103. Noona Eats Too Much (2)
103. Noona Eats Too Much (2)
In Velvet Hunter Academy, where not a single day passes without incident, who has undergone the most dramatic rise in status recently?
Jin Yu-ha?
Of course, the rumor that he entered through the Male Quota System—the absolute bottom—endured everyone's ridicule and contempt, then proved himself through exceptional swordsmanship, and recently even defeated Kang Do-hee in a sparring match... there was now no one at Velvet Academy who hadn't heard it.
Even cadets who had yet to witness his skills firsthand now at least considered him "decent for a man"!
However.
In truth, Jin Yu-ha had been drawing considerable attention even before proving his skills.
The foundation for that was none other than his looks.
From the moment he first entered basic training,
remarks like "Why is someone with that face going out of his way to suffer?" circulated endlessly, and all sorts of nicknames were attached to him.
Rumors even spread that Cheonhwa and Fighting Dog, the two special admission students, had fallen for Jin Yu-ha's looks from the very start of the semester and clung to him like gum, forming a love triangle.
And eventually, in several classes (Basic Monster Understanding, Understanding Party Roles, Formations, and Organization), he proved once again that he possessed not only martial prowess but also a brilliant mind, further elevating his name value.
It peaked when Jin Yu-ha was revealed to be the party leader of Utopia, the party to which Cheonhwa and Fighting Dog belonged.
To call it a rapid transformation... well, Jin Yu-ha had demonstrated quite a lot by then, and compared to everything he had shown, the change in his standing could actually be considered slow.
So, returning to the original question.
Who has achieved the most dramatic rise in status at Velvet Hunter Academy?
It was, without a doubt, Im Ga-eul.
The dead-last Support of the second years.
Throughout her entire first year, she was evaluated as talentless. She was a trash Support who barely scraped by with grades worse than the male cadets, just narrowly avoiding being held back.
Because of that, even after becoming a second-year, absolutely no one had any expectations of her. The majority of cadets didn't even remember her name.
That very same woman.
As soon as she became a second-year, suddenly announced a spectacular ascent.
The catalyst was the "Choi A-ram Demonized Human Incident."
The higher-ups tightly sealed lips to prevent the incident—a Demonized Human appearing inside the academy—from spreading, but as if that could work.
On top of that, the number of second-year cadets Choi A-ram had gathered was substantial; there was no way to silence them all.
The second-year cadets who had been at that scene, in particular, could not help but fixate on Jin Yu-ha's party: Utopia.
However, due to the nature of Velvet Academy, where classes are largely separated by year,
even if they wanted to approach Jin Yu-ha, there was no convenient way to do so.
And that was when Im Ga-eul caught their eye.
"Are you that Im Ga-eul?"
"Hey, do you happen to know Jin Yu-ha's number?"
"I heard your party's a little short on members. I want to join—what do I need to do?"
"...Put me in touch with Jin Yu-ha."
Im Ga-eul was bewildered by the attention suddenly directed at her.
From people who normally never said a word to her, or who used to look down on her like she was trash, to those she had at best exchanged awkward greetings with—
now they were acting chummy and approaching her with all kinds of talk!
A warm, swelling sense of pleasure and superiority.
But even amidst all that, Im Ga-eul tried her hardest not to lose her center.
"Sorry, I can't tell you."
Even if people called her rude for it, she had no choice.
'I mustn't cause trouble for my hoobae.'
She remembered.
Just how precious his party was to Jin Yu-ha now.
Back when she was served that absurd, unheard-of dish called "Hawaiian Kimchi Jjigae" at his house, the sincerity he had cautiously revealed had taken deep root in her heart.
'Mm, I still don't really understand why he goes that far for me... but that doesn't change the fact that my hoobae is my benefactor.'
The method of using Magic Stones to activate skills.
The grateful person who had taught her a method she could never have imagined and readily placed a priceless treasure, a highest-grade Magic Stone, into her hands.
"So, I have to work hard so I don't disappoint my hoobae!"
What way is there for a Support to improve her skills?
Of course, a variety of methods existed, but—
What her hoobae expected from her was specifically supporting skills utilizing Magic Stones!
Acceleration and Slow.
Im Ga-eul set her goal: to raise the mastery of these two skills by using them as often and as much as possible, until they became second nature.
Besides, wasn't the Magic Stone her hoobae gave her a highest-grade one? With this, surely she wouldn't be able to use it all up even after several months of continuous use.
To repay the kindness of the hoobae who recognized her and showed her the way.
