Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 31

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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 of the Awakener Special School
Episode 31
“Yu-jin!”
After school.
As always, Han-gyeol had come looking for Yu-jin in Class 2.
“Did you pack everything? Let’s go to the Dormitory together.”
“Do I have to skip today?”
“Skip where?”
“The Back Courtyard.”
The two of them usually headed home together unless something came up, but it had been quite a while since they’d stopped doing that—spending their time looking after the puppy that had apparently appeared in the Back Courtyard.
“Oh, if you mean Somi, the Dormitory supervisor is looking after her now. That’s because of… well, that thing from before.”
“That thing from before.” He must be talking about the Jo Bit-na incident.
Even Yu-jin, who didn’t pay much attention to what went on around him, knew about it—the school had been buzzing with talk about it for the past few days.
He’d heard that Sol Ji-hyo, Lim Li-sa from his own class, and even the puppy Somi had all gotten tangled up in the whole affair.
According to Han-gyeol, the puppy had recovered without any major issues.
“Ji-hyo asked me to bring the supervisor over, so I thought something serious had happened. But when I saw Somi, she just seemed a bit listless—otherwise she was fine. Thank goodness.”
“Yeah. But—”
A sidelong glance.
Yu-jin looked at Han-gyeol out of the corner of his eye and spoke.
“Why do you look depressed?”
“…What? Me?”
Han-gyeol blinked, as if only just noticing his own expression.
“No, depressed…”
“You look a bit down compared to usual.”
“It’s just… now that the supervisor is taking care of Somi, I guess I won’t get to play with Ji-hyo in the Back Courtyard anymore, and that’s kind of…”
“Kind of?”
Kind of…
Han-gyeol’s lips wavered, and he smiled with an uncomfortable frown.
“It’s just a little disappointing, I guess?”
…….
“Speaking of which, how was Ji-hyo today?”
Han-gyeol asked as they walked naturally side by side.
“How was she? What do you mean?”
“Well, the school atmosphere has been a bit unsettled because of the Bit-na thing for the past few days. Especially in your Class 2.”
“…It doesn’t seem like much has changed, really.”
“That so? I didn’t see Ji-hyo in the classroom earlier. Did she and that Li-sa girl leave early?”
“Probably.”
Yu-jin answered without much interest, patting his pocket as if looking for Earphones.
In doing so, there was a rustling sound, and he pulled something out.
It was Candy.
The kind he’d received during math class.
– This will probably be boring.
…Why had Sol Ji-hyo suddenly said something like that? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.
It was the first time he’d heard her say something like that.
Come to think of it, it was the same during the Core Application Class. She’d said something strange to him that time too.
Yu-jin stared at the Candy and asked.
“…Were you and Sol Ji-hyo always that close?”
“Huh?”
“I mean you and Sol Ji-hyo. I don’t think I ever saw you two hanging around together in elementary school.”
“We got close in middle school. Was it second year? We just happened to start talking one day, and she turned out to be really great. That’s how we became close so quickly.”
Han-gyeol let out a small sigh.
“Honestly, I still don’t understand why someone so good got bullied.”
Bullying…
‘That’s unexpected.’
He suddenly remembered the side of Ji-hyo’s face as she was eating the Candy the teacher had given her with relish.
Rustle—
For the first time, Yu-jin unwrapped a piece of Candy and put it in his mouth.
The taste was much sweeter than he’d expected, but it wasn’t as unpleasant as he’d thought.
* * *
After that, Yu-jin began to observe Sol Ji-hyo little by little.
It wasn’t that he had any particular purpose. He was just doing it without even realizing it himself.
“Alright, everyone pay attention!”
Pee-wee! The whistle sounded.
Today was a physical education class.
But even though it was called “physical education,” at Gaon it had a slightly different character. It was only natural—all the students were Awakeners with a Core.
In particular, Gaon permitted the use of Cores during physical education and certain other classes.
And today’s PE class was…
“You should already have your teams assigned, right? Today we’re playing Dodgeball. Teams are divided, and the matches start with Team 1. Begin.”
Peep, pee-wee!
With another whistle blast, the students split into groups.
Yu-jin glanced toward a corner.
Sol Ji-hyo, who didn’t get along with the other classmates, was often left out of team activities.
Would she be alone today? For the first time, he found himself curious.
Though lately she seemed to spend a bit more time with Lim Li-sa…
“Ji-hyo, over here!”
