Silver.
Not bad.
Every semester, the Academy divided students into Bronze, Silver, and Gold grades, providing differential benefits.
Each grade was determined by every 33.3th percentile.
You could say they divided the students into three equal parts.
The Academy's tuition per semester was 7.2 million won, quite expensive, so the scholarship was a huge advantage.
“Hehe.”
There had been twists and turns, but I had finally reached the starting point.
Now all that remained was picking out fortuitous encounters at the Academy and living the sweet life.
Having drunk a lot of coffee, I felt the need to urinate and headed to the restroom inside the commercial building.
But then, I heard sniffling from somewhere.
It was from the stairwell.
Curious, I passed by the stairs, deliberately going the exact opposite way of the route to the restroom.
I was surprised.
There, crouching on the stairs and crying, was Park Hayeon.
I couldn't pretend not to see.
The protagonist crying—surely there had been no such scene.
Besides, the timing was strange.
Crying on the day of the acceptance announcement.
‘Don’t tell me she failed?!’
“What’s wrong?”
Park Hayeon, having spotted me, wiped her tears with her hand and mumbled evasively.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. You’re crying.”
I sat down beside her and asked.
“Tell me.”
I asked persistently, clinging like mud.
If she had failed, I would have to get her admitted even if it meant grabbing the Academy principal by the collar.
“I got a Bronze grade, so I can’t get the scholarship. My family is poor, so I can’t afford the tuition, let alone the dormitory fee…. But the Academy rules say part-time jobs aren’t allowed…. *Sob*.”
Park Hayeon sobbed as she poured out her story.
“Bronze, you say.”
I took it in with a devastated heart.
In the original story, the protagonist had definitely barely made Silver.
She had attended school precariously at the bottom of Silver, barely receiving the scholarship.
Perhaps it had been to give the player a sense of tension.
But for some reason, she had become Bronze now.
“That’s troubling.”
“*Sob*. So, I don’t know what to do….”
‘Park Hayeon needs to be able to focus on her studies and training.’
After a moment of worry, I made a decision.
“Then. Live at my place.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll pay your tuition too.”
If I cleared this world anyway, I’d make a wish and leave.
I don’t need money here.
Feeding and sheltering one Park Hayeon—a few gold bars swiped from a Villain’s safe would be plenty.
Park Hayeon hung her head low and muttered.
“How could we… c-cohabitate. We’re still students, and we’re a man and a woman….”
Does she think my place is a one-room?
Well, thinking about two people living in a cramped space could feel suffocating.
“Don’t worry. I have an officetel in front of the Academy, remember? Live there. It has a living room and a separate room, so you can sleep in the room, or I can sleep in the room, whatever works.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You don’t need to worry at all. Besides, I have night business anyway, so I don’t come home often.”
“Ah, but house and tuition too… I can’t be such a nuisance.”
Right, this was her personality.
Then I just had to reduce her burden.
“If you’re grateful, pay me back double later when you become a Hero. Tuition, dormitory fee. That much is nothing—once you become a Hero, you can pay it back in a month.”
Park Hayeon looked up at me with a moved expression and said.
“Thank you….”
The Academy faculty meeting room.
Thanks to the glass outer wall, the outside was clearly visible, making for a good view.
The one seated at the head was a middle-aged man with a full head of white hair, Principal Park Jeongcheol.
He asked the teachers sitting awkwardly.
“So, were there any decent ones this time?”
The proctors who had conducted the exam previously were none other than the teachers.
They reported on outstanding examinees among those they had been in charge of.
“I think ‘Oh Haena’ was the most outstanding. She was almost B-grade level.”
“In my opinion, ‘Nam Mingyu’ should take first place. I’ve never seen such a combat-oriented skill before.”
“Among those I was in charge of, an examinee named ‘Sin Noda’ was the most outstanding.”
At that, the principal’s eyebrows twitched.
“Hmm. If I recall, you were also assigned that ‘Hwang Jeseong.’”
“Of course, examinee Hwang Jeseong is outstanding as well, but if I had to pick the very best, I would say examinee Sin Noda.”
“Explain.”
The teacher recounted his experience that day.
How he had crushed a troll into a bead with nothing but E-rank Intelligence and psychokinesis.
How he had frightened a B-grade Awakened like himself.
That he possessed a Magic Crest.
As the explanation continued, the listeners let out hollow laughs and shook their heads.
Regardless, he thought.
