CHAPTER 36: THE GOOD AFTER THE BAD

But the academy wasn’t all just ridiculous rules.

There was also an app simply named Benefits, and when Everlearn opened it, he was pleasantly surprised.

Being a newcomer, there were benefits that came with it—three he found most important.

The first benefit was him actually undergoing his first Core Fusion. The academy would give every single newcomer a chance to fuse with their first cores, a Grade W core called Neutron 01.

An 01 core was stable and reliable, with a well-balanced mix of strength and energy across every fiber of the body. It was very good.

Core transplants cost a lot of money—up to hundreds of thousands of Nvdollars. He knew this from being a Mecha Designer, yet the school was actually making them undergo this fusion for free.

But it wasn’t a feature immediately available. He would only begin his fusion after three days from now.

[Did you really want to fuse with a core?]

The system panel flashed as Everlearn’s brow furrowed.

It wasn’t a bizarre question. He already had the system that made him grow stronger by just completing missions. Why implant technological artifacts within his body if he could grow stronger without them?

"I will. Not because I need to—but to hide the main source of power," Everlearn muttered.

If he kept on leveling and growing stronger like this, it was only a matter of time before the entire Core world set their eyes upon him.

It didn’t make sense to be a superhuman without cores. If his strength grew enough, he would be checked—and most likely forced to spill the truth about his source of strength.

And what was worse?

He had no excuse for it.

So, he needed a diversion.

Even if he only fused with a Mecha W core and never upgraded, it was easy to just say he made himself special Mecha Modules that grew with him—or that his core was significantly different and that made him more powerful—or that he had integrated better Bionic fluids.

Being a Corer, there were a million and one ways to explain his sudden strength spike.

And besides, fusing with a core would boost his strength too.

It didn’t affect the system, so he wasn’t going to lose anything.

Why not just take it then?

The second benefit was, of course, the Newbie Entrance Points.

Right now, Everlearn was worth 100 points, given to him for free by the academy due to his new entrance. And what was more, for a whole month, the cafeteria was free.

His name had a newbie voucher where he could eat without paying with points for the first month.

That was a good advantage. With food out of the way, he could focus on more important things.

And if things were to ever blow up with new newcomers, they could at least ensure survival for the first month without starving to death.

With free food for a month and a new core fusion, they would be stupid not to be able to get themselves new points in a month.

And what was more—there was also one free Mecha Module given by the academy. Though according to it, the Mecha Module was random and had no name. That would only be unlocked seven days from entrance.

A free Core, and a free Mecha Module. Those two things made a Corer.

In his heart, Everlearn felt quite expectant, though he was also worried.

An FFF-grade potential meant his body would resist with all of its might against the fusion, and he might just end up dead.

[Why not try to retake your Potential Test?]

"Huh?" Everlearn raised an eyebrow at that.

[I mean, you are more than you were back then. The level-up doesn’t just level you up—it flushes out old cells, recreates new and better ones, removing all toxic fluids from you and replacing them.]

[That’s how you grow stronger. Everything down to the last cell is getting replaced with a better version.]

[So, now that you’re better than when you took the test last time, why not check if your potential is still FFF? It might have increased.]

"There’s no such thing as potential increasing later," Everlearn said with a shrug, but then he paused, his brows creasing.

"But there’s also no such thing as a system level-up. Perhaps I might just be the only exception."

The thought of his potential changing made his heart pound loudly, and he quickly moved on to the map.

A bit of focus, and Everlearn found it—there was a testing area within the academy where affinity potential could be checked.

Most already knew their potential, so there was no point in checking again. It was free since very few students ever stepped into it.

"I want to retake the Affinity State."

[Nice. Don’t be too expectant though, or you might just get disappointed in the end. Affinity FFF grade or not, you can grow stronger with enough hard work and time.]

The system said, and he reined in the pounding feeling in his heart.

’That’s right.’

Core Fusion isn’t my main path. It’s supposed to be a side point. If I should be excited, then I should be excited for the system, not for fusion upgrades.

With that thought, he sat his butt back down and did a couple more scrolls.

With increased intelligence stat points, it finally proved itself useful, as Everlearn went through about 90% of the total information about the academy on the app—and even managed to recall 60% of the information word for word, straight from memory.

It wasn’t a little information, but even as he went through the last bit, he wasn’t exhausted at all.

His brain was like a sponge that just absorbed and absorbed without getting filled.

It was a surreal feeling—almost as beautiful as feeling more power behind his fists.

Once he went through the majority of the information, he felt a new type of confidence in being here. Almost like this place was home.

And in the next moment, Everlearn rose up, moving back to the bedroom.

He opened the wardrobe, but there was nothing within, not even a uniform.

Obviously, he would need to go get that by himself, and so, he grabbed his device and green card before moving to the door.

One swipe, and he was out, the room turning dim upon his exit.