IRHWSDD 11

The Outcast Who Hid His Power Conquers the School

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‘You went to spar again.’

This damn military academy prohibited fighting, but allowed sparring instead.

As long as it followed the format of an official duel, any weapon could be used. If someone didn’t like you, they would simply challenge you to a spar and crush you.

‘Sometimes people were left permanently injured… and if you were unlucky, you could even lose your life.’

And all of it was neatly justified under the name of “honor.”

It was a truly insane system.

Martian was the acknowledged top student, but because of his naturally gentle image, he tended to look soft.

So many people, not knowing their place, sent him challenge letters. Each time, Martian took an appropriate victory.

To Rukna’s eyes, it looked like a sick hobby.

‘If he just beat them half to death, they wouldn’t dare challenge him again. But he wins ambiguously on purpose, planting useless hope in them.’

And while doing so, he always made sure to permanently damage at least one part of his opponent’s body. Blood was inevitable.

He never bothered to take off his bloodstained gloves.

‘Like a devil wearing an angel’s mask, enjoying the sight of blood.’

No one knew what was truly in his heart, but there was definitely something twisted about him.

‘Still, he’s supposed to be a descendant of a hero. There’s a high chance Martian is the male lead. He looks like a walking sculpture too. Though his personality is a bit concerning.’

What if a guy like him ended up tormenting the innocent Giselle, one of the heroine candidates?

‘Then what role am I supposed to play?’

Rukna hoped she was just a supporting character cheering for the heroine.

Just then—

“Did you know that, Rukna?”

A handsome face suddenly leaned in close. Martian bent slightly to meet her eye level.

A fresh smile curved his lips.

“W-What?”

Her heart thumped wildly. Did he hear her thoughts?

“You look better after the change. Like how you’re looking straight at me right now.”

What was that supposed to mean?

Was he saying she shouldn’t dare meet his eyes and should lower them immediately?

Though she was annoyed inside, Rukna obediently lowered her gaze.

It was pure survival instinct.

Pfft. Martian let out a small laugh and straightened up.

“I said it looks good. Why look away? What a shame.”

Martian lowered his hand to where her gaze had dropped and snapped his fingers.

The gesture felt like he was training a pet. Disgusted, Rukna quickly lifted her head.

“Ha ha, that’s quite a spirited expression. First time seeing it.”

“……”

“And I didn’t know you had the boldness to break school rules either.”

Martian took out a yellow notebook from his jacket pocket and scribbled something down.

Then he tore out a page and slapped it onto Rukna’s forehead with a sharp smack.

“Ow!” She rubbed her stinging forehead.

The paper stuck tightly, like a Post-it.

“School violence. Three penalty points.”

The smile on the face of the person issuing punishment was far too gentle.

“Penalty points?”

She had only been at school a few days, and already penalty points? Even in her past life, she had lived quite diligently, following rules properly. This felt like a bolt from the blue.

Martian turned and fairly stuck penalty notes onto the fallen “potatoes” as well.

Rukna twitched her lips while glancing at his back.

‘Lately, I’ve been running into Martian way too often.’

Their paths overlapped suspiciously often. Anyone would think she was following him.

‘He definitely suspects me of stealing the Holy Sword.’

It was true she had the Holy Sword, but being called a thief felt unfair.

Rukna tried to leave while she had the chance. Being suspected as the Holy Sword thief while already labeled a “student of interest” and causing trouble was not good.

“Rukna Golden.”

Did he have eyes on the back of his head? Without even turning around, Martian called her while writing in his penalty notebook.

“Looks like you trained in something special back in your hometown.”

“H-Huh?”

“They got beaten so badly they can’t even stand properly.”

After sticking the last penalty note onto a “potato,” Martian straightened up.

“I’m curious what kind of training makes someone stronger in such a short time. Do you have a special secret?”

His smiling face seemed to imply he knew she had borrowed the Holy Sword’s power.

