I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 97

EP.97 The Battle for Kang Seo-jun (2)

“Seo-jun! Can you spare a moment? Just a moment, please?”

“Ah! Seriously!! Lim Chae-won! What do you want now! I was first!! Hey Kang Seo-jun! You said you’d help me with training!!”

“No!!! Hey!! Park Shin! Who do you think you are?! Who are you to tell me to get lost?!”

“Ah….”

Lim Chae-won, Park Shin-hye, and Jin Se-rin.

The three girls began a three-way battle over Kang Seo-jun.

‘The Three Kingdoms of Kang Seo-jun!’

Lim Chae-won deliberately approached Kang Seo-jun amidst the confusion.

As Park Shin-hye and Jin Se-rin raised their voices over Kang Seo-jun, she seized the opportunity.

‘Seo-jun must have been troubled between those two!’

Her plan was to be the lifeline that pulled Seo-jun out of the fight and to propose the long-delayed scout offer.

‘What a brilliant idea!’

Admiring her own cleverness, Lim Chae-won nervously opened her mouth.

“Se-Seo-jun? I need to talk to you for a moment….”

“Hey! Chae-won! Stop Park Shin-hye! I’ll handle Se-rin!!!”

“…Huh?”

But life rarely goes as planned.

‘Why?’

When she came to her senses, Lim Chae-won found herself hugging Park Shin-hye, caught in the middle of the fight as per Kang Seo-jun’s request.

“Hey! Kang Seo-jun! What did you just say!? Pa-Park Shin… hye? How dare you! How dare you call me by that name!? Hey! Come here!”

“Ugh! Wh-why…! Am I…! In this…! Fight…! Shin-hye, calm down!!”

“…!? Lim Chae-won, you too?! Let go! Let go of me!!! Let go!!! Am I a joke to you!?”

– Murmur, murmur. –

The commotion caused by Park Shin-hye’s shouting drew the attention of everyone around them.

“Hey, there’s a fight over there.”

“Why are they fighting?”

“I saw Park Shin-hye and Jin Se-rin arguing over Kang Seo-jun, saying something about a boyfriend….”

“Huh? I get Jin Se-rin, but why Park Shin… hye? No way!”

“Hey! Shouldn’t we stop them? Someone might get hurt!”

“Kang Seo-jun and Lim Chae-won are trying to stop them. If we get involved, we’ll just get caught in the crossfire.”

The students around them chatted excitedly, as if they had found an entertaining spectacle.

“Senior, shouldn’t we stop the fight?”

“Who is it? Wow, Park Shin-hye and Jin Se-rin?”

“Just leave them for a bit. Let’s see the skills of these promising talents.”

“But still…. What if they get hurt….”

“The infirmary is right next door, and healers are on standby. What’s there to worry about?”

“We shouldn’t step in and resolve this easily. Let them try to handle it themselves first. If it gets serious, we’ll intervene.”

The active hunters and instructors seemed to have no intention of intervening until the situation became more serious.

With her heightened senses at ’23,’ Lim Chae-won could hear all the conversations around her.

“Hehe! Look at Chae-won’s face. She’s completely out of it.”

At the last comment, Lim Chae-won’s face turned bright red.

‘No, no!? Those guys! Instead of just watching, come and help!! Ah, this isn’t what I wanted!’

She had planned to just pull Kang Seo-jun out of the trouble he was having between the two, but Park Shin-hye and Jin Se-rin’s escalating voices ruined everything.

‘If it’s come to this…!!!’

Lim Chae-won tightened her grip around Park Shin-hye.

– Squeeze!!! –

“Ah, ow!? It hurts! It hurts! Lim Chae-won! I’m going to burst!! Ugh!? Hey! Hey! You crazy girl!!!”

Park Shin-hye struggled in pain, but Lim Chae-won held her even tighter.

‘I need to stop this fight as soon as possible and at least get some credit from Seo-jun!!!’

Surely, helping to stop his girlfriend’s fight wouldn’t just end with a simple thank you.

At the very least, he’d buy her a drink and express his gratitude.

‘That’s when I’ll make the scout offer! Yes! If I ask then, it’ll be harder for him to refuse!’

It’s harder to refuse a favor when you owe someone.

– Squeeze!!!! –

Lim Chae-won tightened her grip even more.

“Ugh, ugh!!! Are you trying to break me!!! Lim Chae…!!! Ugh!!!”

