Chapter 19

Dark chapter.

A phrase used to describe your embarrassing past you wanted to erase.

Powerful, intelligent, sociable, good looking, and wealthy. The genius who had all of the listed qualities.

The main hero of Fullmago, Joo Soohyuk, too had a dark chapter in his life.

The first time Soohyuk and Dain had a combined class.

Dain meets her best friend Yuri during the ‘Player Battle practice 1’ combined class and smiles for the first time ever since the first day of school.

Soohyuk who sees her smiling in front of him trips and falls in a grand manner.

Had he not been in his players’ physical state, his fall was impactful enough to cause a concussion or a broken bone.

Even the mighty Joo Soohyuk was just a teenager smitten by the smile of the girl he had fallen for.

‘Dain rarely smiled so it’s understandable why Soohyuk was surprised. Previously whenever she smiled they were out of politeness. A combination of her expressionless face and a slight lift in the corners of her mouth.

Soohyuk had made a fool of himself in front of 100 or so people and was recorded on live stream.

He then tries to pull himself together and engages on a one on one with Dain.

Soohyuk loses miserably.

Dain is taken by surprise by Soohyuk’s poor skills and Soohyuk sensing her disappointment is tormented.

This whole scenario was the main highlight of today’s first class.

5 minutes before the start of class.

The entire year 1 class 1 arrived at the sports hall allocated for freshmen.

Yuri commented that more may come today so we had waited as long as we could for our other classmates.

But like yesterday, there were only four of us again. Hwang Jiho, Kim Yuri, Hayi, and myself.

The four of us walked together to the sports hall but as soon as we arrived I pretended to explore the sports hall and went to stand behind Soohyuk.

“Yuri!”

Dain had found Yuri.

Dain, with a pretty expression that imitated a field of fully bloomed flowers, waved her hand.

The cold and expressionless Dain was gone and a warm smile was widely spread all over.

All the students that saw Dain looked surprised.

But Dain and Yuri didn’t seem to care and started to talk.

Flop.

I supported Soohyuk from behind and prevented his fall.

I don’t know how he had tripped but both his legs were momentarily in the air.

Thankfully I was prepared and avoided being entangled in an accident together.

“Are you okay?

“….oh, sorry. Ya I’m okay.”

Soohyuk who stood leaning against my shoulder looked like he wasn’t in the right state of mind.

Even a lost and blank expression looked good on Soohyuk.

There were a few students standing behind Soohyuk and looking at the side of his face. They looked even more lost and blank than he did.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I think you’re going to battle Dain in this class today. You guys have the same score so.”

“What? Oh, right. Okay. That’s okay.”

He looked far from okay.

At the mention of Dain, his cheeks were dyed a shade of red.

But soon he calmed down after a few deep breaths.

Even though he was smitten by his first love Soohyuk was one of the main characters in this world.

Now with this, he would have avoided an embarrassing moment.

‘This should have done the trick.’

I was about to leave Soohyuk and walk away when Soohyuk spoke.

“Thanks, Jo Eushin.”

Soohyuk knew my name.

It was an odd feeling to hear my name being spoken from the mouth of the main character.

“….You know my name?”

“My test site was right opposite yours for the practical exam. When everything wrapped up and you were transported to the hospital, I caught a glimpse of your face and name tag. I’m more surprised that you know my name.”

Soohyuk smiled and spoke casually, he no longer seemed to be out of it.

‘What a good memory.’

To think that Soohyuk was able to remember someone’s name and face just from a glimpse amidst all the chaos that had happened that day.

If so it was even possible that Soohyuk remembered Sanghoon and Namwook.

“I don’t think there’s anyone amongst the freshman that doesn’t know you or Dain’s name.”

“Hahaha, if you put it that way then the same goes for the nameless supernova.”

Soohyuk naturally continued the conversation.

He had the ability to make the other person smile and be at ease.

‘When I saw him from the game I only thought of him as someone who was easy to stick to.’

But in real life, I realized he had the ability to charm people and genuinely gain their attention.

‘No wonder those from the royal lineage reached out to Soohyuk.”

While we were engaged in a conversation.

The class bell rang and put an end to our conversation.

“The class bell….”

A combined sound of string and wind instruments filled the room.

It was a great combination of string, wind, and brass instruments that showed off a great melody.

The students spoke in softer voices to appreciate the melody.

“They played this themselves? What was the title? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.”

“It’s composed by Elgar, the marching song of Wipungdang No.1 in D major….wow they even organized the second half.”

“Seems like the string, wind, and orchestra club came together to commemorate the first class bell.”

“I like this piece. I’m going to download it.”

As the piece continued the sound of conversations faded away.

All around, students put up their hologram to download the piece.

In Eunkwang high the soundtrack of the class bell changed every hour.

Those in charge of the class bell were the music-related clubs.

String, wind, orchestra, piano, a traditional instrument, band, vocal music, choir, composing club, etc decided on the soundtrack to use for the class bell.

Anything from instrument pieces to self sung songs were possible to use.

There were times when it was a classic piece like today. Sometimes there were pop songs or self-composed songs.

There were cases when it was a country song or traditional Korean pansori.

All these soundtracks were uploaded on Eunkwang high’s broadcasting homepage.

The sound of the class bell was only a minute long but the full version was downloadable on the homepage.

‘I’ll download today’s one after making a donation.’

The class bell was downloadable for free but you were also able to donate as much as you wanted.

