The Academy's Iljin — Episode 27
As soon as class ended, Hwangbo Sujeong and Hwangbo Cheolsu ran over, delighted as if it were their own affair. Because Hwangbo Cheolsu grabbed him, Namgung Jongsu was reluctantly dragged along.
“Iljin! That’s insane. Pretending to gain enlightenment right there!”
“Hmph, to put on such a pathetic act—what an unmanly fellow.”
“Congratulations, Iljin! When are you going to use the wish ticket?”
Baek Iljin tilted his head at these people suddenly saying such strange things.
“Acting? What acting are you talking about?”
“Wow, Iljin. You’re really good at acting. You’re still pretending you’re not acting, right?!”
“…….”
Not wanting to crush Hwangbo Cheolsu’s expectations as he asked with so much anticipation, Baek Iljin nodded slightly.
“As expected! That’s our Iljin!”
It went without saying, but of course, it had not been an act.
Baek Iljin, who had been observing Dang Jain’s fist, felt the enlightenment contained within it. In order not to lose that thread of insight, he immediately closed his eyes.
‘Unity of mind and body.’
At that moment, the ashen qi in the corner of his dantian harmonized with the qi he had originally possessed.
It had not yet merged into one, but compared to the previous state of internal and external conflict, it could be called tremendous progress.
‘Just what in the world is the true nature of this ashen qi……?’
No matter how much he thought about it, the answer did not come.
Baek Iljin briefly recalled the moment of enlightenment. The time had felt very long physically. Even now, the mental fatigue he felt was considerable.
‘I thought a few hours had passed, but it hadn’t even been five minutes…….’
Just then, students leaving school discovered Baek Iljin and crowded around him. The swarming students took turns speaking to him.
“Baek Iljin, it’s the weekend tomorrow; want to study together?”
“No.”
“Hey, Baek Iljin, do you have a girlfriend?”
“I do not.”
“Hey, Baek Iljin, want to grab a meal together today?”
“Too bothersome.”
Baek Iljin dismissed every conversation with a single word. The students grumbled and left, looking thoroughly fed up.
“He must think he’s something special.”
“Right? What a prick.”
Hwangbo Cheolsu smiled awkwardly and spoke to Baek Iljin.
“Ha…… ha. Iljin, how can you talk like that?”
“Why?”
“Um…… It’s, how should I put it. Crystal, you try explaining.”
“Uh…… um, what should I say. Hahaha…….”
Stepping in on behalf of the evasive Hwangbo Cheolsu and Hwangbo Sujeong, Namgung Jongsu cut in.
“It’s annoying, isn’t it? If you talk like that, of course the listener will get annoyed.”
Annoyance?
It wasn’t that Baek Iljin was unaware of the emotion called annoyance. He too felt annoyed at times.
But to think that answering honestly provoked annoyance in the other person?
No, even if that were the case.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Hearing those words, Namgung Jongsu put on an expression of utter disbelief and snorted.
“What? Ha, what kind of guy is this? Your empathy is truly phenomenal.”
“Empathy?”
“Don’t you have anyone precious to you?”
After a brief pause, Baek Iljin thought of his grandfather and the familiar spirits of the Rea family—Kanis, Vexter, and Max.
“……I do.”
“Do you talk like that to those people too?”
He himself thought that he spoke somewhat more gently to his grandfather, so he shook his head.
“Then why do you talk like that to everyone else?”
This question itself was invalid.
Why would he place those people on the same line as his precious ones and ask such a thing?
Therefore, the answer was simple.
“Because they are not precious.”
Namgung Jongsu, who had been listening with a lax expression, thought, ‘Back to square one,’ and lost his temper.
“Ha, that’s exactly why people get annoyed listening to the way you talk.”
“No, I am fully aware that my way of speaking can be unpleasant depending on the listener. But I am asking what that has to do with me.”
Seeing Baek Iljin’s expression, the three of them all shared the same thought.
Deficiency (缺如).
Something was seriously twisted inside Baek Iljin.
“This guy, seriously!”
“…….”
Sensing the strangely shifted atmosphere in an instant, Hwangbo Cheolsu subtly slipped in between Namgung Jongsu and Baek Iljin.
