Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 3

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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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Ranking 0 in the Awakener Special School
Chapter 3
One day, the world changed when massive sinkholes called the Abyss appeared in locations across the globe.
It was around that same time that Awakeners—those who wielded Cores—began to emerge.
Awakeners possessed special powers that ordinary people could never attain.
Among them, a select few with unusually potent Cores or particularly compatible ones would venture into the Abyss itself, purifying and eliminating the threats within.
And to nurture such exceptional Awakeners, nations around the world established specialized educational facilities for them alone.
One of those institutions was the National Gaon Special School.
A facility dedicated to cultivating minor Awakeners—by all measures, South Korea’s finest educational institution of its kind.
Though other Awakener-exclusive schools existed, Gaon was uniquely distinguished.
First, there was its vast campus.
Since an artificial island near Incheon served as the school’s entire grounds, Gaon was sometimes called an Academy City.
And second.
It was the only Awakener school in the world that possessed an Abyss of its own.
Gaon’s students could periodically access the Abyss through in-school practical training.
In other words, they accumulated far more field experience than graduates from other institutions.
That’s why a Gaon graduate, even as an Awakener, received greater benefits upon graduation—higher salaries, for instance.
—Unnie, I promise I’ll get you out of here the moment I graduate!
The day Ji-hyo’s acceptance to Gaon was confirmed.
To Ji-u, who had spent nearly her entire life confined to the house, he spoke those words.
But Ji-u simply shook her head.
—I’m fine. I’m satisfied enough with how things are now.
Of course, there were moments when she felt suffocated.
If she’d never known the outside world, it might have been easier. But until she was five, Ji-u had lived an ordinary life, after all.
Back then, the four of them—her parents, Ji-hyo, and herself—had lived together in a fairly spacious house.
She remembered being led by her parents’ hands daily between research facilities and hospitals. It was to repair her unstable Core, surely.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Ji-u’s family was wealthy, and with her parents running a pharmaceutical company, they had deep connections throughout the medical and research communities.
Ji-u’s parents spared no effort to save their daughter, born unlike others.
They were willing to attempt anything—illegal experiments, inhumane methods, whatever it took.
In short, treatment progressed smoothly thanks to their determination.
Then one day.
—Is it true you manufactured illegal pharmaceuticals to save one child?
The chairman of Seolhwa Pharmaceutical—Ji-u’s grandfather—summoned her parents.
And issued his command.
—Just kill her.
—Father, how could you say such a thing…!
The vice-chairman and his wife of Seolhwa Pharmaceutical had a social image to protect.
If word spread that they’d resorted to illegal means for the sake of one daughter?
The damage to Seolhwa Pharmaceutical’s reputation might extend far beyond mere tarnishment.
Still, one could never know if that was truly the only reason her grandfather ordered Ji-u’s death.
—She’s a nail that sticks out. We must pull it before someone trips over it.
Naturally, her parents protested vehemently, but…
Her grandfather remained adamant.
In the end, rather than kill Ji-u, her parents found a spacious estate and had her live there alone.
Everything had to be handled within that house.
Treatment, studies, play—everything.
Never registered at birth, unable to receive formal education when the time came.
An existence that existed yet did not exist.
That was how Ji-u came to live.
—Ji-u, you understand, don’t you? The outside is dangerous, so you must stay home always. From now on, the doctor will come to the house.
Even so, it was bearable. Her parents still cherished her.
But…
Those parents passed away when Ji-u turned six.
She was told it was a traffic accident.
Ji-u never even saw her parents’ bodies, let alone attended their funeral. That too was her grandfather’s order.
After her parents’ death, no one came to visit Ji-u anymore.
Save for Yun So-yeong, the tutor her parents had given her while they lived, and…
Her twin brother Ji-hyo, her one and only sibling.
—After I graduate from Gaon, I’ll inherit Grandfather’s company. Then I’ll develop medicine to fix your Core, and…
—Enough. Don’t worry about me. Just focus on doing well at school.
—You always say that. What’s the point of me being happy alone? We’re twins.
At Ji-hyo’s words, Ji-u simply smiled.
Because it was true.
Despite enduring their grandfather’s disapproving gaze, this kind brother never failed to visit during holidays.
Always returning with cameras full of photos and videos to show her, never able to leave the house herself—he was thoughtful and tender.
