I Became the Academy’s Hidden Skill Master – Chapter 25

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shio
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Meiri Meribell.

When she regained consciousness, Lee Hwa-Ryeong was in front of her, tightly holding her hand.

“Are you alright? It’s not usually such a violent task, but I suppose those students got excited and it turned out like this. Normally…”

Lee Hwa-Ryeong was fretting, worried that Meiri might lose interest in Mirinae Academy and leave.

Unaware of Lee Hwa-Ryeong’s concerns, Meiri was thinking about Lee Seok-Hyun.

‘I’ve never met someone like that before.’

Not a single person—no, not even a living being—had ever treated her in such a way.

She had always taken for granted being loved by everyone, and in Shinmibi, there was no living being that disliked her.

She had never harmed others and receiving affection and attention was as natural to her as air existing.

That was who Meiri Meribell was.

That was why she hadn’t doubted Lee Seok-Hyun.

She had joked about him seeming like a villain, but she never really believed he would be one.

Even when she sensed the aura of a mountain guardian from him, she had just dismissed it as his nature.

That was why she had answered that she didn’t see him as a bad person when he asked.

But.

‘How could he…hit someone he just met like that?’

She had learned that hitting was something you did to someone you really disliked.

It felt like her common sense was being shattered.

What shocked her most was that while planting his fist in her abdomen so casually, there was no trace of negative emotion.

He had exercised violence as if it was the most natural thing, as if it was the obvious course of action.

Was this what Lee Hwa-Ryeong meant when she said she’d experience many unique things at Mirinae Academy?

‘Seeing this reaction, probably not.’

For the representative professor of magic to be so anxious after she was knocked down with one hit…

Surely, the unique experiences she had spoke of weren’t about being deceived and knocked unconscious by a classmate.

‘But do people normally think about hitting me?’

Meiri looked at herself in the mirror behind Lee Hwa-Ryeong, harboring a thought that was embarrassing but necessary.

In Shinmibi and during the academy entrance exam, she had been constantly told how “cute” she was.

From wanting to hug her to wanting to put her in their pocket, she had received no shortage of expressions of adoration.

Was it common sense to ignore all of that and unhesitatingly plant a fist in the stomach of someone you’d just met?

‘Bad person.’

But therefore, a person of interest.

Only after organizing her thoughts did Meiri look directly at Lee Hwa-Ryeong.

“I’m fine, Professor. You don’t need to worry so much.”

“R-really? This is the first time something like this has happened, so I was very worried. If there’s anything else that hurts or…”

“No, I’m really fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Seeing Meiri even bow her head in thanks, Lee Hwa-Ryeong finally seemed relieved and let out a deep breath.

‘Perhaps this incident has made her find Mirinae Academy interesting?’

While Lee Hwa-Ryeong was happily indulging in her wishful thinking,

‘Lee Seok-Hyun…I’ll have to ask him various things next time we meet.’

Meiri’s interest was solely focused on Lee Seok-Hyun.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Crazy, this is crazy.”

In the dormitory room after the survival game had ended.

I was lying comfortably on the bed, unable to hide my excitement at the rewards I was about to receive.

‘First, the survival game.’

Being the type to eat the most delicious thing first, I immediately checked the biggest reward.

Boom boom boom!

A sounded effect reminiscent of fireworks exploding rang out, and a colorful message appeared.

It was obvious how amazing this was—no debate was needed—I had clearly received an incredible reward.

‘Natural Mana is a bit disappointing, but the rest is crazy good.’

Since I didn’t have any notable skills yet, nothing was more beneficial than an increase in raw stats.

For Mind and Body Training, there was only 40% left until the advanced level, and I had even gained a sub-skill.

While these wouldn’t dramatically change my situation immediately, it was undeniable that they were tremendous rewards.

‘At this level, I’m probably equivalent to a low-rank knight when they don’t use mana.’

It would be different if mana was used, but even meeting these basic conditions was a huge development.

‘Now, let’s check the next reward.’

After receiving the first-place reward, it was time to check the rewards I could receive systemically.

An ominously intense dark purple message appeared.

“…?”

I checked the reward several times, trying to determine if this was a dream or reality.

After pinching my cheeks and slapping my face dozens of times, I finally realized this was indeed real.

“Getting a title reward already?”

Title.

A hidden piece given only to those who have accomplished the impossible, with acquisition conditions not even properly known.

It was one of the intricately hidden systems that even I, who had played Final Destiny for four years each, hadn’t fully grasped.

‘This is unbelievable.’

The overpowered nature of titles was that they could produce main skill-level performance without any restrictions.

‘And I received a growth-type one.’

There were various types of titles, but the most overpowered ones among them were growth-type titles.

They had the broken ability to grow along with the user, allowing for even more powerful effects as the user grew stronger.

Receiving such a thing as a reward left me completely dumbfounded.

Sizzle.

“Aaaaargh!”

As if displeased with my dazed appearance, [Spider] immediately began engraving itself on my hand.

The engraving seared through my hand like a red-hot iron rod, each line etched with unbearable pain.

Fearing I might faint, I tore off the bandages and gloves and plunged my hand into the cold water in the sink, but..

“Ugh… urgh…!”

The effect was negligible.

Slowly.

After the agony subsided, I looked down at my hand.

The spider pattern, once visible when I placed my hands together with thumbs folded, had lost its shape, distorted by the scars.

The first leg, which had been engraved on my left index finger, was similarly obscured by the marks.

This engraving on my horrifically scarred hands, marred beyond repair from my time in the ant colony, was a reminder of that torment.

People often say they get tattoos to cover scars, but this was worse than having nothing at all.

My hands, stained dark from mining mana stones with bare fingers, resembled those of a monster.

These ugly, hideous hands seemed like a curse, whispering that I could never escape my past.

‘If even the temple couldn’t heal it, what can be done.’

I didn’t think much of it since I would be covering them with bandages all the time anyway.

Having confirmed all the rewards and taken a brief moment of relaxation, I immediately left my dormitory room.

Right now, when all first-year students of the academy were resting from the aftermath of their first class,

I needed to move my body even a little to receive the basic training rewards.

‘Now that I’ve got Spider, I need to check how much the cutting power of spider webs has increased.’

With such thoughts, I headed to the training ground.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Inside the training ground.

Despite the professors giving them rest time, there were students gathered there, diligently training.

‘That’s good to see.’

Self-improvement was always good.

Thinking this, just as I was about to secure an individual training area,

“Lee Seok-Hyun, let’s have a match.”

“Commoner, I hear you’re the final survivor? I challenge you to a duel, consider it an honor.”

“Seok-Hyun! Fight me!”

“Me too! Me too!”

“And me!”

Starting with Woo Do-Hyun, Bellos, and Mijuran, nearby students flocked to me en masse.

I never imagined that I’d receive such passionate courtship as soon as it was revealed that I was the final survivor.

This was beyond my imagination, and there was a bigger problem.

‘I can’t beat you one-on-one, you idiots.’

They seemed to think I was incredibly strong, but that was all a misunderstanding.

‘This is trouble.’

A very difficult situation had unfolded.

Judging it was time to pull out the secret move I had hidden for times like this,

I immediately revealed that move.

“No, you all suck.”

It was the moment when the glory of 1 win, 0 draws, and 0 losses blazed with brilliance.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

[Shio here~!

This may honestly be the coolest chapter yet. For everyone who was excited at the prospect of a web-using protagonist, rejoice!]