NOVEL NEXT chapter 24
24 – The First Day of Education, From the Beginning (1)
“Yoo Hyun, did you write it well?”
“Yes, hyung! I just wrote down the name of the profession and came out!”
Following the instructions, we were writing down our professions and information on the paper and submitting it.
As for me, there was nothing to hide except for my trait as an Oracle, so I wrote down Dark Mage and came out.
“I hope there won’t be any disadvantages just because I wrote down Dark Mage…”
Honestly, I would feel unjust if there were any disadvantages. There was no option for a wizard in the list of profession choices, only Dark Mage.
One of the guides approached us.
“If you have finished submitting, please have a seat and wait for a moment. There will be guidance on where you should go according to your occupations.”
“Yes, understood.”
After sitting down, it didn’t take long for Kang Yi-seo to approach us.
“Did you guys write it well? I simply wrote down Archer and came out, but well, it should be fine, right?”
“There probably won’t be any problem. I also just wrote down Dark Mage.”
“I also just wrote down the profession.”
“Damn, I’m so nervous…”
“It’s just the first day of school, what could be so special? Don’t worry too much. Honestly, we should be more concerned about those freeloaders who got on board during the tutorial.”
“Yeah, you’re right…”
Looking at the expressions of others, they all seemed unhappy. Apart from us, there must be some who have obtained a profession, but most of them didn’t have a profession because they hadn’t fought monsters.
I grabbed one of the passing guides and asked a question I was curious about.
“Um, may I ask you a question about something I’m curious about?”
“Oh… yes. What do you want to know?”
“Well… I understand that those who have obtained a profession receive education based on their profession, but what happens to those who haven’t obtained a profession?”
“Oh… come to think of it, we haven’t mentioned that. To tell you the truth, for those without professions, they will be gathered separately and given a chance to switch professions.”
“… How do they switch professions?”
“Well… is that possible?”
“Yes. The initial profession change that you all will do is called the first change, and it can be done artificially. You can do the first change using the artifacts in the education center.”
“What? Does that mean there’s no need to fight monsters to switch professions?”
Seeing my expression, he understood what I was thinking and spoke in a tone that he knew what was on my mind.
“Haha… but of course, you and them will not be doing the same profession change. When you do the profession change, there will be an increase in your abilities, right?”
“Yes.”
‘No way.’
“If you obtain a profession artificially like them, there won’t be any increase in your ability when you retire. In other words, there’s a significant difference between you and them.”
As the man said, it sounded much more beneficial to catch monsters and obtain a profession.
When looking at the status screens of top-tier experts, there was no need to emphasize how valuable a stat of 1 was.
In other words, in terms of experience, abilities, and starting line, they were already far behind compared to us.
“That’s not all. This is an extremely rare case, but there are instances where people obtain a profession without capturing monsters or using the power of artifacts. We call this phenomenon ‘Awakening.'”
‘… It’s just like when Yoo Hyun obtained his profession.’
“Typically, those who obtain professions through Awakening have significantly different performance compared to regular professions. We believe that the cause of Awakening is usually intense feelings of crisis or a desperate situation, but in cases where they obtain a profession with the power of an artifact like them, there’s no chance for Awakening.”
“I see.”
“Of course, it’s not that Awakening opportunities disappear. In fact, statistically speaking, the chances of obtaining a profession through Awakening are less than 0.1 percent.”
The man’s words didn’t matter to them; they couldn’t have awakened statistically anyway.
I lowered my voice and asked the man cautiously.
“… Is there any disadvantage to revealing that you obtained a profession through Awakening?”
“… Wait, have you experienced an Awakening?”
The man opened his eyes wide and looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it, then spoke.
“……”
I didn’t bother replying to the man.
He noticed that I hesitated to explain the situation and began speaking.
“Well… First of all, I want to assure you that there will be no disadvantages even if you reveal it. However, I’m not sure if it was you, Mr. Lee Yun-seong, who awakened or someone else in your group. If I may give you one advice, when you decide to join the clan, I recommend only informing that clan.”
“…. May I know the reason?”
“…. Although there are no immediate disadvantages, there is a possibility of being restrained by other clans.”
I understood. From the perspective of the clan that Yoo Hyun is joining, they would welcome him with open arms. However, if the fact that Yoo Hyun obtained a job through awakening is revealed to others, different clans might want to restrain him.
“Or… If by any chance you don’t receive an offer from a clan, you can subtly let them know so you can receive an offer. If you can join the clan smoothly without any trouble, I recommend revealing it once your safety is secured.”
I was grateful for the detailed guidance from this informant. From his point of view, there was no need for him to inform us in such detail.
“… Or maybe he wants to keep an eye on us.”
This man might think that our group has a high chance of climbing up. “Considering we have a regressor in our party.”
“I appreciate you for providing such detailed information. You’ll be blessed.”
“Haha… You’re welcome. It’s something I should naturally do.”
After ending my conversation with the man, I discreetly spoke to Yoo Hyun and Kang Iseo.
“Yoo Hyun, and Kang Iseo.”
“Yes?”
“Why?”
“… Yoo Hyun didn’t kill the monster and got a job. It’s a secret. Don’t mention it anywhere. Yoo Hyun, you shouldn’t talk about it either. Got it?”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Huh? Yoo Hyun got a job even though he didn’t kill the monster?! How on earth…”
“This… is insane!”
