Chapter 145 – Candidate No. 7, Kang Geom-Ma (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Chapter 145 – Candidate No. 7, Kang Geom-Ma (2)

In one of the corners of the training field stood, Chief Sung of the Hero Association observed the trial alongside his subordinate, Supervisor Ha.

Both held thick folders filled with documents.

[Student =Leon van Reinhardt=’s score: 98 points.]

[A new record has been set!]

“Wow. Even though he hasn’t fully awakened yet, a Hero was still a Hero.”

Supervisor Ha, with her usual calm expression, murmured in amazement and turned her head toward Chief Sung.

“Chief, let’s be honest, this didn’t just exceed expectations—it blew them out of the water!”

“You’re right. When people talked about the ‘Golden Generation,’ I didn’t fully believe it, but seeing it in person left me speechless. No wonder Hoakin Academy was the best.”

“Exactly. To be honest, the representative from Dragon Class was a disaster, but after watching Leon, it became clear. These kids, even though they’re ten years younger than me, had earned my respect.”

“…….”

Chief Sung remained silent.

But Supervisor Ha understood that this meant he agreed.

In the Association, reading the atmosphere was an essential skill.

Besides, after so many sleepless nights working together, they had developed a sort of camaraderie.

That’s why Chief Sung didn’t bother correcting his subordinate’s casual remarks.

“Anyway, this trial had turned out better than expected, hasn’t it? Chief, I bet deep down you’re feeling proud.”

“Me? Not a chance. And had you forgotten that you and the others spent three nights without sleep organizing this?”

“Oh, come on~ It’s not like we’re not used to working nonstop. You had it the worst, Chief. After all, you managed to convince the feared academy director.”

At Supervisor Ha’s praise, Chief Sung could only let out a deep sigh.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I became a bureaucrat because I didn’t want to risk my life… but ever since I was assigned here, I feel like I’m shaving years off my lifespan.”

He massaged his temples, feeling a sharp migraine.

‘Even so, the start had been good… If everything continued like this, I won’t had too much to worry about.’

This surprise trial was the first joint event between Hoakin Academy and the Hero Association.

There were only two weeks left until the student council elections.

Normally, only second-year students could run, but this year was different.

After all, this generation was the so-called “Golden Generation.”

Chief Sung had convinced the Sage Media that not allowing first-year students to run was a waste of talent.

Of course, that wasn’t his own initiative.

He was merely relaying orders from his superiors.

And though they called it a “proposal,” the reality was that they had practically begged the director.

But what could he ?

As a good salaryman, he had to follow orders from above.

Despite his rank as chief, in the end, he was just a middle manager caught between Hoakin Academy and the Hero Association.

That precarious balance was his daily life.

Fortunately, after hearing his proposal, Media had ultimately approved it.

‘Alright. Proceed with it.’

‘D-Director, you’re really allowing us to go through with this?’

‘Yes. After all, we agreed that the Association would have some leeway in these elections. But listen to me carefully—if anything happened to my students, you could forget about the agreement.’

Her response was cold as ice.

But deep down, Media also believed that the academy needed change.

She knew it was the right time to break old paradigms.

If the academy was beginning to rot from within, they needed winds of transformation.

And thus, the special reward for this surprise trial was born.

First-year students were allowed to run for student council president.

Though only two spots were available, candidates number 6 and 7. In the academy’s 700-year history, nothing like this had ever happened.

As soon as Media gave her approval, Chief Sung and his team worked quickly and in secret.

Moreover, since this was the first event of its kind at the academy, it was also an opportunity for the Association to demonstrate its organizational capabilities.

All their effort and sleepless nights were reflected in what they were witnessing.

Chief Sung mentally replayed the scene of Leon taking down the ogre in a single strike.

His growth rate was even faster than the Association had anticipated.

‘I never imagined he’d be able to hunt an ogre, a creature only second-years had faced… and on top of that, with the highest score in history.’

This was the ideal scenario for the higher-ups at the Association. That’s why they had insisted on using an ogre for this trial.

‘For some reason, the president of the Association wanted that boy, Leon, to be the next student council president.’

Chief Sung had no idea why.

And even if he knew, he doubted he could understand it.

After all, the president of the Association had lived for over two centuries.

How could a normal person comprehend the mind of a being who had long abandoned his humanity?

‘…Between the president, the vice president, the director, and the Seven Heroes, I’m sick of dealing with magical beasts.’

