Simon’s fist aimed for Adrian’s face.

It was a fist hardened by enhancement, like a gleaming gauntlet.

Adrian remained motionless even as the fist flew towards his nose.

More precisely, he had a thoughtful expression.

He was contemplating whether to dodge this fist or block it moderately to placate.

After all, for someone with S-rank agility stats like him, Simon’s fist was no different from a slow-moving toy train.

He’d rather avoid such wasteful conversations and outbursts of inferiority if possible…

He wanted to show off his skills to his inexperienced friends and send them away, but he held back.

More precisely, he couldn’t do that.

Adrian looked at his status window, ignoring Simon’s slowly approaching fist.

[Skill: (Locked).]

‘Why am I locked?’

Everyone is known to have awakened simultaneously when the first gate opened on Earth.

He had also read news articles that most people gain one or two skills upon awakening.

However, Adrian’s skills were still locked.

Why on earth?

While lost in thought, Simon’s fist came close enough to touch his eyes.

At that moment, something flew and struck the back of Simon’s head.

“Ack!”

Simon rubbed his stinging back of the head with his hand.

“Damn it, who… gasp.”

Blood seeped out.

“What, what’s going on?”

The football team members around looked around with bewildered faces.

It seemed like this rock rolling on the ground had hit Simon’s back of the head…

Simon, touching his wounded head, lit up his eyes with rage.

“Adrian, is this your ability? Did you do this?”

“No, I’m innocent. I didn’t do anything.”

Adrian answered calmly.

However, confusion clouded his handsome face that truly seemed innocent.

He hadn’t done anything and was just watching the incoming fist.

Again, pebbles came flying from somewhere.

“Ow! That hurts!”

“Ouch, it hurts!”

The size of the pebbles, which were mere gravel, gradually increased. The football team members who had been boasting about their burly bodies turned pale at the shower of stones coming from an unknown source.

And when a final blow of a rock larger than a fist flew and struck their backs, they decided to run away with resentful faces.

“Adrian, we’ll get you for this.”

“We’ll definitely find out about your skill!”

The guys who had been seething looked around cautiously for any more flying rocks before quickly fleeing.

Adrian was left alone behind the gymnasium.

“…”

Adrian’s blue eyes briefly scanned the empty space.

Then, after examining the old trees opposite, he smiled vaguely.

“Thank you, Juno.”

At his gentle voice, the branches of the old tree above shook slightly.

Soon, it blurred faintly, and the figure of a girl with reddish-brown hair appeared on the branch where no one had been before.

Along with thick black-rimmed glasses.

“… You knew? Since when?”

“About halfway through.”

Juno looked down at Adrian with an embarrassed face. Her hands were full of rocks she hadn’t managed to throw yet.

[Skill Activated.] [Skill: Extra’s Basics (A).] [Erases presence for 60 seconds upon attacking or being hit. Low-level hunters cannot detect the presence.

Occurrence probability: 50%.]

The blue status window showed that her passive skill had been activated.

She had been in a passive state since she threw the gravel and struck the back of Simon’s head with killing intent.

Now, 60 seconds had passed, and the skill had ended.

Probably because the attacked football team members were all F-rank or D-rank, they couldn’t notice the attack from A-rank Juno.

Of course, Adrian, being S-rank, could read her presence.

Adrian smiled at her dangling from the tree branch.

“I saw you from the moment you were about to throw a rock as big as a fist.”

At Adrian’s words, Juno sheepishly brushed off the rocks she was holding.

Thud, the heavy rocks fell under the tree.

[This is the timeline separator]

I came down from the tree branch with Adrian’s help.

Actually, I didn’t want to help Adrian.

Catching the student council president’s eye went against my plan to spend my school days quietly.

‘But I couldn’t just watch my lifeline get hurt. It would be troublesome if he got a bone fracture and it interfered with dungeon entry.’

I pushed up my glasses that had slid down to the tip of my nose with a pained expression.

‘But that doesn’t mean I wanted this kind of situation.’

I was striding towards the school building when I suddenly turned around.

Adrian, who had been following me, also stopped abruptly and looked at me.

“I’m sorry, but… Adrian, am I perhaps mistaken?”

