Chapter 3: Rank Ascender (3)

I lifted my stiff, aching body and took a quick shower before changing into a fresh pair of clothes.

As always, I had to get to the cram school and attend lectures.

Well, it wasn't as if the classes weren't helping.

Although this small studio apartment was like a dingy prison room, it's one upside was that it was close to the cram school.

As I came out of my room, an older student who lived nearby, called out.

"Yo, Jun-hoo!"

"Hey, hyung."

His name was Park Dong-jun. He was chubby and wore huge-rimmed glasses.

He was the spitting image of the average cram school student. Although, his grades weren't very average.

"Bro, seems like you slept in today too. Jun-hoo, you're going to be in trouble if you keep that up!"

I was Kim Jun-hoo in the daytime.

But come to think of it, I had been given a name in the Dungeon. Karmon.

"Did ya get any studying done last night?"

"Of course not. I just went to bed."

I couldn't possibly tell him the truth.

At best, he would say it was a dream or call me crazy.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

I had let out a noise of surprise without realizing it.

I had been taken aback by the red dot hanging above Dong-jun's head.

When I looked at it, the dot stretched to form letters.

[Park Dong-jun - Boram Prep Academy - Rank 359]

When I looked closer, the letters changed again.

[Park Dong-jun - Boram Prep Academy - Class D - Rank 59]

While it was surprising that I could actually see somebody's ranking, the contents hadn't been very astonishing.

Park Dong-jun had postponed his mandatory military service and was already on his third year of cram school.

He would always skip classes in favor of billiards and going to PC cafes, and be on his cellphone even during class.

"What are you looking at? Am I that handsome?"

"Hahaha! No, no. I thought I saw something weird."

"C'mon! You have to get it together. How else are we going to escape this miserable place?"

"Yeah, you're right."

Although he wasn't very hard working, Park Dong-jun was always cheerful.

Then again, it may have been his cheerfulness that kept him from focusing on his studies.

I suddenly found myself getting curious about my own rank.

I stopped to look at myself in a traffic mirror on the way to the school.

"What's up? Why are you so interested in how you look? Did you feel bad because of my handsome face?"

[Kim Jun-hoo - Boram Prep Academy - Class D - Rank 18]

Hmm. It wasn't as bad as I thought.

My rank was probably based on my grades and skills relating to taking the College Scholastic Ability Tests, the CSATs.

"Haha, no. I was just thinking about how it's time I got a haircut," I changed the subject as I looked at Dong-jun.

It didn't hit me before, but it felt strange to know that he was ranked below me.

Well, I was better at studying than he was.

"What a weirdo. Why cut it? Are you trying to get a girlfriend? A relationship is the end of your studies! Don't even try!"

Having a higher rank than him meant that I could order him to do something.

I hesitated for a long time before making a decision.

I decided to test out my ability in a small, harmless way.

If it failed, I would just apologize and buy him a cup of coffee.

"Hey, go buy me a bottle of water."

[Activate Power Trip: 1 Superiority Point spent]

"Sure."

As soon as I gave the order, Dong-jun gave me a funny look and began walking towards the store.

He returned with a bottle of water after a while.

It had worked!

"Here."

"Thank you."

"Hey? Did you just order me around?"

"No way! I just asked you for a favor. I was surprised that you agreed so quickly."

"Huh. Was I always this nice? Ha, Well, they do say handsome people are generous."

Dong-jun returned to his regular self immediately after carrying out my order.

He immediately started spewing nonsense that women, if they ever heard it, would hate.

"We should go in now."

"All right."

We walked inside and went to class D.

There were about 60 students in the class. Everyone, including me, was not very good at studying.

The thought of giving Dong-jun an absolute order led my emotions into a disarray.

I felt guilty but also a strange sense of entitlement.

"Hmm."

"Hahaha! You asshole! Why'd you run away there?"

"Ha! I gotta live, don't I? There is no loyalty before a Rank Match, is there?"

"Would you look at this sonovabitch!"

The 30 minutes before the lecture was usually allotted for self-study.

