Chapter 9: Rating Test (2)

There were several ability test sites set up in each district.
Special sensors were installed to calculate all impacts occurring within the test site and then assign a rank corresponding to that output.
Abilities that required further evaluation from here would undergo additional testing at the special test site in the central area.

In Lee Sihyuk’s case, he received a D-rank at this first ability test site.
He likely never questioned that result and had just believed it ever since.

I planned to use this opportunity to properly show what Lee Sihyuk’s ability was.
However, not 100% of it, I would limit the demonstration to the basic application I used in the joint battle with Suisei.
Or rather, I couldn’t use any other applications right now anyway.
This was because the method of utilizing Lee Sihyuk, discovered by a user in Legend of Academia and now commonly used, required several conditions.

However, that attempt hit a snag right from the start.

“That would be difficult.
Moving to the central facility for additional testing is only for truly special cases.”
“I am one of those special cases.”
“Haha.
But isn’t it quite a peculiar thing to find that out only after becoming a high school student?
In these cases, it’s mostly a student’s misunderstanding…. Ah, I’m not saying that’s what it is for you, Mr. Lee Sihyuk.
I’m just speaking of possibilities.”

The test site supervisor.
This bald man, sweating profusely despite the weather not being particularly hot, refused my request in a roundabout way.

“Isn’t it also possible that’s not the case?
In the first place, I wouldn’t have brought this up if I wasn’t certain.”
“That is certainly true….
However, it requires a paper trail.
How about preparing the documents before the next test, not this one?”
“I came here after confirming that applications can be made on the day of the test.”
“And what is the source of that information?”

The AkaWiki.
A community I found on the internet where academy students share their information.
But if I say the source is the AkaWiki, he’ll probably reject it immediately, saying it’s false information.

“I asked a teacher.”
“Hmm… a teacher.
Just because they’re a teacher at the school doesn’t mean they know all the procedures.”

Ah, this was an endlessly circular way of speaking.
It was a method often seen in people who wanted to avoid taking responsibility and didn’t want to deal with troublesome tasks, dragging things out to refuse.
If I were in a position of power, I could seize an opening and chew him out, but since I’m the one in the position of asking a favor, there’s no good solution right now.

“Anyway, next time, please make the request after confirming the proper procedure.
Right now, we’re short-handed just processing the current students’ tests.”
“For now… I understand.”
“Oh my, thank you.
Then, good luck with your test.”

I trudged back to the waiting area outside.

“I told you to wait, where did you go off to again!”
“…To the bathroom.”
“Please, just tell me before you go anywhere, Sihyuk.”

My homeroom teacher, Kate, snapped at me with an irritable attitude, so I just nodded my head silently.
After I disappeared during the entrance ceremony last time, Kate had been paying a bit too much attention to me.
I got off with writing a few letters of apology, but Kate, who had to manage the students, must have been embroiled in various troublesome matters.
Like writing a formal report.
Or getting chewed out by the head teacher.
Or having a meeting with the principal.
I could somewhat imagine her suffering, so I had been obediently following Kate’s words as much as possible since the entrance ceremony.

When I returned to my seat, a few curious gazes pierced the back of my head, but only for a moment.
Soon, they started chatting amongst themselves again like before.
My goodness, it’s a complete marketplace.
It seemed it wasn’t just our school, but several schools using the test site at the same time.
The teachers were maintaining a minimum level of control, but they couldn’t possibly stop every single person from chattering in their seats.

However, even amidst all that, there was one school that was exceptionally quiet.
Long, pure white one-piece dresses.
Black sleeves and neck collars, with a red ribbon.
One of the four great prestigious schools of Academy City.
Edelweiss.

At first, it was a school for young ladies where only daughters from prestigious families were admitted, but as the years passed, talented children began to enroll one by one, and it eventually became a prestigious school.
It was a frightening school with a rumor that, due to its firmly established school culture, any troublemaker who entered would transform into a proper young lady within a year or two.

I scanned the area where the Edelweiss students were, wondering if I could see Suisei’s face.
I thought I might find her quickly since she was so tall, but no matter how many times I looked around, I couldn’t see her at all.

“Did only the second-years come?”

Only the second-years from our school had come.
It seemed to be the same for Edelweiss.
As expected, I’m lacking in this kind of detailed information.
If I’m going to continue living as Lee Sihyuk, I might need to fill in these kinds of basic knowledge gaps.

