Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Lesson 8. This skill is mine – 2 

“I have no intention of telling you.”

As soon as he understood why these people approached him, Ban Yu-won quickly rejected their pleas.

How to take a video inside the Tower? All you have to do is combine the appropriate concepts (mainly Magic and Spirit) to create the camera. But if he made it for anyone else, the advantage of Rebellion’s channel would be lost!

‘Besides, there is no specific production skill, and in the end, I would have to make them myself. I can’t make one for each of these guys when I don’t know how many want it.’

So, he made a resolute declaration to those who approached him that the Rebellion Channel would be the only one of its kind in the future! He had no doubts that doing so would end his sudden surge in popularity, making both Light and Rachel uncomfortable. Still, he had no doubts, but…

“I just want to get to know you…if you don’t want it, just say so.”

“Huh? Uh…no, it’s not that I don’t want to, but honestly, we don’t know each other.”

“We’ll get to know each other because we don’t know each other! Oh, you have a mirror, right? Let’s exchange our codes. You have to save me as Yurika, okay?”

“The student council is always waiting for talented people like you. I’m Graham, and someday we’ll meet again.”

Some people didn’t back off. While Ban Yu-won hesitated, saying, “This is not what I wanted,” dozens of newly registered codes appeared in his mirror. It all happened in that brief time while he was eating breakfast. Only then did Ban Yu-won conclude that they wanted something more fundamental, not just a camera that worked inside the Tower.

That more fundamental thing was Ban Yu-won himself.

“You must be happy now that you’re popular, Ban.”

“W-we’re still friends, right…?”

Light glanced at him from the side while Ruchel asked with an anxious expression. Only Dok Go-yeon was looking at him as if she was having fun. No, maybe she was looking at the jar of jam in his hand.

“Honestly, compared to your other skills, I didn’t know much about it…but seeing people appearing out of the woodwork, it seems that the things you make are exceptional. Will you be able to protect that ability?”

“There’s nothing to protect. Conflict between students is strictly prohibited, so they can’t attack me.”

“But you go outside too, don’t you?”

Ban Yu-won stopped eating at Dok Go-yeon’s sharp point.

“Right.”

Many of the students had external connections. Among the upper-grade students, there were even those who went outside without needing permission, like Ban Yu-won. And he couldn’t avoid them if he were attacked from a place outside the academy’s watchful eye.

“This makes my head hurt. I’ll have to be careful.”

He couldn’t tell whether he should say it was fortunate that he wasn’t disturbed when he went back and forth between the dungeon and the school or not. He mumbled with a sour expression and put the jam on the water crackers Dok Go-yeon proffered.

By the way, these water crackers were a snack prepared by Ban Yu-won at his own expense. He had to feed himself and his class elixir jam every day, but there was no guarantee that there would always be a menu suitable for eating jam, so he decided to pack crackers.

“Ban Yu-won, there’s only half a jar left.”

“It’s fine. I’ve already talked to the fruit shop, so we can get enough to make a new jar.”

“Tell me when the time comes, and I will escort you personally.”

He would be invincible if Dok Go-yeon was his bodyguard. After offering some to Dok Go-yeon, who became kind in front of sweet snacks, Ban Yu-won shared the rest with Light and Ruchel, sighed, and ate his portion.

At that moment, Light suddenly tapped Ban Yu-won’s wrist.

“Ban, your machine…the mirror.”

“Mhh? Oh.”

His mirror was flashing, announcing the arrival of a new message from Yoo Mina. It would have been nice if it was a sweet secret request, but the reality was terrible.

Light tilted his head as he watched Ban Yu-won’s forehead wrinkle.

“Is something wrong?”

“We have one more class to attend.”

“What?”

The course composition of the academy was similar to that of Korean universities, which meant that once set before the semester started, it didn’t change during the semester. There was, however, an exception, and that was for the lectures taught by full professors. They were eligible to teach the students they wanted, even changing their roster during the semester.

The new lecture the Class 11 students were to take was ‘Babylon and the Constellations’ by a professor named Xenon. Only upper-grade students in their 4^th year or higher were taking this course, but apparently, an exception had been made.

