Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 56

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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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Ranked 0th at the Awakener Special School
Episode 56
“The first test is the High-Speed Obstacle Course.”
The High School Athletic Field at Gaon.
An announcement echoed through the speakers.
“Quite simply, you’ll navigate obstacles set along the track and race to the finish as quickly as possible.”
“Eight participants per round.”
“Beginning now!”
Cameras were stationed throughout the field for the observers. Even a drone cut through the air overhead.
All of it was set up to capture every student taking the test without a single miss.
Ji-u sat in the waiting area, staring at the large LED display streaming the test proceedings.
– Word has it you’re to obtain the highest score across all events.
The scores were tallied separately by year, she’d heard—excluding the third-years, who were beginning earnest preparations for university entrance and employment.
So Ji-u simply needed to claim the top score among the first-years.
Under normal circumstances, that would have felt easy enough. But now……
‘Grandfather will be observing this test.’
Her body stiffened involuntarily.
She still didn’t know what had prompted him, or what purpose had brought him to observe her exam.
But she couldn’t afford to show a pathetic performance here. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she didn’t want to.
The problem was her physical condition.
A persistent slump that had been dogging her ever since the Special Unit’s first mission.
‘It’s fine, though.’
She clenched her fists.
Even if the highest score across all events was the goal, this test was fundamentally practical. Even in less than peak condition, the playing field heavily favored Ji-u.
“Current high score: 42 seconds. That’s Bae Han-gyeol from 1st Year Class 2 of the high school division.”
Cheers erupted.
A familiar face appeared on the LED amid the rising cheers.
Bae Han-gyeol’s dream was to join a professional sports organization.
Despite his family’s modest means, he’d been admitted to Gaon—an expensive school—as a sports scholarship recipient.
There were rumors that he’d received an offer from the Special Unit.
Though according to the story, he’d turned them down saying his Core held little practical application for combat. Or perhaps he simply lacked the time due to part-time work.
But all of this was merely rumor.
‘Han-gyeol’s Core is probably Body Enhancement.’
A Core that enhanced the body—speed, endurance, strength, balance, and the like.
Common enough. There were at least three students in Class 2 alone with Body Enhancement Cores.
‘That type of Core would certainly give him an advantage in something like this.’
Moreover, Han-gyeol was supposedly exceptional even among Awakeners with Body Enhancement Cores when it came to Core application skill.
Truly a natural athlete.
Which explained why he’d stand out in a practical test like this one.
“Go on, Ji-u! You’ve got this!”
Han-gyeol, returning to the waiting area, waved encouragement her way.
Ji-u glanced toward him, then turned her gaze forward again.
– If I could attract some major sponsor in this test, that might give us some breathing room. I’ll do my best.
Han-gyeol was genuinely invested in this exam, so there was no helping the irony of what came next.
Ji-u had no intention of losing.
“The next test will proceed shortly.”
“Event One: the High-Speed Obstacle Course.”
“Participants:
Park Min-young, 1st Year Class 2.
Kim Ji-yoon, 1st Year Class 2.
……
……
Seol Ji-hyo, 1st Year Class 2.”
At the call of her name, Ji-u rose from her seat.
As she took her place at the starting line, a small drone began whirring through the air nearby.
Ji-u spared the drone no attention, instead rapidly scanning the course she was about to run.
Thick iron fences were arranged in a zigzag pattern directly ahead of the starting line.
Beyond them lay obstacles designed to impede the runners—a wall pitched nearly vertical, a rope-woven suspension bridge, and more.
Ji-u crouched slightly, settling into her starting stance.
“Ready…. Go!”
Bang!
The moment the signal came, she drove backward with her legs, launching herself forward.
From that instant, Ji-u was already half a step ahead of everyone else.
In a blink, she blew past the iron fence, and immediately machines positioned on both sides of the track hummed to life with a high-pitched whine.
Pitching machines—they resembled the kind you’d find at a baseball practice facility.
