Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 38

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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 at Awakener Special School
Chapter 38
He waved at Ji-woo lightly.
“It’s been a while.”
She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should return the greeting, but Nam Rae-in withdrew his gaze even faster.
“It’s difficult for anyone to perform at their best in an unfamiliar place. Since we seem to have some acquaintance, I’d like you two to look after the new recruit from here on.”
The captain had already moved from patting Ji-woo’s shoulder to linking arms with her.
“If you ask me, anyone would think she’d already officially joined.”
It was someone else who responded to her remark.
A male student with angular glasses and a neat impression.
Now that she thought about it, he’d been writing something continuously ever since Ji-woo arrived.
‘Could that be Gyeon Bo-sung?’
She tried to check his name tag, but the distance was too great to read it clearly.
However, Ji-woo soon dismissed the suspicion. She’d heard that Gyeon Bo-sung wasn’t currently at school.
“Are these four the entire Special Unit?”
She probed the captain just to be sure.
“Not at all. There are far more. The total is… hmm, about ten, I’d say. Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure myself. Hey, Min-gi, how many of us are there again?”
“According to my records, there are eleven members. Beyond that, there are some undisclosed members of unknown status. The total number is unknown.”
“I see.”
The captain let out a dry laugh.
“It doesn’t matter. There’s no real need to know the exact headcount. It’s not uncommon for some people to graduate without ever seeing the faces of certain members.”
She might not even see some faces?
Then what about Gyeon Bo-sung?
“Well, just remembering the ones here should be enough.”
She returned to her seat with heavy steps, interlacing her fingers and smiling brightly.
“I’m late with introductions. I’m Tae Ga-young, captain of the Special Unit. In case of emergency, I’m the one who’ll clean up your corpse.”
Tae Ga-young nudged the bespectacled male student beside her with her elbow.
“What are you doing? Introduce yourself already.”
“Is an introduction necessary?”
“Of course it is!”
When Tae Ga-young raised one eyebrow, he finally set down his pen.
“I’m Do Min-gi, vice-captain of the Special Unit.”
Having finished his terse introduction, Do Min-gi now looked up and met Ji-woo’s eyes.
“Your recommendation letter, please.”
Ji-woo approached the table where he sat slowly.
As she drew closer, a white cloth placed in the center came into view.
Its surface was uneven, as if something was hidden beneath it.
While she stared intently at it, wondering what it could be, Do Min-gi spoke.
“Were you not briefed on the enrollment procedure?”
“…….”
“It seems you didn’t hear about it.”
Do Min-gi read through Ji-woo’s recommendation letter with an expressionless gaze.
Then he simply flipped it over with a flick and set it at the corner of the table.
“You may begin.”
“Good, you’ve passed the documentation phase.”
At his words, Captain Tae Ga-young’s eyes gleamed.
“Now then, let’s begin the real initiation ceremony!”
Before Ji-woo could even respond, Tae Ga-young swept away the white cloth that had been placed in the center of the table.
When Ji-woo saw what appeared beneath it, her brow furrowed slightly.
Mushrooms.
Ten thumb-sized mushrooms on a gleaming glass tray.
“These mushrooms are poisonous. All except for exactly one.”
The Nullspores cultivated at the Research Institute in Gaon using special technology.
A specially created mushroom bearing a toxin far more potent than ordinary poisonous fungi.
“If you choose and eat the edible mushroom among these, you’ll pass. I’ll recognize you as a formal member.”
This was the initiation ceremony Tae Ga-young had mentioned.
At the same time, it was an old tradition of the Special Unit.
“I understand that you possess a Core of considerable quality, and that you’re somewhat superior to your peers. The director wouldn’t have sent you here for nothing.”
“…….”
“But that alone isn’t enough. Someone with merely that level of ability entering the Special Unit would be headed straight for a meaningless death.”
What it meant to join the Special Unit was exactly that.
A place where you’d be required to accomplish things that would normally be impossible for a student.
“You know what’s worse? The comrades who have to trust you with their backs. As long as we operate as a team, that’s an unavoidable reality.”
In other words, this procedure was to test and gauge the new recruit’s qualifications in their own way.
Situational judgment, adaptability, audacity.
