Chapter 5

EP.5 Can't you watch where you're going?

Although it may seem sudden, Shiyoram's size is incredibly vast.

I remember it being about the same size as Jeju Island. I never really had a good sense of how big Jeju Island is.

However, the fact that such a large island is being used as a single educational institution is mind-boggling.

The facilities for Awakeners take up so much space that such a vast area is necessary.

Thanks to its size, the autonomous buses that run within Shiyoram are spaced about 10 minutes apart at each stop.

Leaving the dormitory and sitting in the bus seat, I gaze out the window... the path I sense.

As I feel the spaces passing by, I can't help but be awed.

I knew that a whole large island was being used, but experiencing it firsthand is different.

It has been about a week and a half since I started living in this world.

Today is the day of the freshmen welcome party.

While I was holed up in my room, struggling with my textbooks, other students gradually completed their dormitory check-ins.

“Hey, is that him? The, special admission.”

“Seems like it.”

“Even though he’s a Sensor, he feels different somehow.”

The evidence is the continuous glances and whispers.

Even though I’m huddled in the corner of the bus, I’m still noticed. Is it really that attention-grabbing to walk around with your eyes closed?

Upon reflection, it seems like it could be.

I’ve only known him for less than a day, but my name has become quite famous among the students.

The mention of special admission just now.

Not a student who took the exam administered by Shiyoram and got in, but one who was directly contacted by an insider and admitted.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like something that would draw much attention.

There are students who are recommended by Shiyoram professors and those who benefit from strong connections and get admitted.

However, if you know that the ‘insider’ here is not a professor but only one person, it makes sense.

‘Neriel Claudius.’

The founder of Shiyoram.

The owner of the Tower of Growth.

The Silent Mage.

A legendary figure who has lived for over 150 years.

The incredible achievements of subduing a Special Dungeon and destroying dozens of Level 1 Dungeons.

A Level 1 Dungeon, if it goes out of control, can destroy a city, and a Special Dungeon can threaten the existence of a nation.

Especially during the time when the Chancellor was active, it was not a peaceful era but one of turmoil and chaos.

Considering that nowadays, even in advanced countries, it’s rare for Dungeons to go out of control, these achievements are even more astonishing.

In other words, the Chancellor is a historical figure who has prevented dozens of nation-overthrowing and city-destroying Dungeons, etched in the pages of history.

Moreover, he is the owner of an educational institution that has produced superhumans for almost a century on the front lines.

Such a figure has recommended a talent. For the first time in nearly a hundred years since Shiyoram was founded.

The first time.

This alone is enough to be a juicy gossip topic, but the fact that the first candidate is blind and mute? Where else would you find such a gossip topic? Even I would be curious.

‘When it was a game, it wasn’t something to worry about.’

Being a special admission was not a significant factor in the game.

Even while progressing through the main story, I never met Chancellor Neriel himself, and it was just a matter of increasing the interest level in the game.

But now that it’s reality, the pressure is immense.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that 100% of the people are whispering about me. And it’s not all positive; I also hear negative comments.

“Damn. How can a blind person get into Shiyoram?”

“It’s the Chancellor’s connection, so what does it matter if he’s blind?”

“Wow… is this the disabled admission?”

They whisper, thinking I can’t hear, but my improved hearing picks up everything clearly…

‘Disabled admission…’

I saw the term ‘disabled admission’ on the internet. It didn’t make me feel particularly bad.

After all, I am a disabled admission…

I will definitely break free from the constraints. I vowed to become strong for that, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if I could really become strong.

Swinging a sword to split a car, or fire rising from a person’s hand to burn down a building.

It was only virtual, not real. According to my common sense, such things were impossible.

But that common sense has been shattered for the past two weeks.

The world changed in an instant. I suddenly lost my eyes and gained the ability to read space.

I can also sense the mana that exists everywhere in the world. I even have a little mana in my body.

It seems possible, but… my shattered common sense, now just fragments, denies it.

Is it possible? I don’t think I can.

How long did I wait, sitting on a thorn? The bus door opened at the destination, and students started to get off.

