Chương 34: AFTER THE CHAOS

Jimin reached the school just as the morning bell rang. The corridor buzzed with a low, restless energy. Voices overlapped everywhere; excited, frightened and curious. Yesterday's Rift outbreak had left a deep impression on everyone, even those who hadn't been anywhere near the site.

"I heard the monsters were stronger than usual."

"They said a few people died again…"

"My mom didn't want to let me leave the house after that…" Jimin walked past the clusters of students, his bag slung over one shoulder, eyes forward. He listened without reacting, but every word scraped lightly at the back of his mind. They were talking about his battlefield. Funny, he thought. If only they knew that I killed a dozen of those… He entered his classroom. Yuna spotted him and waved at him.

"Everyone's talking about the Rift outbreak, huh?" said Jimin as he took his seat.

"Yeah," she replied.

"You know what? I was taking a nap when it happened. I only saw it in the news later. Thank God, I live far away from that area." Then, she glanced at him.

"What were you doing then?"

"Me?" Jimin hesitated for half a second, then smiled faintly.

"Just chilling at home."

"Glad you're safe."

"Same to you." But he paused, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk.

"But… we're Manaborns too, you remember?"

"Yeah. But it's not like we would've been able to do much," she continued.

"I'm only a Rank E-2 support type, and you…" She stopped mid-sentence, scanning him.

"Maybe you could've put up a fight. But me? You know." Jimin chuckled softly.

"Yeah. I get it." Yeah. I don't need to tell anybody that I leveled up, he thought. Not right now. Can't attract more attention. I'll reveal it after I enter a Rift officially. His gaze drifted to the back of the room, where a few students whispered among themselves. Anyway, most of them have already stopped messing with me. So, it's not urgent. The class went smoothly. Han Sora spent a good portion of the lecture discussing the Rift outbreak. She taught protocols, response patterns, and survival behaviors.

Today's lesson revolved almost entirely around emergency scenarios, evacuation rules, and common misconceptions about monster behavior. It was strange for Jimin to sit through it now. He had lived it. They talk about these things like theories, he thought. But when you're amidst a Rift outbreak… Nothing goes according to a textbook. The class ended after a while. —--- After lunch, combat lessons began. Ryu Seong-ho stood at the center of the training hall, arms folded, eyes sweeping over the students.

"Now that you've gotten the hang of your physical capabilities and skills," he continued, "we will now start systematic training." Students started whispering among themselves.

"Silence… We're going to teach you the basics of wielding weapons. Don't expect to achieve mastery here. We'll focus only on fundamentals; basic offensive and defensive techniques, footwork, weight transfer, stance, and positioning." He paused.

"These will help you later when you acquire weapon mastery skills." A student raised his hand.

"Yes?" Seong-ho said.

"Sir, may I ask something?"

"Go ahead." This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"Why didn't we learn this from the beginning?" Seong-ho smiled faintly.

"Good question." He walked a few steps forward.

"When I used to start with basics, most students didn't take them seriously. The rest couldn't understand the effects of the training and eventually deviated; except a few. So now, I start teaching the basics a bit late." He looked around.

"Now, you've experienced your own strength. You know what it feels like to move, fight, and strain your limits. So now, you can witness the difference between the output from before and after the training. I hope you have got your answer." The student nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Any more questions?" There was no response.

"Okay then. This training will last a week. I will teach the sword and blade basics, along with the axe. Instructor Lee will teach spear and other similar long weapons, along with shield basics. Also, we have brought a temporary assistant instructor for ranged weapons and dagger basics. And the mages and supporters will train mana control with Ms. Song." he finished with a clap, "Then… Let's start." Students headed for the arsenal. Jimin walked to the spear and shield rack and picked his usual ones. Hmm…

It isn't my primary fighting style, he thought. But learning won't hurt. And I don't really use daggers without telekinesis anyway. Doesn't suit my mid-range style. The instructors demonstrated stance alignment, grip tension, shoulder placement, and feet positions and offensive techniques. Students mimicked them again and again. Thrust. Step. Block. Pivot. Strike. The hour passed like slow-burning fire. Everyone was exhausted. Sweat dripped down Jimin's temples. His muscles burned in a deep, steady ache. Damn…

this is exhausting. He noticed several E-1rank students collapsing early, breathing heavily near the walls. Good thing I leveled up, he thought. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to keep up. When the break was announced, Jimin sat down in a quiet corner in lotus position to meditate. He suddenly noticed a few others doing the same. Huh… maybe they got Meditation too. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, letting his breathing steady. After a few minutes, a notification popped up.

[AGI +1, END +1, WIS +1]"Hell yeah…" he muttered under his breath. It was about time after all this. He opened his status window. —-------------------------------------------------- 【STATUS WINDOW】 Name: Sam Jimin Age: 16 Rank: E Level: 3 HP: 355/355 STA: 195/195 MP: 170/170 PE: 300/300 STATS: STR: 9 AGI: 10(+1) END: 11(+1) INT: 13 WIS: 11(+1) VIT: 11 CHA: 4 PSY: 21 LUK: 10 FREE STATPOINTS: 2 Unique Skill: Skillmaster Skills: Telekinesis (Lv. 5) Telekinetic spin (Lv. 4) Telekinetic barrier (Lv. 4) Meditation (Lv. 4) Growth (Lv. 3) Dash (Lv. 3) Appraisal (Lv. 6) Psychic Reservoir(Lv. 3) Inventory (Lv. 1) Gourmet Euphoria Training Freak Sound Sleep —------------------------------------------------------------ Damn… my HP, MP, and stamina went up again. He closed the window and resumed meditation until classes ended. —----- Later, he headed to the Appraiser Federation HQ. After reaching the Headquarters, he entered the building and greeted Ji-hye at the front desk. S he returned the greeting, professional and polite.

She really becomes a different person while working… huh, he thought. Then, he headed to complete his appraisals for today. —----- He completed his appraisal tasks. He had 9 successful appraisals today. Tch… Less than yesterday… which means less money. But there was good news. His ' Appraisal' skill had reached Level 7. He collected his earnings. It was 270, 000 won. He sighed faintly. Just as I thought. But Jimin was also curious about the price of his daggers.

So, he visited an online website that he came to know about from the staff there. It was 'Riftgear. com', a website of the federation for tracking equipment prices and trading equipment itself. Equipment could be bought and sold there, but the handover process was managed by the federation itself. He found out that his daggers had an estimated price of around 700, 000 Won each; depending on durability. He froze for a second. That much…? Then he remembered, Well, I can earn that much in a week now.

When the time comes, I'll sell them and buy my own gear. But not now. Can't take the risk. Selling goblin daggers right after a goblin invasion would raise suspicions. At the exit, Ji-hye was standing.

"Were you waiting for me?" Jimin said.

"No," she replied in a flat manner.

"I just have too much free time…" she continued, "Of course I was. We were both victims of a rift outbreak. We are bound to gossip about it today." He smiled.

"Sure."

"Let's head to the bus station."

"Yeah, right." They walked to the bus station together, talking about the outbreak. She mentioned that the man they saved was fine. Jimin felt relieved. And a little proud as well. After parting ways, he sat by the window of the bus, watching the city slide by. His thoughts circled slowly about today's findings. But one line echoed clearly in his mind. Well… Now, I have some tests to do.