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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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The first weekend after enrollment.
Though it was Saturday morning and she could have slept in.
‘······I need to go out.’
Yoon Seolha got up precisely at the set time and prepared to go out.
Then she left the dormitory right away.
It was to practice on the weekend as promised with her teammates.
‘They’re not here yet.’
Perhaps because she had hurried out, she arrived first.
As she was warming up, her teammates gathered one by one.
Thanks to that, they were able to make their first attempt around 11 AM.
“Lim Gangcheol 68 points, Cha Eunwol 52 points, Ahn Ilhan 74 points, and me 88 points.”
Upon confirming their improved scores from yesterday, each teammate showed a different reaction.
Cha Eunwol catching her breath with a slightly flushed face.
Lim Gangcheol still overflowing with energy to an overwhelming degree.
And Ahn Ilhan, unchangingly impassive.
‘Of course, our scores are still far from enough, but······.’
She was thoroughly pleased with her teammates’ attitudes.
Among them, Ahn Ilhan in particular, he was the most impressive.
“Lim Gangcheol. That was good just now. But make your movements more concise.”
“Hmm, like a leopard, you mean?!”
“Why bring up a leopard? Anyway, make them concise.”
“Okay, like a leopard······!”
For Lim Gangcheol, direct praise and feedback.
“Cha Eunwol. You seem much less hesitant than yesterday.”
“······Really?”
“Yeah. Now it would be good to train both agility and stamina. Evasion is important, but your stamina needs to keep up.”
“Yes, I’ll try that······!”
For Cha Eunwol, encouragement and advice.
And finally.
“Yoon Seolha, please evaluate how I did.”
And for herself, even seeking advice without reservation.
His actions surprised her in many ways.
‘Really······, is he truly the same age as us?’
He said little, and showed much through his actions.
Naturally, his words and actions carried weight.
‘Plus, he’s quick to read the room.’
He also knew how to adjust his actions to match others’ tendencies.
Last evening, just as she was about to sigh in frustration.
Right before the atmosphere could worsen, he had intervened and diffused the situation.
Most decisively.
“We can raise the score even higher. It’s still lacking.”
“In which parts exactly?”
“The key to the ‘Strength – Agility’ course is to hit the targets precisely while reducing the number of times you get hit by the balls. The two movements need to flow more naturally, like flowing water.”
“Naturally. I’ll try it right away.”
Even his attitude of seeking improvement.
That demeanor was dispelling the anxiety that had been creeping up inside her.
‘With these people······.’
First place. Could it really be possible?
When she was unconsciously thinking this.
Suddenly, she felt someone approaching.
“How is it? Isn’t our Ilhan amazing?!”
It was none other than Lim Gangcheol.
Certainly, it was beyond imagination.
But Yoon Seolha unconsciously gave a different answer.
“······If only his score was better.”
“That’s just a matter of time!”
From his tone to his gaze.
Lim Gangcheol showed unwavering faith in Ahn Ilhan.
By this point, it didn’t seem so strange anymore.
Perhaps that’s why.
“That’s impressive confidence. What exactly do you see in him?”
She became curious about how he could trust him so much.
Lim Gangcheol answered her question immediately.
“Hmm, I’ll show you. Yoon Seolha, come to the stat training room after 10 PM tonight.”
“After 10 PM? What’s happening then?”
“Why I believe so much in Ilhan, in his growth rate. You’ll see for yourself!”
“······?”
While she tilted her head.
’10 PM.’
She silently repeated the time to herself.
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The next day.
Just like Saturday, Yoon Seolha arrived at the gymnasium first.
As the teammates gathered one by one.
Lim Gangcheol approached with a grin.
“Well, isn’t he amazing?”
“······Definitely.”
Originally, Yoon Seolha rarely acknowledged others, perhaps because she herself was so exceptional.
But this time, even she had to admit it.
The fact that Ahn Ilhan had something special about him.
‘Ahn Ilhan······.’
