Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 76

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School
Chapter 76
Since the age of five, Ji-u had not set foot outside the house.
And yet, without great complaint, she accepted her reality. But why?
A wealthy family.
A spacious home and a sunlit courtyard.
An excellent and gentle tutor.
There could be more besides, but ultimately, one thing stood out.
It was all thanks to her one and only twin sister, Ji-hyo.
“How is it? Is everyone treating you well?”
Ji-u would sometimes ask Ji-hyo this.
After their parents passed away and Ji-hyo was separated from her twin sister, she had become, in effect, alone.
Ji-u worried whether the girl felt lonely.
But Ji-hyo always answered with the same smile.
“Of course. Grandfather treats me well, and so do all my relatives. They’re all so kind to me.”
Those words put Ji-u at ease.
“Does anyone bully you?”
“Bully me? No way. Grandfather isn’t even that strict with me.”
“What about your relatives?”
“Well, I don’t see them often, but my aunt brings gifts whenever she visits the Main House. And my cousin Ji-min even brought me an album last time.”
“…Really?”
“Really. So don’t worry about things like that, sister.”
She had believed it would be true.
And she had thought it would be all right.
But when she learned that Ji-hyo had been bullied at school, the shock was so profound her entire body trembled—
‘Could it have been happening at home too?’
The cousin before her, Seol Ji-min, was looking at her as though she were an insect.
Of course, it was possible that only Ji-min treated her this way and others had been kind to Ji-hyo.
Even on the way here, the security personnel had been quite deferential to her.
But…
‘Why didn’t she just die instead?’
That single remark from Ji-min was something she could not forgive.
“Ha.”
Ji-u, who had been looking down, let out a small breath.
The moment she slowly raised her head—
Bang!
Ji-min was driven backward and crashed against the wall.
“Ugh…!”
He had no time even to scream.
After his back struck the wall, Ji-min slid down to the floor.
Ji-u walked toward him, heavy-footed.
And she grabbed him by the collar, lifting him as easily as picking up a stuffed doll.
“Say it again.”
“You…”
A grinding sound came from Ji-min’s teeth.
Ji-min was an Awakener himself.
This meant he possessed physical abilities far superior to those of an ordinary person.
And yet…
His body would not move.
Like a herbivore standing before a massive predator, every muscle had frozen in paralysis.
“Say it again.”
Their eyes met in the empty space between them.
The moment Ji-min’s gaze locked with those cold, settled blue eyes, his shoulders trembled.
— Since your older brother was disabled by that accident, I suppose our Ji-min will now become the heir to Seol Hwa Pharmaceuticals?
When Ji-min was eight years old.
After Seol Ji-hyo’s parents—his maternal uncle and aunt—passed away, his father discussed it with his mother over a glass of wine late one evening.
— Of course. Ji-hyo is a granddaughter and Ji-min is a grandson. But not all grandsons are equal, are they? He’s the Eldest Son—the Eldest Son.
— That’s true. Father-in-law likely had the Eldest Son in mind as successor from the start. We should begin heir training with him starting tomorrow.
But the expectation went awry.
Seol Jung-gwon, the chairman of Seol Hwa Pharmaceuticals, designated not Ji-min, the Eldest Son, but Seol Ji-hyo as his heir.
For one reason alone: she was the blood of his firstborn son.
At first, his discontent was not so intense.
But once he realized that Seol Ji-hyo was a frail and unremarkable child, his anger surged instead.
‘How could I lose to someone like her? What’s wrong with Grandfather’s mind?’
Perhaps Seol Ji-hyo was actually a person of extraordinary talent.
Had that been the case, he could have accepted it. But the reality was entirely different.
Seol Ji-hyo was worthless and pitiful.
Watching her act like a fool despite being the official heir only made his anger burn hotter.
And last year, even more absurd news arrived.
She was bullied at school, then involved in an accident, and ultimately transported to the Main House in a coma.
Ji-min’s parents had clicked their tongues—anything and everything disgraced the Seol Hwa Pharmaceuticals name because of her.
This pathetic wretch.
Right now, she had him by the collar.
“Won’t you let me go?”
