NOVEL NEXT chapter 5
Chapter 5. Team
The instructor was none other than Astrid Lindell.
She was assigned to this class not merely because it was her first-year class, but due to her suitability and schedule considerations.
As soon as Astrid appeared, she ascended the platform and began explaining the class.
After some time passed.
“Any questions?”
At last, she finished her explanation and opened the floor for inquiries.
“…….”
Her concise yet thorough explanation left no room for questions.
“Good. I’ll give you ten minutes. Form teams of four and submit your lists.”
With that, Astrid stepped into the break room, and the students began to glance at one another, gauging their options.
This class was not a training session but a test.
And since scores would be awarded based on team performance rather than individual merit, it was advantageous to team up with someone exceptionally skilled.
“Jin-ryul, want to team up?”
“Let’s be a team, Jin-ryul!”
Suddenly, a throng of students surrounded Jin-ryul, who was standing next to Kim Do-jin.
Jin-ryul had entered as one of the top students, ranking third among the 1,000 first-year freshmen of Arc, so it was no surprise that he was in high demand.
On the other hand, around Kim Do-jin, whose entrance exam scores were at the bottom, not even a fly dared to buzz.
‘Who would approach me to form a team, especially since I’m known as a delinquent?’
Kim Do-jin thought this as he slowly surveyed his surroundings.
The first-year students of Class 1, nearly a hundred of them, were bustling about, desperately seeking to form better teams.
If he stayed like this, it was certain he would end up on a team with the remaining students.
And the odds of those leftover students being good teammates were, without exaggeration, 99% against him.
‘What to do?’
Since he had already possessed this body, his plan was to make the most of what he could do with it.
To do that, he needed to achieve good results at ‘Arc,’ and for that, he had to perform well in the upcoming exam.
‘If I could just have either Louis Ferrand or Nasukawa Renya, I think I could manage.’
He still lacked information about which students possessed what supernatural abilities.
However, some students had already revealed their powers, and based on that information, Kim Do-jin narrowed down his choices to the two he deemed most suitable as teammates.
Those were the French exchange student, Louis Ferrand, and the Japanese exchange student, Nasukawa Renya.
In fact, both possessed the same supernatural ability, but since Louis Ferrand was more skilled, Kim Do-jin decided to seek him out first.
‘Where is he?’
Having memorized his appearance beforehand, it didn’t take long to find him.
‘There he is.’
A slender man engaged in conversation with someone on one side.
Kim Do-jin trudged over to him and abruptly spoke up.
“How about being on the same team?”
At the direct question, Louis Ferrand flinched slightly, then scanned Kim Do-jin from head to toe.
“…You?”
Louis Ferrand showed no signs of fear or reluctance towards Kim Do-jin.
Instead, he frowned as if the suggestion from someone of a much lower status was distasteful.
“I’m not interested.”
No one would feel good about such a blatant attitude.
But Kim Do-jin responded with an expression of indifference.
“Then never mind.”
Without hesitation, he turned away and immediately sought out his next target, Nasukawa Renya.
‘There he is.’
Once more, Kim Do-jin strides forward, abruptly breaking the silence.
“How about being on the same team?”
The sudden proposal catches both Nasca and Renya off guard.
“Uh!?”
Yet, unlike Louis Ferran, Nasca and Renya exchange wary glances, gauging Kim Do-jin’s intent.
“Ah….”
With his trademark expressionless face, Kim Do-jin merely watches, prompting Nasca and Renya to scratch their heads in contemplation before responding.
“Sure. Why not.”
Truth be told, neither Nasca nor Renya was particularly keen on teaming up with Kim Do-jin.
However, their reluctance to refuse, rooted in their timid natures, led them to accept his offer without much resistance.
“But what about the other two?”
In response to Nasca and Renya’s follow-up question, Kim Do-jin casually surveyed the surroundings.
“I’ll find them.”
Though he said it lightly, the truth was that as long as he could pull one of either Nasca or Renya or Louis Ferran into the fold, he didn’t much care about the rest.
In fact, he even entertained the thought that filling the remaining two spots with mere fillers wouldn’t be a problem at all.
“Mm?”
Suddenly, Misaki Ai caught his eye.
The Japanese exchange student, who roamed with her eyes covered by a blindfold due to her uncontrollable psychic powers.
She stood in a corner, surrounded by a few male students, her expression one of discomfort.
It seemed she was being approached with a proposal to join their team.
Yet, the individuals making the offer were all rather unsavory characters.
Given their ulterior motives from the start, it was hardly surprising.
Their focus was not on grades but rather on their own dark intentions regarding Misaki Ai.
Perhaps that was why she shook her head, visibly declining their advances.
However, perhaps due to the fact that her eyes—often said to be the windows to the soul—were hidden, the male students continued their relentless persuasion, oblivious to her discomfort.
“No, it’s not like that….”
As her firm refusals fell on deaf ears, Misaki Ai’s face flushed, leaving her at a loss for what to do.
But then, amidst it all—
“……!?”
Suddenly, the eyes of Kim Do-jin and Misaki Ai met as they observed the scene.
“…….”
In truth, the blindfold that Misaki Ai wore was a peculiar one, allowing her to see the outside while obscuring her vision from within.
Thus, only Misaki Ai knew that their eyes had locked.
Yet, for some reason, Kim Do-jin found himself staring intently at her before he abruptly began to trudge forward.
“Eh? Where are you going?”
Naska and Renya followed behind, puzzled, as Kim Do-jin clanked his sword at his waist, heading toward Misaki Ai.
