Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 44

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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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Awakeners Special School Ranking, Position Zero
44
“…Team Two hasn’t returned yet?”
Current time: 4:52 PM.
Tae Ga-young, who had finished her search and returned, listened to Moon Yu-jin’s report and her expression hardened.
“Is there any chance they went back to the Annex Building first?”
“I returned to this location at 2 PM. Since then, no one has emerged from Narak.”
Do Min-gi possessed a meticulous and thorough disposition beyond anyone else.
There was no way a man like that would withdraw early without using all his allotted time.
“Something’s gone wrong, then.”
Tae Ga-young murmured.
“Yu-jin, you didn’t encounter Team Two inside, or find any traces of them?”
“…No, nothing at all.”
“Neither did I.”
The moment they entered, Tae Ga-young and Moon Yu-jin had divided the terrain into two zones—A and B—for convenience and begun their search separately.
The A zone that fell to Tae Ga-young stretched to nearly a five-kilometer radius.
An ordinary person couldn’t easily grasp the scale, but in simple terms, Tae Ga-young alone was equivalent to an entire purification unit.
That was thanks to her superhuman stamina and combat prowess—the pride of Gaon.
Yet even she, sweeping through that vast expanse, had found no trace of the children or Team Two.
‘Which meant….’
Perhaps Team Two had found the children instead.
It was entirely possible. After all, Team Two had Do Min-gi, the unit captain Tae Ga-young trusted above all others.
“…What should we do?”
“First, we inform the director. I’ll request reinforcements.”
“We’re not re-entering as things stand?”
“Re-entering?”
Tae Ga-young turned to look at Moon Yu-jin.
“A terrain shift is occurring. If we charge in recklessly now, we could put ourselves in danger too. Increasing our numbers comes first.”
As Tae Ga-young said, the entire forest surrounding Narak trembled with an eerie vibration.
‘If my hunch is right and Team Two did find the children, they’re probably struggling to escape with the added personnel and the terrain shift happening at the same time.’
For a rookie unfamiliar with Narak, herding elementary school students while shepherding everyone out would be far from easy.
Now was the time to choose a method with a better chance of success rather than recklessly plunging into Narak.
They could request help from the school’s purification unit, but that would still require the director’s approval no matter what.
“Yu-jin, you wait here. Team Two might return while I’m at the director’s office.”
“…In that case, I’ll re-enter and search the area.”
“What?”
Tae Ga-young, who had been turning to leave, froze.
“You’re saying you’ll go into Narak alone? Now, while a terrain shift is happening?”
“Yes.”
“……I understand the feeling, Yu-jin. But Team Two is being led by Min-gi. That guy is the operative I trust most in the Special Unit—and when it comes to knowledge of Narak, he surpasses even me. He’s the best in Gaon.”
Yet Moon Yu-jin’s gaze remained fixed on Narak.
Though his expression didn’t change, to Tae Ga-young’s eyes, he looked as though…….
“You’re worried? That they won’t make it back?”
At that moment, Moon Yu-jin’s jaw tightened.
──Worried?
Who? …Me?
“All right. Then I’m going with you.”
“…Pardon?”
Only then did Moon Yu-jin’s gaze, which had been fixed on empty air, turn toward Tae Ga-young.
“You said dinner was hamburger steak tonight, right? Good food always tastes better when eaten together. If even one person is missing, it feels incomplete.”
“But……. What about requesting reinforcements from the director’s office?”
“If I go to the director’s office now, you’ll just disobey my orders and re-enter Narak alone anyway.”
You can’t let a disobedient child out of your sight. Tae Ga-young’s hand moved to the Sword Sheath at her waist.
“What are you standing around for? Let’s go.”
“…….”
Moon Yu-jin followed Tae Ga-young, albeit belatedly.
“You know, it’s really unexpected. I never knew you were so close with the rookie, Yu-jin.”
Moon Yu-jin turned to look at Tae Ga-young, whose face was warm with approval.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Then never mind.”
“……?”
The place where they had been was not far from Narak’s entrance.
They passed only a few trees before they could reach the entrance itself.
But.
“Wait.”
Tae Ga-young and Moon Yu-jin stopped simultaneously, neither moving first.
Rumble, rumble…….
The terrain shift of Narak had begun in earnest.
The surrounding thickets swayed unstably, and dust that had settled on the path rose like fog into a murky haze.
And within it, there was something.
“That’s─.”
Tae Ga-young’s eyes narrowed faintly.
