I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 83

EP.83 New Heart, New Start (4)

Choi Jeong-dong, the second-in-command of Park Shin-hye’s group.

To him, Park Shin-hye had always been a figure of terror.

The reason he had been her lackey all this time was purely out of fear.

The turning point was during middle school.

At that time, there were some very nasty delinquents, even involved with gangsters, who were hanging around the middle school.

When they heard that the third-generation chaebol Park Shin-hye was transferring to their school, they immediately hatched a plan.

They intended to use girls to lure the chaebol heir to a secluded place, ambush him, beat him up, take humiliating photos, and use those as leverage to make Park Shin-hye their cash cow.

The attempt was good.

They succeeded in cornering him in a dead-end alley.

But the result was disastrous.

He was the type of person they should never have messed with.

The delinquents and gangsters, who had nothing but their healthy bodies, lost even that after that day.

Some were left unable to walk forever, and some were left unable to see forever.

Choi Jeong-dong was also one of those delinquents.

His life should have ended along with the others.

But unlike the other delinquents, he was given a second chance.

This was because there were signs of a stigma awakening in Choi Jeong-dong’s right hand.

Park Shin-hye gave him two choices.

The first was to live with a permanent disability.

The second was to swear lifelong loyalty and become Park Shin-hye’s lackey.

In reality, there was no choice.

Of course, Choi Jeong-dong chose to swear loyalty.

The next day, an article appeared on the internet news about a gang fight between gangsters and delinquents.

The circumstances of the incident had been manipulated by the Taesan Group, Park Shin-hye’s background.

Naturally, Park Shin-hye did not receive any punishment.

After that, Choi Jeong-dong spent every day realizing that his choice had not been wrong.

But he knew.

He had not been forgiven.

His judgment had merely been postponed.

He knew that if he ever became useless, he would have to pay the price that had been temporarily deferred.

Therefore, Choi Jeong-dong was always afraid of Park Shin-hye.

So he always did his best to follow her orders.

To be forgiven by her, to survive.

Since that day, Park Shin-hye’s very existence had become Choi Jeong-dong’s leash.

But now.

‘…Who is this woman?’

In front of him was a woman insisting she was ‘Park Shin-hye.’

Of course, he knew in his head.

This woman was indeed ‘Park Shin-hye.’

But….

There was no trace of the intimidation he once felt from Park Shin-hye in the woman now sitting pathetically on the ground.

‘She seemed to kick with all her might. Is this really all she can do?’

Park Shin-hye’s full-force 720-degree spin kick.

It was certainly a powerful kick by student standards.

But compared to when she was a [B-] rank Park Shin-hye, it was laughably weak.

Moreover….

‘What is this pathetic sight of her sitting down just because she twisted her ankle a bit?’

It was a disgrace that the old Park Shin-hye would never have shown.

‘Is this weak woman really Park Shin-hye?’

The deep-seated fear within Choi Jeong-dong’s heart was slowly fading.

‘I need to test her.’

To see if this woman was truly ‘Park Shin-hye.’

No, more precisely, to see if she still had the power to hold his leash.

‘If she doesn’t have that power, there’s no need to follow her anymore.’

Choi Jeong-dong had always longed for freedom.

His loyalty to Park Shin-hye was only to eventually gain an exemption from her control.

That’s why he found this situation so interesting and delightful.

It felt like his discharge date, which had seemed so far away, had suddenly been moved to tomorrow.

Hiding his true feelings, Choi Jeong-dong extended his hand to Park Shin-hye.

“Shin-hye, let me help you up.”

“……You bastard.”

But Park Shin-hye wasn’t stupid.

She could read the thoughts of a lackey she had faced for years just by looking at his expression.

‘He’s completely underestimating me…!’

Grinding her teeth, Park Shin-hye slapped away Choi Jeong-dong’s hand.

– Smack! –

“I don’t need it.”

Then she stood up, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

‘Ugh!’

A sharp pain shot up from her ankle.

Looking down, she saw that her ankle was quite swollen.

“…Damn it.”

She had never been injured like this when she was a man.

“Hey…. Damn it. Can’t you hold the sandbag properly!?”

Park Shin-hye blamed her lackey.

In the past, when she got angry like this, her lackeys would hang their heads in shame as if they were being punished.

“Hmm…. Is it that bad?”

“Tsk…. I don’t know.”

Now, they openly smirked or sighed.

“……Ugh!”

In the past, she would have lined them up and slapped them….

“Look at her trying to set the mood. Heh.”

“Let her enjoy it. Heh heh.”

Now, it seemed like they wouldn’t just stand by if she tried that.

“……Ugh!”

She kept thinking, if it were the past, if it were the old days, if her body were normal….

“This damn…!”

Just as Park Shin-hye was about to lose her temper and shout.

– Whoosh! –

– Bang!!! –

“……!?”

Choi Jeong-dong’s kick whizzed past Park Shin-hye’s face and struck the sandbag.

“Whoa, whoa! That scared me!”

The lackey holding the sandbag exaggeratedly made a fuss.

“Wow! That kick is no joke!”

Even at a glance, it was much more stable and louder than the kick Park Shin-hye had just delivered.

Choi Jeong-dong shrugged and played it off.