“…Huh?”
The male students who had been lingering around Misaki Ai sensed the shift and quickly turned their heads.
“Gah!”
Startled by Kim Do-jin’s unexpected approach, they stumbled over their words and hastily retreated.
“…….”
Caught off guard by this sudden assistance, Misaki Ai widened her eyes, still hidden beneath her white blindfold, and Kim Do-jin halted before her, his chin raised.
“How about being on the same team?”
His words were direct and devoid of embellishment.
Yet, to Misaki Ai, they did not sound unpleasant.
“…….”
After staring at Kim Do-jin’s face for a moment, Misaki Ai asked, her expression one of confusion.
“Why would you want me, someone who can hardly contribute…?”
Her words rang true.
Misaki Ai’s psychic abilities were indeed formidable, but they were sealed due to their inherent danger, rendering them virtually nonexistent.
Moreover, her magical prowess was not particularly exceptional compared to the other students, making her far from an ideal teammate.
So why did he wish to team up with her?
Misaki Ai questioned his motives, but Kim Do-jin’s response veered far from her expectations.
“There’s an open spot.”
For a moment, Misaki Ai was left speechless, her gaze fixed on Kim Do-jin’s face in a daze.
“…….”
There was something oddly languid about his characteristic expression, as if he held no interest in her at all.
“…Understood. Then, I look forward to working with you.”
In the end, Misaki Ai bowed her head slightly, accepting the proposal, and Kim Do-jin nodded before turning his attention back to the surroundings.
Now, time has passed, and the atmosphere suggests that the formation of teams is nearing completion.
Kim Do-jin, still wandering among the students who had yet to find a team, casually called out to a passing boy.
“How about being on the same team?”
The boy, Ryu Yu-jin, halted his steps and turned, tilting his head in confusion.
“Me?”
Naska, Renya, and Misaki Ai had already mentioned that anyone would do.
If Ryu Yu-jin agreed, the team formation would be complete.
“Deal.”
With that, Kim Do-jin’s team was formed, and they soon submitted their roster before gathering for a strategy meeting.
“Since we don’t know what kind of monster might emerge, let’s share our abilities.”
As he spoke, Kim Do-jin was the first to showcase his power.
“Rock manipulation.”
Of course, he did not reveal his ability of ‘Devour.’
Interestingly, not even the host body was aware that this vessel possessed the power of ‘Devour.’
Everyone believed he only had the ability of ‘rock manipulation,’ but in truth, this ‘rock manipulation’ was merely a byproduct of ‘Devour.’
Years ago, by chance, the vessel Kim Do-jin had unknowingly absorbed the ‘rock manipulation’ ability from a deceased esper nearby.
Regardless, to prove his ‘rock manipulation’ ability, Kim Do-jin placed one hand on the ground and summoned a small pillar of sand.
– Whoosh!
It was one of the abilities his original body possessed, and having practiced it numerous times on the day he first possessed this body, controlling it was not difficult.
“Ooh!”
Naska, Renya, Misaki Ai, and Ryu Yu-jin, who were seated around him, watched in awe, their eyes sparkling with admiration.
They were not surprised that Kim Do-jin had the ability of ‘rock manipulation.’
As the child of the famous Kim Mu-ho, Kim Do-jin was also a well-known figure, and one could easily find out about his ‘rock manipulation’ ability with a simple internet search.
However, they had never heard that Kim Do-jin’s ‘rock manipulation’ was this refined.
‘Better than I expected?’
The way Naska, Renya, Misaki Ai, and Ryu Yu-jin looked at Kim Do-jin shifted slightly.
The ‘rock manipulation’ ability could be seen as a limited form of telekinesis, restricted to stones and earth, and compared to many other abilities, it was quite impressive—surely enough to hold its own.
In any case, that was the extent of Kim Do-jin’s introduction.
– Swoosh.
As Kim Do-jin brought the sand pillar crashing down, Naska and Renya, who had been watching him in a daze, suddenly realized it was their turn.
“My ability is body petrification.”
Naska and Renya, at that moment, transformed their fists into solid rock.
– Crack!
Indeed, the sight of their fists, as hard as stone, exuded a considerable intimidation.
However, Ryujin, watching them, suddenly interjected from the side.
“Isn’t that just a stone fist? You can’t petrify anything else, right?”
In truth, Ryujin’s words were accurate.
Unlike Louis Ferran, a psychic with the same ‘body petrification’ ability, Naska and Renya could only petrify their fists, unable to do so with any other part of their bodies.
Perhaps if their magical power increased later, it might change, but for now, that was the case.
“Ugh! Well, that’s true…”
The reason why a ‘body petrification’ psychic was recognized as a valuable ally was due to their qualities as a ‘tank,’ yet it was both amusing and tragic that they could only petrify their fists.
Embarrassed, Naska and Renya scratched their rocky heads, while Kim Dojin gestured to Ryujin, signaling that it was enough.
“What about you?”
This time, Ryujin scratched his head and spoke.
“Oh, I have body elasticity… but it’s not like it’ll be useful.”
Ryujin always referred to his ability as body elasticity out of embarrassment, but to put it simply, he was a ‘rubber man.’
If utilized well, it could be a decent ability, but ironically, Ryujin, who lived and died by appearances, couldn’t make proper use of it.
He felt ashamed that his body stretched out in an unseemly manner…
Anyway, now only one person remained.
It was Misaki Ai’s turn to explain her ability.