I Got Into School for Nothing - 6
I Got Into School for Nothing (6)
Lesson 2. This Is Your Roommate - 2
"Yuwon, I don't know why you're being so bothersome, but you know your dad's a busy man, right? I'm about to go on a business trip, anyway—Ouch!"
"Oh, you idiot. It's Yuwon's university acceptance announcement today. Can't you even make time for dinner on a day like this?"
The mother smacked the father's back just as he sat down at the dining table, trying to set a serious mood.
As for Grandfather Ban, who was seated at the head of the table...
"The Tower of Babel? This is about the Tower of Babel, isn't it?"
...he was spouting nonsense.
Father and Mother, while exchanging their usual banter, kept glancing subtly at Grandfather. Their expressions clearly asked, "Who on earth dragged this old man out here?"
Ban Yumi sat with a calm expression, her bamboo sword within reach.
She looked as if she were ready to immediately bring the bamboo sword down on Ban Yuwon's head if the meeting's agenda proved trivial.
"Then I'll start with the conclusion."
As Ban Yuwon placed a bag of snacks on the table, Ban Yumi's expression turned chillingly cold.
She was clearly having such ridiculous thoughts as, "Surely this punk isn't going to make a fuss about something so trivial at a family meeting, is he?"
"Everyone, watch closely."
"The snack bag?"
"Isn't it about the Tower of Babel?"
[Extracting the language concept 'bag/wrapper' from the empty snack bag.]
[Absorbing 0.1 of 'bag/wrapper'. This is not a concept a human can fully possess, so it is recommended to separate it or imbue it into another object.]
As Ban Yuwon absorbed the concept, the snack bag instantly shriveled, then eventually turned to dust, scattering with a faint rustle.
Seeing this, his father sprang to his feet in alarm and shouted.
"It's making a mess!"
"Honey, sit down. Yuwon, what was that just now? Can you use it on other trash, too?"
"The ability to turn trash into dust...!"
"!!"
Everyone seemed somewhat surprised, but... it felt as though their astonishment was directed slightly differently than Ban Yuwon had expected.
He narrowed his eyes and said.
"Can't you all react a little differently than that? Like, 'Where on earth did you get such an ability?'"
At that, his family's replies were a sight to behold.
"Well, it's surprising, but... it's not as surprising as you speaking ten languages when you were three."
"Yuwon, can you get rid of Styrofoam too?"
"And what about that uniform you were wearing earlier?"
"The Tower of Babel!!!"
Amidst his family, each speaking their own mind, Grandfather suddenly raised his voice and exclaimed.
"You found the Tower of Babel, Won-ah!"
"Huh?"
"Father, what's wrong?"
"Grandpa, let's go inside and sleep now."
Seeing a snack bag turn to dust, how on earth did that lead to talk of the Tower of Babel?
The other family members, thinking Grandfather's dementia had returned, tried to usher him to his room.
"No, everyone, wait. As expected, Grandpa knows."
The irony was, that was actually the correct answer.
"I found the Tower of Babel, Grandpa. But apparently, strange monsters have occupied the Tower."
"Such an outrage!"
Grandfather roared.
But was it just a feeling, or did Grandfather's small, shabby frame seem to grow larger and larger?
No, it was as if bellows were stoking his aged body, filling it with renewed fury and and passion, making it swell.
"So, we have to reclaim it. Support me."
"Support you? Of course I will! My Won-ah is going to fulfill our family's long-cherished wish, so how could this old man sit idly by?"
Grandfather, having fully regained his lucidity, sprang to his feet, his eyes shining brilliantly, and asked his father.
"Son, where did you put my cell phone?"
"Huh? Father, you have so many cell phones... Ah, that old-fashioned phone? It's safely stored in the warehouse."
"Come. I'll need to use it."
"Father? Agh, you're still as strong as an ox!"
Grandfather dragged Father away, exiting the room.
Mother and Sister merely stared at their retreating backs with dumbfounded expressions.
And rightly so, for it had truly been years since Grandfather Ban had shown such a clear-headed demeanor.
"Father, he truly loves the Tower of Babel so much to get this excited... So, what's the truth, Yuwon?"
Mother asked. Ban Yuwon answered honestly.
"I told you, I found the Tower of Babel."
"Are you going to be like this too, son? Whatever your reason for deceiving your grandfather..."
"I found it, I said."
Ban Yuwon repeated with emphasis, opening his inventory.
The Dokkaebi Club, having fully recovered its energy after resting inside for several hours, instantly shot out, spun a few times in the air, then went behind his mother and lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Kyaaak!"
"Believe me, please. And Mom, I'm sorry, but I can't go to university."
"You're not lying because you failed, are you?"
"No, that's not it, Mom. I saw this punk definitely get accepted into S-University."
