Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 1

Rank 0 at the Awakener Special School

Chapter 1

The world is not equal.

Many things, such as one’s motherland, family environment, parents, and appearance, are determined the moment one is born.

Perhaps a few of those things might improve through acquired effort or luck.

But there was one thing that could never be changed, no matter how much one struggled.

Core.

That thing, which is called a ‘superpower’ or ‘hetero-ability’ in movies or animations.

Awakeners who possess a Core showed excellent talent in various fields such as artistic sense, athletic ability, five senses, and memory.

An educational facility prepared for such beings, [National Gaon Special School].

•
Did you hear? They say the son from unit 302 is entering Gaon this time.

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How happy must that mother be… They say if you just graduate from there, your path is paved with flowers.

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No matter what career path they take after graduation, they’ll probably earn enough for three generations to live comfortably, right? Sigh, if only my daughter had a Core, I would have at least submitted an application.

An escalator-style school that continues from elementary to high school.

It was no exaggeration to say that more than half of the Awakeners in the Republic of Korea were from that place.

…Except for one person.

“Ji-woo-agassi, are you listening?”

A wide, sun-drenched living room.

A woman with a book spread out on a glass table glanced at the girl sitting beside her.

Dark blue hair cascading down to her waist.

Subdued, water-colored eyes.

A girl with an oddly calm impression for a teenager.

Seol Ji-woo. 16 years old. Awakener.

The owner of this vast mansion, and someone who should originally have been in the middle of attending an Awakener school.

And the woman, Yoon So-young, was her dedicated private tutor.

“Let’s stop here for math for now… Did you finish the homework I gave you yesterday?”

“I finished it.”

Ji-woo turned her head. It looked like she was rummaging through her bag, but that wasn’t it.

“Ah, I think I left it in my room.”

It was the moment she flicked her finger slightly toward the room.

Float—

A textbook floated into the air, flew past the open door, and arrived in the living room.

The textbook landed lightly on Ji-woo’s palm like a living bird.

Magic? Sorcery? No.

It was Seol Ji-woo’s Core, Telekinesis.

“Agassi… I’ve told you so many times to avoid using your Core in daily life as much as possible.”

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

She apologized, but in truth, it couldn’t be helped.

How convenient is it to be able to pick up things without using your hands? How could she live without using it?

Just as if she had read Ji-woo’s inner thoughts, it was the moment So-young let out a small sigh.

「Around 7 AM this morning, an unidentified abnormal phenomenon was detected at the Narak located near the Blue House.」

“……!”

The voice of a news anchor coming from the large TV covering the entire wall.

Naturally, Ji-woo and So-young’s gazes were drawn to the TV.

「Detection equipment installed at the scene captured irregular vibrations and minute pressure changes.」

「The government has currently deployed emergency personnel to the Narak and──.」

[Narak].

It was an unidentified hole that appeared in countries around the modern world.

It appeared one day without warning and changed human history in an instant.

Monsters that you’d only see in movies, mysterious viruses that modern medicine couldn’t cure…

All sorts of disasters poured out from the Narak.

It was around that time that ‘Awakeners’ who use Cores appeared.

Among the Awakeners who graduated from the special school, those with some suitable Cores were tasked with the job of purifying the Narak.

So-called [Purification Team].

They are elite Awakeners who eliminate threats on the front lines.

Thanks to that, they had somehow been coexisting with the Narak until now, but…

It was also true that recently, incidents of the Narak backflowing like this had become frequent.

“It’s truly the end of the world, the end of the world.”

It was the moment So-young, who had been staring at the TV with a serious expression, muttered.

“So-young-eonni.”

“Yes, Agassi.”

“Ji-hyo will be okay, right?”

Ji-hyo. At that name, So-young’s gaze naturally fell away from the TV.

Ji-woo’s profile as she looked at the TV screen was dark.

Ji-hyo was Ji-woo’s identical twin sister, and she was living a completely different life from Ji-woo, who was being home-schooled at home.

At least because Ji-hyo was properly attending the [National Gaon Special School] as an Awakener.

But why was she suddenly worried about her?

Because there were a total of three places in the Republic of Korea where a Narak existed.

The Blue House, Jeju Island, and…

[National Gaon Special School].

In that special school where Ji-woo’s twin sister Ji-hyo attended, a Narak also existed.

“Ayy, surely nothing would happen, right? That’s a school where excellent Awakener seeds are gathered. You don’t need to worry.”

