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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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The Spirit Armor was originally an ordinary piece of armor.
Its only distinguishing feature was its exceptional cost-effectiveness.
That single advantage led the Spirit Armor through countless battles across many long years.
‘This fellow wears armor unbefitting his station. I shall take it for myself.’ Such were the declarations.
A cycle of death on the battlefield, followed by the theft of the armor, repeated endlessly.
Each time, resentment, longing, and desire seeped into the mundane armor.
The will to live and the bitterness of an untimely death intertwined, coalescing into a sentient entity – the spirit that now resided within.
And as time went on, the spirit gained the power to separate itself entirely from the armor.
Thus, fueled by millennia of resentment, the spirit had become a powerful being in its own right.
—Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
If it weren’t for the mithril.
–’Stop! Stop it, I say…! At this rate, my very existence…!’
Mithril.
And not just any mithril, but mithril steeped in holy water. The purest, highest-grade mithril, imbued with holy water like a piece of meat dipped in ssamjang, proved a disastrous counter to the spirit.
Its mere presence weakened the spirit, threatening to unravel its very being.
Even the most powerful spirit would eventually succumb, its resistance crumbling before the relentless assault.
—Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
“So, why not just inhabit my uniform? You can do it. Abandon the armor and come to me. I’ll educate you properly.”
Truthfully, more terrifying than the mithril was the crazed human wielding it.
He’d learned necromancy, yet instead of attempting to control the spirit, he was beating it into submission with sanctified metal.
The most perplexing part was that this madman possessed no basic mana.
‘How is that even possible?’
If he had basic mana, he could have used it to subdue the spirit, to pacify its resentment.
But this human was an empty vessel, a shell filled only with the knowledge of necromancy, lacking the fundamental energy to utilize it.
–’Ugh… This is… unjust…’
“Unjust? Just how unjust is it? Or just disappear. I can always find another Spirit Armor, and pay a premium for it, too.”
-Do you think you’re the only spirit in existence?
That remark made the spirit’s metaphorical ears perk up.
‘This madman… he truly has nothing to lose.’
Even spirits, born of resentment and hatred, weren’t devoid of reason.
Having witnessed countless deaths, the spirit instantly recognized the life-threatening danger it now faced.
‘He really intends to destroy me without a second thought.’
While no blood flowed, the mithril was stained with more than just holy water. Fragments of the spirit’s essence clung to it, a testament to the brutal assault.
After three hours of enduring the relentless beating, the spirit, seeing an opportunity, finally raised the white flag.
—Clang! Clang! Clang!
“I can hear those eyes rolling from here. Fine, then. I’ll grant you your final rest. This mithril will cleanse all your resentment.”
–’No, no… Wait! Let me speak! Just… let me… This is unjust… so unjust…’
The spirit’s desperate plea was cut short as it was struck again by the mithril.
It would be another three hours before it finally managed to form a coherent sentence, a desperate plea that finally reached Lee Seok-hyun.
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You have completely subdued the spirit.
You can now use the spirit to enhance equipped items.
In the process of being separated from the armor and bound to you, the spirit has lost most of its power.
Currently, only one area can be enhanced.
The designated area will be reinforced as if “layered with steel.”
Grants inherent resistance to mental attacks.
Due to its resistance to physical attacks, the spirit’s durability will not decrease unless subjected to specialized attacks.
Your Will has increased by 5 due to successfully controlling the spirit without basic mana.
“Hmm, not bad.”
My Will stat had reached 45, and the spirit, treated as a sort of pet, didn’t occupy a sub-skill slot—a perfect outcome.
The effects were exactly as I’d anticipated, and its weakened state meant it would grow stronger under my guidance, adapting to my specific needs.
It was the ideal short-term power-up.
–’…Unjust…’
“Enough. From now on, no talking until I give you permission. I don’t want people hearing strange whispers coming from my uniform.
“And if you act up, I’ll obliterate you with this mithril. Consider yourself warned.”
–’…’
The spirit had finally learned that mithril spoke louder than words.
‘Why not just surrender from the start? Why make things so difficult when the outcome is predetermined?’
‘I haven’t slept a wink.’
I ’d spent the entire night subduing and educating the spirit, sacrificing sleep for power.
“Haaaaaaaaaaawm…”
I stretched, stifling a yawn as I walked down the hallway, suddenly noticing an unusual quiet.
The academy was eerily silent, my yawn echoing back at me as if amplified by the stillness. Even my footsteps seemed louder than usual.
Something was definitely different.
What was it?
“Commoner, the midterm exams are approaching, yet you stroll around yawning. Is a perfect score on the written exam beneath you?”
“Huh?”
“Bellos is just jealous, don’t mind him, Seok-hyun.”
“Huh?”
