I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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“Shall we head back now…?”

With a completely exhausted voice, Lee Yeon Woo, who had just trudged over, spoke as if she were about to collapse.

For the past few hours, she had thoroughly searched the interior of the ruins after the illusion barrier was broken.

The exam may have concluded, but there was always a possibility that something else could remain.

However, as she circled around the large cave, she found nothing new, and her stamina was reaching its limit.

Considering her usual lifestyle, it was impressive that she had endured this much.

If it weren’t for her passion for research, it would have been impossible.

“Let’s go back, write the report, and then gather an investigation team to return later… It’s already getting late…”

“Then let’s head out from here.”

“Yes…”

Deciding to return, Kim Il Shin and Lee Yeon Woo passed through the corridor and stepped outside the ruins.

A bright moon hung in the now darkened sky.

Taking a deep breath after coming outside, Kim Il Shin felt grateful for the cool night air after being inside the ruins for so long.

But Lee Yeon Woo mumbled weakly, seemingly indifferent to it all.

“Ah… we have to go down the mountain, huh…”

A heavy despair settled on her face as she realized this obvious fact.

Even if her house had crumbled in an instant, she doubted such a look would have appeared.

“…Kim Il Shin, how about we just sleep here and go down tomorrow? The inside of the ruins was cool and nice…”

Her voice carried a sincerity that suggested she was making an absurd proposal.

It seemed she had given up on the idea of walking down the mountain on her own.

“It’s too dangerous.”

Unless there were unavoidable circumstances, there was no reason to camp in such a perilous place.

In the first place, she wouldn’t be able to get a decent sleep in a mountain filled with monsters.

“Right… I guess it’s better to head down quickly…?”

Upon hearing Kim Il Shin’s decisive answer, Lee Yeon Woo’s body wobbled pitifully.

Her eyelids showed no sign of wanting to lift, and her posture was drooping.

At this rate, going down properly would be difficult. Kim Il Shin asked her.

“Then should I carry you?”

This was the same suggestion she had rejected while climbing the mountain, citing the strange reason of shame from sweating.

But Lee Yeon Woo, in her current state, had no room to care about such things.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she replied.

“Please… Ah, I’ll guide the way…”

Even after saying that, she fell asleep less than three seconds after being piggybacked by Kim Il Shin.

Thanks to memorizing the path while coming up, there were no issues in descending from the mountain.

*

The day after returning from the ruins, the report writing began under Lee Yeon Woo’s leadership after she had sufficient rest.

The report detailed the investigation process of the ruins, its purpose, and the future investigations to be conducted.

Of course, the incident with Park Seong Joon and his group wasn’t included in the report.

While Lee Yeon Woo wrote the report, Kim Il Shin assisted her from the side.

Most of the time, she asked what she needed, and Kim Il Shin answered.

Lee Yeon Woo felt sorry for making him help with such things, but it was unavoidable.

She couldn’t write about the exam from the previous generation without Kim Il Shin’s help.

Thus, the report writing, which started in the morning, didn’t finish until late afternoon.

“Alright. With this, the report is done. Thank you for your help until now…”

As Lee Yeon Woo organized the completed report and stood up, she bowed her head in thanks.

Had it not been for Kim Il Shin, finishing it, let alone starting, would have been impossible.

“So, I have something prepared, just a moment…”

What Lee Yeon Woo pulled out from her belongings was a luxury-designed envelope.

Handing it to Kim Il Shin, she said.

“It’s a ticket to the All Things Shop. I received it as a reward from an acquaintance recently, but it seems I won’t be able to go…”

Kim Il Shin also knew of the All Things Shop.

It was a place that sold anything under the heavens, hence the name.

True to its name, the shop owned all sorts of items from around the world.

Counting the items that are not in the shop would indeed be faster than counting those that are available.

Because of that, innumerable people wanted to visit the All Things Shop.

If one could afford the price, they could buy anything.

However, the All Things Shop was not a place everyone could visit.

Only those who possessed a rarely distributed entry ticket could use the shop, and of course, obtaining such tickets was as hard as plucking stars from the sky.