“N-No, I just worked hard. Haha. I’m still not used to it, so my arms and legs are shaking.”

Rukna hid her fists behind her back and laughed awkwardly.

Just then, the student council secretary, Bolton, approached with heavy footsteps.

With his huge height, muscular build, black eyepatch over his left eye, and rough appearance, he looked more like a seasoned pirate than an 18-year-old student. His personality was just as simple as his appearance.

The student council was busier than other cadets, so she didn’t meet him often. But whenever he saw Rukna, he would call her “idiot” like they were familiar.

“What’s this, idiot?”

Bolton peeled the penalty note off her forehead and snickered.

“Always last place in grades, but never got penalty points. Guess you finally did something right.”

He grinned and poked her cheek with his finger.

“So you look like a kitten throwing little punches, but you’re actually stone fists? Hit me once too.”

“…Give that back.”

Rukna snatched the penalty paper from Bolton and quickly headed to the next classroom.

Bolton’s loud laughter echoed through the hallway.

“Next time, spar with me, idiot!”

He loudly challenged her, but Rukna kept walking without answering.

Unless she wanted her limbs destroyed, sparring—especially with the student council, said to be filled with elites—was best avoided.

Bolton shook the shoulder of Vice President Chad, who was sprawled across the sofa in the student council room.

“Hey, Chad. Did you hear the idiot smashed Hans’s group?”

“Hans? No way.”

“It’s true. She even got penalty points from Martian, right, Martian?”

“Right.”

Martian nodded while checking the pile of sparring applications stacked on his desk.

Chad, who had been enjoying his nap time, shot upright.

“Hans? The Hans from Baron Jansen’s family? The big player in the black market?”

“Yeah.”

“No way Ruka is that strong.”

Chad shrugged, calling Rukna by her nickname.

“She changed after going back to her hometown. She got stronger. And her eyes…”

Martian thought of Rukna.

The one who couldn’t properly meet his eyes before now looked straight at him after returning from home.

Her green eyes were filled with raw fear.

Usually, no one looked at him that way. They showed affection toward the kind and gentle student council president.

“What about her eyes?”

“Just… like she became a completely different person.”

“Isn’t that just you being sensitive because the Holy Sword disappeared? Unless her soul changed, how would Rukna change like that?”

Chad waved his hand lazily.

Martian silently looked out the window.

He saw Rukna walking along the brick path toward the west annex classroom.

When some cadets deliberately bumped into her shoulder, instead of tearing up like before, she caught up to them and slammed her shoulder back just as hard before walking away proudly.

Martian picked up the graded exam papers on his desk.

The magic professor had asked him to distribute them.

As he flipped through them, his hand stopped at the paper with Rukna Golden’s name.

The score was perfect.

“You’re right. Unless the soul changes, a person can’t transform overnight.”

He tapped her neat handwriting and murmured,

“I’ll observe a little longer.”

‘At this rate, won’t I rank first on this exam?’

Rukna tilted her head while solving the magic formula test.

Problems like factorization and quadratic functions—things any Korean student could solve—were surprisingly simple here.

If this world had a title, it might as well be The School Outcast Who Hid His Power Conquers the Academy.

Sometimes unfamiliar knowledge would suddenly come to mind while solving problems. It must be the original Rukna’s memories.

‘There’s a lot of accumulated knowledge in this body.’

It was the same when she opened major textbooks. What should have felt unfamiliar instead felt very familiar.

Especially in basic medicine and divine studies, she practically knew everything.

‘Then why was I always last place?’

After finishing her exam, Rukna returned to the dorm, curious about her past.

She dropped her bag on the desk and flopped onto the bed. Her eyelids grew heavy almost immediately.

‘Why am I so tired?’

There was no time to think deeply about this body full of secrets.

Exams were one thing, but keeping up with physical military academy classes left her too exhausted to even lift a spoon by the afternoon.

But what tired her the most wasn’t the classes.

It was that damned Holy Sword.