Of course, the atmosphere in class D wasn't quite used like that.

Unfortunately for me, the three yellow-haired boys sitting behind me were talking rather loudly.

"Phew."

Normally, I would have ignored them and put on my earplugs, but I thought differently this time.

This could be kind of dangerous.

I could be dragged out by them and beat if it went wrong.

"Hey, can you be quiet, please?"

[Activate Power Trip: 2 Superiority Point spent]

They quieted down immediately.

I turned around casually and started studying.

Some people turned around to look at us, but they returned to their own conversations quickly.

"Huh."

I let out a small breath.

My heart was pounding.

They were probably very surprised at being silenced suddenly.

I was solving some problems with a shaky hand when the Mobius Superstring spoke to me.

[You have spent all of your Superiority Points. You will be able to earn Superiority Points by raising your rank. You will also be able to earn points by completing quests. Even though you have 0 points, your abilities and your efficiency within the community will be increased by 1000%]

"Huh?"

I unknowingly let out a gasp of surprise. However, nobody gave me a second look.

They must've thought a question from the book had taken me off guard.

To think that I would be ten times more efficient while I had 0 points.

I began to solve some more questions.

I clenched my teeth, overwhelmed by a lot of emotions.

*

My explosive growth at the dungeon was undeniably a source of enormous joy.

The feeling of growing and becoming better every moment.

Only the ecstasy from taking drugs could compare to that feeling.

But this ecstasy only pertained to the body of the bug in that Dungeon.

"Phew."

My life during the day was terribly banal in comparison.

I was neither healthier, smarter, nor richer than anybody.

I wasn't special. Even though I tried my hardest, I was stuck here in a cram school while my friends were enjoying their college life.

Some things had changed, but not the important ones.

They were frustratingly consistent.

If I could only change my reality during the day too!

I did not care much about ordering people about.

I wanted to improve my own intrinsic abilities!

"100 percent!"

I always used to think I could answer all of the questions correctly if it were not for my memory and bad judgment.

But I always got a couple of questions wrong.

A few too many, some would say.

I tried to solve a section with thirty questions from the sample question paper.

This time I was able to answer all of them correctly, like I had expected.

At this rate, I would be in class C in no time!

Getting good grades by studying wasn't easy as it looked like.

It was reserved only for elites.

"Wh... What was that?"

"I know..."

It seemed that the effects of my ability were wearing off.

The students began to chat again.

I could feel their eyes drilling holes into the back of my head.

Although I had spoken politely, it must have been unpleasant to have to obey me.

But they couldn't say anything to me now.

"Quiet! Let's start the class! Everyone, back to your seats!"

The ill-tempered instructor came in and hushed the noisy students.

The students listened to the teacher because after all, they were paying to attend this school.

"Whoa! I had a killer bowl of cup noodles this morning. You up for some rice bowl later?"

"Sure, Bro. It's what we have every day, but sure."

"Haha, what's better than rice?"

Dong-jun, who had not been around during the self-study time, entered.

He immediately began playing a video on his phone and started giggling.

"Aren't you going to pay attention in class?"

"Naw, I know all of this already."

It did look like he really did know it.

It was his third year at this cram school, so it must've been his third time studying it.

His problem was that he never focused in class.

He really should start studying.

"Come on, focus on the material,"

I said it out of concern for him.

[Insufficient Superiority Points]

"Don't worry. You go on ahead. I can multitask. I can listen to the lecture and watch this video at the same time. Aren't I great?"

Listening to him talk so absurdly, I turned to look at the whiteboard.

The Mobius Superstring had said that I would only be ten times more efficient when I had 0 points.

I planned to spend all of my points on Dong-jun next time.

It'd be good if we both succeeded.

I'd force him to study, if I have to.

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"All right, let's try some applied questions for this unit. These are common question types on the CSATs, so pay attention."

Something was definitely different than before.

Before, I would be trying my hardest to focus on the class, and retain only 40% of what I learned. And that was on a good day.

