Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Training Camp (4)
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"Alright, then the first game~~"
The auditorium filled with the excited voice of the host, Bead.
Her voice was so booming that the cadets who had been goofing off jumped in surprise and turned their attention to her.
"Le~~~t's begin!"
Ooooh—
Cheers and applause erupted. Rhythmic background music started playing, setting the mood.
The stage was fully equipped with sound systems that made your hips want to bounce involuntarily.
-Team 8 fiiiight!
Bead giggled at the sporadic but bold cheers from Team 8 and pointed at them with the hand holding her script.
"Hehe~ Great cheering! Team 8 gets 100 extra points!"
Waaaah!
Team 8 cheered and clapped. Not to be outdone, the other teams started shouting their own cheers.
-Team 2!
-Team 4 fiiiight!
"Ah, that's so predictable! Louder voices would be nice~"
I couldn't help but chuckle at her playful teasing.
I'd been worried since she was just a cadet, not a pro, but she was running this like a seasoned recreation leader no matter how you looked at it.
After yelling cheers like this, everyone's blood started pumping.
If we're playing games anyway, we might as well grab some points!
There's booze and snacks on the line. Everyone, shout louder! Bigger!
The atmosphere caught fire like that, and there was no cooling it down.
'The problem is... how do we solve this?'
Movies. Not my expertise, obviously.
All I'd seen so far were old flicks they played for free in the hospital room and 'Go, Go Precure vs. Tree Rangers,' which I watched with Cheon-do, who loved kids' cartoons to his bones.
"Anyone good with movies?"
"Hm... I've only seen the popular ones. Not confident."
"Azalea?"
Azalea flinched and shrugged when I called her name.
She steadied her trembling lips and shook her head faintly.
"I'll... do my best."
"You guys are our hope. Cornus and I are hopeless."
I laid it out straight: no confidence.
Se-young's eyes widened at my words, and she sidled over to whisper.
"...You okay?"
"Okay with what?"
"You're on casual terms with Cornus?"
She seemed more shocked that I'd addressed Cornus casually than by her own lack of movie knowledge.
'That's why she's been sneaking glances at Cornus earlier.'
At El Academy, especially the Korean branch, Cornus had this untouchable, noble image that kept everyone at bay.
She wouldn't even talk to riffraff like me, right?
She'd hate getting tangled with lowly roots.
That's the vibe, so she kept her distance from the start.
"If you and I are casual, what's wrong with Cornus?"
"I'm minor nobility... You sure it's fine?"
"We're close. And I don't care about that stuff."
It was a bit weird when I thought about it.
Nobles usually try to cozy up to high nobles, but not with Cornus.
Even Azalea, in a similar spot, hung out casually as friends.
She couldn't live like that forever, so she had to change somehow.
That's why I put Cornus in my group.
I grabbed the cheek of Cornus, sitting next to me.
Her cheek stretched like glutinous rice cake. Always fun to poke.
"...Whatcha doing?"
Se-young watching us was pale as a ghost, mouth agape.
Her ashen face looked worried for me and terrified for herself.
'She wants friends that bad. Gotta make it happen.'
I kept kneading her soft cheek thoughtfully.
Cornus couldn't form proper friendships because of the image drilled into the cadets' heads.
"We should cheer too."
"Huh?"
"When it's three, two, one, shout 'Team 10 fight!' loud."
"Cheering. Gotta do it?"
"Together."
"...Together. Okay, I'll try."
She nodded.
With an unconvincing look, Cornus clasped her tiny hands to her mouth.
Seemed doable since she wasn't alone.
But I had no intention of shouting properly.
3, 2, 1.
"Team 10 fi—!"
Cornus's high-pitched voice for the first time.
Cutier than imagined, it pierced through the cadets' voices like bunny ears poking out of a hole.
-Huh?
Everyone turned to see the soft bunny voice.
"Ting...?"
Sensing something off, her voice trailed down. Cornus's gaze fixed on me.
The bunny startled and ducked back into its hole.
Her stern face filled with betrayal.
"Si-heon."
"Sorry."
"You said together."
"Really sorry."
"...Hate you."
Her lips pouted as she patted my shoulder cutely.
That was huge progress for her.
This wasn't bad, so I let it slide.
I looked pointedly at Se-young; she wore a dazed smile.
"What do you think?"
"...Tell me later how you got close."
I'll tell her a bunch of times. With Cornus too.
Helping her make friends? I'd die and revive a hundred times for that.
"Team 10 fiiiight!!!"
Suddenly, a loud voice burst from right beside me.
She'd put real power into it, reaching the far end.
Bead cracked up and pointed our way.
"Puhaha. Team 10~! Give 'em 100 points!"
"Hey, that's biased!"
"Gotta reward effort like that, pfihihihi. No objections."
Booing poured in, but it wasn't malicious.
Cornus's chick-like squeak silenced them, Azalea followed up, and we snagged points for one problem by fluke.
Anyway, why the sudden burst?
Azalea had her eyes squeezed shut, clutching her chest.
