Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 30

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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, Rank 0
Chapter 30
Today was the day Im Li-sa, who had been hospitalized all this time, was being discharged.
Seol Ji-u met Im Li-sa in front of the Dormitory and they walked to school together.
Though she had recovered, her body might still be uncomfortable, so it was to prepare for any unforeseen accidents.
Im Li-sa seemed terribly apologetic, yet looked equally delighted—this was her first time going to school with a “friend.”
And it was the same for Ji-u.
“Hey, look at those two…….”
The moment they entered the classroom, the eyes of all the other students turned toward them.
Seol Ji-u and Im Li-sa.
The sight of these two—who were second to none in the class for their quietness—walking to school together in perfect step was quite striking.
“Then, um, I’ll just go to my seat…….”
Seeming conscious of the stares, Im Li-sa made a voice thin as a mosquito’s hum and hurried off to her desk.
Seol Ji-u gave her a light wave and strode back to her own seat with long steps.
As usual, her deskmate Mun Yu-jin was sitting beside her.
“…….”
“…….”
Their eyes met.
Just as always, Mun Yu-jin gave no reaction and quickly turned his gaze away.
“Hi.”
Ji-u greeted him first.
Apparently not expecting this, Mun Yu-jin turned his eyes back to her once more.
His subdued silver-gray eyes seemed to be asking a question.
Why the sudden greeting?
Instead of answering, Ji-u rummaged in her pocket, pulled something out, and set it down on Yu-jin’s desk with a soft tap.
“……?”
It was a single pen.
“Last time, you lent your pen to Jo Bit-na on my behalf. You never got that back, right?”
“That one’s fine.”
“I’m not fine with it.”
Ji-u jerked her chin as if to say he should take it quickly.
“Your pen looked pretty expensive. It’s a decent one. Look up the brand and if there’s any price difference, charge me for it.”
Charge…….
“Got it.”
Mun Yu-jin obediently placed the pen into his pencil case.
Yet it seemed their business wasn’t finished, for Ji-u remained standing where she was, unmoving.
“…Do you have something else to say?”
“In Core Application Class. You called the rescue team, didn’t you.”
Yes, that’s right. It was only now that Ji-u remembered—she’d been wanting to talk about that the whole time.
“Back then, you came looking for us with the teacher, right?”
“I did.”
Yu-jin answered flatly and closed his pencil case zipper.
“I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, Ji-u offered an apology.
Yu-jin lifted his head to look at her.
“I think I misunderstood you a little.”
“…….”
Yu-jin gazed at Ji-u for a moment, then lowered his eyes back to his textbook.
“Aren’t you going to ask what the misunderstanding was?”
“Doesn’t matter. I get misunderstood pretty often.”
He turned a page with a flutter.
And the conversation ended.
A slight sense of unease lingered, but well, she’d said what she needed to say.
Ji-u said nothing more and took her seat.
……Aside from that.
‘There are a lot of empty seats in the classroom.’
Naturally there were.
Jo Bit-na and her gang had all been punished.
Five people in total.
That number included Gu Min-jae.
Though he hadn’t actually been in the Backyard that day, for some reason he was bundled in with them and received a Suspension.
Whether his usual behavior had come to light, or whether one of the gang members had thrown him under the bus, no one knew.
In any case, with roughly thirty students in a class, about fifteen percent had vanished in one go.
What’s more, those five had been prominent enough to be called the center of the class. So it wasn’t mere fancy that the classroom felt quieter.
‘But this won’t be the end, will it.’
……Even now, hostile gazes still existed in this school, in this classroom, directed at “Seol Ji-u.”
It was simply that there were no longer any openly antagonistic people like Jo Bit-na’s clique. Still, the perpetrators of ostracism remained.
How could she be so sure?
You could tell just by looking at their eyes.
Even with Jo Bit-na’s gang gone, no one except Im Li-sa was friendly toward “Seol Ji-u.”
“Hey, that’s Seol Ji-u over there…….”
“Wow. I heard there was a fight in the Backyard? But why didn’t she get Suspended?”
Ji-u pretended not to hear the children whispering about her and prepared for the next class.
During this, she suddenly felt a gaze from beside her.
When she glanced to the side, her eyes met Mun Yu-jin’s once again.
How long had he been looking at her?
“…Why?”
“Homework.”
“Huh?”
“Did you do the homework?”
“What homework all of a sudden?”
He tapped his desk lightly with a long finger.
A single Printout.
On the white paper, fifteen math problems were visible.
…Ah, right. It was only then that Ji-u remembered the homework she’d received last class.
“Two minutes until class starts.”
At the casual warning from beside her, Ji-u quickly pulled out the Printout.
Mun Yu-jin, watching from the corner of his eye as she frantically searched for a pen in her pencil case, added:
“…Want to see mine?”
“No thanks.”
Ji-u moved her pen in quick scratches.
Subdued silver-gray eyes landed on the math Printout atop Ji-u’s desk, rapidly being filled in.
Ji-u completed each question without the slightest hesitation.
“…….”
The long, horizontal eye shape narrowed faintly.
