There was even a place selling bandages.
It was a store specializing in medical supplies.
I bought several syringes.
Even though Han Si-hoo had brought the medicine vials, there might not have been any syringes left.
Unfortunately, the type of medicine I wanted wasn’t available.

Still, the Academy was vast—big enough to sell almost anything you needed.

"When is the entrance ceremony?"

I asked on the way back to the dorm.

"The entrance ceremony?"

"Yeah."

The Academy’s break was short.
Since it was a training institution designed to prepare students to fight monsters, they couldn’t afford to take long breaks.

"Three weeks left."

So, there were three weeks of break remaining.
Just thinking about hanging out with other Academy students already felt tiresome.
Then again, making friends might be a good thing.
Right?
But I didn’t like the idea of the medicine’s effects wearing off.

"Do you need to prepare anything else?"

I should double-check everything before starting school.
Especially since it was right before the entrance ceremony.
There must be something other than the uniform.

"Not really. You don’t need to worry about anything."

"Really?"

"Yeah, school supplies aren’t necessary, and even if you need weapons, the Academy provides the basics."

He trailed off.
Was there a problem?

"That’s fine, but you’ll probably be assigned a new dorm around the time of the entrance ceremony. You’ll have to stay there alone."

"Okay."

It seemed I’d be getting a new dorm room.

"...Will you be alright?"

Han Si-hoo spoke with concern.
He tended to underestimate me.

"I’ll be fine. I can handle things by myself."

So far, I hadn’t had any issues going about daily life.
There was nothing I needed Han Si-hoo’s help for.

I was normal.
There was nothing wrong with me.
I was just taking medicine because I was unwell, but I’d get better eventually.

There was nothing for Han Si-hoo to worry about.
He couldn’t stay with me all the time just because he was concerned.
For now, it was fine since it was break and there weren’t many people around, but later on, people might start to find it odd.

"So, how will I get the medicine from now on?"

"They’ll deliver it once a week."

"Delivery?"

"The Academy has its own delivery system, but I’ll be the one to receive your medicine for now."

"I see."

The Academy had something like a post office?
As a place that gave special treatment to Awakened, it really had everything.

"They’ll also give you a device soon. You can use it as a phone for now."

"Alright."

That seemed necessary.
I needed a way to contact people.

"If anything happens at the Academy, let me know immediately. I’ll be with you most of the time for now, but later, I’m not sure what might happen."

"Got it."

Hopefully, there would be no reason to reach out.
It was better for problems not to arise in the first place.

"Do you have any other questions?"

He continued explaining what the Academy was like, how things worked, and its systems.
It was fascinating just hearing about it.
A strict hierarchy based entirely on skill.

I wondered where Yoo Seo-ah would fall in the Academy’s hierarchy.
At the bottom?
Or maybe not, as long as I had medicine.

3 hours 55 minutes.

Not this medicine.
The kind that’s good for fighting.
Should I ask the doctor for more?
I didn’t have his contact info, so that wasn’t possible.

"Can we go back to the house?"

Even though Han Si-hoo had brought the medicine, home was still home.

"Not right now... Maybe once you’re fully recovered. Then, the Academy will issue a pass for you."

I remembered needing some kind of pass when I visited Han Si-hoo to borrow money.
It must be a similar system.

"Even during break?"

"Students can freely leave during break, but you’re not officially considered a full student yet."

I guess that was how things worked in a boarding school.
Not everyone wanted to be there, so the restrictions were tight.

"Got it."

Runaways were treated like criminals.
The Academy was essentially a place designed to keep Awakened on a leash.
But I wasn’t an Awakened.
Without the doctor’s medicine, I couldn’t fight.

Suddenly, I remembered being attacked by those Academy students.
If I had been stronger, could I have fought back?
I had only gone outside because there was no food left in the house.
Because I was hungry.
I felt hungry now too.

"What do you want to eat for lunch?"

"Whatever you want..."

We weren’t headed back to the dorm, were we?
Now that I thought about it, he had mentioned grabbing food.
The food court.
There were several places selling food, some of them quite fancy.

There weren’t many people around.

"Let’s go there."

We entered a suitable-looking place.
As expected, it was run by machines.

"I don’t see any people."

"Yeah, a lot of places use machines for cooking, too."

That must save a lot on labor costs.
I ate the food I was served, though I couldn’t tell if it was made by a machine or a person.
Fried rice with meat?
I didn’t know what it was called, but it tasted good.

Better than canned tuna.
No risk of cutting myself on the can lid either.

It was a brief moment of normalcy.
A day where I ate with a friend.
I hadn’t realized that was possible.

There are no eternal uphill climbs, nor eternal downhill ones.
Who said that?
Anyway, it was time to use the medicine.
I could feel my mood plummeting.

How long had it been since we got back to the dorm?

34 minutes.

Either way, it was time for the medicine.

