The announcement of Jinhae Vocational School's participants for the inter-school competition was met with the usual derision.
Sandwiched between the names of students from prestigious academies boasting ranks of B and above, the names Kim Min-jun, Lee So-yeon, and Park Chul-soo seemed like an afterthought, a token representation from the school known more for its struggling students than its Awakened prowess.
Lee Jae-hyun, upon seeing Min-jun's name on the list, let out a booming laugh that echoed through the crowded notice board area.
"That Blank Slate? They're actually sending him? This competition just got even more pathetic."
Park Sun-mi offered a more subtle but equally condescending smile, shaking her head as if humoring a child's naive ambition.
Min-jun ignored them, a quiet determination hardening his gaze. This wasn't about proving them wrong, not yet. It was about testing his own limits, seeing how far his dream-forged skills could take him in the harsh reality of Awakened combat.
The preliminary rounds were a chaotic mix of raw power displays and clumsy attempts at technique. So-yeon, despite her E-rank Healing, showed surprising resilience. Her gentle mana control, honed through countless hours of focused practice guided by Min-jun, allowed her to efficiently mend minor injuries, keeping her in the matches longer than expected. Chul-soo, the unyielding shield, became an unexpected wall, his dream-refined defensive maneuvers allowing him to absorb blows that would have shattered lesser defenses.
Min-jun's early matches were met with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment from the spectators. His movements were fluid and precise, his blocks timed with uncanny accuracy, but his strikes lacked the explosive power of higher-ranked opponents. He relied on agility and evasion, frustrating his opponents into making mistakes, which he would then exploit with well-placed but weak counter-attacks.
He won his first few matches in this manner, a series of minor upsets that began to draw a hesitant murmur from the crowd.
In his third match, he faced a C-rank Speed Enhancer from a mid-tier academy. The opponent was a blur of motion, their attacks coming in rapid succession. Min-jun found himself constantly on the back foot, his dream-honed reflexes pushed to their absolute limit.
He managed to evade most of the direct hits, but glancing blows chipped away at his stamina.
It was a grueling fight, a stark reminder of the raw physical gap he still needed to bridge. He ultimately won by a hair's breadth, exploiting a momentary lapse in his opponent's relentless assault with a perfectly timed joint lock – a technique he had spent countless hours perfecting against phantom assassins in his dreams.
The murmurs surrounding Min-jun intensified.
An F-rank defeating C-ranks, not through some sudden burst of hidden power, but through a seemingly impossible mastery of fundamental techniques and an almost preternatural ability to anticipate attacks? It defied the established logic of the Awakened system.
His next opponent was from a more prestigious academy, a B-rank Earth Attribute user who could manipulate stone with impressive force. This was a significant step up.
The opponent's attacks were heavy and relentless, shards of rock flying towards Min-jun with terrifying speed. His dream-honed agility was crucial here, allowing him to dance around the stone projectiles.
He couldn't directly counter the raw power, so he focused on evasion, waiting for an opening, remembering the countless simulations he had run in his mind against similar opponents.
During a brief lull in the assault, Min-jun noticed a subtle tremor in the ground just before a larger stone spike erupted. It was a tell, a minute precursor he might have missed entirely before his dream training. Utilizing this fractional second of warning, he launched himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly spike. The crowd gasped.
He continued to evade, his movements becoming increasingly confident, his dream-forged footwork allowing him to navigate the treacherous terrain of flying rock. Finally, he saw his chance – a momentary overextension as his opponent launched a particularly large projectile. Min-jun moved with a speed that surprised even himself, closing the distance and landing a series of rapid strikes to the opponent's exposed joints, utilizing pressure point techniques he had meticulously studied in his dream martial arts manuals.
The B-rank opponent, momentarily stunned and off-balance, stumbled, giving Min-jun the opportunity to push him out of the ring.
The arena erupted in astonished murmurs, quickly escalating into outright disbelief. An F-rank had just defeated a B-rank, not through a fluke, but through what appeared to be an almost supernatural level of skill and anticipation.
Lee Jae-hyun watched from the stands, his usual arrogant smirk replaced by a bewildered frown. Park Sun-mi's telekinetic control faltered for a moment, causing a stack of nearby books to wobble precariously.
Jinhae Vocational School, the perennial underdog, had a dark horse, a silent anomaly who defied all expectations.
Kim Min-jun, the "Blank Slate" who controlled his dreams, was no longer just a source of mockery.
He was becoming something far more intriguing, a quiet storm brewing in the lower ranks of the competition. The ascent had begun, one improbable victory at a time.