TRPM 294

chapter 294

Fortunately, Chairman Shin Hanji hadn’t called me to the tournament to make me participate.

Of course, even she knew it would be a disaster if the world’s strongest fighter suddenly appeared in a tournament meant for academy cadets.

What she wanted from me was to act as a judge.

“A judge?”

“The academy’s tournament is close to a final exam, yes, but it’s also a chance for cadets to learn through sparring, figure out their weaknesses, and receive advice from instructors and professors. So, if possible, I’d like a skilled fighter like you, Gunwoo, to give them some guidance.”

That’s what Chairman Shin said.

Hmm…

“I thought one of the academy professors was an Aura Master. Why would I need to be a judge too?”

“The head of the Swordsmanship Department will be judging as well. But since duels will be happening in every sparring arena, he can’t possibly give feedback to every cadet who uses a sword.”

And more importantly…

“The swordsmanship professor can only give advice on sword techniques and aura. But you, Gunwoo, aren’t limited like that, are you?”

I only mimic magic and psychic powers through my inner energy, but other people think of me as a multi-ability awakener with several powers.

No doubt Shin Hanji thought the same.

That’s why she believed I could advise not only aura users, but also magicians and espers.

‘Well, I could. I did study magic and psychic theory to mimic those powers, after all.’

But still…

“I don’t want to.”

Her suggestion didn’t appeal to me.

“And why not?”

“First, I don’t feel like putting myself through all that trouble for no real reward.”

“Of course, there would be compensation. You’d be helping the academy, even if only temporarily. Do you want to hear the details?”

“Second, because of what I said during the summit with Chairman Richard when he visited Korea. Teaching cadets feels wrong.”

“The summit…? Ah…”

Hearing that, Shin Hanji remembered what I’d declared back then and fell silent.

[Teaching skills isn’t a problem. But teaching everyone is physically impossible, and I don’t want to anyway.]

[So I’ll set conditions for those who want to learn from me.]

[The minimum condition is this: you must be able to freely use a set number of techniques I’ve registered in the Awakener System database, without system correction.]

That’s what I’d said in front of the cameras.

And freely using techniques from the Awakener database without assistance from the system was an incredibly strict condition.

That’s why, even now, months later, no one had managed to meet it.

“I made that declaration. So if I suddenly start teaching cadets who clearly can’t meet the condition yet… it wouldn’t feel right.”

It wouldn’t be fair.

Even if I only gave advice, people would talk. And I’d rather avoid that headache.

“You’re right. Then let’s forget I suggested it.”

Instead…

“How about just watching the tournament as a guest?”

“Watching?”

“Yes. I’ll prepare a VIP seat for you.”

… Before regression, the Seoul Awakener Academy also held tournaments every semester.

But they were never open to outsiders like this.

‘Well, this academy has become abnormally famous this time around.’

Mostly because of me.

Shin Hanji had leveraged that fame to grow the academy, hiring big names as instructors and professors, turning it into the most renowned academy in the world.

Naturally, the tournaments it hosted drew global attention. In fact, in recent years, the academy’s end-of-semester tournament had become a world-class event.

“That sounds good.”

Honestly, watching the academy’s tournament would be more useful than sitting through post-exam classes at my own school.

‘Worst case, I could send a puppet to the tournament while my real body goes to school.’

That’s how I’d handled the summit with Chairman Richard before.

So, I decided to attend the academy tournament as a VIP spectator.

“Lucky…”

Elena, who was sitting beside me, muttered enviously. She clearly wanted to see the tournament too.

“Would you like to come as well, Elena? If you want, I can arrange a VIP seat for you too.”

“M-me? Is that really okay, sister?”

“Of course. You’re royalty. There’d be no problem with the formalities.”

Chairman Shin, who liked Elena, made it sound simple.

“Ah, though you’d have to skip school for it…”

“That’s fine!”

Elena shouted so loudly in excitement that, if not for the barrier Shin had cast, the entire café would’ve turned to look.

