I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy

Chapter 6: Dungeon Exploration

TL/Editor: looloo

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7 A.M.

Beep beep.

Ah.

The alarms noise brought me to wakefulness.

Feeling groggy, thoughts tumbled around in my head. I have to get to school. Do I really need to go to school at my age?

Sigh.

With a mental sigh, I rose reluctantly from the bed. I washed my face to dispel the drowsiness and tossed on a T-shirt without much thought.

Over the T-shirt, I wore a white shirt and a tie. The morning was a bit chilly, so I added a hoodie. Then, I layered a vest over it and paired it with black slacks for pants.

The one benefit of school: not having to worry about what to wear.

In fact, just wearing a shirt, tie, and vest was enough to meet the uniform regulations of Korea Hero Academy.

I casually slipped on the sneakers given by the school, picked up my bag, and walked outside.

There were already many others preparing to head to school.

There goes the top student.

Hey, stop gawking. What if he takes offense and starts a fight? Did you not see him during weapon selection?

Is he really that exceptional?

Despite the distance, their whispers reached my ears clearly.

That's thanks to my special Spirit stat.

I walked leisurely, taking in my surroundings.

The journey from the dorm to the school wasnt long, and I reached my classroom quickly.

Finally, I was at the door of Class 1-A.

Standing before the door, a whirlwind of thoughts swept through my mind.

However, I quickly cleared my mind and opened the door.

Creak.

The door's opening silenced the chatter. Every eye was on me.

Curious glances, wary eyes, suspicious looks - they were all focused on me.

Pretending to be unperturbed, I looked for a seat. Despite my unhurried arrival, almost all the seats were occupied.

The front row was completely filled. Only a few spots were left at the back. Even with everyone being superhuman here, seating location seemed to matter.

'I'm not bothered, but...'

I headed towards the empty seat by the window at the back.

"You look quite tired."

A familiar, arrogant voice sounded. As I turned, I saw a pair of glowing red eyes.

Hong Yuhwa.

Why is she sitting next to me? My surprise at her presence was interrupted by another person.

I saw sky-blue hair.

The protagonist, the one favored in this world, was seated right in front of me.

"I'm not much of a morning person."

"So you've been ignoring physical training? Are you in the mage class?"

"You're a mage, yet you finished in just a minute?"

Hong Yuhwa's gaze met mine, as if she was looking at a creature from another world.

Kim Seohyun was looking at me, his face showing intrigue.

"Hmm?"

I felt a gaze then.

I traced the source to find a girl smirking at me.

She had peculiar eyes.

Within her platinum irises, her pupils were star-shaped, like embedded shooting stars.

Ersil Merhen.

This girl, reputed as the strongest among the students at the Korea Hero Academy, was studying me.

Her star-filled eyes brimmed with curiosity, as if wondering where such a person had appeared from.

"...Is she the one who ranked third in the entrance exam?"

Hong Yuhwa's expression tensed as she asked.

"Yes, she placed third."

"Beside me? She seems to be a mage too..."

Kim Seohyun was eying Ersil with interest.

Ersil, who completed the trial about five minutes after the melee master Kim Seohyun, was viewed as one to watch among the students.

The reason for this reputation was, of course, the game.

Under normal circumstances, she would have been intrigued by Kim Seohyun, but it seems her interest had shifted to me when I claimed the top spot.

'Hmm.'

To be honest, I didn't appreciate Ersil's attention.

She had a teasing nature.

Furthermore, her power was exceedingly formidable; she was practically a walking calamity.

However, the issue was Ersil's abilities.

They were truly extreme. She used her powers for illusions.

In fact, she secured her third-place ranking in the entrance exam through her illusions.

Usually, she would be the person to keep an eye on in this academy, but for me, the situation was different.

'I have the Body Against Heaven, after all.'

Body Against Heaven.

It provides complete immunity to curses and illusion-based abilities.

If the supreme entity within her were to step up, it might be a different story, but Ersil Merhen doesn't pose a significant threat to me.

Well, not to someone like me, at least.

Objectively speaking, Ersil Merhen is formidable.

There are only three first-year students who can match her.

One is the protagonist-like figure, Kim Seohyun.

Another is a genius so powerful that she sealed her own power.

The last one is...

As I was deep in thought, the door suddenly opened, and my attention naturally shifted.

"......"

Speak of the devil.

The door was opened by a tall woman.

She had long bangs that covered half of her eyes, and her hair in the back reached her waist.

Quite tall for a woman, 175 cm. Even in a loose uniform, her chest was hard to overlook.

It was Kim Ara, who had restrained her own power because it was too strong.

If she were to fully unleash her power, only a handful of individuals could face her head-on.

Even the instructors wouldn't stand a chance in a direct confrontation with her.

"Is that the one who wields the 'Giant's Sword'? She looks less intimidating than I expected."

