Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When he went up to the fourth floor of the building she had told him about, he indeed found a single lecture hall with a sign that clearly read Candidate Class A.

“…Is there really no other way?”

Standing before the lecture hall, the feeling that washed over him was anything but ordinary.

Chang-sik lingered restlessly in front of the door, burdened by the idea of life in the academy with the others.

Then, as if urging him on, the status window appeared once more.

Ding!

It seemed the system was determined for Chang-sik to live out his academy days.

“…Well, since it’s come to this, I have no choice but to face it head-on at least once.”

Steeling his resolve, he reached out and opened the door to the lecture hall.

Click!

The moment he opened the lecture hall door and stepped inside, countless gazes stabbed onto him.

“……”

Chang-sik accepted those stares without so much as a flicker of reaction. Calmly, he climbed up to a seat tucked away in the very back corner and sat down.

In response to his unbothered behavior, the hall erupted into murmurs.

“What the hell? Is he late on the very first day?”

“Damn, he’s bold. Seriously.”

Amid the buzzing whispers of the candidates, someone clapped their hands loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright, alright! Everyone, please quiet down.”

The woman standing atop the podium silenced the noisy hall.

A woman with a broad, solid build and a thick double chin, her narrow, sharply slanted eyes giving off an irritable impression, she was the Instructor in charge of Candidate Class A.

She was Instructor Eom Mi-hwa, the instructor in charge of Candidate Class A.

Recently appointed as a new academy Instructor for the candidates, Eom Mi-hwa found Chang-sik to be thoroughly displeasing to the eye.

Hah! Who is this supposed to be?

Judging by the face, he’s not someone I recognize. Doesn’t look like the child of any notable hero family, either.

By Eom Mi-hwa’s standards, he was a thoroughly unremarkable candidate.

And as if arriving late to the very first class weren’t irritating enough, the fact that he offered not a single word of apology only deepened her annoyance.

Determined to shame the late Chang-sik in front of everyone, she painted on a stiff, deliberate smile.

“You there the candidate who just came in, is your name Kim Chang-sik?”

At the question, Chang-sik simply nodded, and said nothing.

Such brazen composure.

Eom Mi-hwa’s face twisted slightly.

Oh? Would you look at that. A mere candidate, daring to act like this…

Every instinct screamed for her to raise her voice, yet the dozens of eyes fixed on her forced restraint.

Suppressing her emotions, Eom Mi-hwa asked again.

“Why are you late?”

“Um…”

Chang-sik hadn’t even realized it was class time.

But since he couldn’t exactly state that fact as it was, the answer he gave was…

“I was sleeping.”

“…What?”

Coming from someone like him, it was the most apologetic he could sound, even if it didn’t seem like it.

Of course, to a woman who knew nothing about him, it was nothing short of bewildering.

“W-What did you just say?”

“…I said I was sleeping.”

At Chang-sik’s flat reply, Eom Mi-hwa finally failed to contain her anger.

“Candidate! Are you mocking me right now?”

When his meager attempt at remorse went completely unnoticed, Chang-sik let out a long, weary sigh

“I truly am sorry for being late. So if you don’t mind, I’d like us to proceed with the lesson now.”

“W-What? H-Hey, you—!”

Despite the fact that he had apologized, Eom Mi-hwa continued to bristle irritably. At that, Chang-sik finally spoke again, his tone turning cold.

“Let’s end this here.”

“……”

At Chang-sik’s blunt, unrestrained words, a heavy silence fell over the lecture hall.

And then, at that very moment…

“Pfft!”

Laughter burst out from the very back row of the classroom.

It came from a male candidate with an unusually striking hairstyle, he had red hair flaring outward like a lion’s mane.

Seemingly amused beyond measure by the situation, he clutched his stomach as he snickered uncontrollably.

And then…

“CANDIDATE!!”

A shrill, ear-splitting shriek slammed straight into Chang-sik’s eardrums.

Words poured out like a raging storm.

“Candidate! Have you lost your mind?! Do you even know who you’re talking to right now?!”

As she jabbed a finger at him and advanced in a threatening manner, Chang-sik’s eyes instantly filled with killing intent.

His thoughts accelerated violently.

Eyes, Temples, philtrum, Jaw, Adam’s apple, guts.

Instinctively, he mapped out the locations of her vital points.

A stand-off ready to erupt at any moment.

And then, at that very moment…

“Instructor.”

A candidate’s voice cut into the confrontation.

