Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 28

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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 Awakened Special School
Episode 28
Before Jo Bitna could even register what that humming meant, her shoulders flinched.
The eyes of the “Seol Ji Hyo” standing before her had shifted entirely.
Crack!
Jo Bitna struck away Ji Woo’s hand that had been gripping her shoulder with force.
The hand that seemed as though it wouldn’t budge released surprisingly easily.
Jo Bitna wrapped her aching shoulder with one hand and looked around.
“……you guys.”
A gentle, hushed voice, as though reciting a secret incantation.
That was all.
Yet from that single brief utterance, the air around them changed.
A thick rose fragrance saturated the wind, and Ji Woo’s eyes narrowed.
‘…A Core?’
The moment Ji Woo’s movement faltered, the gang standing beside Jo Bitna rushed at him in unison.
“Get away from Bitna!”
Their eyes all held the same faint crimson glow.
Without knowing the details, it was clear that Jo Bitna’s Core was Manipulation Type.
The fists pouring down indiscriminately flowed like those entranced by something, utterly abandoned to the moment.
Which meant dodging them wasn’t difficult.
Whoosh!
Ji Woo caught a male student’s incoming fist like a baseball in his hand and twisted it.
“Aaaaah!”
Crack!
With the sound of the fist crumbling, the student flew backward.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“This is……!”
One of them lifted the debris scattered around the area.
It was a broken desk.
A desk of that size wouldn’t be light under normal circumstances, but seeing him lift it so easily suggested his Core was of the type that enhanced physical ability.
But what did that matter.
“……?!”
Whiing—
The student about to hurl the desk froze in place.
He didn’t move, as though nailed down.
Not his body—but the desk he was holding.
The other students were no different.
The children who’d rushed at Ji Woo like guard dogs solidified as though locked in ice.
The cause was Ji Woo’s Telekinesis.
Using his Telekinesis Core, Ji Woo had fixed the desk the male student lifted suspended in mid-air.
Beyond that—the shoes on the other students’ feet, the rocks they held, even the necklaces around their necks.
Every object they were in contact with at that moment had been pinned in place as though nailed down through the use of Telekinesis.
Of course, those already entranced by Jo Bitna’s Core wouldn’t notice such a thing.
To them, it could only feel as though their bodies had gone rigid.
“Ugh, ughhhh…….”
“You guys, what are you doing? Why is everyone suddenly like this?”
Jo Bitna, who had hidden behind at some point, sounded quite flustered.
Perhaps because of her agitation, the thick rose fragrance that had been hovering nearby suddenly grew faint.
The power of the Core controlling the children had weakened.
Meanwhile, even as this unfolded, Ji Woo passed by the children frozen like statues one by one and drew closer to Jo Bitna.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Jo Bitna cried out, seized by an ominous premonition.
Her urgent eyes scanning her surroundings caught sight of a female student standing alone in a corner over there.
“Kim Yeon Hui, what are you doing there? Help me, quick!”
“……!”
Kim Yeon Hui’s body trembled.
Having lost her composure and become scattered, Jo Bitna’s Core that had been oppressing Kim Yeon Hui had also weakened.
Evidence of this: Kim Yeon Hui didn’t move as Jo Bitna commanded. She merely trembled faintly, shifting her gaze from Jo Bitna to Ji Woo.
Kim Yeon Hui, biting her lower lip as though deliberating, soon fled from the spot.
“Kim Yeon Hui! Where are you going!”
Tap-tap-tap.
Watching Kim Yeon Hui leave, Jo Bitna let out a sharp cry.
When she turned her head forward again, Ji Woo was already right in front of her.
Step, step, step…….
The sound of footsteps on earth ceased.
Ji Woo stopped before Jo Bitna’s face, looking down at her with eyes so blue they held no warmth whatsoever.
Jo Bitna, backing away in small steps, soon realized there was a stone wall behind her and stopped.
“I’ll ask one last time.”
Tap.
Ji Woo placed a hand on Jo Bitna’s shoulder once more.
“Why do you hate Seol Ji Hyo?”
It would have been strange for him to refer to himself as “Seol Ji Hyo,” but that wasn’t important now.
Jo Bitna glanced at the hand on her shoulder, then slowly lifted her gaze and locked eyes with those blue irises.
“Why are you curious about the reason?”
“Because I want to know.”
“That’s too bad then.”
Jo Bitna broke into a flower-like smile.
“There’s no such thing.”
……Ah.
Ji Woo’s lips parted slightly.
The lips that seemed about to stiffen instead soon curved into a faint smile.
“I see.”
Saaah—
From Ji Woo’s hand, a light so faint only he could perceive it leaked out.
‘…What is this?’
A warm liquid sensation spread through her entire body, centered on her shoulder blade.
The moment Jo Bitna turned her head toward her shoulder in alarm.
“Hmmph!”
Jo Bitna hastily covered her mouth.
What followed was a twisting in her stomach and pain beyond comprehension.
“Hack! Cough……!”
Unable to endure it, Jo Bitna collapsed to the ground. Vomit streamed down over her lips glossed with shimmering gloss.
──Give and Take.
It was Ji Woo’s third Core.
