“Then, I’ll be going, Onee-san.”
“Safe travels, Eun-ha.”
With a light wave, Yoo Eun-ha entered the classroom with a bright smile. Seo Ji-an, Ecclesia, and Sakura approached her, asking about her condition.
“Eun-ha! We heard you were severely injured. Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Onee-san protected me, so there wasn’t much harm.”
“Onee-san? Are you talking about the President?”
“Yes, someone precious like all of you.”
“……It seems she’s doing better.”
“Still, the President stopping such a large gate alone is really impressive, isn’t it?”
“That’s true. Now I understand why she is called the strongest Student Council President in history.”
“It would be great to face her in the Student Council President election!”
“Not really, it’s burdensome.”
Looking around the classroom, Seong Ah-rin was asleep on her desk. Na Yoo-bin was just muttering to himself.
“It seems I haven’t become close to these two yet?”
Anyway, Seong Ah-rin will have her episodes come later… and Na Yoo-bin, well, he’s like a time bomb, but Seo Ji-an will handle it well enough.
Eun-ha’s mental state didn’t seem fully recovered yet, but I managed to adjust it lightly, which was worth it. She blended in well with the class without any issue.
“In that case… should I go upstairs?”
Baek Sia wasn’t in the workshop space, and she wasn’t seen in Class D, so I immediately went to the second-year classroom.
“Creak…”
“Everyone, it’s been a while…”
As soon as I entered the second-year classroom.
“Whoosh!”
“Seo-a, we missed you!”
The moment I arrived, Lee Seo-yoon ran up and hugged me.
“I see, this is what Seo-yoon’s swordbag smells like.”
Lee Seo-yoon, being very tall at almost 170 cm, quickly smothered my face with her generous swordbag, which gave off a pleasant pine scent.
“Hey, what are you doing to a patient?”
“Ugh, please let go, Failure-in-everything Ayul.”
“Ah, really. Let’s have another go after lunch.” (Recent Record: 42 fights, 40 wins, 2 losses) <Recent Record: 2 consecutive losses>
“No, Ayul, your sword skills are just terrible~” (Recent Record: 42 fights, 2 wins, 40 losses) <Recent Record: 2 consecutive wins>
The comfortable banter between Kang Ayul and her was familiar, and it seemed there were no major issues within the second-year group.
“Anyway, since the main events usually happen with the first-year group where the protagonist is…”
After patting Seo-yoon on the back, I turned my head to glance at Kang Ayul as well.
“So, judging from the look on your face, I guess you’ve been doing alright. Was the hospital food good?”
“No, it wasn’t rice cakes or fried chicken… It wasn’t really hospital food?”
“Wait, you weren’t hospitalized?”
“I was in the Director’s safe house, not a hospital. Sometimes delivery drivers got shocked by the safety barriers set up, which was interesting.”
“……..?”
I asked what else happened while I was gone, changing the topic as I felt some tension building between them.
“By the way, did you two not fight while I was gone?”
“………Hmm….”
“…….?”
As soon as I returned to the academy, a ominous feeling crept over me.
Surely they wouldn’t have gone straight for a physical fight, but perhaps some verbal sparring?
“Seo-yoon probably attacked first, and that would’ve led to Ayul lashing out with counter-punches. So basically…”
The atmosphere around them didn’t look particularly good.
“Did something happen?”
“Well, um… Ayul suddenly swung a knife at Seo-yoon after losing two consecutive mock battles, and… Now I’m too scared to duel with Ayul.”
“?!”
“Hey! If you leave out the context like that, what are you trying to do?”
“Wow.”
Kang Ayul’s performance was fiery, as expected.
From what I understood, after I left, Ayul’s mock-battle partner switched from Ryu Shin-woo to Seo-yoon, and they’ve allegedly faced off in over 40 duels.
Until yesterday, Ayul had been winning every duel, but this morning, during the two mock-battles before school started, Ayul suffered two consecutive losses to Seo-yoon. Consequently, when Seo-yoon tried to leave, Ayul attempted another strike with her sword, almost piercing her heart.
“So, the sword Ayul swung towards Seo-yoon’s heart during their last bout was a sign of wanting another round?”
“Yes, I didn’t expect Ayul to be that brutal… Plus, the barriers around were starting to collapse…”
“Hey! That’s not true!”
Well, at least their dialogue didn’t get too serious due to my involvement, which was lucky.
“Anyway, you managed to return just in time for the Student Council President election?”
“Exactly, with all the hype about this first-year group being a golden generation, I’ve gotta show them otherwise.”
“True, and with everything happening including grandfather showing up… you should let them know about the summer holiday training cancellation.”
Upon checking with Seo-yoon, it seems Lee Cheon-ma will also be coming.
“All thanks to Seo-yoon. You’ve improved the teacher’s mood a great deal.”
According to the original story… Lee Cheon-ma was supposed to still be seeking ways to awaken Seo-yoon and ended up falling by the wayside. This time, however, he’s here to firmly establish himself as an S-Rank hero to properly change the course of the story.
“Remember, no special treatment for an injured person during actual combat, right?”
“Indeed.”
After that exchange, Kang Ayul and Seo-yoon left for the next session of monster mock battles.
Alone now, I observed the cadets slowly beginning their activities and started compiling variables related to this episode’s events.
There were exactly 300 students who submitted applications for the Student Council President election. This was after I made my candidacy announcement. It’s rumored that originally, there would be over 500 applicants.
