Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 3

Lesson 1. This is your status window – 3

‘This must be the Boss Room, right?’

Ban Yu-won thought as he looked at the iron gate blocking his way. Until now, there weren’t many crossroads, and the cave path continued until this point. Well, even if it weren’t the Boss Room, it was natural to think there must be something in there.

[Life: 13

Physique: 11.5

Soul: 300

Complete Sight: 100

Complete Hearing: 100

Complete Speaking: 100]

Ban Yu-won read his body code. The Blind Goblins all had the same Life 0.2, Physique 0.1, and Devil 0.1. The current state of Ban Yu-won, who somehow managed to get rid of all the Blind Goblins he met, starting with G1, was truly remarkable. Now, just by clenching his fists, he could clearly feel the strength surging through him. Specifically, he was about 20% stronger. Judging from that, he thought that the basic strength of his body followed the Physique stat, but the concept of Life amplified it once again.

‘The problem is that I can’t fight the Blind Goblins one-on-one yet.’ 

If it weren’t for his ability to listen to the Goblins, Ban Yu-won would have died already. His only hope was that he was holding a club with Blunt Weapon 15 and Devil 1.5. Although he devoured 15 Goblins whole, the change in the club was obvious, unlike himself, who still felt like something was missing. The more Blunt Weapon was added, the heavier the club became, and the more Devil was added, the darker it grew in color.

Every time he hit a Goblin with a finishing blow, he could feel that the weapon was changing.

‘Maybe the essence of my abilities lies in the creation and evolution of things rather than my own growth?’

It was a bit premature, but he shook his head. It hadn’t been long since he came to know the Babylonian Code, so it was kind of hasty to draw conclusions.

‘More than that…what should I do?’

Ban Yu-won was pondering what to do now with this door. To be honest, he really didn’t want to go in. If he decided to, he would have to catch ten more Goblins…or if he felt greedy, he wanted to catch twice that before entering.

The problem was that this cave wasn’t wide, and there weren’t many forks in the road, so if he turned around now, the chance of meeting more Goblins wasn’t high. Worse than that, slowly, thirst and hunger were haunting him. If he spent a few hours trying to catch just one or two more Goblins, passing the practical test would become harder.

‘…Let’s go in.’

He pondered for a while, but eventually, he made his decision. He’d like to refrain from bumping into these monsters head-on, but what if his reason and instinct were united in their claim that ‘that’s the most advantageous?’

He opened the door. What awaited him inside was a huge monster.

“Intruder…you are finally here.”

This was a mistake. Ban Yu-won had that flash of intuition the moment he saw him. He was about half a size bigger than the Blind Goblins encountered so far.

“You…were you watching?”

“Even if I can’t see, I have a way to know.”

As the name Blind Goblin Den implied, he was blind, but to Ban Yu-won, it felt like it didn’t really matter. Above all else, the long, single-edged sword in the Goblin’s hand caught his eye. Its tip was pointed exactly at Ban Yu-won, proving he had excellent spatial perception.

“You took so long that I was getting bored. It took you a really long time to deal with those insects.”

He even spoke as if he knew what had happened outside this room. Ban Yu-won, with a gut feeling that he couldn’t win a fight with this guy, scanned the not-so-wide room for the core. But all he could find was a small door behind the boss.

The core must be in that room. Shit!

“Aren’t you coming? Of course. A coward who mimics the language of my people and stalks them wouldn’t attack me head-on.”

The guy bent his knees slightly, tensing to sprint forward. The moment Ban Yu-won intuited that and raised the club.

-Clank!

With a terrible crashing sound, pain ran through his hands, up his forearms, and across his shoulders. With just one collision with the guy’s sword, Ban Yu-won was so shocked that he almost passed out. 

“…You blocked?”

“Cough….”

The guy was surprised. Ban Yu-won had to be thankful for that. It took time to suppress the urge to vomit, grab the club about to fall out of his hands, and fix it. He was prepared to die when he suddenly fell here, but his resolve was clumsy. The pain shattered it.

‘I can’t do this, and there’s no answer. Even if a miracle happens, I can’t win.’

