[Rune Hunter] is a fraudulent rune.

In this world where the power of runes is everything, the ability to duplicate the opponent’s rune is an extraordinary skill.

With this rune, I have already gained four runes, and consequently gained significant stats.

If we include the rune obtained from the Hidden Pieces, it’s already more than ten runes.

The once emptied information window is now filled, and the path to growth, which used to be obscure, has opened up, which is a tremendous merit.

Of course, the [Rune Hunter] rune is not an all-powerful rune.

There are prerequisites to winning in a duel, and even if I win, I can only take one rune from the same opponent.

[Effort of the Seeker] and [Keen Mind].

These were the decisive reasons why I could only gain one of the two epic runes from Park Jin-woo, who possessed both.

Moreover, there’s a disadvantage that the level decreases even when copying the runes.

“And… there are clear limitations.”

I realized this while dominating the OutHolders earlier.

There is a limit to improving my skills through repetitive [Rune Hunter] rune acquisitions.

If my opponent already possesses ‘the runes I have’, then the effect of [Rune Hunter] becomes completely meaningless.

During this past week, I obtained a total of three runes by dominating the OutHolders.

[Combat], [Shield], and [Venom].

As for the rest, they were existing normal runes like [Sword] or [Dagger], so I couldn’t acquire new runes or gain corresponding stat increases.

If I hadn’t obtained the rare rune [Venom] at the last moment, it would have been a waste of time that should have been spent on training.

“To grow further, I need to raise the rune level.”

In other words, no matter how many runes I obtain, the growth of a Holder ultimately depends on the growth of the runes.

I didn’t gain [Effort of the Seeker] for no reason.

Instead of obtaining mediocre runes by clashing with weak opponents, I needed to utilize the existing runes effectively and train to grow my Holder’s information.

If I do that and face stronger opponents, I will be able to use [Rune Hunter] in a much more diverse and effective way than now.

“Why do you keep saying the obvious to yourself?”

Kim Chae-eun asked me, muttering.

We are currently in the Academy’s auditorium, where the long speech of the student council president is being held to welcome the students.

“…It’s boring. It’s been an hour already. Even the listeners are starting to talk to themselves.”

“That’s right. Was the student council president a magician?”

“Yes. They retired from active duty, so they won’t be giving lectures anymore, don’t worry.”

“Phew… That’s a relief.”

Since Kim Chae-eun is a magician with the [Freezing] rune, she ended up attending the lecture of the student council president, who was from the same department.

If the speech is this boring; I can imagine how the lecture would be.

I don’t need to attend to guess roughly.

“Jae-hyun, are you taking classes in the Warrior Department then?”

Kim Chae-eun interrupted my thoughts and asked, poking into my inner monologue.

It seems that she’s also been bored for an hour.

Classes for the Warrior Department. I want to take them too.

The Seoul Holder Academy has many famous professors in the Warrior Department.

However, the departments for Holders are divided from the moment of admission.

“Of course not, I’m an Assassin and I use daggers.”

“Really? But during the practical duel, you fought almost like a warrior.”“That’s because I have quite good strength. I’m not focused on speed like other assassins, so it was easier for me to fight that way. Maybe if my speed improves, I’ll fight like a proper assassin again.”

Academy classes are divided into general and department-specific courses.

The general courses are the ones that all students take.

They mainly cover theoretical aspects that Holders need to know, such as the history of Holders and runes, the basic theory of rune growth, and the types and grades of monsters.

Especially the contents related to strength, willpower growth, and the use of magical power are important for Holders, and these are emphasized in the general courses.

Department-specific courses, on the other hand, are only available to students in that department.

A Holder who owns a magician rune cannot attend a lecture on archery out of nowhere, for example.

It’s similar to the faculties distinguished in university.

The Seoul Holder Academy has a total of six department classifications: Warrior Department, Magician Department, Archer Department, Assassin Department, Recovery Department, and Special Department.

These departments are standardized worldwide, and Seoul Academy follows suit.

“But still, the Warrior Department lectures must have many overlaps?”

“Overlaps?”

“Yes. Unlike magicians or archers, we have a lot in common.”

For example, Professor Kim Myeong-hyun’s lecture on <Sword Momentum and Combat Breathing> can be attended by both the Warrior and Assassin Departments.

Unlike other warrior weapon skills like bludgeoning or spear techniques, swordsmanship is similar to the Assassin Department’s approach, and many Holders in the Assassin Department actually enter through the [Sword] rune.

So, the two departments had many overlapping classes.

In fact, there are places in other academies where these two departments are combined into a single Warrior Department.

“Heh… Anyway, it’s great that we’re in the intermediate class.”

“What’s the big difference?”

“Of course, it’s different! We attend the general classes together…!”