"...More points are good, right?"
"Y-yeah. Good job."
Her lips twitched up briefly—was that my imagination?
Time passed, and the movie quiz began.
First up: initial consonant quiz.
-ㅌㄹㄹㄷ
As soon as the initials appeared, someone up front raised their hand first.
"Correct! Tree Land!"
Bead drew a big circle with her hand and shouted.
"Ding dong dang! First one's easy, right? Ecstatic love~ Intense passion! The romance musical movie Tree Land!"
Familiar musical tunes flowed from the giant speakers.
"Ah, damn, I knew it."
Se-young slapping her knee—must be famous.
I had no clue, obviously.
This world's people all had bizarre naming senses, defying my common sense.
A romance musical with 'tree' in it? They'd only use trees after getting beaten by one.
'Still, we've seen at least one.'
I focused intently.
The rest flowed similarly.
"Correct! Good Wood, Bad Wood, Weird Wood!"
From some three trees.
"Disney Human Tree!"
To human-tree-fish hybrids no one would think of.
"I Want to Eat Your Pitcher Sac!"
Now even devouring carnivorous plants' digestive organs.
'Kukukuku, insane.'
Precure was way better.
The enemy Tree Rangers were classified coolly by tree type, with impressive transformations.
Bead even pretended to wipe tears, calling that pitcher sac thing touching. Madness.
Now I get why Cheon-do's tastes stopped there.
'Still...'
Surprisingly, Se-young and Azalea were doing well.
They knew popular ones, and the problems focused on those, so they nailed them quick.
"Kind Shepherd!"
"Ding dong dang!"
Azalea's streak put us at 400 points.
With many teams, that tied for second.
First had 500, so nailing the last one could win it.
"Now the final problem! This one's tough, right? Pfihihi... Kinda naughty~"
Laughter rippled at Bead's sly grin.
No big issue with an adults-only movie as a question.
"This one's worth 300 points!"
Flash.
The screen showed long initials.
Invisible to my eyes, and even movie buffs clammed up.
-ㄱ ㄴㅈㅇ ㄴㅁㅃㄹ : ㅈㅊㅂ ㅅㄱㅅㄱ
Middle one's clearly a tree.
I'd know that even if beaten repeatedly.
"Tree... something?"
Even our ace normal, Se-young, gave up.
Makes sense—twenty-year-olds memorizing old porn titles? Nah.
"Aww, too hard? Here's a photo!"
-Beep.
A somewhat explicit silhouette of a woman and man from behind.
Corner of the poster: nine-tailed whip and ropes.
'Huang-do would've nailed it.'
Huang-do, master of shady culture, crossed my mind.
Straight answer if I asked, but conscience stung. Any other way?
"...Ah."
A small gasp from beside me.
Se-young caught the faint breath.
"Azalea, you know it?"
"N-no?! I don't??"
Azalea shook her head wildly, obviously busted.
Her reddened earlobe made Se-young and me eye-contact.
'...Let's pretend we didn't hear.'
We understood without words.
Tough problem—even with the photo, no answers.
"Aww, too bad. Answer in 10 seconds."
Countdown began.
As numbers dropped, Azalea fidgeted beside me.
Guilt dripped from her face, but no need to play innocent. Girls can be coy, right?
"...Si-heon, if we get that, we win prizes?"
"Pretty likely."
Cornus hummed and stared ahead.
That flipped the switch.
Her creeping hand made Bead go "Ah!"
"...Correct."
Eyes converged. Azalea's flushed face was a sight.
...Had to go that far?
300 points for humiliation—not cheap.
But Azalea,
was true competitive spirit of this era.
"That Man's Tree Root... Room Raid Incident."
Perfect title verbatim.
Cool. Bold.
Bead hit the remote; final hint 'Whip' appeared.
"Co... Puh... rrect."
Bead's stifled laughter barely echoed.
Thank god for curtains—Azalea's crimson face wouldn't show from afar.
"...Thanks. And stay strong."
"Please... forget it...."
I will.
...Knew her tastes long ago anyway.
"Azalea, that's your taste?"
Se-young's blunt callout made Azalea cover her face with both hands.
One more gossip topic for the cadets.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -Zzt, zzzt.
The ancient tree that endured ages, infused with the spirit of the earth and the soul of mana.
Once called a World Tree by someone. It stirred its consciousness for the first time in ages.
⚙ ANCIENT AWAKENING ⚙ [......] It had burned once, forced to face death.
Still dead now, same as ever.
Power couldn't defy reality.
It ruled time, but now less than half.
Barely sustaining consciousness, the tree tried linking to other World Trees but got no response and gave up.
⚙ ANCIENT AWAKENING ⚙ [Eyes open means... revival, after all.] World Tree of Time.
Body gone, soul barely clinging, it slowly dispersed mana from rotten roots.
⚙ ANCIENT AWAKENING ⚙ [Wood Spirit King...] Revived or passed to next gen? Unknown.
But duty clear.
...Absolutely prevent his deviation.
The tree reinjected the vow etched in death into itself.