After school.
Shinnoda and Isiah went together to a cat café.
Meow. Meow.
Cat sounds rang out from all around inside the café.
Its appearance was similar to a regular café, but it was filled with cats and cat toys.
Vrooom.
As the vibration bell rang, Shinnoda took the coffee and dessert and brought them over.
“Haam.”
Isiah yawned because she was tired.
It was because she had spent the night investigating the person suspected of being the “Dark Knight.”
She checked hundreds of surrounding CCTV cameras to track where he had gone.
The last place he was seen was near the Academy.
“An Academy teacher? Or could it possibly be a student…?”
She suddenly realized that Shinnoda, who was sitting in front of her, was also over 180 cm tall.
“Eh… it can’t be him.”
In the first place, Awakened Ones tend to develop well, so most of them were quite well-built.
There were also kids taller than Shinnoda.
Shinnoda, while taking photos of food on his smartphone, asked:
“Si-a Senior. Are you on SNS? Would you like me to take a picture for you? I’m pretty good at it.”
…
In reality, she was on a certain social app, but she quietly shook her head.
It was an account filled with devotion to the “Dark Knight.”
It was not something she could pull out in front of Shinnoda.
He subtly ignored her refusal and raised the camera.
“Please tilt your neck slightly to the left and look up a little. Yes, that’s it.”
Click.
“Mee-ow. Mee-ow.”
The rather meek Isiah just followed what Shinnoda asked her to do.
Shinnoda lightly edited the photo he took and sent it to her.
When Isiah saw the photo, she was quite surprised.
Instead of her usual modest look, she seemed more like an Instagram goddess.
She was very satisfied with the version of herself on the screen.
“Nya…”
She expressed her gratitude.
<Thank you! You really take good pictures!>
“Of course. If you would like, I can take as many as you want.”
Shinnoda had often taken photos of female friends and knew how to make the same person look much better in the pictures.
Shinnoda then asked a question he had been curious about.
“By any chance, Senior, does your ability turn you into a cat?”
Tap-tap-tap.
Isiah’s hands moved rapidly.
<Not an ordinary cat. It's a monster called 'Magnus Cat', but it looks like a giant-sized cat.>
Shinnoda imagined a huge cat.
‘Magnus Cat, a C-rank monster. That’s convenient for now.’
Magnus Cat possesses a unique skill called ‘Feaster’, which imposes a ‘Fear’ effect on weaker opponents.
The dungeon they were about to visit was filled with ‘Hell Ants’ that came in groups, but were individually weak. It wasn’t a bad match.
“By the way, Senior, would camping be uncomfortable for you or anything?”
“Mee-ow.”
<No! I also want to create memories of hanging out with friends somewhere!>
Shinnoda smiled slightly with relief.
“Haa. That’s a relief. I thought maybe you weren’t into it since you weren’t saying much. Haha.”
At that moment, a cat tangled itself around Isiah’s legs and rubbed its face against her.
“Meow. Meow.”
Isiah responded.
“Nyaa.”
Shinnoda smiled as he watched the two meows in front of him.
“It’s said that animals love beauties, that’s why this cat is so affectionate to you.”
A message arrived.
<What a beauty ^^ I've been close to cats since I was little~ Perhaps they think of me as one of their own? haha>
<By the way, it's sad that Si-hoo and Ji-hoon can't come ㅠ_ㅠ>
Si-hoo and Ji-hoon were the other two second-year members of the ‘Hero Culture Research Club’, who had excused themselves, claiming they had appointments during their gathering where camping was discussed.
“I’ll bring along my cousin brother and one friend. They’re all nice people, so it’ll be fun. By the way, both of them are girls.”
<Ah, got it! I hope we have fun together!>
(Emoticon of excitement)
Isiah had been internally feeling a bit off about going camping for one night and two days as the only girl, but she was relieved thanks to Shinnoda’s timely comment.
They parted ways after exchanging stories like that.
Shinnoda headed to the Awakened Management Office.
To report his ability level changes.
His Awakened registration certificate listed his rank as D with a single skill, Telekinesis.
There might be suspicions if the actual performance was significantly different.
He planned to reveal his abilities appropriately.
‘The Runesmith and Polymorph may be revealed too. Anyway, they’ll all be hidden behind the Leather of the Sage when I’m out as the Dark Knight.’
