‘Let’s do my best and not rely on the artifact’s power.’

Beep.

It was the text from Amy that he had been waiting for. Shin YuSung raised his cellphone and took a look at her message.

[Amy♥: here’re the files with all~ the rules for the intramurals!]

There was an attached file that came with the text.

‘She works fast, as expected.’

Amy was actually very efficient with her work, even if her perpetually smiling face gave off a different impression. As soon as she had heard of the theme for the D Class and F Class exam, she had asked her senior for an organized file of the rules for the exam and had sent it to Shin YuSung.

[Amy♥: let’s destroy the intramurals for the sake of the representative selections! bam! (๑•`ㅁ•´๑)/

Shin YuSung had to grin at Amy’s exuberant text message, but only for a moment. He checked the file.

[Test Theme: Hunter VS Villain]

[Hunters’ Objective: Stop the villains]

[Villains’ Objective: Succeed in your plan]

Hunter VS Villain.

This was the name of the theme of the intramural exam. Information about the test was written on the bottom of the file in great detail.

Most of it was about what year the test was taking place and the specifics of the plan given to the villains.

‘…So this is the kind of exam this is… And F Class are the hunters.’

The plans written in the file were similar to actual crimes committed by villains in real life.

‘Stealing artifacts, terrorism in public areas, kidnapping celebrities…there sure is a lot in here.’

There were many hunters that had become villains after committing a crime, despite the incredible strength of their Traits. Those labelled as villains had a warrant out for their arrest and became enemies of the nation.

The intramurals being held this time had this theme in order to train the students to think like a villain, thus raising their understanding of the crimes being committed. It was also good practice for catching villains.

Amy, of course, had a different real reason for why she sent the file.

‘Special Scoring Clause.’

It was an open secret, but students who had exceptional showings during the intramurals had their own scoring system, despite the exam being group-based.

[Rescuing a kidnapped civilian – 3 points]

[Reclaim stolen artifact – 3 points]

[Suppress leader of the villain team – 3 points]

[…]

Shin YuSung etched the long list of clauses into his brain.

For the Representative Selections, beating D Class was sufficient enough, but Shin YuSung did not know the meaning of the word ‘sufficient’.

Shin YuSung’s goal, unfortunately for D Class, was to lead F Class and seize absolute victory.