The day before the entrance exam.
After parting ways with Park Hayeon, I went straight home.
Since tomorrow was the exam, there were a few things I needed to prepare.
“Status window.”
————-<Status Window>————
◈ Name
Shinnoda
◈ Stats
[Strength 042 C]
[Agility 224 D]
[Intelligence 337 E]
[Fortune 659 E]
[Overall D]
◈ Skills
[Succession 366 A]
[Dragon Heart — A]
[Telekinesis 223 E]
———————————–
Shinnoda sighed as he looked at the stats displayed before him.
“It’s not enough.”
The accomplishments achieved in just a year were certainly impressive.
Capturing strong villains would result in even more growth, and building on that growth, he’d be able to defeat stronger villains, leading to even greater growth. The ‘Snowball’ effect was still small but was steadily rolling forward.
However, the Academy was a fiercely competitive place, with people willing to attempt it three or four times if necessary.
Though D-Rank was the cutoff, it only applied to those D-Rank individuals who possessed proper combat skills.
[Don’t waste your time at places like an academy. Come learn from me instead. Whether martial arts or magic, there’s nothing humans can do that we can’t do better.]
It was Laura’s nonchalant voice.
But I wasn’t there to learn.
Even though she didn’t know.
I snapped back in a sharp voice.
“You may not know, but this world will soon revolve around the academy.”
[Such confident words. What do you know?]
Her mockery irritated me. In my agitation, I said something I shouldn’t have.
“I know the future.”
[Finally lost it, have you? A guy who struggles with C- and D-Rank villains claims to know the future?]
“Not the minor details. I mean knowing the greater flow. The fact that I discovered you… hmm.”
Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable flutter in his chest.
“Huh?”
An overwhelming storm of magic surged in, scattering furniture and objects around the room with invisible, powerful waves.
The Dragon Heart was reacting.
Slowly, the magical storm began to take on a human-like shape – a towering figure nearly touching the ceiling of his apartment. It had no eyes, nose, or mouth; it was simply a pure mass of magical energy.
It was the infuriated Laurakis.
[Daring to toy with a dragon’s destiny?]
I couldn’t even lift my head due to its overpowering presence.
“Now, wait a moment. You would have perished without me.”
[How can I trust that? There could have been a better successor than you. Perhaps someone who has already revived our kind using my body by now! Do you know the preparation and resolve I brought to this world?]
I was taken aback. I hadn’t expected such fury. She must have had a lot of pent-up dissatisfaction with me.
“The one originally meant to succeed you was a woman named Yongcheonhwa. Undoubtedly stronger than me. But she fell into corruption, was abandoned by all the powers on Earth, and was eliminated as a public enemy. By the way, even as she fought under your control near the end, she ultimately failed.”
The magical waves quieted slightly.
Had she calmed down? I needed to convince her further.
“I’m different. I know what’s coming and understand how to grow stronger. For the revival of your lineage and for dragons, I’m a better choice. Now that we’ve come this far, I hope you can assist me more decisively.”
[Krrrrr.]
The magical storm settled down. The massive humanoid shape started to break apart and disappeared without a trace.
All that remained was the wreckage of the apartment.
Laura asked in a monotonous voice.
[What do you want? What more do you expect me to do?]
What I wanted? That was obvious.
Admission to the academy was uncertain. I needed to make the uncertain certain.
“I need help for tomorrow’s entrance exam.”
The idea came from Yongcheonhua, as seen in a gaming context. The method Laura used with her body; I intended to apply that.
I explained the approach to him.
*
“A-Rank monster, please.”
“Did you just say….”
The examiner, wondering if he’d heard correctly, asked for clarification. Shinnoda’s overall rank was D, wasn’t it?
‘Yet, he wants an A-Rank?’
“He wishes to be measured against an A-Rank.”
“This isn’t a place for jokes. Please take it seriously. A D-Rank applicant should face a D-Rank monster.”
The examiner internally scoffed at Shinnoda, thinking he had the attitude of someone with no skills.
Shinnoda’s next words changed the examiner’s mind.
“If I fail to defeat the A-Rank monster, feel free to eliminate me immediately.”
Only then did the examiner realize Shinnoda was serious.
“Alright, then. If you insist, we’ll go with your request. Though, I will personally fail you if you don’t succeed.”
The Goblin Archer dissolved into square particles which reformed into something larger and more robust.
A towering figure standing at 2.5 meters, muscular yet agile.
It was a Troll, a monster known for its incredible regenerative abilities. Limbs or neck severed would grow back immediately. It was exceedingly difficult to defeat unless fire-based magic was used.
The troll, standing in a hunched position, glared at Shinnoda, clutching a short sword in its hand—though ‘short’ was relative; it appeared like a longsword to Shinnoda’s eyes.
<User Shinnoda. Target: Troll. Test begins. 3, 2, 1.>
Other examinees predicted Shinnoda’s inevitable defeat.
“Troll? An A-Rank hero would struggle if the match-up wasn’t in their favor.”
“Isn’t his main ability telekinesis? No, wait… without fire-based magic, he’ll fail.”
“Just grandstanding and getting himself embarrassed.”
“Since when can D-Rank even think they’re that big?”
Shinnoda closed his eyes, whispering to himself.
“Lady Laura, don’t take over my body.”
Laura chuckled inwardly.
‘If you know that I foresaw your defeat and the extinction of dragons, how could I?’
She decided to trust Shinnoda. During her transition to this world, she had manipulated events to entangle strong but mentally weak individuals.