The instant she recognized the owner of the voice, her pupils began to tremble violently.

“…What is it, Gu Chi-sung?”

It was the red-haired candidate from earlier.

“Isn’t it class time right now? It seems like Candidate Kim Chang-sik has clearly acknowledged his mistake, so if possible, I think it’d be best to proceed with the lesson first.”

At the boy’s audacious remark, she fell silent, as though her tongue had been stolen, and began to read the room.

“……”

Then he spoke up again, pressing the point.

“Professor? Let’s just continue the lesson.”

“Y-Yes. Alright. As Gu Chi-sung says, since it is class time, we’ll proceed with the lesson immediately.”

Eom Mi-hwa shot Chang-sik a glare full of smoldering resentment, but as if she had no choice, she promptly began the lecture.

Chang-sik tilted his head slightly.

…What was that?

Even though she was a candidate instructor, ranking far below a full-fledged academy professor, seeing her cower before a mere candidate was a rather novel sight.

Chang-sik turned his gaze toward the red-haired boy.

“……”

The guy was resting his chin in his hand, wearing a bright, carefree grin as if the whole thing was endlessly entertaining.

Chang-sik felt an odd sense of familiarity about him.

* * *

Perhaps because it was the first day of candidate training, the class ended after a brief orientation, with no substantial instruction given.

Chang-sik gazed out the window, lost in thought.

No way around it. I'm really an academy student now.

Perhaps because it was break time, the chatter of the other candidates grated loudly against his ears.

“I met a C-rank hero a few days ago…”

“Man, the academy really is on another level.”

“Did you see the latest Hero Gazette?”

As expected from an Academy with hero candidates, their chatter revolved almost entirely around heroes.

Of course, to Chang-sik, every bit of it was useless noise.

With his chin propped on his hand, he exhaled softly, only to have someone plop down heavily into the seat beside him

“Hmm?”

It was the red-haired candidate from earlier.

Seeing the guy look at him with a broad, cheerful grin, Chang-sik tilted his head.

“What? You got something to say?”

“Huh? Not really… but is that your thing? Like, some kind of style you are going for?”

“…What are you talking about?”

At Chang-sik’s flat response, the guy’s eyes widened.

“I mean, being late on the first day and then talking back to the Instructor and all… it’s pretty unusual.”

In the first place, Chang-sik hadn’t even known it was class time.

And as for honorifics

Talking down to someone…

Of course, back when he had been Ha Jin seok, there had been times when he used polite speech with others.

But after a certain incident long ago, Chang-sik hadn’t used honorifics toward anyone ever again.

“Mind your own… hm?”

Then, all at once, the words “first day of admission” hit Chang-sik like a thunderbolt.

…What?

The voices of nearby candidates drifted into his ears.

“Did you see Black Sonic show up at the entrance ceremony?”

“Of course I did. First time I’ve ever seen an A-rank hero.”

Entrance ceremony?

A creeping sense settled in Chang-sik’s mind that he had missed something important.

He shot up from his seat and immediately headed outside the building.

“Hey…what the heck? Where are you going all of a sudden?”

The candidate’s voice called out to him from behind, but Chang-sik ignored it.

“…What is this?”

Stepping outside, he came to a grassy lawn where a cool breeze brushed against his skin.

Shhhhhh…

Beyond the wide expanse of grass loomed the massive main gate, firmly barring all outsiders.

An academy that was almost eerily quiet, almost peaceful.

And yet, for some reason, Chang-sik couldn’t shake the ominous feeling crawling up his spine.

I’m definitely missing something…

No matter how hard he tried to dredge up his memories, nothing surfaced right away.

With no other option, he headed back to the lecture hall, determined to set his priorities straight.

“For now lets clear that second mission I just received and think things through while I’m at it.”

Letting out a deep breath, Chang-sik began scanning the room for a suitable target.

And just then, a massive figure plopped down onto the desk beside him.

“Hey, Chang-sik. What’s up? Why the long face?”

“…You?”

“What, pretending you don’t know me now?”

Grinning, the guy who clearly already knew Chang-sik acted far too familiar, even going as far as calling him by name.

But Chang-sik had no patience to deal with him.

“Hmm, I’m a bit tired right now. I will talk to you later.”

“Huh? Suddenly all serious, huh?”

The massive guy leaned forward with his bulky frame in his usual friendly manner, and a few other candidates began gathering around them.