Of the 300 applicants, the weaker-performing second and third-year students were eliminated to bring the number down to 256.
The confirmed participants among the main cast include the protagonist group consisting of Seo Ji-an, Ecclesia, Seong Ah-rin, Na Yoo-bin, Yoo Eun-ha, Baek Sia, and Sakura.
Also, many of the second-year students entered the race. It’s said that myself, Kang Ayul, and Lee Seo-yoon, along with the top 50 ranked cadets, all applied.
There’s even a familiar troublemaker, just like in the original story, who submitted an application.
“Wasn’t her name Hong… something?”
This girl was a former trainee with Seong Ah-rin. Due to Seong Ah-rin’s extraordinary talent, she lost her sense of self and let jealousy cloud her judgment, attempting to steal what Ah-rin had, only to lose everything in the end.
Her specialty is fire element magic, contrasting with Seong Ah-rin’s water element magic.
I know she has white hair with a hint of pink at the tips.
“Ah, there she is…”
“Move.”
It wasn’t directed at me but at the white-haired girl in front.
“Smack!”
“Ugh…”
A girl tumbled while making an exaggerated sound.
It was clearly on purpose, but she struggled to get up without complaining.
“Jeez, bad luck.”
“And anyway, you’re Seong Ah-rin, right? The one who lost to the current first-year vice-champion… How do you keep getting trounced by first-years? I would’ve given up hero training by now.”
“…………”
The white-haired girl glared at the two who criticized her harshly.
But the reaction from the two unruly students was…
“Did you see her eyes? She’s angry!”
“Go ahead and try to fight, you lowly A-class student… hahaha!”
Just as expected.
“Hong Bi-yeon… What a lovely name.”
Finally, I found the troublemaker.
…
[“The test has ended. No survivors. The boss monster has 67% remaining HP. Score: 33 out of 100.”]
“Team C! Why did you charge into the enemy lines when you were supposed to be protecting the mage?”
The professor angrily reprimanded the four students in Group C because of their terrible score.
“Well, we thought Hong Bi-yeon’s fire magic couldn’t break through that wall!”
“Yeah, our team is made up of B-class students. It’s impractical to expect three people to defeat a Red Drake!”
“Quiet! What do you think you’re doing right now?!”
Hong Bi-yeon’s group C utterly failed in their trial to eliminate the C-class monster, Red Drake.
Reasons can be summarized into three:
First, because Hong Bi-yeon isn’t really suited to the Magician position.
Secondly, the group’s members had been ignoring and sidestepping her, resulting in easy elimination due to one fatal blow.
Finally, Hong Bi-yeon’s inexperience led to her casting her fireball incorrectly, killing her own team members, which directly ended the test.
“A Magician role doesn’t really suit her. Maybe Striker or Defender would be better…”
“Yeah, her magic just didn’t have enough power…”
The team members next to me were also mocking Hong Bi-yeon in subtle ways.
“Alright, it’s our turn next. Prepare yourselves. Criticizing others will come back to bite you.”
“Ah, yes… We’ll prepare immediately!”
“Um, yes, after all… the President is here!”
“I’m really envious of Ayul and Seo-yoon.”
Kang Ayul and Seo-yoon are in the same team.
They were grouped together with Ryu Shin-woo by luck, making an OP team that had already secured first place.
I should have been in that team… this is rigged dice-picking.
“So, Seo-a, I understand that evaluations should be fair even though you’ve just recovered from injury.”
“Yes, of course.”
After that, stepping inside the AR device, a giant lizard creature suddenly appeared.
[“Based on the average ability of the examinees, a B-class monster, Graywyvern, is summoned.”]
“What?! A B-class monster?”
“If B-class means… the highest rank, right?”
“What should we do?”
“You’re asking me? We need to defeat it.”
The Graywyvern roared and lunged at us from the air.
“Hey, you, take the front guard position and hold your shield to buy us some time… what was your name?”
“Ah, Park Soo-jin. I shoot poisonous arrows well… um, I am somewhat quick, and…”
“Alright, Soo-jin. Stay at a distance and shoot some arrows, but don’t use skills. Poison arrows might accidentally hit us, so just use regular arrows.”
“Okay!”
Alright, now we’ve all shifted to our designated positions.
“I could finish the monster with one Void strike, but…”
Still, if I defeat it alone, this group task will devolve into an individual challenge… And scoring will be for the individual, not the team, and I might lose points for excessive solo action.
“I should probably try out this ability.”
Focusing magical energy into my arm, shards of crystal dropped.
“I’ve never used so many at once.”
Alright, now I’ll use these to create either a sword or a shield…
“Crackle…”
“Huh?”
Uh oh, these crystals aren’t moving according to my will…
“Crunch, crunch…”
The purple crystals did not obey my commands.
As the crystals merged together, they started to form a familiar shape…
“Hey, Azathoth! Need some help in a bind?”
“……What?!”
I don’t know how, but Azathoth, who I thought was dead, appeared in full knight armor.
“HAHAHAHA! It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed such fresh air! I feel lighter than before… so you killed me to set me free, eh? I’m touched, comrade!”
“Clang!”
“AAAHHHH! Comrade, why do you attack your ally?!”
“What are you even doing here?”
“Kzzt!”
Anyway, I just shattered his head…
So, what’s going on??
What even are you?
