Chapter 6: Micheal Hwang
I considered it a bit, but there really was no point in lying.
’They’ll eventually find out anyway.’
After all, there was no way I could mimic the previous owner’s gift. I decided to come clean, well, not completely clean.
"Oh, about that. I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now. Ever since I woke up, I’ve been having trouble remembering the past. Even stranger, my current gift isn’t even windblade."
The man nodded slowly at that, as though confirming his suspicion.
"Well, you did hit your head pretty hard. So—"
"Wait, what?"
A look of realization dawned on the man’s face.
"Right, you don’t remember, do you? You fainted during the orientation, hit your head pretty hard during the fall."
That explained the atrocious headache I had earlier. For some reason, it had reduced. Not that I was complaining.
The man continued.
"You aren’t the only one, though. Another kid fainted as well, some noble brat. Don’t remember the name, though."
"Maki?"
He shook his head.
"Nope, not the Sato girl. I think you’ll find her soon enough, though. After all, she complained about the same thing as you."
"She lost her memory as well?"
He gave a wry smile at that.
"No, her gift changed as well, to one of a much higher rank. The association has been calling it a second awakening of sorts."
That was definitely news to me. I was pretty damn sure I hadn’t written anything even remotely close to a second awakening.
’Could it be another transmigrator?’
But she didn’t lose her memory.
’Weird.’
Things had started changing already. It certainly couldn’t be because of me either. I just got here.
Micheal evaluated me with a curious gleam in his eyes.
"What is your current potential?"
I hesitated before answering.
"It’s higher."
Micheal smirked at that.
"Well, I guess it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me."
And I wasn’t telling him for good reason too. Having absurd potential was well and good if you came from a noble clan. If you didn’t, though, factions would start aggressively scouting for you like sharks smelling blood.
’It would only complicate things.’
I said this because it was exactly the same thing that happened to the protagonist.
Regardless, the man continued.
"You still have to retake the gift test. After all, we have to find out your gift again."
’Oh, right. Not much I can do about that, I guess.’
I nodded, rubbing where the skinwalker elbowed me before asking,
"Do I have to do it right now?"
He waved his hand dismissively.
"Nothing of the sort. I think you’ve earned a proper rest, so you’re exempt from class tomorrow. You can go take the test when you resume."
"Thank you."
That was good. I needed some time to get my thoughts in order. Hunter Micheal continued.
"Do you still feel sick, want to go back to the hospital?"
There was little use in going back there. No sort of medicine or sorcery would ever cure my illness, not if it was the manifestation of a burden.
"No, I don’t think there is a need for that. Can I just go straight to my dorm?"
The man dusted his hands as he stood up from his seat.
"That can be arranged," he said as he walked toward me, only stopping when he was directly next to me. I tried backing away, but there was only so far I could go while still seated.
"Do you need anything, sir?"
He smiled as he raised his hand.
"No. Just close your eyes."
I raised my hands.
"Wait. Let me tell you someth—"
Something chopped the back of my neck, knocking me out again.
"Uh..."
I rubbed my neck as I woke up, at the memory of the chop.
I was in a dim, windowless corridor this time. The only light came from a nearby stairwell and an elevator at one end of the corridor.
Using the nearby wall as support, I managed to stand up, still feeling sore from the fight earlier. At least my fever and nausea had reduced to mild levels. Though I still felt a general sense of weakness.
There was a door right next to me, with what looked like a fingerprint scanner by the side.
’Did he drop me at my dorm?’
I placed my thumb on the scanner to test it. There was a flash of green light before the door silently slid open. A dark room lay behind it.
’It works.’
I cautiously stepped into it, only to get flashbanged by all the lights turning on in response to my presence. I backed off, slamming into the door that had already silently closed behind me.
"Ugh..."
I rubbed the tears from my eyes as they began adjusting to the brightness. A rather simple but spacious room lay before me.
A sizable bed was stationed at the center, with a wardrobe and short cupboard placed at different sides of the bed. To the side wall was a simple reading table with a keyboard and a flat metallic disk on top. Next to the desk was the only window in the room, though it was completely dark at the moment. Finally, by the far wall, I could see another door, which I assumed led to the toilet.
I tried looking around for a switch, but the walls were completely blank. That’s when I remembered something from my novel.
’Interface.’
A screen popped up in front of me, though it was completely different from the status screen. It reminded me of a phone home screen more than anything else.
The background was an image of a dark-haired boy and an older girl dressed in ragged clothing standing in front of a metal wall with the numbers 007 written on it. They were both smiling.
’Is that boy this body?’
I felt a weird sense of guilt looking at the image, but I tamped it down. I couldn’t get sidetracked again.
’I’ll settle all this later.’
There was a search function to the side, which I tapped on. It popped up, putting a virtual keyboard in front of me as well.
’It’s all in Hangul.’
Strangely enough, all the characters were of the Korean writing system, which I had obviously never learned, yet for some reason, I was able to understand it.
’Now that I think about it, they hadn’t been speaking English earlier as well.’
Nobody had actually spoken English earlier as well. It was more of a creole of Japanese, Korean, Russian, and English, yet my brain understood it easily.
’Eyes on the prize.’
I searched for Home Control and tapped it the moment it popped up. Much to my relief, dimming the lights was one of the top options on it, which I happily obliged, putting an end to the atrocious lighting.
I was of the mind to search the room a bit before resting, but the thought vanished the moment I touched the bed. It was as though all the accumulated stress slammed into me at once, and before I knew it, I found myself lying on the bed.
’Come to think of it, I never did change my shirt... Hmm...’
The darkness took me like that, sprawled on the bed, wearing a police sweater draped over a blood-soaked hospital gown.