Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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I followed Instructor Cho Seo-hyun while communicating with Armonia.
‘Cho Seo-hyun was the top enrollee?’
[That's correct. However, it's known that she barely graduated at the bottom of her class.]
‘...Kind of like Seo Ji-eun?’
I pondered this while gazing at the back of Cho Seo-hyun's head, her thick hair swaying gently.
Fear of mistakes or unexpected variables.
Yet amid those anxious traits, she possessed a strong sense of responsibility.
Her skills were impressive in their own right, allowing her to perform at her best as long as nothing went wrong midway.
I couldn't understand how fear of mistakes or anxiety could have led to her graduating at the bottom.
‘She was top enrollee from the start, which means things were fine up until then.’
[Seo Ji-eun went through something similar for unknown reasons, so maybe Cho Seo-hyun is the same.]
‘I'll have to look into it step by step. And...’
[...?]
When I snapped out of the dream, just as Cho Seo-hyun finished her oath, a voice had slipped into my ear, lingering vividly in my mind.
(Annoying...)
I couldn't see clearly in that moment of waking, but I knew exactly who it was from the voice.
That female instructor in her forties...
‘Can you access Cho Seo-hyun's student records or something?’
[I'm sorry. We have her public activity logs, but not her student records.]
‘Can't be helped. I'll dig into that gradually too.’
So much to investigate!
Given my position, I probably didn't have clearance to access her records at the embassy.
Unlike the other worlds I'd experienced, security here was airtight, making even basic info hard to come by.
As I mulled this over, Cho Seo-hyun and I arrived at the classroom, where she addressed the cadets.
"Today's lesson will be sparring, just like yesterday."
"..."
Watching Cho Seo-hyun declare this with overflowing charisma, I recalled the 'cadet' version of her from my dream.
It was definitely the same person.
Her appearance was nearly identical—so much so that it was hard to believe it was thirteen years ago.
The differences? Back then, as a cadet, she had long hair and a face brimming with vitality.
That made the current Cho Seo-hyun and her cadet self look so strikingly different that it was hard to accept they were one and the same.
Even in the dream, despite the resemblance, the disconnect had kept me from realizing it.
Could life have worn her down that much?
But Cho Seo-hyun didn't strike me as the type to crumble like that.
Top enrollee graduating at the bottom. Confident cadet now riddled with anxiety...
After explaining the lesson's direction to the cadets, Cho Seo-hyun turned to me.
She stared piercingly, as if demanding to know what I was gawking at, then spoke.
"Let's get ready."
"Yes."
I set aside my thoughts on Cho Seo-hyun for now and focused on the bow—the key to the moment.
Clang! Clank! Tang!
"Whoa! This is insane!"
"It's open on the side!"
"Does that look open to you!?"
Four cadets had surrounded Cho Seo-hyeon in close quarters, engaged in a fierce battle.
Without taking a single step, she casually parried attacks from all directions with her twin daggers.
And the incoming arrows...
Whoosh! Thud!
""No, how is he hitting all of them!!?"
Every arrow the cadets fired was knocked away by Seong Su-ho's arrows.
The cadets struggled desperately to land even one hit on Cho Seo-hyun.
But as time dragged on, their patience wore thin, their usual bright faces vanished, replaced by harsh exchanges.
"Just shoot wildly!"
"Idiot! Do you want to hit our own people!?"
"Then what, just sit on our hands!?"
Cho Seo-hyun effortlessly deflected the four melee attacks while observing the ranged cadets, thinking to herself.
'...These guys are usually so calm, but they really change once they're properly provoked.'
Melee cadets were often hot-blooded by nature.
Not just quick to anger, but overflowing with ferocity.
Ranged cadets, by contrast, were generally calm.
‘But once they snap, they're the trickiest.’
Being quiet normally meant they exploded without restraint when provoked.
A long-range archer who usually performed at twice the expected capacity could lose their composure, cause damage to allies, and suddenly become a liability.
As Cho Seo-hyun evaluated Squad 1, she sensed a spear-wielding cadet charging at her.
"Haat!"
‘...Sloppy.’
The moment the cadet lunged, Cho Seo-hyeon struck the spear with her dagger, forcing it into the ground.
The cadet, suddenly halted, tripped and fell forward, leaving an opening for Cho Seo-hyeon.
Deflecting the other three's attacks, she called out to the fallen cadet.
"Charging like that is just offering your neck! Never do it!"
"Ugh... Yes, ma'am!"
After thirty minutes, Squad 1's training wrapped up.
As the first group exited, Cho Seo-hyun's eyes drifted toward Seong Su-ho, who was maintaining his distance.
‘The balance is way off.’
Seong Su-ho's skill exceeded her expectations.
The original intent of this training was for cadets, who had only sparred with opponents of their own level, to learn cooperation by facing a superior expert.
From Cho Seo-hyun's perspective, it would have been easier to train if the process were smoother.
But she wasn't conducting this training for her own convenience.
'At this rate, they'll just get frustrated, and it might lead to conflicts among the students.'
She considered introducing some kind of handicap, but she was conflicted.
‘...Song A-ra worries me most.’
With other cadets, she could simply apply a handicap,but Song A-ra was already a threat to Cho Seo-hyun without any.
‘If only she didn't panic so much...’