The moment I held the syringe in my hand, my head was already buzzing with anticipation.
I could feel my heart racing.
That familiar excitement.
The one time of day when I could genuinely smile.

Thud.

5 hours 5 minutes.

I felt better.
But the effects of the medicine didn’t seem to last long.
Would Han Si-hoo give me more if I asked?
He was looking at his phone, probably checking messages.

I remembered the bandages I had bought.
Not wanting to disturb him, I went into the room.
Sitting on the floor, I started wrapping them around my arms.
It was simple.
After doing it a few times, I’d gotten the hang of it.

Left arm done.
Right arm.
I had trouble with it, and the bandage kept slipping from my hand.

"Seo-ah?"

"......"

The bandage I had wrapped around my arm unraveled again.
I was so close to finishing.

"Seo-ah?"

Han Si-hoo came into the room and called out.

"Y-yeah?"

A brief silence.
Wrapping bandages wasn’t anything strange, but it felt like I had been caught doing something I shouldn’t have.

"Let me help."

Han Si-hoo sat down next to me.

"Ah, okay."

I was so useless.
I was nothing but dead weight, a burden who couldn’t even wrap her own bandages.

"Sorry... I can’t even do something this simple."

I felt dejected.
I’d tried to do it alone so I wouldn’t bother him.
He probably had lots of messages from other people, maybe even heroines, but he wasn’t meeting them because of me.
There was no way his story during break could be this boring.

"It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize."

He didn’t seem to want to look at my wounds, wrapping the bandage around my arm without really glancing at it.
He looked a little sad.

4 hours 55 minutes.

Even though the medicine was still working, I felt strange.
Maybe because my mind was clearer, I could see myself more objectively.
I couldn’t keep relying on Han Si-hoo.
I wanted to do something to help him.

"Oh, Seo-ah, about earlier."

He finished wrapping the bandages.

"Yeah?"

"There’s a basic ability assessment before the entrance ceremony... We need to go take it."

"A basic ability assessment?"

Was it the time where I’d learn my capabilities?
If this were a typical protagonist’s story, this would be the moment where my magic levels were off the charts.
People would gasp in shock: A student with this much power already?!
Too bad I wasn’t the protagonist.

"They’ll skip some of the tests, the ones that are physically demanding or too difficult."

"I see."

"Should we go now? We have time, but we can rest first if you want."

"Let’s go now."

I wanted to know that I was worth something.
I couldn’t be completely useless.
I wanted someone to tell me that.

We left the dorm.
Now that I had bandaged myself up, I felt more confident.
Even if my sleeves rolled up, my scars wouldn’t show.

"The test isn’t a big deal for non-Awakened."

"Okay."

We talked as we walked.

"Don’t be upset if the results aren’t good. The test is meant for Awakened students."

"Alright."

Was he trying to tell me not to be disappointed?
He had already taken the test himself, so he knew what to expect.

"What do they test?"

"Things like your innate magic levels and awakening potential. And..."

I didn’t really understand.
I had thought it would be like a game stat sheet.

"Awakening potential?"

"Oh, that’s how they measure your ability to control awakened powers. For non-Awakened, it’s always zero."

"What about you?"

"98. 100 is the max."

Of course, as the protagonist, he had a high score.

"There’s more to it if you’re going into magic, like elemental compatibility and stuff, but I’m not a mage, so I don’t know much about that."

"I see."

It was hard to grasp just from his explanation.
Seeing it firsthand would probably make more sense.

"There’s a machine for the test. You’ll understand when you see it. It’s not difficult."

"Alright."

What kind of machine could do something like that?

"Hey, Si-hoo."

"What?"

"If the test says I’m not Awakened, do I get expelled?"

It would make sense to expel someone who wasn’t Awakened from the Academy.
There was no point in measuring anything for an ordinary human.
I wasn’t a superhuman like Han Si-hoo.

Even with the medicine, I had been overwhelmingly defeated.
Why had I even tried to fight back?
There had been no chance of winning.

Anyway, even with the medicine, I couldn’t match Han Si-hoo.
There was no reason for me to stay at the Academy if I couldn’t pretend to be an Awakened.

"...No. They won’t expel you. You’re a special case."

He thought for a moment before answering.
Special, huh.
Though it was probably Han Si-hoo who was special, not me.
Whether not being expelled was a good thing was another matter.

"I see..."

4 hours 45 minutes.

The walk had shaved off some time.
The Academy grounds were huge.
It was practically the size of a town.

We arrived at the testing facility.

It looked like a clean, spacious school building.
It didn’t seem to be a place just for testing.

The test wouldn’t reveal anything except how weak I was.
I just hoped it wouldn’t be too strenuous.
Han Si-hoo had brought extra syringes.
But I still didn’t want the effects of the medicine to wear off.

There was nothing to worry about, though.
The testing site had plenty of syringes prepared.