Ban Yumi said calmly, then turned to Ban Yuwon and asked with serious eyes.
"Can't you take me to the Tower of Babel too? It sounds super fun."
"You're not ready. No, don't clench your fists. I'm serious, give up."
"Ugh..."
"I'll explain for now, so sit down calmly and listen."
And so, Ban Yuwon explained the events that had transpired to him that day.
Mother gasped in horror upon hearing that her son had unwittingly faced a deadly crisis, while Ban Yumi's eyes sparkled upon learning about monsters and the existence of mana.
And by the time he mentioned that the Tower of Babel was called the "dungeon of dungeons."
"No!"
Mother shrieked.
"How can I send you to such a dangerous place!"
"I'm going, Mom. It's the place where I can best utilize my talent, I'm telling you."
"That's different from what you used to say! You, who wanted to live comfortably and made diplomat your dream career!"
"Ah, well, that's because if I became an archaeologist or a linguist here, the results would be obvious, wouldn't they? But it's not like that there. Our building is there, I'm telling you!"
"Ugh, I should have known this would happen ever since he was a child, always trailing after his grandfather!"
Next to Mother, who was pounding her chest in frustration at her disobedient son, Ban Yumi asked.
"Can I also wield that 'mana' thing?"
"What? No way... Wait a minute."
What was the catalyst for Ban Yuwon himself to wield mana?
Surely, the moment he accepted the external demonic energy, it stimulated the dormant mana within his body and awakened it, didn't it?
And if that were the case, Ban Yumi also had every possibility.
"Sister, give me your hand."
"Oh, how embarrassing."
"Don't be ridiculous."
Grumbling, he took the hand his sister offered, and detached 0.05 of the 16.25 mana perfectly settled within his body, bestowing it upon her.
He could bestow it even if he didn't own the mana itself.
The moment 0.05 mana flowed through his hand into hers, Ban Yumi flinched.
"W-What is this?"
"Mana. Did you feel it?"
"This... wait, right now...!"
Ban Yumi hurriedly pulled her hand away from Ban Yuwon, retreated, and sat cross-legged on the floor, concentrating.
In wuxia novels, usually they'd sit in a lotus position, not this specific posture, but perhaps because she'd practiced kendo since childhood, her posture was quite impressive.
However, unlike Ban Yuwon, who had awakened mana the moment he absorbed demonic energy, she had to remain seated for a considerably long time. It was unclear if this was because she had only absorbed 0.05 mana, unlike Ban Yuwon, or if her talent was simply relatively lesser than his.
Just as Ban Yuwon was wondering if he should detach a little more mana for her, as it was taking too long, a brilliant red light erupted from Ban Yumi's body.
"I got it! This is it, right?"
"Oh, it worked."
Instantly, her presence swelled.
Perhaps it was because she was already a strong person, but once she awakened mana, the change was dramatic.
Her strength grew, her stamina surged, and her entire demeanor transformed.
However, upon seeing her daughter suddenly attempt a one-fingered handstand to test her strength, Mother clutched her forehead and lamented.
"Oh dear, even my daughter has become strange."
"I'll give you some mana too, Mom. If you awaken this, your body will get stronger, and it's good for you."
"No thank you, Mom. I don't want it."
"It doesn't even hurt?"
"I don't want it!"
Perhaps she was inexplicably frightened by the sight of her daughter emitting a red light from her body, Mother adamantly refused the mana.
Meanwhile, Ban Yumi, having truly awakened mana, pulled Ban Yuwon, as if eager to go out and rampage right away.
"Ban Yuwon, let's spar!"
"I've never even learned kendo."
"Don't lie, you punk. You had a proper stance. Your sister will give you a proper lesson, so hurry up and come out. Come on, hurry!"
"Wait a minute, before that, Grandfather..."
"Won-ah."
As he resisted Ban Yumi, who was trying to drag him out indiscriminately, Father and Grandfather had already returned to the living room.
"I told them to come by noon tomorrow. They should bring most of it."
"Who did you tell to come?"
"Who else but the banker?"
Banker. The bank employee.
Ban Yuwon vaguely recalled hearing that their family had an account at a Swiss bank.
He cast a glance at his father, who nodded, still wearing a dazed expression.
"So you really did have an account at a private bank, the kind you only see in movies. And you never even told your son all this time..."
"You have no talent, you fool! The account was always meant to be passed down to Won-ah!"
"Ah, Dad. And Grandpa too."
Ban Yuwon bestowed 0.1 mana to his father and grandfather, respectively.
Even if not immediately, if they could awaken mana someday, it would surely benefit their health.
He particularly hoped it might even slightly delay Grandfather's dementia.
'Now my mana is a clean 16.'
Investing in his family, this much wasn't a waste at all.
Anyway, to other academy students, it would probably just be considered a margin of error.
