Kim Joohyuk was a genius who entered Valhalla as the top-ranked student, but Reric's gang had honestly underestimated him.
The gap between Valhalla's 1st and 2nd years was notoriously severe.
A difference in training? Yes, that existed.
A difference in skill? Of course, that too. Fundamentally, Valhalla conducted an immense amount of practical training in the first year, and top-ranking students were even deployed directly into Dungeons and Labyrinths.
However, those two factors were not the defining divide between the years.
In reality, the few standout first-years or those from families under the protection of Guardian Constellations could narrow that gap incredibly fast.
So, what truly separated the 1st and 2nd years?
It was the 'Contract with a Constellation.'
In the second semester of their first year, every student at Valhalla had to enter the 'Constellation's Room' and form a contract with one of the Constellations within.
Of course, members of families with Guardian Constellations didn't necessarily form new contracts, as possessing a 'Blessing' already granted power surpassing a contract with a common B-rank Constellation. Still, most Contractors considered this ritual incredibly important.
A Constellation's rank signified the Contractor's rank.
From the moment they formed a contract, students officially prepared to become true 'Contractors.' Only then could they pay mana as a price to draw upon their Constellation's power.
In short, one was only recognized as a full-fledged Contractor after contracting with a Constellation.
Because Reric was the leader of a gang ranked 12th in the 2nd year, a considerable upper-tier standing, they trusted in Reric and looked down on Kim Joohyuk.
Yes, right until Reric had his head planted into a tree and passed out moments ago.
The gang's gazes shifted in unison to Reric, whose eyes had rolled back into his head as he remained stuck in the tree, before returning to Kim Joohyuk.
"..."
In a silence so profound it induced goosebumps, the only thing visible was Kim Joohyuk gripping a pitch-black sword that seemed to absorb all light.
[Wham!]
"Gah!"
"Yellow Cut!"
Before anyone could react, he moved instantly, smashing the jaw of the blonde guy at the front with his scabbard.
Instinctively, the gang members drew their weapons and unleashed mana, attempting to draw power from their contracted Constellations—
[Smack! Smack! Smack!]
"Red Cut! Blue Cut! Black Cut!"
Before they could even fully muster their mana, Kim Joohyuk closed the distance with unbelievable movement, striking three of them in the head and halting their actions.
Seeing half their number taken out in an instant, the remaining conscious 2nd years had a sudden thought.
Should we fight? Or should we run?
To their eyes, Kim Joohyuk's movements didn't actually look that impressive. His movement speed was slow, and the speed at which he swung the scabbard was also slow.
However, the bizarrely strange part was that with those slow movements and slow speed, he was cracking the skulls of their friends one by one.
The contradictory situation, where they couldn't understand why their gang was getting hit by such attacks, threw them into confusion.
[Wham!]
"Yellow No. 2 Cut!"
By the time the single remaining gang member thought about running, all his other friends were rolling on the ground.
"..."
No, the ones rolling on the ground were the lucky ones. The rest looked dead. Everyone who had been struck by that black scabbard and collapsed hadn't moved a muscle since.
"Th... This crazy..."
The man stumbled back, a curse slipping out unwittingly. However, Kim Joohyuk smiled and stepped toward him, scabbard in hand.
"Wait!!!"
Just as Kim Joohyuk was about to swing, he responded to the man's shout.
"Why?"
"I-If you hit me, I'll report you to the faculty office!"
"What?"
At Kim Joohyuk's question, the man, whose slit eyes made him look so despicable one might applaud his sheer sleaziness, began talking as if he had a motor in his mouth.
"Who do you think loses the most here? If I get hit by you now and report it to the faculty office, you're going to suffer a huge loss!"
"Oh really?"
"Hmph! Don't believe me? Valhalla responds very strictly to violence between students. But what if you, the 1st year top ranker with a paved road ahead, get hit with such rumors?"
"Sounds great~"
"Right! It sounds gr... What?"
"I said sounds great, you bastard!"
[Wham!]
"Ack!"
The man collapsed to the ground, clutching his struck right cheek.
"Aaaargh!"
He screamed from the pain radiating from his cheek, but Kim Joohyuk smiled and spoke.
"Ah, fuck~ Then why did you run your mouth?"
"W-What do you mean!"
"Ha, if you had just behaved, you would have passed out neatly in one hit. You really are hopeless."
"You...! Don't you know that if something like this happens in Valhalla, you could face expulsion in severe cases!"
"How would I know? I've only been enrolled for a week."
"You bastard! You'll regret this! You'll regret it!"
The man screamed as he struggled.
"Why are you bitching about getting beaten up when you guys attacked first anyway?"
"We're still the ones who got hit!"
"Ah, is that so? So you're saying since no one saw what happened here, you think you'll win if you run to the faculty office first and blab your mouth?"
[Shing—!]
"W-Wait!"
At the sound of steel and the sight of Kim Joohyuk drawing the sword from its scabbard without hesitation, the man was momentarily seized by terror.
[Slice—]
Kim Joohyuk immediately made a shallow cut on his own arm and grinned.
"If I do this, it's self-defense, right?"
[Tak—!]
"..."
And.
