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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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“Ilhan! I found a team member!”
At Lim Gangcheol’s voice, I naturally looked around him.
The moment I confirmed who was standing next to him.
‘······Really?’
My eyes grew wide with surprise.
The reason was that there was an unexpected figure with Lim Gangcheol, someone who didn’t match him at all.
“It’s none other than Yoon Seolha! The top student has agreed to join us!”
None other than Yoon Seolha.
The very Yoon Seolha who had claimed the top position, beating all the other famous students.
‘Why Yoon Seolha······?’
I never would have imagined working with her, to say the least.
Not only had I never exchanged a single word with her, but as the top student, she had no reason to join us.
‘Lim Gangcheol, I really didn’t believe you at all.’
To think he would bring such a big shot.
I hurried my steps toward them.
“What in the world happened?”
“Huh?”
“What occurred while I was gone?”
To be honest, I had sensed something strange on my way back.
Somehow, the gazes directed at Lim Gangcheol and Yoon Seolha weren’t friendly.
I should say it felt like hostility.
Lim Gangcheol glanced around following my lead.
Then he opened his mouth with a sneer.
“Hmph, don’t worry about it!”
But it was very concerning.
“More importantly, you asked what happened, right? I’ll explain!”
Lim Gangcheol began to unfold the whole story.
···
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10 minutes earlier.
The moment the instructor left, the cadets slowly began to move.
Among them were cadets who had already formed groups.
A young man leading the largest group approached one person and suddenly spoke to her.
“You’re Yoon Seolha, right?”
None other than Yoon Seolha.
She quietly nodded at the young man’s question.
Perhaps gaining confidence from that.
“I’m Kang Jinsol. Join us, we’ll be four if you come!”
The young man, Kang Jinsol, abruptly invited her to join.
She silently looked over Kang Jinsol and his group.
Perhaps taking this as a positive signal, he excitedly introduced his companions.
“Right, I should introduce everyone first. Noh Yumi!”
At Kang Jinsol’s call, a female cadet with short hair, Noh Yumi, walked over gracefully.
“Yes, Jinsol.”
“Yumi’s father holds the position of Third Battalion Commander in the ‘Sword Shadow Corps,’ a military unit of the Ghost Sword Clan. And Lee Chan!”
At his call, a young man with slanted eyes, Lee Chan, approached and spoke.
“Should I introduce myself? I’m Lee Chan, and my father is an executive in the Invincible Guild.”
Lee Chan added one more thing.
“Just for reference, Jinsol’s father is the Vice Guild Master of the Invincible Guild. Nice to meet you, Jinsol?”
“Please stop being so cheesy. Seolha is watching.”
Kang Jinsol waved his hand dismissively, but he didn’t seem to mind Lee Chan’s behavior.
At the same time, he casually addressed Yoon Seolha informally and raised the corner of his mouth.
The atmosphere seemed good, and he thought there was no way she would refuse.
Was that why?
He failed to notice how Yoon Seolha’s expression was changing.
“Is that what you call an introduction?”
Her voice was melodious, but there was an inexplicable sharpness in her tone.
Not having expected such a response at all, Kang Jinsol was momentarily speechless.
Soon anger began to rise, but he suppressed it and answered.
“······What?”
“This team project is for cadets to do. Not for the parents you’ve been listing off.”
“Of course that’s true. I’m just saying we have such amazing people behind us, so naturally we too······.”
“So ultimately it’s just about your backgrounds, isn’t it?”
Yoon Seolha cut him off sharply.
That alone nearly made Kang Jinsol lose his temper, but he barely held back.
Just then, she drove in the final nail.
“I absolutely detest that sort of thing.”
She couldn’t tolerate people flaunting their backgrounds.
With that meaning, she looked straight at Kang Jinsol.
“······Eek!”
When Kang Jinsol couldn’t hold back and started trembling with anger.
“Jinsol, let’s find someone else. She’s really unpleasant, isn’t she?”
“Looks like she doesn’t even have any special background. Does she think she’s something special?”
The two people he had brought, Noh Yumi and Lee Chan, frowned and openly criticized Yoon Seolha.