Yoon Seolha had visited the stat training room at 10 PM last night as Lim Gangcheol suggested.
As expected, Lim Gangcheol and Ahn Ilhan were training strength and magic power respectively.
Clearly, up to that point, there was nothing impressive.
‘I also trained alone since I was already there.’
But when it reached 3 AM.
The true value of Ahn Ilhan that Lim Gangcheol had mentioned was finally revealed.
It was when she, thoroughly exhausted, was about to leave the training room.
She went to check on him one last time.
When she peeked into the magic power training room.
“······!”
Yoon Seolha’s eyes widened.
It was because of Ahn Ilhan. Because of his appearance.
‘······Doesn’t he get tired?’
Not only did he show no signs of fatigue.
He was in a trance-like state without the slightest change in expression.
Almost like a machine.
No matter how much it was magic power training, maintaining such concentration for so long was never an easy task.
‘Mana breathing techniques consume a lot of mental energy.’
Moreover, Ahn Ilhan had already spent the whole day devoted to team practice with her.
Because of that, Yoon Seolha had finally reached her limit and left first, and still felt the aftereffects.
But Ahn Ilhan was different.
‘Even after such intense training at dawn, how is his current appearance······.’
It was as if nothing had happened at dawn.
He was participating in practice just the same.
And with his usual expressionless face.
Perhaps that’s why.
“······Amazing.”
Yoon Seolha murmured as if enchanted.
She was especially shocked as she herself believed she had reached this point through blood-spitting effort.
As a result, Ahn Ilhan.
“······Ahn Ilhan 78 points.”
His score had increased even more than yesterday.
But Yoon Seolha no longer had any doubts.
‘After training like that, it would be more unfair if he didn’t improve.’
She acknowledged it cleanly.
Lim Gangcheol’s faith, Ahn Ilhan’s effort.
As her expectation for their scores continued to rise.
Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the conversation between Ahn Ilhan and Cha Eunwol.
“Your hesitation has definitely improved.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I think you just need to be a bit more bold in your approach.”
“Yes, I’ll try······!”
It was a warm conversation, but through it, Yoon Seolha recalled an issue she had temporarily forgotten.
The fact that a major source of anxiety still remained in this team.
‘······Cha Eunwol.’
The last teammate Ahn Ilhan had brought, Cha Eunwol.
The person certainly seemed fine.
Though introverted, she was different from the other cadets who looked like defeated soldiers.
‘There’s determination in her eyes. Both then and now.’
Because of that, it was impossible to hate or blame her.
Given Yoon Seolha’s character that valued will and effort, it was all the more so.
So instead, Yoon Seolha thought of something else.
‘Some measure is needed.’
Even if she used all her strength to score 100 points, it would be useless without her teammates’ support.
Not only first place, they couldn’t even beat Kang Jinsol’s group.
‘What should I do······.’
The weekend flew by along with her deepening concerns.
*
The next day, 7th period.
“I think everyone has already familiarized themselves with each track of the final course. So train independently, and I’ll walk around to guide you.”
Under the instructor’s direction, the cadets moved in perfect order.
Among them, I joined with the two people who had become quite familiar over the weekend along with Lim Gangcheol.
“Shall we start right away?”
“Yes.”
We nodded immediately at Yoon Seolha’s words.
With the remaining two people’s assent, we began training.
The first runner and in charge of the ‘Strength – Stamina’ track, Lim Gangcheol.
He started first.
“Heiyah-!”
Lim Gangcheol who moved forward powerfully, pushing the equipment while wearing a specially made vest.
The result, 74 points.
Finally, he had broken 70 points.
“Great!”
With his shout, the second runner.
Cha Eunwol, in charge of the ‘Agility – Stamina’ track, started running.
She ran through the zigzag course while avoiding the balls that came pouring down.
The result was 59 points. Though the score had clearly risen, unfortunately she failed to break 60 points.
‘Now it’s my turn.’
