NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13
There are those who can’t show their true skills when they’re nervous.
They become psychologically shriveled, and since their minds are not at peace, strange mistakes pop up in actions they usually handle well.
Just like what just happened to me.
I had been communicating just fine with the hologram, so why did I almost blurt something out just now?
I had adjusted well to holographic conversations, so why did I even try to speak?
Previously, I could easily deal with attention and gazes, so why was I so tense this time?
I don’t know.
It was just a mistake… That’s all I could say.
It was a ridiculously silly blunder.
[I’m Lee Ha-yul, who came in through special admission. I will work hard to prove my qualifications through results.]
Thank you.
As soon as I displayed the hologram, I was met with a round of applause.
The response was so-so.
Not overly enthusiastic cheers, but not the worst kind of response either, one wrapped in cold silence…
– So the blind thing was right. Can they wander around because they’re from the perception series?
– And a mute too…
– Ugh…
Instead, there were bizarre looks aimed my way. Looks as if they found it absurd… or were looking at me with pity. Whispers were a bonus.
If it were jealousy and envy, I could brush it off, but I didn’t know how to respond to those kinds of feelings. I lowered my head and trudged back to my seat.
“…….”
“Cough, cough… Okay, that’s the end of the self-introduction! Since we’ll be seeing each other often, let’s avoid any blush-inducing situations. Next…”
Professor Riana broke the awkward atmosphere with a cough and continued speaking. It was clear she intended to change the subject.
The phrase “let’s avoid blush-inducing situations” pierced my heart. My face was already flushed…
How crucial first impressions are, and I totally ruined mine.
How will they perceive me? Just think about it.
Standing on stage just to introduce myself suddenly made me look like a weirdo, coughing and sputtering.
They’ll think I’m someone who can’t even manage a simple self-introduction.
It’s a miserable feeling. I felt pathetic and ashamed.
“Ha-yul, are you really okay…?”
[I’m fine.]
“Are you sure you’re not swallowing it all down…? If you’re in pain, you need to speak up…”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had rushed out when I was gasping just a moment earlier, also wore a peculiar expression. Her pale features contrasted sharply with her red hair.
The look in her eyes felt like she was looking at a sick person… My head grew heavier…
It seemed there was a strange misunderstanding piling up, and I had no words to say.
My face burned, and I laid my head on the desk.
“Ha-yul, does it hurt that much…?
No, that’s not it.
.
.
.
After Professor Riana left, a general lecture focusing on theory continued.
The general lectures I attended in the morning were “Divine Realm History” and “Basics of Magical Power Manipulation.”
Divine Realm History roughly covered history from about 200 years ago, while Basics of Magical Power Manipulation taught the history of magical power and basic knowledge.
History was… thanks to my knowledge from the original work, I had a bit of an understanding, but Basics of Magical Power Manipulation was somewhat challenging.
What I knew was just how to develop characters, not how to use magical power…
Fortunately, it started from the very basics, so I was able to barely keep up.
But the pace was extremely fast. Everyone seemed to be skimming through content they already knew.
The problem was that while “everyone knew this content,” I knew none of it.
In the original work, I could skip ahead and just see “knowledge +1” or “Today’s lecture has finished” in one line, but that wasn’t the case in reality.
I currently lacked common sense.
There’s a fundamental gap in common sense between someone who has lived in this world since birth and me, who lived in a talentless Earth.
To bridge the gap in that common sense, I need to keep attending theory classes.
Besides that, I have to attend for my grades as well.
In the original work, as long as I didn’t get into a massive mess, I wouldn’t be expelled… but I couldn’t take that chance in reality, so I needed to manage my grades.
There were still a lot of confusing parts, so I was thinking of reviewing them separately when I returned to the dorm.
Looking at the time, it was already a little past 1.
Having started lectures at 8, it seemed each lecture ate up about 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Lunchtime was just around the corner. I rummaged through my bag. I was sure I had packed a calorie bar…
“Do you want to have lunch together? I have plenty of recommendations for good places.”
[Lunch?]
While rummaging in my bag, I turned my head toward the voice I had heard.
Hong Yeon-hwa was now looking at me, her things all packed up.
[Aren’t you eating with Baek Ahrin?]
“Baek Ahrin? We can eat together later…”
Even with my eyes closed, it felt like Hong Yeon-hwa turned her head away, as if avoiding my gaze, mumbling excuses.
‘Food…’
Thanks to the curse of sensory sealing, I had no sense of taste.
I had tried various experiments.