Surrounded by these creatures in human form, he was sure he wouldn’t live long enough to retire.

He’d rather give up on promotions and retire early with his pension.

As he rubbed his trembling lips, an announcement echoed throughout the training field.

[Next up is student =Kang Geom-ma= from Wolf Class. Please step forward.]

Supervisor Ha let out a gasp.

“Chief! It’s him! The Sashimi Saint!”

“Ah.”

Chief Sung reacted instinctively and turned his head toward the entrance.

There he was.

The black-haired boy who had caused such a stir in the academy.

A peculiar student who wielded a kitchen knife as a weapon.

‘The Sashimi Saint…’

Kang Geom-ma walked forward with steady steps. Just his presence alone silenced the massive training field, the size of a football stadium.

Chief Sung swallowed unconsciously.

If Leon was like the midday sun, then Kang Geom-ma was the darkest, moonless night.

Day and night. How was it possible that two geniuses so opposite had been born in the same generation?

But more than coexistence, their relationship felt unstable.

As if they couldn’t share the same space.

Chief Sung had a bad feeling.

Supervisor Ha asked him.

“Chief, what score did you think he’ll get?”

“Well, if he earned the nickname ‘Sashimi Saint,’ he should surpass 90 points, right? But beyond that… I don’t know. Plus, Leon just set a new record.”

“You’re right. Leon didn’t just cut it in two with a single slash, he did it in under a second. Beating that… was practically impossible.”

Chief Sung shrugged and replied.

“Yeah, well. If we’re lucky, maybe he’ll tie at 98 points. But honestly, we’ve become too demanding. If he scores above 90, he’s already a magical beast. Look at our vice president’s record… 93 points. And that was when he was still in second year.”

“That’s true. Looking at it that way, it felt even more impressive. If Changseong scored 93 points at 18 years old… Ah, but wait, the person in second place, Meain Poison. She’s the twin sister of the current director, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. She was also the previous director.”

“Ah, right. But she suddenly resigned and passed the position to her sister before disappearing, didn’t she?”

“Yes. That was about 20 years ago… when you were around seven years old, I suppose. It was a huge scandal. But well, she was always a… peculiar person.”

“Peculiar?”

“If you’re dying of curiosity, once you rise in the Association ranks, check the classified files. I guarantee you’ll be surprised.”

Supervisor Ha pouted in dissatisfaction.

“How cruel! Could’t you give me at least a hint?”

“If you think it’s unfair, then earn your promotion. But if you insist on knowing something… I’ll tell you this: the entire Poison family was quite special. The president of the Association also came from that lineage.”

“Ah, now that you mention it.”

“Anyway, the trial was about to start. Silence.”

Bzzz—

The metal bars rose from the ground.

However, something was off.

The ogre’s eyes turned blood-red, and his fangs ground together in fury.

Supervisor Ha panicked and called out in a trembling voice.

“Chief… the ogre… something’s wrong!”

“No way.”

The ogre began smashing its club against the bars with uncontrolled force.

Each strike caused the metal bars to crack more.

Crack!

With a single impact, it shattered the cage and kicked down the iron door.

As it stepped out, its hunched back straightened, raising its height to nearly four meters.

It growled, revealing all its yellowed teeth.

Chief Sung’s eyes trembled with terror.

“Damn it… It’s completely lost it. Being taken down in one strike by Leon drove it insane. The humiliation ignited its combat instincts… It’s gone berserk!”

“B-Berserk!? But an ogre in that state was classified as rank A!”

“Stop the trial immediately! Ha, alert the instructors! Get reinforcements here now!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

— GRAAAAAAHHHH!

The ogre’s deafening roar shook the entire training field.

Students in the stood began fainting one after another.

Half of them collapsed unconscious in an instant.

Those who were still awake couldn’t move a single finger.

“Hey, wake up!”

“I-Instructors, the students were collapsing!”

“KYAAAAAH!”

The field descended into chaos.

The students’ screams seemed to further fuel the ogre’s rage.

Boom. Boom.

With every step, the ground trembled.

Consumed by fury, the ogre charged with its full weight.

Its footsteps were so heavy that they left deep imprints in the dirt.

Just as it was about to swing its club—

Kang Geom-ma barely moved his sashimi knife.

Slice.

At that very moment, the ogre’s roar was abruptly silenced.

Its bloodshot eyes turned completely white.

The pupils lost focus and drifted in opposite directions.