As expected, Park Jin-woo and I were promoted from the provisional class to the intermediate class after the practical duel during the entrance exam. Even the professors thought that the duel was quite a spectacle. When transitioning from temporary to official.

The case was unprecedented, as there were only the two of us who had changed classes. Thanks to that, Kim Chae-eun and I ended up in the same intermediate class. Although our departments differed, we could still attend the same general classes, just like she mentioned. General classes were offered from the Upper class to the lower class, depending on the students’ levels, and this led to wider gaps as time went on. In the first year, the difference in class quality wasn’t significant, but by the third year, the lower classes were almost abandoned, and the professors ended up losing morale for teaching.

…The academy was strictly skill-based.

“…Therefore, the Seoul Holder Academy must surpass Korea and become the best in the world. It should become an academy that doesn’t kneel to any country! That’s the message I want to convey to all the students….”

With the student council president already speaking like that, it seems that the framework determining social status remains unchanged, whether it’s the previous world or the new one

“Jae-hyun, Jae-hyun.”

“Yeah?”

Caught up in my thoughts for a moment, Kim Chae-eun grabbed my collar.

Her face was filled with excitement, as if something had occurred to her.

Ah, I felt it.

When Kim Chae-eun had that face, she had only one request.

“I want to eat Jajangmyeon.”

“What, what’s that?”

“Jajangmyeon! I saw it while scrolling through SNS, and it looked so delicious. Hehe, can you make it for me?”

“No… We don’t even have a fryer at home, how can I make it for you, ma?”

“Can’t you just put oil in a big pot and do something about it? I really want to eat your cooking.”

Now, Kim Chae-eun was even suggesting how to make it.

She had indeed grown his [Cooking] rune to level 3.

I sighed deeply and reluctantly nodded.

…Honestly, I wanted to eat Jajangmyeon too.

“Bring ten puddings.”“Okay…!!”

***

ippotranslations

***

The academy’s opening marked the beginning of a new semester.

With a slightly excited heart, I sat in one corner of the classroom.

I had always been researching and training with runes on my own, so the thought of having someone who would teach me directly made my heart flutter.

Today, I signed up for a class taught by Professor Kim Myeong-hyun: <Sword Momentum and Combat Breathing>, a theory and practical duel class about swordsmanship, which was Kim Chae-eun’s father’s area of expertise.

Professor Kim Myeong-hyun was a character who didn’t appear in the original work.

Naturally, Kim Chae-eun was an extra, so that made sense.

However, surprisingly, he had received high praise as a professor at the academy.

He displayed graceful and beautiful swordsmanship, gently teaching the students sword techniques at their level, and received frequent accolades as an educator.

So, I applied for Professor Kim Myeong-hyun’s swordsmanship class as a department-specific course.

Although my main rune was [Dagger], I also possessed the [Sword] rune, and the two runes had a similar essence.

‘Professor Tak Won-ho’s class… It probably won’t work out.’

Of course, I was curious about Park Jin-woo’s teacher’s class as well.

Tak Won-ho taught students in a Spartan manner, pushing Holders to their limits and bringing out their full potential through intense physical training.

In general, his swordsmanship had a strong and destructive feeling, igniting the desire in both observers and learners.

But I couldn’t take Professor Tak Won-ho’s class.

Unlike Professor Kim Myeong-hyun, only Warrior Department students could attend Tak Won-ho’s classes, making it impossible for me to apply.

Even if I could apply, it would be difficult to get in because of his popularity.

Moreover, it was one of the main plotlines in the original work that the protagonist, Park Jin-woo, would listen to Tak Won-ho’s class and catch the professor’s attention, making him to become Tak Won-ho’s exclusive disciple. I didn’t want to disrupt the flow by applying to that place.

‘Even if I stole the most important rune from the protagonist…’ It couldn’t be helped.

I had to live my own life too.

And since it was just copying, it wouldn’t be harmful to Park Jin-woo either.

I corrected my mindset.

Anyways, I just had to avoid touching the major plotlines in the early stages, such as the “Meeting of Tak Won-ho and Park Jin-woo” or “Extermination of monsters in the academy.”

Those were the key developments that would continue to be connected to the later part.

As I sat alone in the classroom, I was drawing a mind map.

Thud- thump-

I heard the sound of someone roughly opening the classroom door, followed by a man entering the room.

“Hey, Do Jae-hyun! We have about 10 minutes until the class starts. Let’s play a duel before that!”

During the entrance exam’s practical duel, Park Jin-woo, who had smiled like a madman while looking at me, is now standing at the door.

Wait. Why is that bastard here…?

He was supposed to be in Professor Tak Won-ho’s class.

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TL NOTE:-

Jajangmyeon is a chinese style korean black-bean sauced noodles.

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