Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 2

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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 Among Awakener Special Schools
Episode 2
“Wow, Seol Ji-hyo, what’s this? Who are you texting with? Don’t tell me it’s a boyfriend?”
The voice that followed the shriek wasn’t Ji-hyo’s.
Crackle—
The entire screen trembled violently.
The unsteady focus wavered precariously.
From the screen came faint echoes of sensation—breathing, a heartbeat.
What Ji-woo was watching now hadn’t been recorded by a camera.
A fragment of memory that So-young had copied.
Unstable data—sensations and impressions scraped from inside someone’s brain.
And so the memory was torn in places.
Ji-woo, eyes narrowed, examined the screen more carefully.
‘…Where is this? It doesn’t look like the school.’
At first glance, it looked like a cavern.
Walls layered like ancient collapsed strata. Dark, viscous moisture seeping from them.
The mist pooling thickly at her feet writhed faintly, as though alive.
A landscape sinister and oppressive, one she’d never witnessed firsthand, never experienced.
Yet Ji-woo knew instinctively where it was.
‘The Interior of Naarak.’
One of South Korea’s three major Naarak sites, managed by the National Gaon Special School.
She’d heard that students were dispatched periodically to the Interior or Vicinity of Naarak for practical training.
A girl on screen reached out, her face troubled.
“G-give it here.”
A girl with a face identical to Ji-woo’s.
Black hair. Blue eyes.
Ji-woo’s twin sister, Seol Ji-hyo.
“No way. Let me look for a bit. What, does it bother you?”
“Trying to act all high and mighty just because you’re some pharmaceutical heiress.”
“Like your old man’s the only tycoon? Mine’s a chaebol too.”
At the taunting laughter, Ji-hyo’s complexion noticeably darkened.
“It’s my phone. Give it back. Okay?”
It seemed clear that the children had forcibly taken Ji-hyo’s mobile phone.
But…
“Not my problem.”
“Man, she sure acts fancy about one phone.”
Ji-woo’s expression, fixed on the video, gradually hardened.
Unfortunately, the faces of the others weren’t visible on screen.
From the conversation, though, they seemed to be classmates who’d gone to practical training with her.
The problem was their attitude toward Ji-hyo. This went beyond teasing or playing around—it was genuine harassment.
“Oh, look—an Infected Being over there.”
“Where, where?”
The angle naturally shifted.
Across the screen, a shadow moved with the slow, grotesque gait of a zombie.
Through the entire grainy, crackling mess,
that creature’s presence was unmistakably clear.
Skin faded and warped like old paper. Eyes staring into empty space. Fingernails long and sharp as saw teeth.
A monster said to exist within Naarak.
An Infected Being.
“Looks like five or six of them?”
“Doesn’t seem to be a high rank. What do you want to do? They’d give us points, but it might be rough for our whole team to take them down at once.”
“Let’s just ignore them and head back up. We’ve got all the Mana Stones we need—don’t need the extra points.”
“But how do we lose those guys?”
In the midst of this back-and-forth, someone seemed to have an idea, their tone brightening.
“Hey, yeah. Seol Ji-hyo. You go.”
“M-me…?”
“You wanted your phone back, didn’t you?”
Ji-hyo appeared on camera, her face bewildered.
There was no room for refusal.
“Get it through your head this time, yeah?”
Someone shoved Ji-hyo hard in the back.
For a moment, the pusher’s face flashed on screen, but…
the angle turned faster still, and Ji-hyo tumbled into the direction where the Infected Beings swarmed.
“Kyaaah!!”
The Infected Beings reacted to Ji-hyo’s scream, moving toward her.
“Run!!”
“Jesus, that’s scary.”
Whoosh!
The children who’d thrown the phone bolted without hesitation.
“W-wait, you guys…!”
Terrified, Ji-hyo reached out toward them, but the Infected Beings were faster.
“Grrrrgh!”
The Infected Beings flooded in like a wave, overwhelming Ji-hyo.
“Ahhhhh!”
Crackle, crackle—
Red blotted across the entire screen as though spilled ink.
Ji-hyo was no longer visible.
Only the sounds of tearing, impact, rupture came through the speaker with perfect clarity.
“H-hey… is she okay? Isn’t she dying?”
“Die? Come on. Seol Ji-hyo’s got a Core Regenerative Ability. Let’s just see how long she lasts, then we’ll grab her or whatever.”
“That’s hilarious. We’re all running for our lives and you want to rescue her?”
Over Ji-hyo’s screams came cruel, giggling laughter.
Thud-thud-thud…
Then came the sound of something breaking.
It wasn’t from the video.
In the dark, lightless room,
it came from the area around Ji-woo, who’d been staring at the screen with an expressionless face.
…
As though responding to Ji-woo’s emotional tremor, the entire room began to shake slowly, like an earthquake.
Even so, the video didn’t cut off.
“Still… what if the teacher finds out?”
“Seol Ji-hyo’s too much of a coward to say anything anyway.”
