The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

004 – Concept Holder

004 – Concept Holder

To kidnap Seo Ga-eul, I first needed a point of contact.

I had to run into her somewhere.

While pondering various methods, I noticed the admission documents for Yeongsa High.

Yeongsa High is an institution that educates and nurtures adolescent awakeners.

So, at this time, there was a high probability that Seo Ga-eul was also attending this school.

Seeing that Baek Yeoul in front of me seemed to be from this school, I could easily get an answer by asking.

So when I asked, “Does Seo Ga-eul go to this school too?” the high school girl Baek Yeoul, who had been looking at me pitifully like a UNICEF starving child, suddenly turned cold.

“Seo Ga-eul?”

From the twitching of her facial muscles, I could infer that the relationship between Seo Ga-eul and Baek Yeoul was not good.

I’m pretty quick-witted, you know.

People who are naturally smart are also quick-witted.

“I’m leaving.”

Baek Yeoul turned her head sharply and left my house.

The men in suits followed her out in a rush. Even the loan sharks I was planning to bury in the yard quickly left with them.

“What? I need to ask about the kidnapping.”

But well, does it matter?

The loan sharks would obviously come back to my house to extort money from me again.

More importantly, the pork belly I bought wasn’t enough for me to eat alone. How nice of them to leave on their own.

If you can’t share, don’t even let the chimney smoke.

Sizzle-.

The pork belly I grilled for the first time in years was so delicious it brought tears to my eyes.

# # #

Three days had passed since I returned to the past.

“The incident victims, Mr. Kim Taeyang and two others, were known to be involved in loan sharking and were under investigation for assault and murder charges. The police are focusing on revenge killings─.”

“No way, are these b*stards dead?”

Early in the morning, the news on TV jolted me awake.

It seemed like someone had taken out the loan sharks.

I was planning to ask them about the ‘foolproof kidnapping method,’ so I couldn’t help but be angry.

How dare someone interfere with my plan? I swore to myself that I would kick them in the groin if I ever met them.

b*stard!

Now, I had to come up with the kidnapping method from ‘A’ to ‘Z’ all by myself.

But there’s no need to worry. Who am I? I’m Han Nam-jin, the smartest among middle school dropouts.

“The original plan is to change it as you go.”

Slurp, slurp-.

After eating a hearty bowl of ssamjang ramen, it was already 7:30 in the morning.

Wasn’t the school start time at Yeongsa High School 8 o’clock?

Creak-.

Closing the rusty iron gate and stepping outside, the weather was quite warm and pleasant.

The only discomfort was that the school uniform I had worn only in the first year and then hung carelessly on a hanger was now tight and uncomfortable. It used to feel a bit loose when I was in the first year of high school.

“I guess I’ll have to get a new uniform.”

I glanced at the students passing by.

Kids my age were wearing something similar to uniforms and heading in the same direction. As far as I knew, those Nazi-like uniforms were the uniforms of Yeongsa High School.

The design, which seemed to prioritize aesthetics over practicality, was quite eye-catching.

Would I have to wear such clothes if I became a student?

I shuddered at the thought of becoming an imperialist sympathizer, but I quickly calmed down.

After all, the only reason I was entering Yeongsa High School was to get close to Seo Ga-eul.

If I succeeded in kidnapping Seo Ga-eul, there would be no need to attend school anymore.

In a world that would collapse in a year, a school diploma would be as useful as toilet paper.

No, to be honest, it would be hard to use even as toilet paper.

Certificates and diplomas are basically A4 size, so the texture isn’t good.

Thinking such thoughts, I arrived at the gate of Yeongsa High School.

“It’s quite spacious.”

Isn’t it closer to a university campus than a high school?

I heard that it was built on the site of a university that went bankrupt due to a lack of new students.

I did a quick investigation and found out that there seems to be a university course as well.

“Who is that?”

“Her uniform is different from everyone else’s.”

“Is she a transfer student?”

In this strange place, my presence seemed to stand out unusually.

Well, I couldn’t help it since my uniform was different.

The Yeongsa High School uniform cost over a million won, so I couldn’t afford it right away and had to wear the uniform from my previous high school.

Honestly, my navy blue uniform looked really outdated even to me.

I headed to the main building of Yeongsa High School with my admission documents.

The main building looked like the Blue House where the former president lived, so it wasn’t hard to find.

8 AM.

Everyone seemed diligent as the staff were already at work. I approached the place that looked like a reception desk and asked the most friendly-looking sister.

“Excuse me. I’m here to complete the admission process.”

“Huh? Oh, please show me your documents.”

Swoosh-. Flap-.

The female employee started to examine the documents I handed over.

I stared intently at her face for a long time.

It was to try using the ‘Emotion Eye’ I received from Seo Ga-eul.

But no particular words came to mind.

There were definitely some rules for using this 《Emotion Eye》, but after three days since coming to the past, I was only vaguely guessing them.

“Are you Han Nam-jin? It’s been about a month since you had your Awakener test, right? Have you had any tests since then?”