Several shadows lying crumpled at Narak’s entrance.
“They’ve brought the children out.”
As Tae Ga-young examined the number of shadows, her eyes widened suddenly.
‘Four?’
The moment her hand on the Sword Sheath twitched slightly,
“…Seol Ji-hyo.”
Moon Yu-jin kicked off the ground and bolted forward.
* * *
A pure white curtain fluttered in the breeze.
The sharp scent of disinfectant brushing against his nostrils.
Do Min-gi opened his eyes.
‘…Where is this.’
The School Medical Building.
The nearest location from the Annex Building—a place the Special Unit frequently relied upon.
The moment he shifted his body slightly, pain spread throughout his entire frame.
Why did his body hurt so much?
‘Ah.’
Snap!
Do Min-gi, consciousness returning, sprang from the bed like a coiled spring.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
A voice came from someone sitting beside the bed.
“…Captain?”
Do Min-gi’s expression changed upon seeing Tae Ga-young.
“The children… No, what happened to everyone? I was clearly─.”
“Calm down first. I’ll explain step by step.”
Only then did Do Min-gi hear the full account from Tae Ga-young.
“You remember up to when your team reached near the entrance of Narak, right? When the terrain shift occurred?”
Of course he remembered.
At the time, Do Min-gi had entrusted the task to the rookie, the one with the most stamina remaining.
Leave him behind and get the rest of the children out of Narak, he’d said.
“After you lost consciousness, Seol Ji-hyo apparently carried everyone who’d been knocked out to the entrance one by one.”
“……What?”
“That’s how Min-gi is. It was fortunate he sensed the terrain shift a beat faster. If he’d been any slower, you’d all have become flour dough together.”
That didn’t make sense.
Do Min-gi frowned, unable to follow the explanation.
‘He predicted the terrain shift?’
…That couldn’t be.
Just before losing consciousness, Do Min-gi had clearly seen the inner wall collapsing.
Which meant the terrain shift had already begun by the time he realized it.
“It was close, apparently. I heard that the moment your team escaped Narak with Min-gi last, the way behind was completely sealed off.”
That made no sense either.
By Do Min-gi’s calculations at the time, they had roughly a minute—maybe less—before the terrain shift began.
It was nearly impossible to carry everyone, including Do Min-gi himself, to the entrance in that short window.
Moreover, at the final moment, Do Min-gi had been half-buried under the collapsed inner wall.
That the rookie had moved even him meant.
‘He destroyed the inner wall to pull me out?’
In that short amount of time?
There was no other explanation.
“…What about Nam Rae-in?”
“That one apparently returned a while ago. A message came through while he was helping move your team from near the Narak entrance to here.”
Tae Ga-young pointedly held out her phone screen.
“When the terrain shift occurred, a new passage apparently opened up on Rae-in’s side. He escaped through that. In any case, that lucky bastard.”
Do Min-gi stared intently at Nam Rae-in’s text in the phone screen, then looked up.
“So the rookie rescued everyone alone, without Rae-in’s help?”
“That’s right.”
“…….”
Had the rookie been lying?
No, because he had actually opened his eyes, having preserved his own life.
“But anyway, you rescued four children, not two. How did that happen? Could you explain─”
Tae Ga-young, having gone that far, shook her head.
“Never mind. Rest comes first now. You may have woken after just one day, but those were no light injuries.”
Tae Ga-young regarded Do Min-gi with profound respect.
“I heard from Rae-in. You went quite deep, didn’t you? If you’d accumulated that much Poison Accumulation, it would normally take days just to recover. That’s remarkable.”
Only then did Do Min-gi look down at his own palm.
He clenched and unclenched his fist, examining the back of his hand and his wrist.
Then, the moment he brought his hand to his left shoulder, his expression changed completely.
“Min-gi?”
Rip!
Do Min-gi quickly removed the hospital gown he was wearing. Then he stared intently at his own shoulder.
──There was no scar.
Not even pain.
‘That’s impossible.’
He had clearly struggled against a group of Infected Creatures for over an hour.
Among them had been a High-Rank Infected Creature—one that appeared only with the rarest probability.
He had sustained a serious wound to his left shoulder in that battle, and the bleeding had been severe.
Yet now Do Min-gi’s shoulder was remarkably clean. Not a single scratch mark remained.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
“……Captain.”
Do Min-gi, who had been staring blankly at his own shoulder, slowly put the gown back on.
“Where is the rookie right now?”

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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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