Creator’s Favoritism

The girl was wearing a hoodie with Haniyeong’s school emblem embroidered on the left chest. A yellow lanyard with a student ID hung around her neck: first-year student Hyun So-ra.

She greeted me in a small, almost mumbling voice.
“Hi. I’m Hyun So-ra. I’m… your roommate.”

“Oh, hi! I’m Maeng Sun-woo. Nice to meet you.”

Hyun So-ra carefully shook the hand I had mechanically extended. The warmth of her palm was oddly comforting. Her upturned eyes, without double eyelids, gave her a distinctly fox-like impression.

“I saw the news. Your unique skill name was interesting. Can I ask what it does?”

“Ah, that… skill…”

How could I explain a skill that only attracts monsters’ aggro in a cool way? While I hesitated, Hyun So-ra spoke first, offering information about her own skill.

“My skill is called . It’s a healing type skill.”

“Healing? Healing skills are super rare!”

“That’s true, but mine is really weak. My awakening grade is only D…”

Hyun So-ra’s face flushed slightly as she continued. Without finishing her sentence properly, she hurriedly changed the subject.
“By the way, Sun-woo, you haven’t taken the resonance test yet, right?”

Resonance test? What was that again? As I frowned, trying to remember, Hyun So-ra began explaining in her quiet voice.
“It’s a test to see which weapon maximizes your destructive power.”

Ah, that. The purpose of the resonance test was to find out which weapon suited you best. There were countless types, so you couldn’t be certain that the weapon with the highest resonance for you would even be present at the testing site.

While I was deep in thought, Hyun So-ra asked,
“Shall we go?”

“Where?”

“To take the test, of course.”

“Huh?”

At my dumb response, Hyun So-ra gave a faint, barely perceptible smile. Confused, I followed her to the gymnasium, where someone was already being tested.

Kang Chagyeong was there, panting heavily and throwing punches at a mannequin-shaped dummy. Camera flashes were constantly going off around him. I watched with a disgusted expression as rectangular light pillars flickered from various angles.

Hyun So-ra, who had been staring blankly at Kang Chagyeong, suddenly spoke.
“He came in with you. You know him, right? His resonance increases with each test… He seems to take it every day.”

That crazy golden spoon with ridiculous settings. Each time Kang Chagyeong, wearing black gloves on both hands, swung his arms, a loud impact sound echoed. The electronic panel next to the dummy displayed the numbers 6,012, 6,143, and 6,205 in red. A middle-aged man in workout clothes was jotting down these numbers.

I abruptly grabbed one of Hyun So-ra’s wrists and started walking toward Kang Chagyeong. There’s a limit to the number of panels used in each webtoon episode. As far as I knew, it was about 70 panels at most. We might end up waiting for the entire episode to finish.

The man who had been focused on writing down the numbers turned his head when he sensed our presence. Even as I walked quickly, I bowed my head slightly.
“Ah, Sun-woo? I heard you were coming in the afternoon.”

Kang Chagyeong, who had stopped swinging, had a greenish aura gradually dissipating from his fists. Recognizing my face, he stood awkwardly and said, “Hello.”

“How are you feeling? Think you can take the test?” he asked, looking concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied, trying to sound confident.

The teacher slightly adjusted the dummy that Kang Chagyeong had been pummeling so that it now faced me directly. He gave my shoulder a reassuring pat.

“Good. First, make a fist. Hit the dummy lightly. Think of it as rehabilitation,” he instructed, adjusting my awkwardly clenched fist.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then glared at the dummy in front of me.

“Um… Don’t be too nervous. When I first measured, I only got about 1,000…” Hyun So-ra, looking timid, tried to encourage me, even though she seemed nervous herself.

What a kind friend. I gave her a touched look, and she quickly averted her eyes, embarrassed.

“Sun-woo! Don’t hit too hard at first. You could hurt your wrist,” the teacher warned.

But I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard his words. Hitting it lightly wouldn’t leave enough of an impression. I had to secure screen time like a proper protagonist and become strong—strong enough to capture attention, just like Kang Chagyeong.

“I don’t know what weapon I have high resonance with, but I’m determined to find it,” I thought. “And I’m going to receive God’s abundant love, no less than the protagonist.”

「Tito stretches once before drawing Maeng Sun-woo’s resonance test scene.」

With a resolute expression, I clenched my fist tightly. Then, I delivered a punch full of strength to the dummy’s side. A flash went off beside me.

-Ding-dong.

I didn’t even have time to feel the sting in my knuckles before a cheerful sound chimed, and a red number appeared on the panel.

297.

297? I stared at the number with a dumb expression.  

“Good. Now, do it properly!” the teacher said, clearly not considering that the previous punch might have been my all-out effort.

‘That wasn’t half-hearted…’ I thought, forcing an awkward smile as I glanced around.

There was a chart next to the dummy showing various ranges of numbers and the force they represented. It started at 100: average adult male. The next was 500: average F-rank Hunter.

So, 297 wasn’t just below what Hyun So-ra—a D-rank—said she achieved when she first awakened, but it was also well below the F-rank average. In a word, it was pathetic.