If he was happy, then even confined here for a lifetime, I would have enough.
…or so she thought.
‘As they say, one never truly knows what life will bring.’
Now Ji-u stood at the National Gaon Special School.
A Name Tag bearing “Seol Ji-hyo” pinned to her left chest.
Seeing it in person was a world apart from photos or videos. The campus truly lived up to its renown as an Academy City—overwhelmingly grand.
Yet…
‘Why is no one here?’
She’d been told beforehand that a guide would be waiting, but despite her vigil, not a single soul appeared.
She’d been standing here staring up at the sky for already thirty minutes.
It was already 8:50 AM. Classes would start soon.
In the end, Ji-u decided to find the High School Dormitory on her own.
It was fine. Her belongings weren’t many, and she had a map. Surely she could find it alone.
—or so she thought.
‘Is it this way?’
It had been careless to rely on a map.
She’d never spent her whole life reading maps and walking.
By the time Ji-u finished her staring contest with the map, she’d ended up in some vacant lot.
She lowered the map and looked around.
The surroundings seemed oddly darker than before.
‘…What is that?’
A sudden gust of wind caught her attention.
The air was cold—far too cold for late spring.
Uprooted trees and cracked asphalt came into view.
…Had there been an earthquake nearby?
As if drawn forward, she walked toward it.
The fractured asphalt pulsed faintly, like the skin of a living creature, and damp vapor seeped from the cracks.
Ji-u’s footsteps froze before the yellow caution tape crisscrossing the area like spiderwebs.
‘This is…’
Beyond the tape yawned an enormous pit.
From its unknowable depths, a strange cry emanated.
She recognized it instantly.
—It was the Abyss.
‘It’s so much larger than in photos…?’
It was in that moment of distant observation.
Wee-ooo-wee-ooo—
An ominous siren wailed through the air.
Ji-u took a step back and surveyed the surroundings.
An evacuation drill? What was that sound? Before she could process the situation, a sharp wind came bearing down.
“Ah…!”
Whoosh!
Her long hair whipped about, obscuring her vision. The map she’d been holding scattered like tissue.
Trees screamed and bent under a typhoon-force gale.
Crack!
A few trees finally gave way, uprooted entirely.
Something was wrong.
By instinct, she scanned the surroundings.
And at the edge of her gaze, she spotted something bizarre.
A long, elongated shadow moving sluggishly.
In shape and size, it resembled a person, but…
“Grrgh, grrgh—.”
Its irregular breathing carried an unpleasant, grating sound—like nails scraping a throat.
It was an Infected Being.
Normally, Infected Beings don’t escape from the Abyss. Not unless the Abyss undergoes a Backflow.
Abyss Backflow wasn’t a common occurrence. Trained Awakeners regularly Purify the Abyss’s interior and perimeter.
Especially here, a school full of Awakeners. Yet a Backflow happening here was highly unusual.
Suddenly, the morning news broadcast she’d watched with So-yeong came to mind.
Now that she thought about it, there had been talk of the Abyss near Cheong Wa Dae undergoing a Backflow as well…
“Krrgh, grrgh!”
The creature, sensing the warmth of living flesh, began twisting its body grotesquely toward Ji-u.
Black liquid dribbled from its mouth, foaming thickly as it splattered onto the ground.
“Kyieee!”
It launched forward like a spring, charging directly at Ji-u.
“…”
But Ji-u did not dodge.
Just as its claws reached for her throat, Ji-u flicked her fingers lightly.
Whoosh!
A nearby fallen tree suddenly rose into the air, then crossed the space like a blade.
Crack!
“Ugh…!”
The tree struck the creature square on.
It happened in an instant.
The creature’s neck shattered, and unable to reach Ji-u, it fell with a thud onto the ground.
Dark blood pooled and spread from the corpse.
With expressionless eyes, Ji-u regarded it, then retrieved the map from where it had landed nearby.
‘Good. It didn’t blow too far away.’
Ji-u brushed the dirt from the map and left the scene.
She had to reach the High School Dormitory before it got any later.
—And about five minutes later.
“What—what is this?!”
When school officials hurried to the scene, Ji-u was already long gone.
All they found was the mangled corpse of an Infected Being, crushed like a boiled potato.
And a street tree, uprooted entirely.

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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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