And determination as well.
After finishing her explanation, Tae Ga-young spoke with a bright smile.
“Still, there’s no need to be so tense, recruit. The Medical Center isn’t far from here. We promise that one of us will definitely take you there.”
It wasn’t a lie.
The Medical Center in Gaon definitely had an antidote to Nullspore.
The problem was only that even if you took it, the poison was strong enough to leave some lingering effects.
“Of course, you’re free to leave now. This initiation ceremony isn’t mandatory.”
“……I’ll do it.”
Ji-woo stepped closer to the table.
Then Do Min-gi, who had been observing the situation, opened his mouth in a measured voice.
“I heard you’re the granddaughter of a conglomerate family. In that case, it would be wise to leave right now.”
It was hard to say how it sounded, but it was a warning of sorts, in his own way.
With such distinguished family connections, there was no reason to risk her life and suffer like this.
Although new recruits were always welcome given the Special Unit’s shortage of hands, he couldn’t understand why this wealthy girl had sought them out.
She could have easily refused, even with the director’s recommendation.
And more than that.
“…There’s no real need to force your way into the Special Unit, is there?”
Even Moon Yu-jin, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
He’d seen it before—the back of a previous recruit being carried out by Tae Ga-young after failing this initiation ceremony.
Of course, he knew well that Ji-woo—or rather, that Ji-hyo—possessed a Regeneration Core. But the toxin of Nullspore was tens of times more potent than ordinary poisonous mushrooms.
Moreover.
‘There’s no way a Regeneration Core could identify the edible mushroom among these.’
Unless she had an insanely keen sense of smell, or could read people’s minds.
Or perhaps she was born under some stroke of fortune—otherwise, it would be impossible.
“…….”
Meanwhile, Ji-woo gazed at the mushrooms with a look of understanding, as if something had just clicked.
Now she finally understood what Orion had meant—that what came next depended on her.
The recommendation letter written by the director was merely a résumé.
The real test was this. The initiation ceremony.
If that was the case, her course of action was clear.
“Can I start right away?”
Ji-woo grabbed one of the Nullspores.
Before anyone could say anything, she swallowed it whole.
“Oh.”
Tae Ga-young’s eyes widened.
Even with a Regeneration Core, she hadn’t expected the recruit to swallow a mushroom with such fearless abandon.
“Not bad for nerve.”
Tae Ga-young applauded lightly.
“Unfortunately, that mushroom was a dud.”
“…….”
“Come on, before the numbness spreads, to the Medical Center—”
Before her sentence could finish, Ji-woo reached out again.
She grabbed another mushroom and swallowed it immediately.
“What the—”
Moon Yu-jin’s brow furrowed slightly.
Snatch, snatch, snatch—
Ji-woo began grabbing and swallowing the mushrooms in succession.
There was no chance for anyone to stop her.
One, two, three, four. She even brought the tray to her lips and ate the remaining mushrooms in a single gulp.
Clack!
She set the now-empty tray down neatly on the table.
“You…….”
A voice—whose, no one could say—cut through the silence.
“Ugh.”
Ji-woo covered her mouth and began to convulse violently.
“Hey, recruit! Are you okay?”
Tae Ga-young rushed toward Ji-woo.
To be clear, they knew that Ji-hyo’s Core was regenerative in nature.
They knew, but.
‘There’s no way she could be fine after swallowing that much poison at once.’
Even if the Core kept her alive, she would surely experience unimaginable agony.
Not expecting her to be so reckless, Moon Yu-jin shot up from his seat.
“Captain, to the Medical Center.”
“Huh? Ah, right!”
Tae Ga-young quickly changed her posture, checking Ji-woo’s complexion.
“Come on, recruit! Let me carry you! To the Medical Center right now—”
That was when.
“…Hic.”
Through the tense silence, an unexpected hiccup sounded.
Ji-woo, who had been covering her mouth, slowly lowered her hand.
“Ah, sorry about that. I’m just not good with raw mushrooms.”
Ji-woo wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Could you perhaps grill them next time?”
“…….”
“…….”
A moment of silence.
Then Captain Tae Ga-young’s hearty laughter echoed through the entire hall.

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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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