Kim Il Shin planned to get one whenever the chance arose, for he might need it later.

But he never expected to receive it like this.

“Can I really accept such a precious thing?”

“Of course…! I was originally thinking of going to find something related to the All Things Shop, but thanks to you, Kim Il Shin, that’s no longer necessary.”

Kim Il Shin didn’t hesitate any further and tucked away the ticket.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

“No, no…! I should be thanking you more…”

With that, everything regarding this matter wrapped up, and Kim Il Shin bid farewell to Lee Yeon Woo and left.

*

“That was impressive.”

Right after Kim Il Shin left, Lee Yeon Woo reflected on her memories of him.

At first, she thought he was just an ordinary person who had learned the Il Shin Pa Cheon Gong.

Although he had recently gained rapid growth, even securing the top position, he was merely a third-year student to her.

However, on that day, Kim Il Shin had shown a side that far exceeded her expectations.

It was hard to believe he had taken down two C-grade heroes employing tactics that were difficult to contend with, all without taking any damage.

They made a promise to keep it a secret between them, but even without it, it seemed unlikely anything would happen.

No one would believe a third-year academy student could defeat two C-grade heroes.

“If I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t have believed it either…”

Even Lee Yeon Woo, who witnessed it firsthand, found it difficult to comprehend the situation, so one could only imagine how others would feel.

Yet it was an undeniable fact.

The shocking scenes she had witnessed in the process of taking the exam from the previous generation were no different.

In that moment, with a tremendous roar, a storm erupted, and the ground trembled; she initially thought it was just the shockwave from the exploding monument.

Worrying about whether Kim Il Shin, who was at the epicenter, would be okay, she even found herself with tears in her eyes, but it didn’t take long to realize that all of that was a mere misconception.

After the dust of sands settled, she confirmed that Kim Il Shin had no injuries on his body.

It turned out that Kim Il Shin was the very person who created that shockwave.

“How many people among those I know could do something like that…?”

She couldn’t know for sure, but it was certain that the number was quite limited.

Even among A-grade heroes, who found it hard to find an opponent, it might not be easy to unleash that kind of destructive power with just a single punch.

As those thoughts crossed her mind, the memories of coming down from the mountain after leaving the ruins surfaced.

Whining about how tired and fatigued she was, in the end, she had been carried down the mountain by a student.

She even promised to guide the way, but the moment she was carried, she had fallen asleep immediately.

“Ugh…”

Feeling an unexpected wave of embarrassment, Lee Yeon Woo leaned on her desk and moved her feet restlessly.

What was even more embarrassing was that if she could turn back time to that moment, she felt she would make the same choice again, revealing her own weakness.

“Should I exercise a bit…? No. I know I won’t do it anyway.”

Well aware that she wouldn’t put such decisions into action, she didn’t make half-hearted promises to herself.

“Ugh, let me just get to work…”

Sitting up, Lee Yeon Woo began to tackle her backlog of tasks.

But even amidst that, memories kept surfacing intermittently.

The moment she had almost given up in the face of Park Seong Joon’s threats, where Kim Il Shin had seized her wrist to stop her and moved forward.

His back, which seemed reliable enough to block any danger, lingered vividly in her mind.

“…I must be crazy, Lee Yeon Woo.”

Muttering to herself, Lee Yeon Woo walked toward the bathroom. She felt the need to wash her face to regain her composure.

*

That night, after finishing his physical training, Kim Il Shin began to move his mana slowly and pondered.

“I think it’s time to test it out.”

It seemed that now was the time to start training in the newly acquired Il Shin Pa Cheon Gong’s wave strike.

Although it had been quite some time since his damaged mana circuit had fully recovered, he had refrained from trying it just in case.

But after testing it during physical training just earlier, he felt confident that he was ready.

“I’m excited.”

He had many things he wanted to figure out, such as what kind of performance it would yield when operating below the limit, and how to use it in practice.

“…Huh?”

At that moment, someone caught his eye.

It was Baek Ha Yeon, quickly approaching while fixating her gaze on him.