“Running alone isn’t enough. To perform well in this test, quick reflexes and dynamic visual acuity play a major role.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
The pitching machines arrayed along the track fired baseballs at arrow-like speed.
“Ah…!”
“Ugh!”
Several students trailing behind her staggered as baseballs struck them. One lost his balance after taking a hit to the thigh.
But there was one person.
Ji-u was not among them.
“Oh! Someone’s taking the lead! That’s… Seol Ji-hyo from 1st Year Class 2!”
Ji-u darted past them and the baseballs alike, the announcer’s voice barely registering through the speakers.
‘Since my condition isn’t great, I need to open a serious gap from the start.’
Momentum began to build in her running legs.
Her peripheral vision blurred, her focus tunneling to a narrow, crystal-clear center.
She didn’t evade the moderately-high fence—instead, she leapt lightly over it, landing hard on the other side.
“Seol Ji-hyo has boldly vaulted right over the fence!”
Bang!
The moment she landed, she launched toward the next fence.
Dirt exploded where she touched down.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Even as she ran, the pitching machines targeting her never stopped firing.
Not a single ball found its mark.
She simply ran.
Ran and ran again.
“Now we have a stone wall nearly three meters high ahead. How will our students overcome such an obstacle with no equipment whatsoever?”
Ji-u didn’t stop before the stone wall.
Rather, she accelerated as if lighting a fuse, channeling all her weight into a final stride before launching herself at the wall.
Whoosh—!
Her right hand shot up, grasping the top of the wall. She twisted her body in mid-air and cleared it with an effortless grace.
Another landing.
Roooar……
A cry rang out—whether in admiration or mockery, she couldn’t tell.
From that point on, the course grew increasingly malicious.
But.
‘Keep running.’
Don’t stop.
That was all she could think.
Who might be chasing behind her. How her image appeared on the cameras.
She paid no attention to any of it, running in a state of perfect focus.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Baseballs pelted the air.
Beyond the suspension bridge lay a stretch of sand.
On ground where every step sank, dodging every ball was physically impossible.
Smack!
One baseball struck her left arm.
“Hn…”
She twisted quickly to evade the next, but in doing so another ball caught her from behind across the back.
A mistake.
Normally she’d have dodged something like that with her eyes closed, but again, her condition was—
“Seol Ji-hyo’s been hit! But she’s maintaining a commanding first-place lead by far. Will she hold the top position to the end?”
‘…Shut up.’
The voice droning through the speakers grated on her.
Ji-u furrowed her brow, kicked away a fallen baseball, and pushed harder one final time.
The last stretch was an inclined concrete track.
She had to navigate the jagged rebar jutting from it, dodge the hail of baseballs being fired in chaotic abundance.
‘Just a bit more.’
Perhaps from fighting the air resistance or the cold wind, her entire body felt numb.
Her arm—struck by a ball moments ago—trembled with cramps.
– If I do what you ask, do I get something in return? Can I see my brother?
– …I will relay the matter.
“…….”
Ji-u kicked at the concrete once more.
The finish line was in sight ahead.
In her fading vision, only the finish line remained sharp and clear.
Bang—!
At last, Ji-u crossed the finish line.
Such was her momentum that she coasted well past it before her speed finally began to drop.
Only after several strides beyond the line did she finally come to a halt.
The dust swirling around her gradually settled in silence.
Ragged breath.
A bead of sweat gathered at the edge of her quivering chin and fell.
“W-wh-what……”
A dazed voice crackled through the speakers.
Steadying her breathing, Ji-u slowly lifted her chin to check the scoreboard ahead.
“33 seconds. An overwhelming time—!!”
Whirrrrr……
A small drone camera, perhaps drawn to confirm her condition, drifted closer.
Ji-u, who had been staring at her recorded time on the scoreboard, turned toward the drone.
The narrowing of her eyes as she regarded the camera was subtle but unmistakable.
That gaze seemed to speak directly through the lens to ‘someone’ beyond it.
“Current high score: 33 seconds. Seol Ji-hyo, 1st Year Class 2!”
──This is only the beginning.

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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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