“About what?”

“I feel like you’re following me.”

It was an indirect way of asking, ‘Why are you trailing behind me?’, but Adrian smiled as if he found my words amusing.

“Well, we’re both heading to the school building, aren’t we?”

“Yes, that’s true, but… Is it really just my imagination?”

“Of course, it’s also true that I’m following you.”

“…”

Adrian said that as if he had no intention of hiding it.

Ah, I see. So he really was trailing behind me…

Yes, so why are you following me?!

‘It’s already suspicious that he knows my name, an extra, and now this.’

I took the opportunity to open Adrian’s status window again as he approached close.

‘It’s still locked.’

[Exclusive Skill: Before Skill Awakening (Locked).]

When I clicked on the word ‘(Locked)’, a new window popped up.

[The skill is in a locked state.] [S-rank awakened individuals must complete a quest to unlock their skills.] [The lock will be released upon completion of the awakening quest.]

‘So what exactly is this awakening quest?’

As I glared fiercely at the status window, as if reading my thoughts, a new window popped up with a ‘ding’.

[‘Adrian Coleman’s’ S-rank Skill Blooming Quest.] [Unlike awakened individuals of other ranks, S-rank awakened must complete a ‘Skill Blooming Quest’ for their skill window to open.] [Complete the blooming quest to awaken your S-rank skill.] [※Condition: Keep the Skill Blooming Quest confidential.] [Ice Mage’s Skill Blooming Quest.] [Survive for 30 days at the summit of the Himalayas. Conquer the 14 peaks of the Himalayas within 30 days.] [Upon completion of the blooming quest, the S-rank skill ‘Status Freeze (S)’ will be unlocked!]

What, what did it say?

[This is the timeline separator]

Is it really the Himalayas I know?

That Himalayan mountain range in the southern part of the Asian continent?

The very Himalayan mountain range with over 14 peaks exceeding 8000m in altitude?

Hurriedly returning to the school building, I hid in the last stall of the bathroom and searched for the Himalayas on my phone.

‘No, it’s too early to jump to conclusions. You never know. This is a fictional America in a drama, and maybe the Himalayas here is just a village with the same name or a 6-story building?’

Or at least, the Himalayas in this world might not be that high.

Anyway, the system’s instruction to conquer 14 high peaks of the Himalayas in 30 days could be a system error or refer to the name of a local hill.

But…

‘No, it’s not.’

The search results showed the Himalayan mountain range in the Asian continent, with peaks over 8000m high.

In the end, the system was urging Adrian to climb the Himalayan mountain range in this fictional America.

Even for an S-rank awakened, without a proper passive skill, and moreover, a minor who should be under society’s protection!

‘Isn’t this just pushing him to his death?’

Is it okay to be this harsh? They say with great power comes great responsibility, but does awakening an S-rank skill require a life-threatening quest?!

By the way, does Adrian know about this bizarre quest content?

At least he should know about it himself.

‘Even if he’s S-rank, he won’t be able to perform well in dungeons without a properly awakened skill.’

He’s nothing but a gilded crab apple.

My lovely Porsche and the lifeline to Harvard had turned into a crab apple in an instant.

Just in case, I searched for ‘S-rank awakened’ on the search engine.

Who knows, there might be S-rank awakened who have awakened their skills normally without such bizarre quests.

[(Breaking News) US Army Colonel Nelson, after awakening as S-rank, suddenly enters Amazon and goes missing.]

Okay, next article…?

[Mr. M, a civilian who was an S-rank awakened, suffers full-body frostbite while climbing Mount Makalu in Nepal naked.] [Former actor and S-rank awakened Newt McNeil suddenly embarks on a world tour on a unicycle. Reason: ‘Secret’.]

I couldn’t read any more and turned off my phone screen. My face turned pale and I felt nauseous.

“No…”

No! My lifeline!

I took a deep breath and touched my forehead calmly.

I couldn’t send Adrian to the Himalayas like this.

Somehow, the worst-case scenario naturally came to mind.

[R High School’s head boy suddenly challenges to conquer 14 Himalayan peaks and goes missing…]

Articles like that.