I followed the crowd and got off as well.

The students were heading to the banquet hall, so I didn’t need to use the navigation; following the crowd was enough.

Inside the banquet hall.

It was bustling with students who had arrived early, but the spaciousness of the building made it not too uncomfortable.

Checking the time, there were about 30 minutes left before it started.

To avoid the sudden attention, I went outside the banquet hall. I headed to a nearby convenience store to get a drink.

‘I have to get used to this.’

I’ve never received such attention in my life, so it feels awkward and burdensome.

If it were any other time, I would have just let it go and run away, but given my situation, I have to grit my teeth and stay at Shiyoram.

I took a deep breath, opened the cap of the water bottle I bought from the convenience store, and took a sip.

If it were any other time, I would have bought fruit juice, but given the state of my tongue, I felt depressed that it tasted like nothing.

I wanted to at least feel the scent, but… my sense of smell is the same.

Thinking about it made me even more depressed. The negative thoughts kept piling up, making me feel like I was digging a hole in the ground, not just my heart.

I shook my head and sighed.

…Thinking negatively doesn’t change much. I can’t just curse my situation.

I need to take action to get out of the negative hole. I need to move, not just think.

‘Yeah. I’m preparing, right?’

Repeating this to myself, I was about to head back to the banquet hall.

“Hey, hey! Watch out…!”

It was a moment.

While leaving the alley where the convenience store was, something came at me from outside my spatial awareness and hit me.

“?!”

“Ouch! What the hell?”

The water bottle flew into the air, spilling its contents. My body, unable to withstand the shock, rolled on the ground, and I almost screamed.

Actually, I screamed when I was hit. Now I’m in pain.

“Scared you. Hey, can’t you watch where you’re going? People are trying to get by, d… e… e… e…”

My throat hurt. I was quite familiar with the pain of my throat being torn, but it still hurt.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

While trying to manage the pain from the Curse of Silence, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere above. It was a character voice I often heard while playing the game.

I reflexively looked up, and the voice trailed off, then stopped. The outline I saw through spatial awareness. A woman was looking down at me.

I could only see the outline, but I could guess who it was from the voice.

Hong Yeon-hwa.

One of the three major families in Korea, the Gyeonghwa family.

The daughter of Hong Jin-yeon, the current head of the Gyeonghwa family, and the granddaughter of the former head.

A precious child who will become the future head of the Gyeonghwa family and one of the main characters with the potential to be the strongest in the world.

“Eh, no, that…”

Before Hong Yeon-hwa, who suddenly fell silent, could speak again, I quickly got up and bowed.

Did I really do something wrong? Was it wrong for her to hit me?

I pushed this thought aside before I could fully raise my head. It’s not a good idea to argue about who’s right or wrong here.

There was a feature that came to mind before her small, flame-like appearance and her graceful figure.

Her fiery temper. In short, she’s hot-tempered. A nervous and irritable personality with the principle of repaying one good deed with ten and one bad deed with ten.

Combined with the aura I felt from Hong Yeon-hwa.

She’s like a ball of fire. The mana taking the form of fire makes it feel like I’ll burn to death just by looking at her.

Reacting with ‘You’re the one who’s wrong, you crazy woman’ wouldn’t result in a good response.

The image of myself becoming firewood flashed through my mind.

At least in the game, that’s how it was, and in reality, I wouldn’t get a good outcome by saying it’s her fault.

With this judgment, I quickly got up and tapped my watch.

“No! No! What do you mean sorry? On the contrary, I’m the one who’s sorry. I was in a hurry and couldn’t see where I was going. I’m really sorry.”

?

But her reaction was strange.

Instead, she bowed and apologized.

If it were a game, this would have immediately turned into a battle event, wouldn’t it?

I hesitated for a moment, then bowed in return.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence hung in the air.

I was surprised by Hong Yeon-hwa’s unexpected attitude, and she… I don’t know why she’s like this.

“Eh… You’re that special admission student, right?”