…Ah. Sure enough, he could see Lim Li-sa waving at Sol Ji-hyo from over there.
The two of them had been assigned to Team 1 and headed out to the Dodgeball court in the middle of the Gymnasium.
Yu-jin, who was on Team 2, sat down on a nearby platform to watch.
“Yu-jin, what are you doing? Want to stretch with us while Team 1 is playing?”
The moment Yu-jin sat down, students gathered around him as if they’d been waiting.
“No, I just want to sit and rest for a bit.”
“That so? Can I sit here too?”
“Me too, me too!”
They began to sit down one by one next to Yu-jin.
…Here we go again. It’s gotten noisy again.
What do I do. I don’t have my Earphones right now.
“By the way, about five people from the class are missing, so it feels pretty empty.”
“Right? Normally we should have about three teams from PE, but we only ended up with two.”
“But honestly, it’s quieter without them.”
“I agree.”
“Actually, Yu-jin probably had it rough too, right? Jo Bit-na was really annoying to you at the start of the semester.”
All eyes turned to Yu-jin, as if asking him to confirm.
…Was she? It might have been like that.
“Come on, like Jo Bit-na’s Core would even work on Yu-jin.”
“Right? What would Yu-jin lack that he’d deal with someone like that? Honestly, besides her face being halfway decent, there’s nothing else to look at. Wasn’t her family super poor too?”
“We could tell from when she kept borrowing stuff. Honestly, if it wasn’t for her Core, I wouldn’t have even spoken to Jo Bit-na either. She knew that too, so she went around making friends through her Core.”
“Just friends? All her exes were probably charmed by her Core too. Only Gu Min-jae ended up miserable.”
The children chattered away beside him.
Eventually, just as Yu-jin was about to get up because he couldn’t stand the noise anymore.
“Eek!”
A scream rang out.
It came from over there where Team 1’s Dodgeball match was going on.
All eyes turned in that direction. Yu-jin’s did too.
Whoosh!
A Dodgeball flew through the air at tremendous speed. And standing in its path was.
None other than Sol Ji-hyo.
Thwack—!
“Ji-hyo!”
Lim Li-sa could be seen rushing over to Sol Ji-hyo.
At the same time, Yu-jin jumped up from his seat.
“Wow, wasn’t that Park Hyun-min who threw the ball? His Core is Strength.”
Someone next to him let out an impressed voice.
“Did Sol Ji-hyo break a bone? That sound was insane.”
“Who cares—her Core is Regeneration anyway. Even if it breaks, it’ll heal.”
“Hey, but that was too much. Hyun-min, isn’t Sol Ji-hyo on your same team? How can you throw a ball at your own teammate?”
“Definitely on purpose.”
The children snickered as if it was someone else’s problem.
Meanwhile, Yu-jin, who had jumped up, looked a bit flustered.
‘Why did I… get up?’
A moment later, he quietly sat back down.
But even so, his gaze remained fixed on Sol Ji-hyo, who was crouched far away.
Park Hyun-min, who’d thrown the ball, raised his voice toward Sol Ji-hyo.
“Oh, sorry. My bad—it was an accident. We’re on the same team, so you’re not out. You can keep playing.”
As he said it, the way he smiled seemed to suggest something else.
Where would you run? You’re just going to get hit more here.
…That was what it seemed like he was saying.
Sol Ji-hyo silently brushed off her knees and stood up.
“Got it. I wasn’t planning to leave anyway.”
Then, with a calm expression, she picked up the ball that had fallen nearby and—
‘Surely… she’s not going to keep playing?’
Normally, when someone was injured, the match would be stopped.
Yu-jin turned his gaze toward the physical education teacher sitting in a chair in the corner of the Gymnasium.
He was fast asleep, a magazine over his face.
Should he go wake him up now? Just as that thought crossed his mind, Sol Ji-hyo’s voice came again.
“If I hit someone on my own team, that’s not out, right?”
“Like I said, that’s—”
Boom!!
It happened in an instant.
Sol Ji-hyo hurled the ball at Park Hyun-min with all her might.
…….
…….
A silence fell over the entire Gymnasium like cold water had been poured over everyone.
Plop.
A reddish liquid stained the white Dodgeball’s surface where it had fallen to the ground. Sol Ji-hyo picked it up again without any change in her expression.
And as she looked at Hyun-min—or whoever it was—bleeding profusely from the nose, she smiled.
“I’m still not out, right?”

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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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