Presently, as Ji-u set down her pen with a soft tap, the class bell rang.
“Alright everyone, let’s collect the homework first.”
The math teacher came in and immediately gathered the Printouts.
Ji-u submitted the just-completed Printout as well.
During a brief study period, the teacher graded quickly, and by the end of class, announced the scores.
“My, Ji-u has been studying hard, hasn’t she.”
The teacher returned the Printout to Ji-u, speaking with evident surprise.
Ji-u’s grades weren’t poor, but they weren’t notably good either.
So for “Seol Ji-u” to receive a perfect score was extraordinary.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“Was it difficult? That’s impressive. I didn’t expect Ji-u to get a hundred.”
The teacher’s eyes sparkled.
Had this teacher ever made a face like this before?
“I studied on my own during the school break.”
“That makes it even more impressive. Would you have any interest in the Mathematical Inquiry Club, which I advise?”
“Um, I’ll think about it.”
“Please do. You’d be very welcome.”
Just as she bowed her head and was about to return to her seat, the pleased teacher hastily stopped her.
“Oh wait, you should take this too.”
It was Candy.
“Since it’s a perfect score, three pieces.”
“…Thank you.”
Back at her seat, Ji-u stared intently at her Printout with the large “100” written on it and three pieces of Candy.
…This feels surprisingly nice.
In truth, in her classes with So Young, there was no first place to speak of. There was only one student—Ji-u herself.
So naturally, she had never felt a sense of superiority over others.
Long ago, when her parents were still alive and living with her…….
– Goodness, our Ji-u solved all the addition problems?
– Uh-huh, me and Ji-hyeo did it together!
– Good job. Mom will give you Candy as a reward. Here. You get soda flavor, Ji-hyeo gets banana flavor.
……Right, there were memories like that too.
If her parents had known she’d gotten a hundred at school, they would have been so happy. Even if it was just homework.
“Hey, was Seol Ji-u good at math?”
“No idea. How did she do? Wasn’t this one super hard? Was it just me?”
“Me too……. I got a thirty.”
The children around her looked at Ji-u with a mix of envy and wonder.
Her eyes met Im Li-sa’s, sitting nearby at an angle.
Im Li-sa was silently clapping her hands and mouthing “That’s amazing!”
Truth be told, these math problems were nothing to marvel at. She’d finished covering this material long ago in her lessons with So Young.
Furthermore, since this was a special school, basic subjects unrelated to Core sometimes had lower difficulty levels than regular high schools.
For Ji-u, problems like these were easier than shooting fish in a barrel.
Yet everyone was impressed and thought it remarkable.
Come to think of it, on the very first day of school, the same thing had happened during the running race in P.E.
Ji-u had simply run normally, yet everyone had been amazed. The whole class had gone into quite a frenzy.
Having experienced this a few times since coming to Gaon, Ji-u had developed a rather pleasant emotion.
In fact, it was almost enjoyable.
Wasn’t it? No matter how long you’ve spent confined, hearing that you’re impressive—how could that feel bad?
‘I should tell So Young about this later.’
She would surely jump up and down, crying “Just as expected of you, Ji-u!”
Meanwhile, as Ji-u fiddled with the Candy in her palm, the teacher returned the final Printout.
“As expected, Yu-jin got a perfect score too.”
Ji-u, whose eyes had been fixed on the Candy, lifted her head.
She could see the back of Mun Yu-jin’s figure as he received the Printout from the teacher.
“Here, Yu-jin gets five pieces.”
What? Why does he get five when I get three?
“He was first place last time too, so I’m in a good mood.”
I see.
“Thank you.”
Having received the Candy and Printout, Yu-jin walked back to his seat between the rows of desks.
Unlike when Ji-u had done so, the other students had little to say. Their reaction was as if Yu-jin’s perfect score was obvious, as if they’d expected nothing less.
Mun Yu-jin himself was the same. He returned to his seat with utterly unmoved eyes and simply dropped the Candy he’d just received onto the corner of his desk.
Then he met eyes with Ji-u, who was staring at him intently.
“…Want one?”
He offered her the Candy.
“No.”
“If you don’t want to eat it, why do you keep staring?”
“You don’t look happy.”
“……? Ah.”
Yu-jin reacted with a beat of delay.
“It was easy. Not getting a perfect score would be strange.”
Fair point. It had been easy.
But separately from that, isn’t a first place supposed to feel good? He even got five pieces of Candy.
‘I guess with that kind of reaction from everyone, it would feel like nothing.’
Ji-u had experienced the same thing during her lessons with So Young.
No matter how much So Young praised her, at some point her words stopped stirring much emotion. That’s because it was always the norm.
If Mun Yu-jin was the same…….
“It must get boring.”
Mun Yu-jin, who had been putting away his Printout, halted, his hand freezing.
He glanced his eyes sideways to look at Ji-u.
But Ji-u had already unwrapped one piece of Candy, put it in her mouth, and turned her gaze out the window.
“…….”
After that, Mun Yu-jin’s gaze remained on Ji-u for quite a long time.
Without even realizing that his hand, which had been turning pages, had stopped.

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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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