Transcension Academy - Chapter 7

C7: Growth (1)

– 20km run. [0 km/20 km]

– 500 squats. [0/500]

– 200 push-ups. [0/200]

– 300 sit-ups. [0/300]

– 150 chin-ups. [0/150]

The pop-up window that emerged was like this but Seo-joon ignored it because the level required by the task transcended the concept of exercise.

Currently, Seo-joon has decided not to overdo it for a week.

Once he would be discharged from the hospital a week after listening to the lecture, he decided to start properly but,

<Incomplete challenge exists.>

<Please accomplish the task.>

“Oh, my…”

When he clicked on the next lecture, the lecture didn’t start.

He repeated it several times, but there was only one phrase that he could not take the lecture unless he completed the assignment.

“What should I do?”

Seo-joon thought about it for a while, but quickly shook his head.

“Yes, it’s only a week. There’s no reason to overdo it.”

But when Seo-joon was about to take Shakyamuni’s lecture he saw something written in small letters in one corner of the screen.

<Duration remaining until the end of your free pass: 83 days>

‘It has a time limit?’

Seo-joon was embarrassed for a moment because he has been looking through the site of the Transcension Academy for the past week.

‘I spent too much time on the forum.’

On reflection, it didn’t make sense that the duration on the Free Pass was unlimited.

Anyway, the remaining period is 83 days so maybe the pass lasted 90 days in total. The problem is that Seo-joon was not confident in completing the lecture he is currently taking in the remaining 83 days.

It was unclear whether he could complete Shakyamuni’s lecture even if he listened to it 24 hours a day.

In this strange academy he had to somehow understand the contents of the lecture and gain enlightenment to increase the progress of the lecture.

Naturally, he had to take the same lecture over and over again, and that was the reason why Seo-joon had only 1.3% progress even though he only took Shakyamuni’s lecture for a week.

He didn’t know what he was doing, but it didn’t mean he just wanted to spend time meaninglessly.

“A free pass is only a taste after all.”

It seems that the Transcension Academy is also an academy after all.

“I decided not to overdo it…”

But it couldn’t be helped.

“I don’t know.”

Seo-joon eventually left the hospital room and took a big breath. He felt the cold air passing through his lungs due to the winter weather, and his mind was clear.

The muscles that had been lying down for a week stretched and rang throughout the body.

“What should I do first?”

Seo-joon checked his smartphone once again.

– 20km run. [0 km/20 km]

– 500 squats. [0/500]

– 200 push-ups. [0/200]

They were all difficult tasks so Seo-joon decided to start with the things that he could do.

In the end he decided to do push-ups.

“It’s been a while since I worked out.”

To be exact, Seo-joon did not have to exercise. That’s why all Seo-joon has been doing is carrying monsters that professional hunters have killed. And on average, the bodies of monsters weigh about 70 kilograms.

Of course, it was different depending on the level and type of monsters, but most of the monsters Seo-joon has carried were like that.

He had been carrying monster bodies’ non-stop for the last 9 years.

The work itself was an exercise, and moreover, Seo-joon was an awakened, so he did not feel the need to exercise separately.

The awakened could use a special power called Mana. But being able to use it and being able to use it were two separate issues.

Most awakening people cannot use Mana so the Hunter Academy that teaches them how to do it. This was one of the many reasons why he said he had to enter an academy to be a hunter.

Of course, there were some enlightened people who could use it even if no one taught them. That was the case with early hunters who are now called geniuses.

Seo-joon was just a person with a stronger body than ordinary people.

“Let’s get started.”

Seo-joon looked around once and put his palms on the ground. And without hesitation, he started doing push-ups.

One, two, three…and after a while.

“Whoa! 200!”

After finishing 200, Seo-joon jumped up. His chest and his arm muscles were trembling, but he was able to do about 200 without any difficulty because he had been working for nine years.

Seo-joon tapped his palm and checked his smartphone.

– 200 push-ups. [81/200]

“What is this?”

For some reason, only 81 were counted, not 200. Seo-joon tilted his head at the unknown phenomenon and looked at his smartphone, then he thought of something.

“No way!”

Seo-joon put his palms on the ground again, did a push-up and checked his smartphone again.