His power usage had looked somewhat unstable, but that was something the Academy could teach.
Sin Noda was the finest raw gemstone.
The other teachers reacted with disbelief.
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but common sense says an Intelligence E crushing a troll with psychokinesis? Does that make sense? When I was a Hero, I had a colleague with Intelligence B who had psychokinesis, and he could barely lift a car.”
“Scared by an examinee, what an unsightly story. Don’t go around telling that.”
The principal calmed their uproar.
“Don’t get excited. There are cases where that’s possible. I saw it once during my Hunter days too….”
Principal Park Jeongcheol was a former Hunter.
Hunters were what Awakened who entered dungeons and fought during the early days when Gates appeared on Earth were called; they were practically an extinct occupation now that new Gates no longer appeared.
However, their own strength and experience never disappeared.
They were still respected in Awakened society.
“Stats don’t reflect a person’s ability; they show the power overlaid upon them. If their intelligence was very high before awakening, it’s not impossible.”
“Hah….”
“Then you’re saying his intelligence before awakening was around B-rank….”
At the teachers’ reactions, the principal slightly backed off.
“Hehe. That’s just speculation. He might have hidden his stats, and there are many variables. Anyway, to think there’s such a rookie—fascinating.”
The meeting moved on to another topic.
“Then next is the new semester budget allocation. The Department of Magic requested a 20% increase….”
As always, the tedious budget battle ensued.
At that moment, Park Hayeon was grocery shopping at the mart.
It was to express her gratitude to Sin Noda, who had provided her a place to live and paid her tuition.
‘If I prepare dinner as a surprise, he’ll like it…?’
Park Hayeon arrived at the officetel she had been told about beforehand.
It was obviously expensive-looking, a new-style officetel.
She went straight up to the 17th floor.
Standing in front of the front door, Park Hayeon turned on her smartphone messenger.
She had forgotten the password.
“4474. Okay.”
Park Hayeon opened the door and went in.
Sin Noda’s home was clean.
There was only the bare minimum of luggage, as if he were someone who would leave for somewhere at any moment.
‘Is Sin Noda the young master of a rich family?’
From going to an expensive restaurant when they first met to living in a place like this, his financial power seemed no ordinary matter.
Park Hayeon put the things she bought in the refrigerator and started preparing dinner.
The menu was stir-fried pork.
Since she didn’t know Sin Noda’s tastes, she deliberately chose a dish few would dislike.
Park Hayeon stir-fried the pork while imagining Sin Noda’s face, surprised by her cooking.
A faint smile hung on her lips.
***
Early evening.
The city center where the sunset was visible in the distance.
A figure in a black robe was crouching on a building rooftop, looking down at the street.
He was a Villain who had only recently begun to be mentioned by people, ‘Dark Knight.’
It was me…….
Today, there was important business, so I had come out since early evening.
Laura complained.
[Did you not promise to grow steadily in exchange for my help with the entrance exam? What have you been doing here for three hours?]
She doesn’t know.
What a great incident was about to happen here.
“Just trust me. This is precisely growth.”
In the crossbody bag beside me, there were plenty of preparations for today.
About five minutes later.
At the intersection I was watching, a black rift suddenly formed.
It was a Gate.
It was a green light, so unfortunately many cars were sucked into the black rift.
It had already been 10 years since new Gates stopped appearing.
After the protagonist entered the Academy, Gates began appearing again.
And the one that started it all was this Gate appearing right in the heart of Seoul.
It was a passage leading to a C-grade dungeon.
Originally, the story was that the protagonist entered the Gate.
To rescue people who had been sucked in.
If left alone, Park Hayeon would clear it by herself, but I couldn’t let that happen.
Because the skill obtained from this dungeon was quite useful.
It wouldn’t be bad for Park Hayeon to have it, but its compatibility with her was poor, and she wouldn’t use it in the late game anyway.
It was more profitable for me to take it.
I jumped from the rooftop.
Cool air struck my body.
After gliding about 10 meters, I used psychokinesis to mitigate the force of falling.
Thanks to my Intelligence stat growth, using skills had become smoother.
The Gate emitted a pitch-black aura.
I walked slowly toward the Gate.
“Uh, uh? A Gate… Mister, you can’t go in there!”
“You have to wait until the Heroes come!”
“Wait, isn’t that guy ‘Dark Knight’?”
Ignoring the citizens’ attempts to dissuade me, I went right in.
