EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school - Chapter 19
Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse
Dark chapter.
A phrase used to describe an embarrassing past that every person wanted to erase.
Abilities, character, popularity, intelligence, and wealth — those are things that the genius, PMH’s title hero, Joo Joo Soohyuk possesses.
But even he had a dark chapter in his life.
The first time Joo Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Ahn Dain had a combined class.
Ahn Dain meets her best friend Kim Yuri during the Player Battle Practice 1 combined class and smiles for the first time ever since she entered high school.
Seeing her smile in front of him, Joo Soohyuk trips and falls in a quite grand manner.
Had he not possessed a player’s physical characteristics, his fall would’ve caused a concussion or a broken bone.
Even the genius Joo Joo Soohyuk was just a teenager smitten by the smile of the girl he had fallen for.
‘Ahn Dain rarely smiled so it’s understandable why Joo Soohyuk was surprised. Almost all her smiles were out of politeness. A combination of her expressionless face and a slight lift in the corners of her mouth.’
Joo Soohyuk had made a fool of himself in front of 100 or so people and was recorded on a live stream.
He then tries to pull himself together before engaging in a one-on-one match with Ahn Dain.
Joo Soohyuk loses miserably.
Ahn Dain is taken by surprise by Joo Soohyuk’s poor skills and Joo Soohyuk, sensing her disappointment, is tormented.
This whole scenario would be the main highlight of today’s first class.
5 minutes before the start of class.
The entire Year One Class Zero arrived at the Freshmen Gym.
Kim Yuri commented that more may come today so we waited as long as we could for our other classmates.
But like yesterday, there were only four of us again — Hwang Jiho, Kim Yuri, Hani, and myself.
The four of us walked together to the sports hall but as soon as we arrived, I pretended to explore the place and went to stand behind Joo Soohyuk.
“Yuri!”
Ahn Dain had found Kim Yuri.
Ahn Dain, with a pretty expression that was as beautiful as a field of fully bloomed flowers, waved her hand.
The cold and expressionless Ahn Dain was replaced by a warm smile that was widely spread all over her face.
All the students that saw Ahn Dain looked surprised.
But Ahn Dain and Yuri didn’t seem to care and started to talk.
Flop.
I supported Joo Soohyuk from behind and prevented his fall.
I don’t know how he had tripped but both his legs were momentarily in the air.
Thankfully I was prepared and avoided being entangled in an accident together.
“Are you okay?
“….Oh, sorry. Yeah, I’m okay.”
Joo Soohyuk, who stood leaning against my shoulder, looked like he wasn’t in the right state of mind.
Though even a lost and blank expression looked good on Joo Soohyuk.
There were a few students standing behind Joo Soohyuk and looking at the side of his face and they looked even more lost and blank than he did.
“You sure you’re okay? I think you’re going to battle Ahn Dain in this class today. You guys have the similar records.”
“What? Oh, right. Yeah, I’m good.”
He looked far from okay.
His cheeks were dyed a vibrant shade of pink at the mention of Ahn Dain’s name.
Soon enough, after taking a few deep breaths, he calmed down.
Even though he was smitten by his first love, Joo Soohyuk is one of the main characters in this world.
Now he successfully avoided having a dark chapter in his life.
‘This should have done the trick.’
I was about to leave Joo Soohyuk and walk away when he spoke.
“Thanks, Jo Eushin.”
Joo Soohyuk knew my name.
It was an odd feeling to hear my name coming from the mouth of the main character.
“….You knew my name?”
“My test site was right opposite yours for the practical exam. When everything wrapped up and you were transported to the hospital, I caught a glimpse of your face and name tag. I’m more surprised that you know my name.”
Joo Soohyuk smiled and spoke casually, and he no longer seemed to be out of it.
‘What a good memory.’
To think that Joo Soohyuk was able to remember someone’s name and face just from a glimpse amidst all the chaos that had happened that day.
If so, it was even possible that Joo Soohyuk remembers Yoo Sanghoon and Jang Namwook.
“I don’t think there’s anyone amongst the freshmen that don’t know your or Ahn Dain’s name.”
“Hahaha, if you put it that way then the same goes for the Nameless Supernova.”
Joo Soohyuk naturally continued the conversation.
He had the ability to make the other person smile and be at ease.
‘When I saw him from the game I only thought of him as someone who was easy to stick to.’
But in real life, I realized he had the ability to charm people and genuinely gain their attention.
‘No wonder those from the royal lineage reached out to Joo Soohyuk.”
While we were engaged in a conversation.
The class bell rang and put an end to our conversation.
“The class bell….”
A combined sound of string and wind instruments filled the room.
It was a great combination of string, wind, and brass instruments that showed off a great melody.
The students spoke in softer voices to appreciate the melody.
“They played this themselves? What was the title? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.”
“It’s composed by Elgar, the marching song of Wipungdang No.1 in D major….Wow, they even have an arrangement for the second half.”
“Seems like the string, wind, and orchestra club came together to commemorate the first class bell.”
“I like this song. I’m going to download it.”
As the piece continued, the sound of conversations faded away.
All around, students put up their holograms to download the piece.
In Eungwang High, the soundtrack of the class bell changes every hour.
Those in charge of the class bell were the music-related clubs.
String, wind, orchestra, piano, traditional instruments, band, vocal music, choir, composing club, and others decide on the soundtrack to use for the class bell.
Anything from instrument pieces to self-composed songs was possible to use.
There were times when it was a classic piece like today and sometimes there were pop songs or self-composed songs.
There were cases when it was a trot song or traditional Korean pansori.
All these soundtracks were uploaded on Eungwang High’s broadcasting club homepage.
The sound of the class bell was only a minute long but the full version was downloadable on the website.
‘I’ll download today’s one after making a donation.’