Park Shin-hye turned blue in the face, struggling in Lim Chae-won’s arms.

Meanwhile,

“Se-rin!! Calm down!!!”

Kang Seo-jun was also wrestling with Jin Se-rin with all his might.

“You’re listening to me, right? Se-Se-rin!?”

He was holding her waist in a wrestling tackle stance, trying to hold her back.

– Slide, slide…. –

But even with all his weight, he couldn’t overpower Jin Se-rin, and his feet were sliding backward.

“Se-Se-rin! Please!”

“What? Why? Why stop me? I just want to talk. Move aside for a moment, Seo-jun. Let me hear what that bitch has to say.”

“Please!!!”

Despite being at least three times larger than Jin Se-rin, Kang Seo-jun couldn’t overpower her small frame.

It felt like wrestling with a diamond pillar.

‘I have to hold on!’

His muscles were already exhausted, but Kang Seo-jun clung on with sheer willpower.

‘If I let go of Se-rin now, a hundred percent, something bad will happen!’

Recently, Kang Seo-jun had noticed Jin Se-rin’s obsession growing stronger by the day.

And it had intensified as Kang Seo-jun’s appearance reached its peak.

Earlier in the morning, she had followed him all the way to the restroom door.

In the hallway, she clung to him as if showing off her boyfriend.

And now, Park Shin-hye had openly provoked her….

There was no way Jin Se-rin would let this go easily, especially to set an example.

“Se-rin!! Stop for a moment and let’s talk!!”

“No? Seo-jun. I can’t let this go. I need to get at least an apology. Move.”

Jin Se-rin began to pry Kang Seo-jun’s arms apart.

– Squeeze!!! –

“Ugh!!!”

With his muscles already weakened, even his mental strength couldn’t help him hold on any longer as Jin Se-rin applied more force.

– Thud! –

Finally, Kang Seo-jun’s hands and legs gave out, and he collapsed helplessly to the floor.

– Bang!! –

At the same time, Jin Se-rin, now free from his grip, launched herself towards Park Shin-hye with a powerful push off the ground.

“Huff, huff!”

If he let the situation continue, not only Park Shin-hye but also Lim Chae-won could get hurt.

“No, no!!!”

In the end, Kang Seo-jun had no choice but to use his hidden trump card.

◆Trait

[Spirit Resonance (Earth) Lv. Rare]

“Ugh!”

Though it was a trump card, it was an ability he would have had to reveal eventually.

It was far better to reveal his trump card now than to risk Park Shin-hye getting hurt, which could hinder future training, or to create an irreparable rift between the heroines.

“Huff!!!”

– Rumble, rumble!!! –

– Crack, crack, crack!!! –

With Kang Seo-jun’s shout, an earthen wall burst through the gymnasium floor, blocking Jin Se-rin’s path.

“Wha-what!?”

– Thud! –

Unable to overcome her momentum, Jin Se-rin collided with the rising wall.

“Ugh!?”

“Se-rin! I’m sorry!”

Taking advantage of the moment, Kang Seo-jun curved the earthen wall to encircle Jin Se-rin.

“Seo-Seo-jun…!?”

Just before the earthen wall completely enclosed her, Jin Se-rin turned to Kang Seo-jun with a look of anxiety and shock, but he didn’t stop.

“Calm down for a bit, and we’ll talk later!”

– Crunch! –

– Crack! –

With the sound of large stones grinding together, the earthen wall fully enclosed Jin Se-rin.

“Kang Seo-jun!! Open this!!”

– Thud! –

No sooner had the wall closed than Jin Se-rin launched a full-force attack from inside.

“Ugh!”

The damage transmitted directly through his mana circuits.

It felt like his veins were twisting in pain, but Kang Seo-jun gritted his teeth and endured.

‘I can hold this with my mana for about 30 seconds… maybe.’

He needed to resolve the situation before then.

“Hey! Park Shin-hye!!!”

Kang Seo-jun called out to the instigator of the incident.

“You, you, you! Hey, you bastard!!! I told you not to call me that!!!”

“Ah. Is that really important right now?”

Who cares about names.

Her status window kept showing [Park Shin-hye], but he kept mistakenly calling her Park Shin-hu.

Kang Seo-jun called her name once more.

“Shut up and get over here!!! Park Shin-hye!!!”

– Thud! –

-Open it!! Kang Seo-jun! Open it!!!