– 200 push-ups. [81/200]

This time, he did a push-up in a straight posture as when he just started doing push-ups.

– 200 push-ups. [82/200]

“Did I have to do it properly to count?”

Seo-joon sighed slightly. If he had known it was this kind of system, he would have done it properly from the beginning.

Above all, there was a hassle of having to check with his smartphone every time to be sure he did it properly.

“Maybe that’s a kind of assignment?”

Seo-joon smiled and put his palms on the ground again.

.

.

“Haaaaa…Crazy!”

Seo-joon was not joking, but he felt like he was going to die right away.

With 200 push-ups already done, it was really hard to do the remaining 118 in a correct pose.

Now, his muscles have gone beyond shaking and he didn’t have any strength left.

– 200 push-ups. [157/200]

However, this crazy task did not care about Seo-joon’s condition at all. Regardless of whether the muscles were tense or not, they would not even count if he didn’t do the push-ups in the correct posture.

Therefore, Seo-joon had no choice but to rest for one to two minutes and then start again.

“I can’t do this! No more!”

Seo-joon gave up the idea of getting up and lied down.

– 200 push-ups. [200/200] (Completed!)

Fortunately, Seo-joon breathed a sigh of relief that the task was completed but that only lasted a moment.

– 20km run. [0 km/20 km]

– 500 squats. [0/500]

– 200 push-ups. [200/200] (Completed!)

– 300 sit-ups. [0/300]

– 150 chin-ups. [0/150]

Seo-joon was dizzy again.

Of course, like the push-ups, the other tasks also required correct posture.

In the case of a 20-kilometer walk, the measurement itself could not be made unless a certain speed was reached. So by the end of the day, Seo-joon almost went crazy.

The next day, he felt like he was going to lose his mind. Still, contrary to Seo-joon’s expectation, it was worth doing the tasks.

It seemed that there was a compensating effect because it was a Transcension Academy task rather than a general task.

More than anything else, Seo-joon thought that since he would be able to attend Chiron’s next lecture, he was able to endure it.

However,

<Incomplete assignment exists.>

<Please finish the assignment.>

“What is it?”

For some reason, there was only a phrase that he could not take a lecture unless he completed the assignments.

Seo-joon checked the assignments just in case.

20km run. [0 km/20 km]

– 500 squats. [0/500]

– 200 push-ups. [0/200]

– 300 sit-ups. [0/300]

– 150 chin-ups. [0/150]

The tasks were initialized.

“Oh, my. Crazy…”

It was only then that Seo-joon realized that the task was a “one-day” task.

Only when he could finish the tasks in one day would he be able to attend the next lecture.

“Sigh…”

Seo-joon had no choice but to leave the hospital room again.

After that, five days passed again and Seo-joon’s life has been like this.

As soon as he woke up in the morning, he did Chiron daily tasks and before he went to bed, he listened to Shakyamuni’s lecture.

Of course, the whole day passed as he completed Chiron tasks, but Seo-joon could feel himself changing day by day because his body was developing at a visible speed.

A person’s body cannot grow in a short time, or at once. It is common sense to grow after a long period but thanks to the daily tasks he felt like his body was ripped apart and reassembled every day.

“It’s crazy. Just…”

Seo-joon could only express it that way.

Like that, he was on his way back to the hospital room after finishing his daily tasks.

“Oh my! Are you on your way back from working out today?”

“You’re working really hard.”

The nurses recognized Seo-joon and greeted him. Even though it was late, they were nurses sitting in the middle of the aisle.

“Oh, yes. It’s a little stuffy to stay in the hospital room.”

“No matter how frustrating it is, working out all day is a bit…”

“Haha…”

Seo-joon smiled lightly and passed by them but after walking away.

Don’t you think patient Kim Seo-joon is getting cooler?”

Suddenly, he heard the nurses talking.

“Right? His calmness is also charming. He’s totally my style.”

“In fact, last time, he was soaked in sweat, and I touched his body a little while pretending to be worried. But wow…I’ve never seen such a good body before.”

“Really? If you knew that, you should have reported it to me right away!”

Seo-joon hurried his steps while being embarrassed for no reason.

“Why don’t you go and check his blood pressure now?”