“Haha, Iljin just came down from the mountain not too long ago, so that’s why.”
Hwangbo Sujeong nodded as well, chiming in.
“That’s right, I think so too. His tone is just like that, but he’s a friend with a really deep heart.”
Hearing their words, Namgung Jongsu sighed and shook his head.
“Sigh, blindly shielding him won’t do any good. And Baek Iljin.”
“……?”
“If you don’t know, learn.”
Leaving those words behind, Namgung Jongsu passed by them and headed into the dormitory.
“Iljin, we should get going too.”
“See you next week! Study hard for the exams!”
Returning home, Baek Iljin lay down on the sofa without even changing his clothes, lost in thought.
‘Empathy, huh…….’
He had entered the academy to find emotions, yet this was a subject he had never once considered.
‘There are too many things I need to pay attention to.’
Thinking that emotions were truly something one could never quite understand, he succumbed to sleep (睡魔).
* * *
The day of the placement exam drew near.
In complete contrast to the cloudless, clear, and sunny sky, the faces of the freshmen returning from the weekend were all dark and gloomy, their lips were blue-tinged, and their eyes were sallow and bloodshot.
The second-year students laughed with snickers seeing those freshmen.
“So today’s the placement exam; look at the freshmen’s faces.”
“Wow— I almost died back then too.”
“You got into the Mechanisms and Formations Class and what…? They take anyone who applies there since it’s under-enrolled, without even looking at grades.”
“And you had to repeat a year and retake classes with the freshmen.”
Hwangbo Cheolsu and Hwangbo Sujeong were not much different from the other freshmen. Baek Iljin approached them as they walked with gaunt faces and dragging steps and greeted them.
“Cheolsu, Sujeong, did you have a good weekend?”
Hwangbo Cheolsu and Hwangbo Sujeong’s mouths fell open wide. To think Baek Iljin would ask about their well-being first…….
“I- Iljin, did something good happen today?”
“Like winning the lottery or picking up money on the way here.”
“Nothing like that happened.”
Seizing the moment, Hwangbo Sujeong subtly stuck to Baek Iljin’s side and poked his arm.
“But Iljin, what did you do over the weekend? Didn’t you miss us?”
“……I missed you.”
Hwangbo Sujeong’s face flushed as red as a ripe persimmon. It looked like she might burst at this rate.
‘Iljin said he missed me! Ah, what should I do, if we get married, would two children be good?’
But for some reason, Baek Iljin’s face also seemed to have turned slightly red. Of course, there was no change in his expression.
‘C-cute! Iljin gets embarrassed too!’
Hwangbo Cheolsu straightened the crumpled collar of Baek Iljin’s shirt and spoke.
“Oh, Iljin, you finally got your uniform? Why aren’t you wearing a tie?”
“I don’t know how to tie it.”
Hwangbo Cheolsu hung Baek Iljin’s tie around his own neck. Then he slowly explained how to tie it.
“See, cross the tie into an X-shape like this, then wrap it around once.”
“Got it.”
Someone once said that a man is defined by how he wears a suit.
Baek Iljin’s bearing in his school uniform was so elegant that one could mistake it for a proper suit.
“Wow, you look so cool?”
“Yeah, it really suits you!”
“……Thank you for always looking out for me.”
Even as he said such things, Baek Iljin felt somewhat restless.
‘It’s slightly embarrassing. Is this how I’m supposed to do it?’
Still, seeing the Hwangbo twins’ good reactions, it seemed his weekend spent cooped up in the school library researching and studying the concept of “empathy” had been worth it.
After that, they chatted and walked, and before they knew it, they arrived at the large lecture hall for the first placement exam.
* * *
There were a total of 8 subjects on the placement exam.
Basic Magic Studies, Basic Martial Arts Studies, Auxiliary Magic Studies, Auxiliary Martial Arts Studies, History, Formation Studies, Character Studies, and Magical Engineering.
And there were exactly 8 classes one could apply to.
Special Missions Class, Magic Research Class, Martial Arts Research Class, Magical Engineering Class, Mechanisms and Formations Class, Business Administration Class, History Class, and Nursing Class.
There was only one way to get into the class one wanted.
The results of the placement exam.
