I Became the Genius of the Gigant Academy - Chapter 17:

Fragments of the head parts popped up. Even amidst that, Ioline tried to counterattack somehow, but Abel never gave her a chance.

Bang! Bang! Quaang-! 

In the end, after several punches, Ioline’s Tito dropped.

‘Whoa.’

Abel stood up after confirming that his opponent was completely incapacitated.

That’s it. With all the damage done to the head part and other vital parts, it would be impossible to get back up.

Abel then checked his Tito.

‘It’s a wreck.’

He knocked out three people one after another, but he rarely allowed an attack to get to him, but he was not in excellent shape. This is because he made several near-maximal movements in a row. Though he has his shield, he still smashes a solid head with his fist. He was fortunate that his left hand was holding the shield. Otherwise, his hands would have been shattered, along with the head.

Wuung-.

Abel carefully examined the extent of the damage Tito, then picked up the sword again. There was a line of damaged Tito around. No one must have fainted, and they were trying to get out after being completely safe according to the rules. Abel soon turned his attention elsewhere.

‘Hannah, Lian, and Ioline.’ 

Counting the ones he had taken down plus Daniel, who Ioline handled, there were a total of four retirees. This means three are left now: Charlotte, May, and June.

“Hmmm.”

Given his Tito’s unusual condition, Abel would have to move more cautiously. There was nothing worse than trying to impress and then losing. Abel took a step back, trying to figure out where they were. As he wandered around the open meadow, he spotted someone faster than he thought he would.

‘What?’ 

Abel realized it was June’s aircraft. Or, more precisely, June’s Tito, broken and lying on the ground. Its entire body was nearly torn to shreds, but the decisive factor was the damage to its chest.

Kaaang!

Abel, who was about to look closer, stopped at the sound he heard from a distance. The sound of fighting came from not too far away.

Kaang-! Thump, thump, thump.

Abel stopped looking and ran toward the sound. The metallic clangs became less frequent until they finally stopped.

‘It’s over.’

It’s a sign that the battle is over. Not long after Abel traveled toward the sound, he spotted a lone Tito.

Huh-

Damaged fuselage and flags littered the ground near the unsteady Tito.  The markings on the Tito were similar to those left on June’s Tito. He had expected it to a certain extent, but it was even more surprising to see it in person. It was none other than May who piloted the last remaining Tito. Abel narrowed his brows.

‘How come?’

It wasn’t as if May didn’t have her moments in the game. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been labeled a lazy genius, but there was no way she would show off her skills at a theoretical practice in any of her routes.

‘Didn’t she seem disinterested before the game started?’

Right. Amid Abel’s thoughts, May’s machine moved slowly, and Abel tightened his grip on his sword.

”Regardless of your intentions, we must settle this matter now. We can have a conversation later.”

May’s weapon is a twin sword. She has the same one-handed sword as Abel, but the reach is shorter than Abel’s.

‘Once.’

Both May’s Tito and Abel’s Tito were in poor condition.  In addition, May’s trick is a series of consecutive attacks that flow like water. It was better to fight together as a team whenever possible. Abel gathered what was left of his strength and ran forward.

Whoosh-!  

The gap narrowed, and Abel had no intention of prolonging the battle. Judging from the state of his machine, it must be the same for his opponent. This match will decide the winner.  When the distance narrowed enough to reach each other with their arms outstretched, the three swords moved. May’s twin swords aimed at Abel’s chest and head, and at that moment……..

‘Shadow step.’

Abel’s Tito suddenly came to a halt. He used the skill’s momentum to reverse his charge’s direction. Not expecting that, May’s twin swords cut through the air, and Abel immediately stretched his sword forward. Bang! The sword went through the head. May’s attack was very threatening, as expected, but it meant nothing if she couldn’t hit him.

Abel drew his sword. May’s machine slowly tipped over. Once Abel was sure that May’s aircraft was completely incapacitated, he picked up the flag that had been lying on one side, and then fatigue kicked in.

Even for a Tito-class gigant, the fatigue was not insignificant. However, along with the fatigue came a thrilling feeling of exhilaration. After all, he had defeated the other gigants and finally secured victory.

Wooooog-!

In the distance, he heard the sound of a motorized vehicle and saw a few Gigants approaching. It was none other than Jacqueline and the gigant of other facilitators.

“You did well!” Then came Jacqueline’s cheerful voice, and Abel smiled brightly.

The short battle was over.

»————- ★ ————-«

“Cadet Abel Klein will be the leader of the simulation. Does anyone have any objections?”

No one answered Jacqueline’s question.

