Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

S-grade Holder Do Jae-hyun (2)

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“Welcome, Holder.”

Inside the association, Lee Ji-hye was greeting me.

Anyway, since there are no Holders or staff within the Korean Holder Association who can independently evaluate an S-grade promotion, their role is limited to providing the venue, assisting with the evaluation, and handling external administrative matters.

Perhaps because of this, it seems the association chose Ji-hye to assist me rather than looking for staff elsewhere.

She’s worked with me for a long time and we’re close, and now she’s also a high-ranking association official occupying quite a high position.

I heard from Ji-hye before that the association president really cherishes her because of her close relationship with me.

“Is Ji-hye escorting me today?”

“Yes. Are you disappointed?”

“Of course not.”

We walk in step, exchanging light jokes.

The Holder Association I was visiting after a long time looked quite busy.

Understandably, with the recent major incidents, the staff couldn’t help but be busy.

“The promotion evaluation will be conducted over three stages.”

Ji-hye took out a tablet and explained the outline of today’s evaluation.

“The first is ability assessment.”

“…Ability assessment?”

“Yes. Do you remember when you first became a Holder and took the academy entrance exam?”

Academy entrance exam.

A test that evaluates the Holder abilities of the chosen field and determines a ‘temporary class’ through light sparring and such.

I was assigned to the lower class here, and through a duel with Park Jin-woo, who was also in the temporary lower class, I obtained the [Effort of the Seeker] rune.

It was a filial rune that greatly contributed to improving my abilities, and also the first rune that my [Rune Hunter] successfully hunted.

It hasn’t even been two years, but now it feels like a story from a distant past.

Feeling a bit nostalgic, I nodded.

“Of course I remember.”

“Actually, the academy’s annual entrance exam is conducted in cooperation with the Holder Association. Because the evaluation of rune possession and rank is the association’s exclusive authority.”

“I see…”

It seemed she was referring to the ability assessment before the sparring evaluation.

After all, gauging rune utilization and abilities is something the Holder Association has been doing consistently through rank evaluations.

“The measuring instruments used then were a kind of magical tool created by researching various magic stones and items. They were made to react only when touched by Holders possessing runes, so it was easy to confirm whether the test subject was indeed a rune Holder.”

Ji-hye swiftly flipped the tablet screen.

Then, a peculiar magical tool with a handle and gem attached appeared.

There were a total of six magical tools, each with differently colored gems beautifully shining inside.

“These magical tools were designed and created in a similar way. These are tools that measure abilities, but they can’t measure complete numerical values, only whether they exceed a certain threshold. You probably used them when you took the C-grade promotion test before.”

I remembered.

Special magical tools used by the association for ability measurement during promotion evaluations.

Up to C-grade Holder promotions, there were standard ability thresholds set by the association, and you had to pass this ability measurement to be promoted to that rank.

Actually, since the C-grade promotion was so long ago, and ability measurements weren’t done from B-grade and A-grade, I had momentarily forgotten about it.

The reason there are six gems emitting light is because Holders are given a total of six general abilities.

“As you well know, from B-grade Holder determination onwards, abilities aren’t measured. They value rune utilization more than raw abilities.”

“So you’re saying for S-grade, abilities become a criterion again.”

“Yes. But the standard won’t be as high as you might think. You only need to exceed 90 in your chosen field and main ability.”

“That’s really low.”

Ability threshold measurement of 90.

As Ji-hye said, the hurdle wasn’t as high as I thought.

As mentioned earlier, since there’s no ability measurement from B-grade onwards, there’s no set ability for specific ranks, but there were certainly generally accepted figures floating around like common knowledge.

‘S-grade is… Probably 150.’

And the generally accepted ability threshold for S-grade Holders in people’s minds was 150.

This figure became known three years ago when an A-grade warrior-class Holder with a strength value of 131 failed to achieve S-grade promotion and strongly protested.

Of course, since S-grade Holders aren’t determined by abilities alone, most high-ranking Holders almost ignored this figure, but because the incident became such a hot topic, it was considered almost like an established theory online and unofficially.

Moreover, when the world’s strongest, Liam Hendricks, made the statement ‘Even my strength value exceeds 150’, it gained some credibility.

‘That’s fortunate for me.’

In that respect, the fact that the ability threshold for this promotion evaluation was 90 was good news for me.

Although my abilities are overwhelmingly higher compared to other A-grade Holders, it’s difficult to reach 150 without using skills like [Berserk].

From the beginning, I intended to focus on rune utilization rather than raw abilities for the evaluation.

“And there’s a test.”

“A test?”

“Yes. It’s a comprehensive written/practical test solving simple theoretical problems and special magic structure formulas, but the nature of the test varies slightly depending on the field.”

“…So S-grade Holders need to be good at studying too.”

“Haha. It won’t be that difficult for you, Holder Jae-hyun. After all, you’ve even done joint research with Professor Kang Dong-wook.”

Ji-hye, who was speaking, suddenly clapped her hands as if she just remembered something.

“Oh, right. Originally, there’s a performance evaluation included here, but you’ve already got full marks in that category. Probably among all current domestic Holders, there’s hardly anyone with better performance than you, Holder Jae-hyun.”

Holder performance evaluated in every rank assessment.

I already had full marks in that area.