He rested his large hands clumsily on Chang-sik’s forehead.

“You’re not hurt or anything, right?”

“Not… really…”

As Chang-sik moved his hand to push the guy away, he caught the subtle twitch at the corner of the bulky boy’s mouth.

A sharp, taunting voice cut through the tense silence.

“Heh…looks like our Chang-sik’s scary as hell, huh?”

“……”

Hey, you punk! Acting all tough now, weren’t you doing the same thing back there with the Instructor?

The big guy’s remark was like a spark, and the others quickly jumped in, as if sensing an opportunity to rile him up.

“Whoa… I almost pissed myself earlier when you were messing with Instructor Eom Mi-hwa.”

“Right? I was starting to think this guy was high on something.”

“Hey, you bastard, if our class’s image gets trashed because of you, you better take responsibility?”

To those who didn’t know the details of Kim Chang-sik’s academy life, the conversation was completely baffling.

Watching the bulky boy struggle to maintain a menacing look, Chang-sik activated Trait

Ding!

———————————

———————————

At the same time, the system chimed, signaling that the [Trait Modification] was now unsealed but with everything else happening, Chang-sik barely registered it.

…Oh my god, what the hell is this trash?

Chang-sik was utterly taken aback.

Reading the flustered expression on his face, the bulky Kim Dae-chun sneered.

“Oh? Our Chang-sik’s flustered? Scared, huh? Heh heh.”

Of course, Chang-sik was surprised but the reason Kim Dae-chun imagined for his flustered state was wildly off the mark.

Faced with such absurdity, Chang-sik splashed some cold water on his face several times, as if to reset himself.

“Huh? Whoa, seems like our Chang-sik is really pissed?”

Dae-chun grabbed him by the collar, grinning maliciously.

Chang-sik, however, looked at him with a completely blank expression.

“If you don’t want to die, take your hand off me.”

In an instant, the surrounding chatter fell completely silent.

* * *

“Because of a single slippery fool, this is what happens!”

Instructor Eom Mi-hwa, newly assigned to oversee Candidate Class A at the academy, huffed angrily as she stormed into her office.

Her original plan had been to leave a good impression on candidates who might one day become highly recognized heroes in the near future.

But Kim Chang-sik had ruined all of that from the very start.

“Honestly… I’ve never seen such a hopeless idiot. What? Late because you were sleeping?”

Thinking of his shameless attitude and that so-called apology, she trembled with frustration and rage.

“How dare he… to an Instructor of this Great Academy…! Ugh!”

Of course, she wasn’t a full-fledged academy professor but merely a candidate instructor but that fact didn’t matter.

What mattered was that an utterly insignificant candidate had just humiliated her in that manner.

“But… why did Gu Chi-sung suddenly do that?”

The red-haired candidate, who had hair flared out like a lion mane, Gu Chi-sung, was the top-ranked student of the incoming academy class, a child from an immensely prestigious family.

Even before enrollment, he had gained fame as a promising hero-in-training.

Eom Mi-hwa had been planning to get on the good side of someone like Gu Chi-sung, hoping for even a sliver of connection, but…

“Why did he help that idiot?”

Huffing angrily to herself, she was suddenly struck by a chilling thought.

Wait… could it be?

A sudden suspicion crossed her mind…

She thought Kim Chang-sik could also be the child of a major hero family, one she hadn’t known about.

Ah… that explains why things are so messed up.

Heart pounding, she frantically began rifling through the student files.

Kim Chang-sik… Kim… Chang-sik. Got it!

When she finally found his records, her face automatically contorted in frustration.

“What is this supposed to be?”

An orphan with no family, the family relations section was completely blank.

Even Worse, he had entered the academy through the non-awakened category. A hopeless nobody.

The thought that she had been disrespected by someone so utterly insignificant refused to leave her mind.

“How dare that idiot…!”

Her anger now fully ignited, she stormed out of office, intent on punishing him on the spot.

And then, at that very moment…

Koo—kung!

As if a massive earthquake had struck, the entire building began to shake violently.

“W-What… What is this? An earthquake?”

Eom Mi-hwa pressed herself against the corridor wall, clutching her head in panic.

After a mom

ent, the shaking stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

At that moment, the corridor windows were bathed in a deep crimson light, as if the sunset itself had leaked into the glass.

And what met her eyes next was…

“W-What… is that?”

A massive barrier of blazing red flames had erupted in the academy candidate wing.

The Heroic life of the greatest villain begins.