TRPM 381

chapter 381

“Hey….”

“Hm?”

“Don’t you think, no matter how you look at it, Geon-woo can’t use aura like Elena and Lee Ha-eun?”

“Yeah….”

The kids, watching Han Geon-woo kill an orc through the screen, exchanged that kind of conversation.

What Geon-woo was using wasn’t aura but internal energy—but none of the people here knew that.

“Is it because he’s got multiple abilities?”

“No, that’s not the issue here, is it? Instructor, is it okay to just let Geon-woo keep fighting like that?”

The instructor, hearing the kids, quietly kept his eyes on the screen.

“……”

At first, when he realized something was off with Han Geon-woo, he was about to summon him out.

Even if it was only virtual reality—where you couldn’t die for real, and pain was dulled—experiencing death itself was never pleasant.

But….

‘He’s smiling.’

Before becoming an academy instructor, he’d spent a long time raiding dungeons. He had seen many kinds of awakened people.

Among them, there were quite a few who couldn’t help but smile in the middle of battle. And those types usually fell into two categories:

‘The first—those intoxicated by blood, who felt ecstasy from killing. The second—battle junkies who just enjoyed the act of fighting itself.’

Han Geon-woo, known as “the Artist,” was not the blood-drunk type.

Which meant—right now, he was enjoying his fight with the orc.

Even though he couldn’t use his ability.

‘More importantly….’

The orc’s attacks weren’t landing on him, while Geon-woo’s strikes kept cutting into the orc.

‘…Impressive.’

Seeing that, the instructor was convinced that Han Geon-woo wouldn’t be beaten by the orc.

So he took his hand off the summon button.

“Instructor?”

“Geon-woo doesn’t seem to be in danger. Let’s keep watching.”

That’s what he told Son Ji-hye, Geon-woo’s homeroom teacher.

…Not because he was worried that if he pulled Geon-woo out while he was enjoying himself, the boy would resent him. Definitely not.

While the instructor was thinking that to himself, Geon-woo killed the orc and advanced to the next stage.

I stabbed the orc’s heart, then immediately sprinted toward where the ogre would be.

I wanted to keep fighting—to cool the heat still rushing through my body from the orc battle.

My arm holding the sword wasn’t moving properly anymore, but that didn’t matter.

This was virtual reality.

Even if my arm got completely smashed here, it wouldn’t affect my real body.

So I could push it harder.

‘But unlike with the orc, I’ll need to be a little more serious against the ogre.’

Ogres had lower intelligence than orcs.

But their physical strength and regeneration were on a whole different level.

‘Even with this body, it was tough to slice through an orc’s flesh. An ogre will be harder. Worse, they heal from most wounds almost instantly, so I can’t just stack injuries like I did with the orc.’

Especially stabbing its heart—that was close to impossible.

Their skin was thicker, and their massive size made it hard to even aim for the heart.

‘Not that I won’t try, though.’

As I ran, I soon spotted an ogre wandering around with a blank look.

Just like I did with the orc, I surged forward to ambush it.

Shhhk—!

I aimed for the ogre’s eye.

Its eyes were tougher than a human’s, but compared to its skin, still weak.

So my sword slid smoothly into one of them.

“Graaaahhh!”

The ogre lost an eye in an instant and roared in rage.

Its massive hand swung for me.

Slash!

I yanked my sword out of its eye and dodged the blow.

“Uuuuhhh….”

With one eye left, the ogre spotted me and swung its club.

The huge weapon—almost the size of its arm—was terrifying simply because of its mass.

And it was swung with full force….

BOOOM!

The ground shattered on impact.

Of course, I had sidestepped easily. But if that had hit a person—they’d have died instantly. If their body stayed intact, that alone would’ve been a miracle.

Stab!

Anyway—since I was already dodging, I jabbed the ogre’s fingers gripping the club.

‘Tch.’

Couldn’t pierce deeply. As expected.

“Graaaahhh!”

But pain was still pain—the ogre screamed and yanked its hand back.

At that moment, I clung to the club it was pulling.

“Hrrhh?”

The club swung fast, and I used it as a springboard to leap.

This time I aimed for—

Shhhk!

The remaining eye.

“Graaaahhh!”

Now blind in both eyes, the ogre flailed.

It could still sense me with hearing and touch, but compared to sight, it was nothing.

I withdrew my sword and backed off.

But the ogre still thought I was close—swinging its club wildly in place.

