Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Awakener Special School Ranking 0
Chapter 11
When Awakeners speak of Regeneration, it means far more than simply healing cuts on the skin.
For instance, one could recover stamina and mental fortitude far more quickly than ordinary people.
Particularly, not tiring easily during outdoor activities was a considerable advantage in its own right.
Thanks to this, he’d been able to search for Maeseok for four straight hours without rest, turning over soil and grass.
‘Found another one.’
Maeseok turned up in all manner of places.
In the gaps between massive boulders, along streams, inside bird nests, between protruding tree roots, and so on.
When he’d first come to this area around Narak on day one, he hadn’t fully grasped it, but now he saw that the surroundings were little different from a genuine forest.
Except for the path leading to the Academy Building, the rest was packed densely with trees and stone.
‘Did someone deliberately plant trees around here like this? To dilute the Toxic Energy that seeps out from Narak, even slightly?’
Planting trees around such a massive pit couldn’t have been an ordinary undertaking.
As he rummaged through the brush and undergrowth, it felt less like an assignment and more like a treasure hunt.
‘…I’m actually enjoying this a bit.’
He wasn’t sure whether he should be thinking such things in this situation, but still.
To be honest, it was somewhat pleasant.
There was a time, long ago, when he’d played in nearby hills and woods.
That is, before he’d been locked away in ‘that house’ at age six.
Hide-and-seek, tag, or else tearing through the grass hunting for butterflies he fancied.
…with Ji-hyo.
‘I wonder if Ji-hyo is still receiving treatment.’
The thought of Ji-hyo lying in a hospital bed caused the faint excitement that had been building to drain away suddenly.
‘…I should head down around now.’
The promised time had crept closer than he’d realized.
Ji-woo counted the Maeseok he’d gathered so far.
‘One, two, three… five in total.’
That should count as a decent performance.
He looked up briefly to check the sky—the sun was already sinking low on the horizon.
Ji-woo hurried out of the forest.
Far off, beneath a towering tree, he could make out a tall silhouette leaning against the trunk.
It was Moon Yu-jin.
Those ash-gray eyes, gazing at some distant view, revealed nothing of what occupied his thoughts.
“…….”
Their gazes met across the empty space.
Spotting Ji-woo, Yu-jin peeled his back away from the tree with fluid ease.
He approached with an appearance unmarred by a single detail—as though he’d been back for some time.
Ji-woo had expected him to ask why he was so late, but instead Yu-jin said something entirely different.
“How many did you find?”
Rather than answer, Ji-woo held up the Maeseok he’d collected.
Five in total.
“…You found all of these yourself?”
“Of course.”
At that, Moon Yu-jin’s expression shifted for the first time.
Surprise flickered across that iron-still face, and Ji-woo found himself straightening with a flicker of pride.
“How many did you find?”
This time it was Yu-jin who held out his Maeseok.
Four in total.
Ji-woo tilted his head slightly to study Yu-jin.
‘…What’s his Core?’
Though he didn’t know the average number of Maeseok the other students had found, four was certainly a substantial amount.
Only one fewer than Ji-woo, who’d torn through the brush for four solid hours without a single break.
“We should head down now.”
Moon Yu-jin gathered his Maeseok and took the lead.
“Huh? Head down?”
Ji-woo’s eyes widened in surprise as he emerged from his thoughts.
“It’s five o’clock. We’ve got less than an hour until the assignment ends.”
Accounting generously for thirty minutes to exit the forest entirely, plus the time to arrive, submit the Maeseok, and receive evaluation, they didn’t have much margin.
But that was no reason to leave immediately.
“Lim Li-sa hasn’t arrived yet. Let’s wait a bit longer. She might be late because she was focused on finding Maeseok.”
Moon Yu-jin turned slowly to regard Ji-woo, that characteristic dry expression unchanged.
“…….”
His ashen, subdued eyes lingered on Ji-woo for a moment, as if weighing something.
Then, keeping his backpack on his shoulder, he leaned quietly against a nearby tree.
‘…He agreed?’
Yu-jin pulled earbuds from his pocket and inserted them, then folded his arms and closed his eyes, seemingly intent on shutting out the world entirely.
Ji-woo likewise settled some distance away, dropping into a casual crouch.
So the time flowed silently on, without conversation, like water.
Ten minutes, twenty, thirty…
Forty minutes had passed.
Yet Lim Li-sa had not returned.
* * *
‘…This should be enough.’
Beneath the shade of a massive tree.
Lim Li-sa, who had been crouching, checked the time and slowly rose to her feet.
Quite a bit of time had elapsed since the assignment began—it was time to head back to the rendezvous point.
Li-sa withdrew the Maeseok from her pocket.
“Thanks, you guys. You helped me find them so quickly.”
