flstandardbreds Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115: The Storm Leaves an Aftermath (5)
While Choi Yu-seong was burning through an intense night, busy routines were intersecting in other rooms of the dormitory.
"…Is it really okay like this?"
The first was Kim Su-hyeok. He was reflecting on the events of the final exam from the previous days. Despite successfully stopping the threat, it was an incident that had left him with deep regret.
"To be honest, I did not really do anything."
Objectively speaking, that was not true. Had it not been for Kim Su-hyeok, it would have been difficult for the cadets to unite as they did. Furthermore, thanks to Kim Su-hyeok, who acted to eliminate risks appropriately at the right place and time, damage was minimized.
However, that was merely an objective judgment. It was not the subjective judgment that Kim Su-hyeok felt.
"If Yu-seong had not blocked the person named Baek Ha-seong…"
An S-Rank villain whom one must risk their life just to face. If Choi Yu-seong had not blocked him, every action Kim Su-hyeok had taken would have been essentially meaningless. In truth, even though the reason Baek Ha-seong had come to the final exam was because of Choi Yu-seong, that was an unavoidable disaster like a force of nature, so it was excluded from his thoughts.
It was a natural reaction for Kim Su-hyeok, who had no choice but to feel helpless in that situation.
"At this rate, I am nothing more than a person of empty words."
To realize justice. To act with righteousness. What use was it to merely possess such a mindset? If one could not realize it, they were nothing more than a dreamer.
"I have to change."
This would not do. He had to change. Had Ju Ha-yeon not said it to him? That he was currently failing to do even the minimum of what he should be doing. She was right. At this rate, he was merely an indecisive young cadet. He was nothing more than that.
"Because it should not be that way."
Friends and justice. To protect them all, he could not maintain his current self. Therefore, Kim Su-hyeok made a decision. He would use this incident as a turning point to absolutely change his weak self. Even if he could not change all at once, he would at least become someone who appeared worthy of speaking the word "justice."
"So, I should head to the training room. They say even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
With those words, Kim Su-hyeok quickly changed into light clothing and left the dormitory. Considering the timing of when he made this resolution in the novel Choi Yu-seong remembered… it could be said to be a very good omen.
***
This change in mindset was not unique to Kim Su-hyeok. In other places, numerous thoughts were intersecting, leading to various resolutions. Most notably, Ryu Jin-oh.
"Damn it! What is the point of being a member of the Ryu family at this rate?"
He was deeply enraged by the events of this final exam. It was not a particularly strange reaction. For Ryu Jin-oh, who was famous for his high pride, the incident during the final exam was quite unpleasant. Despite having trained without ceasing, he had been busy just trying to block the villains in front of him. And when Baek Ha-seong appeared, he had felt a momentary sense of futility.
However, there was something else that truly hurt his pride.
"I could not do anything until Kim Su-hyeok stepped forward."
It was the fact that he was not the first to act. Someone listening might say this: is it really enough to hurt one's pride over such a matter in that situation? But for Ryu Jin-oh, this was not just a simple matter of ranking.
"Tsk. If I cannot even protect one of my own people, I cannot carry the name of a prestigious family."
This was a matter of essence. Ryu Jin-oh had grown up watching his father, who was called The Emperor and had risen above the level of a Hero-rank player. For him, protecting his own people was something that naturally had to be done. Even if the enemy was a presence like a mountain that could not be overcome.
Then, another question might arise here. Someone might ask, 'How can he act like this when he always behaved so coldly toward the others?' However, this was also easily explained. It was because of Ryu Jin-oh's personality.
"They are the ones I have acknowledged. Who dares to touch them besides this great self?"
…It was a somewhat "tsundere" personality. In truth, Ryu Jin-oh had not always been this way; it was easier to understand when considering his life's background. The position of the successor to a prestigious family was by no means a light one. Thus, from a young age, Ryu Jin-oh was in a position where he could not easily protect someone. A single minor statement from him could be interpreted as the will of the Ryu family.
Well, the prickly part of him seemed innate, but anyway, it meant that Ryu Jin-oh also cherished the others. It was just that he did not express it because he had lived a life where he was not supposed to. Think about it. First, Kim Su-hyeok, Ju Ha-yeon, and Ha Eun-ha were people who had been with Ryu Jin-oh since their middle school days. It would be stranger not to grow attached to them after hanging out together under Kim Su-hyeok's lead for all that time.
And in the cases of Oh Jin-eon, Do Gang-ho, and Choi Yu-seong…
"They are those who deserve acknowledgment, even if they are not at my level."
It was a case of them capturing Ryu Jin-oh's heart in a short amount of time. It was always said that Oh Jin-eon and Do Gang-ho frequented the training room, and that was not a common occurrence. It was true that Glory cadets lived diligently, but if one were to ask if they lived to the extent of devoting themselves to training without missing a single day… well. Cases like that were likely extremely rare.
In short, the efforts of those two were enough to make even Ryu Jin-oh acknowledge them. Choi Yu-seong was a similar case. The way he worked hard every time without despairing despite his rank of 899th was sufficient to capture Ryu Jin-oh's heart. Moreover, since he was a dear friend of Kim Su-hyeok, whom Ryu Jin-oh acknowledged most, what more needed to be said?
"However, I failed to meet my own expectations."
The expectation Ryu Jin-oh mentioned here was the standard he had set for himself. As it was with Kim Su-hyeok, when viewed objectively, there was nothing Ryu Jin-oh had failed to do. Like Kim Su-hyeok, Ryu Jin-oh was expressing his frustration because he had failed to produce a result worthy of the standard he had set. In his eyes, it was essentially a stain on the pride of his family, which he valued above all else.