The terrible pain that he’d absorbed when he touched Som Yi earlier, what that girl had felt.
Jo Bitna writhed on the ground like a squid on hot stone, and unsatisfied with that, she began clawing at her chest with her long nails.
Buttons from her uniform tore away, and pale pink nail tips fell one by one.
Before Jo Bitna like this, Ji Woo crouched down.
“Does it hurt your mouth?”
“Gasp… ugh!”
He gently grasped Jo Bitna’s shoulders as she tried to retch. Then, as though admonishing her, he whispered in her ear.
“Chew it well. Don’t get indigestion.”
Splurt. Splatter.
Vomit leaked through her forcibly clamped lips.
It was natural that Jo Bitna couldn’t maintain her senses as her entire body contorted in agony.
And so too did her Core “Fascination” dissipate.
“What is this, exactly…….”
“What were we doing here? Geez, why is Bitna like that?”
The children drew sharp breaths upon seeing Jo Bitna’s state.
Yong Myeong Ju, who had been following Jo Bitna about, was no exception.
Disheveled hair. Bloodshot eyes. Makeup smeared black with mucus and tears.
That ruined appearance was no longer the Jo Bitna that the students of Gaon knew.
Those who’d been cautiously reading the situation soon felt an ominous premonition and began to scatter hastily.
Jo Bitna didn’t look at them.
That they’d seen her like this.
That they were abandoning her and running.
None of it mattered now.
No—there was no time to think about it.
“Uhhhh, ugh……!”
While she thrashed about in pain.
Footsteps approached from the corner where the children had disappeared.
“Is someone there?”
──A refreshing and gentle tenor, like a gentle breeze.
It was Bae Han Gyeol’s voice.
As though responding to it, Jo Bitna’s shoulders, which had been shaking violently, went still.
“Is that you, Ji Hyo? Are you there?”
“……!”
The footsteps grew faster.
Jo Bitna began frantically rummaging through her pockets.
After searching through her jacket’s inner pocket, outer pocket, left skirt pocket, and right skirt pocket, what she finally found was a Hand Mirror that had broken somewhere along the way.
“Hah, hah…….”
Jo Bitna hurriedly fixed her appearance as she peered into the Hand Mirror.
She quickly combed her disheveled hair with her fingers and wiped the mucus and vomit from her face with the back of her hand.
With her nearly ruined nails, Jo Bitna scratched away the mascara smeared black under her eyes, then nervously felt through her jacket’s front pocket.
Lip Balm. Where was her Lip Balm……?
“Ji Hyo?”
Bae Han Gyeol’s voice came again.
Ji Woo watched Jo Bitna as she applied the broken Lip Balm to her lips like a crayon and licked his own lips.
“Yeah, Bae Han Gyeol. I’m here.”
“What are you doing? Are you okay? I’m coming over.”
“No, don’t come.”
……Still.
Jo Bitna stopped moving.
Holding the broken Lip Balm in her hand, she slowly lifted only her eyes to look at Ji Woo.
With an expressionless face, Ji Woo kept his gaze fixed on Jo Bitna and spoke once more to the still-distant Bae Han Gyeol.
“You don’t need to come. Call a faculty member for me instead. Som Yi seems to be sick.”
“……! Oh, got it! I’ll bring them right away!”
Tap-tap-tap, footsteps receded.
Jo Bitna, her head drooping, remained silent for a time.
“…I hate this.”
The broken Lip Balm fell from Jo Bitna’s hand and rolled away.
“Living in this world is so easy, isn’t it?”
“…What?”
“You’re the granddaughter of a conglomerate family. Do you really need to fake smiles in front of others? No need for false modesty, no need for pretense just because you don’t like some senior who’s doing well.”
Jo Bitna slowly lifted her head.
“Why do I hate you? Fine, I’ll tell you. I hate the way you play at being good. I hate the expression you wear, so resolute in front of others.”
“…….”
“I hate that you were lucky enough to be born into wealth and live in comfort. I hate that you get all the attention just by doing nothing. I hate that you don’t care about grooming yourself, yet you’re the only one in class who carries the most expensive Hand Cream.”
“…….”
“I just hate it all. From start to finish, I hate your very existence so much……!”
Having said that much, Jo Bitna twisted her lips.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Jo Bitna asked.
Ji Woo, who had been listening quietly to her words, let out a small sigh.
At that, Jo Bitna bit her lower lip hard.
“Why? Do I seem pitiful to you? Pathetic?”
“No.”
“Then why are you sighing? Why did you do something I never asked for? Did you want to hear me say thank you? You hate me too, anyway.”
“That’s right.”
“Then why!!”
Jo Bitna cried out sharply.
Eyes burning red met eyes cold as ice-blue.
Ji Woo stared at Jo Bitna’s wretched state before opening his mouth plainly.
“Because Seol Ji Hyo doesn’t do things like that just because someone hates him.”
“…….”
“…….”
Whiiiing.
A wind blew.
The broken Lip Balm rolled across the dirt path.
It soon tumbled onto the mud.
Jo Bitna burst into laughter.
“…Damn it.”
There was no avoiding the thought once more.
I really do hate you.

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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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