I Became the Academy’s Hidden Skill Master – Chapter 22

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shio
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“Number 561 eliminated, number 312 eliminated, number 1143 eliminated.”

“Number 1234 eliminated, number 1009 eliminated, number 213 eliminated.”

“Number 715 looks dangerous. I’ll disqualify them.”

“Numbers 487 and 390 are confronting each other.”

In the first-year faculty meeting room, a large screen displayed multiple split scenes of the students.

With all first-year students participating, the faculty couldn’t afford to relax their vigilance for even a moment.

Professors of magic, martial arts, and other disciplines were assigned to each class, roughly equivalent to each professor overseeing about 13 students.

Yet, they absolutely couldn’t let their guard down—professors were human too, with physical limits.

If they dozed off or looked away for even a moment, a student could find themselves in danger.

That absolutely couldn’t happen.

To prevent such incidents, all the professors in the meeting room consistently monitored the students, rarely leaving their seats.

“It’ll be a lull for a while.”

“By the third day, they’ll start thinking about how long this might last.”

On the first day of being dropped on the deserted island, students spent all their time flustered and assessing the situation.

By the second day, as they gradually adapted, they encountered various challenges: rationing food, finding shelter, unexpected combat, betrayals, and more.

After enduring these trials, by the third day, every student was completely exhausted. Even those who were initially focused on eliminating others reached their physical limits after about 72 hours. It was around this time they belatedly realized:

Ah, enthusiasm alone won’t solve anything.

This class was designed to sharpen the students’ ability to recognize reality, evaluate their actions, consider variables, and develop practical skills.

And undoubtedly, the student showing the most outstanding performance in this regard was:

“How is that even possible?”

“It’s truly unbelievable. Did he really live in the mountains for 10 years?”

“How can that be? Even if he lived there before entering Mirinae Academy…he would have had to start living in the mountains at age 7. That’s impossible.”

It was Lee Seok-Hyun.

“From day one, he went hunting and immediately smoked the meat to alleviate food concerns.”

“What he did next was even more impressive. He climbed trees right away and focused on reconnaissance. He clearly knows what’s important.”

“Those gloves…they seem to be influenced by Arachne’s Breath…Where on earth did he get something like that?”

Normally, when three professors investigate, they could easily figure out a student’s background.

But with Lee Seok-Hyun, that wasn’t possible.

Unknown origin, unknown family relations, no information on his main skill or sub-skills.

They couldn’t even figure out where his current weapon came from.

How could a 17-year-old freshman show such extraordinary performance? It was truly baffling.

While the other top-ranking students met expectations, leaving nothing to be surprised about, Lee Seok-Hyun was like an onion with endless layers to peel.

“On the first day, he conserved his energy. By the second day, he moved quickly, connecting spider webs between trees.”

“Then he made a spider’s nest, attaching a single thread to the center and keeping it firmly in one hand as he moved around.”

“That’s Lee Seok-Hyun’s crazy ingenuity.”

If a part connected to the spider web shook, a vibration would be transmitted to his hand.

Therefore, if he memorized the location of each web, it was no different than carrying a map in his head.

Of course, this required the ability to distinguish whether a vibration was caused by a person, an animal, or a natural phenomenon.

But Lee Seok-Hyun had no trouble doing that, turning a seemingly impossible feat into reality.

“Numbers 6 and 7 are confronting each other.”

As soon as Lee Hwa-Ryeong announced that Lee Seok-Hyun and Benras were facing off, all eyes momentarily focused on one part of the screen.

But soon, those gazes scattered; the professors couldn’t afford to watch students outside their responsibility in case something happened.

‘I’m envious,’ they thought as they quickly returned to their tasks, dreaming of one day becoming the top experts in their fields.

This was daily life at Mirinae Academy, where meritocracy applied equally to everyone—not just the students.

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‘Finally, a big fish.’

There couldn’t be a bigger target than this.

If Benras, ranked 7th among the first-years, was eliminated this early, it would open a spot for another commoner in the top ranks.

Sensing danger, Benras hastily pointed his finger, his voice trembling.

“You’re not trying to eliminate me now, are you? You lowly commoner!”

“You’re quick to catch on. I don’t think I need to say anything more,” I said, scratching my head as I looked down at him.

His trembling eyes and shaking body, looked like an aspen tree in the wind, revealing just how terrified Benras was.

“You waited so cowardly, targeting me like this?!”

“I wasn’t targeting you specifically. I was just hoping someone would take the bait, and you conveniently showed up.”

Deciding to end the conversation, I briefly untangled the spider web wrapped around my hand and tied it to a tree branch.

With my hands free and a frightened prey in front of me, the outcome was obvious.

“Eeeeeek! D-don’t come any closer!!!”

I needed to shut him up. If he kept screaming like that, it could attract unwanted attention.

“Quiet.”

I shoved a hard fruit from my pocket into Benras’s open mouth and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

It would have been best if he had fallen straight and fainted, but the 7th-ranked student wasn’t so easy to handle.

