Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: A Sudden Genre Shift
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“It feels like the genre suddenly changed.”
Blazing sunlight, clear skies, lush greenery.
Cheon Hye-ji, lounging on a sunbed by the fountain and savoring the approaching summer, lowered her sunglasses and grumbled.
“School is supposed to be about youth, right? Fresh love stories and burning friendships! Precious memories piling up! That’s what I was expecting!”
Kwachak!
She sprang up, trampling the sunbed she’d just set up as if to destroy it, and wailed.
“But what the hell is this?!”
“…When do you plan to start?”
Freshmen starting to form ‘teams’ were gradually appearing.
Kids who knew full well it was hard for first-years to shine in team assignments, but stood at the starting line faster than others to gain experience.
Yi Jin-seong from Class B was one of them.
Cheon Hye-ji and Du Bae-su, who had been close to him since childhood, had no choice but to get swept up in the flow.
Caught off guard, their names ended up on a team roster, exposing them to team assignments.
Like suddenly receiving a team battle challenge right now, for example.
“Hey, you bastard Yi Jin-seong! This is already the second time today, the second! We had a huge fight this morning, I finally fixed my hair, and now it’s gonna get messed up again! Give me back my youth!!”
“Fighters clashing is just part of being a player. If you wanted to enjoy your youth, why didn’t you enroll in a normal school instead of Lion’s Castle?”
“That’s not an option. Letting my talent rot would be a national loss.”
“Which tune am I supposed to dance to…?”
Yi Jin-seong’s face paled. Somehow, the conversation was draining him more and more.
Cheon Hye-ji glared at him like she was going to devour him.
“And you know what? You bragged that you’d definitely recruit Jae-hyeok to the team. So where’s Kang Jae-hyeok, and who the hell is this nobody?”
“…….”
Kim Jin-rae, singled out as the nobody, made a miserable face.
But with no real rebuttal, he clamped his mouth shut.
It was true he usually blended into the background in class.
Du Bae-su patted Kim Jin-rae’s shoulder.
“She can’t remember names unless they’re handsome guys. It took her two years to memorize mine and Yi Jin-seong’s, and she called me Chubby for those two years. Don’t take it to heart.”
“…….”
It wasn’t much consolation.
Amid the commotion, Yi Jin-seong tried to calm Cheon Hye-ji down.
“I told you earlier. Kang Jae-hyeok already formed a team, so recruitment failed.”
“Then take my name off the team roster too! I could’ve joined Kang Jae-hyeok’s team!”
“I’m telling you, he already assembled his team? In that situation, who else would you join if not ours? You don’t have other friends…”
“Shut up, you con artist!”
True to her gymnast background, Cheon Hye-ji whipped Yi Jin-seong’s side with graceful motion before turning her gaze to the challengers.
“But don’t the seniors feel ashamed? Challenging first-years as second-years—anyone can see that’s just bullying.”
The skill gap between first- and second-years was stark.
Levels were vastly different to begin with.
A team of all first-years versus a team of all second-years?
Naturally, the second-year team would win with near 100% certainty.
“So what if it’s a bit of bullying? We need to raise our team battle ratings for better grades and rewards like elixirs and items. You feeling wronged? Then why form a team early? Just do training like everyone else until the first semester’s over.”
The logic of the second-year team challenging Yi Jin-seong’s was sound.
First-years typically formed teams after the second semester started—that was the unwritten rule.
That’s when first-year teams sprouted like mushrooms, and second-year teams feasted on them, skyrocketing their battle scores.
In other words, first-years fought first-years, second-years fought second-years.
Score gaps quickly formed, sorting them into leagues by skill level.
Teams like Yi Jin-seong’s that debuted early just prolonged their time as fodder for second-years, tasting hell longer.
“Let’s… see what these cocky freshmen can do.”
“Kyaaak! Don’t lick your lips with that face! Gross!”
Cheon Hye-ji shrieked in disgust at the upperclassmen’s faces—not their momentum—as they strode forward, kicking the sunbed away.
That was the signal.
The second-years drew training magic engineering weapons and launched a fierce assault, while Du Bae-su charged straight in to tank.
Kwarrrrrr!!
Lunchtime.
Not a single student picnicking with packed lunches in the crowded park batted an eye at the sudden battle erupting in the middle.
Lion’s Castle, as a player training institution, was different from ordinary schools.
Fights could break out anytime, anywhere, and students accepted it as daily life.
“But I’m jealous.”
A few second-years smacked their lips.
“How’d they get so lucky to match with first-years?”
“Match requests are first-come, first-served. They hustled for the opportunity.”
“It’s not jealousy-worthy—it’s something to emulate.”
“Nothing to emulate. Forgot their brand-new team has a 1,000 rating?”
Teams that could match a 1,000-point team were between 800 and 1,200 points.
The second-year team challenging Yi Jin-seong’s was bottom-tier.
Even so.
“Anyway, they’ll get a good feast.”
No student doubted the second-years’ victory.
Maybe after first-semester training, but not with newbies mere months into enrollment—they lagged far behind in levels and skills.
Even if a noble or genius outshone some second-years, team battles were 4v4. One or two standouts couldn’t take four upperclassmen.
In reality.
“Kh…!”
Yi Jin-seong’s team was on the defensive from the start.