"I heard she's the daughter of the Tyrant."

"Her? No way."

The students whispered among themselves before they diverted their gazes, not considering her a threat.

"Seo-ha, what do you think of her?"

Kim Seohyun asked me, seeming to genuinely value my opinion.

This is why social butterflies can be a bit troublesome.

"She's formidable. If we're talking raw power alone, you wouldn't stand a chance... If you were to engage her in combat, your best outcome would be a draw, and even that would be incredibly hard."

"...Really?"

Kim Seohyun's eyes widened at my words as he looked at Kim Ara. Hong Yuhwa also alternated her glances between me and Kim Ara, skepticism painted across her face.

Doubt filled her eyes. After all, Kim Ara had a reputation for her inability to control her power properly, and for some reason, she detested drawing attention to herself.

This is why she intentionally scored average marks during the entrance exam.

Her aversion to attention had quite a lot to do with her background.

I scanned the room again.

Kim Ara, against whom no one in the school could compete in terms of raw power alone.

Ersil, who bore the soul of a transcendent ruler who had ruled a world for a thousand years.

Hong Yuhwa, the promising student of the Crimson Tower, who would later be known as the one who stole the crimson flame.

And Kim Seohyun, who was favored by the world.

Compared to those I just mentioned, I looked at a girl whose talent could not be discounted.

Seo Gayeon.

A girl who barely made it into the Korea Hero Academy as she still hadn't awakened her talent.

The wielder of the 'Starlight Magic,' which held a holy power against the evil energy known as 'Ma'.

'It seems she was lucky enough to be admitted.'

The person who I was most concerned about during the entrance exam of the Korea Hero Academy, Seo Gayeon, had made it.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thump.

The classroom door opened.

Standing at the podium in a neatly tailored suit was Instructor Seo Woojoo.

"I trust that you've all taken the entrance exams and had a good rest, right? After training, rest is crucial. Even though the body grows stronger the more it is trained, if pushed too hard, it can break."

Instructor Seo Woojoo wore a stern expression.

"In that regard, our first lesson will be physical training. I won't accept any excuses about focusing on academic studies or having weak stamina."

His tone was firm and left no room for negotiation. I sighed internally. As expected, Instructor Seo Woojoo doesn't pull any punches.

"Most importantly, mana is at its purest after dawn. If you practice mana control after morning training, you can obtain more refined mana."

Instructor Seo Woojoo concluded with a satisfied smile.

"Now, everyone change into your gym clothes and gather at the sports field."

---

Raei Translations

---

"Attention everyone!"

Instructor Seo Woojoo commanded the gathering of students.

"I'm aware that some of you might be disgruntled by the early morning training. But remember, as heroes, even such concerns could be a luxury in the future. The more sweat you shed now, the less blood you'll lose in the future."

Instructor Seo Woojoo glanced over us before continuing.

"Although we're skipping it today, starting tomorrow, be here by 5 a.m. sharp. From now on, you will train tirelessly from dawn."

Even though I recognized the significance of physical training, Instructor Seo Woojoo's words sounded nothing short of daunting.

"All warriors are to receive this bracelet."

Instructor Seo Woojoo summoned the warrior-class students and distributed the bracelets.

To the naked eye, these bracelets might appear commonplace, but they were enchanted to emulate the effect of sandbags, each one weighing over 50kg.

Kim Seohyun, not satisfied with just wearing a bracelet on each arm, strapped them onto his legs as well, maximizing the weight for his training. His resilience was truly exceptional.

"Now, we'll start with a light jog."

With that, Instructor Seo Woojoo led the way, initiating the run. The mage-class students also began their run.

Mages are typically safeguarded on the battlefield, but heroes face more than just monsters as adversaries. When targeted by treacherous mines and villains, in the end, the only one who can protect you is yourself.

That's why everyone started running without expressing a single word.

This routine continued for five minutes.

"Oh, it seems our top student has a notable weakness."

"Huff, huff. Just, go."

Ersil Merhen passed by me, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"Seo-ha, you need to train consistently. If this keeps up, it could get dangerous, you know?"

"I know, so please, huff, stop, huff, talking."

Kim Seohyun voiced his concern, his tone heavy with worry.

...Honestly, I might have underestimated the situation. I thought a stamina level of 5 would be adequate for a mere run.

But no matter how much I ponder over it, it seems unfair.

By now, I had run almost 3km.

And that was at my maximum speed to keep pace with Instructor Seo Woojoo. Yet, they all seemed to be holding up well, despite the sandbag bracelets.

"Huff, huff, for someone, huff, who is the top student, huff, to struggle after just this much running, huff, I'll soon, huff, snatch that position from you, huff."

Hong Yuhwa puffed pompously from beside me.

Seriously, couldn't they all just let me be?

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