Whoosh, thud.

As soon as I kicked his stomach, Benras curled up and rolled, landing steadily.

To prevent him from regaining his senses, I immediately climbed down the tree and grabbed him from behind.

Since he was a first-year, he probably couldn’t use skills if his mouth was blocked. Whether it was a main skill or a sub-skill, using skills required imagery and will.

One had to think about the skill, imagine how it would manifest, and have the will to use it.

But for inexperienced students like Benras, controlling their will was difficult.

They usually compensated for that weakness by shouting out the skill’s name. Later, with practice, they might be able to use their skills just by thinking about them—but not now.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Yes, I completely understand how you feel.”

In reality, Benras couldn’t use his skills due to the fruit filling his mouth.

The moment he could only make babbling sounds, the outcome was already decided.

Leaning my body to the left, I delivered a bone-rattling strike to his chin. Without missing a beat, I twisted to the right, my muscles coiling like a spring before unleashing a powerful left hook to his liver.

Then, I stepped back just enough to gain momentum. And with a swift rotation, I launched my left foot high, the force of the kick slicing through the air as it arced toward his head.

‘Urgh…’

Thud.

With just three hits, Benras fainted, foaming at the mouth. As expected, it turned out like this.

No matter how much physical training or monster-fighting techniques the students at Mirinae Academy had learned, there was one crucial lesson they hadn’t mastered: how to take a hit.

Unsurprisingly, nobles were far less educated in this than commoners.

With the complacent belief that ‘A noble could never be struck,’ most nobles neglected to teach their children how to lessen the impact of a blow or how to respond when hit.

In contrast, commoners, accustomed to both being oppressed by nobles and whipped for mistakes during labor, had learned how to endure hits.

Without such experience, nobles often curled up or failed to respond properly after being struck.

Time might remedy this, but for first-year students, that was still too far in the future.

Swoosh.

A portal appeared beneath the unconscious Benras, swallowing him whole before disappearing.

The professors had preemptively eliminated him to prevent any harm from wild animals while he was unconscious.

“But this is taking too much time.”

After confirming that there were no detectable presences nearby, I climbed back up to the treetop and reassessed my plan.

My initial strategy was to lay spider webs everywhere, rush to places where I detected human activity, and capture any nobles I found.

At first, it seemed like the best approach, but after trying it a few times, I realized it was highly inefficient.

‘Even if I can distinguish that it’s a person, having to search for each one wastes too much movement.’

Even if I could quickly handle one target, if the next prey was far away, it led to wasted movement, energy issues, and the risk that the student might not be there by the time I arrived.

Everything about it was unfavorable.

The ideal scenario would be for the nobles to come looking for me on their own.

‘But that’s not likely to happen so easily.’

If I were to spread a rumor that enticed the nobles, commoners would also likely be tempted from their perspective as fellow students.

Therefore, I needed to set bait that would appeal only to the nobles.

But could such a thing exist…?

‘…It does exist.’

Something that most commoners wouldn’t care about, but almost all nobles would desperately crave.

Such a fortunate thing really did exist.

‘I’ll go with this.’

The faster the judgment and action, the better.

I immediately modified my plan and set it in motion.

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On the 6th day on the deserted island, while most students were focused on avoiding combat and conserving energy to endure, a strange rumor began circulating among the noble students.

“Is that even possible?”

“But they say it’s true! A professor mentioned it directly! It’s information from Class S!”

“Still, it seems too out of the blue…”

“Really? Then don’t come along. I’ll go by myself.”

“No, wait! I’ll go too! I’m coming!”

Though some students remained skeptical of the rumor, they were quickly swayed by the enthusiasm of those who believed it.

The rumor’s credibility was bolstered by its origins in Class S and its mention by a professor.

Despite not knowing the exact source, the noble students accepted the rumor as truth.

“But is it really true?”

“Didn’t you already agree to come along? Are you still doubting it?”

“It sounds too far-fetched…Claiming they passed up the chance to gain the greatest accolade from the first assignment seems a bit strange, doesn’t it?”

“Are you really that thoughtless? That’s exactly why it’s more believable. They knew commoners would overlook it, but we nobles would think about it more deeply!”

For nobles, honor was as vital as life itself.

Those taught from childhood to cherish honor had their eyes light up at the mention of ‘the greatest accolade.’

Under normal circumstances, they might have dismissed it as nonsense.

But the harsh environment and uncertainty of when it would end clouded their judgment, making the rumor seem like a tangible goal.

Determined to claim the ‘greatest accolade,’ said to be at the top of the mountain in the center of the deserted island, most of the noble students hurriedly set off.

Thus began the era of ‘the greatest accolade,’ created by Lee Seok-Hyun.

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[Shio here~!

Seok-Hyun is fucking batshit insane LOL. He’s making soooooooooo many noble enemies. Like, WHY ARE YOU NOBLE HUNTING WHEN IT’S ONLY BEEN 22 CHAPTERS BRO. I fucking love him.]