Anyway, what should I do?

I thought it would end with just asking the supervisor, but I’ve hit a wall right from the start.
I could just grab any random classmate and force them to help with the test, but… using that method might unnecessarily get on the supervisor’s nerves.
After all, the decision to ultimately send a student to the central testing site was within the supervisor’s authority.
Hmm……
Hmm……

This has gotten kind of annoying.

And since ancient times, the best way to deal with annoying things is to dump them on someone else.
With that thought, I turned on my phone.

There were a total of four numbers saved.
The owner of Cheongryonggak.
Baek Soso.
Kasuga Suisei.
And the last one.

Joo Siyoung.

“Well then, I’ll be in your care~!”
“My goodness, how could I refuse? I will certainly assist you.”

It was smooth sailing.
It took 25 minutes for Joo Siyoung to arrive at the ability test site.
2 minutes to introduce herself to Kate.
And 3 minutes to persuade the supervisor to send me to the central facility.

The supervisor still looked uncomfortable, but he silently nodded his head.
Then again, what could he do if he was uncomfortable?
Joo Siyoung.
A teacher from the Special Abilities Division was, according to the lore, on par with a director of the academy.
When she says jump, you jump.
But Joo Siyoung went one step further and even proposed a solution to lessen the supervisor’s burden.
The moment he heard her method, his sullen expression did a 180-degree turn and became as bright as before.

“Hm? What is it, Sihyuk? Is there something on my face?”
“No….”

Joo Siyoung and I excused ourselves from Kate and came out to a bench outside the test site for a moment, just the two of us.
Like last time, Joo Siyoung was holding a coffee and an e-cigarette, and I was holding a cola.

“Or maybe you’re just surprised at how amazing your big sis is~”

I silently nodded my head.
I knew her character setting described her as an administrative genius, but I never expected her to persuade that troublesome type of supervisor in just three minutes.

“But to suddenly want to go to the central facility for a test now.
Were you hiding something all this time?
Is this a case of Sihyuk hiding his power, something like that?”
“It’s similar.
Though it’s not like I hid it on purpose.”
“What’s the reason?”

Even though her tone was soft as usual, it sounded sharp to my ears for some reason.
Joo Siyoung’s interest in me began with the incident where Suisei froze the entire park.

Suisei’s ability doesn’t have the firepower to freeze a whole park.
Nor does Suisei possess the judgment to immediately connect the anomaly in Academy City to the ‘Idea’.
Although Suisei is a model student with an excellent character and outstanding combat ability, she is, at the end of the day, just an all-rounder.
So, what variable was present for her that made all of that possible?

The conclusion of that line of thought, naturally, is me.
I was the only person who was by Suisei’s side all day.
The reason Joo Siyoung contacted me last weekend and offered me a spot in the Special Abilities Division was likely to get a better grasp of me.
She must have thought that if she kept me close and observed me, she would surely find something.

But the result was a refusal.
Through our brief conversation, she probably concluded that, unlike my sharp mind, I was just an ordinary student lacking confidence.

That’s why Joo Siyoung’s question remains completely unresolved.
The conclusion that Lee Sihyuk, a D-rank student who was thoroughly ordinary in ability, grades, and actions, was the cause of everything, and on top of that, had been deliberately hiding all his abilities.

Being satisfied with such a conclusion would, given her personality, be considered nothing more than a cognitive cop-out.

And in the midst of that, she got a call from me.

‘I want to take the ability test properly, but there’s a problem.’

So that’s why she came here so quickly to ask me like this.
What was the reason for hiding all of this until now?
My answer was already decided.

“That Special Abilities Division, I’ve become interested in it.”
“Hoh?”
“You were the first person to ever think so highly of me, Teacher.
They say praise can even make a whale dance, don’t they?”
“I see….”

Joo Siyoung nodded as if she understood for now.

“Are you confident?”
“Probably.”

Hearing my answer, Joo Siyoung rummaged through her pocket, took out her phone, and called someone.

“Alex, you’re free right now, right! You’re not?
Hmm, looks like you want to go back to juvenile hall.
Ah, is that so?
You’re free now, what a relief.
I’m sending you an address now, so come here immediately.
Got it?”
“…Who’s that?”

In truth, I knew right away when I heard the name Alex, but I deliberately asked her.

“The person who will help with your test.”

Alex Ichi.
A 3-star Lightning attribute dealer.