Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 37

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Ranking Zero Among Awakener Specialty Schools
Episode 37
In the director’s office, after Ji-u had left.
A knock sounded, and the door opened.
“Director.”
It was the secretary of Director Orion, a man in a formal suit.
“Are you quite certain about this?”
“Certain about what?”
Orion, who had been reading printed documents, lifted his head slowly.
“Do you mean having Ji-hyo removed from the Disciplinary Committee? Or recommending that girl to the Special Division?”
…In truth, it was both.
Orion recalled his conversation with Ji-u from just moments before.
—Put me in the Special Division?
—Yes.
—Do you know what the Special Division does?
—I know you need a Recommendation Letter from the director to get in.
…….
—Don’t you need someone? A freshly awakened, rare, and exceptional Awakener.
Ji-u had spoken while holding Orion’s gaze steadily.
—I’m the right fit for it.
The eyes of a mere high school girl shone not just firm, but brazen.
“Hmm.”
The corner of Orion’s mouth, which had been fixed on the document, curved upward diagonally.
Tap.
He set the document down.
It was a copy of Ji-hyo’s Student Record.
“Last month, the day an Infected Entity corpse was discovered near Narac—that was the day Ji-hyo returned to school, wasn’t it?”
“…Yes. Though I cannot say with certainty whether the figure faintly captured on the CCTV footage was the student Ji-hyo.”
The secretary glanced at the copy of Ji-hyo’s Student Record over the rim of his sunglasses.
“As you have no doubt confirmed, the school records on Ji-hyo are limited to that. Quite ordinary overall.”
Gaon was a special school where Awakeners who flew and moved about gathered.
Graduates typically pursued paths aligned with their Cores.
For instance, those with Cores that enhanced the body would enter athletics or military fields.
Those gifted in sensory or artistic Cores would enter entertainment or creative industries.
The more exceptional and gifted would occasionally be scouted by the Purification Bureau, which connected directly to Narac, or by the Blue House’s Narac Management Bureau.
But Ji-hyo was a Regeneration Core holder.
At best, she would end up in the medical field. Otherwise, she might simply inherit the family pharmaceutical business.
Her grades weren’t notably excellent either, and her practical skills were downright abysmal.
In other words, there was no reason for the school to go out of its way to back her—nor was there value in doing so.
And yet, the Special Division.
“Shouldn’t we pay extra attention to the composition of the Special Division at a time like this?”
“Don’t worry too much. As you well know, my Recommendation Letter means nothing. It’s up to that girl whether she survives there.”
“But…….”
“Either way, we lose nothing from this wager. At this point, it’s not even gambling anymore.”
Orion walked to the window and pressed his small hand against the cold glass, smiling faintly.
“Let’s see how it plays out.”
A jackpot or a bust.
* * *
The weekend.
Under normal circumstances, she would have spent the time in her dormitory room, but Ji-u finished breakfast and left as soon as she could.
Her destination was Building Zero—commonly called the Annex Building.
Among the many structures on the Gaon campus, it was the one situated closest to Narac.
And it belonged to the Special Division.
—You know, that senior, Gyeon Bo-sung, who used to visit your class all the time back in third year middle school.
What Lisa had said kept nagging at her.
A mysterious senior who had circled around Ji-hyo’s life before. Reportedly, he was part of the Special Division.
If that was the case, there was only one path forward. To catch the tiger, you had to enter the tiger’s den.
Besides, there was another merit to joining the Special Division.
‘The Special Division can access Narac even outside of regular classes.’
There might be more clues left inside Narac from that day. It was somewhere she had wanted to check on for some time.
‘…This must be it.’
Lifting her eyes from the map she had been studying, she looked up at the Annex Building before her.
On the campus outskirts. A modest two-story building standing completely isolated from the other structures.
Its exterior walls, built of reddish-brown brick, were covered in lush ivy.
The atmosphere was antique, like a quaint summer mansion of old Western aristocrats.
There was no lock on the front entrance.
Creeeeak—Ji-u pushed open the door and walked through the empty hallway.
In one hand, she held the Recommendation Letter Orion had written for her.
—Whether you can officially continue Special Division activities there or not isn’t my concern. It depends on you.
She didn’t fully understand what he meant.
But having already decided to enter the Special Division, she had no intention of backing down.
Passing through the corridor, she finally arrived at a common hall.
High ceiling.
A massive fireplace—incongruous with the modern age—crackled softly.
A blue tapestry embroidered with the Gaon insignia. A large, round table.
Those seated around it sensed her presence and lifted their heads one by one.
…Four people in total.
Before she could even examine their faces one by one, someone abruptly rose from their seat.
“Oh, welcome to the scene. We’ve been waiting for you, recruit.”
A female student who had been sitting closest to the fireplace, at the innermost position.
Approaching with long strides, she thrust her face forward without hesitation.
Her clear eyes, a brilliant emerald green, scrutinized Ji-u without reservation.
‘…What is this?’
For one thing, she was extraordinarily tall.
Ji-u stood just under 170 centimeters, but this woman was tall enough that even someone of Ji-u’s height found herself looking up.
Her red hair, cut short and falling straight past her shoulders. A scar ran clearly below her left eye, as if slashed by a blade.
Her overall impression was fierce and formidable, yet her expression held the curiosity of a young girl.
She studied Ji-u with the same keen interest one might show upon finding a gleaming stone in a streambed.
“Hmm, so you’re the one…….”
“Captain, you’re standing too close.”
At that moment, a weary voice came from behind.
Only then did the one called “Captain” step back with a look of realization.
“Oh, my apologies. I got carried away without thinking.”
…But why has her tone been like that from the start?
Ji-u stared directly at the female student before her.
“I can’t help myself when I find something interesting. Did I scare you much?”
“…Not really, not much.”
“Ha, I figured as much. Meeting like this is a first for you too, right? The fact that you don’t flinch from my gaze shows you’ve got decent nerve!”
She patted Ji-u’s shoulder affectionately, twice.
‘…This person is the Special Division Captain?’
Over the Captain’s shoulder, Ji-u shifted her gaze slightly to confirm the faces of the other members.
In that moment.
Her eyes met briefly with a male student sitting nearby.
Ji-u’s eyes widened involuntarily.
“Moon Yu-jin?”
He was in the Special Division too?
……Come to think of it, was it really that strange?
She already knew well that Moon Yu-jin was an excellent student. There was nothing odd about him being in the Special Division.
In fact, it was Moon Yu-jin who seemed taken aback.
“Why are you here…….”
He looked unusually flustered.
The Captain, watching the two of them in turn, lit up with interest.
“Oh, recruit. Do you know Yu-jin?”
“Yes, we’re deskmates.”
“Good heavens. Yet Yu-jin hasn’t said a word about it all this time?”
The Captain turned to chide Yu-jin, but he showed no particular reaction.
Familiar with Moon Yu-jin’s characteristically dry demeanor, the Captain simply turned her attention back to Ji-u.
“Well, that’s a relief then. With two people you already know, adapting shouldn’t be too difficult.”
……Two?
At those words, Ji-u’s gaze shifted in another direction.
Diagonally across from Yu-jin, a little distance away—someone who had been fidgeting with a phone glanced up.
Their eyes met directly with a pair of violet irises, clear as violets.
Nam Rae-in.
The only schoolmate saved in Ji-hyo’s phone contacts.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————