— Oghh…?

The ogre staggered, its steps unsteady.

But its momentum was too great.

It couldn’t stop itself and stumbled past Kang Geom-ma.

Its enormous body collapsed to the ground and slid forward without resistance.

Its chest and belly dragged along the dirt as if it were mopping the ground with its massive torso.

***

[The Wolf Class trial has concluded.]

The mechanical voice shattered the silence as if breaking glass.

The automated announcement pulled Chief Sung from his daze, but the chilling sensation running down his spine left him speechless.

He turned his head toward Supervisor Ha.

She was staring back at him, wide-eyed.

‘…What was that?’

Her mouth moved without making a sound.

‘And how the hell should I know?’

Sung replied with his eyes.

Both of them turned their gaze back to the center of the training field.

The ogre lay motionless on the ground, its hands over its chest.

But there wasn’t a single scratch on its body.

‘What… what the hell?’

When Leon had displayed his swordsmanship, everyone had been amazed and cheered.

But this… what exactly was this?

Kang Geom-ma had barely touched the hilt of his sashimi knife, and the ogre had dropped dead with blank eyes.

‘A heart attack?’

Chief Sung was stunned.

The ogre was clutching its chest as if its heart had failed.

Did Kang Geom-ma kill with just a glance?

What was this, Death Note?

Or rather, Death Sashimi?

Even in Hoakin Academy, where magical beasts roamed everywhere, this was too much.

Meanwhile, the sub-dimension was still calculating his score.

The evaluation time was taking longer than usual.

[Student =Kang Geom-ma=’s score is…]

Kang Geom-ma rolled his shoulders as if stretching while waiting for the results.

His indifferent expression left Chief Sung at a loss for words.

Beep—!

[…Score unmeasurable: ∞.]

[Infinity is not a number and therefore cannot be converted into a score.]

[However, the ranking table will be updated accordingly.]

[0th: Kang Geom-ma / ∞.]

[1st: Leon van Reinhardt / 98 points.]

[2nd: Meain Poison / 96 points.]

[3rd: Siegfried von Nibelung / 95 points.]

[4th: Media Poison / 94 points.]

[5th: Richard de Muir / 93 points.]

“……”

There was no energy left to be surprised. Chief Sung only felt dizzy.

***

“Hey, what the hell was that?! How did you do it?”

As soon as I returned to my seat, Ryozo bombarded me with questions.

She leaned toward me, demanding an answer.

“How was it possible that you defeated an ogre without even unsheathing your weapon? I don’t even know where to begin being amazed! And on top of that, the score showed an infinity symbol! The ogre just dropped dead out of nowhere! What, did you talk to him and ask him to fall at the right moment? Or… did you cut him with that concept of a Mental Sword?”

“I deployed my Mental Domain so I wouldn’t had to unsheathe my weapon, but I used it differently this time.”

“……?”

Ryozo’s eyes widened. I scratched my cheek and explained.

“Ryozo, you know what ‘Fear’ was, right? That aura the ogre released when it roared.”

“Of course. It’s a manifestation of the pressure from high-rank magical beasts. Basically, an infrasound wave designed to paralyze their prey before attacking. Although there were academic theories that still debate…”

“I don’t know anything about academic theories, but what I did know was that Fear was directly connected to a beast’s heart. In other words, it’s a pulse, a wave. To put it simply, it’s like the sound of a car engine.”

“Well… even though it’s a different concept, that analogy makes sense. But what did that have to do with the ogre collapsing?”

“Nothing complicated. I thought that if I cut its Fear, its heart would stop. And well, looked like I was right. Though I didn’t expect the system to be unable to measure my score…”

“W-Wait! Hold on a second!”

Ryozo raised a hand to stop me.

Her sky-blue eyes kept widening and narrowing repeatedly.

“You’re telling me you cut Fear—something like a wave or sound? You cut something invisible and intangible?”

“Ah, well… it’s just that I could see it.”

“…What?”

The [Blessing of the Sword God] allowed me to cut the uncuttable.

Whether it’s sound, air, or vibrations, nothing was beyond my reach.

“That’s basically what my blessing was.”

“…….”

Ryozo stared at me in complete shock. Then, she let out a deep sigh.

“Geom-ma, I don’t know if you’re a genius… or if you’re completely insane. But somehow, that infinite score seemed to suit you perfectly.”

“…Was that a compliment?”

Ryozo’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Of course! What else would it be, an insult?”