Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 17

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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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Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School
Episode 17
Eyes narrowed fiercely fixed upon Seol Ji-hyo with an intensity that could pierce through steel.
The ‘Seol Ji-hyo’ standing before him carried an atmosphere entirely different from usual.
Come to think of it, it had been that way since the first day of school.
Teal-dark hair cascading to her waist. Eyes transparent as lake water.
A frail girl whose demeanor seemed oddly composed for her age.
…Nothing had changed, at least to look at her.
‘But something is definitely different.’
Gu Min-jae couldn’t quite put it into words, but he wondered if ‘that incident’ had somehow damaged her head.
The fact that she’d walked right behind him and followed him here without hesitation was proof enough.
The Seol Ji-hyo he knew would have been terrified, unable to speak a word—yet she’d taken the initiative to open her mouth first.
“Since things have come to this, I should ask you something.”
Look at that. Speaking with such confidence, head held high.
Audacious.
“Who else is there besides you?”
Ji-hyo asked.
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“The one who’s been tormenting me. There’s more than just you.”
“Why are you asking me? That’s something only in your head.”
Gu Min-jae found the whole situation aggravating.
The fact that she could meet his gaze directly without flinching, let alone speak to him in such crisp, measured tones—it all irritated him.
“I don’t get it. Why ask me something like that now? Are you gonna write everyone’s name in some death note? Or what, are you gonna run to the Headmaster’s Office and snitch on us?”
Gu Min-jae chuckled, stepping closer to Ji-hyo.
“Idiot. If there was actually a problem, you would’ve been punished by now.”
Tap.
Gu Min-jae flicked his finger against Ji-hyo’s forehead, as if telling her to think.
Even from that alone, her slender neck bobbed like a roly-poly toy.
Finding it amusing, Gu Min-jae pressed her pale forehead again, harder this time.
“Don’t you know? This school doesn’t care what we do here. Just graduate on your own and contribute to society later.”
“…You’re right.”
Ji-hyo nodded in agreement.
“No matter what happens here, the school won’t step in.”
“Yeah, of course… Ugh!”
Crack!!
Gu Min-jae’s head snapped to the side as if it might break.
It happened in an instant.
Before he could even process what had occurred, his body lurched violently and he crashed down hard on his rear.
He lifted his head in a daze.
Standing calmly above him were those water-like eyes, looking down.
Seol Ji-hyo smiled flatly.
“What? Did you think I’d never fight back?”
“This is insane…!”
His fist, veins standing out, cut through the air with a swoosh.
Ji-hyo made no move to dodge.
Crack!
This time it was Ji-hyo’s head that turned.
The blow was so severe that her lip split, blood trickling down her chin in a thin crimson line.
Ji-hyo wiped away the blood with her thumb, pressing gently.
“…Just a wet punch, then.”
“What did you just say?”
“You don’t actually have the power to act like a tyrant with a fist like that.”
Gu Min-jae’s punch had only force behind it—nothing remarkable.
Look at him now: he was already reacting to each one of Ji-hyo’s provocations, his face flushing with anger.
…Just a simple brute.
How had the others let this guy hold so much sway over the class?
Why had Ji-hyo been forced to endure only his abuse all this time?
‘…Though, of course, it wasn’t just him.’
It wasn’t Min-jae acting alone who had shoved Ji-hyo into that hellish torment.
There were accomplices she hadn’t yet identified.
She had to find them.
Find them, and repay them in kind.
“Damn it, hey. What did you just say? Huh?”
Gu Min-jae’s eyes blazed as he raised his fist again.
But this time there was no second blow.
Clap!
Ji-hyo seized his wrist.
“Hey.”
She addressed him, her face utterly expressionless.
“I never got an answer.”
“Damn it, what answer!”
“Who else besides you. The people who tormented me.”
Gu Min-jae’s face twisted as his wrist remained trapped in her grip.
For a moment he tried to make sense of her words.
Then he bared his canine teeth in a sneer.
“Go to—”
…Ah.
Talking to him was pointless.
