Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 38

Baek Hyeonjung was an early awakener.

A rare case who’d awakened in childhood—and since he came from money, he’d bought tons of expensive skill boards and practiced with them.

In other words, he’d been doing supplementary studying before he even enrolled.

Confident in his abilities, he’d been gunning for the freshman representative spot, but when Gyeon Junhwi took it instead, he got pissed and started picking fights at every opportunity.

It seemed the butterfly effect had redirected that arrow toward me.

‘How did I miss this?’

I should have anticipated it…

I’d been so focused on my biases that I’d completely overlooked everything else.

“As I mentioned, it’s too early for cadets to spar against each other.”

“Come on, it’s not even a dangerous skill—just Paralysis. What could go wrong?”

“But…”

“If you can’t even be this flexible, that’s going to be a problem, don’t you think?”

Baek Hyeonjung’s tone shifted, and the TA bit down hard on his lip.

That TA owed a massive debt to Sangrang Guild.

And Baek Hyeonjung was the son of a loan shark.

“B-but Cadet Yeon Sora is still at the transcription stage.”

“Come on, there’s no way she can’t even do this. She’s the fresh-man rep-re-sent-a-tive.”

“Unique skills and general skills are different. No matter how outstanding someone’s unique skill is, general skills require time to…”

“Nah, she’s probably already got it down. That’s why she’s been napping this whole time.”

Hey, you! How could you say that out loud!

True to form as a villain, he was petty enough to rat me out for napping.

“What? Cadet Yeon Sora was sleeping during class?”

The TA looked relieved for a split second, then put on a stern expression and approached me.

“Sleeping in class results in penalty points. Cadet Yeon Sora, did you really fall asleep?”

He clearly wanted to redirect the conversation to penalty points.

‘What should I do?’

If I insisted I wasn’t sleeping, they’d check the CCTV footage for video review, right?

Penalty points wouldn’t even be that many, but having points deducted on the very same historic day I’d earned model student points seemed kind of unfair.

Baek Hyeonjung was going to keep picking fights anyway, so it’d be better to deal with him now. And just taking it lying down after a villain tattled on me was way too frustrating…

All these factors pointed to one conclusion.

“I’ll accept the spar.”

“What? But Cadet Yeon Sora, you haven’t yet…”

“She says she’ll do it. Just hurry up and get things ready.”

The TA was visibly flustered, but he couldn’t resist the loan shark’s prodding any further.

“Then would both of you please come to the front.”

* * *

“The purpose of this spar is to satisfy Cadet Baek Hyeonjung’s academic curiosity. The main objective is to compare whether there’s a difference in skill activation speed between using butterflies as targets versus using fellow cadets.”

The TA rattled off a string of flimsy justifications.

Normally, spars weren’t supposed to be conducted without a professor present.

“I’ll say this again—this is not a combat spar. Therefore, the goal is not to render your opponent unable to fight. The match ends the moment the barrier gauge either of you wears depletes, and you may only use the ‘Paralysis’ skill.”

Both the villain and I were wearing something like handcuffs.

These were called wearable barriers—when worn, they generated a protective barrier that absorbed all damage in place of your body.

The red gauges floating above our heads would deplete once the barrier’s protection was gone.

“Also, for this spar, I’ll specially permit the use of skill boards…”

“Oh, I won’t need one. The other side can use one if they want, though.”

“No, I won’t use one either.”

“But…”

“She says that’s what she wants. Just let her be.”

Baek Hyeonjung looked supremely confident.

This was a spar where only the Paralysis skill could be used—he’d been studying Paralysis in advance for years, while I’d only learned it today.

Overwhelmingly favorable conditions for Baek Hyeonjung.

On top of that, if he beat me here, he’d gain the reputation of “the guy who beat freshman representative Yeon Sora.”

‘Who do you think’s gonna win?’

‘Obviously Yeon Sora, right?’

‘They said unique skills and general skills are different. She can’t use flame magic.’

‘Even so, she’s calamity-class—the weight class is different.’

The lecture hall buzzed with murmuring.

