I stepped out of the secluded area and into the heart of the Academy.
Kim Suhyeon had lectures to attend as a student, and I had to return to my duties as a dispatched public servant.
"Alright then, Suhyeon, I guess this is where we—"
Glance, glance—
As soon as we entered the main walkway, sothing about her changed.
Every ti students passed by, her eyes darted around uneasily. If anyone got too close, she tensed up, clenching her fists.
I still rembered how she acted when she visited in the hospital—smiling brightly, chatting away happily.
But that was only in front of .
Seeing her like this now, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Suhyeon."
Still glancing around.
It was like watching a black cat—no, a black erkat.
"Suhyeon?"
"Y-Yes, Examiner."
"What's wrong? Did sothing happen?"
Was she still shaken from nearly being abducted by Elder?
That wasn't impossible. I'd heard so students were suffering from PTSD after the attack.
"A-Ah, no. It's fine, Examiner."
That was a lie.
It was all too obvious.
The way she fidgeted with her hands, the nervous glint in her eyes—Anyone could see that she was anything but fine.
"There won’t be any more villain attacks. Security has been tightened after the last incident."
"Yes, I know. That’s... that’s a relief."
She didn't look relieved at all.
So it wasn’t Elder she was afraid of. This was sothing else.
I followed her gaze, observing where her eyes landed.
She had no reaction when people were far away. But whenever soone approached, she grew visibly uneasy.
It was a strange response.
As if she didn’t want them to co closer.
Ah.
I got it.
The reason why she was acting like this.
The legendary hero Kang Minseong. The greatest weapons master in history. And his granddaughter.
Kim Suhyeon.
I was the only one ignorant of this fact. Everyone else knew.
Of course, that ant everyone was watching her.
‘Whether it was for good reasons or bad ones, it didn't matter.’
To Kim Suhyeon, all of it had beco overwhelming stress and suffocating pressure.
That bastard Park Junwoo had clearly tried to use her for his own gain.
She thought she was nothing, yet she was constantly surrounded by people who expected everything.
And among them were those vile enough to try and exploit her.
With her already fragile sense of self-worth, all of this must have turned into pure poison.
She was afraid of people approaching her—of their expectations.
For soone who believed herself to be worthless, that must have been even more terrifying than a nightmare.
‘She needs help.’
Kang Minseong had said that my presence seed to have influenced her.
It had only been a brief encounter, but in that mont, I had done sothing she had desperately wanted to do herself.
‘What did that friend of mine say again about overcoming this?’
The first step in overcoming an inferiority complex—Acknowledging your own shortcomings.
The hardest yet most crucial part.
I still rembered how my friend had described it.
"They're lucky."
"Huh?"
"The students here. They're lucky to have made it into the Academy."
Kim Suhyeon’s interest was piqued.
Good. That was the first step.
Of course, this ant I had to self-destruct a little, but so what?
"I failed the entrance exams multiple tis."
"...What?"
"I thought just awakening my ability would be enough. That once I had power, everything would work out like it did for everyone else. But it didn’t. My life actually got worse after awakening."
"Why...?"
"Because I was treated like trash."
People like —who had abilities but weren’t strong enough to fight—were treated like half-baked rejects by the Superhuman.
And frauds by non-Superhuman people.
"It was miserable. It drove insane. This wasn’t the future I had imagined. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I thought I could be like everyone else. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t."
"...."
"I spent months lost, wandering. Until one day, I found myself on the Han River Bridge."
"No!"
Suhyeon suddenly grabbed my hand in alarm.
If anyone saw, they’d think I was about to jump off a bridge right here and now.
"I stood there, thinking—Why the hell am I so miserable? I hadn’t committed a cri. I hadn’t hurt anyone. I was just unlucky. And that pissed off. And in that mont... things beca clear."
I stopped walking for a second, glancing around the Academy.
Then, I looked straight at Suhyeon.
"Just live. Not trying to be like them, but living as myself. It's not about being worse than them and feeling miserable about it.
It's about accepting it and just working hard in my own way."
Kim Suhyeon listened in silence.
She looked surprised—Surprised that I had a past so similar to hers. That I was honest about sothing most people would rather keep hidden.
I didn’t expect her to suddenly change overnight.
But if I could stir even the smallest ripple in her heart— That alone would be enough.
"…Examiner."
"Yeah, Suhyeon?"
"So… are you okay now?"
"I'm still a half-rate, fake ability user or whatever they want to call . But I’m getting by as a governnt worker. I don’t look at others anymore—I just focus on myself. And in the process, I t Jiyoon, got my ass beat by an Elder… So, yeah, I’d say I’m doing fine. Wouldn’t you agree?"