As Ji-hyo’s lips parted slightly, Gu Min-jae ripped his hand away.
But Ji-hyo was faster.
Crunch!
Her fist drove directly into his ribs.
“Ugh…?!”
The wind knocked clean out of him, Gu Min-jae crumpled. Then he violently vomited.
“Ugh… hack…”
The pain was absolutely unbearable.
As if it wasn’t a fist at all, but rather…
A beast? No, something far more savage.
……Yes—as though struck by an Infected Being, the agony was maddening.
‘Seol Ji-hyo has this kind of strength?’
Uncontrollably, his body trembled.
Ji-hyo watched him writhe in pain with an unmoved expression.
– You can weaponize pain? What does that even mean?
Yesterday, Im Li-sa had asked.
This was the answer.
──Seol Ji-hyo’s final Core.
It was the ability to transfer wounds she had suffered onto another person.
The so-called Give and Take.
Though she could not transmit viruses or cells—colds, cancers, plagues and the like—
She could store and transfer external injuries that bled, and even the pain she felt in those moments, inflicting it upon others at will.
Ji-hyo had deliberately chosen not to heal from the Infected Being’s impact yesterday.
She had kept it, so she could return it to him.
To this bastard.
Of course, Gu Min-jae wouldn’t think that far. He’d simply believe it was the force of ‘Seol Ji-hyo’s’ fist, nothing more.
Stupid fool.
“Hah… hah….”
Nauseating bile mixed with blood dripped from his mouth.
He could barely hold his upper body upright; instead his back curled inward.
Ji-hyo approached him with her gaze fixed, her footsteps deliberate.
“Disgusting.”
Gu Min-jae’s shoulders flinched. Unable to wipe the vomit from his mouth, he lifted his eyes, contorted with agony.
“What. Are you gonna run to the Headmaster’s Office and tell on me?”
Ji-hyo smiled, twisting her lips, and knelt down to whisper directly into his ear.
“Try it then. You idiot.”
“……!”
His body wouldn’t move.
As if invisible ropes bound him completely, constricting his breath itself.
Damn. His hands were shaking.
Was it from the pain still vivid in his ribs? No, absolutely not.
…Could it be—was I scared?
Me, scared of Seol Ji-hyo?
That girl who couldn’t even meet my eyes once, who would flatten herself against the wall to let me pass in the corridor?
‘…No way.’
The incomprehensible reality felt like a dream. He found himself pathetic and repulsive for having felt even a moment of fear.
While Gu Min-jae remained frozen, Ji-hyo quietly picked up a single shoe that had fallen to the ground.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she walked past him cleanly.
Tap.
She gently tossed the shoe into an incinerator, where sparks flickered and crackled.
Once Ji-hyo confirmed the shoe had vanished beyond the flames, she turned around with a neat expression.
“You clean that up.”
She glanced dismissively at the revolting vomit and left the incinerator room.
By the time her footsteps faded completely into silence—
“Damn…!”
Gu Min-jae slammed his fist hard against the ground.
* * *
Having slipped out of the incinerator room, Ji-hyo leaned against a nearby tree.
‘My head is killing me.’
The third Core was indeed powerful, but using it always triggered a severe headache like this. It was called recoil.
It wasn’t invulnerable, either.
To inflict intense pain on another person, Ji-hyo had to first ‘carry’ that pain herself.
‘At least I was hit by the Infected Being yesterday. That worked out well.’
Of course, this wasn’t the end of her revenge.
Compared to the pain Ji-hyo had endured, a mere punch meant nothing.
And there was no guarantee Min-jae would stay quiet after this.
‘Let me rest a moment first.’
Ji-hyo leaned diagonally against the tree, evening out her breathing.
Fortunately, there was still time before classes resumed, so once the headache subsided she’d head back to the classroom.
But then.
‘Huh?’
Leaves suddenly rustled and fell from a tree across from her.
Tree branches shook as if an earthquake were occurring.
Lifting her gaze naturally, she could see someone perched in that tree.

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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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