“No, I haven’t. It costs two million won for one test.”

They say they use the latest machines for the tests.

Using that as an excuse, they draw blood and take a lot of money, real hospitals are no different from thieves.

“Then we need to do a simple test. Since it’s been a short time since your awakening, you are probably still a first-stage Awakener. We need to confirm it to assign you to a class.”

“I don’t know what it is, but please do it quickly.”

“Then follow me this way.”

I followed the female employee to a place that looked like a white laboratory.

A huge MRI-like machine greeted me, it was quite grand with its round cylindrical shape.

“Lie down here.”

Sss-.

As I lay down on the hard, uncomfortable device, a large cylindrical machine above me started to whirr loudly.

Had I been lying there for about 5 minutes?

I got bored.

“How long do we have to do this, sis?”

“Don’t talk. This machine is a national treasure with the concept of inspection embedded in it. There are only two of these in the world, so if you mess with it and break it, we’re in big trouble.”

“Do you have a boyfriend, sis? How about a younger guy?”

“Ugh, I told you not to talk!”

Anyway, the inspection ended, and I returned to the admission office, sitting idly in a chair. The staff lady said to me,

“It’s a simple concept inspection, so the results will be out in 10 minutes. Just stay quiet.”

“Concept?”

“Don’t you know? If you acquire the concept of ‘muscle,’ you become stronger. If you have the concept of ‘lizard,’ your arm will regrow like a lizard’s tail even if it’s cut off. Do you not know how the abilities of the awakened come about?”

I had heard this question from someone recently.

It was Seo Ga-eul. I never thought I’d be reminded of my fateful encounter with Seo Ga-eul like this.

“Abilities come from strong desires, right?”

“Yes, when the strong desires of adolescents meet, they can become second awakeners with specific ‘concepts.’ About 30 percent of the awakened fall into this category.”

A ‘concept holder’ is in the top 30 percent of the awakened.

In other words, the inspection just now was to determine whether I was in the top 30 percent or the bottom 70 percent.

“Friends who have just awakened usually don’t have any concepts, so don’t be too disappointed with the results. With repeated education and training, you’ll find your talent. Ah, the data is out!”

The bright-voiced staff member looked at the paper printed from the printer.

Then, as if greatly surprised, she trembled and scratched the back of her head.

“What is this? There are two ‘concepts’…!? Manager! Manager!”

The lady ran off somewhere in a hurry.

Soon, a group of men came rushing in.

“Leap. Appraisal. Wow, it’s true. A student who has just awakened has two concepts. Manager Lee, have you ever seen anything like this? You’re from the Defense Science Research Institute, right?”

“This is what we call a multi-ability holder. Usually, one in ten awakeners is like this. This kid is particularly unique among the students I’ve seen.”

The men gathered around, marveling at my inspection results. It seemed my results exceeded everyone’s expectations.

“Inspection Results

Name: Ha Nam-jin

Concepts: Leap, Appraisal”

The half-bald man in the white coat kept scanning the documents.

Then he looked at my face, touched my head, or made me open my mouth wide.

“Well, this is remarkable. I’ve seen quite a few people with multiple concepts. There are about 100 of them in this school. But this one is particularly inexplicable.”

“Assistant Manager Lee! Explain it in a way we can understand, not just what you know! What makes this student special?”

“This concept, you see, has an affinity. You all know that the abilities of the awakened bloom from strong desires, right? This kid, this concept of leap (跳躍), is exactly that.”

Swoosh-.

The half-bald man in the lab kept kneading my thigh with his hand.

Knead, knead-.

His touch was quite unpleasant, so I stroked the bald man’s forehead in return.

“…What are you doing now?”

“Since you touched my leg, it’s only fair that I touched your forehead.”

「Name: Lee Daeryong

Status: 《Embarrassed》 – Greatly surprised by the boldness of today’s youth.」

“Ahem, anyway, this kid, for some reason, must have had a tremendous desire to run fast. That’s why the concept of leap has taken root in his body. Hey, how many seconds does it take you to run 100 meters now? “

“3 seconds? 2 seconds? Something like that.”

Everyone gasped in amazement at my honest answer.

“Truly amazing. What are you, a sports car?”

“No wonder the Olympics get less interesting every year.”

“In our generation, this was unthinkable.”

However, the middle-aged man called Assistant Manager Lee remained calm.

He continued his explanation calmly, as if to soothe the excited crowd.

“Leap itself seems to be an excellent physical enhancement concept. That’s why this second concept, appraisal (鑑定), is peculiar. Appraisal is the power to discern. It has no connection with the first ability, leap.”

“No connection?”

“Manager, for example, look at Yeoreum, who is graduating this year. She has the rare concept of ‘light’. Incidentally, her second concept is ‘photosynthesis’.”

“Light and photosynthesis… definitely related!”

“Exactly. The concepts of multi-ability users always develop and evolve from interrelated affinities. Our curriculum is also designed based on that principle.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

Leap and appraisal.

They seemed curious about me, who possessed two completely unrelated concepts.

“What on earth happened to you?”