The written assessment seems to have wrapped up without a hitch.
The difficulty was a tad higher than previous papers or past questions, so I fumbled a bit, but I didn’t totally bomb and end up in the depths of despair.
Just the right amount, really?
I didn’t have anything I couldn’t answer; it seems I tackled the stuff I learned just fine.
In other words, I couldn’t answer what I hadn’t learned, but the questions from what I had learned? Nailed ’em!
At least I managed to keep my head above water. A small flicker of hope.
After the written assessment on the second day concluded…
The practical exam, starting from the third day, was divided by majors.
Combat, magic, support, crafting.
The practicals are conducted by major area.
I may not have a major or a rank since I’m a special admissions student, but I was assigned to the combat major’s practicals, which I’m taught by my mentor.
However, the combat major’s practical has a bit of a dilemma.
You see, there’s a tournament happening the very next day that focuses on direct one-on-one combat, which shifts the focus that way.
Most students were pouring their stamina into the tournament, and the professors were pretty understanding of that.
In that atmosphere, the topic of our combat major’s practical was dungeon exploration.
We were thrown into a level 4 dungeon, and points were awarded based on the order in which the students reached a designated location upon entry.
The dungeon’s environment, the traps embedded in it, the types and numbers of monsters—it all varied.
Also, since many students were heading for the same place, there’d be chances of encounters.
Evaluations would be based on how we responded to these situations while reaching our destination.
It would be allowed to just bulldoze through traps and monsters with sheer force, but… I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t score well doing that.
The intention behind this? Maybe they wanted to evaluate our survival and judgement based on what would happen if we were stranded alone in a dungeon.
I felt a bit strange, remembering my experience in Shifnah.
Anyways, the practical assessment was underway.
The practical schedule was from the 3rd day to the morning of the 4th day.
Though I can’t speak for other majors, especially in the combat major’s case, we’ve got to arrive within a day and a half… that’s 36 hours or so.
And then…
“…Lee Ha-yul, 21 minutes and 13 seconds.”
I dashed to my destination and almost hit full marks.
In simple terms, it was an easy win.
The expression on the instructor’s face when I arrived must’ve been quite amusing because my record was impressive.
He was genuinely surprised, but… I had half expected this outcome once I got the briefing.
It makes sense—I had no reason to get lost here.
The major difficulty when exploring a dungeon lies not in combat, but in navigation.
Even for the lowest-level 4 dungeons, the insides are expansive enough to be overwhelming.
Sure, the superhuman students can navigate pretty quickly if they really try, but considering the dangers of a dungeon, that’s utter madness.
But I could engage in that madness.
I could observe every single trap littered throughout the dungeon—one through a hundred.
The power of observation.
I couldn’t fully utilize it due to my lack of proficiency, but regardless, it was a power granted by the Tower of Observation.
There’s no way I wouldn’t be able to analyze a single level 4 dungeon.
The presence and types of traps.
The species, numbers, strengths, and weaknesses of monsters.
The environment inside the dungeon and the safest, shortest route to the goal.
Also, controlling variables through continuous re-evaluation.
I wrapped all that up in less than 3 minutes after entering the dungeon.
After that, it was smooth sailing.
I just followed the route I had sketched out in my mental map, charging toward my destination.
I didn’t encounter any traps or monsters along the way—not a single threat.
I just moved along the route where I wouldn’t come across anything.
“Phew…”
Before 30 minutes passed after the practical assessment started, I was able to take a breath of fresh air.
It felt like I had just stepped out for a quick walk.
I took a sip of water, recalling the remaining schedule.
‘All that’s left now is the tournament.’
It’s currently the morning of the 3rd day. The tournament preliminaries kick off consecutively from the afternoon of the 4th day.
Of course, the tournament is the most crucial event.
So, now it’s all about preparing for the tournament during the remaining time.
With more free time than others, I should use it wisely.
And I have no one more reliable than my trusty assistant.
Finishing my thoughts, I tapped on the hologram.
[Contact: Mentor]
▶Me: Mentor, I just finished the practical!
▶Me: Can I come over now?
▶Me: (Puppy emoticon looking up with moist eyes)
A reply came almost instantly.
…
From the Tower of Growth.
I employed a sharpening method for my senses to replace my abandoned sight and broken spatial perception.
I caught every sound and vibration with my touch and hearing. Based on that data, I drew the map in my head.
It was essentially a method similar to echolocation.
Thinking back, it felt like a unique ability of mine.
Reflecting on it, there was indeed something similar I had become aware of last time… but perhaps it wasn’t yet solid enough to be classified as a unique ability?
In any case…
The echolocation I manifested through my senses restored my spatial awareness, and soon I became conscious of the powers of observation and space, effectively relegating it to the background.
It wasn’t entirely useless, but I had to admit it paled in comparison to spatial awareness… the powers of observation.
But that didn’t mean it was completely useless.
I shook my head resolutely against the idea.
Wasn’t it precisely because I had once relied solely on spatial awareness that I had come close to facing dire consequences?
Had I delayed raising my senses even slightly, I would have failed to respond in time and been taken down by the concentrated fire of my fellow students.
It had even gotten to that point during the exam in the Tower of Growth.
If it had happened in a real battle?
I wouldn’t be disqualified—I would’ve definitely been brutally killed. It would have been an absurdly anticlimactic death given how desperately I’d fought.
And there’s no guarantee such a disaster won’t happen again.
I realized that my mediocre spatial awareness was actually part of the powers of observation and space.
Now, I could brush off nearly any pressure with a laugh and even reverse the pressure onto my opponents.