“Ban Yu-won, you, by any chance?”

“I left no evidence. I cut the Room 4 video when the elite monsters were killed, you know?”

“So it was that woman.”

“I don’t think so. The academy found it out. Professor Yoo Mina said that the Principal is the Tower’s representative, so he knows everything that happens in the Tower….”

“That’s annoying.”

“I know.”

But he had nothing he could do about it.

Ban Yu-won and his party looked at the professor’s syllabus Yoo Mina had sent them while sitting shoulder-to-shoulder.

“A code of conduct to better attract the patronage of the Constellations, a mindset to make a smarter contract, useful knowledge and supplies to avoid their wrath, and how to smoothly change between the Constellations.”

“Am I the only one who reads this as a method to be a good cheater?”

Dok Go-yeon nodded at Ban Yu-won’s remark.

“What a coincidence, me too.”

“In a way, it seems like a good way to seduce the opposite sex. Even the way to change between them smoothly is perfect…”

“What is this?”

Ruchel focused on one passage, a hologram that sparkled in bold letters.

“Constellation war…?”

“Are there fights between students? Moreover, if our opponent is a senior in 4th grade or higher…Ban, do we really have to take this class?”

“There seems to be no way of rejecting it.”

Wasn’t this a place where they liked to command people according to their whims? Ban Yu-won had given up on changing that on his first day.

“Tuesday afternoon lecture.”

“Tomorrow? Thinking of it, tomorrow is….”

“Right.”

Light gave Ban Yu-won a strange glance. He shrugged, taking a sip of the sparkling water provided by the cafeteria. He imparted the concept of Sweetness to it, making it drinkable.

“The day I have to fight that big bastard.”

“Even better…ahem. So, you’ll have one-on-one tutoring today. Light, play with the beast.”

Dok Go-yeon smiled. Maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed prepared to beat him. Ban Yu-won had intended to elevate the depth of his concepts by clearing a few dungeons after school, but when he saw her smile, he gave up on dissent. For some reason, he felt that his second week at the academy wouldn’t be so peaceful.

* * *

A day later, Ban Yu-won was forced to admit that he had become a top star inside the academy on Tuesday. The video channel he opened on the intranet reached a point where any student who had a mirror would have subscribed to it. Meanwhile, the outside channel, which had surpassed one million subscribers on Saturday, had now surpassed two million and was heading toward three.

“Those guys.”

“I saw it too. Is it really Room 4?”

“It must be manipulated. How could they?”

“A human without the common regenerative ability? It’s a lower creature. Why are they letting something like that in?”

His fame was confirmed at the gym where combat synthesizing, one of their practical classes, was held. Countless curses, accusations, and profanity poured in from the students who made up the special first-year class.

Ban Yu-won closed his eyes and enjoyed the fame.

“There is a myth in our world that it increases your lifespan whenever someone swears against you.”

“You will live forever, then.”

Dok Go-yeon sarcastically replied next to him. But as if to show Light wasn’t happy about it, his eyes were open wide and searching around for the source.

“They talk cowardly and wait from behind like lowly people. Ban, don’t lose to them.”

“Ban, f-fight on.”

Ruchel also cheered him by gently pulling at his sleeve. Still, he smiled proudly, feeling he’d grown close to them, but Dok Go-yeon spoiled his mood the next moment.

“You two got along pretty well after you went out last weekend. Did you really like the clothes that Ban Yu-won gave you?”

“…Jealous?”

“Ho.”

Ruchel had changed! She had become a woman who knew how to deal serious mental damage with a single word!

“I think being beaten on Sunday wasn’t enough.”

“You’ll keep hitting anyway.”

“Ruchel, be careful. After all, the cost will be divided between the three of you.”

Yesterday, only Ban Yu-won was beaten intensively under the pretext of one-on-one tutoring. No matter how much he thought about it at the moment, he was beaten irrationally, but now that he looked at it, he wondered if it was because she was angry he had gone outside with Ruchel on Saturday. He thought he had explained enough that it was a date to solve Ruchel’s problem, but Ban Yu-won didn’t know why it had to end up like that. Still, he decided to ignore it because his concept had grown.