‘Midterm exams? What are they talking about?’
Lost in thought, I hadn’t registered their words until I heard Bellos’s voice behind me. Then, seeing my confused expression, Bellos continued, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
“Commoner, you’re not telling me you didn’t know about the midterm exams, are you?”
“…What are you talking about? There’s been no official announcement.”
“It’s… implied. It’s just… common knowledge.”
“But we haven’t had time to prepare. We had the dungeon practicum… the exchange competition… we haven’t even learned that much…”
“If you review and preview the material daily, there’s more than enough to study. Besides, we only have a few more lessons before we’ve covered everything on the syllabus.”
Since when did the fifth prince of the Skerian Empire start sounding like a model student? Lee Seok-hyun stared at Bellos incredulously, then, noticing Woo Do-hyun silently nodding in agreement, he was speechless.
The country bumpkin swordsman and the arrogant prince, both acting like diligent students? It was a bizarre, unsettling reality.
And the biggest problem was that he hadn’t studied at all.
‘This is bad.’
Being a veteran player didn’t mean he knew everything.
His knowledge was limited to what was necessary for clearing the game, for achieving specific objectives.
The minutiae of academic life, the seemingly trivial details of the curriculum—these were things he’d glossed over in his previous playthroughs.
‘The final exam rankings determine class placement, and I have to stay in S-Class…’
To maintain his access to the main characters, to benefit from their proximity, to glean valuable information and resources—remaining in S-Class was essential.
And failing the midterm exams could jeopardize his standing.
While his reputation and practical achievements provided a safety net, a disastrous performance on the written exam would undoubtedly raise red flags. The professors who disliked him would seize any opportunity to criticize him, to undermine his authority. Therefore, performing well on the midterms was crucial.
“We have the flower viewing and the midterm exams. Busy times.”
“What? Flower viewing? What are you talking about now?”
“Commoner… you truly are clueless. It’s almost cherry blossom season, the most beautiful time of year.”
‘Oh, right. That’s right.’
Final Destiny had its own unique calendar, and cherry blossoms bloomed in May.
‘So that’s why…’
Everything finally clicked into place.
A common saying in South Korean universities:
The true meaning of cherry blossoms is midterm exams.
And that saying, it seemed, applied even in the world of Final Destiny.
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‘I’m completely lost.’
‘This is bad.’
The more he studied, the more confused he became.
It was like trying to solve a complex puzzle with missing pieces. He’d grown accustomed to having the answers readily available, to knowing the optimal path to victory. Now, without that guidance, he was floundering.
Like a student who’d always relied on the teacher’s solutions, he was struggling to solve the problems on his own.
‘I didn’t memorize the answers for minor exams like this, only the major ones.’
This was a serious problem.
He wanted to join a study group, to leech off his classmates’ knowledge, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t bring himself to act like a parasite, feeding off their hard work.
‘I should go to the library.’
Most of the course material should be available there. He could study independently and then ask the professors for clarification on anything he didn’t understand. After all, most professors appreciated students who came prepared with specific questions. It was the academy way.
The thought of having to study, to actually crack open a book, made his head spin.
—Thump.
“Excuse me.”
Lost in thought, he hadn’t noticed the person approaching and bumped into them. He immediately apologized, hoping to avoid any unnecessary conflict. After all, apologizing first usually defused the situation.
“What? You bump into someone and think a simple apology is enough?”
If the other person had been reasonable, the matter would have ended there. However…
He glanced up and saw who he’d bumped into and immediately understood their reaction.
“Oh, Johnson One.”
“You dare address your senior so casually? Such disrespect… such impudence… How can someone like you be the first-year representative…?”
Johnson One.
The second-year commoner who’d previously tried to recruit him, the self-proclaimed sycophant of the noble faction.
“Why aren’t you polishing the nobles’ shoes? Why are you bothering me?”
Lee Seok-hyun asked politely, and Johnson, his face contorted in a mixture of confusion and indignation, responded.
“Our representative wants to see you. And you seem to have some free time.”
“You mean the magnificently second-place representative of the second-year nobles wants to see me?”
“…”
An awkward silence hung in the air.
‘It’s about time for inter-class interactions to resume.’
With the midterm exams approaching and the first semester nearing its end, the professors would be easing their restrictions on interactions between different year groups.
Besides, meetings between class representatives were generally tolerated, even encouraged.
The problem was, Lee Seok-hyun had no reason to meet with him.
It would be a pointless waste of time, listening to his arrogant pronouncements.
“He wants to offer you some… advice… regarding the midterm exams… Hmm? Where are you going?”
“And where would I find this magnificently second-place representative of the second-year nobles?”
Ah, now this changes things.
‘I need that information.’
The midterm exams were that important.
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