“Uh…? Really?”

As my body got better as a daily task, my hearing seemed to be enhanced somehow.

The next day Seo-joon, who woke up early in the morning, prepared to leave the hospital room again.

“Young man, are you going to exercise again?”

But then he heard a voice. When turned his head to look he saw the grandmother who was a caregiver for another patient.

“Oh, yes.”

“You’re working hard. As expected of someone young.”

Seo-joon smiled slightly at his grandmother’s expression as if she were looking at her grandson and when he was about to turn around and leave the hospital room.

[Next news]

Suddenly, the sound of TV came into Seo-joon’s ears.

It was early in the morning, but the morning in the hospital room was early, and unlike the single room, the TV in the six-person room was always on.

[At around 5 a.m. today, a four-star monster, Behemoth, suddenly appeared in downtown Seoul. Reporter Jung Tae-min reports the details.]

Seo-joon’s gaze naturally turned to the TV.

On the screen he could see some broken buildings here and there. Then a man’s voice came out like a narration.

[A 4-star monster, Behemoth, appeared in the middle of Seoul at 5:32 a.m.]

[The Hunter Association has launched a major investigation into an unheard-of anomaly, and the investigation has found that a living monster was mixed with the monster bodies.]

[The association announced that Behemoth was in a state of deep sleep. The monster corpse transporter did not know this and the Behemoth awakened in the middle of the city while they were carrying it.]

[It was a situation where serious human casualties could have occurred, but thanks to the help of an Awakened who happened to be nearby, no human casualties occurred.]

[As a result, attention was focused on the Awakened who defeated the Behemoth while criticism was poured out on the hunter team and company that transported the monster corpses.]

[The Awakener is a Gaon Hunter Academy cadet, and Gaon Academy is known for producing many Ranker Hunters, including S-class Hunter Jeong Heon-young.]

[Someone who isn’t a professional hunter yet, can fight a 4-star monster. It is indeed the Gaon Academy. There were many such reactions.]

[This was reporter Jung Tae-min]

“Hunters saved people again. They’re really great people.”

As soon as the news was over, the grandmother muttered as if she were proud.

After nodding several times, the grandmother suddenly said to Seo-joon as if she had remembered.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say that you’re also an awakened?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right.”

“So, are you also a hunter? Will you be on TV like that later?”

“Oh, that’s…”

“Grandmother, do you think anyone can be on TV?”

It was someone else’s words, not Seo-joon.

When he turned his head, there was a man in his mid-50s looking toward Seo-joon.

“And how hard it is to be a professional hunter these days.”

“Awakened people can all become hunters, right? It used to be like that when I was young.”

“It was like that when you were young but now being a pro hunter is like picking stars in the sky.”

“Is that so, boy?”

Seo-joon nodded softly.

Then the man looked at Seo-joon as if he knew it.

“If you’re exercising with the intention of becoming a hunter, stop it. Don’t waste your young life on things that don’t even work.”

For a moment, something that made Seo-joon cry soared from his chest.

The man was just speaking, but Seo-joon felt as if the past life he had lived was being denied.

“I take care of my life. Rather than worrying about other people’s lives, you worry about your own life first.”

“I just advised you as a worried adult, you should listen carefully. Anyway, things these days….”

The man then shouted something, but Seo-joon ignored him and went out of the hospital room.

In the cold morning air complex thought flew into Seo-joon’s head.

In reality, Seo-joon can no longer attend a Hunter Academy because it would take too long to save money from this point on.

And the current reality is that if you don’t go to an academy, you can’t become a professional hunter.

“Someday…”

However, Seo-joon had the Transcension Academy. He didn’t know in detail about the Transcension Academy yet, but Seo-joon is experienced and felt the effects himself.

Seo-joon was convinced that becoming a professional hunter would not be just a dream.

Maybe that’s why.

– 20km run. [20km/20km] (Completed!)

– 500 squats. [500/500] (Completed!)

– 200 push-ups. [200/200] (Completed!)

– 300 sit-ups. [300/300] (Completed!)

– 150 chin-ups. [150/150] (Completed!)

“I did it!!”

For the first time, Seo-joon was able to finish Chiron’s daily tasks without spending the entire day.