I couldn’t feel sweet, salty, or sour tastes at all. I even heard that spicy is not technically a taste, so I tried that too, but couldn’t feel the heat either.
The only thing I felt was the bubbly sensation of carbonation? Even that felt foreign and made eating it unpleasant.
In truth, once it’s tied under the category of ‘curse,’ it’s pointless to worry about such common sense anymore.
It’s not like my tongue is entirely devoid of sensation… I just think that everything related to ‘taste’ is sealed off.
Because of that, I’ve barely had a proper meal since arriving here.
Thinking of the memories from when my taste buds functioned properly makes me feel even worse.
[I’m fine with anything.]
I felt low, but I’ve become a scout who eats just about anything now that I lost my sense of taste.
I never had picky eating habits before, but there were certain foods I would avoid.
But now, since I can’t taste anything, I could practically eat ‘anything’ as long as it met nutritional needs.
“R-really? Anything at all…? Just a moment…?”
With that thought in mind, Hong Yeon-hwa, looking somewhat bewildered, tapped her smartwatch.
After struggling and pondering for a while, she cautiously looked my way.
“Do you want to eat spicy stir-fried pork?”
[Sounds good.]
*
In the library, there’s a restaurant where students are provided meals for free.
Despite not charging a fee, the quality is high, and the menu changes daily, making it a favorite spot among many students.
However, due to various reasons, there are also students who eat out, so many eateries populate the area.
The place we went to was one of those eateries.
For lunch, we headed to a nearby famous spicy stir-fried pork place with Hong Yeon-hwa.
It was a short walk of ten minutes, no need to catch a bus.
Hong Yeon-hwa and I each ordered one spicy stir-fried pork set.
Before our meal arrived, Hong Yeon-hwa, sitting directly across from me, fidgeted with an awkward demeanor. No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t grasp the reason.
Not talking about heavy topics like family matters, but rather, she asked about my favorite things, whether I watched certain programs, and if I liked fruit, among others…
I didn’t know why she was asking, but I answered as earnestly as I could, and it helped us pass the time until our meals arrived.
As soon as the spicy stir-fried pork was served, Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes sparkled. Along with the pork was a bowl of soft tofu stew.
It was a set meal including both pork and stew.
As she swallowed, she picked up her chopsticks, and I followed suit.
I scooped up a big spoonful of the spicy tofu stew. The bright red soup, glistening under the lights, had a charm that naturally made my mouth water.
I brought a spoonful to my mouth, and the taste of warm water hit my palate.
“…….”
I didn’t expect this. I knew this would happen.
Sighing internally, I mechanically moved my chopsticks. By speeding up just enough, I could match her pace.
Maybe out of courtesy or concern for my inability to use my hands, we didn’t exchange much conversation during the meal.
“How was it?”
[It was delicious.]
After finishing the meal, Hong Yeon-hwa asked while sipping some water, and I answered adequately.
“Really?”
As I heard her reaction, I could sense her lips twitching in space perception.
…I felt guilty for lying. Should I tell her I can’t taste anything even now? But the timing feels off to say it now, doesn’t it?
Keeping it a secret from now on doesn’t feel right either… I’ll find a moment later to tell her.
Honestly saying I can’t taste it, and apologizing for lying before.
After finishing the meal, we parted ways for our specialized classes.
Hong Yeon-hwa headed to her advanced combat major class.
And I…
Professor Riana: Special admission students will receive one-on-one lectures with special professors during their specialized classes! Be there by 2 PM! (Today, 13:03)
One-on-one lecture.
I had received this information in the morning from Professor Riana and also got material through a text.
This was also different from the original work. In the original, I had joined the basic class to study with the other students, but here, I was getting one-on-one special lessons from a professor.
Professor Riana: Also, I’m sorry about this morning (⑅◞‸◟) (Today, 13:05)
Professor Riana: [Royal Candy Exchange Voucher] x10 (Today, 13:05)
Professor Riana: Buy something delicious with this (Today, 13:06)
Me: There’s no need for you to apologize, Professor. (Today, 13:51)
Professor Riana: I’m really really sorry! ?(T-T )ノ (Today, 13:53)
She apologized again for what happened this morning.
Professor Riana didn’t really do anything wrong; I just got nervous and messed up…
Even when I told her she didn’t need to apologize, not long after, an emoticon of her crying in tears came back.
Sighing, I thought about this special lecture.
‘Is this better?’
Having one professor teach one person might be better than a single professor teaching dozens.