– Thud! Bang! –

“Ugh!”

As he shouted Park Shin-hye’s name, Jin Se-rin’s attacks from inside the earthen wall grew even more intense.

“Hurry up!!!”

“Kang Seo-jun is calling me! Let go now!!!”

“Uh, uh…? Okay….”

As soon as Lim Chae-won’s grip loosened, Park Shin-hye shook her off and moved next to Kang Seo-jun.

“What, what are we going to do now!?”

“What else…? Phew….”

There was only one option.

“We have to escape.”

“How!?”

Kang Seo-jun pulled out a scroll from his pocket.

It was a ‘Dimensional Shop Blink Scroll’ that he always carried for emergencies.

He had even coated it with ‘Invisibility Oil’ to keep it thoroughly hidden as his emergency escape tool.

“Stay still for a moment.”

– Drip! –

Kang Seo-jun placed his hand on Park Shin-hye’s head.

“What, what are you doing!?”

“Just stay still.”

He then channeled a bit of his mana, linking Park Shin-hye’s circuits with his own.

Next,

– Rip! –

Using his remaining left hand and mouth, Kang Seo-jun tore the ‘Dimensional Shop Blink Scroll.’

In that instant,

– Flash! –

With a flash of violet light, Kang Seo-jun and Park Shin-hye vanished.

– Whoosh! –

All that remained where they had been was a faint breeze.

“Huff, huff!”

In an instant, Kang Seo-jun had showcased both the rare trait of spirit magic and the high-level spell Blink.

The shocking sight caused an uproar in the gymnasium.

“Wh-what was that!? What did Kang Seo-jun just do!?”

“Earth elemental magic…? No. Is it possible to do that without a magic staff?”

“What magic! There was no incantation or catalyst! It was spirit magic! Earth Spirit Resonance!”

“No! More importantly! That flash and disappearance! Wasn’t that light attribute magic!?”

“Light attribute magic?! Are you insane! That means he has both spirit resonance and attribute magic!?”

“No! The color was different! It wasn’t white, it was purple!”

“No. If it was purple… it wasn’t light attribute magic, just regular magic, right?”

“No, no! Then he used regular magic… to cast teleportation? A student casting such a high-level spell so quickly? That’s even more unbelievable!”

– Murmur, murmur. –

“Oh my goodness….”

It wasn’t just the students who were filled with awe and astonishment.

“…This isn’t student level. This is something else.”

“Earth spirit magic… and teleportation magic… my goodness. We just witnessed something unbelievable.”

“And all of that… was done by that one big male student. This is insane….”

“Even among S-rank hunters, there are very few who can use both high-level magic and spirit magic simultaneously.”

“Contact the guild scouts immediately!!”

“Does anyone know the name of that student? The big male student!! If not, find out!!”

The Taesan Group, the Seongjin Group, the Association, and the academy instructors.

Every faction began to covet Kang Seo-jun.

“Ah, ah…!!!! Noooo!!!”

Lim Chae-won, witnessing this, fell into despair.

And then….

– Bang!!! –

Jin Se-rin, who had finally broken through the earthen wall, looked around and saw that Kang Seo-jun and Park Shin-hye had disappeared together, and let out a bitter laugh.

“Ha…. Haha…. This is ridiculous? Ha, hahaha??!! Hahahahaha!!”

Where could that half-wit girl have taken her boyfriend?

– Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! –

Jin Se-rin stomped her feet as she headed towards the gym entrance.

She needed to find that girl as soon as possible and make sure she never approached her boyfriend again.

“S-Student Jin Se-rin! Leaving during training will count as an absence…!”

“I don’t care!”

An instructor tried to stop her, but Jin Se-rin pushedss her aside and stormed out of the gym.

Meanwhile, outside with Park Shin-hye, Kang Seo-jun said….

“What is…? What is this?”

“Never mind, just get ready for training. I’ll help you here.”

He had brought Park Shin-hye to the 《Dimensional Rift Warehouse – N320697691》.

“How-how is this even possible!?”

“Sigh…. Listen. You can’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

Not that anyone would believe her anyway.

Who would believe that a mere student could create such a high-level subspace?

‘I’ll leave Park Shin-hye here to train and go about my own business. 《Heir of Taesan》 is important, but getting combat skills is urgent too.’

Kang Seo-jun had a mountain of tasks to handle besides training Park Shin-hye.