Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 6

Rank 0 at the Awakened Special School

Chapter 6

‘…That kid, looks like they run well.’

After eavesdropping on the conversation of the kids in the same group, it seemed they were convinced that the kid named Moon Yu-jin would take 1st place.

Ji-woo, who had glanced at Moon Yu-jin once, quickly withdrew her gaze. It would be better to do some light stretching before running.

…Ah, but first.

‘Let’s cover up the wound on the back of my hand.’

She rummaged through her pocket and took out a handkerchief. The wound itself wasn’t big, so it would heal quickly anyway, but…

• There might be people who want to use Ji-woo’s abilities for bad purposes, so you must not use your Core carelessly in front of strangers. You understand what Mom and Dad mean, right?

Her parents had always worried about Ji-woo using her Core in front of others.

Both of them had already passed away, but habits aren’t easily broken.

‘Sorry, Mom, Dad. Somehow, I’ve already used my Core twice just today.’

First, in front of the Narak.

And the second time was in front of the boy who got hurt just now.

‘If Mom and Dad were alive, they would have fainted.’

1 Awakener = 1 Core.

In modern times, that was common sense.

However, that wasn’t the case for Ji-woo. Because Ji-woo was born as an unprecedented Awakener with multiple Cores.

First, Ji-woo’s first Core, Regeneration.

A power that can accelerate not just one’s own regeneration like Ji-hyo, but also others’.

In a word, it means ‘Healing Power’.

However, as you can see, there was a side effect. The side effect of taking on the opponent’s pain and wounds exactly as they were.

On top of that, the second Core, Psychokinesis.

Being able to move objects without touching them, it was truly a superpower in itself.

Is that all, you ask?

No. Healing Power, Psychokinesis, and on top of that, one more thing… there was a final Core that wasn’t known to the public.

In other words, it meant Ji-woo possessed a total of 3 Cores.

• What kind of Awakener in the world has multiple Cores. Unless they’re a monster.

The hand that was wrapping the handkerchief around the back of her hand froze.

“…….”

Ji-woo’s expression darkened.

What if the fact that a being with as many as three Cores exists were revealed to the world? I don’t know for sure, but the world would be turned upside down.

‘In a bad way, that is.’

Furthermore, Ji-woo even surpassed regular Awakeners in every aspect, including stamina, physical strength, lung capacity, and agility.

But that was exactly the reason why Ji-woo had to be locked up for her whole life.

Because possessing these outstanding abilities wasn’t simply due to good luck.

•
I should have gotten rid of it right then. Do you really not know how much of a fatal weakness keeping that thing alive will become later?

•
Father…!

•
Why don’t you just advertise that the company created Awakeners through human experimentation.

Words the grandfather said to her parents.

She realized what that meant right after her parents passed away, around the age of 6.

A project that her grandfather, who runs a pharmaceutical company, had been secretly conducting for a long time.

【Experiment to artificially create Awakeners】

Ji-woo was a byproduct of that experiment.

Since Ji-hyo and Ji-woo were twins, to be precise, both of them were children born through experiments.

But Ji-hyo and Ji-woo were different.

Because Ji-hyo was a success. It means she was born as a ‘normal’ Awakener with a Regeneration Core.

Then what about Seol Ji-woo?

──She was a ‘great success’.

A jackpot that no one intended.

It means she was born too perfectly.

An unprecedented Awakener who possesses 3 Cores.

Yet, Ji-woo was born as a baby with a fatal flaw: she couldn’t even control her own Cores perfectly.

Anyone who sees Ji-woo would have questions. Whether such an Awakener could exist in the world.

And so, what if someone were to dig up the secret story of Ji-woo’s birth?

The shadow of Seolhwa Pharmaceutical, which betrayed ethics and acted inhumanely, would be revealed to the world.

Now she knows.

That was what her grandfather was afraid of.