It might just be an instinct, but I could now unfazedly unfold a broad and precise range of observation within the Tower of Growth.
But no one knows when even such abilities might malfunction.
It’s because the powers of observation and space are not my inherent abilities—they are powers sourced externally.
They aren’t wholly my strength; they’re the strength of some external entity.
It’s essentially a power that could be taken away at any moment.
The moment I recognized this power and envisioned the worst-case scenario of a confiscation, I started feeling the need to invest a bit into my echolocation ability and others.
– Fiddling…
‘Ahhhh…’
And as a result, I found myself squeezed and toyed with by my mentor, who had both my cheeks in her hands.
Echolocation… so, it was sense training.
Dueling with Aiden was quite a symbolic event for me.
During the duel at the semester’s start, my victory was achieved mostly through a mixture of luck and fortuity.
If Aiden hadn’t underestimated me from the start—or one piece of luck had gone wrong—I would’ve lost that duel.
I hadn’t had a match with Aiden since then, though.
So, how about now?
Maybe I’m being a bit overconfident, but I had my own expectations about the outcome.
Yet, short or long, you never really know until you try. Even Aiden could’ve had such thoughts and then ended up losing.
Dueling Aiden was primarily about ‘evaluation.’
The me at the semester’s start and the me now—who had grown through various experiences.
It was an evaluation of the gap that had formed between us.
To understand it precisely, this training was absolutely necessary.
[Happiness]
…Training.
*
The sensation transmitted through my palm was nothing short of ecstatic.
Atra, wrestling with a strange urge, cautiously pressed her palms together in the center.
With a squish, Lee Ha-yul’s cheek meat squished into her palm. Naturally, his lips, positioned in the center, popped out a bit.
Highlighted by the sunlight streaming from the sky, the emphasized lips appeared particularly moist.
Occasionally, she could catch a glimpse of that moistness brushing against her fingers.
‘……’
This time, she took a handful of his cheek.
The protruding lips squished inside, and his plump cheeks filled her grasp.
Soft and warm, like touching a baby’s tender skin.
No matter how long they spent together, that fragrant body scent never ceased to be unfamiliar…
Suppressing the surging impulse, she released his cheeks.
And then she rubbed her palms again, pressed down… and grabbed another handful… and continued playing with them…
Even while taking care of Lee Ha-yul in the healing room, she hadn’t been this blatant with his cheeks before.
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like just playing around with his cheeks.
As she kept repeating this action, it somehow seemed like it ought to hurt a bit, but instead, Lee Ha-yul just giggled and pushed his cheeks into Atra’s hand, encouraging her to keep going.
It was like a puppy nudging its head against its owner’s hand.
…This act wasn’t driven by Atra’s insistence but was part of Lee Ha-yul’s own method of sensory training.
Atra, barely managing to avert her gaze from that captivating face, examined the necklace hanging around Lee Ha-yul’s neck.
– Clank… clank…
[Happy]
[Like]
[Warm]
[Soft]
[Satisfaction]
[Warmth]
[Affection]
[Being Cared For]
[Being Protected]
Words spilled from his necklace, which appeared to be malfunctioning as it constantly clanked.
Under normal circumstances, she would’ve turned beet red and immediately switched it off, but now, with no thought to it, he just let himself be cradled by Atra’s hands.
Observing this, Atra was struck by how much Lee Ha-yul’s attitude had changed lately.
It wasn’t just that he had become more clingy, but there was a fundamental shift in his demeanor.
Previously, he was all buttoned-up with formal phrases like ‘thank you,’ ‘is that so?,’ ‘I appreciate it,’ or ‘understood,’ and would flinch and jump back at contact…
But now, it was all ‘Thanks a lot,’ ‘Really?,’ ‘Thank you,’ ‘Yup,’ ‘I like my mentor,’ ‘Can I come see you?’ ‘Pet me, please,’ and so on… his tone had become oddly soft and smooth.
Even now, while his cheeks were getting manhandled so blatantly, he calmly offered them up without a trace of worry or suspicion, even leaning his face into her grasp.
It wasn’t just during training—he reacted similarly when unexpectedly touched in random situations.
He would raise an eyebrow in curiosity, all the while cautiously extending his cheek…
It was a strange reaction.
As his mentor, such a thought was inappropriate, but even if she touched him inappropriately, it seemed he would merely startle but not resist…
[Like my mentor]
[Touch me more]
[Hands are nice]
“Uh-hum…”
Atra let out a cough as she shuffled away from thoughts she couldn’t even dismiss as a joke.
But what could she do… he had said he was in training, after all.
And she had just confirmed that Lee Ha-yul’s senses were heightened.
She recognized the training was bearing fruit.
And as a mentor, it would be wrong to reject a request made directly by her student.
Muttering excuses to herself, Atra held onto Lee Ha-yul’s cheeks, squeezing them in her hands.
*
[Player Buff System: Affection Level]
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
●●●●●●●●○○ (82▷83/100)
“Mentor” “Anticipation” “Sense of Security” “Yearning for Affection”
[Failed to meet the conditions to break the “Curse of Silence.”]
[Failed to meet the conditions to break the “Curse of Loneliness.”]
…
[Player Buff System: Measurement]
▶ Titles
“Special Admissions Student”
“Young Hero of Shifnah”
…
“??’s Tower Master (?)”
“??’s Tower Master (?)”
…
“Clingy”
…
“Puppy”
▶ Stats
…
▶ Unique Abilities
“Jack of All Trades”
“Affinity for Magic”
…
▶ Powers
“Powers of Observation”
“Powers of Space”
…
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