He wanted to run away, and he had to run away. It was as if that was echoing in his head repeatedly, but his body moved oppositely. He raised his club again to block.

“That’s surprising.”

The Goblin swordsman nodded with admiration.

“I thought you were just a coward, but you’re very talented…and above all else, that weapon is excellent. Where the hell did you get such a hard club?”

From your people, you idiot. He would’ve spoken like that if he could, but he didn’t have the energy to waste speaking. Instead, he moved to block the bastard’s sword again.

-Clank!

He had only blocked three times, but a feeling of exhaustion took root. His body was growing numb, and his hands were throbbing. Nevertheless, he never missed. He was sure that death would come when he did, so he desperately grabbed his weapon and moved based on his intuition. 

“As expected, it’s not a coincidence.”

‘This son of a…!’

After he succeeded in blocking, relying purely on his innate senses, he became aware of it. Ban Yu-won wasn’t so bad with his innate sense of battle. However, if his practical experience and strength weren’t supporting it after he blocked these attacks a few more times, he would be split in half.

-Clank! Claank!

While blocking the onslaught, there was a popping sound of his joints twisting. 

―Kyagagak!

“Ugh…!”

He could hold out thanks to his somewhat stronger body, but the clash quickly consumed his physical durability.

“I wonder how many times you will be able to block.”

‘What do I do? What?’

Ignoring the signals from his broken body, he desperately wracked his head. Before he entered the room, he assumed several targets were waiting for him and thought about how to respond accordingly. Of course, there was a possibility that an individual far superior to Ban Yu-won would be there.

‘There will be no answer at this rate. Then…!’

He had no choice but to implement the idea that came to his mind; whatever else happened.

Clank!

Aware that he was on the verge of reaching his limit, Ban Yu-won concentrated his mind on the weapon in his hand, and he separated and extracted only the Devil from it.

[The Devil of 1.5 was divided into Magic and Spirit of 0.75, respectively. Absorbed 0.75 Magic.]

A desperate will and concentration skipped all the intermediate steps necessary to express the ability. The essence of pure energy created by separating evil was accepted as a concept. The change that occurred in the next moment was more shocking than he expected.

[You are aware of Magic.]

“Hmm?!”

For a moment, a dazzling golden aura burst out of Ban Yu-won. Even though he couldn’t see, it made the Goblin retreat.

Ban Yu-won couldn’t attack him, even though the chance might not come again. He was too busy focusing on the changes he felt in his body.

[You realized the concept of language in your body anew. You currently have 10.75 Magic Power. Activated Magic Power circulates through your body and energizes the Physique.]

[During the practical evaluation, you became aware of Magic Power and learned how to use it! That’s a big achievement for a lower-dimensional person who didn’t even have mana before this. An extra point was given to the evaluation!] 

One was the notification window of the abilities he had, and the other was the notification window from the Academy. The funny thing was that there were far fewer points awarded than when he created an artifact…

Right now, Ban Yu-won was feeling a sense of upliftment that couldn’t be compared with then. His mind and body weren’t only fully recovered but qualitatively different from just a moment ago, thanks to the colorless and transparent energy flowing through his veins.

‘Did I originally have this power?’

He was dumbfounded. How could he have lived without feeling such radiant energy until now? But perhaps it was because Ban Yu-won couldn’t find a way to express it. 

“No way…you realized Magic Power during our battle?”

Meanwhile, the Goblin who was confronting him realized what had happened and now wore an absurd expression.

“Is it because you couldn’t handle magic that you were so weak? But it’s only at the level of an ordinary human being. You can’t overtake me like that!”

Claaank!

Again, their weapons collided. The only difference compared to a while ago was his magic, but the difference was huge. It was much more tolerable. However, as the Goblin said, he couldn’t be defeated at this level. Ban Yu-won was a novice who had never wielded a weapon before.

“You are growing fast, human. But before you surpass me, my sword will cut your throat!”

“Shut up, monster!”

However, perhaps it was because he realized at least part of his ability. While Ban Yu-won repeatedly collided with the Goblin, his brain was spinning fiercely to devise the next plan.

‘Is it possible to remove the concept of dullness from the Blunt Weapon?’

