Academy's Silver Gatekeeper

I suddenly took out a shield for a simple reason. I wanted Jung Yuhyeon to tie himself to it on his own.

He probably decided this was the best moment, since no other examinees had shown up. He had once bragged about being Gold, but now had to take a Silver exam, which had to be pretty humiliating.

If I picked up a shield, that made it obvious to him. He was the same guy I had beaten up not so long ago in that spar. He would focus on the fact that I brought out a shield. He would assume I had some hidden motive, and he would try to neutralize it. I lured him into fixating on the shield and wearing himself out mentally.

He probably thought he had completely thwarted my plan, unaware of my real intention.

I had seen many like him here and there. People like that shared the same weakness. They mistakenly believed they had everything figured out, when I was actually just waving my tail, telling them to take the bait.

As a result, he still failed to escape Bronze today. He was supposedly Gold, but I found him underwhelming, even compared to Lee Hyunwoo.

He lacked any sense of urgency. He kept believing he was still above me, so how could he possibly move forward?

I clicked my tongue and headed back to where I’d been. Kim Suhyeon was watching me with an odd look in her eyes. I was not sure how to describe it. Maybe a bit... something.

“Suhyeon?” 

“Yes, Examiner.” 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I felt uneasy. I had never seen someone’s eyes sparkle quite that much.

“You were amazing.” 

“Huh?” 

“You truly were amazing, Examiner.”

She was suddenly showering me with compliments. I doubted she meant it in a bad way. She must have been sincere.

“I realized something. You pulled out the shield so that senior wouldn’t be able to walk away, right?” 

“Huh? Wait, you noticed that?” 

“Yes. It was weird to see you take out a shield, so I thought about it, and that’s the conclusion I arrived at. You made Jung Yuhyeon fixate on the shield so he wouldn’t notice what you were really up to.”

She figured that out in a single glance. That was no small feat. Then I recalled that her trait was being a genius consumed by inferiority.

She might have been Bronze and filled with doubts about herself, but that didn’t make her subpar. In fact, her potential was higher than anyone else’s. There was a reason she could have awakened as the Crimson Witch. She just hadn’t blossomed because she was blocking herself with her own insecurities.

“You managed to make him believe he was still superior, then crushed him afterward.” 

“Right. He probably just realized the truth now, but I had no idea you’d figure it out so fast, Suhyeon. You seem more impressive than me.”

She waved both hands frantically and said no. She seemed panicky, telling me not to say that as if she truly meant it.

“Me, more amazing than you, Examiner? I never would have thought of that plan on my own. I only worked it out because I was watching from a distance. If I had been in the fight...” 

“No, Suhyeon. You really are extraordinary.”

I stepped closer and grabbed both of her shoulders. I wanted to make it completely clear. I wanted her to understand that she was indeed exceptional, that she had her own value, and that she should hold her head up high.

“Suhyeon. You told me a moment ago that I was amazing.” 

“Yes.”

She answered without the slightest hesitation. I gave a small smile and carried on.

“To someone as amazing as I am, you look just as extraordinary.” 

“B-but I…” 

“If you aren’t amazing, that means my judgment is wrong. That means I’m not really amazing either.”

I said it with a smile, and she gasped, startled. She was so flustered at indirectly denying my worth.

“Suhyeon. Remember how I told you about my situation?” 

“You did.” 

“Believe in yourself. Don’t bother with other people’s judgments, just look at you. Look only at yourself.”

She lowered her head.

I knew it was difficult to do that right away. She had grown up absorbing all sorts of expectations and scrutiny since she was very young. It must have been so hard to shake off that burden.

I suspected Kang Minseong, her grandfather, must have avoided pressuring her, yet maybe she misread that as him being disappointed. That meant she needed to build her self-esteem even more.

I wanted her to become a genius who would blossom here, not the Crimson Witch. I wanted her to protect five hundred thousand lives instead of taking them.

“Nobody shines right from the start. Everyone compares themselves to others and feels small. I was like that, other people were like that, and so are you.”

Even Lee Hyunwoo was still Bronze for now. Nobody starts off dazzling. Irina, that crazy woman in yellow, might be an exception.

