I Became the 101st Hero – Chapter 72

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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‘Did I manage to get through it somehow?’

The first archery class. I tried to hide my presence as much as possible while shooting arrows.

My accuracy was terrible because of it, though.

‘But it’s better than being suspected from the first class.’

From here on, I planned to use my abilities, like the Power of Wind, slowly, just enough not to arouse suspicion.

One year ahead.

It felt strangely long, but it was certainly a short time. If I tried hard enough, I could get through it quietly.

‘I’ll definitely get through it quietly.’

I lifted my spoon and looked at the cadets chattering in the distance. Groups had already formed in various parts of the dining hall.

It wasn’t just the magic department students from the same Magic Tower sticking together. Just as there was a Magic Tower for magic, there were several martial arts training institutions in Heilren.

I hadn’t gone through them because of Libero’s existence and because I had to learn archery in a hurry, but most of the martial arts department students had.

That’s why they could stick together like that from the first day.

‘How sad.’

Of course, there were other students in the same situation as me.

There was Wilhelm, who was eating far away, and a few others. I had gotten used to eating alone while wandering around for a long time anyway, so it didn’t really matter.

‘The food is pretty good too.’

I thought it was worthy of a 4-star rating by the Al-Michelin Guide standards.

Perhaps because it was a big city, the food culture seemed to have developed well.

For reference, 1-star was the food made by the innkeeper, 2-star was the food I made, 3-star was the food I ate at the Basilium restaurant, and 5-star was the food made by Ms. Weiss.

I was diligently stuffing food into my mouth when suddenly a shadow fell over the table. I looked up. There stood a girl with short black hair.

‘Elsie?’

It was Elsie.

She had grown taller and seemed to be using Optical Modulation to change her appearance. Optical Modulation was originally her skill. But she couldn’t fool me.

No, it wasn’t that she couldn’t fool me; it was more like she hadn’t deviated much from the image I remembered of her.

She came with a bowl of food and sat down in front of me.

Come to think of it, she had also learned swordsmanship separately from Gwen, so she was one of those students without a group to belong to. But still, I didn’t understand why she had to sit in front of me.

‘Is there no other seat?’

That wasn’t the case. Then it was probably better to consider it a coincidence for now.

If it wasn’t a coincidence, that would be a problem. I ignored her and continued eating. Or I tried to…

‘She’s making me nervous.’

Elsie didn’t even touch her utensils and just stared at me intently. What on earth was the problem? In the end, I also stopped eating and looked up at her.

“Is there something you want to say?”

Then, Elsie finally spoke.

“What’s your name?”

“Seo Yoo-rang.”

“Seo Yoo-rang? Seo Yoo-rang… Seo Yoo-rang…”

After repeating my fake name several times, she said,

“It’s just that you somehow resemble someone I used to know.”

For reference, my original face and my current face were completely different.

So, what made her think I resembled that person? I needed to find that out. Perhaps it was even necessary to hide my identity from Lyudmila.

“What makes you think we’re alike?”

“I don’t know. The atmosphere, perhaps.”

Atmosphere. I thought that it was possible since we were the same person.

I should think about whether there was a way to change my atmosphere drastically. Still, it was a relief that it was just the atmosphere. That wasn’t solid evidence.

Then, “By any chance, are you also good at lying, Mr. Seo Yoo-rang?”

“What?”

“No, rather than good, do you lie often? The person I knew did that a lot.”

What on earth was she trying to say? For some reason, my conscience was pricked, but I tried to play it off.

“You said you would be able to meet me again soon. Was that also a lie?”

I did keep that promise. She didn’t know it, but I was meeting her right now. But I couldn’t tell her that.

“What do you think?”

I answered with an awkward smile,

“I don’t know who it is, but that’s a terrible person. Still, I think he’s trying to keep his promise. He just has some circumstances.”

Then, Elsie smiled after hearing that. It was a smile that made my heart ache.

“I knew it. I thought so too.”

She finally picked up her spoon, looking relieved. Then, she scooped up some risotto and put it in her mouth.

“It’s delicious. Not as good as the food I had on that rainy day, though.”