“No, it’s just that Shin-hye seemed weak today. I wanted to test if it was really the sandbag’s fault.”

As he said this, he smirked at Park Shin-hye, clearly mocking her.

“……!”

In an instant, a murderous look appeared in Park Shin-hye’s eyes.

‘Not only did he kick right in front of my face…. He even openly mocks me…?’

Choi Jeong-dong’s actions were a blatant provocation against Park Shin-hye.

‘These bastards…!’

At this point, there was no room for hesitation.

If Park Shin-hye backed down now, they would only become more brazen in crossing the line.

She had to regain her lost dignity, even if it meant half-killing Choi Jeong-dong right here and now.

‘Can I really take that bastard down right now?’

But given her weakened state, hesitation was inevitable.

Due to the effects of the TS, Park Shin-hye had weakened from a [B-] rank to a [C] rank, and she continued to grow weaker by the moment.

Meanwhile, Choi Jeong-dong was on the verge of being promoted to [C+] rank.

Moreover, Park Shin-hye had a twisted ankle.

Even at the same [C] rank, she might be at a disadvantage.

‘But it’s not like I have no options.’

If a head-on confrontation was difficult, there was always the option of a surprise attack.

‘If I quickly rush in, knock him down, and get into a mount position….’

As she thought this, Park Shin-hye gathered strength in her legs and prepared to tackle.

– Thunk! –

“……!?”

It was as if someone had anticipated her move.

“Hey. Why get so mad over something like this, Shin-hoo.”

A lackey from behind suddenly put his arm around her shoulder.

“…!?”

When Park Shin-hye looked up at the lackey who had put his arm around her, he gave her a sly smile and said,

“Or should I call you Shin-hye now?”

– Chill! –

A shiver ran down Park Shin-hye’s spine.

How dare he call her by that name!

“You bastard!!!”

– Thud! –

With a curse, Park Shin-hye drove her fist into the lackey’s solar plexus.

“Ugh, ugh!”

Even though Park Shin-hye had fallen from grace, the other lackeys, except for Choi Jeong-dong, were still no match for her.

The lackey who got hit in the solar plexus collapsed into a prostrate position.

“Have I been too lenient lately?”

Park Shin-hye turned to punch the other lackeys as well.

However.

– Stop. –

She halted as she saw the lackeys standing like statues, looking down at her.

Their eyes seemed to say, ‘Come at us if you dare.’

It was clear that if Park Shin-hye threw a punch, they would retaliate in kind.

“…You bastards….”

Their eyes no longer held any fear, awe, or respect for Park Shin-hye.

Only clear mockery and disdain.

“Sigh…. Damn it….”

In the end, Park Shin-hye, on the verge of tears, stormed out of the room.

‘Staying with these guys any longer will only make me look like a fool.’

With that thought, she briskly walked towards the auditorium entrance.

It was clearly an escape, but Park Shin-hye convinced herself that she was just taking some time to regroup.

“Student Park Shin-hye. Where are you going?”

A supervising instructor called out to her, but Park Shin-hye pushed her aside and kept walking.

“If you leave the class, you’ll be marked absent!”

She heard the instructor’s voice behind her but ignored it and kept walking.

– Bang! –

Soon, Park Shin-hye angrily opened the auditorium door and stepped outside.

– Thud!!! –

The door closed with a loud noise.

The sound naturally drew the attention of Jin Se-rin and Kang Seo-jun.

Surprisingly, Jin Se-rin looked at the door with a sympathetic expression.

“…She must be having a hard time. You never know what people are going through, right?”

Perhaps she felt a sense of empathy because she had also experienced a plateau in her growth.

Well, she didn’t know exactly what kind of person Park Shin-hye was, so it was understandable.

“……Yeah, I guess.”

Kang Seo-jun also looked in that direction with a somewhat complicated expression.

Judging by the way she stormed out of class, it seemed she had another altercation with her lackeys.

Honestly, whatever situation Park Shin-hye was in, or how her lackeys felt about her, was none of Kang Seo-jun’s business.

But there was one thing that bothered him.

If they kept interfering with Park Shin-hye, he wouldn’t be able to use his parasitic growth.

Kang Seo-jun glared at Park Shin-hye’s lackeys with a menacing look.

A look so terrifying it could give someone nightmares.

‘How dare…. How dare you interfere with my host’s training…????’

Suddenly, an intense surge of Lloyd Rage welled up within him.

– Grit! Grind! –

– Crack! Crackle! –

If not for his ’33’ willpower, he might have ripped off Choi Jeong-dong’s head right then and there.

While he could still increase his stats on his own, the trait exchange aspect of parasitic growth remained crucial.

Among the various talents Park Shin-hye possessed, the trait 《Heir of Taesan》 was the one he absolutely had to acquire.

Talent traits could be purchased from the dimensional shop, so they weren’t as important.

But the Heir of Taesan was a unique trait that couldn’t be bought from the dimensional shop.

‘An entire conglomerate is tied to this one trait. Nearly a third of South Korea could be mine.’

At this rate, Park Shin-hye would become a wreck and abandon her training.

‘I can’t allow that!’

He couldn’t just stand by.

To become the Heir of Taesan.

‘I need to go encourage Park Shin-hye!’

It was the moment Kang Seo-jun decided to take action.