Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 34

On the way to the training grounds.

Ki Hyeonmin, true to his nature as a voluntary loner regressor, had left first. The remaining four of us walked side by side, matching our pace.

I was on the verge of ascending to heaven.

“We haven’t properly introduced ourselves yet, have we? I’m Gyeon Junhwi.”

“Yeom Juwan. Thanks for that day—Sora has a weak constitution and sometimes collapses.”

“I just helped her up, it was nothing. This is Han Boram.”

“H-h-hello!”

“I’m Yeom Juwan.”

“N-nice to meet you!”

Three members of the destruction prevention family had gathered in one place.

They were still awkward around each other, but these three would eventually become people who’d lay down their lives for one another.

They’d become true family who’d never betray each other until the moment of death! And now they’d met again, alive!!!

Oh, what do I do… I’m so happy the tears won’t stop…

Someone please drop me in Africa!

Right now, I could rename the Sahara Desert to Lake Sahara!

Once we successfully prevent destruction, I’ll take my babies on a global desert tour for planetary salvation activities…

“Th-thank you for earlier!”

The flow of my gushing was interrupted.

Han Boram was pressing her arms together and bowing politely to me.

The excessive display of courtesy made Yeom Juwan tilt his head.

“Earlier?”

“Sh-she helped me at the w-welcome party.”

“What kind of help?”

“S-some mean kids were b-bullying me and she stepped in…”

Ah, right, I hadn’t told him about that.

It wasn’t that I was trying to hide it… it’s already on the forums, but my baby must not have seen it yet.

“You two go on ahead? I need to talk to Sora for a moment.”

I had to confess my villainess deeds to Juwan.

I’d wondered what excuse to give, but fortunately we’d just been talking about Yeon Sora’s trauma, so I was able to use a fitting excuse—that the kids who used to bully me overlapped in my mind and I acted without thinking.

Yeom Juwan let out heavy sigh after heavy sigh, but he accepted it.

“Still, be more careful from now on.”

“Okay.”

“Those guys might try to pick a fight again, so don’t go around alone. Call me if you need to go somewhere.”

“Huh?”

“If you didn’t want to deal with consequences, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

Didn’t want to?!

As if I would ever refuse a spiritual-glue-on-your-side covenant!

Anyway, the situation was resolved without incident.

When I looked forward again, I could see Gyeon Junhwi and Han Boram walking cozily together in the distance.

‘Already in progress, huh?’

Being late meant I’d missed their first meeting, but judging by the atmosphere, things seemed to be flowing according to the original.

Han Boram was one of this novel’s heroine candidates.

And a yandere heroine at that.

The kind of character who only had eyes for Gyeon Junhwi, obsessed over Gyeon Junhwi, and was on guard against every female character who approached Gyeon Junhwi.

She wasn’t fully on the yandere trajectory yet, but there wasn’t much time.

I’d have to make my move today.

* * *

I’d been hoping to catch Han Boram alone in the changing room, but by the time I arrived at the training grounds, she was already done changing.

Fast.

I hurried to change and came out, where Professor Joo stood with his arms crossed.

“We will now conduct a comprehensive basic stats assessment. Stats assessments are held on the last day of every month, and individual training manuals will be designed based on this data.”

The first thing we did was measure grip strength.

The system worked by pressing a round rubber cushion with your palm as hard as you could, and a number would appear on the screen.

Professor Joo recorded the values and added brief comments.

“Ki Hyeonmin, 73. Naturally gifted. That puts you in the top 5%.”

“Yeom Juwan, 39. Average, but high considering your build.”

“Gyeon Junhwi, 27. I’ll need to prescribe more strength training for you.”

“Han Boram, 29. High considering you’re quite short.”

“Yeon Sora… try again.”

I pressed the cushion with all my might again, but the furrow between Professor Joo’s brows didn’t smooth out.

“Again.”

“Again.”

Even after three tries, same result.

Finally, Professor Joo gave up and read the number aloud.

“Yeon Sora… 1.”

Professor Joo’s eyes wouldn’t leave the screen.

Looking once, twice, three times—he still couldn’t believe it.

“A grip strength of 1 is the level of an ordinary person who just entered middle school.”

“Yeon Sora has always had an unusually weak constitution.”

“Even so, awakening should raise base stats… This is strange.”

Yeom Juwan made excuses on my behalf while Professor Joo struggled to rationalize this somehow.

Meanwhile, Ki Hyeonmin and Gyeon Junhwi were staring at me.

My babies are surprised.

It’s not easy to surprise a 7th-cycle regressor and the original possessor…

That’s how extraordinary a body Yeon Sora has.

Next was the simulation room.

A space for measuring agility stats.

Professor Joo handed us devices that looked something like VR headsets.

“Put on the headset and dodge the balls flying at you on the screen.”

The situation here was similar.

We did as we were told with full effort, and Professor Joo calmly reported the results.

“Ki Hyeonmin, 61. Excellent on this front as well.”

“Yeom Juwan, 32. Average agility, but your dynamic vision is lacking.”

“Gyeon Junhwi, 15. Even if you’re not combat-oriented, it would be good to improve this.”

“Han Boram, 33. Average. Your perception is quick, but your reaction speed is on the slow side.”

“Yeon Sora… again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

Earlier I’d only had to repeat three times, but this time I had to repeat the same thing a full seven times.

At the end of that,

“Yeon Sora… unmeasurable.”