"Okay, put your hand down. Huh? I said put it down. If you block with your hand, your bones will break, kiddo~"
[Wham!]
"Aaaargh! Save me! Save me!"
"Hey, hey! I said put your hand down!? I'm telling you, if you get hit there again, your bones are gone. Just take a few hits to the face comfortably, yeah?"
[Smack!]
Only after the man who threatened him had his eyes roll back did Kim Joohyuk return to the dormitory.
❋ ❋ ❋
[Are you okay?]
"About what?"
Valhalla Dormitory.
In a space that looked to be about 6 or 7 pyeong (approx. 20-23 sq meters), Kim Joohyuk answered the voice ringing in his head.
[Those guys earlier.]
"The bastards who picked a fight with me?"
[Yes.]
"You're suddenly worrying about people?"
At Kim Joohyuk's words, spoken with a look of utter shock, Varche shook his head as if to deny it.
[I am not worried about those guys. I am asking if it is alright for you to be expelled.]
Kim Joohyuk waved his hand dismissively at the question.
"Don't worry, I won't be."
[...Is that so?]
"Well, honestly, at first, I planned to half-kill those bastards and leave as soon as I finished the condition of entering the Constellation's Room..."
Kim Joohyuk trailed off and looked at the notification window floating before his eyes.
[Find the Armament and Memory.]
[Valhalla Constellation's Room Basement Level 3, 5th Room on the Right] [Condition Met]
[Eye of the Great Forest in Valhalla, Home of Madegaia]
[Warning ※ Condition can only be met if you possess the Chongeom]
[■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■]
The next condition that appeared as the first was satisfied.
"Eye of the Great Forest in Valhalla..."
Honestly, if 'Valhalla' had been dropped and only 'Eye of the Great Forest' was listed, Kim Joohyuk wouldn't have cared much. But since Valhalla was attached to the name, he looked it up.
"A survival location visited at the end of the first semester of the 1st year..."
The place called 'Eye of the Great Forest' was the name of a labyrinth managed by Valhalla and served as the testing ground to select dropouts at the end of the first semester.
"Well, good thing I went easy on them."
[...That was going easy?]
"If I hadn't, their heads would have been smashed like yours."
[D-Det...?]
"Besides, even if they struggle to stab me or cause damage, it doesn't really matter. My goal isn't to live a proper school life anyway, but to find out the reason."
[...I see.]
"So, isn't that why you came out too?"
Honestly, Kim Joohyuk hadn't intended to bring the Chongeom (Short Sword) out at first.
Fundamentally, while the Chongeom was a weapon Kim Joohyuk used to favor, the problem was that Varche was inside it. That alone made repulsion surge within him.
However, the reason Kim Joohyuk brought out the sword containing Varche despite that was because of the notification window stating the second condition could only be met if he had the Chongeom.
Plus, leaving this guy loose is also dangerous.
Varche claimed he had become an existence that merely existed within the Holy Relic, stripped of all power and without even the strength to form a contract. But Varche was Varche.
Destruction King Varche.
No matter how weak he had become, the fact remained that this guy dragged the Tower of Destruction down to the surface 300 years ago and perished together with him.
If he acts even a little suspicious, I'll destroy him immediately.
Thinking this, Kim Joohyuk spoke.
"Hey, so you're sure we won't get caught?"
[Caught for what?]
"You. I'm asking if you're sure you won't get caught."
It was a bit late to bring it up, but Kim Joohyuk had ultimately taken the Chongeom from the Constellation's Room to satisfy the condition.
And while this Chongeom was strictly Kim Joohyuk's property, right now it was a Holy Relic managed by Valhalla, and thus, Valhalla's possession.
In short, Kim Joohyuk was in a situation no different from having stolen one of the Holy Relics Valhalla valued most.
[Do not worry. Did you not see that I created an identical replica of this sword?]
"Did you say that was your ability?"
[Correct. My power has certainly disappeared, but upon waking up in this sword, I found I could use 'Copy' and 'Storage'.]
True to his word, Varche had perfectly copied the Chongeom and stored himself in Kim Joohyuk's body to exit the Constellation's Room. Thanks to that, they were able to leave the building naturally without triggering any magic circles or alarms.
"The Chongeom originally didn't have that kind of ability."
[As I explained several times earlier, I do not know why this ability emerged either.]
At Varche's words, Kim Joohyuk waved his hand perfunctorily as if he understood and stood up.
[Where are you going?]
"Exercise."
Honestly, he wanted to organize the information he gained today step-by-step and relax, but Kim Joohyuk's body was so weak that every day counted. He couldn't afford to skip training.
Plus, I feel a sense of elation.
In the past, he had struggled just to survive, so he never felt the sensation of properly getting stronger while training his body. But now, it was different.
Maybe because this body wasn't trained from the start, my abilities improve quickly with just a little training.
Since Kim Joohyuk's body hadn't undergone proper ability development, his achievements rose quite nicely with just a bit of effort.
And the sense of elation from that wasn't too bad either.
Thus, he changed into a tracksuit and headed for the fitness training room.
And.
—...Sorry, but I'm washing my hands of this.
[Beep—]
"You useless bastards!"
Lokdil Ventric threw his smartphone after the call ended with Reric's voice.
(End of Chapter 11)
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