"So, I cannot just stay like this."
Should he be frustrated because he realized his inadequacy? Not a chance. Instead of being frustrated, he simply had to move further forward. Though it was true that the path would by no means be easy.
"If I were the type to give up, I would have given up a long time ago."
That was right. To him, such a thing was no different from a completely useless story. On the contrary, the more difficult an obstacle was to overcome, the more obsessively Ryu Jin-oh would charge at it. Yes, that was the true side of Ryu Jin-oh that Choi Yu-seong had admired.
Therefore, he stood up from where he had been sitting.
"Tsk. Even the time spent sitting like this is a waste."
Once a path is decided, there is no time for resting. If one realizes their inadequacy, they only need to think about how to fill that gap. Thus, after quickly finishing his preparations to go to the training room, Ryu Jin-oh left the dormitory immediately without a second thought.
And other children were feeling the same mindset as well.
"…This is not enough. It is still far from enough."
Even Oh Jin-eon, who had no choice but to turn his back on Choi Yu-seong.
"I should at least be able to protect my own life. And… enough to stand beside my precious friends, before they are my clients."
Even Ju Ha-yeon, who had to feel her own weakness in front of Baek Ha-seong.
"Always getting scared… at this rate, I am just a nuisance every time!"
Even Ha Eun-ha, who could not stop trembling from fear.
Ah, Do Gang-ho was an exception.
"Today is the day to destroy the lower body."
Since he did not usually engage in deep thinking, today was also just another passing day for him. Still, is the fact that he grows consistently not a sufficiently beautiful sight? …It probably is.
Anyway, the children who had firmly recalibrated their mindsets—except for one—all left their rooms and headed toward the training room as if they had made a pact.
***
Is it not said that pleasure awaits after hardship? I had never seriously empathized with those words in my life, but today was different.
[You have exerted a massive influence on the future and gained 97,300 Influence Points!]
[Physical abilities have improved.]
[Talent 'Swordsmanship - Persistence (C)' has changed to 'Swordsmanship - Desperate Strike (B-).']
[The rank of Talent 'Persistence (F)' has risen to E.]
"Ah…"
The rewards were so insane that I could not even speak properly. It reached the point where I wondered if I had already fallen asleep and if this was a dream. However, I could not just stand here with my mouth open in admiration forever. I grabbed hold of my consciousness, which was rapidly ascending, and began to check the rewards in detail.
First, the Influence Points.
"This doesn't even need any words."
In fact, there was nothing to check regarding the Influence Points. I could see the intuitive amount of points as they were given. It was just that the amount was so overwhelming that I was left speechless.
"It is nearly 100,000 points, so it is only natural."
Until now, the most points I had received at once had never exceeded 30,000. But nearly 100,000 points at once? At this level, being speechless was understandable.
"Then I can immediately buy the talent I was thinking about before."
It was the talent I had picked as my top priority to buy once I gathered enough points. It seemed I could buy it now without any trouble.
"Admiration Shop."
It had been a while since I called for the shop. Following my voice, a small System window appeared before my eyes. At the same time, I slowly checked the talents and artifacts listed in the purchase menu, and as a result.
"Found it."
I was able to find the talent I wanted.
[Talent - Concentration (D), 87,000P]
"…It is probably the talent that suits me best right now."
Concentration. It was one of Kim Su-hyeok's talents and one of the few low-rank talents he possessed. However, I could confidently say it was a perfect match for me right now. Because…
"I can somehow pull up my lacking physical abilities."
If I put it like that, it sounds like just a good talent. However, there was a reason why this talent was D-rank. It was because it concentrated physical abilities in one place. To put it simply, if my Vitality, Strength, Agility, and Mana Affinity were all C, it meant I could raise Vitality to A while the remaining abilities dropped to E.
"Furthermore, it is accompanied by extreme pain."
As I just explained, it was a talent that destroyed the body's balance. Therefore, as a side effect, intense pain would surge into the body where the scales of balance had collapsed. Because of that, even Kim Su-hyeok, who was not picky about most things, rarely used this talent in the novel.
"The fact that it is cheaper than Mana Absorption is probably for that reason as well."
However, that did not really matter to me.
"Fighting while carefully measuring everything is a privilege of the strong."
Strength and weakness are relative. I might be strong in front of an ordinary person, but I would be weak in front of someone like Baek Ha-seong. And when considering the incidents I would have to get involved in from now on, it was quite difficult for me to belong among the strong.
"So, should I not use something like this as efficiently as possible?"
I also want to grow through standard methods if possible, but things do not always go the way I want. It meant that since I was late, I needed a means to catch up quickly.
"Still, since it has one more advantage, is it good for a D-rank?"
That advantage was that it applied instantaneously. While the effects of the Embodiment of Admiration or artifacts that I possessed required a little bit of time to use, this talent could be used instantly. If a situation arose where every second was urgent, the instantaneous effect would certainly be helpful. Thus, I clicked to purchase the talent without hesitation.
[Talent - Concentration (D) has been purchased.]
[87,000 points are consumed.]
The payment was processed in an instant. Very quickly, as if it would not even give me a moment to take it back.
"…Now I think I know what those words mean."
When I was young, adults used to complain that their entire salary was taken away by taxes as soon as it was deposited. Back then, I did not know why they expressed so much dissatisfaction over something unavoidable, but now I think I understand. Deposited and then immediately withdrawn.
Even if it is unavoidable, I cannot stop my heart from aching…