It was my mistake. I hadn’t realized the fact that Yoo Hyun changed jobs before meeting Kang Iseo.
I quickly covered Kang Iseo’s mouth with my hand and said to her.
“Shh… Shh!”
“This… you crazy guy, speak quietly!”
I removed my hand from her mouth.
“Phew!… Oh, I understand…”
“Both of you, what are you doing?”
When I turned my head toward the sound, Seo Yujoo had come to us without us realizing and was looking at me and Kangiseo strangely.
“Oh… it’s nothing special.”
“….?”
Anyway, after a while, the guides appeared and started handing out papers to everyone, including our group.
“The papers we have just given you indicate the locations of the classrooms you need to go to. Those who did not receive a paper are unemployed, so please wait for a moment.”
Looking at the paper, it was a map indicating the location of the classrooms. When I checked the papers of our group, some had the same classroom and others had different ones.
“Those who received the map, please move to your respective classrooms. Please move within 20 minutes.”
Seo Yujoo opened her mouth to us.
“It seems like the classrooms are different depending on the occupation. Jang and I are in the same classroom. We will move first.”
“Yes, Yujoo.”
I was in the same classroom as Song Haeun and Yu Hyun. Maybe the three of us were in occupations that focused on using magic.
“Shall we move too?”
*****
When we arrived at the classroom, there were only five people excluding the three of us.
“Yoon Seong, the number of people… is very small.”
“It seems like they mainly use magic in their professions.”
If people without jobs change careers through artifacts, there will probably be a few more here. Certainly, there will be people who obtain professions like wizards.
I sat down and waited for about 10 minutes when a woman who appeared to be an instructor entered the classroom.
What was unusual was the woman’s long silver hair and her remarkable appearance.
I opened the woman’s status window.
[Name: Ha Yoori]
[Age: 30]
[Profession: Cryomancer (Legendary Grade)]
[Titles: Cryomancer, Master of the Tower, Magic Scholar, Demon Hater]
[Unique Attribute]
Cold Mana (Legendary Grade) – Your mana is optimized for mastering ice magic. Your acquisition speed for ice magic significantly increases. Additionally, your mana attribute permanently increases by 10, and your stamina attribute permanently decreases by 2.
[Attributes]
Archmage (Legendary Grade) – Your understanding of magic increases tremendously.
Hate of Evil (Heroic Grade) – When facing dark mages and demons, all your attributes temporarily increase by 3.
[Attributes]
Strength – 54 Agility – 62
Stamina – 68 Luck – 80
Magic Power – 94 Resistance – 51
“… Sigh.”
The only thing that struck me when looking at this woman’s status screen.
“She’s twisted.”
Nothing else registered in my eyes. Only titles and unique attributes.
“Demon hater…”
It’s not certain if she loathes even black mages, but it doesn’t seem like she would like them, no matter how you look at it.
Ha Yu-ri spoke with a cold voice.
“…. It seems like everyone has gathered, so let’s start the training. But before that, let’s confirm your professions once again.”
Ha Yu-ri turned over a bundle of papers and, after reading, her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she spoke.
“…. We have a black mage among us?”
“Damn…”
For some reason, Ha Yu-ri’s gaze, which seemed chilling, was directed at me.
“Is there a specific reason you chose a dark sorcerer?”
“…. There was no regular sorcerer on the job selection screen, only the dark sorcerer, so I had no choice but to pick the dark sorcerer.”
She emphasized the phrase ‘had no choice.’
“Damn, but even so, a newbie wouldn’t naturally lean toward being a dark sorcerer, right?”
However, Ha Yuri’s subsequent words left me utterly bewildered.
“The absence of a regular sorcerer and only the dark sorcerer on the list suggests a high probability that the newcomer’s heart is inclined toward malevolence.”
“…. What? What is this crazy girl saying?”
“By any chance, have you committed any misdeeds during the tutorial? There must be a reason for it, hence the job selection screen recommending the dark sorcerer.”
I stood there speechless, dumbfounded. I never expected someone, especially a newcomer, to speak to me like that.
Yoo Hyun, who sat beside me, and Haeun also sensed that something was off in the atmosphere and started observing my reactions.
“……. I haven’t done anything. Just… cleared a dungeon, that’s all.”
Ha Yuri did not seem convinced by my response. The way she looked at others and the way she looked at me were distinctly different.
Continuing to examine the bundle of papers, Ha Yuri suddenly looked surprised and glanced at Song Haeun.
“…. There’s a spirit caller among us?”
“Um? Yes…yes…”
‘… Fuckin’ bitch.’
Ha Yoori looked at me with a completely different expression, turning to Song Ha-eun with a gentle smile.
“A spirit stone should have a pure and clear heart. The fact that the spirit likes you is evidence that your heart is pure and untainted, without a speck of dirt.”
Song Ha-eun, anxiously glancing at me, replied to the instructor.
“Thank you…”
“And… it’s surprising… there’s a priest? And also… an… a hero-grade…”
Ha Yoori stared at Yoo Hyun with a look of disbelief.
“How on earth? Starting off as a hero-grade from the beginning…?”
Judging by Ha Yoori’s reaction, it seemed extremely rare to start off with a hero-grade profession from the beginning.
After checking one by one, Ha Yoori opened her mouth.
“Great. Except for one person, it’s perfect. As for the black magician… well, I hope you can keep up with my training. I don’t know if you can, though.”
“……. “
I seriously wanted to kill that woman.