He had already done things that pricked his conscience, and on top of that, her parents risked illegal acts to save Ji-woo, which just added fuel to her grandfather’s fear.

Her grandfather wanted Ji-woo to die.

But what can you do.

She was already born.

‘Still… they said my face wasn’t caught on the CCTV in front of the Narak.’

Even when she used her Healing Power Core a little while ago, the other person was a young child. It will probably be fine.

And it bothers her to pretend not to see such a small child crying because they got hurt.

“It’s the last group’s turn. Stand in a line.”

She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of the teacher calling from far away.

“Hey, gather ’round! It’s Yu-jin’s turn.”

“Where? I want to sit in the very front and watch.”

“Ah, move. I sat here first. I have to record a video.”

The classmates flocked together to see the moment Moon Yu-jin runs.

Ji-woo calmly headed to the white starting line.

Aside from their special ability, the Core, Awakeners had stats like stamina, physical strength, and endurance that were far superior to ordinary people.

Of course, among them, there were occasionally Awakeners with noticeably superior stats.

For instance, that guy named Moon Yu-jin would be one of them.

‘How well will he run?’

Standing side-by-side on the starting line, she felt a little nervous.

Come to think of it, Ji-woo had never competed with anyone before. Since she had received all her classes, including P.E., only at home.

‘So-young eonni said that someone like me would be able to keep up with the class well enough, but…’

While she was thinking that, the teacher raised their hand high.

“Ready─.”

Before the start signal was given, the group members, including Ji-woo, lowered their bodies slightly.

Ji-woo glanced to the right.

Moon Yu-jin, while receiving all the cheers from his classmates, had no change in expression on his smooth face.

Everyone seems to have no doubt that Moon Yu-jin will take 1st place. If so…

‘For now, let’s set the goal at around 2nd place.’

If possible, that would be just right. Because if she takes 1st place for no reason, she might arouse suspicion.

Maintaining a not-bad grade, but not standing out too much, 2nd place would be appropriate.

‘I just need to finish about 1 or 2 seconds later than Moon Yu-jin, right?’

Bang!

At the sound of the gun piercing the air, she kicked off the dirt.

Tadat…!

As soon as they started, the distance widened quickly. Moon Yu-jin had started to pull ahead at the speed of light.

“Kyaaak! Yu-jin!”

Amidst the passionate cheers heard from around.

It was while the rest of the group members were gritting their teeth and kicking the dirt to catch up to him.

‘…Huh?’

A slight look of bewilderment appeared on Ji-woo’s face as she followed Yu-jin.

And rightfully so.

‘He’s slower than I thought…?’

This kid named Moon Yu-jin, when I only heard about him, I expected his athletic ability to be incredibly outstanding.

‘Oops, I almost caught up.’

It would be better to slow down a bit more.

Ji-woo subtly widened the distance from Yu-jin as much as possible so it wouldn’t be obvious,

“Moon Yu-jin, 1st place!”

And only after confirming that he had reached the finish line did she apply full speed.

Taat!

Anyway, the plan was successful. As she wanted, Ji-woo finished about 1 second after Moon Yu-jin.

‘That was dangerous. I almost took 1st place.’

Sweat beaded on her forehead for a different reason. It was the moment she lightly wiped the sweat from the tip of her chin with the back of her hand.

“Seo, Seol Ji-hyo, 2nd place…”

…Huh? The atmosphere was strange.

It was as if the surroundings were strangely quiet-.

The moment she straightened her upper body, which she had bent to wipe off the sweat, someone muttered as if they couldn’t believe it.

“…Is this for real?”

The kids started whispering.

“What is it? What just happened?”

“Hey, did I see that right?”

“Yu-jin is 40 seconds, and Seol Ji-hyo is 41 seconds…?”

She couldn’t perfectly understand their conversation, but she felt like she knew one thing.

“Isn’t that faster than Han-gyeol?”

Ji-woo opened her mouth slightly.

…Ah, I might have made a mistake.