As Cho Seo-hyun pondered, Squad 2 entered the training ground.
'For now... I'll think about it later.'
She cautiously raised her twin daggers as Squad 2 took position.
..
..
Finally, Squad 6's turn.
Finally, it was the sixth group's turn.
Even though she hadn't broken a single drop of sweat, Cho Seo-hyeon began to feel nervous.
She frowned, feeling a tremor deep within her.
'Damn it... I'm still not over this, even at my age.
Although she told herself she didn't want to rely on him, she found herself depending on him unconsciously..
'Please, let me not make a fool of myself....'
With that thought, she shouted.
"Begin!"
At her call, Song A-ra charged like a berserk soldier.
‘I'll keep Song A-ra in check as much as possible... Huh?’
Song A-ra, who seemed to be charging blindly, suddenly shifted direction and circled around to Cho Seo-hyun's rear.
The other three melee cadets attacked head-on.
'...She's positioning herself entirely at the rear?'
It was an excellent choice.
No matter how skilled a hero was, defending against an attack from the rear was an incredibly difficult task.
Against ordinary cadets, she could manage to defend without much trouble, but if it was Song A-ra then everything changes.
‘Whew... Stay calm.’
Cho Seo-hyun blocked the three frontal assaults while tracking Song A-ra.
The key was not to panic.
If she were facing Song Ara one-on-one, she was confident she wouldn't panic.
However, despite her experience as a hero,, Cho Seo-hyun was weak in interpersonal combat.
She had been overcoming that weakness with a gap in raw skill, but with Song Ara involved, the situation was likely to change.
It was the moment Song Ara lunged at Cho Seo-hyeon..
Whoosh!
‘Good!’
Cho Seo-hyeon felt relieved seeing an arrow flying toward Song Ah-ra.
As long as Seong Su-ho marked Song Ara effectively, she was confident she could handle the rest of them.
Cho Seo-hyun already trusted Seong Su-ho's skill.
Though his attack power was low, she trusted his accuracy.
It was at that moment.
Clang!
‘Wh-what?’
The arrow to Song A-ra hit another cadet's sword and fell to the ground.
The female cadet who'd blocked it yelled.
"I'll handle Instructor Seong Su-ho!"
Hearing this, the others and Song A-ra smirked, attacking Cho Seo-hyun in unison.
Given the nature of the cadets, all training was linked to scores, and those scores affected their eventual graduation marks.
Therefore, while every cadet shared the goal of cooperation, they would also break that cooperation for the sake of their own individual performance.
The first group had shown a strong tendency toward this, and the sixth group was no different.
But here, they truly cooperated for peak performance.
Cho Seo-hyun looked at the cadets and smiled.
‘Damn brats! I didn't expect this...’
Cho Seo-hyeon was pleased by the situation, but she couldn't be entirely happy.
It would have been better if Song Ara were the one blocking the arrows, but having another cadet drop out didn't make a huge difference..
Rather, the current moment—without Seong Su-ho's support—was the greatest crisis.
Moreover, the long-range cadets had circled around to the opposite side of Seong Su-ho and were steadily firing arrows.e goal of cooperation, they would also break that cooperation for the sake of their own individual performance.
An onslaught leagues from the previous groups.
‘Ugh... Th-this...’
Sweat slicked her dagger grip; beads formed on her brow.
She still had plenty of stamina. She could go all day.
But the composure in Cho Seo-hyun's heart was gradually being swallowed by a dark shadow.
'I underestimated the third-years... no, I underestimated Song A-ra!’
Even as she blocked the cadets' attacks, Cho Seo-hyun didn't want to regret conducting this training.
She wanted to give her best to the cadets, and this was the result.
However, she also hated the idea of showing a weak side to her students.
She gripped the remaining composure in her heart tightly so it wouldn't be eaten by the shadow and swung her arms with everything she had.
There were 25 minutes remaining.
Only five minutes had passed, but to her, it felt like five hours of agony.
"Haaat!"
"Eut..."
She parried Song A-ra's diagonal slash, and knocked it aside..
The moment Song Ara's sword was deflected, she swung it back immediately without a pause..
‘...Huh?’
'...Eh?'
While blocking the cadets' attacks, Cho Seo-hyun felt a black object slithering up from beneath her feet.
'No! Not now!'
Her body, which she had been forcing to move, began to grow sluggish due to the black shape on the ground.
'Get away! Please!'
With her movements slowed, Song Ara swung her sword violently.
"Haaat!"
"Ugh!"
She couldn't block it. Nor could she dodge.
It was the moment Song Ara's sword drew a diagonal line, about to touch Cho Seo-hyun's body.
BANG!
"Augh!"
With a rupture so loud it nearly pierced her eardrums, Song Ara's sword was sent flying far away.
Along with Song Ara's groan, something struck the weapons of the two other cadets who had been cornering Cho Seo-hyun, knocking their weapons away as well.
BANG! BANG!
"K-ack!"
"Aaargh!"
The cadet firing arrows from a distance shouted at the cadet who had been marking Seong Su-ho.
"Hey! Block them properly! The others are really giving it their all right now!"
"T-that's!"
The female cadet marking Seong Su-ho shouted back in a panic.
"How am I supposed to block arrows that curve around the side!?"