“Okay then, let’s start the class.”

“…?”

A person who appeared to be a professor gathered the students of Class 1 and 11 together, but it wasn’t Associate Professor Farrell who was teaching last week.

“Ah, I’m in charge of this class now. I’m Associate Professor Entel.”

“What about Associate Professor Farrell?”

“He was fired. You guys can guess the reason.”

The students’ collective gaze fell on Ban Yu-won. Ban Yu-won shrugged like a Western politician who was asked a difficult question.

“I want to start the class right away, but before that…I heard there was a match to be officially held today. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Electo took a step forward and spoke. It was a bonus that he turned around and glared at Ban Yu-won.

Ban Yu-won didn’t hesitate to step forward beside him. Professor Entel, who only nodded a little when he saw Electo, saw Ban Yu-won, and his eyes widened.

“Oh, you’re Ban Yu-won, aren’t you? I’m enjoying your videos. You seem to have some talent.”

“Thank you.”

“Ha, such a manipulated video….”

“Oh my, student Electo. You shouldn’t be suspicious of a classmate taking the same class as you. I will give you a negative point if you make that mistake again.”

“…”

Fortunately, Associate Professor Entel had a positive impression of Ban Yu-won. He didn’t know if it was Yoo Mina’s doing or the result of Ban Yu-won’s video, but this would avoid biased judgments.

“I heard the fight will be broadcast live on the official school channel. Do you both agree with that?”

“On a live broadcast, such a manipulation…ahem, I agree.”

“I agree.”

As soon as the two nodded, the drone took to the air. A virtual ring was formed around them, and the same precautions were taken when Dok Go-yeon and Ortima fought. When one became incapacitated, or they surrendered, the match would end. It wasn’t possible to openly attack vital points, but all injuries sustained during the match were their responsibility.

‘These are terribly harsh conditions.’

They said they didn’t like academy students fighting each other for their lives, but they didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping them from fighting half-to-death.

Ban Yu-won clasped his Beheader’s longsword and entered the ring. While they faced each other, Electo asked out of the blue.

“Are you afraid?”

“What?”

What? Ban Yu-won didn’t know what to say, so he remained still.

“If you are afraid, you can surrender. Only….”

“You’ve been getting these lines from a show, right?”

Electo shut his mouth, and a vapor spurted from his body. Apparently, that hit the mark.

“There’s no way… You’re not a cringe-lord who actually says lines that only appear in third-rate novels, right?”

“Ha! I wonder how long you’ll be able to talk like that.”

“Aren’t you the one who started talking first? Are you forgetful?”

Electo raised his fist. He saw his fist, covered in thick keratin, growing in size as he watched. Strangely, Ban Yu-won found concepts such as Earth and Rock flocking to him. No kidding, it seemed like he was really a rock giant.

“Associate Professor Entel, let’s get started!”

Electo exclaimed sternly. He looked angry, perhaps because he thought he was robbed of the lines he had been thinking hard about.

Associate Professor Entel gave him a pitying look and declared.

“Start the fight!”

“Die!”

Bang-!

It wasn’t the sound of a bomb exploding; it was just the sound of Electo jumping off the ground. It was an extremely simple and ignorant attack of throwing his body forward and, at the same time, striking with his enormous fist. However, the resulting pressure couldn’t be denied.

“Whew.”

Ban Yu-won silently raised the Beheader’s longsword and…

The blade deflected off his fist brilliantly and slapped Electo’s cheek.

-Bang!

Electo crashed to the ground, creating a huge crater. Ban Yu-won, moving out of the way past him, kicked Electo in the butt before he could get up.

[You succeeded in counterattacking by using the opponent’s power. Depth of Reverse has become 21.]

The message that appeared was quite satisfying. It was worthwhile to try and fight back against Dok Go-yeon’s horrific attacks all day yesterday.

‘There are several options to defeat that ignorant mass, but perhaps the simplest is to use the Reverse you learned in the Tower.’

As Dok Go-yeon had been watching Ban Yu-won’s growth, her advice was extremely accurate.