Kang Jinsol also snorted and turned away.
No, just before that, he shot a final comment.
“Just wait and see. I’ll make you regret this.”
“······Hmph.”
Yoon Seolha turned her head with a sneer.
But soon his warning became reality.
“Hey, everyone. Absolutely don’t include Yoon Seolha in your teams.”
Kang Jinsol had begun to sabotage her with the other cadets.
Up to this point, Yoon Seolha remained unfazed.
But the situation deteriorated at a pace beyond her expectations.
“Of course, Jinsol! More importantly, can I join your team too?”
“I should be first! Jinsol, I’ll spread the word to everyone right away, so please let me in!”
As one by one they started siding with Kang Jinsol.
An atmosphere of ostracizing her formed in an instant.
All of them were cadets classified as “experienced” in stat circuit training.
“······Ugh.”
Yoon Seolha bit her lip tightly.
Clearly their actions were unfair.
Perhaps it was because her response had been too righteous.
This was how it turned out against her.
Yoon Seolha trembled and looked around at the remaining cadets.
But.
“Does this mean we can team up with Yoon Seolha?”
“I’m really not confident about the practical exam. If only Yoon Seolha were there, at least the performance evaluation······!”
“But if we team up with her, won’t we face retaliation from Kang Jinsol’s gang······?”
There was no one who caught her eye.
All of them were thinking about riding on her coattails, yet cowering in fear of retaliation.
Yoon Seolha clenched her fist so tightly her nails dug into her palm.
‘······Over something like this.’
She couldn’t let this hold her back.
All her painful efforts couldn’t be tarnished by something so trivial.
Just as she was desperately trying to find someone.
“Tsk, truly pathetic beyond words!”
A booming voice came from right behind her.
Yoon Seolha turned her head in surprise.
There stood a huge man, who had appeared without her noticing.
She racked her memory to recall the giant’s name.
“······Lim Gangcheol?”
As she asked blankly.
Kang Jinsol’s voice burst out.
“Who are you!”
“I am Lim Gangcheol!”
“······!?”
Unexpected boldness!
While Kang Jinsol was at a loss for words, Lim Gangcheol continued.
“Showing off your backgrounds? Aren’t you ashamed?!”
“Eek! You should also forget about having an easy performance evaluation!”
Kang Jinsol immediately ostracized Lim Gangcheol just as he had done to her.
He took it a step further.
“If you team up with that clueless muscle head, you know what will happen, right?”
He threatened the inexperienced group as well.
Yoon Seolha, who had been watching silently until now, opened her mouth unconsciously.
“······You’ve done it now. What are you going to do?”
“Hmm?”
“About the team, I mean.”
“I have Ilhan, my worthy opponent and soul roommate, so it’s fine!”
“······Lower your voice.”
Yoon Seolha criticized him while.
In her mind, she recalled the person he had mentioned.
‘I think it was An Ilhan.’
Despite the strange name, he seemed not too bad.
Especially from the first class until recently.
The fact that he had been receiving good evaluations from the instructor was a point in his favor.
Plus, in Lim Gangcheol’s eyes, there was a solid belief in his friend.
She didn’t know what An Ilhan was really like.
But.
‘······It might be okay.’
Such a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
She naturally asked Lim Gangcheol.
“But there’s only two of you. Teams need four people.”
“Ah, that’s right! But it’s okay!”
“······Please lower your voice.”
“Hmm? Sorry. Anyway, it’s fine. Because we have Ilhan!”
“?”
“He’s coming right there! What do you say, want to join us?”
Was it because of his intensity?
Yoon Seolha found herself nodding before she knew it.
At that moment, Lim Gangcheol shouted.
“Hey, Ilhan! I found a team member!”
Seeing this, Yoon Seolha slightly regretted her choice and covered her face with her palm.
*
“······And that’s how it happened!”
After hearing the whole story, I felt a sigh coming on.
‘What exactly happened?’
But this was simply because I was tired of Lim Gangcheol’s unique way of acting; I understood the situation completely.
‘Well, whatever the process was like. The result is amazing······?’
It was an incredibly satisfying outcome.
