Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 58

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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 the Awakener Special School
Episode 58
The sixth exam event was Securing the Rescue Target. The task was to rescue a mannequin buried under collapsed debris.
To prepare for this exam, Ga-on had transformed an entire testing ground to resemble a disaster site.
Earth trembling so violently that even standing still was difficult; wind so fierce that eyes couldn’t open.
As rocks and wooden planks crumbled around them, examinees had to pinpoint the exact location of the rescue target mannequin and extract it.
A test demanding instant judgment, quick reflexes, and physical stamina.
Perhaps because the disaster site had been rendered too realistically.
In this Securing the Rescue Target exam, injuries occurred with unusual frequency. Some students even abandoned the attempt the moment it began.
It made sense—taking seven events in a single day would exhaust anyone.
‘Next should be Ji-hyo’s turn.’
During the brief waiting period before the exam.
Rim-sa checked the next examinee list on the display board and wandered through the academy building searching for her friend Ji-hyo.
She found her in front of the Medical Room.
“Hey, Ji-hyo…….”
Ji-hyo, who had just stepped out through the Medical Room door, glanced back slightly.
It was good that she’d found her, but now that they’d met face to face, Rim-sa wasn’t sure what to say.
Rim-sa’s dark eyes darted uncertainly until her lips parted, barely forming words.
“Are you okay…?”
“What do you mean?”
“You seem like you’re not feeling well…….”
Seeing it this close, up front, made it feel all the more poignant.
That her only friend’s current condition was at its worst.
‘Her fingertips are trembling.’
She could see the hand gripping the Medical Room doorknob shaking faintly.
And besides…….
Raw wounds that no bandage could hide were plainly visible across her body.
They appeared to be injuries accumulated throughout the testing so far.
Yet if this were the original Ji-hyo, such minor scrapes would have healed cleanly by the time the exams ended, and it would have been strange if they hadn’t…….
Even standing still, her breathing was shallow and labored.
She held her back straight as if trying to maintain composure, but her complexion was impossible to hide.
“I’m sorry, I might be overstepping… but, are you planning to participate in the next exam too?”
“Of course.”
“That… that exam’s supposed to be really difficult. You might’ve seen it yourself, but there are a lot of injuries happening right now.”
Rim-sa added that the Medical Room was quiet because everyone was heading to the Medical Wing.
“Of course you’d be capable enough, but… you’ve already got a really good score. There’s no need to push yourself─.”
“It’s not enough.”
“…What?”
“It’s nowhere near enough.”
Rim-sa was startled.
A cold voice devoid of warmth. Hearing Ji-hyo speak in a way she’d never heard before, Rim-sa’s words caught in her throat.
“I’m, I’m sorry, I just…….”
Rim-sa apologized reflexively, her lips trembling faintly.
“I’m worried about you. Your family’s here watching, after all. If you force yourself to keep going and something happens to you, your grandfather will be sad too.”
At that, Ji-hyo let out a short, bitter laugh.
…Had she said something strange?
Even as that thought crossed her mind, Rim-sa screwed up her courage and pressed on.
“This won’t be your last chance to test anyway. You’ll take it again in second year.”
She was terrified that if she continued the exam in this state, something truly terrible would happen.
Securing the Rescue Target was the sixth event currently underway.
Which meant there was still a seventh event remaining.
‘There’s no way she can take two more exams in that condition.’
Though they hadn’t been friends for long, Rim-sa had been watching closely all this time and had learned something.
Ji-hyo was more remarkable than she seemed.
And just as relentless.
Especially toward herself.
She didn’t know why. She didn’t know where that cold gaze she sometimes caught was directed.
But of one thing she was certain.
Ji-hyo was pushing herself too hard.
Hard enough to make even an observer anxious.
“I, I understand. Your family’s watching, so you want to do better than usual, right? But my mom and dad said this. That I’m more important than grades.”
“…….”
“What good are good grades anyway? If you get hurt, it means nothing. You’re your grandfather’s only granddaughter… if he saw the state you’re in right now, he’d definitely be worried─.”
“Rim-sa.”
Suddenly Ji-hyo cut off Rim-sa mid-sentence.
“So what are you trying to say?”
“…….”
Rim-sa fell silent.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then, as if she’d made a decision, carefully met Ji-hyo’s gaze.
“Ji-hyo, why are you pushing yourself so hard?”
……Why push herself so hard?
Because she was standing in for her only sibling.
Because if she didn’t succeed this time, she might never see that girl again.
──But she could never say such a thing.
“…You wouldn’t understand anyway.”
The murmured words escaped unbidden, and her shoulders flinched.
Startled, she looked directly ahead, but Rim-sa’s expression showed little change.
Rim-sa, whom Ji-hyo expected to be hurt and on the verge of tears by those words, instead stepped closer to her.
Then she thrust something forward suddenly.
“…This.”
It was ointment.
“You’re right. I don’t understand why you push yourself so hard.”
“…….”
“I don’t know why you came to rescue me that day when we weren’t even close. I don’t understand why you’re being kind to someone as unremarkable as me. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t make sense of it.”
Her grip on the ointment tightened.
“But I like you anyway. Because you’re my friend.”
Those dark eyes, usually so lacking in confidence and withdrawn, now gazed at Ji-hyo with unwavering clarity.
“We can be friends even if I don’t understand.”
Rim-sa pressed the ointment directly into Ji-hyo’s hand, then turned and hurried away.
Alone now, Ji-hyo—or rather, Ji-u—stared down at the small tube of ointment resting in her palm.
* * *
The Securing the Rescue Target exam began.
Naturally, Ji-u participated.
– If you force yourself to keep going and something happens to you, your grandfather will be sad too.
…Absurd words.
That man wouldn’t even twitch an eyebrow if Ji-u died here.
Which was precisely why she couldn’t give up.
If she missed this chance, she might never face her grandfather again.
Even the plea to meet Ji-hyo might never reach him again.
Her heart pounded ominously.
Ji-u unconsciously shoved her hand deep into her pocket and gripped the ointment inside it tightly.
…Aside from her terrible physical condition, Rampage was the real problem.
If it triggered with all these cameras pointed at her, it would truly be the end.
At least the saving grace was that Securing the Rescue Target wasn’t difficult for Ji-u.
Hadn’t she rescued Do Min-gi before when terrain shifts began in the Abyss? This situation was comparable.
‘Found it.’
Bang!
She cleared away the collapsed rubble and discovered the rescue target mannequin.
Hoisting the mannequin, which was larger than her own body, she clawed through debris fragments, carving a path forward.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…….
Suddenly the ground tremors intensified sharply.
And that wasn’t all.
‘The ceiling─.’
Not the interior walls or obstacles set up for the exam, but the building’s ceiling itself was crumbling like stale dough.
Was this part of the setup? Or…….
‘No time to think.’
Ji-u tightened her grip on the arm holding the mannequin.
Despite its size, a mannequin was lighter than an actual human. If she’d managed to move Do Min-gi before, there was no reason she couldn’t move this mannequin.
But.
“Hgh……!”
Her arms kept losing strength.
As the ground tremors intensified, dizziness swept over her as though she were about to be sick.
‘I can’t give up, just hold on a little longer.’
She clenched her teeth so hard they creaked audibly.
Two more left.
Just two more events to finish.
So please.
‘Hold on……!’
Crash!
A support beam holding up the ceiling fell directly toward Ji-u’s head.

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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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