Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

“Open the windows for some ventilation! Class president? Where’s the attendance book?”

The spirit magic teacher’s nagging went on endlessly. As students who had been slumped over their desks began to stir, the teacher spoke.

“Today’s class will be outside. Everyone gather in the backyard!”

“Ugh… what a hassle.”

Habin frowned, feeling uneasy. An ominous feeling that she shouldn’t have taken this class was already creeping in. Ahezar asked,

[Strange. If they were going to call us outside anyway, why bother turning on lights and ventilating?]

‘Checking the fluorescent lights and ventilation is the unwritten rule of Korean classrooms, Jaljal. Remember that!’

“Come on, what are you waiting for? Get moving!”

‘Should I make a run for it after all?’

Amidst the students reluctantly filing out, Habin dreamed of escape. If she slipped out through the side staircase in the corridor now and ran straight to the dormitory, it could be the perfect crime!

The thought crossed her mind briefly, but in the end, Habin didn’t leave.

‘Well, I’ve gone to the trouble of borrowing the book, so I might as well see what the class is about.’

Seoyun had been considerate enough to go to the library with her. Besides, looking to her side, Seoyun seemed excited about the outdoor class.

With each class having only about ten students, it was really awkward to skip in the middle. Habin decided to just observe the class situation with a light heart.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Do you know why I called for an outdoor class today?”

The teacher who had finally gathered the students in the backyard opened her mouth boldly. Seoyun, standing next to Habin, raised her hand as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“C-could it be that we’re summoning spirits today?!”

Her expression was full of expectation. However, the teacher shook her head as she flipped through the attendance book.

“This class is only for F and D ranks, right? How could you summon spirits at your level? Has anyone here contracted with a constellation or spirit?”

“……”

Silence.

A chilly silence fell over the group. Of course, Habin already had a constellation, but far from raising her hand, she pretended not to notice and just looked around the backyard.

‘Oh? The backyard is pretty.’

The well-maintained backyard was lush with light green grass and large trees. It seemed they had put quite a bit of effort into landscaping for a high school. Habin made plans while looking at the largest tree.

‘Next time, I should buy a hammock and hang it there. It’d be perfect for napping when skipping class!’

Since no one answered, the teacher continued.

“Right, no one? So today, we’re not going to ‘summon’ spirits, but just check your potential a bit.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“It’s simple.”

She nodded.

“When you think of ‘spirits,’ you imagine living, moving summons appearing before your eyes, right?”

With those words, she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, a translucent green spirit appeared in the air.

“Gasp!”

“Wow! A real spirit…!”

The shimmering spirit circled once around the students. A gentle breeze brushed past them wherever the spirit went.

“Thank you, Sylphie.”

The spirit, having received the teacher’s thanks, dispersed back into the air. The teacher continued.

What you just saw is the spirit summoning we commonly know. But besides spirits that can materialize like this, there are things with spirit attributes all around us.”

As she finished speaking, the teacher gestured. The nearby vegetation began to glow.

“…!”

The grass and trees emitted a soft halo. Seeing this, Seoyun looked surprised.

“Are there spirits here too?”

“No, not the ‘spirits’ we’re thinking of. It’s the stage before that. This is the energy of spirits that haven’t materialized yet.”

‘Unmaterialized spirits?’

‘What’s that?’

The students didn’t seem to grasp it yet. Seeing this, the teacher sighed.

“Alright. It might be faster to just try it directly.”

She pulled out a large stone from her inventory.

[Item – Echo of the Pattern Forest]

“Now, this spirit stone is specially made to help attune with spirits. It resonates with nearby spirits according to the user’s spirit affinity.”

She placed her hand on the stone as if demonstrating.

Woong-

With a shallow vibration, a halo spread out like ripples. The grass around the stone began to glow in concentric circles.

“This is resonating with the natural forces in the grass and trees. It awakens the faint spirit power in the plants according to your spirit affinity.”

‘Yawn.’

Habin stifled a yawn as she listened. The teacher’s explanation was too complicated, and she hadn’t paid proper attention due to being momentarily distracted.

‘But if I sum it up, it’s basically this, right?’

A spirit affinity measurement device.

It sparkles in proportion to your affinity, something like that, right?

‘Ah, I don’t like measurements.’

Habin frowned slightly, feeling a sense of déjà vu. In her experience, ‘measuring’ something had never brought her good results.

When they measured her ability at the health center, she broke the measuring device. In the Mirror Dungeon, Hyun Habin had cranked up the difficulty to the extreme, opening the gates of hell.

‘I should definitely escape! Let’s look for a chance to run!’

She had no idea what would happen if she put her hand on that stone this time. But even as she was thinking this, the teacher was calling out names one by one.

“Alright, let’s come up in attendance order and put your hand on the stone to try using a spirit-related skill. First… Kim Sujin!”

‘Thankfully, my name isn’t on the attendance list right now.’

She hadn’t officially registered for the class, just tagging along with Seoyun to observe today. So there was no chance of Hyun Habin’s name being called. Just then, the students’ attention was focused on the spirit stone.

Woong-

One by one, students placed their hands on the stone, but no matter how much they concentrated, the radius never exceeded 50cm. Just small, cute concentric circles flashing briefly.