“Your worth isn’t something that others discover for you. You find it yourself. Don’t say you can’t do it just because you compared yourself to someone else. Compare, accept who you are, then promise yourself that you’ll become like them, slowly and steadily.” 

“…The desire to become like that kind of person.” 

“Yes, Suhyeon. Nothing changes if you keep sitting still. You can rest a moment, but then you have to get back up.

Let us keep taking these exams, stumbling and failing. If we fail to pass, we won’t give up. We’ll keep trying, surpassing that smaller version of ourselves in the past.”

I explained it like that and tried to light another spark of determination in her.

◎ Alert

A seed has been planted

Seed – Admiration

◎ Seed List

Wrath, Admiration

…but what on earth does that mean?

*

My commute home ended up unpleasant again today.

Kim Suhyeon’s trait gained a new addition. First Fury, now Admiration, which at least sounded more positive. I still had no idea what effect these seeds might have in the future. It was a headache, especially when she had the original setting of “Crimson Witch.” I worried everything would go up in smoke if she fell back into villainy after all the work I put in to save her.

I felt sorry for her circumstances. She had family who really loved her. I hoped that she, her family, and even the citizens of Seoul would not end up miserable.

She wasn’t my only concern, though, which was depressing.

Today’s Silver exams only had two applicants: Lee Hyunwoo and Jung Yuhyeon. I’d had dozens of students just the day before, and now it had all gone quiet. It was disappointing, and it felt like my boss had scolded me in front of everyone. Then again, it was my own doing, so I couldn’t complain.

“This is looking grim.”

It worried me, and in the future, it would become a problem for Lee Hyunwoo and Kim Suhyeon. Not to mention any potential up-and-coming students who might be missing out because of this.

I thought maybe it would get better if Lee Hyunwoo’s name got bigger soon. If word got around that someone of his caliber kept challenging me, maybe a few students would become curious and drop by.

“That alone won’t be enough. Who knows how long it would take?”

I spent the entire walk home trying to think of a perfect fix. I got nowhere.

'Let me summarize. The students have no reason to come to a difficult Silver examiner like me, who barely passes anyone. Faculty members can do the same job, and they do it more leniently. There was no benefit in seeking me out.'

So I needed a real incentive for them. They had to feel it was worth tackling something so tough. It wouldn’t be enough to tempt them once. They had to keep returning regularly.

'Nothing is coming to mind.'

I considered using my No Pain No Gain trait. The biggest problem was that it required forcibly sticking the student in the Silver exam. They would keep adding ‘stacks,’ but that wasn’t all. I had to approve the student eventually for it to work, and then the Gatekeeper trait might punish me somehow.

So I decided not to use No Pain No Gain on anyone but Lee Hyunwoo. I would also use it once for Kim Suhyeon next week, but that was the limit.

“Maybe I should spread rumors about my duel with Jung Yuhyeon?”

Strong students in the Academy might hear about it and get interested. They might come for a match or even allow themselves to be demoted and then apply again. Some might discover positive outcomes and say it was good training. They might argue that the previous Silver exams were too easy, and that it was better to struggle here since you wouldn’t die. That was just a hopeful scenario. I had no guarantee it would happen, and the odds looked slim. How could I gather a crowd again, when my exam hall was basically empty?

Tap—

“Ah, sorry.”

I realized I’d bumped into someone’s shoulder because I was lost in thought. I apologized quickly, since it was partly my fault for not paying attention.

“…Found you.”

Huh? Found who…?

The third eye activated.

◎ Hyeon Sujin

A Shadow Yearning for Revenge

◎ Details

Warning – Dangerous Individual

Warning – Dangerous Individual

Warning – Dangerous Individual

When The Third Eye displayed her info, my mind went blank. It was so sudden, and I wasn’t sure if it was even real. I came to my senses only after someone else passed behind me and bumped my shoulder.

“Oh dear, sorry about that.”

That person apologized and went on their way, merging into the evening crowd. Everyone else was just going about their normal day. I wasn’t dreaming. My brain finally started working again.

The woman standing in front of me, Hyeon Sujin, was…

“An Elder!”

TL Note: Another Elder encounter???