Teacher Jason’s recommended universities were places I had never heard of.

Right, as a Korean, any American university I would know must be an amazing school.

The universities recommended by Teacher Jason fell far short of my expectations. I thought it might be better to give up on college early and just get a job.

“…I’ve finally possessed a high school character, but I can’t even date or go to an Ivy League school?”

Then why on earth did I possess this world?!

There should be some perks for me to happily adapt to this world!!

My mind, steeped in academic elitism, felt I couldn’t be satisfied with anything less than an Ivy League school.

‘Even Juno’s older brother attends H*rvard.’

Let’s talk about Juno’s brother later since my head is already complicated.

Anyway, at that time, I was walking out into the hallway after my first ever career counseling session, holding brochures for universities I had never heard of.

But suddenly, dark storm clouds gathered outside the hallway window, and with a loud crack, lightning struck.

Is this what they mean by the world turning upside down?

As I stood there with my mouth agape at the strangely rumbling sky, something bright blue suddenly appeared before my eyes with a “ding”.

[SYSTEM: Passive skill unlocked.]

“W-what is this?”

I was startled and stepped back. Even in that moment, the words in the status window kept changing rapidly.

[Passive Skill: (A).] [During activation, your presence disappears. No one can sense your presence.

Occurrence probability: 50%]

…Are you mocking me?

The status window that suddenly appeared seemed to be ridiculing my situation.

Yes, fine. I’m an extra with no presence who can’t even go to Harv*rd. Because I’m a nerdy supporting character in ginger. But did you have to hit the nail on the head like that? Huh?

The feeling of being mocked angered me for a moment, but then I stopped in my tracks.

‘Wait a minute… a status window?’

I blinked at the blue window floating in front of me.

This is supposed to be inside a high school drama, so why is a status window appearing like in a game?

If a status window appears here, won’t it mix up the genres…?

In the year since I possessed this world, there had never been a single instance of genre mixing.

But for such a change to suddenly occur…

As I pondered deeply, the dark clouds outside the window gathered around a center like the eye of a typhoon.

And far away in the sky, a black gate opened.

Seeing that sight, I couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“Oh, f**k…”

I couldn’t hold back the swear word.

Because it was just too perfect.

[This is the timeline separator]

People named the black hole that appeared in the sky a “Gate”.

And a Gate opened in the fictional Connecticut where I lived.

Right above some company near the school, no less.

This also meant that the drama genre I knew had been fused.

Namely, an American high school hunter story.

It was truly an unheard of genre.

As it turned out, the Gate that opened in the sky over Connecticut wasn’t an isolated incident.

Gates opened simultaneously in other countries as well, and in some places, monsters poured out of the Gates, turning entire cities into wastelands.

They called it the “Monster Wave”.

From that day on, the news reported daily on Gate situations in other countries.

Most reports were about how national leaders tried to close the Gates by leading armies, but to no avail.

Of course, in hunter stories, closing Gates was the job of awakened individuals called “Hunters”.

The first Gate in this world was closed by an awakened person in New Zealand.

Wellington, New Zealand had been particularly hard hit by the Monster Wave, and the awakened person who entered alone to close the monster-spewing Gate became this world’s first Hunter.

The first Hunter to return alive from a Gate said this:

[I entered a strange world through the Gate that opened in the sky. You can close the Gate by clearing the requirements that world wants or by killing the boss monster. Gates are entrances to worlds we didn’t know existed.]

People decided to call the other world beyond the Gates a “Dungeon”.

Another world… it was preposterous, but we had no choice but to believe it.

The evidence was the orc’s left arm that the first Hunter brought back from the dungeon and the clear sky over Wellington after the Gate disappeared.

After the news from Wellington, the first to officially register and start activities as Hunters was a guild of awakened individuals from Korea.

Foreign media marveled at their swift administrative processing.

Koreans who rushed to pass related legislation as quick as lightning and ran to welfare centers to report as awakened individuals and start activities as Hunters were portrayed as heroes of Earth.

‘Ah, welfare centers. Indeed, the land of resident registration cards.’

As expected of the “pali pali” (quickly quickly) people. It was a truly terrifying speed.

I almost teared up at the sound of my imaginary homeland in the distance, but I held it back.

‘No, there’s nothing to cry about. The Gate that just appeared right in front of me is a more serious problem.’

If monsters suddenly poured out of the Connecticut Gate, we were destined to die without being able to do anything.

After “Hunters” officially appeared in New Zealand and Korea, each country was rife with factions trying to incorporate Hunters into the military early on and factions opposing this.

America was closer to the latter.

The army led by the US President also tried to eliminate the Gate, but they just wasted ammunition and that was it.

I checked my status window every day while listening to the breaking news pouring in.

“…It’s A-rank, but I don’t even have a proper active skill yet and I’m not officially awakened. But what if I reveal that I’m an A-rank awakened here and get conscripted?”

Fortunately, it seemed that only I could open my status window, and only I could open other people’s status windows as well.

As I said, I can see other people’s status windows.

Character information windows that show a person’s name, age, skills, and awakening rank.

As soon as I awakened at school, I was able to look at the status windows of the kids in the hallway one after another, but those guys didn’t even know I was opening their status windows.

Being able to open other people’s status windows was my privilege alone.

‘Since my only skill is Extra’s Basic, seeing status windows doesn’t seem to be a skill… Why am I the only special case? Is it consideration for those who have possessed bodies?’