The class bell was downloadable for free but you were also able to donate as much as you wanted.
After the allocated minute for the class bell was over, the track started to fade out.
The professors then began to turn up.
Joo Soohyuk and I had stopped talking and were listening to the class bell, but now decided to part ways and return to our places.
“See you later, Eushin.”
“Sure.”
Joo Soohyuk rejoined his class Year One Class Two students and I rejoined the Class Zero kids.
* * *
The students lined up in two lines per class, and then the three professors stood in front of the 104 students and did a brief self-introduction.
Year One Class Zero homeroom teacher Ham Geunhyung.
Year 1 Class One homeroom teacher Kim Shinrok.
Year 1 Class Two homeroom teacher Noh Youngmi.
Noh Young Mi was a non-playable character, and Kim Shinrok is a new character.
In the game, the form teacher of Class One was the piece of trash Choi Pyeondeuk.
<This character is not found in the database. There is no information on this character.>
Even with the exclusive menu tab, there was no information to be found.
The homeroom teacher of Year One Class One, where the title heroine Ahn Dain belongs to, played quite a crucial role.
But to think that it was an unregistered character.
‘Choi Pyeondeuk is still out there alive so why was there a change in their appointed teacher?’
I was staring and continuously observing Kim Shinrok.
Then I realized he had a familiar face.
‘The supervisor who appeared near death at the Nameless Supporting Role’s Tutorial….!”
He was the supervisor who had turned up during the practical exam near death and shouted at us to run.
‘In the storyline, he suffered a severe injury from the Bear Clan and was thrown into the gym with the enemy. Then he died with the students who were in there taking their exam….’
Perhaps Kim Shinrok was originally the appointed homeroom teacher for Class One.
But in the game, he had died so there was a change.
“Hello everyone. This is ‘Player Battle Practice 1’ your first lesson since you entered Eungwang High.”
Noh Youngmi the homeroom teacher of year 1 class 2 started the class.
“Amongst you, there will be some that are not interested in battles and avoid them. Of course, there are many paths for a player. You need not join a professional player team after you graduate from Eungwang High. There are students who end up becoming doctors, lawyers, civil workers, or even professors like us.”
At Noh Youngmi’s words, guilty faces emerged from the crowd.
There were quite a number of students who had joined Eungwang High for its title and reputation as the most elite high school in Korea rather than a passion to pursue a career as a player.
‘Jang Namwook was like that too.’
The enthusiasm and pursuit of the elite education system continued even after the occurrence of otherworld collisions.
“But we never know where and when an otherworld will spawn. It could appear in the offices you work in or the resort you visit for a holiday. An otherworld might open up and enemies may appear.”
Noh Youngmi continued.
“Only players like us are capable of combating enemies. It is the basic quality of a player to train and polish their skills to fight for your family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.”
Those of us here were newly turned 17, freshman high school students.
Before this, it had been impossible to use our light skills as they had been sealed away so even if we had outstanding battle skills, it was always expected that we were the ones to be protected.
But now that we were 17 and approved by the association, we are all players.
Noh Youngmi’s speech made me realize that we all stood in different positions — the ones who protect and the ones being protected.
“One of the entrance requirements to enter Eungwang High is to ‘be equipped with more than one battle skill.’ Our teaching team will do our best to enhance the battle skills that you have shown to us.”
As Noh Youngmi gestured, Kim Shinrok and Ham Geunhyung respectively brought carts full of item cards.
“All of the cards here are item cards designed and catered to enhance the battle skills you revealed during the entrance exam. They are all R-rank items.”
Several students raised their hands.
“Professor! I brought my own personal item card.”
“Same here.”
Those funded by their families’ wealth possessed even rarer items that were of SR or SSR rarity.
To them, the R-rank item must have been unsatisfactory.
Noh Youngmi shook her head.
“What we want to see today is purely your battle skills.”
It was expected for the homeroom teachers to observe and assess the strength and abilities of their freshmen students.
That is why it was necessary to combine more than two classes to compare and assess each student’s position among the rest.
And because otherworlds are usually attacked in groups.
There were many unhappy faces in the crowd, but Noh Youngmi ignored them and continued to speak.
“Your respective homeroom teachers will distribute the item cards. Once the distribution is completed, gather back.”
***
I don’t want to reveal any of my skills.
Exclusive menu? Destiny Skill? Correspondence Skill?
I was probably the only one in this world with these sorts of skills.
The moment I reveal them, I predicted a future where I will be used as a lab rat by the Players’ Association or the government.
But it was a mandatory rule to reveal more than one battle skill in Eungwang High.
‘I only have one skill I can reveal.’
Which was also my only battle skill.
The skill I revealed was the Use Objects skill which lets me use any shield and weapon.
“Wow! Are all these yours Eushin?”
Yuri looked at me, impressed.
Most students had been issued one card.
‘This is more than I expected.’
The number of cards I received was 300.
Those around me started to talk as I stood there holding a whole stack of cards in a plastic case.
Even Hwang Jiho, who was standing next to me with a card in his hand, looked at me with sparkling eyes.
“Even amongst the royal lineage, only a few have the Use Objects skill. You’re excellent, Jo Eushin.”
He must have already known based on the documents I had submitted during my application.
Pretending was second nature to Hwangho.
I guess that was how he was so brazen to mix in with 17-year-old students when in reality he was over 5000 years old.
“I wanted to let you try all the existing weapons. You’re the first student to have the Use Objects skill so this was the best we could do.”
Ham Geunhyung looked at the fully packed card case with a look of regret.
“Since your skill level is only 1, by using these various weapons you can then learn how to level up accordingly….”
“Skill level 1? What a loser.”
A loud voice was heard from Year One Class Two.
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Here it comes. The stupid arrogant shmuck who’ll get his ass beat down ?