Shinnoda was the complete opposite.
It wasn’t a coincidence that he ‘just happened’ to find himself alone in a cave clutching a red gemstone.
Short of finding someone who came looking for her through foresight, a successor like Shinnoda was unlikely.
“Don’t worry.”
The troll began to move.
Suddenly, Shinnoda’s body emitted a red glow. Magical tattoos had appeared on his skin and started to shine.
The examiner was surprised.
“Is that… is that a Magic Seal?!”
Magic Seals were tattoos that drastically enhanced the power of magic, a field that had only recently begun its research.
There were none in Korea, and even the advanced magical engineers in the US were just starting to explore the potentials.
This was Shinnoda’s method for achieving outstanding results in his combat evaluation test—allowing Laurakis temporary control of his body.
Laurakis, even while fused with Shinnoda, was still a master of the ‘Dispel’ magic.
By allowing him to take over, Shinnoda would become significantly stronger.
Initially, Laurakis opposed this plan.
[I refuse. Your body can’t withstand it. Your monkey-level brain would explode as soon as the calculations start.]
Dragon magic operated differently from human magic. Dragons were so intelligent they had no need to optimize their calculation processes for efficiency. For a human brain, attempting such magic was naturally impossible.
Shinnoda, however, had a solution.
“What if I cover my entire body with Magic Seals? Couldn’t the calculations be assisted through them?”
[Magic Seals weren’t designed for this purpose, but… hmm, perhaps if we modify them… interesting.]
“That’s the method you’ll use in the future.”
[This makes your claim of knowing the future more credible.]
“So please don’t take my body. Without my involvement, this world will fall, and the resurrection of dragons will be futile.”
As Shinnoda activated the Magic Seals across his body, his eyes slowly opened.
They had slit-like pupils.
The dragon-infused flesh was transforming real-time: its skeleton, muscles, organs—all reshaping to accommodate Laurakis’ soul.
The troll, a hunter rather than a straightforward warrior, cautiously circled around Shinnoda, looking for an opportunity to attack.
Laurakis knew they needed to finish quickly. Lingering too long might cause Shinnoda’s body to reject his soul entirely.
Lifting his arm and extending his hand toward the troll, he prepared himself.
The troll, assuming its opponent to be a mage, immediately charged. Denying casting time was fundamental in battle.
To the untrained eyes of the bystanders, Shinnoda’s movements and defense against the troll’s sword were imperceptibly fast, and he deflected each strike with minimal movement.
The examiner himself found it hard to believe what he was seeing.
“Impossible. Is this really Agility D?!”
He himself wasn’t sure he could dodge a troll’s attack.
“Damn, that troll is fast. Someone catch its movements?”
“How is a D-Rank dodging like that?”
The onlookers couldn’t believe the unfolding spectacle.
Shinnoda’s body grew hotter. Magic from the Dragon Heart was circulating through the magic seals, generating heat. Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth. The seals weren’t sufficient.
Laurakis realized Shinnoda’s body was worse than expected. He had judged human bodies based on his past human creations.
The bodies formed by ‘Polymorph’ magic were strong enough to contain a dragon soul, but ordinary human bodies weren’t comparable.
‘I need to borrow the system’s power.’
Initially, he planned to obliterate the troll using ‘Hellfire’ magic but realized it wouldn’t suffice. Despite his wounded pride, he decided to use his skills.
System-registered skills were like templates—pre-prepared sets of calculations that allowed magic users to cast magic without fully comprehending it.
Using computers as an analogy, while normal mages worked like coders creating programs from scratch every time, awakened ones could simply use pre-made ones.
With skills, Laurakis only needed to apply minor modifications, drastically reducing the required computational power.
‘Telekinesis skill. Here’s how it works, but I’ll increase the power.’
Laurakis focused on the troll and clenched his previously outstretched hand, speaking.
“Enough. Vanish.”
In an instant, the troll disappeared. Only Shinnoda remained in the enclosed box.
And then…
Kuang.
A blue sphere fell to the ground, its landing making a heavy sound.
The spectators whispered.
“What just happened?”
“Where did it go?”
Shinnoda turned to make eye contact with the examiner.
The examiner’s whole body shivered.
Bright red, bloodshot eyes. Vertically slit pupils. Those were the eyes of a predator.
He instinctively shrank back.
“Surely…”
Standing up and approaching the enclosed box, the examiner’s legs trembled as he neared Shinnoda, yet his duty compelled him to overcome his fear.
As he got closer, the examiner began to recognize what the fist-sized sphere on the ground was. As suspected, it was the troll, compressed.
‘What kind of force could compress a troll like that?!’
Impossible power. No one had ever used telekinesis to this extent.
A mechanical voice echoed from the enclosed box.
<Error Encountered. Test cannot proceed.>
“Examinee, can you… turn off your ability?”
Shinnoda suddenly remembered and nodded.
“Ah.”
The red glowing magical seals on his body disappeared, the complex geometric patterns dissolving entirely from his face, arms, and legs.
Shinnoda’s soul returned to its rightful place.
Simultaneously, the glowing blue sphere exploded, scattering troll remnants around the box. These remnants soon transformed into square particles that sparked and fell to the floor.
“Even after seeing it, it’s hard to believe. My score for you: A in overall combat ability, S in skill performance. But how…?”
Shinnoda couldn’t answer. The aftereffects of the powerful magic made him feel like he was about to pass out.
Wobbling, he left the hall.