Anyway, it was fortunate that no one knew I was an awakened person.

I was worried that I might be forcibly taken into the military regardless of my will.

‘I should keep it hidden as much as possible. Other awakened people will close America’s Gates, right? Is the population here a bit large? Korea closed them in an instant, so why couldn’t they do it here?’

Even if I’m an awakened person, what could a frail female student like me do?

I decided to just live quietly while the Hunters busily closed Gates, and ponder how I could get into an Ivy League school.

But…

“I, Yulia Kim, promise to stake everything on closing the Gates that have spread throughout America and the entire Earth.”

Huh?

Looking at the TV, the fictional US President was giving a solemn speech on breaking news.

President Yulia Kim, a Korean-American.

Despite the penalties of being Asian and female, she became the US President and was someone who had been calling for strengthening higher education throughout her political activities with tremendous enthusiasm for education.

She even praised Korean high school students who do night self-study and private tutoring every day, bringing up related materials.

To think such a person is the president, what’s going to happen to this country…

But what is this woman trying to say now?

Kim on TV pushed up her red horn-rimmed glasses and said:

“We are currently assembling a team of awakened individuals to close the Gates. However, the number of awakened individuals is significantly low. Of course, I’m aware that there are many who have not reported.”

I felt a twinge of guilt.

She was talking exactly about me. And she was saying she would acknowledge the existence of Hunters that she had been rejecting all along.

…Still, I’m going to ignore it. My goal is to live quietly, get into a prestigious university, and change my fate.

Surely they wouldn’t forcibly find and take away awakened individuals?

Fortunately, Yulia didn’t seem to be planning such inhumane conscription.

Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief, Yulia’s black eyes shone strangely.

“We will establish a bonus point system for college admission, limited to awakened high school students in 10th grade and above. We plan to assess contributions to closing low-rank Gates under the supervision of adult awakened individuals and reflect this in grades.”

What did she say?

“Adult awakened individuals will be guaranteed monetary compensation for Hunter activities, while student awakened individuals will be guaranteed corresponding bonus points.”

I was astonished.

Looking closely, Yulia Kim’s eyes had gone completely crazy, as if the day of national destruction was approaching.

The madness swirling in her black eyes was palpable even through the TV screen.

That day, Yulia Kim’s speech was reposted countless times in newspapers, online media, and Outstagram.

Special bonus point system for awakened individuals at prestigious universities, including Ivy League schools!

It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but anyway…

My completely derailed course was getting back on track.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hey, Ginger!”

I quickly raised my head at the voice calling me.

I saw a group of male students playing soccer and sweating on the school field in front of me.

A Gate just opened in the same state, yet they’re playing soccer… Should I call them carefree? Is there nothing but soccer balls in their heads?

The male students halfheartedly waved their hands at me.

“Hey Ginger, kick the ball over here.”

I looked at the soccer ball that had somehow rolled in front of me.

I was in the middle of reminiscing about the past when it seemed to have flown in.

I heard whispering from far away.

“By the way, what was her name? Was she in our grade? Was there someone like that in our school?”

“How would I know? My brain only remembers pretty girls in the first place.”

Giggling sounds and unfunny jokes.

In this world, I was either invisible, just a passing ginger, or a nerd – one of those three.

Should I give those shameless bastards the middle finger? It seems my efforts to graduate school smoothly are over, so there’s no need to hold back my personality…

Just as I was about to raise my hand and extend my middle finger, someone called me from behind.

“Juno, there you are. Have you been waiting?”

It was Teacher Charlie.

Brown curly hair like a corkscrew. So thin like a matchstick that he looked like he might collapse at any moment.

Teacher Charlie wiped the sweat that had formed on his temples, as if he had just run for a short moment.

Meanwhile, I naturally hid my hands behind my back and smiled.

“No, not at all. Did you talk well with Teacher Gina?”

“Yes, she was surprised to hear that you suddenly became an awakened person… She went off excitedly to gather other awakened students.”

“I see.”

“She’ll probably gather the awakened students in the gym. Let’s go together.”

“Okay.”

When I barged into the teachers’ office and revealed that I was an awakened person, Teacher Gina cheered.

Ignoring the soccer ball in front of me, I walked with Teacher Charlie towards the gym and opened my status window.

Teacher Gina’s rank was C-rank.

And a healer at that.

Considering she was the school nurse, it was a very fitting role.

Since I had seen her status information just now when I was with her in the teachers’ office, I could open her status window even now when she wasn’t here.

“By the way, what did you say Juno’s ability was? Was it A-rank?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

Somehow, I felt like they wouldn’t even bother to look at me if I said D-rank or F-rank, so I had no choice but to reveal my rank.

Teacher Charlie and the other teachers just cheered when they heard my rank, but didn’t ask for more details.

‘It seems A-rank is quite rare here.’

Then I wonder if the awakened people Teacher Gina is gathering in the gym are lower rank than me?

There wasn’t enough time to check the status windows of all the students at school.

I’ll have to open and examine their status windows one by one when we meet in the gym later.

“Do you know who the other awakened people Teacher Gina knows are?”

“Ah, yes, I do.”

Teacher Charlie nodded.

“I heard Adrian Coleman is one of them.”

“…What? Adrian?”

I was so surprised that I stood still on the spot.