Ban Yu-won had extracted concepts from 14 clubs so far. Each time, this message appeared:

[Now that you have taken ownership of a thing, it is possible to usurp its concept. Do you want to absorb Blunt Weapon 1?]

To usurp the concept of a thing, it was necessary to secure ownership. He suspected that meant to either kill the original owner or buy it at a fair price. That’s why Ban Yu-won couldn’t usurp the concept of the sword in this foe’s hands. But, what if, on the other hand, it was just to give a different concept to that sharp blade?

[Attaching Blunt Weapon 1 to the object you touched. This object will have Blunt Weapon 2.]

This was the message that popped up when he gave a concept to an object earlier. In other words, he didn’t need ownership if he was just giving things a concept!

From this point on, it was just Ban Yu-won’s reasoning, but what would happen if he gave the concept of dullness to a weapon that was too sharp? Wouldn’t the concepts cancel out if they had opposite qualities? 

“Can you afford to be thinking about other things?”

A sharp sword fell toward his head. Even though he intuitively knew that the attack had to be dodged, Ban Yu-won dared to raise his club. 

“Ugh!”

“Hmph, has even your judgment been dulled?”

“It’s not my judgment that will get dull…!”

No matter how much Magical Power he now had, it wasn’t wise to face it head-on. Ban Yu-won spat blood as he reached out to grab the guy’s blade. Then, he divided the concept of his weapon into Dullness and Weapon of 7.5, respectively.

“It’s your weapon!”

The Goblin shouted in rage, thinking he was trying to steal his weapon.

“I’ll tear your hand off!”

The moment after Ban Yu-won pulled out 7.5 of Dullness from the club, it was delivered to the sword. The Goblin swung to cleave his hand off, but it couldn’t cut Ban Yu-won’s skin. 

“…What?”

“I did it.”

Ban Yu-won laughed. He actually thought that if he succeeded only in dulling the blade, it would be a huge success. However, the result was not so little. As a result of the fierce clash of two opposing concepts, the weapon seemed to wrinkle. How great his ability was to exceed his expectations.

…Just when he thought that.

[The concept of 0.75 Spirit and 7.5 Weapon left in the club was automatically synthesized.]

“Huh?”

A change that Ban Yu-won hadn’t expected occurred at the same time. He took out the Magic of the Devil and the Dullness of the Blunt Weapon, so only the residue concepts were left.

…No, the club that he thought to be just the residue made an amazing evolution! 

[Due to the great compatibility with the object, transcendental synthesis ignoring the depth of concept was accomplished, and Spirit Weapon 5 was completed. Tightly coupled concepts are difficult to separate.]

Who would have thought that such a miracle would happen?

A Spirit Weapon, or in other words, a vessel for spirits. Shaking off unnecessary concepts, his club evolved into a haunted weapon! 

[There is no substance, but it is an artifact that can influence physical substances, obeys its owner, and moves freely. The Goblin Club was born.]

The club, escaping from his hand, gathered together with a puff of whitish smoke and drifted around. Ban Yu-won stared at it in amazement. It was clear that the Academy couldn’t have foreseen such a situation as the moment the Goblin Club was completed, a message appeared.

[During the evaluation, you created a higher-level artifact that has never been discovered. An outrageous achievement! Regardless of the content of the practical evaluation, you will pass the special screening! The Artifact Production Department professor who received the report eagerly awaits the examinee!]

[The academy faculty unanimously decided to pay the examinee the inventory function, which is only available to students with special achievements!]

[Do you want to go directly to the Union Academy dormitory?]

Ban Yu-won, who had excellent linguistic comprehension, quickly grasped the situation. Only then could he relax.

Go straight to the dormitory? He would have nodded without hesitation if it had been just a moment ago. But what about now? He had acquired this Goblin Club, and the only thing in front of him was a Blind Goblin who had lost his sword.

“…I’ll finish the evaluation and go.”

Ban Yu-won responded firmly, looked down at the Goblin, and gave an order to the Goblin Club.

“Kill him.”

The Goblin Club immediately moved to obey.

Whoosh!

Puck!