Chapter 157: Siwon School (3)

The purpose for establishing the Siwon School remains the same as I once explained.

It is to bolster humanity’s strength in preparation for the dangers and disasters to come.

Some might ask: What exactly is the threat to humanity?

In fact, some media outlets have raised this question, but their cries went without an echo.

Whatever the reason, the number of powerful individuals is increasing due to the Siwon School, as everyone has been given an equal opportunity to learn.

And the threat and disaster people do not know of.

That is, precisely.

‘Nepas.’

In the past, I thought the Demon King or the God of Light and Darkness were the adversaries.

But now, I am certain that he is the true enemy of mine and of humanity.

However, there has been little news of him lately.

He is definitely plotting something, but because he has not shown himself, I cannot help but feel uneasy.

Therefore, I needed to be prepared to counter his schemes.

That is why I founded the Siwon School.

So that humanity itself, so that Earth can withstand the plots of Nepas.

It has to be this way, as I do not have much time left. 

My life is burning away rapidly, like a fire set to dry firewood.

Of course, one might say there is hope in Leon, but no.

‘He is also in the process of fading.’

I did not know at first.

But a fact that became clear after 1 year passed.

It was that Leon, like me, is collapsing rapidly.

The only difference is that my inner self is collapsing, while his physical body is failing.

In truth, that was something I should have anticipated to some extent.

It had to be that way, as his body swallowed the origin of the God of Light and Darkness, the Primeval.

Leon was the vessel that swallowed the absolute existence known as the Primeval.

But that vessel was not complete.

Nepas admitted it too; that vessel is incomplete.

Although he absorbed the Primeval, he did not possess the perfect power to sustain it.

In the first place, there was no way a vessel capable of holding the power of the Primeval could exist.

Currently, Leon’s state is like a bottle filled to the brim with water that does not fit it.

He is in a state where the water could overflow at any moment, causing a disaster for himself and his surroundings.

Although there are no irregularities right now, he is an unstable vessel, one that could explode at any small stimulation or phenomenon.

After realizing that, he and I thought about establishing the Siwon School.

So that even if the two of us disappear, humanity will have cultivated the strength to oppose Nepas.

People say: That the first and second cohorts of the Siwon School produced excellent talent.

But Leon and I did not think so.

The Very Hard difficulty trial?

Passing that was just the baseline.

But the graduates showed results that did not meet our expectations, barely satisfying themselves with that much.

I did not hope for the Myth difficulty level.

At the very least, Suffering should have been the benchmark, but to think they barely surpassed the Nightmare level.

That is why we started even more intensive training for the second cohort than the first.

To the point where complaints emerged from those who enrolled.

Of course, those who could not overcome such discipline were never given a diploma.

That is how we produced the second cohort graduates.

After 1 year of teaching, those who advanced through the Tower reached the level of Suffering.

But even that was not a result I was quite satisfied with.

‘I do not see those with talent as I expected.’

The situation was completely different from when I was teaching Leon.

I thought it might be that way because he is a being whose level is different from ordinary humanity, having absorbed the power of the Primeval, but current humanity was too weak.

Why?

Ironically, that was because of their Traits.

As they awakened the ability called Traits, they became too reliant on them.

Because of that, they are ignorant of basic training, physical conditioning, and building the Karma of martial arts.

That is why they could not properly follow the training and martial Karma I teach.

I barely managed to force it into them and gave them the proof of graduation, but if it had been according to my heart, not a single person from either the first or second cohorts would have graduated.

Because of that, I felt a bit impatient.

Quite a lot of time has already passed.

As much as Nepas has prepared for a long time, the ripple effect and influence when he reappears will be beyond description.

However, since humanity’s preparation to face that is slow, even I could not help but be impatient.

That is why I planned to thoroughly select and prepare this third cohort.

Even if it meant selecting only 1 person.

Therefore, for the first round of selection, I was secretly at the testing grounds while hiding my identity.

Then, I discovered him.

“Hoo.”

He is trying to leave the testing grounds while sighing as if the earth would collapse.

I heard all the conversations he had with the kids earlier.

Perhaps he was subjected to group bullying and assault at his previous academy.

But such a past was not important.

The moment I saw his state through the Insight Eye.

‘Ho?!’

It was inevitable that intense curiosity and interest would arise.

It had to be.

A sturdy physique.

A sturdy physique.

Someone might think it is just a body a little sturdier than a normal person.

But the Insight Eye, developed through 1,000 years of Karma, showed the future of that Trait.

The martial physique.

There were no such things as Traits on the Gritia Continent.

Therefore, the natural durability of the body or a deep understanding of weaponry was called talent.

From that perspective, the talent of the young man in front of my eyes could truly be called exceptional.

Exceptional?

It is not just exceptional.

He was born with a martial bone, commonly called the best physique for mastering the sword.

And that also means he has the potential to absorb everything I will teach here at the Siwon School.

That is why I granted him a Super Pass.

The badge marked with a special character gives the privilege of being able to enter regardless of the content of the test.

And one more thing.

***

“I would like to first welcome everyone who has participated in the test for admission to the Siwon School…”

On the podium, Leon, who has more external activities than I do, started his speech.