The top student, no less.
Her value was far greater than all those guys glaring at me right now combined.
The basis for my judgment was clear.
‘If I remember correctly, those guys scored around 70 points in the latter 3 courses.’
Meanwhile, what about Yoon Seolha?
In the first 3 courses, she upgraded the difficulty to F+ level by herself with the instructor’s approval.
In the latter 3 courses, she broke 80 points on her first attempt.
Naturally, no one had surpassed her score at that time.
‘For someone like that to join us willingly.’
This was worthy enough to praise Lim Gangcheol.
Just as I was about to pat his shoulder lightly.
“You’re An Ilhan, right? You know my name?”
Yoon Seolha addressed me.
“Yes. You’re Yoon Seolha.”
“That’s enough introductions. So?”
“So what?”
“The remaining member. What are we going to do?”
Why is she asking me?
As I tilted my head, she added one more thing.
“Lim Gangcheol said you’d take care of it.”
“······.”
I slapped the shoulder I had been patting.
“Ilhan?”
Ignoring Lim Gangcheol’s innocent look, I turned my head.
He probably didn’t intend it, but he had brought Yoon Seolha anyway.
‘It would be fair if I brought the remaining person.’
With that thought, I looked around at the cadets.
I bypassed the experienced group engaged in petty behavior.
Not only did I dislike them, but it would be impossible to work with them now.
So naturally, my options narrowed down to the inexperienced group.
‘The performance evaluation hasn’t even started, but why do they all look······.’
Their complexions were dark. They felt like defeated soldiers.
Given that “forced transfer” was at stake, I couldn’t use them as teammates.
As I continued looking around.
‘······That one.’
A cadet whose face I had unintentionally become familiar with recently caught my eye.
Somehow, I felt our eyes had even met.
I immediately spoke to both Lim Gangcheol and Yoon Seolha.
“I’ll be right back.”
With that, I walked straight toward my target.
Her pupils gradually dilated as I approached.
When we finally stood face to face.
“You’re Cha Eunwol, right?”
I spoke first.
The reason I chose Cha Eunwol was simple.
‘She seems to have the will, and besides, she’s close to being a genius too.’
From what I had observed by chance, Cha Eunwol seemed to belong to the “genius” category.
I discovered this fact through magic class.
‘Unlike me, she doesn’t have any anomalies, and it doesn’t seem like she has any background, yet she passed through stage 2 by herself.’
Of course, based on the last class, her strength was slightly lacking.
But since she had such talent in magic, I thought her other stats might be decent too.
After waiting quietly, Cha Eunwol carefully opened her mouth.
“······Is it really okay?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m asking if I’m really okay for you.”
“Yeah, there’s no one else but you.”
Because the others would only hold us back.
With that meaning in my words.
“······!”
Cha Eunwol seemed to flinch for some reason.
As I tilted my head, she seemed to realize she had misunderstood.
“······I understand.”
She accepted with a flushed face.
I immediately took her to briefly introduce her to the other two.
Surprisingly, Yoon Seolha also seemed to know her.
Thanks to this, by the time we quickly finished introductions, the instructor returned.
“Those who have completed team formation should write down their list and submit it.”
At the instructor’s words, I quickly wrote down the list and approached.
While waiting in line to submit.
“You dare ignore my words? I’ll definitely make you regret it.”
Coincidentally, I encountered those who had been acting petty.
Instead of answering the threat, I glanced once at the gloomy faces of Kang Jinsol’s group.
Then once at our team, Yoon Seolha and Cha Eunwol.
Finally, after looking Kang Jinsol’s insignificant face up and down.
Heh-
I gave a light laugh.
The effect?
“You, you son of a······!”
“J-Jinsol! The instructor, the instructor is watching!”
It was perfect.
At the same time, they seemed ridiculous to me.
‘No matter how good their backgrounds are, they can’t compare to someone like Baek Yujin.’
Yoon Seolha was a monster among monsters who had devoured even those with such backgrounds.
‘Now, I wonder what our grades will be like.’
I wondered what expressions those guys would make when they saw our grades.
I was truly looking forward to it.
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