While Du Bae-su tanked desperately, Yi Jin-seong and Kim Jin-rae’s casted skills missed due to the upperclassmen’s seasoned counters. Cheon Hye-ji’s ambush targeting their mage during the dodge was read plainly and fizzled.
“Not bad for first-years—pretty skilled moves. A little carelessness and we’d have been in trouble.”
A second-year wiped blood trickling from a cheek wound, acknowledging Yi Jin-seong’s team’s talent.
“With talent like yours, you’ll reach the top someday. But not yet. We can’t yield either.”
“Talent…? That’s not it.”
Du Bae-su, barely rising on his tattered body from tanking, shook his head.
His small eyes, buried in flesh, blazed like flames.
“This is skill built through effort, not talent!”
Back when they first entered Lion’s Castle.
The Yi Jin-seong trio thought they were amazing geniuses.
But they realized it was a huge delusion in just one month.
Because they met Kang Jae-hyeok.
A monster who learned and mastered everything faster than anyone.
That’s what genius meant.
The disillusioned trio lost all motivation.
What was the point when a lifetime of struggle wouldn’t even touch a genius’s shadow?
If they hadn’t witnessed Jae-hyeok staggering back to the dorms late every dawn.
If they hadn’t found him slumped asleep against his own door, utterly spent.
They wouldn’t dare speak of effort now.
Yes.
Since witnessing Jae-hyeok’s grueling routine that day, Yi Jin-seong’s group had poured in relentless effort.
They could proudly claim they’d worked hard enough not to be ashamed before anyone.
‘Kang Jae-hyeok would scoff, though.’
-That’s the result of ‘effort’? Some joke trending among you guys?
Jae-hyeok’s voice auto-played in his head.
Eyes wide and innocently cocking his head in that annoying way—it came naturally to mind.
Someday, to land a punch on that smug face.
‘We have to win.’
They had to overcome trials like this.
To make their early start worthwhile.
To reach higher even a step sooner and snag whatever rewards they could.
Steeling themselves and chugging potions, the Yi Jin-seong trio reignited their fighting spirit.
“Uh, uuum…”
Only Kim Jin-rae floundered briefly, unadjusted to the mood.
He was honestly still puzzled.
Why had they invited him to join?
As if reading his mind.
“We believe in your kindness.”
Yi Jin-seong whispered.
Early in the semester.
When most of the class suspected or envied Kang Jae-hyeok.
Kim Jin-rae alone had openly admired him as amazing.
No inferiority complex at all, to the point of embarrassing the nearby Yi Jin-seong trio.
If Kim Jin-rae had channeled that purity into passion.
Wouldn’t he have worked just as hard, even quietly in the shadows?
Yi Jin-seong held that vague faith,
“Uh, y-yeah…? I don’t get it, but I’ll fight hard too!”
And Kim Jin-rae repaid the belief.
He’d been distracted from training, worried about his father at Daeyang Shipping.
But with things somehow resolved, he was burning with even greater drive lately.
He’d reached mid-to-upper class level, enough not to be utterly crushed by second-year seniors.
Even if he only landed 2-3 hits per 10 he took, he tenaciously clung to their ankles till the end, creating counter chances for Yi Jin-seong and Cheon Hye-ji.
“These persistent bastards…!”
The second-year teammates started showing unease.
The fight dragged on fiercer than expected.
The outcome didn’t change.
“Idiots making second-years look bad.”
“That’s why their rating’s in the gutter. Even with first-years flooding in second semester, their fate won’t differ much.”
“Hmph…! Talk all you want. Someday we’ll definitely…!”
Public opinion on the match was abysmal.
It became a win with no victor.
The second-years, having barely won, couldn’t even say “good fight” and slunk away.
“…So that’s the level of seniors shunned by the whole school?”
“Long road ahead. Dizzying.”
Yi Jin-seong’s group laughed hollowly.
They’d dragged it out with grit, but it was a total rout.
They never seized momentum once.
Against a bottom-tier second-year team, they felt utter powerlessness.
No payoff for enduring Jae-hyeok’s torment… er, special training.
“Just hope word doesn’t spread.”
“Yeah. Especially if Jae-hyeok finds out—he’ll torment us even harder in training.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
A small shadow blanketed the sprawled Yi Jin-seong group mid-mumble.
Silhouette from someone’s head blocking the sun.
“Good work. You all fought coolly.”
It was Kang Jae-hyeok.
The guy grinning wide, as if plotting something, unnerved them.
“We’re depressed enough—don’t tease, just go your way.”
Yi Jin-seong flapped his hand weakly. Jae-hyeok snatched the limp hand.
“I mean it, you were awesome.”
“…W-what? You’re creeping me out acting like this.”
Yi Jin-seong stammered, rare for him.
Too flustered, even his face flushed. Jae-hyeok met his eyes straight.
“Resting sometimes is important too.”
Did Jae-hyeok not know his classmates had been watching him since enrollment?
With his head-start stats, covert observation was impossible.
“You’re doing plenty well, so don’t be impatient.”
Just as they watched him, he’d watched them.
That’s why he could advise.
As Yi Jin-seong felt a surge he shouldn’t.
“Hey! Kang Jae-hyeok! Help me up too!”
“Me too…”
Cheon Hye-ji and Du Bae-su reached for Jae-hyeok.
A consideration so their longtime friend’s misty eyes wouldn’t become someone’s mockery.