I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 82

EP.82 New Heart, New Start (3)

Time flew by, and before they knew it, the afternoon session had begun after lunch.

Park Shin-hye, who had been absent all morning, reappeared as the afternoon classes started.

The afternoon curriculum involved autonomous striking training in a large auditorium.

Students formed small groups and practiced hitting sandbags freely.

It seemed like the plan for the day was to have self-study and autonomous training all day.

Just like the morning self-study, there were no instructors supervising the afternoon autonomous training either.

It seemed that things were still not fully settled, given that it had only been two weeks since the Park Shin-hoo incident.

‘If this is the case, wouldn’t it have been better to extend the school closure by another week?’

But there were no complaints.

‘Actually, this is better.’

For Kang Seo-jun, this was an ideal time.

His body had changed drastically recently, so he needed time to adapt, and this was a perfect opportunity.

– Boom! Boom! –

– Bang! Bang! –

Kang Seo-jun swung his fists powerfully at the sandbag.

He planned to use this time to fully adapt to his changed body.

‘I felt it when I fought Kuyamoto Kenji, but my arms have gotten much longer as my body grew. It’ll take some time to get used to the distance.’

Still, he could feel that he was much stronger than he had been two weeks ago.

Now, he felt confident that he could easily take down someone like Captain America without his shield.

Of course, he still had several debuff traits that caused issues like incontinence, hemorrhoids, and arthritis when he moved too much.

But those debuffs were merely minor inconveniences in the face of his ’33’ willpower.

– Swish! Swish! –

– Boom! Boom! –

Ignoring the pain that poked at his body, Kang Seo-jun swung his arms widely.

– Bang! Bang! Bang! –

Every time his fists struck the sandbag, it sounded like a bomb going off.

“Whoa! Whoa!”

Even Jin Se-rin, a [B] rank awakener who was holding the sandbag, was pushed back by the immense force.

– Tremble tremble…. –

– Shiver shiver…. –

The students of Class A watched the scene with pale faces, utterly mesmerized.

“D-damn…. This isn’t fair…. How are we supposed to compete with that….”

“Look at Jin Se-rin being pushed back…. Even the top candidate is being pushed back while holding the sandbag. If we were holding it, we would’ve been sent flying….”

“St-still, he’d be really reliable in group evaluations or inter-class battles, wouldn’t he?”

“You’re crazy. You were the one badmouthing Kang Seo-jun to his face, calling him an undead and a dropout. Now you want to ride his coattails? Have some conscience.”

“H-honestly, was it just me?! You guys chipped in too!”

“If we get assigned to the same team, that’s pure luck. If we meet him as an opponent, surrendering immediately is understandable. That guy is something else.”

“Sigh…. Damn it…. Seriously considering dropping out…. Who would’ve thought he’d turn out like this in just two weeks…. If I’d known, I would’ve never badmouthed him. Even if I’m on the same team, I’m screwed.”

“Wow. So, did Jin Se-rin know all along? No wonder. Now it makes sense. That’s why she stuck with him. The information network of the chaebol families is definitely different.”

“…Don’t keep such information to yourself….”

“Why would she tell you? You have to figure this stuff out on your own. From what I saw, Se-rin gave plenty of hints.”

“It was weird that Se-rin was close to Kang Seo-jun…. I should’ve looked into it when I thought it was strange….”

– Bang! Bang! –

Most of Class A’s students were staring blankly at Kang Seo-jun.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Kang Seo-jun was the only one properly doing striking training in the auditorium.

Naturally, Park Shin-hye and her group were also staring blankly at Kang Seo-jun.

His presence and the noise he made were impossible to ignore.

‘W-what did he do in those two weeks to become like that….’

Park Shin-hye looked like her soul had left her body.

Her mouth hung open involuntarily and wouldn’t close easily.

In fact, she had already seen Kang Seo-jun’s evolved form in the hospital room, but Kang Seo-jun had erased that memory.

It was a necessary measure for Kang Seo-jun.

If Park Shin-hye had told her sister Park Seo-yoon or her grandfather Park Tae-ho about Kang Seo-jun beating her up, Kang Seo-jun would have been as good as dead.

Park Tae-ho wielded a [Legendary] grade greatsword, making him an opponent that even the limited epic trait ‘Counter Time’ couldn’t counter.

If he hadn’t erased Park Shin-hye’s memory, Kang Seo-jun would have already been minced meat stuck to Park Tae-ho’s greatsword.

