Being mediocre is sometimes worse than being nonexistent.

Once I graduate from here, my destination is the battlefield.

Discharge? None.

Whether injured or not, I'll be a career soldier until I die of natural causes or old age.

I signed up and took an oath when I enrolled. That, too, in a live broadcast with over 90% viewership!

Ah, there's one exception.

'Until the eradication of aliens is completed.'

That's one of the clauses in the oath. The purpose of COH is naturally aliens. Aliens are the only enemies, and we are solely trained to kill them.

Humanity, which was sharply divided before the arrival of aliens, unified its interests, established the United Human Alliance, and spared no effort in establishing the COH Academy.

So, once aliens are gone, discharge is possible.

But is that easy?

'Or to a safe rear area... No, forget it.'

I've imagined being assigned to a safe area and enjoying the benefits, but it's impossible. For humanity, superhumans are the most certain and efficient alternative in facing the alien threat.

The United Human Alliance wouldn't waste such firepower. Ultimately, there's no safe place in this world. It means it wouldn't be strange to die for any reason.

A sigh escapes involuntarily. How can I survive? Now that I'm in this situation, I feel like the story I wrote is really something.

'Come to think of it, what's his ability?'

Lemon is average by academy standards. His grades barely maintain the middle ground.

But in terms of the most important indicator of talent evaluation in the academy, 'physical limits,' he's close to failing in it too.

Then why was Lemon able to enter the academy?

His ability.

Another power given to humanity in the space age. It's a reason that provided the biggest clue for humanity's internal division and conflict, but also became a light to protect humanity against alien invasions.

Lemon's strength lies in this ability.

There are two main types of abilities.

Factions that possess the abilities unique to the planet, receiving power from the planet.

Factions that received power from the planet but possess completely new abilities, not the planet's unique abilities.

Lemon is the latter. Among them, Lemon had a rather unique ability.

'I messed this up.'

Lemon's ability can be named something like [Analysis Application].

It's an ability to analyze the physical bodies of contacted aliens, extract information, and apply the extracted information to his own body. But Lemon clearly didn't use it properly.

Most of the information was lost during the application process. In fact, it couldn't be helped.

Lemon's original owner only used the ability once. And that was from a dead body, left as an exhibit, covered in various toxic treatments to prevent contamination.

'There's potential.'

This means it's not a complete failure. If polished well, it could become a wild card.

No matter how impossible it seems compared to the 'Miracle Generation,' what matters is what I can do.

'Anyway, the Monarch family...'

Sigh...

There's more than one problem to solve. No, not yet. First, I should worry about surviving in the academy.

The COH Academy had always been a competitive environment, but with the recent spike in sparring-related deaths, it felt like a dark cave, where danger lurked around every corner.

I felt cold sweat trickling down my back. The body, still sore from the previous sparring with Rose, echoed with pain.

'For now, let's sleep.'

To regain peace and shake off worries, sleep is the best. I closed my eyes. My tired body quickly settled my mind.****

***

**

As Barton said, my body really healed in just one day.

All it took were a few medical treatments and plenty of rest to get back to normal.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

During that time, my mind, which had been in disarray, felt a bit more organized, and I was able to establish a basic guideline for how to act moving forward.

Today marks the third day since I became Lemon.

It's the day to participate in the training.

'Where am I?'

COH Academy is incredibly vast in scale.

There are about 1,000 cadets per year, with a total of 3,000 cadets across three years.

Typically, the third-year students are deployed to less intense battlefields under the guise of real-world training, so the actual number is effectively 2,000.

And if you add the senior superhumans who act as teachers, the instructors, and various support staff, the total comes to about 5,000 people.

But these numbers alone don't convey the academy's enormity.

The real testament to its scale lies in its facilities.

Each superhuman is akin to a tactical weapon.

Those at the top of each superhuman unit could even be called strategic weapons.

Could such individuals showcase their talents just anywhere?

That's why COH Academy occupies the second satellite of Terra, the strategic stronghold considered the center of humanity's second line of defense.

Originally, this satellite had a different name, but now it's simply called COH. Astronomical amounts of financial support and various other resources are poured into cadet training each year.

So what I'm trying to say is...

'If I'm not careful, I'll get lost.'

The distances I need to cover according to my schedule are incredibly long.

If it weren't for the guide bot floating beside me, I definitely would have gotten lost.

The memories I received from Lemon on the first day weren't complete enough to find my way on my own.

It's like reading detailed notes but having too much information.

Fortunately, the theory class is relatively close, and Lemon's brain is quite exceptional compared to mine.

His overall intelligence, including memory, is at a genius level.

This is likely a result of genetic modification and enhancements carried out by the Monarch family.

But even this remarkable brain is considered average at the academy.

The more I learn, the more daunting it feels.

"What's the first class?"

[Understanding and Mastering the BB000 Series Weapon Systems.] my bot companion replied in it’s mechanical voice.

"It's just theory today, right?"

"Correct, Master."

Thank goodness.

I'm not confident in physical activities yet.

While I had no issues on the first day when I was in pain, I made a lot of unmentionable mistakes on the second day.

I couldn't adapt.

That was the first time I felt like a monster.

No wonder ordinary people dislike superhumans.

Although I've somewhat adapted now and won't make mistakes in daily life, I'm still uneasy about intense physical exercise.

I soon arrived at the classroom.

It was a very spacious room with round tables that seated three people scattered throughout.

There were about 100 cadets gathered for the class.

Judging by the lack of empty seats, I seemed to be one of the last to arrive.

I pulled out a chair at an empty seat and sat down.

The two at my table gave me a cynical glance before turning away, showing little interest.

That's fine with me.

Instead, I turned my head to look at the most conspicuous group at a table across from me.

Rose and Barton.

Rose was resting her chin on her hand, seemingly lost in thought, while Barton, whose brain was second to none, was sitting upright and thoroughly reading a textbook he had likely already memorized.

Next to them was a woman with short, bright silver hair, as eye-catching as Rose's red.

She was captivating in a different way from Rose.