I couldn’t stand that smile any longer. It kept overlapping with the face she had made on the day I left her. I ended up leaving my food and getting up from my seat.

“I’m busy, so I’ll get going.”

It seemed dangerous to be around Elsie for various reasons. I needed to put some distance between us, even if it was intentional.

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After lunch, the afternoon class was tactics.

To be precise, like the archery class, it was more of an overview of the class and temporary group assignments rather than a full-fledged lesson.

The difference from the archery class was that it wasn’t just the archery class participating.

In the tactics class, one swordsmanship class was assigned two students from the archery class, two from the spearmanship class, and four from the magic department.

In that group, two teams were formed: four from the swordsmanship class, one from the archery class, one from the spearmanship class, and two from the magic department.

The key to this session was the formation of those groups, and all the students gathered in one place.

Even though I felt it during the entrance ceremony, the so-called small elite group of 64 people wasn’t that small.

Especially since, unlike the entrance ceremony, everyone was carrying weapons for the class, the space felt even more crowded. Most of the students who gathered in one place looked nervous.

‘Well, this group assignment is quite important.’

Among the various classes, the tactics class was the most important.

Since the Hero Academy emphasized cooperation among candidates, most of the evaluation was based on the groups in the tactics class.

Of course, the initially assigned groups would change through several evaluations, but if one found a good group from the beginning, they sometimes stayed together.

And furthermore, if someone was in the same group at least once during their time at the Hero Academy, it was easier to recruit them into a party after graduation.

They would already know each other well. Of course, that was only if they held each other in high regard.

‘For now, I need to pull my weight.’

To pull my weight with archery, not swordsmanship. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded. But it wasn’t impossible either.

The group assignments began to be called out one by one.

Except for the fact that they would later be divided into two, the swordsmanship classes were already set, and students from the spearmanship, archery, and magic departments were assigned to them.

First, the spearmanship class assignments were completed, and then came the archery class assignments.

Honestly, it didn’t matter to me which class I was assigned to.

Except for one. Swordsmanship Class 4, where Elsie was.

Originally, I thought it wouldn’t matter even if I was assigned there, but after having lunch earlier, I realized it clearly. I could never be in the same group as her.

Before I knew it, the two archery class students assigned to Swordsmanship Class 1 were called, and then Swordsmanship Class 2 began to be called.

“Candidate Wilhelm Rosemound, Swordsmanship Class 2.”

Wilhelm, whose name was called, headed towards the students of Swordsmanship Class 2. And the next moment, my name was called.

“Candidate Seo Yoo-rang, Swordsmanship Class 2.”

That was a relief. At first glance, the students of Swordsmanship Class 2 didn’t seem too bad.

Compared to Class 1, which almost every year had the priority to choose first, they were a slightly less impressive lineup, but they were still a fairly solid group.

‘Come to think of it, was the instructor for Swordsmanship Class 2 Setia?’

One might think that the swordsmanship classes were simply filled with stronger candidates starting from the class with the priority, but that wasn’t actually the case.

The criteria for strength weren’t clear in the first place, and each instructor had their own preferences.

Sigrit of Swordsmanship Class 1, who focused on growth potential and selected universally strong candidates.

Setia of Swordsmanship Class 2, who strategically selected candidates for the Hero Academy’s evaluation.

Huff of Swordsmanship Class 3, who selected based on the candidate’s family background or blood relations rather than their skills.

Finally, Freya of Swordsmanship Class 4, whose selection criteria were difficult to understand.

In fact, considering only the evaluation results, Swordsmanship Class 2, led by Setia, wasn’t bad. Of course, since it was a temporarily formed group, the assigned class could change based on the evaluation.

‘But…’

My gaze lingered on one particular student in Swordsmanship Class 2.

‘Was that guy in Swordsmanship Class 2?’

A girl with long black hair and a cold impression. At the same time, she was the owner of the third holy mark I had inherited.

‘Yuseora.’

I walked towards Swordsmanship Class 2 and stood next to Wilhelm.

Then, I felt the gazes of the Class 2 students, as if they were evaluating me. And at the same time, I saw Elsie staring at me from a distance.

‘Well, at least I’m not in that class.’

I decided to think positively for now.

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