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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Academy Enrollment
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Lee Seonha, not Madam Kim Hyunjoo, was registered as my mother. The internet portal sites had confirmed it, so there was no point denying it anymore. It would just be a waste of time.
The world had turned upside down. Even if my mom had changed, it wasn't that strange. It was just a tiny shift.
Right off the bat, if you dug into it, the president and top stars from various fields had all been replaced. They were adjustments made to fit this warped world.
Lee Seonha's apartment was located in Seoul. Owning a 1,300-square-foot place outright in the city was the mark of someone with insane abilities. It really drove home the prestige of a Rank 944 Hero.
'If Rank 944 is like this, what must the ones above her be like?'
Lying on the bed in my room, I scrolled through search after search. There was so much I was curious about in this world that I lost track of time glued to my smartphone.
The broad strokes of history hadn't changed. Events like the Japanese occupation or the Korean War had still played out, somehow. But with superpowers thrown into the mix, the destruction had been even more devastating. The ceasefires and armistices had taken shapes suited to this world too.
After digging through the internet like mad, a few things stuck with me. One was the Hero ranked 3rd: Yoo Soyeon. She wasn't just any Hero—she was a chaebol heiress, daughter of the Yoo Sung Group chairwoman.
That naturally led my interest to her mother, Yoo Hwaryeon, who was steering the Yoo Sung Group.
Yoo Hwaryeon was a powerhouse at Hero Rank 15. She'd started from nothing, risen to the top as a Hero, and used that power to build her own royal family dynasty.
'Top-level Heroes really rake in astronomical amounts of money.'
And the Captains supporting them earned even more money and fame than those top Heroes. The scale was incomparably massive. Exaggerating a bit, it was enough to buy a whole country.
All they had to do was ejaculate. The men in this world might see it as grueling labor, but from my perspective, it was pure unearned income. Whether by jerking off or having sex, the need to ejaculate periodically never changed.
'Talk about motivation.'
The first step was enrolling in the Academy. Getting into the Korean Hero Academy and gathering promising young buds—that was the top priority for any aspiring Captain.
I was already looking forward to it.
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In this reversed world of men and women, nearly two weeks had slipped by before I knew it. I'd even gotten somewhat used to my strangely pretty new mom. Life in Lee Seonha's place had become comfortable.
I'd spent most of those two weeks working out. I crammed my face with whatever was rumored to be good for the body and focused on my health. In a world where stamina mattered most, I was doing everything to endure.
It was way more fun and rewarding than studying.
There was a knock on my door from Lee Seonha. Even though it was wide open, she always signaled before coming in. I noticed it every time, but she gave off a totally different vibe from Madam Kim Hyunjoo. Not very motherly, you could say.
'The age gap is weird, though.'
The internet portals listed Lee Seonha's age too. The sea of information had everything. Humans couldn't survive without the internet anymore.
Lee Seonha was a 29-year-old female Hero. Considering the age difference with me, it was biologically impossible for her to have given birth to me. Neither physically nor socially.
'...But who cares at this point.'
I was freeloading off Lee Seonha. At least until I enrolled in the Academy, I planned to stick around. Adoption or whatever—if she was willing to raise me, there was no reason to turn it down.
"Today's the day they announce Academy acceptances, right?"
"Yeah. Whew, I'm nervous."
Truth was, I wasn't nervous at all.
In the Practical Evaluation, I'd put on an insane show. Sure, it was just enjoying sex with Choi Seulgi's body, but it was more than enough. I'd proven my value as a Captain candidate. The Academy couldn't reject me now.
Announcement time. I jumped straight to the Korean Hero Academy homepage, entered my exam number in the acceptance list checker, and hit search. The results popped up.
🎉 ADMISSION CONFIRMED 🎉Lee Hyunwoo Congratulations on your admission to the 69th class of the Korean Hero Academy!
I'd passed with flying colors.
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Another two weeks passed after the Academy acceptance announcement. The world—well, precisely South Korea—showered massive attention on the incoming students. Everywhere people gathered in groups, they chattered about the future Heroes.
And yeah, some of that was about me.
"Who's the top Captain candidate who got in this time? Where's he from?"
"Some ordinary guy, I heard."
"I heard he's the son of a Hero in the hundreds. That Lee Seonha?"