When I first came in through special admission, I thought it didn’t come with benefits, but is this a benefit after all?
In any case, I’d be receiving teachings from a professor at the highly regarded Shio-ram all to myself.
To get some fresh air, I walked toward the guided location.
Most facilities for first-year students were clustered in one area, so walking around wasn’t too bad if I had the time.
When one thinks of Shio-ram, they often think of the latest high-tech facilities.
And indeed, it was true. Just looking at the dormitory building, nearly everything was automated.
The training facilities were the same.
Despite the tower compelling the light, they were filled with devices featuring technologies like augmented reality, combat dummies varying their movements based on difficulty, and gravity chambers enhanced with increased internal gravity—technology that I had never seen on any previous Earth.
‘Is this the place?’
The place I reached after walking was somewhat far from the high-tech facilities.
As I tapped my toes against the ground, I felt the rough texture. It was a hard, dry earth where you could hardly find a weed.
It felt more like a gym than a training ground. In reality, a white belt was drawn around the big open space.
Traces of rough usage were felt here and there, indicating that it was often in use. Thanks to my spatial perception, I could feel it even more.
Not only were there marks of the ground being dug and filled, but also straight cuts as if by a sword, signs of burning and soaking, and even traces of the earth being flipped upside down.
It felt like a vintage gym, far removed from advanced technology.
“Looks like you arrived quite early.”
“?!”
While I was fiddling with the straight lines, a presence I sensed from behind made my fur stand on end, followed by a voice.
I jumped back in shock, and a woman was staring at me with her arms crossed where I had just stood.
‘What the hell.’
She hadn’t been there just a second ago. I was even more certain since I was scanning the area with spatial perception.
“Hm.”
Despite my confusion, the woman approached me with her arms still crossed.
As she came closer, I noticed she was quite tall. Nearly 180? No, even taller than that.
To see her face at my eye level, I had to look up.
“You picked up my presence before I even spoke. Am I right?”
[Yes.]
It was a small difference, but I did catch her presence before she spoke. It wasn’t like the Vice-Principal’s space movement.
The Vice-Principal gave off the feeling of “I’m coming in” after tapping on the spatial perception.
But this woman felt as if she were lying in my bed, watching me from above at some point.
“Perception-type. You detected my presence after about a month of awakening… Not too shabby.”
Muttering something and seeming to judge me, the woman nodded as her blonde hair, cascading to her shoulders, swayed.
“I’m Atra Clyde. I’ll be your professor for combat major classes.”
[I’m Lee Ha-yul, who came in through special admission. Please take care of me.]
This was a figure I didn’t know this time. Seeing her stop speaking, it seemed she had no intention of revealing her rank.
As I wrote this down and lowered my head, I sensed Atra’s slight frown at the mention of special admission.
‘Oh, is this not a good thing?’
It’d be awkward if she were one of those professors who aren’t fond of special admission students.
“…Let’s clear a few things up.”
As I wondered about that, I looked up to see Atra exhaling deeply and beginning to speak.
“I have no specific thoughts about special admissions. While I’m not going to close my eyes and deny it, I’m also not going to automatically be open about it.”
Atra narrowed her eyes, looking down at me.
“That was a selection by the Principal, so I’ll teach you for the time being, but it’s true that I have doubts since nothing has been proven yet. Got it? This wouldn’t be a problem for a normal student, but since you’ve come in as a special case, there are significant expectations for you.”
Atra’s narrowed gaze pierced through me.
“Not just me, but everyone, and the eyes of the public are upon you. No excuses aside, you are the first and only special admission chosen by the cradle.”
The first and only.
That’s why special admission attracts so much attention.
I was the 121st class of new students. So, in the past 121 years, despite the existence of this system, not a single special admission student had appeared.
“…That was a long-winded explanation. The time’s almost up. Let’s start training.”
– Thud thud.
Professor Atra walked toward the edge of the gym, pointing to the ground marked with white lines.
“Run.”
“……”
I used my spatial sense to follow the white line. It circled the large gym… meaning it was a running track.
[How many laps should I run?]
“Until I say you’re done. Or until you faint.”
Professor Atra nodded.
“This is a physical fitness test. Since you entered through special admission, there’s no recorded data, so we must measure it like this. Alright—”
Start.
Professor Atra said this flatly, and I opened my mouth in shock before obediently nodding.
This was certainly not what I imagined class would be like, but I guess this is just another way of teaching.
With that thought, I stomped on the ground.
And I really ran until nearly passing out.