ALL NOVEL Chapter 4
004 – Concept Holder
To kidnap Seoga-eul, I first needed a connection. I had to run into her somewhere.
While I was pondering various methods, my eyes caught the admission documents for Yeongsa High School. Yeongsa High School was an institution that educates and trains awakened youth. Thus, it was highly likely that Seoga-eul attended this school at that time.
Looking closely, it seemed that Baek-Yeoul, who was right in front of me, was also from this school, so I could easily get an answer by asking her. So, I asked, “Is Seoga-eul also attending this school?” Suddenly, the expression of Baek-Yeoul, who had just looked at me with pity like a UNICEF child suffering from malnutrition, turned icy.
“Seoga-eul?”
The twitching of her facial muscles clearly hinted that things weren’t good between Seoga-eul and high school girl Baek-Yeoul. I had an excellent instinct for picking up on such things. Generally, smart people also have good intuition.
“I’ll go now.”
Baek-Yeoul swiftly turned her head and exited our house. Following behind her were the suit-clad men. Even the loan sharks I intended to bury in my yard hurriedly left with them.
“What? I was supposed to ask about kidnapping!”
But well, does it matter? The loan sharks would undoubtedly return to our house to squeeze money out of me.
Above all, the amount of pork belly I bought wasn’t enough for me alone. It was great that they all left on their own. You can’t expect to share if you’re not planning to, right?
Sizzle-sizzle-. The pork belly I hadn’t grilled in years was so delicious that it brought tears to my eyes.
# # #
Three days have passed since I returned to the past.
“Victims of the incident, Kim Taeyang and two others were reportedly involved in loan sharking and were under investigation for assault and murder. The police are focusing on revenge killing due to grievances—.”
“No way, those bastards are dead?”
Early in the morning, I was jolted awake by the news coming from the TV. It seemed someone had taken out the loan sharks.
As I had been planning to ask them about the ‘no-backlash kidnapping technique,’ I couldn’t help but feel angry. Who would dare interfere with my plan? If I ever meet that jerk, I vowed to kick him where it hurts. Damn bastard!
Now that it had come to this, I had to come up with all the kidnapping methods from ‘A’ to ‘ㅎ’ on my own. But I didn’t need to worry. Who am I? Hanam-jin, the smartest among dropouts.
“After all, plans are meant to be changed as we go.”
Slurp, slurp-. After filling my belly with sauce and noodles, it was already 7:30 in the morning. Wasn’t the school start time for Yeongsa High School 8:00?
Creak-.
As I closed the rusty iron door and stepped outside, the weather was pleasantly warm.
The only discomfort was that the school uniform I wore, which I had only put on in my first year and then carelessly hung up, felt tight and suffocating. It had seemed somewhat loose back in my high school freshman year.
“I guess I’ll have to get a new uniform.”
I glanced at the students passing by on the street. Kids my age were wearing uniforms that looked similar to mine, but as far as I knew, the Nazi-like getup was the uniform of Yeongsa High School. The design emphasized aesthetics while completely neglecting practicality, making it quite striking.
Would I have to wear such clothes myself once I became a student? It felt like I was destined to become an imperialist sympathizer, which made me shudder, but I quickly calmed down. After all, I was enrolling in Yeongsa High School just to approach Seoga-eul. If I succeeded in kidnapping Seoga-eul, I wouldn’t have to attend school anymore.
In a year, graduating from this damned world would be as useful as toilet paper.
No, to be honest, it wouldn’t even be good for wiping. The certificates and diplomas were basically A4, and the texture was terrible.
Lost in those thoughts, I soon arrived at the entrance of Yeongsa High School.
“It’s spacious.”
Doesn’t it resemble a university campus more than a high school?
I heard it was actually built on the land of a university that went bankrupt due to a lack of freshmen.
A quick investigation also revealed that there seemed to be university courses available as well.
“What’s that guy over there?”
“His uniform looks different from everyone else’s.”
“Is he a transfer student or something?”
In this strange place, my presence seemed to stand out remarkably.
Well, it couldn’t be helped since my uniform was different from everyone else’s.
The Yeongsa High School uniform cost over a million won, so I couldn’t afford to get one right away and had to wear the uniform from the high school I previously attended. To be honest, my dark blue uniform looked extremely outdated even to my eyes.
I headed to the main building of Yeongsa High School with my admission documents in hand.
The main building looked like the former presidential residence, so it wasn’t hard to find.
8:00 in the morning.
Everyone seemed diligent as the staff had already arrived. I approached the window and asked the friendliest-looking lady.
“Excuse me. I’m here for the admission process.”
“Huh? Oh, please show me your documents.”
Swish-. Flop-.
The staff member began examining the papers I handed over.
I stared intently at her face.
I was trying to utilize the ‘Emotional Insight’ I received from Seoga-eul.
But I couldn’t recall any specific writing.
There must be some rules regarding the use of this ‘Emotional Insight,’ yet three days since coming back to the past, I could only vaguely speculate.
“Are you Hanam-jin? It’s been a little over a month since you underwent the awakening test, hasn’t it? Have you not done another test since then?”