‘Let’s see….’

I studied its random swings.

They looked chaotic, but there was still a pattern.

‘In that case… now!’

I calculated the angle and timing to slip through, then rushed in and stabbed its toe.

Stab!

“Graaaahhh?!”

Shocked by the pain, the ogre lifted that foot high.

Stab!

I stabbed the toes of the other foot.

It tried to lift that foot too—but the first was already raised.

Naturally, it lost its balance—

‘…Here we go.’

I braced my sword where it would fall.

As its body hit the blade, I let go and rolled clear.

Shhhk!
CRASH!

“…Phew.”

I escaped just before being crushed, then checked the ogre.

“Uuuhhh….”

Still alive—but not for long.

Even an ogre couldn’t last with its heart pierced.

‘Good thing the sword’s an indestructible object.’

This was virtual reality—designed to mimic real combat while staying controlled.

If weapons suddenly broke mid-battle, training would be useless.

So, unless it was scripted, weapons here couldn’t be destroyed.

That was the only reason my trick had worked.

‘If it had been a normal mass-produced sword, it would’ve snapped—probably back when I stabbed its fingers or toes.’

But since it didn’t break, the ogre’s own weight drove it straight onto the blade—impaling its heart.

It wasn’t dead yet, but blood wasn’t circulating. Its strength was fading fast.

“…Haaah! That was fun!”

Sometimes, fighting for my life like this wasn’t so bad.

I lay down, grinning.

There might be more monsters after the ogre—but not in my state.

My sword arm was shredded, and the rest of my body wasn’t much better.

I hadn’t been hit, but avoiding all those blows had taken its toll.

Most importantly—

‘I can’t recover my sword.’

It was pinned beneath the ogre’s body.

To retrieve it, I’d have to roll the ogre over—but with my current condition, impossible.

So this was the end.

The instructor must’ve agreed, because I was summoned out.

“You psycho.”

“You psycho.”

“You psycho.”

“…What? Why’s everyone cursing at me at once?”

The moment I reappeared, my classmates all cursed in unison.

“If you can’t use your ability and your body’s weakened, you should run! Why fight?!”

“Geon-woo, don’t ever call Elliot a muscle-head or battle maniac again. You’re way worse.”

“…That sounds like you’re insulting Elliot too, doesn’t it?”

While I listened to their complaints, I overheard the instructor talking with Son Ji-hye.

“…It was reckless, so I should deduct points—but to actually win….”

“Wait, is it a deduction?”

“No… if he’d taken hits from the orc or ogre, maybe. But he dodged them all. And considering he couldn’t even use his ability, with weakened body stats….”

It was more like he deserved bonus points, not deductions.

That weekend, after the virtual reality exam—

“Geon-woo, are you insane?! Even without your ability and with your body weakened, you fought orcs and an ogre?!”

…After arriving at Seoul Awakened Academy to meet Chairman Shin Han-ji, I got nagged by Woo Ji-min.

“I told you, it was virtual reality! And cut it out. I already got nagged enough before you.”

Teacher Son Ji-hye had reported my practical exam to my mom. Naturally, when I got home, I got nagged.

Then Yeon Mi-rae and Sophia chimed in too, telling me to take care of myself.

They said plenty of awakened had started treating their bodies carelessly in reality after doing so in VR—and died early.

‘…And it didn’t stop there.’

Maybe thanks to Sophia’s report, Association President Richard called me too—nagging me to take care of my body.

Then Arthur and Rachel from England said the same thing, probably after Mi-rae told them.

The most absurd one was—

‘My uncle’s doppelgänger… even he contacted me?’

After the Sinsegye incident, Richard had taken that doppelgänger to America—for research and interrogation.

I thought he’d been disposed of afterwards, but apparently Richard spared him because he cooperated.

He wasn’t free, of course—he was locked in a facility somewhere in the U.S.

Anyway—

“So you already got nagged? Judging from your attitude, you must’ve ignored it all! Right, Chloe?”

“…Geon-woo. I know what kind of life you’ve lived, but I still want you to take care of your body.”

“……”

Woo Ji-min even dragged Chloe Greenwood into scolding me.

Since they were both sincerely worried, I kept my mouth shut and listened.

Until—

“Can we finally get to why you came to see me, Mr. Geon-woo? I’m quite busy….”

Chairman Shin Han-ji, the master of this office, cut in.