/
Chapter 47 — Endurance Test (1)
The day of the Endurance Test at Millaes Academy, JaeHyun put on his cadet combat suit and headed to the facility attached to the campus.
The place he was heading to was not the main building but the annex where all the testing equipment were placed. It was usually used for the cadets’ private assessments.
As it took about 5 minutes from the hotel, he started to see a field covered in grass promptly.
Although it was often called a sports field by the cadets and instructors, it did not resemble one from an ordinary middle or high school.
It was an open area filled with equipment for cadet training that was easily more than 10 times larger than other schools. According to rumors, it took around 70 billion won just installing everything.
‘…Well, Gu Ja-In probably embezzled at least 30 percent of that though.’
There were already quite a few cadets on the field.
Looking around, he saw Kim YooJung and Seo Ina sitting side by side chatting with each other.
Seeing JaeHyun walking over, Ina called out to him first.
“…JaeHyun, you’re here.”
“You guys are here awfully early.”
JaeHyun said as he sat beside the two. At his words, YooJung crossed her arms and proclaimed haughtily.
“Of course! Don’t you know how diligent I am? I’ve never been tardy, even back in middle school.”
“Hey. That’s because whenever you were about to be late, you pretended to be sick.”
At JaeHyun's sharp admonition, YooJung coughed awkwardly. She quickly changed the subject and asked Seo Ina.
“So, Ina. Why don’t we move to a hotel, right next to each other? We both earned a lot of points. What do you think?”
“…I think it’s a good idea. I’m not sure where we should go, though…”
The two were talking about moving. Regardless of gender, the most important among the essentials of food, clothing, and shelter—was obviously one’s home.
While the two didn’t have as many points as JaeHyun did, they still had quite a lot. It was expected that they would want a better place to stay.
“Why are you worrying so much? Let’s just look around a bit and move somewhere that looks okay!”
“You shouldn’t sign a contract so easily. That will only cause trouble later on.”
JaeHyun cut in while YooJung was talking and advised in a serious tone. Of course, contrary to the worry he raised, there was no chance for cadets to get scammed while in Millaes Academy.
However, JaeHyun didn’t think getting used to the academy’s system was a good thing.
‘The first house I rented after graduating from Millaes Academy was a dual contract. I couldn’t get any of the deposit back either. I almost became homeless after I got kicked out with nothing on me…’
Truthfully, he’d already experienced terrible things.
Before regressing, JaeHyun had once lost all the money he’d earned through a real estate scam. As a result, he learned the basic life lesson that one should never sign something without reading the contract.
Kim YooJung looked at JaeHyun’s suddenly solemn face and uttered.
“Hey. Even if you say things like that, you don’t know a place with good facilities. It hasn’t even been a month since class started and there are a lot of new buildings, so freshmen can only experience things for themselves, and…”
“I know, though? I already rented a place yesterday. I even came from my new place today.”
At JaeHyun’s reply, YooJung was a bit doubtful but looked interested. Seo Ina also focused on JaeHyun’s words with a surprised expression.
Their reactions were normal. As Kim YooJung had said, there were a lot of newly built places this year. From restaurants to fashion shops, arcades, karaokes, and hotels, several facilities had popped up as well.
As a result, no one knew which place was good without experiencing it for themselves. Yet JaeHyun had already found a place and was even coming from there today.
They thought that if the hotel JaeHyun was staying at was good, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to rent rooms there themselves. This was a good chance for them to save the time they would otherwise have to spend searching for a place to stay.
On the other hand—
‘…How much did JaeHyun run around for him to already have a new place?’
Ina clicked her tongue as she marveled at JaeHyun's information-gathering ability.
She hadn’t been able to move a single muscle after the Mana Room Test yesterday, but JaeHyun had gone a room more than her and was still able to find a new dorm afterwards.
Of course, JaeHyun himself didn’t think much about it.
Before regressing, he had already directly and indirectly experienced all the facilities in Millaes Academy.
Which hotel room was good and cost-effective, which location was the best for a dormitory, which restaurant was best, etc.
JaeHyun knew all the miscellaneous information there was about Millaes Academy.
‘Of course, at the time, I could only stay at the regular cadet dormitory since I didn’t have any points, and I can count how many times I enjoyed the entertainment facilities on one hand.’
JaeHyun shivered as he recalled those times in the past wherein he was filled with the wish of moving to a better dorm while he looked at the pamphlets.
“Hey, help me and Ina find a room later. If there are still rooms there, the hotel you’re staying at is also good.”
“Okay. That's not too difficult. But give me some points. 100,000 per person.”
“What?”
Asking for 100,000 points was no different from asking for a million won.
Kim YooJung narrowed her eyes and glared at JaeHyun,as if she was about to eat him alive. This time, even the mild Seo Ina looked at him as if he was being too greedy.
JaeHyun looked at the two’s expressions for a moment and soon started to chuckle.
“It was a joke. Just buy me a meal next time.”
“You should have said that from the start.”
“…JaeHyun, you’re not that good at jokes, huh?”
YooJung’s reaction was something he was used to, but Seo Ina’s words made him feel a bit guilty. JaeHyun scratched his head and gave them an apologetic look.