Quite the flashy event for the first day of classes.

A rematch between the two who’d had a mud fight at the welcome party!

A spar between the heir of a thug guild and a calamity-class villainess!

“Then let’s begin the spar. When I blow the whistle, please cast your skill.”

The TA put the whistle to his lips with a look of resignation.

Tweeeeet—

The whistle sounded, and—

【Activating unique skill 〈Just Like My Baby!〉】

【Using Yeom Juwan’s general skill ‘Paralysis’】

Thud—

Tweeeeet—

The match was over in an instant.

Everyone thought my unique skill was flame magic, but they were wrong.

My ability was a skill copier.

And a copier doesn’t discriminate between “unique skills” and “general skills.”

“…Cadet Y-Yeon Sora wins. S-skill activation time was… 0.8 seconds.”

“……”

“……”

A dreadful silence fell.

Then a few seconds later, the murmuring erupted all at once.

‘Insane… 0.8 seconds? On the first day of class?’

‘Under one second is sophomore level!’

‘More importantly, did the gauge really get wiped out in one hit?’

‘A-as expected of calamity-class!’

The average skill activation time for first-years was ten seconds.

Because you had to weave the mana together one by one to draw the magic circle.

But as a copier, I just had to press one button and could instantly produce any skill, no matter how complex.

“Cadet Baek Hyeonjung? Please get up now.”

The villain remained face-down on the floor, not moving an inch.

‘It was like this in the original too.’

The match between Baek Hyeonjung and Gyeon Junhwi as described in <On the Brink of Destruction>.

There, Baek Hyeonjung had fired off Paralysis a full seven times, but because he’d only focused on speed, the power was negligible.

Gyeon Junhwi, on the other hand, had fired only once—but a heavy skill with 100% completion—and Baek Hyeonjung, too embarrassed, had pretended to collapse…

“Cadet Baek Hyeonjung? Oh no! I-I’m administering emergency treatment!”

The TA suddenly panicked and shouted loudly.

Baek Hyeonjung’s face, lying on the floor, was turning blue.

And at his mouth… foam?

“Kyaaah!”

“What do we do! Is he… is he dying?”

“Who dies from getting hit with Paralysis? And he was wearing a barrier too!”

“Someone contact the medical wing!”

Chaos erupted, but the TA kept his composure and performed chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth.

“Cough! Cough!”

Fortunately, Baek Hyeonjung soon regained consciousness.

“A-are you okay? You still need rest. Stay lying down.”

The TA brought over a cushion to prop under Baek Hyeonjung, then stood abruptly and strode toward me.

His expression was very severe.

“Cadet Yeon Sora, are you really Level 1?”

“Yes, I am.”

My level was indeed 1.

That’s why I could only copy skills from characters ranked 1st through 5th.

“There’s a reason we require level declaration upon enrollment. It’s to prevent incidents like this. False declaration can result in actual prison time. Are you certain you’re Level 1?”

“I am.”

“Even with a barrier equipped, Cadet Baek Hyeonjung went into cardiac arrest. This barrier can withstand even a Level 10 attack once. And you’re still claiming to be Level 1?”

What was this situation about?

I was confused for a moment, but then belatedly remembered what the researcher unnie had told me.

— The advantage of pure mana is that it’s more powerful.

Mm, so in other words…

My Level 1 attacks apparently had power equivalent to other people’s Level 10.

“This matter will be reported to the professor. A formal investigation will follow soon, so you’d better be prepared.”

I nodded quietly.

It’s not like I lied anyway, and once they investigate, the researcher unnie will clear things up.

Right now, there was something more important…

“Are you okay?”

I approached Baek Hyeonjung where he lay on the floor and offered a sincere apology.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Truthfully, my heart was pounding too.

I’d almost killed someone over them tattling about my nap.

No matter that the other guy was a villain—I’m not some psychopath. That went too far.

“Thank you for not dying and coming back.”

A smile of relief came naturally.

As I conveyed my heartfelt gratitude, Baek Hyeonjung’s body trembled violently.