“Hehe… then I’ll prepare it. You both know when the tournament is, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

I nodded calmly. Elena, however, nodded so enthusiastically her face turned red with excitement.

… Was she really that eager to see the tournament? I’d never seen her this cheerful before.

As I pondered that, the two of them carried on chatting.

‘How do they still have things to talk about after three days straight of chattering…?’

Well, then again, my mother had been chatting with her friends for decades and still never ran out of topics.

Women’s conversations were a mystery.

I finished my lunch with that thought.

“Time to get going.”

As I set down my fork, Chairman Shin stood up. Unlike us, who had free time after finals, she had plenty of work waiting for her.

“See you next time.”

“Yes, during the tournament.”

“Goodbye, sister.”

We exchanged farewells, and she left the café after checking the time.

Watching her go, I glanced at Elena’s plate. It was spotless—apparently, she’d eaten properly even while talking so much.

“Shall we head back too?”

“Mm… feels a little wasteful.”

“Wasteful?”

“Yes. Going straight back to the dorm now feels like a waste.”

… So she wanted to hang out somewhere before returning. And since playing alone wouldn’t be fun, she was hinting for me to come along.

“Hmm…”

Spending time with her alone felt awkward. And I had no idea what a princess like her enjoyed.

“… Ah.”

Then I remembered.

“You played games at Ha-eun’s place before, right? With her and Elliot.”

That had been the weekend after our school’s sports festival.

I’d gone to train with Yeon Mirae and Sophia, as usual. Ha-eun had shown up for training too.

And Elena and Elliot had tagged along with her.

[Who knew they’d end up hanging out at Ha-eun’s house?]
[Apparently, the three of them played games together there.]
[Strictly speaking, Elena was the one visiting. She just dragged Elliot along because she didn’t trust him out of her sight.]
[When Ha-eun went off to train, they got curious about what a great mage’s training looked like, and naturally joined us.]

Thinking back, Elena nodded.

“Yes. Ha-eun has a lot of multiplayer games at her house.”

“She does.”

I knew well—I’d often played those games with Ha-eun and Mirae myself.

But the important thing now was…

“Do you like games?”

If she’d gone out of her way to play at Ha-eun’s place, it must mean she liked them.

When I asked…

“Yes, I love them. Especially violent and brutal ones.”

“… Huh?”

Her answer was oddly specific.

“Games where you shoot, beat, and tear apart people or monsters—I love those.”

“……”

Ah, right.

[Elena may act proper in public, but she’s really a borderline psychopath always ready to cross the line.]

[That evaluation may sound harsh, but considering she once launched lethal attacks in a sparring match, she’s definitely not normal.]

I’d almost forgotten—that was her true nature.

“… Fine. Let’s go play, then.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There should be some shooting games at the arcade near my place.”

I hadn’t been there since regression, but they probably still had them.

The next day, after watching Elena gleefully massacre enemies in a shooting game…

“Everyone, how did the exams go?”

During homeroom, our teacher Ms. Son Ji-hye asked the class.

But no one answered.

‘… Well, I did fine…’

Not just me—studious ones like Kang Garam, Elena, Lee Doomin, and Ha-eun got good scores from the provisional grading.

Eunyeon, though not much of a studier, was smart enough to master alchemy. She’d probably done decently too.

But…

“Ugh…”

“Ahem…”

“… I’m ashamed…”

Ryu Amin, Ryu Ah-young, and Jin Cheonha clearly hadn’t done well.

Seeing their gloomy faces, the others wisely stayed quiet instead of answering.

‘Jin Cheonha, huh? That’s surprising. He worked hard, even if he got weird after switching back to hanbok recently…’

Then again, effort doesn’t always mean results.

‘And Elliot…’

I glanced at the one student who didn’t fit either group.

“?”

He tilted his head blankly, as if wondering what the fuss was about.

I’d heard his scores were low too, but he didn’t seem to care at all. He probably never cared about grades to begin with.

“… I get the picture.”

Judging from our reactions, Ms. Son could already tell who had done well and who hadn’t. And so homeroom continued.