‘Is it the power of a trait? Or a temporary transformation skill? Wh-whatever it is, that…. that….’

…That…. ……can’t be beaten.

Park Shin-hye inadvertently admitted it.

– Ouch! –

“……Ugh!?”

The moment she unintentionally declared her defeat, a sharp pain pierced a corner of Park Shin-hye’s chest.

She suddenly realized it.

The depth of her disgraceful downfall.

And that the gap between her and Kang Seo-jun had now widened to an insurmountable extent.

“……Haa. Haa….”

She felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

While Park Shin-hye tried to calm her aching heart, her lackeys also muttered as they watched Kang Seo-jun.

“That monster….”

“He was pretending to be weak during the entrance exam, but now he’s openly a monster.”

“Sigh…. He was never someone we should’ve messed with in the first place.”

“That guy…. He must be looking down on us, right? We tried to bury him during the entrance exam. Sigh…. Our academy life got messed up because of someone. We should’ve tried to get along with him instead.”

“……Ugh!?”

The last comment was clearly aimed at Park Shin-hye.

A rebellion from her lackeys that she could never have imagined during her 193cm alpha male days.

“……What did you just say….”

Park Shin-hye immediately tried to retaliate.

But.

– Swish. –

– Swish…. –

As the lackeys’ gazes all turned to her, she found herself at a loss for words.

Her height, which had become so much shorter since becoming a girl.

In the past, she had always looked down on them, but now she had to look up.

However, if it were only the change in eye level, she wouldn’t have been at a loss for words.

What truly silenced her was the cold atmosphere she felt from their gazes.

“……Ugh!”

Their eyes seemed to say, ‘So what? What can you do now?’

With all of them giving her that look, even Park Shin-hye couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

But showing weakness in front of everyone would be the end of her.

Her dignity had already fallen as low as it could go, but she had to say something to maintain what little she had left.

“……Let’s just train. Instead of wasting time thinking about that guy.”

Park Shin-hye tried to rally her lackeys with a plausible reason.

Fortunately, the lackeys followed her without complaint.

Even though Park Shin-hye had been turned into a girl who wet herself, the relationship between the leader and the lackeys didn’t disappear overnight.

There was still the inertia of their past relationship.

However, that inertia was not absolute.

Starting with the recent incident, that inertia was disappearing at a rapid pace.

‘I have to somehow regain my lost dignity.’

If she couldn’t, not only would ‘The Fruit of the Sun’ be out of reach, but her academy life would also be over.

“Sandbag.”

Park Shin-hye tried to act as she normally would, like she did when she was a 193cm alpha male.

At her command, the shortest lackey stood in front of her holding the sandbag.

Park Shin-hye did a few jumps in place to warm up and then assumed a fighting stance.

‘These guys are simple. If I show them that the difference in strength is still significant, I might be able to regain some of my former dignity.’

Although she couldn’t match Kang Seo-jun, who was hitting the sandbag with incredible force, Park Shin-hye was still a promising talent.

Despite the effects of the TS making her body weaker by the day, she still had the specs of a [C] rank.

This was stronger than the average [D-] rank academy students and even slightly stronger than her lackeys, who were around [C-] rank.

‘I need to regain my dignity before my body gets any weaker.’

Park Shin-hye hadn’t given up on ‘The Fruit of the Sun.’

She believed that if she could regain her dignity and control over her lackeys, she could make a comeback even if her body weakened.

‘I’ll send the sandbag flying with one strike.’

The lackey holding the sandbag was the weakest among them.

If she could send him flying first, then the next one, and the next one, she thought she could regain some of her former dignity.

“Hup!!!”

With that thought, Park Shin-hye launched a full-force 720-degree spin kick at the sandbag.

– Bang!!!!!! –

For a moment, a sound comparable to Kang Seo-jun’s punches echoed through the auditorium.

However.

“O-oh!”

The sandbag was only pushed back a little.

It was nowhere near enough to send the lackey flying as Park Shin-hye had intended.

“……What?!”

And that wasn’t the only problem.

“……Aah!”

The strain of the kick on her weakened body caused pain in her shin and ankle.

– Limp! Limp! –

– Thud! –

In the end, Park Shin-hye limped and fell clumsily to the ground.

And the lackeys….

“Ugh….”

“Tsk….”

“Sigh….”

They looked down at her with a mix of pity and disdain.

“A-a, aaaaah…!”

Park Shin-hye’s pupils shook violently.

It was the moment when the inertia of her downfall gained momentum.