Suhyeon looked at for a mont, then turned back ahead.
She didn’t nod or smile, but just thinking about it was already an improvent.
Even the smallest shift in perspective could lead to big changes later.
"Suhyeon. Isn’t your lecture starting soon?"
"Ah! It’s almost ti."
"You shouldn’t be standing around then. Go on before you’re late."
At my instruction, she nodded and took a few steps forward—Then suddenly turned back to face .
"…Thank you, Examiner. I’ll see you later."
Her posture was just a bit steadier than before.
Feeling a quiet relief, I nodded in return.
*
Academy lectures fall into two main categories:
Theory and Practical Training.
Theory was the standard classroom-type class. And as always, students who underestimated it would suffer greatly.
The definition and concepts of Superhuman abilities. The ethics and responsibilities every Superhuman must uphold. The strengths and weaknesses of each ability type. Ergency response procedures and protocol. Gate classification and handling monsters or villains.
‘They say the real enemy of graduation is the Theory curriculum, after all.’
Practical Training, on the other hand, was divided into two types:
On-campus training. External field missions. Field missions focused on real combat experience, usually inside Gates.
If luck was bad, students could even end up fighting villains.
Now, why did I, a non-student, know so much about these lectures?
Because my job was connected to it.
Rank evaluations happened outside of lecture tis.
aning, when students had free ti, they rushed to take their exams.
‘I just didn’t expect this many…’
A rough headcount showed over thirty applicants.
And that was even with other instructors helping out.
So of the professors had died or been injured in the recent villain attack.
That left gaps in the schedule, leading to this surge of evaluation requests.
‘The other staff saw this coming and tried to help, but…’
With it still being early in the sester, many students wanted to move up to Silver rank.
But faculty mbers were tied up with their own work, so they couldn’t handle the load alone.
That’s why evaluators from the asurent Departnt were sent—And I was one of them.
Originally, there should’ve been more of us, but thanks to that stupid Challenge system, my colleagues kept dodging this job.
"Ugh…"
I sighed and scanned the gathered students.
Unlike last ti, I didn’t see any suspicious-looking punks.
Most of them genuinely wanted to advance from Bronze to Silver.
‘Good. If another group of assholes had shown up, I would’ve started cursing.’
"Examiner."
The first student I was evaluating today.
"Lee Hyunwoo."
The protagonist.
The hard-working genius who would one day surpass talent itself.
"Are you feeling alright, sir?"
I smiled and gave him a very sad answer.
"If I’m here at work, I think that answers your question."
"…You must be going through a lot."
He looked at with sympathy.
Even to him, my situation probably seed ridiculous.
Being forced to work right after being discharged from the hospital…
Maybe he was ntally noting to never beco a governnt employee.
Or maybe that was just my imagination.
"You were incredible, Examiner."
As I was getting ready to start the test, Hyunwoo suddenly said that.
Incredible?
What the hell was he talking about?
I looked at him, puzzled, and he continued—
"For standing against the Elder."
What?
You saw that too?
I thought only Suhyeon knew.
And what’s this “incredible” nonsense?
I got my ass beat into the ground.
My ability just wouldn’t let run away.
"I admire that courage. I hope to have that kind of strength too."
Standing against an Elder isn’t courage.
It’s just reckless idiocy.
Even A-rank Superhumans couldn’t withstand them.
What was this kid talking about?
Before he could say anything more embarrassing, I quickly changed the subject.
"Let’s get started. There are a lot of students waiting behind you."
Hyunwoo was the protagonist.
A guaranteed first-place lottery ticket.
Right now, he was just Bronze-ranked,
but one day, he would beco an unstoppable force.
That was good news for .
I needed him to get there.
With Gates going out of control, monsters increasing, and villains waiting for their chance…
Things were only going to get worse.
And when that ti ca—I needed Hyunwoo to be strong.
‘Which is exactly why I can’t let him pass yet.’
- Activating The Third Eye
◎ Baek Seojin
Silver Gatekeeper
◎ Details:
No one can pass without the Gatekeeper’s permission.
And then—
A new notification appeared.
- Required Condition t
◎ Trait Enhancent Activated.
- New Sub-Traits Unlocked.
◎ Sub-Trait: Sole Evaluator
◎ Details:
Anyone who has failed to receive a promotion from you will continue to be considered your examinee.
◎ Sub-Trait: No Pain, No Gain
◎ Details:
Every ti a selected candidate fails a promotion, a stack is accumulated.
When they finally pass, their abilities are enhanced in proportion to the accumulated stacks.
One thing I could say with absolute confidence—I wasn’t blocking Hyunwoo’s promotion out of spite.
It was for his own good.
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