“…I suppose so?”

“Of course. Vacation starts next week, so Ji-hyo-agassi will be returning here too.”

At those words, Ji-woo’s expression brightened a little.

That’s right. Next week was already the time for her to return.

‘Since it’s hard to see her face unless it’s vacation.’

Ji-hyo, who attends the special school.

Ji-woo, who receives home-schooling at home.

Even though they were twins born on the same day at the same time, there was a reason why the two people ended up living very different lives.

Unlike her sister who was born healthy and well, Ji-woo was sent to an incubator the moment her umbilical cord was cut. They even said she was given a terminal diagnosis less than 24 hours after she was born.

The reason was that Ji-woo’s Core was excessively unstable.

Prone to going berserk and even having seizures.

It would have been better if she had been born as a normal person, but as an Awakener, her body couldn’t handle her own Core.

On top of that, somewhat complicated family circumstances were added…

In the end, unlike other Awakeners, Ji-woo ended up staying only at home without even being able to enter the special school.

But it was okay.

Because Ji-hyo came to visit her every vacation.

‘…I’m looking forward to it.’

That movie we talked about last summer vacation was released on OTT this time, so I should ask her to watch it together. I should take out the snacks I’ve been saving and eat them together while I’m at it.

Like that, Ji-woo waited and waited only for the day Ji-hyo would come.

……However, no matter how much she waited, Ji-hyo did not come.

Somehow, an ominous feeling arose.

And ominous feelings always tend to be right.

“…An accident?”

Thump, her heart sank.

So-young, who had visited the mansion for the first time in a while, had brought the worst news instead of a lesson.

“That is… it seems there was an accident while Ji-hyo-agassi was taking a practical class at school.”

Ji-hyo’s Core was regeneration.

Thanks to that, most wounds healed quickly. Even if a bone was broken, it would heal cleanly in a few days.

For such a child to have an accident.

It means there was an accident big enough that her regeneration couldn’t keep up.

And at school, too.

“Tell me in detail. An accident? What kind of accident?”

“That… I think it would be better for you to check it yourself rather than me telling you directly.”

So-young handed her something.

A red memory card. Neither the manufacturer nor the capacity was written on the surface.

Ji-woo knew this wasn’t a normal memory card.

“It’s a copy of Ji-hyo-agassi’s memories.”

So-young’s Core, Psychometry.

The power to read a person’s memories by making contact with them. Also, she could store the read memories in a memory card like this.

“I secretly made it by making contact when Ji-hyo-agassi was being transported to the main house. For now, please compose yourself… and check it later, Agassi.”

“…….”

Ji-woo brought the memory card and went into her room.

In her heart, she wanted to forget about the memory card or whatever, leave this place immediately, and go to the main house where Ji-hyo was, but…

• Live like a mouse. And never show yourself in front of me again.

The chairman of Seolhwa Pharmaceutical.

And Ji-woo and Ji-hyo’s paternal grandfather.

As long as that person is at the main house, Ji-woo cannot go to see Ji-hyo.

No, she couldn’t take a single step out of this mansion.

‘…Ji-hyo is hurt, and I can’t do anything.’

Anger welled up at her sense of helplessness.

Even so, there was nothing she could do.

Ji-woo sat crouched in her room all day without eating or sleeping.

Then, only by the evening of the next day, she grabbed the memory card as if she had made a decision.

‘Let’s at least check this.’

That was the only thing she could do right now.

In the pitch-black room.

When she inserted the memory card into the reader, the bluish light emitted by the laptop faintly illuminated the room.

Amidst the low whirring sound of the motor.

The first thing she saw was a pitch-black screen.

‘…What is this?’

She thought it would be seen from a first-person perspective since it was Ji-hyo’s memory, but it didn’t seem to be the case. It was a scene as if it had been filmed by CCTV.

Even that was blurry, as if the memory had suffered quite severe damage.

She examined the screen closely.

In a dark space where not a single ray of light entered, she saw someone with disheveled hair crying.

──She couldn’t fail to recognize her.

It was her sister, Ji-hyo.

But……

Why is she crying in such a dark place? Where is this? A storage room? A bathroom?

Or… Narak?

An ominous feeling arose.

A trembling breath leaked out through Ji-woo’s teeth.

Before long, with a crackle sound, the screen changed rapidly.

「Aaaah……!」

Along with her twin sister’s scream.