Li-sa spoke these words into the empty air, or more precisely, toward the insects circling around her.
Ladybugs, ants, grasshoppers…
The small creatures were hovering around Li-sa for some reason.
It was thanks to Li-sa’s Core: Insect Pheromone.
Simply put, Insect Pheromone was the power to communicate with insects and, to a certain extent, command them to her will.
But perhaps because her subjects were insects—mostly bugs at that.
Most people around her looked upon her with revulsion.
That her classmates had begun to ostracize Li-sa was perhaps a natural progression.
That creepy girl who talks to bugs.
That girl you can do anything to.
At some point, Li-sa’s image had crystallized into exactly that.
She’d resigned herself to a graduation characterized by torment and loneliness.
It was near the end of second year of middle school when that changed.
– Hey, did you see? Ji-hyo rolling around during PE last time.
– That’d be so embarrassing. If I were her, I couldn’t even lift my head.
Ji-hyo, granddaughter of the chairman of Seol Hwa Pharmaceutical.
She had become the target of ostracism.
Li-sa never did learn the exact trigger, let alone the reason. And since she herself didn’t fit in with the other students, it made sense.
By the time she realized it, Ji-hyo was already being shunned.
– Hey, look where you’re going!
Crack!
Someone struck Ji-hyo’s back roughly.
The blow was so hard that her frail frame tottered, and she crashed to the ground face-first.
As Li-sa, passing nearby, happened to glance over, their eyes met.
– Ah…….
Li-sa quickly averted her gaze and left the spot.
She was afraid. Terrified that the fallout might reach her too.
So she looked away.
…Even though she knew exactly how miserable that would feel, how much pain it would cause.
But then, on some winter day just before the third-year winter break, during practical training, an accident befell Ji-hyo.
Though not in her class, Li-sa saw the ambulance arrive in front of the middle school Academy Building, saw that girl being loaded inside.
And days later, Ji-hyo took a leave of absence.
She heard rumors that she’d returned to her family’s home for treatment.
After that…
The target of ostracism naturally returned to Li-sa herself.
– Ugh, I don’t want to be in the same group as Lim Li-sa.
– Disgusting. Look at her eyes. So creepy.
It was fine.
She’d already endured it before, and she thought of it as punishment for ignoring Ji-hyo.
She believed she could never belong with anyone until graduation.
‘Still, I found quite a lot of Maeseok, so at least I won’t be a burden to my teammates, right?’
At the very least, she had to do her best not to hold them back.
As Li-sa gathered her Maeseok and trudged toward the agreed-upon rendezvous point, that was when it happened.
“Hey.”
A massive silhouette burst suddenly from the brush, and she jerked to a halt.
Bright orange hair that stung the eyes. A crooked smile with a silver piercing in his lip.
…Gu Min-jae.
The moment she saw his face, Li-sa reflexively stepped back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Gasp…!”
Gu Min-jae seized her wrist and held up a pair of black shoes in his other hand.
“You know who these belong to, don’t you?”
“I, I don’t know…”
“Bullshit, I already know. They’re your friend’s.”
…Friend? Li-sa felt herself turn to ice.
Gu Min-jae added a smile to his lips.
“You sat next to Ji-hyo on the bus, right? You two were getting along so well, huh?”
“…Those shoes are Ji-hyo’s?”
“You acting? That girl was barefoot on the bus—you’d have seen it if you had eyes.”
Crunch—the grip on her wrist tightened.
“Ow, it hurts…!”
“Start talking while I’m still being nice. Whose shoes are these?”
In that moment, Lim Li-sa understood.
Whether these shoes belonged to Ji-hyo or not didn’t truly matter to this man.
If Li-sa admitted they were hers, then surely Gu Min-jae would—
– Let’s do our best today.
The image of Ji-hyo’s bright smile suddenly flashed through her mind.
“Hey, you not answering?!”
The shout struck her ears, and Li-sa’s shoulders shrank inward.
“Dammit, these ARE Ji-hyo’s! Right?!”
“No, that’s not it!”
“What?”
“Ji-hyo said someone stole her shoes from her locker. So these must belong to someone else…!”
“You persistent little—”
“L-let go!”
Splash!
Li-sa wrenched her arm free from Gu Min-jae.
‘I have to run.’
Eyes clenched shut, Li-sa backed away rapidly.
But then.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly her foot caught nothing beneath it.
The ground she’d stepped on was a cliff edge.
Not high enough to kill, but steep enough all the same.
“Aaah!”
Lim Li-sa screamed as she fell.
Thud!
As Li-sa crashed against the ground below, a searing pain shot through her ankle.
While she clutched at her injured ankle, groaning, a cruel laugh echoed from the cliff above.
“Idiot.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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