However, now I could concentrate completely and understand and memorize 100% of everything the teacher said.

Not only that, but I could see how it could be utilized in other situations and what the examiner's intent was.

[Any knowledge or physical growth accumulated during the 0 Point State will be retained permanently]

The Mobius Superstring said as if soothing my anxiety.

"Wow."

"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing."

Dong-jun gave me a funny look.

The look on my face must have been the same he had when he watched his videos.

I peeked at his phone to see that, sure enough, he was watching a video of Hunters running a Raid.

"Are the videos that fun?"

"It's not just fun. It's also thrilling and awesome. They're rich and privileged. They're different from regular rich people. You feel like you're one of them, y'know?"

"Do you want to become an Awakener like them?"

"Duh! In a heartbeat! You know they're exempt from serving in the military, right?"

I was already familiar with what was being taught, so I chatted with Dong-jun for a while.

"Do you really think they exempt you from military service for nothing? You know they face life-threatening situations more than any soldier, right?"

"I'd still do it. I'd be rich and powerful. Everyone in society would think highly of me. It's better than being born a regular rich person."

I could faintly understand what Dong-jun was speaking about.

The desire to become like them.

Even I had such desires.

There were many Hunters who were my age.

Age, power, and proficiency weren't always relative.

Unlike me, who hadn't even been able to get into college, Hunters lived in a completely different world.

Their every day would seem like a war, but their lives would be fantastic, and the rewards would be grand.

"Hmm."

I wonder, would I be able to enter the Hunters' world with the Mobius Superstring?

But it didn't mean that just because my efficiency was at 1000%, I would be granted with superpowers.

I decided to put the thought away.

I could succeed with what I had now.

"All right! Now let's move on to the next section. People make many mistakes in this part, so make sure to underline it in your notes! Don't come crying to me after the exam, okay?"

I looked around to see that most of the students were either sleeping or not paying attention.

The teacher seemed to have also noticed it.

Annoyed at their pathetic display of apathy, he tried to get their attention but most of them were uninterested.

"Ugh."

"Something wrong?"

"No, it's just a headache."

[Superiority Point acquired: 1 point]

It seemed like I got a point every hour, apart from the ones I got from completing quests or ascending rank.

But I was not very happy about it. I needed to be pointless to continue being a genius.

"Phew...,"

As expected, my concentration lowered, and the things written on the whiteboard became blurry. The act of studying suddenly felt too strange for me, as if my brain had broken down.

"Damn it!"

"Bro. Don't worry so much. Be like me. It's because you're trying too hard that you're getting so stressed."

I gazed blankly at Dong-jun.

It would be break time soon, and there would be another hour-long lecture afterward.

I couldn't waste another hour after wasting one like this.

"Hey, let's go get something to drink. My treat."

"What? You're buying? Well, I can't say no to this rare occasion, can I?"

I spent the break at the canteen chatting with Dong-jun.

My eyes kept getting drawn to the dot above his head, against my will.

"Is there something on my hair? You keep staring at it."

"No, I was just thinking if I should do my hair like that."

"Oh, quit it! I know I look fantastic, but we can't go around with the same hairstyle."

After a nerve-racking break, we returned to the classroom.

Dong-jun took out his phone like a habit.

I turned to him to say.

"Hey, stop looking at your phone during class."

[Activate Power Trip: 1 Superiority Point spent]

Thankfully, it was an order tha only required one point.

Dong-jun obediently put his phone away and looked at the whiteboard with a restless expression.

Then he turned to look at me with anger in his eyes.

"Do you think I'm a pushover?"

As the points hit 0, I felt my mind clearing up. But I was now faced with a tricky situation.

Although I hadn't used it many times, any order given while using my Power Trip ability was absolute.

As long as I had enough points.

The problem was that the people weren't submitting to the commands willingly.

They would recognize that they were doing the actions, but they would also recognize that I was the one ordering them to do so.

"I'm asking you if I look like a pushover?"

Dong-jun asked again with a straight face.

It seemed that his feelings had been properly hurt.