He wanted to bestow it upon his mother too, but seeing her vehemently refuse, he couldn't force it.
"Do you feel the energy that entered your body? From now on, that..."
"That's good for your body, so concentrate and feel it carefully. Alright, since the talk is over, we're leaving!"
"Wait, I need to explain about the Academy to Grandpa too..."
"Mom can explain it!"
Ban Yuwon was then dragged out by Ban Yumi, forced to become her sparring partner.
If there was a positive realization he gained from it, it was that short-term sparring with a skilled individual significantly boosted the various concepts he possessed.
The growth in his swordsmanship, in particular, was shockingly rapid, yielding results that saw it rise from 3 to 5.6 in just a few hours of sparring.
"What the hell, you? Why are you getting strong so fast!"
"Ah, this is what 'talent' is."
"I really want to kill you."
Though Ban Yumi had awakened mana and grown stronger, the same was true for Ban Yuwon, and he even surpassed her in mana quantity.
More importantly, the concept of 'Life' that Ban Yuwon possessed, or in simpler terms, his Level, was higher than hers.
The only saving grace was that the techniques she had honed her entire life allowed her to hold an advantage, but Ban Yuwon was catching up to even those in short order!
'Hmm, it seems like this can't simply be explained by the word "talent," can it?'
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon, who was growing in real-time while sparring with Ban Yumi, also felt doubts about his own rate of growth.
Then, he suddenly realized something: it was his unique intrinsic concepts: All-Reading Eye, All-Hearing Ear, and All-Speaking Lips.
It seemed these weren't merely abilities applicable only to language.
'What could be the reason my swordsmanship is developing so rapidly now? It's because I'm observing my sister's movements, interpreting them, and applying them to myself. Does that mean I'm not merely reading language?'
Ban Yumi, who had never once been outmatched by her younger brother in any physical discipline throughout her life, clung to him in frustration and didn't let go the entire night.
Thanks to that, Ban Yuwon, who ended up swinging his sword all night long, developed his swordsmanship to 7.2 and managed to slightly improve other physical concepts as well.
But because he had pushed himself too hard, he fell asleep in the morning and didn't wake until almost noon.
"Are you awake?"
"Oh, Grandpa. ...Are you alright?"
At the sight of Grandfather Ban, who seemed to have been waiting for him to wake, Ban Yuwon wore a slightly worried expression.
But as if to dispel his grandson's worries, he nodded vigorously.
"How could I be out of my mind at a time like this? Don't worry, I have no intention of doing anything foolish until I've properly prepared Won-ah. More importantly, here, take a look."
Following Grandfather's finger, he turned his head, and there, to his surprise, he saw stacks of pure gold ingots piled up neatly.
It looked to be about a hundred kilograms.
"W-What, this..."
"I withdrew some of the gold from the account. Gold is accepted anywhere in the world, isn't it? So take it with you."
"What are you going to do if you give all this to me!"
"Boy, there's still plenty left, so don't you worry. Don't underestimate the wealth our ancestors accumulated for the family. Ahem, more importantly, this is the real deal."
Ban Yuwon, having finally torn his gaze away from the dazzling gold bars, noticed a large trunk placed in the corner of the room.
Though it appeared to be an ordinary trunk on the outside, it strangely captivated his gaze and wouldn't let go.
Ban Yuwon realized it was due to the mana he felt emanating from within it.
Mana, of all things! Hadn't there been no mana on Earth?
"Th-This..."
Ban Yuwon stood up and opened the trunk, to find all sorts of curious objects inside.
He knew well that his ancestors had traveled all over the world until now.
He recalled that Grandfather Ban alone, in his capacity as a diplomat, had traveled to every corner of the world, and occasionally brought back souvenirs.
But what was contained within this trunk were not mere trinkets or souvenirs, but genuine relics, each distinctly imbued with history and legend.
Precious artifacts that, in the process, had even germinated mana that shouldn't ordinarily exist.
He dared say they were treasures that couldn't compare to mere gold bars.
"Grandpa, how did you..."
"These are the traces of our ancestors who tried to find the Tower of Babel, no matter what. Now it's all yours, Won-ah. Will this be of help?"
Ban Yuwon picked up one of them, a slingshot that appeared extremely ancient.
It was carved from a sturdy branch, with strange characters inscribed on its surface. An unknown animal's sinew served as the elastic band, though it was almost completely rotted and unusable in practice, the wildness he felt emanating from it was truly breathtaking.
[From the Slingshot that Pierced a Lion's Eye, would you like to extract Magic Shot 5, Archery 17, Hunting 21, and Fierce Beast 8?]
"...Yes."
Ban Yuwon savored the true Artifacts still remaining on Earth, a world that had lost its mystery, and nodded his head absentmindedly.
"This is going to be incredibly helpful."
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