* * *

Dinnertime.

The moment I entered the main building cafeteria, the students who spotted me rushed out like a receding tide.

“D-does everyone… have class?”

Han Boram tilted her head in confusion, and Yeom Juwan snapped at her sharply.

“What class would there be at this hour?”

“Th-then why is everyone leaving together?”

“Haah… How have you survived this long with that level of situational awareness?”

My baby #3 was in a very prickly state right now.

Earlier, when the spar request came in, he’d gripped my hand tightly telling me not to accept—but I’d stepped up anyway.

I’d just been planning to give a light taste of catharsis.

“If you keep accepting every fight that comes your way like this… haah, never mind. Let’s talk later.”

Yeom Juwan let out sigh after heavy sigh while roughly pushing his bangs back.

I kept my mouth firmly shut like the guilty party I was.

“Don’t be so hard on Yeon Sora—it was an accident.”

Gyeon Junhwi had joined us for the meal today.

And wonderfully, my baby #1 was currently taking my side.

“What if that guy had died? What if Yeon Sora gets expelled over this? No, forget expulsion—what if she actually gets prison time?”

“S-Sora… getting e-expelled? G-going to prison?”

“Yeon Sora followed every rule the TA presented. If anything happens, the responsibility lies with the TA who organized the spar without proper safety measures, not with Yeon Sora.”

Gyeon Junhwi’s logical explanation reassured Han Boram, while Yeom Juwan just kept stabbing his fork into the innocent meatballs.

By the time the round meatballs had become minced meat—

“Yeon Sora!”

“Sora!”

“Hey, are you okay?”

The three suspects came running toward us.

All three had faces full of worry and concern.

“Is it true you sent a classmate to the medical wing during class?”

Wham!

At Lee Hyojun’s remark, Han Boram slammed her fist on the table.

Her face was so red it looked like steam might come out.

“Wh-wh-what are you guys! S-Sora didn’t do anything wrong! Y-you don’t even know what really happened!”

This confirmed it.

Han Boram could detect the presence of attention, but she couldn’t yet distinguish what kind of attention it was.

“Who are you?”

The suspects looked bewildered, so I stepped in to mediate.

“This is Han Boram, a friend from S-Class. These are Lee Hyojun, No Jitae, and Park Rahee—I met them during the awakening test.”

“Oh, so you’re Sora’s friend?”

After that, the socially adept suspects handled the explanations themselves.

“Don’t misunderstand—we’re worried about Sora too.”

“We know better than anyone what a good person Yeon Sora is. She saved our lives.”

“The only reason we’re alive right now is all thanks to Yeon Sora.”

“S-sorry! I m-misunderstood!”

“Don’t be sorry, you were worried too. By the way, would it be okay if we joined you?”

The suspects took seats at the table, and boisterous chatter continued for a while.

“You met Yeon Sora at the awakening test?”

“Yeah, we were in the same group.”

“What happened that day?”

“They told us not to disclose details externally, so I can’t say much… but Sora and Juwan saved our lives.”

Gyeon Junhwi was interrogating No Jitae, who’d taken the seat closest to him, and conducting a background check on me.

“Juwan, why do you look like that? Did something happen to you too?”

Park Rahee was trying to soothe Yeom Juwan’s frustration.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyojun approached me.

“Sora, don’t check the forum for a while.”

“F-forum? Wh-what’s that?”

“You don’t know the General Forum?”

Han Boram didn’t know the forum existed.

If she had, she would’ve guessed long ago why the population density dropped whenever I was around.

“It’s a forum where current and former academy students post and exchange opinions anonymously… Don’t go there right now. There’s nothing good to see. If there’s anything you absolutely need to know, we’ll tell you instead…”

Ah, the Pandora’s box cliché.

What happens when you tell someone “Never open this box”?

Sure enough.

A moment later, Han Boram covered her mouth with her hands, tears welling up.

“S-Sora… H-h-how could they!!! How can everyone say things like this…”

When she reacted that strongly, I got a little curious too.

What exactly was written there?