He met a familiar face on the way.
“Senior Sang-hyun?”
“Shinnoda? What are you doing here…?”
“I’m going to the Management Office to retake the ability test.”
“They closed off the Gigantic Forest, so did you really train that hard?”
Mostly, ability levels are raised using the ‘Orb of Growth’, but there are other ways too.
Endless training, for instance.
It’s extremely inefficient but it does provide marginal improvements.
Therefore, few people trained hard.
Even after a full week of training, eating a single ‘Orb of Growth’ is much more effective.
Only a few diligent students train at the school.
For example, Park Hayeon.
She trains until sunset unless something exceptional comes up.
“Ah, yeah. I trained hard. Why are you here, Senior?”
I Sang-hyun felt a sense of awe.
In the beginning, he didn’t know due to rumors, but after investigating, he learned that Shinnoda was quite remarkable.
It was impressive that he defeated the ‘Luna Bear’ in one strike in his first year.
Even Teacher Park Ho-yeol praised Shinnoda endlessly as someone to look up to.
“Really, it’s a different foundation.”
To I Sang-hyun, Shinnoda embodied what happens when talent meets effort.
“I’m here to pick up a sword because my main family is nearby.”
“So, you’ve already reached that level?”
Recently, there was permission granted for Awakened individuals to carry weapons.
Since then, there has been a trend in the Academy of students carrying weapons around.
Most students do it to flaunt, but others follow the trend because everyone else does.
I Sang-hyun belonged to the latter group.
“Do you want to come along and watch?”
He wanted to see the power of the famous rookie at least once.
Because usually, during ability tests, one can witness the individual’s limits.
“Yes. If you would like.”
Evening.
Awakened Management Office.
Han Min-ki, one of the office staff, was annoyed by being asked to work overtime.
Originally, it was supposed to be a god’s job with a 4:30 pm quitting time. But if someone booked an ability test, at least one staff member had to stay till the test was finished.
That staff member was usually Han Min-ki, who had the least seniority.
Two male students in Academy uniforms entered.
“Is it you?”
A student who looked like a delinquent came confidently to the counter.
“Shinnoda, here for a retest.”
Han Min-ki responded curtly.
“Yes, yes. Small improvements, we’ll check them later…,”
He assumed that Shinnoda was here just to inflate his ability levels.
“Did you find and eat some ‘Orbs of Growth’ somewhere?”
The tests aren’t always accurate, and sometimes, the results come out higher than actual.
Some people exploit this to receive higher-than-actual grades to show off.
Even if someone is actually D-rank, having their Awakened certificate registered as C-rank gets them C-rank treatment in society.
Such tricks are often done by intermediate C to D-rank Awakened.
The problem was that they requested daily retests to get higher-than-actual ratings.
Because of them, the office workload doubled.
Han Min-ki operated the computer.
‘Shinoda’ search.
The data popped up.
“D-rank Awakened Individual Shinoda.”
“I guessed as much. These intermediate ones are problematic.”
Shinnoda said,
“My ability levels have risen significantly, and I’ve gained new skills. I think an overall B-rank should be attainable.”
“Excuse me? The student was D-rank during the test a year ago? Even if you’ve been clearing dungeons non-stop for a year, your rank can’t jump two levels.”
“I’ll demonstrate and prove it to you.”
Han Min-ki chuckled inwardly.
‘There’s no way you, who aren’t a genius, could achieve that. Is it because you’re young and lack a sense of reality?’
There were a few exceptions.
Heavenly talent, the financial means to acquire large quantities of ‘Orbs of Growth,’ and relentless effort.
If all three come together, it’s possible.
There was one case among A-rank heroes.
But to Han Min-ki, Shinnoda appeared far from all that.
They headed to the testing room.
The room contained various equipment.
There was no magical glass box that manifested monsters like at the Academy due to budget restrictions with the newer equipment.
Han Min-ki pointed to a machine that resembled a punching bag.
“We’ll start with strength. Hit that.”
Shinnoda momentarily adjusted his stance.
“Hoo.”
After taking a deep breath, he threw a punch.
Bang!
The sound was like an exploding bomb, and the machine shook.
The result displayed on the screen.
X XXX → A 133.
“Huh…”
Both Han Min-ki and I Sang-hyun were left wide-eyed.