“…Unmeasurable is an option?”

“This device’s minimum measurable unit is 0.5. It’s presumed your value is below that.”

So not completely zero, but decimal?

At this news, Ki Hyeonmin and Gyeon Junhwi couldn’t hide their surprise.

Ki Hyeonmin’s long, narrow eyes had gone round like grapes.

Gyeon Junhwi’s lips, always firmly pressed together, had parted slightly.

“Your dynamic vision is top-tier. In terms of perceiving moving objects alone, you’re at active hunter level… but your reaction speed is nonexistent. Perhaps there’s an issue with the system that transmits information.”

The professor was trying his best to understand this within the bounds of common sense.

What followed was more of the same.

“Yeon Sora, for an awakened person, this durability is at the level of an aluminum can. If you take a direct hit, it will absolutely result in fractures.”

“Yeon Sora is not at the stage to discuss force distribution. Basic weapon use will likely be difficult.”

“At this level, defense training is also impossible for now.”

The more assessments continued, the deeper the valley carved between Professor Joo’s brows.

How on earth was he supposed to train a body like this? He seemed full of worry.

I was starting to feel bad for him.

“Finally, we’ll do running. I won’t be looking at speed, so run as far as your stamina allows.”

The finale was running.

The order was given to run around a soccer-field-sized track.

I gave it my all so our professor wouldn’t be disappointed, but—

“Hah… hah…”

Two minutes was my limit.

Every oxygen pathway to my brain had been cut off.

My limbs had separated and were doing their own thing ages ago.

When I hit my limit and collapsed on the ground, Professor Joo approached.

“Yeon Sora, was that truly your best?”

He seemed to think I was faking it… but after seeing the state of my face, he immediately revised his opinion.

“Step out for a moment.”

Professor Joo lifted me up and laid me on a bench outside the track.

He handed me water and even pulled out a wet towel to place on my forehead.

My vision was spinning, but after a few minutes the dizziness subsided.

As I sat up, Professor Joo’s calm voice reached me.

“Stay lying down.”

I wanted to, but there was a question I absolutely had to ask.

“Professor, may I ask you something?”

“Permission granted.”

“It’s a question about the <Field Training> you mentioned earlier.”

<Field Training> was a required course taught by Professor Joo.

Failing a required course meant repeating the year.

If I failed, I’d be separated from my babies next year, so I had to avoid failing no matter what.

Professor Joo fixed me with a cold gaze.

“You must be wondering if you can manage the class with those stats.”

“No?”

Why would I wonder about that?

With these stats, it’s obvious I can’t take the class properly.

It was obvious, but Professor Joo seemed surprised, widening his eyes slightly.

“What was your question?”

“Am I allowed to use stat-boosting items?”

Stat-boosting items were, as the name suggested, items that only raised your stats.

In the story, first-years didn’t use such items.

Whether that was due to school rules or the cost, I didn’t know.

After a long silence, Professor Joo spoke.

“Don’t you think there’s an issue of fairness?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Because the purpose of Field Training isn’t to rank students against each other. It’s a practical class teaching how to fight monsters—if the same items can be used in actual combat, I don’t see a problem.”

“You have no intention of raising your stats through training?”

“It’s not like I have to choose only one, right?”

I was just throwing things out there to see what stuck, but one corner of Professor Joo’s mouth lifted.

“Permission granted. However, consumable items and rental items are excluded.”

This actually worked?

I knew it—you always have to try!

As I nodded in satisfaction,

“You have talent.”

“Pardon?”

An evaluation I’d never imagined came back.

“Coldly assessing your current state and finding realistic alternatives is a good attitude. Freshmen often let ambition and desire lead them to make excessive plans. But ambition that doesn’t match ability invites disaster.”

True, I don’t push myself with pointless ambition.

I have a tendency to give up quickly on what won’t work and focus on what will.

But most people evaluate that as ‘lacking motivation,’ ‘no perseverance,’ ‘no patience,’ ‘immature,’ or ‘abnormal thinking.’

Especially people who call themselves teachers.

“Not everyone is born equal. You have an especially peculiar constitution, so there’s no need to insist on walking the same path as everyone else.”

I felt strangely mushy inside.

Professor Joo, was this who you were?

I’d discovered an unexpected side of him.

If I’d known he was this good a person, I would’ve put him in my bias rankings.

“If you see a different path, trust your instincts and follow it.”

With those words, Professor Joo showed a faint smile.

So he knows how to smile.

If his smiling face is this pretty, he should smile more often—what a waste of resources.

* * *

“That’s all for today’s class. Gyeon Junhwi, come with me.”

After dismissing class, Professor Joo called my baby #1 aside.

Gyeon Junhwi was about to have a private meeting.

S-rank crafting-type ability users were rare, so that would be the topic of consultation.

Professor Joo and Gyeon Junhwi made their exit, Ki Hyeonmin had disappeared ages ago, and Yeom Juwan approached me.

“It’s a bit early, but… want to have dinner early? Should I call the others?”

“The others” meant the three suspect siblings.

I needed to maintain close relationships with them to find the subordinate, but—

“Let’s eat quietly, just us, today.”

“Sure, then.”

“And can we… invite one more person?”

When I looked at someone still remaining at the training grounds, Yeom Juwan nodded in agreement.

I walked over to Han Boram, who was standing there alone and awkward.

“Want to have dinner together?”

Now was the only time to make my move on Han Boram.