And it was not the average score, but the score in the subjects related to that class.
For example, no matter how high one’s scores in other subjects, if one’s magic subject scores were low, it was difficult to enter a magic-related class.
There was one class that used the average score as the application criterion, and that was the Special Missions Class.
The Special Missions Class only accepted the top 30 based on average scores.
The reason it had so many applicants despite this was that, by its nature, lecture hours were relatively relaxed, and one could engage in practical combat training.
Perhaps because of this, students aiming for the Special Missions Class were reading books with fire in their eyes until right before the exam began.
[Ding-dong-dang-dong— It is exam time.]
The first exam supervisor was Sima Jin. Today as well, not a speck of dust was on his suit, and his face looked full of annoyance.
Tap, tap, tap, tap—
[Total applicants: 600. Present: 600. Absent: 0. Total exam time: 120 minutes.]
[Subjects – History, Formation Studies, Character Studies, Magical Engineering, Auxiliary Magic Studies.]
“The total exam time is 120 minutes and there are 5 subjects. The order does not matter. And there are no breaks during the exam. Any questions?”
“None.”
“Good. Begin.”
With a whirring sound, the desks opened, revealing tablets hidden inside.
With the determination to quickly write down everything they had memorized, the students moved their hands without rest.
Baek Iljin also moved his pen quickly.
‘It’s definitely easier than the entrance exam.’
For the placement exam, all the problems were taught in class. Moreover, there was only one question per subject. Therefore, as long as one had a good memory, it was quite easy.
[Q. Who is the founding king of the Rochette Kingdom? Write down all the names and birthdays of the kings from the founding king to the present.]
A. Vain Rochette (10.14), Albert Rochette (03.07), Arka Rochent (05.02) …… Alpine Rochette (11.7).
He quickly solved the History problem and moved to the next screen, where Formation Studies appeared.
[Q. This formation is the Wudang’s Liu Yun Chen (流雲陳). Find all the positions of the Life Gate and the Death Gate within this formation.]
A. The Life Gates are Northeast, North-South, East, Northeast……. The Death Gates are North-Northwest, East-Southeast…….
The Auxiliary Magic Studies problem was the simplest and easiest.
[Q. Write down the principles of the Mana Breathing Method.]
A. The Mana Breathing Method begins with achieving communion with nature. (Abridged) The energies that travel through the twelve meridians are gathered in the dantian. (Abridged) When expelled, rather than passing through the Conception Vessel and the Governing Vessel, they are discharged through the mana circuit in the heart.
Next was Magical Engineering.
[Q. Artifacts used in daily life are mostly made using a substance called ‘Kelter.’ Explain the reason for this and how Kelter is made.]
A. Because Kelter is the metal with the highest mana capacity. Originally, Kelter was made by gathering ten or more mages to mix soil, copper, gold, mithril, and so on, but current Kelter is (Abridged) ……made in this way.
The last was the Character Studies question, and for the first time, Baek Iljin’s pen stopped. Unlike the other lectures, the Character Studies lecture did not teach the correct answers.
[Q. You have obtained a key that can eliminate a hostile force (Tower of Black Magicians or Unorthodox Alliance) in one stroke. If you use this key, all intelligence operatives from your allied faction who have infiltrated the hostile force will also die. What choice will you make at this time? Describe your choice and reasoning.]
‘What should I do?’
Thinking simply, he could just kill them all. After all, the intelligence operatives of the allied faction were nothing more than strangers whose faces he had never even seen.
And if their sacrifice could completely wipe out the hostile group, wouldn’t that be the most efficient choice?
As he was originally, he would have written that he would use the key without any hesitation.
But what he had felt while studying “empathy” over the past weekend was that humans do not always make the most efficient choices.
‘Hmm…….’
While he could not write an answer for a long time, before he knew it, only about ten minutes remained. Some students had already submitted their exams and left.
‘Hmm.’
More time passed, and before he knew it, he was the only one left in the lecture hall.
“One minute left. If you do not submit by then, everything will be graded as zero.”
“Understood.”
Despite saying so, Baek Iljin’s pen showed no intention of moving.
Tick-tock— Tick-tock—
Thirty seconds before the exam time ended, Baek Iljin finally began to write something down.