Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 45

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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 0th at the Awakened Ones Special School
Chapter 45
Entrance to Medical Building A Wing.
Seol Jihyo walked alone down the steps, lit by the glow of streetlights.
‘I’m exhausted.’
She’d confirmed that the missing elementary students were receiving treatment at the Medical Building, handed Do Mingi over to Tae Gayoung, and turned to leave at once—only to be caught by her.
– Jihyo, don’t you need treatment yourself?
Tae Gayoung had urged her to see a physician.
It was likely because of her injured hand. She even bore a rather severe wound on her shoulder—one transferred from Do Mingi’s shoulder, no less.
But Seol Jihyo wasn’t keen on receiving treatment at the Medical Building.
‘If I do, they might discover my Core.’
Still, Tae Gayoung, unaware of the situation, persisted stubbornly in her suggestion for treatment, and…….
In the end, it took a full day before Jihyo could slip out of the Medical Building.
“…Ah.”
As she descended the stairs, Jihyo’s brow knitted with a wince, and she wrapped her left shoulder.
During her stay, she’d only had her hand treated while hiding the shoulder injury, so the pain there persisted.
A wound of this degree would give her trouble until tomorrow.
Normally, she would have simply carried Do Mingi as far as the entrance and called it done.
But when she’d managed to extract him from the rubble and hoisted him onto her shoulder—
– What is this……?
Lukewarm liquid had streamed down her arm. The wound on her shoulder from the Infected was rupturing.
She’d hesitated for a moment at the unusual amount of bleeding, but…….
In the end, Jihyo had decided to use her Healing Core on him.
As a result, she’d acquired a shoulder wound she had no business carrying, but she harbored no regrets.
‘Let me just get back and sleep.’
The Dormitory bed was far more comfortable than the one in the Medical Building, after all.
By the time she’d finished descending the stairs entirely—
“……Newcomer.”
A voice came from behind her.
The Special Unit commander, Do Mingi.
“I see you’re mobile already?”
“Apparently so.”
“You’re wearing glasses too.”
“Nam Raein passed them along.”
“Ah, so he made it out safely as well?”
“The captain said a new passage formed during the Terrain Change, and he escaped through there.”
“That’s a relief. I was wondering what’d happened to him.”
Eyes devoid of warmth, visible behind the lenses, fixed on Jihyo—or more precisely, on her nearly healed hand.
“…So then, what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I distinctly remember ordering you to evacuate with the children.”
A rigid expression.
His tone was businesslike and clipped.
She couldn’t tell if he was angry, interrogating her, or testing her.
“The outcome was good, wasn’t it?”
“That’s naive thinking.”
Do Mingi cut her off cleanly.
“My judgment at the time was sound. Once the Terrain Change began, an ordinary person couldn’t safely relocate five people from that location. Therefore, I stated the most rational course of action.”
“I followed your orders.”
“…What?”
His eyebrow twitched slightly behind the glasses.
“I moved all the children, and when I had time left over, I moved the commander too—killing two birds with one stone.”
The argument was actually surprisingly logical. She hadn’t disobeyed orders, after all.
Blue eyes fixed on Do Mingi as if to say, ‘Any further objections?’ A beat of silence passed, and then his gaze dropped slightly—to her cradled left shoulder.
“…What about that shoulder? Are you injured?”
“Oh, this.”
Reflexively, she lowered the hand that had been wrapped around her left shoulder. She’d tried not to draw attention, but it had slipped out unbidden.
“Moving everyone in a hurry gave me some muscle soreness. The children were fine, but the commander turned out to be heavier than expected.”
“……Why did you even pull me out?”
“I already told you. I had time.”
“You could have pretended not to notice. My extraction wasn’t included in the orders.”
This person was more persistent than he looked.
Jihyo let out a small sigh.
“The commander did the same thing.”
“…Pardon?”
“Our original mission was to retrieve just two children who’d gone missing on Saturday. But the commander found two additional ones there.”
And she met his eyes directly.
“If the commander had ignored those unplanned two and stuck strictly to the original orders—bringing out only those two—he wouldn’t have been injured so badly in the first place.”
“…….”
“I’m going now. I’m tired.”
Tap-tap—
Her footsteps faded beneath the streetlight.
Watching that retreating figure, Do Mingi suddenly recalled a conversation he’d had with Tae Gayoung not long ago.
– …A newcomer?
She’d brought word that an unusual recruit had been admitted.
Well into the first semester, at this awkward juncture.
– Yes. The Director’s found quite a promising talent, it seems.
– ……Is another newcomer really necessary? They won’t last long anyway.
– Aren’t you being too pessimistic? This year’s first-years have been a bumper crop. Look—Nam Raein and Yujin are both holding their own.
– Those two are exceptions.
Tae Gayoung watched Do Mingi’s expression harden slightly, then gave his shoulder a light pat.
– Still, don’t be so quick to judge.
– …….
– At least, why not remember this newcomer’s name?
– There’s no point. I won’t be seeing them long anyway.
That’s what he’d thought.
But now…….
Just before her silhouette vanished completely into the darkness, Do Mingi found himself moving his lips unbidden.
“What did you say your name was?”
The retreating footsteps halted.
Slowly, a girl with long, jet-black hair turned her head—just a glance.
In the pitch-black darkness, though her expression remained invisible—
“Seol Jihyo.”
That thin, reedy voice cut through with unusual clarity.
* * *
“…Seol Jihyo, you say?”
In the Director’s Office, lights extinguished.
At a walnut wood desk carved in an old-fashioned style, a youthful boy—Orion—lifted his head.
Beneath the chandelier that held the moonlight, someone stood.
Tae Gayoung, commander of the Special Unit.
“Yes. She performed remarkably in this mission. We suffered minimal casualties thanks to her. Of course, credit for the two additional children found belongs to Do Mingi, but without Jihyo, they would all have perished there.”
“So this newcomer is quite capable, then.”
‘Capable’……?
Tae Gayoung’s expression stiffened for a moment.
“…Yes. She’s a quite ‘exceptional’ talent.”
Orion let out a light laugh.
“The Special Unit always lacks hands. An ‘exceptional’ addition, even one, is nothing but welcome.”
Unlike his austere appearance, Tae Gayoung possessed a forthright and warm nature.
However, when it came to Special Unit operations—where lives hung in the balance—she was quite meticulous. That was why she commanded.
For her to evaluate someone so directly and highly meant there was genuine substance to it.
Clink—
The teacup in Orion’s palm trembled precariously, on the verge of spilling.
“And the children—how are they?”
“Do Mingi and Seol Jihyo have completed treatment and returned to normal activity. Nam Raein suffered no serious injuries.”
“What of Yujin?”
“Yujin is the same. He was in my team and came to no real harm. Only…he appeared quite shaken by the whole affair.”
Orion brought the teacup to his lips, then paused.
“…Shaken? By what?”
“It may not warrant a report, but when Squad 2 was discovered at the Ravine entrance, he seemed uncharacteristically agitated. He appeared to be fairly close with Jihyo.”
That child……?
For the first time, Orion’s expression shifted.

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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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