“Huh, seriously?” A hollow laugh escaped me.

「Tito diligently draws the male teacher’s face looking confused at ‘Maeng Sun-woo’s’ record.」

Even considering the dramatic contrast with the overpowered protagonist, my record was problematic.

“Are you still not feeling well?” Hyun So-ra asked, her voice filled with concern as she glanced at my face. Kang Chagyeong was also staring at the panel with a puzzled expression. I shook my head, still in disbelief.

“Sun-woo! Try again,” the teacher urged.

I snapped back to attention. Hyun So-ra’s anxious gaze bore into me. Gritting my teeth so hard they might break, I swung my arm again.  

There was a flash, and I felt a dull thud as my fist struck the dummy’s solar plexus. The force of the punch made me lose my balance slightly.

The number on the panel flashed red once more.

294.

That was the number that eventually appeared on the panel. The cheerful ding-dong sound felt like nails being hammered into my coffin.

The teacher’s facial muscles twitched slightly as he confirmed the final result. I also saw Kang Chagyeong quietly turn his back and walk towards the exit.

The teacher stared at the number 294 for a long time, at a loss for words, before finally clearing his throat awkwardly.

Being this incompetent makes me stand out too much—and for all the wrong reasons.

In my head, I could already see “Maeng Sun-woo” from Cramming Hunter Education being labeled as the useless character, the frustrating one, or the infuriating one.

Since I was a character Tito had impulsively inserted, it was entirely possible that he might consider killing me off if even a small backlash came from the readers.

I bit my lower lip, eyes fixed on the floor.

“Huh, strange… it’s too weak…”

“I’ll… try one more time.”

I barely managed to get the words out. I could feel my clenched fist trembling.

* * *

It’s hopeless.

The teacher in charge of the test clearly had that look in his eyes as he watched me.

Even Hyun So-ra, who had waited with me, had long since left.

After swinging every weapon available in the testing room at least ten times, my palms were covered in red blisters, stinging even at the slightest attempt to make a fist.

Whether I held a sword, an axe, or even fired a gun, my record consistently failed to surpass the level of a non-awakened. In fact, as I grew physically exhausted, the numbers steadily decreased.

The teacher let out a small sigh and asked in a flat voice,

“Do you want to continue?”

“…Yes.”

I barely managed to respond while lying on the floor, catching my breath. The back of my neck, damp with sweat, felt chilled as it touched the cold wooden floor.

“When you’re done, clean up and come out. Return the key to the staff in the administration office.”

“Ah… Yes. I understand.”

Without another word, he left me alone in the room. I lay there, staring at my throbbing palms.

The large bandages I’d hastily stuck on were soaked through with blood and fluid, peeling off at the edges, ready to fall off at any moment.

-Flash.

With my eyes closed in exhaustion, the darkness before me suddenly turned white for an instant. Even without opening my eyes to check, I knew exactly what was happening.

‘Yeah, go ahead and take pictures… Better to look like a hard-working incompetent character than someone who doesn’t even try…’

After waiting for two or three flashes to subside, I slowly opened my eyes. A narration box appeared before me—something that hadn’t shown up the entire time I was testing my resonance with weapons.

“Having finished the last panel of today’s manuscript, Tito stretches. A bone-cracking sound comes from Tito’s joints, stiff from staying in the same posture for too long.”

And just like that, the same cracking sound came from my own joints. I painfully sat up, slowly peeling off the dirty, dust-covered bandages.

“Ugh…”

The white, swollen skin came off with the bandage, the remnants of blisters that had been on the verge of bursting.

I poured disinfectant from the first aid kit on the table over the wound, watching pink bubbles fizzle up. After roughly sticking on fresh bandages, I started cleaning up the messy testing room.

As I picked up the weapons strewn across the floor around me, every muscle in my body screamed in protest.

「Tito, having finished the manuscript work, starts to roughly sketch a character from his own story」

“Isn’t it exhausting? Drawing and drawing all day until your eyes feel like they’ll pop out…”

I muttered to myself, even though there was no way Tito could hear me. Talking to no one made me feel just a bit less lonely.

「Tito draws ‘Kang Chagyeong’ in school uniform, staring straight ahead. ‘Kang Chagyeong’ is holding long swords in both hands.」

A narration box soon appeared with content so predictable it felt like a punchline.

It was another hint that the protagonist, Kang Chagyeong, would be wielding long swords in the future.

Feeling bitter, I lowered my head, hanging the chains back in their place.

“Right, of course Kang Chagyeong is the protagonist…”

I guess Tito won’t be drawing me anytime soon. Despite my regret, every movement Tito made continued to be diligently reported.

「Having finished the rough sketch, Tito feels sleepiness creeping in and yawns.」

I stood up, not lingering any longer. Even though I had achieved nothing, it was time to return to the dormitory.

But just as I reached for the coat I had left in the corner, an unexpected narration box dropped in front of me.

「Suddenly, Tito begins to sketch ‘Maeng Sun-woo’ in school uniform, sitting on the floor with eyes closed.」

My hand, halfway to the coat, froze.