The disparity in skill was too great to contest. Hannah and Lian collapsed after only a few seconds, and Ioline and May were not far behind. A look of exhaustion and hopelessness washed over their faces. Abel shifted his gaze toward May who was standing diagonally across from him. She was looking at him, too, and their gazes met.

May gave him a puzzled look and pouted her lips.

“So, I guess none of you don’t have any.”

Jacqueline spoke up again.

“You’ve all had a long day, so let’s return and rest.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks.”

They all said goodbye to Jacqueline and then exited the building together. The walk back to the dorms was quiet. Everyone was mulling things over after the battle. Even Abel was silently walking straight ahead. This was because a   message was frantically updating in front of him.

[You have succeeded in impressing everyone and took the leader position!] 

[You have successfully completed the first linked quest!]

[Your reward will be enhanced.]

‘I have successfully taken the first step of the Main Quest. I’ll receive the reward after I complete all the linked quests, but it’s nice to know that the reward has been enhanced. Huh, There’s one more thing?’

[Challenge ‘Win 1 mock match’]

[As a reward, you will receive a “magic candle”].

The rewards of small challenges. It wasn’t quite the same as the random skill pack Abel had gotten for facing the fragments of the Colossus, but it was enough to satisfy his immediate goal of increasing his magic power.

‘When I get back, I’m going to open my skill packs and eat my magic candles right away.’

Just the thought of being able to move forward made his heart flutter. Abel walked excitedly and arrived at the dormitory in no time.

“See you on Thursday.”

“Yes.”

The children greeted each other dryly, not yet recovering from the aftermath of the battle, and then went their separate ways. Abel headed for his room. He had no intention of skipping his evening training, and he was eager to see his reward, but before he could set foot in his room, someone called out to him.

“Klein.”

An unfamiliar voice called out to him. Turning his head, Abel was inwardly surprised to see who had called him.

She has purple hair and languid eyes. It was May. The reason he thought her voice was unfamiliar was because he hadn’t really heard her speak before. Abel swallowed his embarrassment and answered.

“Yes?”

Infamous Scans

“……that. How do you do that?”

“That? What are you talking about?”

‘If you say something out of the blue like that, there is no way I can understand it.’

At Abel’s question, May narrowed her eyes, wondering what was wrong with her question before speaking again.

“That….. thing that goes thump, thump, over here.”

May pointed to Abel’s chest. Abel was about to ask again. But at that moment, he was speechless. It was because of the symbol that had appeared recently in that very spot.

‘What is it?’ 

‘What does May see?’

Or…….? His head was spinning. Abel felt her gaze on him, and he opened his mouth to speak.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,”

“But every time you piloted the Gigant, I saw something strange, and I wanted to check it out for myself.”

“What exactly did you see?”

May tilted her head slightly before continuing.

“Something was popping and bursting out from there and getting sucked into the Gigant……”

Abel barely swallowed the words that rose to the top of his throat. It was because he couldn’t come up with a good answer. May saw the look on Abel’s face and spoke again.

“You don’t seem to know much either, let me know when you do.”

“Uh, okay.”

With that, May turned and walked away without hesitation. Abel already knew that May was unusual, but now that he’d actually had a conversation with her, he realized she was even more so than he’d thought.

It sucks.

‘At least we had a conversation, so that’s a good thing, right?’

Abel walked up the stairs, feeling a little smug.

»————- ★ ————-«

The next morning. The first thing Abel did when he got out of the shower after his early morning training session was to check his status. He had a great tool that allowed him to get an objective view of himself.

[Abel]

[Race: Human]

[Body Grade: C] 

[Attunement: S] 

[Magic power: C] 

[Possessed Gigant: ?]

[Skill Overflow, Shadow Step, Double Attack, Beginner Gigant——.]

The body grade and attunement remained the same. It was natural that the synchronization rate was the same because it’s an S-class, and it’s not easy to raise, so it’s no wonder it’s the same. Abel’s magic power was the only stat that went up a notch, as it takes work to increase it. The last time he received a buff as a reward, he trained hard and ate the mana candle he received along the way helped a lot for him.

Compared to the noble children who have been eating good food and training since they were young, they shouldn’t be lacking much. They would have no problem dealing with Milles freely.

The difference is quite big.

It is challenging to achieve a B grade, just like a body grade, but it is not impossible. Abel will have to keep moving forward.

‘The new skill I got is pretty good, too.’

‘The skill section added a “double attack” from a random skill pack.’

As the name suggests, it is a skill to attack twice, but it felt like it increased the attack speed instantly. Undoubtedly, it would be advantageous in the real world.

However, one change was more noticeable than the increase in magic power stats or the acquisition of new skill, which was the question mark added next to the possessed gigant.