I quickly pushed off the track and moved forward.
The track I was in charge of was the third, ‘Strength – Agility’ track.
I had to both break the targets that rose at regular intervals and avoid the balls to complete the designated track.
As such, my hands and feet were quite busy, but.
‘Time the striking with the rising of the targets accurately. And make the movements of withdrawing arms and evading flow like water.’
I recalled Yoon Seolha’s advice and calmly accomplished it.
The result, 80 points.
My score rose 2 points from yesterday, and I could achieve 80 points.
“Whew.”
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I looked at the last runner, Yoon Seolha.
Strength, agility, stamina. The last track requiring the use of all stats.
As such, it was the most difficult among the four tracks of the performance evaluation, but.
‘······Wow, 94 points.’
As expected, Yoon Seolha was Yoon Seolha.
She had raised her score to the 90s through the weekend practice.
‘At this rate, isn’t she really going to hit 100 points?’
While thinking she could certainly achieve it.
I tallied the scores.
307 points. That is, the team score per person was about 76 points.
Compared to when we first worked together, it was clearly an improved result.
‘But······.’
There were still many problems.
As I was thinking that.
“Cadet Cha Eunwol. Your hesitation has definitely decreased.”
“······Ah.”
Just then, the conversation between the instructor and Cha Eunwol reached my ears.
Thinking I could accurately identify her problem, I immediately listened carefully.
“The know-how that the cadet has learned is correct. But there’s still a problem remaining.”
“······What problem.”
“Stats. Of course, you can raise the score to a certain level with know-how, but ultimately, stats need to support it.”
“Ah······.”
Stats, an element virtually fundamental to stat circuit training.
That was the fundamental cause of the low scores.
‘Of all things, stats, that’s quite troublesome.’
Though I had expected it to some extent, hearing it directly from the instructor made me feel dejected.
‘Know-how can be taught by either Yoon Seolha or me, but stats are······.’
They require absolute time investment, that is, time.
Of course, the growth rate and required time differ according to aptitude.
But from what I’d observed so far, Cha Eunwol seemed somewhat lacking in qualities other than magic stats.
‘If only we had more time.’
The performance evaluation was on Monday of the third week.
That is, only about a week remained.
I licked my lips and organized my thoughts.
‘We’ll have to find the best method possible, but focus on basic stats.’
One fortunate point was that the spark of will was still alive in Cha Eunwol.
If she continued to hone her know-how and train her stats simultaneously, her scores would rise.
As I was organizing my thoughts to that extent.
“That concludes the 7th period class. From the 8th period, we’ll conduct self-training in a format that matches the test in preparation for the performance evaluation.”
An explanation about the full-scale performance evaluation method flowed from the instructor.
Since this could also be a variable, I listened intently.
The content was simple.
‘So it’s not a single team, but the test is conducted like a race between 2 teams?’
Unlike until now, the test would be conducted by randomly pairing 2 teams to compete against each other.
‘This could have an impact.’
My thoughts deepened at this new variable.
At least without a definite solution to ‘Cha Eunwol’s stat problem’.
Though it might be a minor issue, it needed attention.
That was the only way to raise the score even a little.
‘Let’s see. If the opposing team interferes······.’
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At that time, I certainly thought so.
Because of that, not only during the 8th period.
For two whole days, I was preoccupied with finding ways to eliminate the variables, but.
‘······Wait, with this method, aren’t stats unnecessary?’
Unexpectedly, I found the answer.
And at a level of ‘solution’ where minor variables didn’t seem to matter.
‘The more I think about it, the more plausible it seems······?’
The fundamental problem of ‘Cha Eunwol’s stats’.
The answer was found two days later, on Wednesday.
“The 9th period class covers the 3rd stage of mana breathing technique. ‘Mana circulation’s’ application and effectiveness, and the effects and basic operation of mana. It won’t be easy to get the feel, but concentrate and listen······.”
It was through the ‘Magic Power class’.
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