‘But then I realized that you waste a lot of time trying to get to know the opponent before using that technique. So it’s only half-way there. You can say that you have fully mastered the trick only if you can use them as often as you want, especially against opponents and techniques you’re encountering for the first time.’

Moreover, she even went so far as to zero in on the needless arrogance he attained after learning Reverse.

‘So, from now on, we’ll do some special training. I will attack with this wooden sword with a different speed, a different strength, and a different meaning. If you can counterattack it even once, that ignorant mass won’t be able to touch you.’

Dok Go-yeon then launched immediately into their one-on-one lessons.

…Maybe she just wanted to hit him as much as possible; he didn’t know. However, the effect was clear, and Ban Yu-won’s Reverse grew to 20 with just yesterday’s training. It was so difficult to deflect her power that it was almost impossible to laugh that Flow had grown so much more than that.

‘Well, these two concepts have a close relationship, so it’s only natural for them to grow together.’

Ban Yu-won, escaping from his thoughts, raised his sword and pointed it in front of him, and his eyes widened. Electo, who got up, turned to look at him. His body was trembling.

“Y-You bastard, how dare you…!”

“I’m sorry, but can’t you stop all the noise and just attack?”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

He was foolish. If you’ve been hit at least once, shouldn’t you consider using a different method? Even so, Electo was charging with the same posture, clenching fists in the same way.

‘No…is it not the same?’

Concentrating his attention on his raised right fist, Ban Yu-won saw him quietly pushing his power into his left. It was a change that was difficult to see with the naked eye, and however, he could see the red-tinged concept of Strength with his Complete Sight.

‘It is difficult to read the change in the concepts of the body against an enemy whose level is higher than mine. Is it because I was trying to sneak a peek while on a date with Ruchel? Or is it because of the special training with Dok Go-yeon yesterday?’

It didn’t matter what it was. For now, he simply rejoiced in the development of his abilities.

“Die!”

“Phew.”

Ban Yu-won raised his sword at an angle and pretended to deflect his right fist, then dodged at an angle at the moment of impact. Electo naturally lost his balance as his swing whiffed. And in that brief moment when he tried to regain his standing, Ban Yu-won’s sword slammed down, causing his power to run in the opposite direction!

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Electo, let out a tearful scream.

[The vibration contained in the sword dispersed the opponent’s power wonderfully. The depth of Wave has been increased to 23.]

In fact, Ban Yu-won’s counter also held the power of Wave. The wave created by Ban Yu-won’s sword wasn’t only effective in increasing the power of his counterattack but also disturbing the natural balance of power in Electo’s body.

“I-I will kill you…!”

“Enough! I declare the end of the fight! Student Electo, you’re not in a position to continue!”

Entel, who saw that Electo’s left fist had been torn to shreds, declared the end of the match, but the giant wasn’t listening.

“Diiiiiie!”

“Student Electo, these actions can cause your expulsion! Student Ban Yu-won, dodge!”

The air inside the gym grew hazy as steam billowed from his body. The concepts of Volcano and Superpowers were gathered together in his intact right hand! However, Ban Yu-won didn’t even think about backing down, and Dok Go-yeon’s wooden sword was much heavier and more terrifying.

‘Dok Go-yeon was right.’

Reverse was best against the ignorant and powerful.

Ban Yu-won raised his sword. The Wave imbued with Magic Power flowed through the blade, and the power of Snapping inside burned gold as if responding. Blood Poison activated by sucking in Ban Yu-won’s blood.

The minimum conditions for confronting this ferocious giant were thus met. Ban Yu-won met his foe’s eyes; there was no need to look for trivial concepts. Only two things were important.

Where was the guy aiming? Where was his power concentrated?

‘I got it.’

He stretched out his sword. The power of the wave in the sword fired one step ahead, and the giant’s fist slightly twisted under its power.

Ban Yu-won had created a sliver-thin gap, and his sword sought it. It was as easy as picking fruit from a low branch.

-Swoosh

The man’s right arm was cut off at the elbow.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The giant hit the ground, rolling with a terrible scream. But Ban Yu-won couldn’t afford to pay any attention to him.

[Would you like to steal Life, Physique, Giant, Volcano, and Superpower from Electo’s arm?]

Because he had found something much more interesting.