No matter how hard he strained, the slender fingers holding him would not budge an inch.
Instead, with an eerie blankness, she stared at him and spoke.
“Did you treat Ji-hyo like this normally too?”
“What?”
He could barely make out what this girl was muttering.
Not that it mattered.
“Let go, damn it!”
Unable to contain himself, Ji-min shouted.
“If Grandfather hears about this, don’t you think he’ll let it slide?”
Ji-u did not change her expression.
Instead, her grip on his collar tightened as she spoke.
“Will you die, then?”
Is she insane?
They said she’d had an accident—has something really gone wrong with her mind? That was all he could think.
But he could not show fear here.
He could not afford to.
His opponent was that idiot, Seol Ji-hyo, after all.
“Apologize.”
“What?”
“Apologize. To Ji-hyo.”
Ji-min’s brow furrowed.
What? Did I mishear? Why is she speaking in the third person?
Hadn’t she long since passed the age of referring to herself by name like that?
“Won’t you apologize?”
And why has this girl been so persistently demanding ever since?
Ji-min pressed hard against the hand that gripped his collar.
“Why should I? It’s your fault you came back shamefully bullied at school and half-crippled.”
“…”
“If you want an apology so badly, go find the kids who bullied you and confront them instead. Don’t vent your frustration on an innocent person.”
As he spoke, the corner of his mouth twisted up bitterly.
“Ah. But that’d be too hard for a pathetic thing like you, wouldn’t it?”
At that moment, Ji-u’s expression shifted slightly.
Not missing the opening, Ji-min slapped her hand away with a sharp motion.
“Ha.”
Then he brushed off his disheveled clothes with a sigh.
She really was nothing special.
Seol Ji-hyo was the type to curl up the moment you pressed her slightly—unable to even writhe like a worm.
He could have used this chance to beat her senseless—
But since Grandfather had called for her, giving her a blatant thrashing felt awkward. Besides, if this girl tattled, things would become bothersome.
“What a filthy thing to be born. A total disgrace to the entire family.”
The moment he spun around—
Ji-u grabbed the back of his head like it was a ball.
Bang!
“Ugh…!”
She drove it straight into the wall beside him.
Stars exploded across his vision as his forehead struck hard.
“Listen carefully, Seol Ji-min.”
Before he could even comprehend what was happening, a frigid voice reached his ears.
“If you ever see me again in this house, you won’t speak words like that. Not tomorrow, not in a year, not in ten years. Never speak to me like that again.”
“You… won’t you let me go?”
Bang!
His forehead hit the wall once more.
“Answer me.”
“What the hell are you—”
Bang!
After three blows, his forehead split open.
Warm blood trickled down the bridge of his nose.
Ji-u stared down at him, her expression vacant, still holding the back of his head.
“You… you…! So you’ve finally lost it? Damn it, how dare you—”
Bang!!
“Still don’t understand?”
“…”
Pressure bore down on the captured nape of his neck with crushing force.
All strength drained from his body, yet he could not collapse.
The white wall was now stained crimson with his blood.
The humiliation of this moment cut deeper than the pain of hair being torn from his scalp.
And yet he could not surrender his pride.
Because his opponent was that Seol Ji-hyo.
“What are you trying to do?”
Ji-min’s lips, caked with blood, trembled as he pulled them upward.
“Can you even handle the consequences?”
“There’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Ji-u’s smile was, if anything, even wider than his.
“As you well know, I died and came back to life. I have nothing left to lose.”
Bang!!
His face slammed into the wall again.
This time, his nasal bone seemed to have cracked.
“Uh… uhhh…”
No more words came.
Red blood from Ji-min dripped onto Ji-u’s shoes.
Ji-u looked down at his distorted face without changing expression.
“So. Your answer?”
“…”
Those blue eyes.
Always dimly sunken.
…Shabby and pitiful.
Eyes that used to make anyone watching them feel despair.
Now they wavered as though silently swallowing him whole.
Ji-min could no longer hide his terror.
He swallowed slowly, and despite his will, his jaw trembled faintly.
“Ah, I… I understand…”
The moment his lips began to quiver—
“Young Miss Ji-hyo!”
An urgent voice called out from behind.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————