…Actually, it would be strange if I didn’t have full marks.

Not only in dungeon conquests, but he had also made significant contributions several times in operations conducted in alliance with the Holder Association.

Thanks to this, the first evaluation, which assesses quite a few elements, was considerably shortened.

“This isn’t the end of the evaluation, right?”

“Of course not. This is only the first evaluation conducted under the supervision of the International Holder Association. The S-grade Holders invited as special evaluators will participate from the second evaluation.”

As we were talking, we had already arrived at our destination.

The large auditorium on the 17th floor of the association building used for official events.

In front of that door, Lee Ji-hye faced me.

“Then, I wish you luck on your first evaluation, Holder! Since you’re sure to pass anyway, I’ll be waiting to guide you for the second evaluation, okay?”

She smiled brightly and made a fighting pose.

I smiled back and made a fist in response.

‘Somehow, I’ve got more people cheering for me now.’

My master, and Ji-hye too…

There are many people expecting my promotion to S-grade Holder.

I feel like I have to succeed in the promotion to live up to those expectations.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“……”

Do Jae-hyun’s promotion to S-grade Holder.

In the large auditorium on the 11th floor of the association where the first evaluation was taking place.

Kwon Young-hoon, the president of the Korean Holder Association, watched the scene of the evaluation with a tense face.

‘I hope it goes well.’

Do Jae-hyun’s promotion to S-grade is not just an individual achievement.

It would be the first S-grade to appear in Korea in a very long time since Yoo Eun-seol, and if he succeeds in the promotion, it would be a great achievement to increase the number of domestic S-grade Holders to six.

Especially considering the influence that the number of S-grade Holders in a country has on the international Holder community, this could be connected to the political realm as well.

The International Holder Association’s supervision of the evaluation.

The selection of S-grade Holders from other countries as evaluators.

Such special events were happening naturally due to these political reasons.

Therefore, the association was also desperately hoping for Do Jae-hyun’s successful promotion, and was putting great effort into preparing for the promotion evaluation.

-The magic power level has also exceeded 90.

The words of the employee in charge of measurement were heard through the screen.

Following strength and speed, the magic power level has also exceeded 90.

This essentially means passing the ability measurement part of the first evaluation.

At this, Kwon Young-hoon let out a sigh of relief.

‘That’s a relief.’

Of course, there’s only one criterion for ability measurement.

It’s considered a pass if just one of the main ability scores set exceeds 90.

However, Do Jae-hyun had made a name for himself in the Holder world as a Multi-Holder, and was promoted to the international Holder community as a versatile Holder.

In such a situation, if there was an ability score that couldn’t exceed 90 among strength, speed, and magic, which could be considered his main abilities, it could slightly damage the pride of the Korean Holder Association.

It had become a sort of face-saving act in front of Holders from other countries.

“As expected of Holder Do Jae-hyun.”

As if to prove this, fluent English was heard from beside him.

Bill Clark, the president of the International Holder Association, was expressing his admiration.

For ordinary Holders, it’s common for only one core ability score to be excessively high, so even for S-grade Holders, it’s rare for all three ability scores to exceed 90.

Do Jae-hyun, who has been active and made a name for himself as a Multi-Holder.

The measurement results proved that his reputation was not in vain.

‘This kid, how surprising.’

Kwon Young-hoon felt strangely proud of this sight.

A Holder from his country being recognized by the head of a prestigious foreign institution.

Even though Korea is a strong country in terms of Holders, it’s not a common occurrence.

Is this what they call national pride?

Somehow, he felt good as a fellow Korean when Do Jae-hyun was doing well.

Kwon Young-hoon smiled good-naturedly and naturally responded to Clark’s words.

“Haha. He’s one of the best Holders Korea boasts of. Of course, this level is light…”

-Toughness has also exceeded 90.

But just as he was about to speak,

The bewildered voice of the measuring staff was heard from the screen.

The Toughness score had also exceeded 90.

In other words, a total of four ability scores had exceeded 90.

“Wh, what…”

“Is that even possible…?”

At those sudden words,

Bewilderment was evident in the voices of the executives conducting the evaluation.

The fourth 90.

While there have been S-grade Holders who exceeded 90 in three ability scores before, four was uncharted territory with not a single precedent.

It was a first since S-grade promotion evaluations began.

Naturally, the executives from various national associations in charge of the evaluation couldn’t help but be surprised.

But it didn’t end there.

-Uh, the Willpower score has also exceeded 90! No, how is this…

Up to Toughness, it could somehow be understood.

A warrior-type Holder who perfectly performs not only offense but also defense.

From the perspective of a Multi-Holder, it’s quite possible.

But the fifth one.

Moreover, when it comes to the Willpower score, it’s a different story.

The mental score is mainly used by mage-type Holders who require concentration, or special-type Holders who specialize in it.

Naturally, it was an ability score far removed from warrior-type Holders.

It was a measurement result beyond comprehension.

And finally,

-Recovery has also… 90! Is, is this thing broken?

The measuring staff muttered to himself in a foolish tone.

And the first evaluation committee members who heard up to that point.

Clark, Kwon Young-hoon, and the association executives gathered from various countries all had the same thought.

‘What kind of person is this…?’

A Rune Holder with all six general ability scores exceeding 90.

This was clearly a Holder beyond common sense.

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