“Sorry. I just felt like pranking you guys when I saw you.”
“…Why?”
Now that he was being asked for a reason, he didn’t know why either. JaeHyun looked at her with a bewildered expression.
‘As expected of Seo Ina, who is horrible at interpersonal relations. Asking why friends prank each other…’
“That guy’s always like that, so don’t mind him.”
“…Okay. It does seem like it.”
YooJung added with a laugh and Seo Ina nodded right away.
JaeHyun placed his hand above his heart and acted hurt at the girls’ words, but the girls merely trashed his acting skills.
As the three were chatting, Instructor Kim Seok-Gi finally appeared with the ringing of the bell.
The cadets stood up furtively.
“Hello, everyone. I am Instructor Kim Seok-Gi who is responsible for 《Basic Endurance Training》.”
***
Reaper Scans
Translator - Rainypup
Proofreader - Lyze
***
[Yeonhwa Guild Office]
Yoo Sung-Eun, Park SungJae, and Park Hana were talking as they sat on a sofa.
The topic of their conversation was Min JaeHyun with his new recently-signed contract.
Sung-Eun, who had been tapping the table with her finger, suddenly asked SungJae.
“With such conditions, even 《Curator》 won’t be able to approach JaeHyun, right?”
“Of course, theoretically, it’s possible. But… since the penalty for breach of contract is 100 billion won, I think you don’t have to worry. JaeHyun also seems to like the Yeonhwa Guild.”
“That would be a relief, but… SungJae-oppa. You’re aware, right? We can’t let JaeHyun go. He’s someone who would strengthen any guild he goes to. Yeonhwa must do everything to keep him.”
“You’re on the mark. I will also try my best to prevent JaeHyun from thinking of leaving, so please don’t worry about it too much.”
Even as he said so, Park SungJae couldn’t be certain. Yoo Sung-Eun was also clearly nervous.
‘Why did it have to be the Curator of all guilds…’
Not so long ago, Sung-Eun had learned from SungJae that another guild was eyeing JaeHyun, and it was none other than 《Curator》.
One of the biggest merchant groups in Korea, it was a guild with great financial power.
As soon as Yoo Sung-Eun heard about it, she prepared a contract for JaeHyun.
If he and his overwhelming talent that could lift the Yeonhwa Guild’s power were stolen by another guild, it was possible that he would quickly grow stronger and overcome the Yeonhwa Guild.
If that happened, Yeonhwa’s position as a 1st-tier guild would also be shaken.
So, she decided to offer JaeHyun the best contract she could, with the offer of 2% of the guild’s shares to him.
This would put JaeHyun and Yeonhwa Guild on the same boat. Fortunately, JaeHyun didn’t reject her offer and signed the contract, wrapping up the situation.
Of course, if the very rich Curator wanted to take JaeHyun, even Yeonhwa couldn’t really do anything about it.
Listening attentively to their conversation, Park Hana asked with curiosity.
“By the way, why did the Curator want to approach Min JaeHyun who awakened as a battle-type?”
“I’m not sure… but seeing how they’d approached us so openly, it’s unusual. There’s a big possibility that JaeHyun has a skill or ability that is of interest to them.”
“If there’s more things that he’s hiding… he’s a really scary kid, that Min JaeHyun.”
“That’s right. Oppa and Hana, please take good care of JaeHyun. Make it so his affection for Yeonhwa doesn’t let him leave the guild. Got it?”
“I’m not sure about that. JaeHyun doesn’t seem like someone who would turn down potential benefits for affection…”
“…That is true. But still, do as I say! It’s an order from your guildmaster.”
“…Understood.”
The three of them made a few back-up plans to prevent others from stealing JaeHyun.
In their minds, JaeHyun was someone dangerous who could destroy the balance of influence and power the guilds had been maintaining up until now.
***
“My class will be more difficult than the others, but… I can say for certain that it will be of great use to you in the future. Let’s all try our best.”
‘Kim Seok-Gi, that bastard… Seeing him already give us a warning like that, it seems we won’t be able to finish this endurance test easily.’
Even before regression, he’d gained the resentment of the cadets with highly difficult training. Instructor Kim Seok-Gi nodded in satisfaction as he observed the hundreds of pairs of eyes on him.
“Today’s class will be an endurance test as you have all been informed of. I hope everyone shows good results. Now, let’s get right to it.”
Kim Seok-Gi started to explain how the endurance test would be conducted right away.
“Today’s endurance test has a total of two stages. In the first will be long-distance running to test your cardio-pulmonary endurance. The second, an evasion test using the AR-combat system to see how quickly you can move to avoid attacks.”
Kim Seok-Gi paused for a moment before continuing.
“The highest score in each stage is 100 points. The perfect score is, of course, 200… and the top 10 cadets with the best scores will be specially awarded 100,000 points.”
At his last statement, the cadets gulped. To them, who were starting to learn the importance of points, this was enough to make them restless.
However, JaeHyun was more focused on the test and not the points.
‘The endurance stat I’ve raised until now… Now is its time to shine.’
A smile hung from his lips.
Instructor Seok-Gi looked at all the cadets and declared in a stern tone.
“Now, we shall begin the endurance test.”
____