“True. If she was going to tell, she’d have already done it back in middle school.”
“Ah, who cares if she does tell? The adults don’t pay attention to what we do anyway. Everyone’s too busy making their own deals.”
Unless someone dies, what’s the problem? The video cut abruptly with someone’s laughter.
The room fell silent as the video ended.
Though the screen had gone dark, Ji-hyo’s vivid screams as the Infected Beings tore at her skin still seemed to echo in her ears.
She couldn’t help but understand.
The “accident” Ji-hyo had suffered at school—it had been exactly this.
“…Insane bastards.”
Crash!
An empty glass that had been on the desk suddenly shattered into pieces.
From that point on, the faint tremor became violent, intensifying rapidly.
Rumble-rumble-rumble…!
The ceiling shook as though it might collapse any moment, dust beginning to rain down.
“Miss!”
The door burst open.
It was So-young.
“Miss, Miss! Calm down. Take a deep breath!”
“So-young…”
With So-young’s entrance, the sharp, cutting air that had surrounded the space abruptly softened.
The tremor did likewise.
Yet Ji-woo’s expression remained frozen.
Ji-woo pointed to the Memory Card Reader with the card inserted.
“Take that with you.”
“Sorry? Where…?”
“Anywhere. A newspaper, a broadcast station—take it and release it. That this kind of thing is happening at that supposedly great Gaon…! It all needs to be exposed to people…!”
Ji-woo’s breathing was growing ragged.
“Miss, please calm down. Take a deep breath first.”
So-young took hold of Ji-woo, speaking in the calmest, most measured voice she could manage.
“You know this yourself, Miss. Memory Cards copied with my ability only last once.”
At that, Ji-woo’s shoulders flinched.
In her agitation, she’d forgotten.
She turned slowly to look at the Memory Card Reader. As So-young had said, the Memory Card that had been inserted there had vanished like smoke.
“I secretly approached Miss Ji-hyo while she was in treatment and copied her memories. The Chairman still doesn’t know about it. It was something I did on my own initiative.”
That meant if the Chairman—Ji-woo’s grandfather—learned of this, So-young would face disciplinary action.
Depending on circumstances, she might even risk her life.
That was the kind of person her grandfather was.
Everything that happened in this household had to be within his grasp.
A man who would not tolerate anything happening elsewhere without his knowledge.
No matter the intention.
“Miss.”
So-young, who’d hesitated briefly, called to Ji-woo softly.
“Even if I’d taken the Memory Card somewhere and made a report, this matter would never have come to light in public anyway.”
“…What?”
As if asking what that meant, Ji-woo lifted her head.
“Why?”
“Because Gaon wishes it, and so does the Chairman.”
Grandfather?
Ji-woo’s eyes wavered.
“Even with Ji-hyo like this…?”
Gaon might be one thing. But grandfather shouldn’t be this way.
They’re family, after all.
“Miss, shall we sit down?”
So-young quickly guided Ji-woo into a nearby chair.
“It’s not something I should say at a time like this, but the reason I came here is because the Chairman asked me to relay a message.”
“…A message?”
“Miss Ji-hyo’s recovery seems to be taking longer than expected. Winter break ended last week already. If this continues, she may face Expulsion.”
Korean Awakener Special Law Article 1, Section 1.
All Awakeners must graduate from an educational institution designated by the state—namely, the National Gaon Special School.
There are no exceptions.
An Awakener who hasn’t received proper education cannot register with the Awakener Association, and is instead treated as a “potential criminal” with the capacity to misuse their Core.
That was this damned country’s law.
If Ji-hyo were expelled as things stood, she would—
“So the Chairman has instructed you to attend school in her place.”
…What? Her head shot up on its own.
“We don’t know how long Miss Ji-hyo’s recovery will take, but during that time, see that your attendance and overall grades don’t suffer. That’s what he said.”
“That doesn’t…”
It was baffling.
The grandfather who hadn’t granted her a single outing since she was five years old was issuing such an order.
Was he so concerned about his “only” granddaughter’s future?
If so, then why not expose this? Ji-woo couldn’t make sense of any of it.
“…No. I should speak to the Chairman about this again.”
Seeing Ji-woo’s rigid expression, So-young began gathering her things. She herself felt this wasn’t right.
Normally, Ji-woo would have scoffed as well, insisting she had no intention of listening to anything her grandfather said.
But…
In the still-dark room, the only light came from the monitor filled with noise.
Crackle—
A murky screen. And lingering traces of a twin sister who’d already vanished from it.
“Wait a moment, sister.”
When she realized it, Ji-woo was gripping So-young’s wrist as she made to leave the room.
“I’ll go.”
“…Sorry?”
Surprise widened So-young’s eyes.
In the pupils of her widened gaze was reflected a girl with a resolute face.
“I’ll attend school in her place.”
Eyes blue as a lake.
The face of Seol Ji-woo, bearing a striking resemblance to Seol Ji-hyo’s.

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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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