“I know your name. You’re quite famous, aren’t you… um… um…”

I know I’m famous, whether it’s for good or bad reasons.

This is it.

Even the regular admission students would be unhappy. They worked hard and sweated to get in, and even those who got in through recommendations had to take a simple test.

I didn’t take any test and just got in. From their perspective, I must be infuriating.

I also experienced the glances on the bus, and in the original story, the other students generally had low affinity towards me in the early stages.

‘?’

The end of her sentence trailed off. For some reason, Hong Yeon-hwa’s reaction was strange again. She seemed at a loss, her fingertips trembling.

“Eh… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it badly.”

I really don’t understand why she’s like this.

While the awkward atmosphere continued, I remembered the welcome party schedule and quickly checked the time.

Fortunately, there was still time. The convenience store was right next to the hall, so I could walk there with plenty of time to spare.

“Wait, just a moment!”

Just as I was about to turn, Hong Yeon-hwa frantically waved her hand.

“Do you want me to guide you? I’m sorry about what happened earlier…”

‘I’ll decline…’

But there was no way to refuse.

* * *

‘Crazy woman.’

Such a crazy, dog-like woman.

Hong Yeon-hwa cursed herself as she replayed the earlier scene.

Here’s what happened. She overslept a bit and, as a result, had to rush out of the dormitory.

The facilities were decent. Not as good as the main house, but they were of a high standard, allowing her to sleep comfortably.

But because she overslept, Hong Yeon-hwa had to run frantically.

She didn’t take the bus. Although the bus was slower than running, she would have taken it to pass the time if it were a normal day.

But with the tight schedule, she just ran.

Thinking back, did she really need to run so fast? Probably not. Halfway through, she had enough time to walk without rushing.

…Her field of vision narrowed, and she thought she was just late, so she planned to keep running until she arrived.

Her focus was one-sided, narrowing her field of vision, and as a result, she didn’t notice the person walking out of the alley and hit them.

There’s a bit of an excuse for this. The person’s presence was unusually faint. As an Awakened with enhanced senses, she wouldn’t normally miss such a faint presence.

Also, she clearly slowed down before the collision. If she had hit an average person, they would have just stumbled a bit.

But the person she hit rolled on the ground and groaned as if they had been stabbed.

The exaggerated pain made her a bit speechless.

She quickly showed her temper and regretted it within 10 seconds.

She glanced back. A male student was following her, holding onto her sleeve.

His notable feature was his small build. Even though she was tall, he was smaller than her. His frail appearance made it understandable why he rolled on the ground.

Additionally, the way he followed her with his eyes tightly closed, holding onto her sleeve, stimulated a strange protective instinct.

…The moisture on his eyelids stabbed her heart. Why was there moisture? She didn’t want to imagine it, but the answer came to her.

And she had just stimulated this protective instinct by hitting a blind boy and throwing him to the ground, then cursing him for not watching where he was going…

‘Damn…’

Hong Yeon-hwa always heard advice from her family elders, grandfather, and father to calm down.

She was born with a fiery temper, and the family’s indulgent atmosphere contributed to her personality. She also became impatient and irritable through various experiences.

Hong Yeon-hwa herself didn’t pay much attention to this advice, which led to this result.

She couldn’t control her momentary anger and caused this trouble.

…She had just brushed off the dust, but it seemed to be on her clothes again. She reached out to brush it off his shoulder, and he flinched.

“Oh, I saw some dust was still on you.”

His flinch seemed to be a reflex, and he nodded, answering through a hologram.

…Of course, speaking verbally is much more convenient than tapping a smartwatch to output a hologram.

But she couldn’t speak.

‘Should I have kept my mouth shut?’

It’s awkward. I don’t know what to say.

It’s not like we’re close friends, and we just met.

Especially as the perpetrator who committed such a dog-like rudeness, it’s even harder to start a conversation.

To try to make amends, she offered a brief apology and personally guided him, but this wouldn’t be enough to make up for it.

She had already caused trouble.

Hong Yeon-hwa cursed herself and gently held Lee Ha-yul’s sleeve, leading him.