Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

Park Jin-woo is a first-year student at the Academy. He met Professor Tak Won-ho from the Warrior Department and experienced rapid growth. Professor Tak Won-ho is the owner of an aggressive swordsmanship style, using strong physical strength and well-trained toughness to relentlessly pressure his opponents. At first, Park Jin-woo, who focuses more on speed than strength, doesn’t match well with Tak Won-ho’s style. However, he succeeds in complementing these weaknesses and turns him into a more powerful Holder.

One of the representative skills Park Jin-woo learns from Professor Tak Won-ho is called [Wave Sword Technique]. This skill allows him to unleash a series of attacks like crashing waves, seamlessly incorporating magical attacks in between to focus on continuous attacks. This skill eventually becomes Park Jin-woo’s trademark attack.

Leaving behind his perfect match, Professor Tak Won-ho, Park Jin-woo unexpectedly attends classes taught by Professor Kim Myeong-hyun, who doesn’t appear in the original work.

Confused, I shook my head and asked, “Why are you even here?”

Although I’ve never really had a conversation with Park Jin-woo since that day, we felt strangely familiar, so the words flowed naturally. In fact, Park Jin-woo spoke to me first. He looked at my puzzled expression and chuckled.

“I asked around my classmates and came here. They said the only warrior related course you are taking is Professor Kim Myeong-hyun’s class.”

“You didn’t apply for Professor Tak Won-ho’s class?”

“Professor Tak Won-ho? Who’s that?”

“No..”

He’s such an idiot. Tak Won-ho is a renowned professor in the warrior department, and he’s completely clueless about him?

Tak Won-ho has higher recognition and skills than the instructors teaching the upper-level classes. He even claims to be an intermediate class instructor despite being a self-proclaimed educator who prefers to refine unpolished gems rather than completed jewels.

To put it in a simpler way, he is heir to one of Korea’s two legendary swordsmanship families, the Tak family.

Park Jin-woo is the exclusive disciple of Tak Won-ho, but he seems to disregard the golden future that awaits him and abruptly shows up to attend Kim Myeong-hyun’s class. I knew he had a bit of a lunatic streak, but I never imagined he would be this reckless.

“Hey, Park Jin-woo, wouldn’t it be better for you to change your enrollment now? Professor Tak Won-ho is perfect for you.”

“So what if he is? I don’t care about Tak Won-ho or Kim Myeong-hyun.”

“…Forget it. What kind of sword are you learning without even Tak Won-ho knowing?”

In fact, I was trying to turn his thoughts around, but since Park Jin-woo didn’t seem interested in changing, I gave up. Once he sets his mind on something, it’s hard to change it, and I, who used to be his fan, know this better than anyone else.

Moreover, even if his development is a little off, Park Jin-woo is Park Jin-woo.

Also, Park Jin-woo has the ability to take advantage of new skills with his unique absorption power even if his instructor was changed, and Professor Kim Myeong-hyun is also a Holder with amazing skills.

It’s painful. I can’t learn [Wave Sword Technique] myself, and here this idiot is squandering his opportunity?

Moreover, even if he can’t learn [Wave Sword Technique], Park Jin-woo has plenty of other runes and skills that represent him. I thought it was a pity, but it’s his decision if he doesn’t want to learn it.

The two of us continued our lively conversation, drawing the attention of the nearby students who were getting ready for class. Although they whispered quietly, it was obvious they wanted us to hear their words.

“Ugh, those two are so ungrateful ”

“Are they the students? Those that got lucky and advanced to the intermediate class in the practical duels?”

“Advanced to the intermediate class with sheer luck and now they’re talking about Tak Won-ho and Kim Myeong-hyun… Geez.”

“Why is Park Jin-woo in the intermediate class when he lost in the duel?”

Amid the commotion, the surrounding Holder students preparing for class murmured. Even though we spoke in hushed voices, it was evident that they wanted us to hear their comments.

‘Ah. Is this it?’

The main character debuffs. It has low Stats and low level runes from the start because it’s a Growth-type rune. The reason protagonist Park Jin-woo was often ignored.

I was unfortunate to get caught in between this conversation. It appeared like they were cursing at us together.

Besides, ParkJin-woo wasn’t paying attention to them, it’s like he is used to it.

“I’m off. Let’s duel later.”

“There’s one minute left until the lecture starts, idiot.”

“Then let’s duel after the lecture.”

“Where are we going to duel?”

“…On the rooftop?”

“Why is the rooftop always the place for a duel…?”

The defeat in the entrance exam’s practical duel must have been quite impactful. Park Jin-woo seemed to consider me as his rival. That’s why, instead of smoothly attending Professor Tak Won-ho’s class, he comes to listen to Kim Myeong-hyun’s lecture, which I attend.

Honestly, I can’t perfectly fulfill that need. Park Jin-woo is already a skilled Holder with outstanding rune growth, even without being the [Effort of the Seeker] Holder. As for me, except for [Rune Hunter], I still don’t know much about my potential.