-------------
[You have entered the ‘Tomb of the Nameless.’]
-----------------------------------------
A dark cave.
Without a single ray of light, I couldn’t see an inch ahead.
I took out an attachable light from my bag and fixed it to my body.
A C-grade Awakened clearing a C-grade dungeon alone.
Normally, for a dungeon of the same grade, around four people was the optimal number.
“Hoo. The original Park Hayeon did it too. I can do it.”
Park Hayeon must have had the Guardian of Species buff.
Anyway, it wasn’t impossible.
I just had to dodge all enemy attacks and land all of mine.
Scritch scritch.
An unpleasant sound began to be heard from the surroundings.
Scritch scritch.
Scritch scritch.
The sound of monsters emerging from this cave.
I knew what monsters they were.
Disgusting fellows.
Long shadows writhed along the cave’s outer wall.
‘They’re here.’
Scritch scritch.
Dozens of legs.
That was the true nature of the noise created by their simultaneous movement that I had been hearing.
They gradually revealed their forms.
Pill bugs, or Grima.
The monsters approaching me were the size of large dogs, enlarged versions of pill bugs.
I had expected it, but seeing them for real made my body stiffen.
Out of fear?
No.
It wasn’t that.
The sight of dozens of Grima crawling along the cave walls was simply too horrifying.
I calmly took out a gas mask and a mace from my bag.
The method?
Fire was effective against bugs.
But this was inside a cave.
If I used fire, I’d die from lack of oxygen.
What remained was a frontal breakthrough.
I put on the gas mask.
My vision narrowed, which was inconvenient.
Still, it was far better than having those disgusting bugs’ bodily fluids and remains splatter on my face.
I used psychokinesis to create a transparent barrier in front.
Hundreds of Grima tangled and intertwined, filling the cave ahead.
In a way, it was like a liquid made of bugs.
I opened a hole barely big enough for one Grima to get through.
Immediately, a Grima tried to barge its head through.
I brought my mace down on its head.
Even if they were monsters, they were D-grade trash mobs.
The mace’s heavy blow caved in its head, splattering bodily fluids.
It spasmed with its dozens of legs, trying a final struggle in its death throes, but after I smashed its head in succession, it fell silent.
A red gem appeared on the creature’s head.
I picked it up, and at the same time, a message popped up.
-------------
[Strength 008 permanently increased]
[Agility 022 permanently increased]
[Intelligence 004 permanently increased]
[Luck 000 permanently increased]
-----------------------------------
The creature’s corpse turned to ash with blue flames.
The ‘Inheritance’ skill recovered my fatigue.
Normally, I wouldn’t be able to use psychokinesis for long, but thanks to the fatigue recovery effect attached to the ‘Inheritance’ skill, I could maintain the transparent wall with infinite stamina.
Another one squeezed its head through a small gap.
I smashed the bastard’s head with my mace.
I just had to do this hundreds of times.
Then what remained would be only this dungeon’s boss.
“Huff. Huff.”
-------------
[Strength 008 permanently increased]
[Agility 022 permanently increased]
[Intelligence 004 permanently increased]
[Luck 000 permanently increased]
-----------------------------------
The last Grima disappeared with blue flames.
With this, I had eliminated all monsters in the cave.
A four-hour journey.
It had been a terrible time.
I still felt as if bugs were crawling somewhere.
The ‘Inheritance’ stats obtained from monsters applied a different mechanism than usual.
While the existing rate was 1%, there was a plus attached to boss monsters and a minus to trash mobs.
Wondering about the different stat inheritance compared to Villain hunting, I asked Laura, and she said it couldn’t be helped due to the system’s laws.
I moved to a spot without pill bug corpse powder(?) and plopped down.
The happiness was doubled after suffering for so long and then sitting down.
“Status Window.”
------------
◈ Name
n̶̡̡̛̟̠͈͎̟̍͜͝͡͠ų̢̰̭̲̋͒̓͊̀̒́͘͡l̴̳͙͓̞̻̝͇̥͆̋͂̉̕͡͠͠l̨̛̫̖̝͓̮̳͓͆̃̈̈́̈́͆̈̕
◈ Stats
[Strength 798 B]
[Agility 447 B](+200)
[Intelligence 981 D]
[Luck 147 F]
[Overall C]
◈ Skills
[Inheritance 724 A]
[Dragon Heart --- A]
[Psychokinesis 411 C]
[Magic Crest --- B]
-----------------------------------