“No, I haven’t. Each test costs 2 million won, you know.”
They say it’s done using some high-tech equipment.
Using that as an excuse, they both take blood and money, and the hospitals are nothing but thieves.
“Well then, let’s do a quick test. Since you’ve probably just awakened, you’re likely still a primary awakener. We need to confirm this to arrange your class assignment.”
“I don’t really know what it is, but hurry up.”
“Then follow me.”
I followed the staff member into a white laboratory-like room.
A giant MRI machine welcomed me, looking grand in its cylindrical shape.
“Lay down here.”
Swish-.
As I lay on the uncomfortable, hard device, a large cylindrical machine started making loud noises as it rotated above me.
Had I laid there for about 5 minutes?
I was getting bored.
“Excuse me, how long do I have to stay like this?”
“Don’t talk. This machine is a national treasure imbued with the concept of inspection. There are only two of these in the whole world, so if you mess with it and break it, it’ll be a big problem.”
“Do you have a boyfriend? How about your age?”
“Sigh, I said don’t talk!”
Anyway, after enduring through that, when I returned to the admission processing area and sat blankly in a chair, the staff lady spoke to me.
“The result of the simple concept assessment will come out in 10 minutes, so just stay still.”
“Concept?”
“You don’t know? If you acquire the concept of ‘muscle,’ you become stronger, and those with the concept of ‘lizard’ can grow a new tail like one if their arm gets cut off. Do you not know how the powers of awakening manifest?”
I recalled hearing that question from someone recently.
It was Seoga-eul. I never thought this would lead to another fateful meeting with her.
“Powers arise from strong desires, right?”
“Exactly, when the strong desires of a puberty-aged teenager meet, they can become a secondary awakener possessing specific ‘concepts.’ That ratio among awakeners is around 30 percent, I believe.”
Having the ‘Concept Holder’ means being in the top 30 percent among awakeners. In other words, that test was to determine whether I rank in the upper 30 percent or the lower 70 percent.
“Friends who have just awakened usually don’t have any held concepts, so regardless of the test result, don’t get too disappointed. Through education and training, they eventually find their talents. Ah, the data’s out!”
The cheerful staff lady looked at the printed paper.
Then, seemingly flustered, she trembled and scratched the back of her head.
“What the… two ‘concepts’!?! Team leader! Team leader!”
She hurried away as though running somewhere.
Soon, a group of older men flocked in.
“Leap. Emotion. Whoa, this is real. A student who has just awakened possessing two concepts! Team leader, have you ever seen anything like this, coming from the Defense Science Research Institute?”
“You call this a multi-ability holder. Typically, among ten awakeners, one might have this. This one is particularly unusual among the students I’ve seen.”
The older men gathered, looking at my test result, seemingly amazed that my results exceeded everyone’s expectations.
《Test Result》
Name: Hanam-jin
Concept: Leap, Emotion
A bald guy in a white lab coat continued to scan through the documents.
Then he looked at me, poked my head, and even opened his mouth wide.
“Wow, amazing. I’ve seen multi-concept holders before, you know. There are about 100 in this school. But this one is particularly ridiculous.”
“Hey, team leader! Explain it in a way we can understand, not just what you know! What makes this student so special?”
“That concept, you see, has something called synergy. You all know that the powers of awakeners blossom from strong desires, right? This guy, his concept of Leap embodies that.”
Swish-.
The bald guy rubbed my thigh with his hand.
Rub rub-.
His touch felt quite uncomfortable, so I patted the bald guy’s forehead in return.
“…What are you doing?”
“You touched my leg, so it’s only fair I touch your forehead.”
《Name: Lee Daeryong
Status: 《Flustered》 – I’m greatly surprised by today’s youth’s boldness.》
“Ahem, anyway, this guy, for some reason, must’ve had an intense desire to run fast. That’s why the concept of Leap nestles within him. Hey, how fast can you run 100 meters?”
“3 seconds? 2 seconds? Something like that.”
At my honest answer, everyone gasped in admiration.
“Wow, outstanding. Are you some kind of sports car?”
“Isn’t this why the Olympics have become boring every year?”
“Back in our generation, that was unthinkable.”
Only the middle-aged man, whom they called the team leader, remained calm. He continued explaining in a soothing tone to calm everyone down.
“Leap seems to be an excellent physical enhancement concept by itself. Thus, the second concept, Emotion, is peculiar. Emotion refers to the power of discernment. It has no relation to the first acquired ability, Leap.”
“No relation?”
“Director, take a look at this year’s graduating student, Yeoreum. She has the rare concept of ‘Light,’ right? By the way, the second concept that Yeoreum manifested was ‘Photosynthesis.’”
“Light and Photosynthesis… they are definitely related!”
“Exactly. That’s it. The concepts of multi-ability holders are always developed and evolve from some interrelated synergy. Our curriculum is structured based on that principle as well.”
All eyes turned toward me.
Leap and Emotion.
It seemed everyone was curious about why I possessed two entirely unrelated concepts.
“What in the world happened to you?”