Nevertheless, I plan to run as far as I can reach. The world of Holders, which was my favorite in <Next Rune Holder>, is where I am growing as one of them. It’s a world I must eventually confront.

And if I have to choose between those fragments…

Running together with the characters I liked…

It excites me and fills me with anticipation.

“Nice to meet you all. I am Kim Myeong-hyun, in charge of the Sword’s Momentum and Combat Breathing lecture.”

True to his determination, my first mentor here was entering the classroom.

***

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***

At the Academy, lectures are divided into theory and practical, but most of them focus on practical application, even when covering theoretical topics. Kim Myeong-hyun’s <Sword’s Momentum and Combat Breathing> is one of the representative practical lectures in the Warrior Department.

After spending about ten minutes on orientation in the classroom. We went straight to the training ground, and the lecture began immediately.

“In this class, I won’t be teaching you about swordsmanship. Therefore, the way you grip and swing the sword is up to you.”

Students stood side by side, swinging their swords.

Walking through them, Kim Myeong-hyun spoke in a soft voice.

“However, when you swing the sword, do it with a steady posture and a firm mind. When you pierce through the air in front of you, remember the wind brushing against your skin. You must realize that everything you feel can become the momentum of a powerful sword imbued with strong magical power.”

Kim Myeong-hyun finished his advice and looked around at the students.

Over 80 students were all holding swords. This class focused on the [Sword] rune, biased towards practical application. It primarily accepted Holders who possessed this rune, and even if they lacked it, they were required to use a sword in the class.

It was a class for both Warrior and Assassin Holders, but the weapon they all had to handle was a sword.

‘They are following along better than I thought.’

Kim Myeong-hyun watched several students closely. First was Park Jin-woo, a Holder who seemed to be ignored in the chaotic atmosphere but displayed the fastest and highest understanding of the lecture among all the students. Though his abilities were still low and his posture a bit sloppy, he was the only one who clearly put Kim Myeong-hyun’s words into practice from the very first lecture.

‘And…’

Kim Myeong-hyun looked at the students in another group. They were students who chose the class despite not possessing the [Sword] rune. Though they were in the same Warrior category, they seemed to have no understanding of the abstract concepts Kim Myeong-hyun spoke about. Despite his repeated warnings at the beginning of the lecture, they still ignored them and ended up getting injured. They do not have any control over the sword or maybe they came to the class with an evil intention.

You have no choice but to listen to the lecturer’s instructions. Injuries were the price to pay for ignoring the warning at the beginning of the class.

‘Do Jae-hyun?’

Kim Myeong-hyun recognized a student of a similar type. He was following the lecture well despite being from a different category. It was Do Jae-hyun, the only student who applied from another category, an Assassin Holder. He showed almost the same level of understanding and quick adaptability as Park Jin-woo, even without the [Sword] rune, which was quite impressive considering that Warrior Holders without the rune were struggling significantly.

‘That student… He possesses the [Sword] rune.’

However, Kim Myeong-hyun quickly noticed. Do Jae-hyun was a Multi-Holder, possessing runes of various weapons. It wasn’t his main rune, but he was doing his best to grow the runes he possessed.

Kim Myeong-hyun was increasingly intrigued by Do Jae-hyun’s passion.

“Holder Do Jae-hyun?”

“Yes?”

“Try to ease off a bit and cut smoothly. Remember that the momentum of the sword lies within the flexibility based on its firmness.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Do Jae-hyun quickly grasped the point Kim Myeong-hyun pointed out. Seeing him, Kim Myeong-hyun felt his passion for education reignite, albeit slightly.

‘Should I take him as an exclusive disciple?’

Rather than recommending Park Jin-woo, who was already doing well on his own, Kim Myeong-hyun felt more drawn to Do Jae-hyun, who seemed to achieve greater success through education.

However, Kim Myeong-hyun didn’t know that Do Jae-hyun was his next-door neighbor and a close friend of his daughter, Kim Chae-eun.

***

ippotranslations

***

‘Wow, amazing. Praise be to the great Myeong-hyun.’

Swinging my sword with enthusiasm, I silently chanted a hymn in praise of Professor Kim Myeong-hyun.

Until I entered the Academy, I had been training alone all this time. There was no special method or clear technique, just blind, relentless training. Thanks to [Effort of the Seeker], my rune level continued to rise even with such training. But today, after listening to Professor Kim Myeong-hyun’s lecture and embodying it in my movements, I clearly realized that having a mentor makes an enormous difference in rune growth.

[Power starts to infuse your sword, slicing through space.]

[Your rune level has increased.]

[You have acquired the derivative skill of the [Sword] rune, ‘Combo’.]

Suddenly, I felt like a fool for mindlessly recommending only Professor Tak Won-ho to Park Jin-woo. Professor Kim Myeong-hyun was as good as or even better than Professor Tak Won-ho among the intermediate-level instructors.