A question mark is what appears when you have yet to name a gigant. In other words, it meant that Abel’s gigant is complete.

‘Hopefully, I’ll see you today if things go well.’ 

The first hour is gigant training. Given that he’d said he’d be training with a real gigant from today, not a training device, there was a good chance his guess was actually right.

Abel smiled, put on his clothes, and headed out the door. He spotted Daniel waiting for him as he walked through the hallway and down the stairs.

“Abel, come on, let’s go!”

“Okay.”

Daniel was still energetic after losing so much during their early morning training. Abel came down the stairs and left the building with Daniel.

Abel had barely made it down the stairs when he spotted someone while listening to Daniel’s story with one ear. She had silver hair that glisters in the sun.

It was Ioline.

She wasn’t in the same class as him and he wasn’t particularly close to her, so he naturally tried to look her way again. Suddenly, Ioline turned her head. She looked at Abel and spoke,

“Klein.”

”Huh?”

”Can I speak with you after class today?”

Abel replied after a moment of consideration.

”Sure, why not”.

”At the main hall at eight o’clock.” With that, Ioline turned and walked away.

The image of May from yesterday flashed through my mind.

‘They’re both acting strange.’ He wondered what it was about these two people who rarely talked to him.

“What?” Daniel asked, his eyes widening in surprise at the suddenness of Ioline speaking to Abel.

Abel replied taking another step

“What”?

“Are you close to her?”

“No.”

“Then what is it? Hmm? Maybe……”

“If you’re about to say something that’s nonsense, we won’t train anymore.”

Daniel was about to say something but immediately shut his mouth at those words.

They walked to the lecture in silence. The location of the first class was very familiar. This is because there is only one place where first-year students can freely practice their gigants. A vast empty lot that Abel calls the playground. More than ten gigant were lying there

‘Looking at it, it’s very spacious.’  

Whenever Abel saw this, he never got tired of seeing the scale of the academy. As he walked in, he saw a person that resembled a gorilla.

“Now! Ten people are here.”

There were still about 5 minutes left, but the gorilla-like instructor smiled. It was Karl. Initially, he had been assigned to the second years in the game, but by special order from the principal, he was reassigned to the first years.

‘I was a bit surprised at first.’ 

‘For now, I’ll let it go because a lot has changed. Honestly, when it comes to surprises, I’m more surprised that May and Ioline spoke to each other every day.’

Above all, it was one of the lying Gigant that caught Abel’s attention.

Karl looked at the cadets and spoke,

“Today is gigant practice! That means all of you are finally going to ride your own gigant! You’ve all learned something. It’s time to showcase your skills.”

I hope I don’t look too bad?”

Karl continued without waiting for an answer.

“First of all, each of you should go stand in front of your Gigant. Abel, come here!”

Abel walked right up to him. Karl smirked at him as he approached.

“I suppose you know why I called?”

“Is my gigant finished?”

“Yes. That’s the one you were looking at. Go closer and see.”

Abel’s gaze has been fixed on one place even before Karl called him. As soon as he received permission, he rushed straight there.

The Gigant lying on the floor were all the same Milles class, but they didn’t look the same. That’s why. Abel was able to find his easily.

“Wow.”

An exclamation burst from my mouth. Its entire body was coated in black, with a wolf symbol clearly etched on its left shoulder blade. Abel slowly scanned the Gigant’s body. The armor wasn’t very thick, as it was designed for mobility, and it had graceful curves everywhere. There were special parts for the back, head, and feet.

‘The Scarlet trio set.’ 

This was the armament Scarlet had promised. Part of him wanted to jump on board and check it out himself.  But first, Abel remembered what he had prepared for this moment. The name he’d come up with for his second gigant.

“Lupus.”

Lupus. It meant wolf and was the name of his favorite Gigant in the game.

[The name of the possessed gigant will be changed to “Lupus”].

As soon as he thought about it, the message came to mind. When Abel checked his status window, it revealed that his gigant was already registered with the name Lupus. Abel looked at his Gigant with excitement. Then, Karl spoke from behind him.

”Do you like it?”

”Yes.”

”That’s nice.” Karl nodded and placed his hand on Abel’s shoulder.

“Today’s class will be aimed at moving, standing and, walking.”

“Oh, okay.” Abel nodded, though he couldn’t figure out why he only came to tell him.

Karl spoke in a warm voice to Abel.

“But not you.”

“What?”

“You already know how to do it.”

Abel turned his head slightly and saw the human gorilla smiling unpleasantly.

“You will have special training with me.”

The moment he said special training, the gorilla’s psoas major muscle twitched. And Abel felt a sense of foreboding.

[To be continued.]