“I guess this is the limit for F and D rank students…”

The teacher was muttering to herself while recording something in her notebook.

‘Anyway, I’m out of here!’

Just as Habin was quietly standing up.

“You there! What’s the matter?”

“…!”

With incredibly bad luck, she made eye contact with the teacher at the exact moment the teacher looked up.

‘Damn it!’

If she could just stand up, she was confident she could run away from this place at a speed invisible to the eye due to her high stat values. But Habin had been watching for the right moment to stand up, and in that process, she got caught.

‘Oh no! I made a mistake because it’s my first time skipping in the middle of class!’

She should have stood up at the speed of light and run away immediately from the start. So fast that no one could catch her even in the moment of standing up. As Habin was belatedly regretting this, Ahezar chimed in.

[But don’t you skip class often? Why did you make such a mistake this time?]

‘Jaljal, did you forget? I don’t even attend classes I’m going to skip in the first place. This is my first time trying to leave in the middle!’

Thanks to this, her experience in skipping class had increased. However, it was useless right now. Habin decided to try finding a verbal escape route.

“I urgently need to use the restroom!”

“Is that so?”

The teacher raised an eyebrow.

“Then you go first. What’s your name?”

“…!”

She didn’t expect the teacher to let her go first.

Moreover, in the meantime, the teacher was carefully checking Habin’s name tag.

“Right, student Hyun Habin. Quickly put your hand on the stone and then go to the restroom.”

‘Sigh…’

Habin inwardly sighed. Now that her name was known, there was no point in running away. If she skipped class now, it might seem even more suspicious, and they might start looking for her.

‘What should I do? Just put my hand on it?’

Habin thought carefully. The reason she hadn’t chosen magic or swordsmanship classes was because she had no skills in the spirit field. Whatever she did would show the clumsiness of a beginner. She could just claim she had no skills.

‘Ah, right! I don’t have any spirit-related skills!’

Habin clearly remembered what the teacher had said.

‘The statement about coming up in attendance order and using spirit-related skills.’

It seemed the stone’s power would only manifest properly if a skill was used on it. Habin decided to answer honestly.

“Teacher, but I don’t have any spirit-related skills at all.”

“Not a single one?”

“No. I just came to watch for a bit because I was curious about spirits…”

“Hmm, then try using any magic-related skill. A bit of your spirit affinity might come out mixed in.”

“……”

“You must have magic-related skills if you’ve enrolled in a magic school, right?”

That hit the mark. Since Ullim International Magic High School only admitted students with magic-related classes, it was impossible to claim she had no magic skills.

Habin sighed and approached the stone.

‘Oh well. Let’s just pretend to put my hand on it and be done.’

If she just pretended to put her hand on it without actually using a skill, it should work out somehow.

Habin half-heartedly opened her mouth while bringing her hand slightly closer.

“Small Fire.”

Of course, there was no such skill name. It was just a random name she made up on the spot. Her hand didn’t even touch the stone.

…At least, that’s how it should have been.

Flash!

“……”

[Oh…..]

The entire backyard was enveloped in a bright light.

◆◇◆◇◆

-Meow (There’s no one here right now!)

“……”

Taeseo turned his head again after checking Kkamang-i’s reaction. Surprisingly, Kkamang-i was diligently informing him if anyone was coming down the corridor.

‘It might be smarter than I thought.’

Since when did it know how to keep watch like this? It was a strange creature. Taeseo busily moved his hands again.

Tap tap, tap tap tap.

He was quickly inputting something into a translucent screen that looked similar to a status window. Alerts kept popping up beside him.

[Warning! You have entered Administrator Mode.]

[Warning! The user’s rank is significantly low! ‘Existence’ may be permanently damaged in proportion to connection time! Do you wish to continue?]

[Warning! You have chosen to proceed. Administrator Mode will continue.]

[Please enter the correct command.]

“……”

Kang Taeseo glanced at the input code he had noted down. This was the culmination of the Administrator’s seven apostles putting their heads together.

The source code for creating artificial gates.

It was the worst command that could turn a peaceful school into a hellish dungeon. The moment this is executed in Administrator Mode.

‘A gate will probably open here immediately.’

However, it required quite precise input to activate. It couldn’t all be entered at once, and it had to be properly planted in appropriate places for the right effect.

Although it took the form of a status window and input screen, this was different from the kind of computer programs humans make. It was something that had to be carefully designed and completed by going around various places in person before it could be triggered, so it couldn’t be activated right away. It needed detailed and meticulous groundwork.

That groundwork was exactly what Kang Taeseo was doing. Since he was doing this at school of all places, maintaining secrecy was paramount.

If someone were to catch him doing this…

-Meow!

At that very moment.

“…Kang Taeseo.”

Simultaneously with Kkamang-i’s single cry, a sharp voice cut through the silence.

[Administrator Mode terminated!]

Although it was a special notification window that only apostles could see anyway, Kang Taeseo dismissed all the transparent windows with a single gesture. Then he slowly turned around.

“…!”

A familiar mask came into his view.

Fides.

Despite his calm posture, powerful magical energy and silent anger heavily pressed down on the air. Fides pointed Neaiba at Kang Taeseo and asked coldly.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”