In fact, rather than a speech, it was a place for welcome greetings and to briefly explain the content of the test.

“…Then, we will now begin the test to select the incoming students. As mentioned earlier, this third cohort has even more rigorous tests prepared than the first or second cohorts, so I hope you all draw out your capabilities to the maximum.”

That was not a word meant to scare them for no reason.

This third cohort admission test can be thought of as having a difficulty level about 5 times higher than the first and 3 times higher than the second.

Because the first and second cohorts did not grow as much as we thought, we decided to be more selective.

Even if it meant the number of people would be small, we decided not to compromise.

And just before entering the test.

“Excuse me…”

With a small voice, someone walks out.

He was the young man to whom I had used the Super Pass earlier.

I was pretending to be a guard, watching the scene while wearing my hat pulled down low.

“Yes. Do you have any questions?”

Since he is not a student yet, Leon used formal language.

“That is…”

The young man, hesitating and wavering.

“This…”

His hesitant appearance looked like he was checking if the badge he received was genuine or if it was a prank by someone.

But he gathered his courage and handed the badge to Leon.

At that moment.

Silence.

“Ah! I suppose I thought wrong…”

Sensing that something was wrong from that cold reaction, the young man tried to withdraw quickly.

But.

“…Congratulations.”

Leon, who had looked toward where I was for a moment, saw me nodding and immediately offered words of congratulations.

“This is a Super Pass issued by the Master, Kim Si-won. Anyone who receives this badge can enter the Siwon School regardless of the reason, and in addition to this, the benefits are…”

The benefits of the Super Pass.

There is the unconditional passing of the test, but its true benefit was something else.

“…You can receive the Master’s intensive training.”

The Super Pass is something only Leon and I can use.

And those who have a Super Pass issued by each of us can receive training from the one who issued it.

It means the young man who received the Super Pass I issued can receive my teachings.

“My goodness!”

“Th-the training of Kim Si-won?”

“From the world’s top-ranked Awakener…?”

And it was clearly an incredible benefit.

Even when the first cohort of students arrived, Leon provided more intensive teaching than I did.

In fact, it is safe to say that I taught almost no one.

Yet, breaking that precedent, I chose someone to train directly.

“It makes no sense!”

A shout bursting through the silence.

“I cannot believe this!”

It was a young man exuding blatant hostility.

And he was the one who had been bullying the young man who had just received the Super Pass.

“How can a guy without talent like this get a Super Pass? It must be fabricated. I request that you check again.”

Seeing him openly berating the other for having no talent, he seemed quite confident.

I examined the one who caused the commotion with my Insight Eye.

‘Ho?!’

I felt interest, but in a different sense than the young man who received the Super Pass.

[Martial Arts Path]

[Sword Mastery Affinity]

He is a guy who awakened a very good Trait related to sword mastery, and in terms of innate talent for the Trait, he was born with incredible qualities.

It is an amazing talent that can shine even among his peers, no, among most Awakeners.

However.

‘The problem is that his character is trash.’

They say geniuses are arrogant.

But just as there are types of arrogance, a guy with a trash personality is difficult to become great.

Of course, despite that, he can be called a guy born with great talent who has enough room to be active later while being called a genius.

“Check again?” Leon said, narrowing his eyes.

It seemed the quick-witted guy had guessed the situation between the Super Pass young man and these people to some extent.

“I have confirmed that it is real. There is no need to…”

But before that statement could finish.

“It is true that I gave it.”

I approached the podium while shedding my disguised identity.

“…?”

Everyone was bewildered at first by the guard’s approach, not understanding, but soon their eyes widened as they saw me.

I have been introduced to the media several times.

Of course, I never wanted to go out, but if I take off my hat and mask, anyone can recognize me.

“Now… have your doubts disappeared?”

The guy who was a bit flustered by my sudden appearance bites his lips.

The reason he shows such blatant hostility even though no harm comes to him is.

‘Is it contempt for an average person?’

People harbor feelings of cognitive dissonance and aversion toward beings completely different from themselves.

It seems the guy fundamentally hates people called average, no, talentless, unlike himself.

It is like feeling disgust because things get stained black if they are in the same place.

And I look at the young man with the Super Pass.

The guy was trembling, he seemed to be feeling terrible terror and fear just from being in the same space as that guy.

‘This is also a problem.’

Originally, I intended to let him overcome that trauma slowly, but if it comes to this, I have no choice but to change my method.

-Whoosh!

I threw something at the guy who picked the fight.

It was quite fast, but the guy who snatched it out of the air at once said.

“This is?!”

Of course, it was the Super Pass marked with a special character.

“One week.”

I said to him, holding up one finger.

“You seem to be overlooking this guy’s talent, so let’s have a bet. Whoever wins after one week of training gets to enroll.”

A short time where not much changes, not even a month, but a week was enough time to change the public perception spread throughout the grounds.

“If by any chance you win, you will naturally be admitted, and I will acknowledge that my eyes were wrong and promise you intensive training and care.”

And that was a type of proposal the guy could never refuse.