My face was all over the place. The second word got out that I'd topped the Korean Hero Academy entrance, my personal info got dug up and exposed. Interviews and casting requests flooded in from media outlets. No way to hide now.
"Ahaha, my son's more famous than his mom now."
Lee Seonha giggled. Even as a Rank 900s Hero, she couldn't do much to help me out. She didn't have the power to rein in South Korea's madness. Her Hero abilities were just specialized in sealing, nothing more.
Wherever I went, eyes locked on me. Women stared openly. Their sticky gazes roamed my body. Depending on the woman's face, my mood skyrocketed or plummeted wildly.
Ugly women's stares pissed me off.
And it wasn't just staring—plenty came right up acting like they knew me. Polite speech from them was nice, but there were disgustingly many aunties hitting on me casually. I'd recently realized how hard it was to smile and greet them smoothly.
'At least it'll change once I'm in the Academy.'
The Korean Hero Academy was a cut above training academies in Seoul or Busan. It got special national attention. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say its graduates would lead South Korea's Hero society down the line.
To properly manage all its top talents, South Korea had even built a dedicated island. Way easier than in the original world. Superpowers made it surprisingly straightforward. Still not a walk in the park, though.
The project had kicked off a full century ago. The island finished and the academy city built about 70 years back. That's why this was the 69th class. Of course, compared to other superpowers, the number was pathetically small.
Right now, I was heading to the dorms. Every Academy student had to live in the dormitories. I'd checked it out ahead of time, and it looked great. Hard to believe it was academy housing—it was that appealing.
"Hyunwoo, you have to message me every day, okay?"
"Got it."
Lee Seonha dropped me off in front of the dorm and drove away. Her face was full of reluctance, and it tore at my heart a bit.
But what could I do?
I'd finished enrollment procedures and dorm check-in for the Korean Hero Academy. No reason for her to stick around anymore.
I pulled my simply packed suitcase toward the dormitory building assigned to me.
The Academy dorms were divided by grade. You could visit across grades, but you didn't live together.
"They really share the same building, guys and girls."
I wasn't the only one moving into the dorms today. Other students were too, hauling their stuff with bright faces as they checked out the place.
The female Hero candidates were all blooming with smiles, while the male Captain candidates looked downright sour. Their crumpled faces screamed discomfort.
'Dragged here to be meat toilets—no wonder they're not thrilled.'
Every guy in South Korea had to take the Academy Practical Evaluation. Skip it, and the cops would come knocking. Refusing the ejaculation test for inspection was a serious crime.
If you scored well in that semi-forced test, boom—you were automatically enrolled in the Hero Academy. They ranked incoming males by Practical Evaluation results and shipped them off starting from the Korean Hero Academy downward.
I'd voluntarily blown my load into Choi Seulgi to snag top rank. I'd given it my all, and I got rewarded for it. Being in the Academy felt pretty good.
Sure, suddenly getting a rich mom made the Dignity Allowance and Living Support Fund pointless, but whatever.
"Hey, hey. Isn't that him?"
"Oh, yeah. That's the guy."
"...Kinda looks ordinary up close, though."
The first-floor lobby was swarming with female students. Instead of heading to their assigned rooms, they milled around. Waiting for someone? They all stood there awkwardly, fidgeting.
I couldn't hear whispers, but they shot familiar glances my way.
'Already buddying up, huh.'
Seeing them clustered in groups made me feel left out. Maybe the guys should band together? I looked up and scanned the male students around.
'No hope there.'
The Captain candidates hunched their shoulders and kept their heads down. They marched straight ahead, too busy avoiding eye contact with the girls. Their pace was so brisk, it looked like a speed-walking contest.
'Didn't realize it'd be this bad.'
Men in this world had low libidos. Relatively speaking, compared to women. The gender with power having higher sex drives was nature's way of suiting reproduction.
That put sexual initiative squarely with women. Total opposite of the original world.
Guys didn't always cower in front of women. Out in the world, men lived normally. Dating, marrying, just like before.
But this was the Academy. Its uniqueness had the Captain candidates playing it safe. Get tangled with a Hero candidate and start down the Captain path, and you'd end up a worn-out cumrag.
'Guess I'll play it safe too.'
No plans to approach first. In a situation where I could pick and choose, why would I bother with sex appeal? In this world, women were the ones who needed to seduce. I was just gonna receive.