After the allocated minute for the class bell was over, the track started to fade out. Then the professors turned up.

Soohyuk and I had stopped talking and were listening to the class bell, but now decided to part ways and return to our places.

“See you soon, Eushin.”

“Sure, Soohyuk.”

Soohyuk rejoined his class year 1 class 2 students and I rejoined my class zero students.

The students lined up in two lines per class. Then the three professors stood in front of the 104 students and did a brief self-introduction.

Year 1 class zero homeroom teacher Ham Geun Hyeong

Year 1 class one homeroom teacher Kim Shin Rok

Year 1 class two homeroom teacher No Young Mi

No Young Mi was a non-playable character.

But Kim Shin Rok was a new character.

In the game, the form teacher of class one was Choi Pyeon Deuk, that piece of trash.

<This character is not found in the database. There is no information on this person>

Even with the specified menu tab, there was no information to be found.

The homeroom teacher of Year 1 class 1, where the title heroine Andain was, played quite a crucial role.

But to think that it was an unregistered character.

‘Choi Pyeon Deuk is still out there alive so why was there a change in their appointed teacher?’

I was staring and continuously observing Kim Shin Rok.

Then I realized he had a familiar face.

‘The invigilator who had appeared near death at the nameless side character’s tutorial….!”

He was the invigilator who had turned up during the practical exam near death and shouted at us to run.

‘In the storyline, he suffered a severe injury from the bear lineage and was thrown into the sports hall with the enemy. Then died with the students who were in there taking their exam….’

Perhaps Kim Shin Rok was originally the appointed homeroom teacher for class 1.

But in the game, he had died so there was a change.

“Hello everyone. This is ‘Player battle practice 1’ your first lesson since you’ve entered Eunkwng high.’

No Young Mi the homeroom teacher of year 1 class 2 started the class.

“Amongst you, there will be some of you that are not interested in battles and avoid them. Of course, there are many paths for a player. You need not join the pro player team after you graduate Eunkwang high. There are students who end up becoming doctors, lawyers, civil workers, or even professors like us.’

There were some guilty faces in the crowd.

There were quite a number of students who had joined Eunkwang high for its title and reputation as the most elite high school in Korea. Rather than because they wanted to pursue a career as a player.

‘Namwook was an example of such.’

The enthusiasm and pursuit of the elite education system continued even after the scandal in this industry.

“But we never know where the borderline will turn up. It may be found in the offices you work in or the resort you visit for a holiday. A borderline may open up and the enemy may appear.”

No Young Mi continued.

“Only players like us are capable of combating the enemies. It is the basic quality of a player to train and polish their skills to fight for your family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.”

Those of us here were newly turned 17, year-one high school students.

All this while it had been impossible to use our esteemed abilities as it had been sealed away so even if we had outstanding battle skills we were in the position of being protected.

But now that we were 17 and approved by the association we were the players.

No Young Mi’s speech made me realize that we all stood in a different position. From the ones being protected by others to the ones that protected others.

“One of the entrance requirements to enter Eunkwang high is to ‘be equipped with more than one battle skill.’ Our teaching team will do our best to enhance the battle skills that you have shown to us.”

As No Young Mi gestured, Kim Shin Rok and  Ham Geun Hyeong respectively brought carts full of item cards.

“All of the cards here are item cards designed and catered to enhance the battle skills you revealed during the entrance exam. Their rarity are all class R items.”

Several students raised their hands.

“Professor! I brought my own personal item card.”

“Same here.”

Those funded by their families’ wealth possessed even rarer items that were of SR or SSR rarity. So to them, the R rarity item must have been unsatisfying.

No Young Mi shook her head.

“What we want to see today is purely your battle skills.”

It was expected for the homeroom teachers to observe and assess the strength and abilities of their year one students.

That was why it was necessary to combine more than two classes to compare and assess each student’s position amongst the rest.

Since attacks that occurred at the borderline were mostly in large groups.

There were many unhappy faces in the crowd, but No Young Mi ignored it and continued to speak.

“Your respective homeroom teachers will distribute the item cards. One the distribution is completed, gather back.”

***

I did not want to share my skill.

Personalized menu option? Skill of faith? Corresponding skill?

I was probably the only one in this world with these sorts of skills.

Once I revealed them, I predicted a future where I was used as a research target by the player’s association or the government.

But it was a mandatory rule to reveal more than one battle skill in Eunkwang high.

‘I only have one skill I can reveal.’

Which was also my only battle skill.

The skill I revealed was the “all things ability” where I could use any shield and weapon.

“Wow! Are all these yours Eushin?”

Yuri looked at me impressed.

Most students had been issued one card.

‘This is more than I expected.’

The number of cards I received was 300.

Those around me started to talk as I stood there holding a whole stack of cards in a plastic case.

Even Hwang Jiho who was standing next to me with a card in his hand looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“Even amongst the royal lineage, there are only a few who have the all things ability. You’re amazing Jo Eushin,”

He must have already known based on the documents I had submitted during my application.

Pretending was second nature to the yellow tiger.

I guess that was how he was so brazen to mix in with 17-year-old students when in reality he was over 5000 years old.

“I wanted to let you try all the existing weapons. You’re the first student to have the all things ability so this was the best we could do.”

Ham Geun Hyeond looked at the fully packed card case with a look of regret.

“Since your skill level is only 1 by using these various weapons you can then learn how to level up accordingly….”

“Skill level 1? What a loser.”

A loud voice was heard from year 1 class 2.