Fortunately, it seemed that the genius granted to me was not just for studying.

My mind was clear.

I coyly made a heart with my thumb and index finger.

"Hyung, I'm saying all of this for you, aren't I? It's not because I think of you as a pushover. Why would you even say that? And anyway, you know that what I'm saying is right. Isn't that why you did as I said?"

"Hmm."

The situation itself was easy to misunderstand.

However, he had obeyed me without a word.

Even though I hadn't forced him to do so.

Moreover, it was for his benefit.

"You're right. I was being a bit sensitive."

"No. You know what? I'll buy some chicken and beer during the weekend. I just want the best for the both of us."

"Really? Well, I can't say no to that. Thanks. I was being immature. Phew."

Dong-jun scratched his head sheepishly and opened his notes.

With his phone put away, Dong-jun had decided to get some studying done.

I felt a strange sense of accomplishment wash over me at the sight.

Not all power trips were bad, apparently.

"All right, this is the last portion for today. Please wake up if you're sleeping."

It went without saying.

None of the students woke up.

I wondered how it would have been if I were the teacher.

If I had enough Superiority Points, I would have been able to get the entire class on track.

I would be able to change not only myself but others as well.

"Phew..."

I could feel myself grow warmer.

I felt like I had become a very important person.

[Mini Quest: Get promoted to class C within the day. Reward: one million won]

The Mobius Superstring added a sudden mission as if to top off my excitement.

How was I going to get myself promoted to class C?

I knew I would be able to do it at some point. I just didn't think it would be tonight.

"Hmm."

So far, the Mobius Superstring had only given me quests I could achieve, although just barely.

They took a lot of effort, and I would have to hold on for dear life, but they were still attainable.

And so, I had to try.

The reward was too good to pass up anyway.

I felt sorry for Dong-jun, but I had have to leave the class tonight.

"Good work today. Please. Please be mindful of the upcoming exams, and prepare accordingly."

The lecturer said before promptly leaving the classroom.

All the students sleeping woke up at once and began talking to each other.

Even the students using their phones stood up with made bright faces.

"Jun-hoo, let's go play a game."

"What? We should go study."

"Come on! We just finished studying. You need to rest your brain sometimes! I'll pay. It's the least I could do for being so immature earlier. I must have been stressed recently."

"No need. I'm going to continue to nag you from now on. Just know that everything I do is for you."

"Fine, sure. Deep down, I must know you're right. I'm no idiot to be obeying you without reason."

"All right, why not just a thirty-minute game?"

"Only thirty minutes? Why not an hour. At this rate, you're going to go to a prestigious university, hey?"

I grinned at his teasing.

I felt like I was getting closer to wearing one of those university jackets.

Although I needed to advance classes by tonight, I was full of strange confidence, so I agreed to go out and play for thirty minutes.

I also had to try to patch up Dong-jun's feelings that I had hurt earlier.

It might just be the confidence, but I felt I had enough skills to be placed in class C.

I always thought it was because of test anxiety that I could not give my 100%.

I would spend the rest of the time studying.

But it would only be about half a day of studying.

"Can you give me a minute? I need to go see the dean."

"What? Why?"

"I have to talk to him about something."

"All right then, I'll be out front, smoking!"

Leaving him behind, I rushed over to the dean's office.

The dean was sitting inside, reading a book with a grave expression.

"Register at the counter, please."

The dean said, glancing at me.

He didn't recognize me at all, even though we had met each other before.

Well, then again, I wouldn't be able to recognize all four hundred students here, let alone someone from class D.

"Sir, my name is Kim Jun-hoo from class D."

"Oh? You're a student... What's going on? Tuition is nonrefundable. You signed an agreement when you enrolled."

Apparently, he had a habit of speaking without listening.

Especially to someone he thought was beneath him.

[Kim Du-hun - Boram Prep Academy - Rank 1]

Although, from the rank above his head, his behavior was quite understandable.

When it came to this academy, he was at the absolute top.

I felt bad at how condescending he was being, but I decided to let it go.

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