Without a doubt, it had all started from such a resolute and noble heart.
The first thing she attempted was maintaining the Acceleration skill on her own body at all times.
Just as Acceleration was about to wear off, she would cast it again. And when it was about to wear off again, cast it again.
While moving around, while eating, while training...
Except for when she was sleeping, she spent nearly every waking moment with the Acceleration skill active.
By moving faster than usual, by being able to act faster, the academy schedule she had barely kept up with day after day now finished sooner than expected. That earned her "free time."
And during that spare time, Im Ga-eul began looking around, searching for other nooks where she could use her skills.
'Ah, over there—a kitten is being chased by a hawk!'
She cast Acceleration on the kitten and Slow on the hawk.
The hawk's swooping speed suddenly grew sluggish, and the kitten suddenly grew faster.
And the kitten succeeded in escaping the hawk.
'...This is dangerous! That box is falling!'
A courier who had come to deliver packages to the academy was moving cargo and lost her grip on a box.
'Acceleration!'
With her accelerated body, the courier caught the falling box in midair.
"?"
The female courier glanced around as if she couldn't comprehend what had happened, but Im Ga-eul had already left the scene.
"...Wow, the Utopia Party members get this kind of support skill every single day?"
Next, she visited her classmates—the ones who had stayed friendly with her even when she was dead last—and used her skills to help with their training.
They spoke with faces full of shock.
When she cast Acceleration on them, they could finish training in a shorter time with their quickened bodies. When she used Slow, they could raise their training focus.
'Acceleration!'
'Slow!'
'Acceleration!'
'Slow!'
Here, there, and everywhere—flashing from place to place!
She began popping up all over the academy during breaks and free periods, spamming her skills left and right.
It had definitely started as training to raise her skill mastery so she could be helpful to Jin Yu-ha.
But helping people with Mana that felt like an unending spring and feeling proud about it—Im Ga-eul was gradually becoming addicted.
*
The first time she sensed something was wrong was during the "Thorn Grasslands" dungeon run.
'Huh...? It's already more than half turned into ordinary-looking rock...? When did that even happen?'
At most, only about 40% of the highest-grade Magic Stone she held was still emitting a blue glow.
But she couldn't afford to conserve it.
That day was also the Utopia Party's official debut, and her support skills were the linchpin.
It was a strategy that could have been considerably dangerous without her skills.
And by the time they finished clearing the dungeon,
not even 20% of the highest-grade Magic Stone's Mana remained.
'My hoobae told me to use this for a month...'
A highest-grade Magic Stone.
What would happen if he found out she had burned through that gem of staggering value in a single week?
He would probably look at her with cold eyes. And if it was serious enough, expulsion from the party...!
'...This is bad!'
Sensing the crisis, Im Ga-eul tightened her belt starting the very day they returned from the dungeon.
Still, she had to raise her mastery—that justification was rock-solid. So
instead of the highest-grade Magic Stone, she began purchasing low-grade Magic Stones with her own money and using those.
However.
They say humans only feel true loss once they've lost something they once held.
Having freely wielded Mana through the highest-grade Magic Stone, she could not be satisfied with low-grade Magic Stones that ran dry after only a few skill uses.
It felt like being cramped—as if she had been driving a sleek sports car and was suddenly forced onto a bicycle.
Even though her skills clearly had the potential to stretch much further, the drop in effect was painfully obvious, as if they had run out of power.
"...I have to endure it!"
She tried her absolute best to be patient, but...
"W-well, just one more time... maybe I can use it...?"
Starting with casting Acceleration on her own body, unable to resist the temptation of the highest-grade Magic Stone.
"Th-that's right! Anyway, it's good to get as used to it as possible when I'm casting a skill on myself!"
'It's a dangerous situation, so just one more time...!'
'I'm helping a close classmate, so just this one more time...'
Gradually increasing the frequency.
'Anyway, I was going to pay him back for this! So isn't this mine now? Yu-ha hoobae transferred ownership to me, so... isn't it okay if I just use it?'
Im Ga-eul was already addicted to the omnipotence the highest-grade Magic Stone provided.
And on Live Gate Training day.
'...Ah.'
By the time she came to her senses facing Jin Yu-ha,
the highest-grade Magic Stone had only enough Mana left for a single use.
"..."
* * *
I brought Im Ga-eul, who had been shouting nonsense in the park boulevard, to a separate chicken restaurant.
Glug-glug-glug—
Pwah─!
After downing 500 milliliters of beer in one go, Im Ga-eul spoke in a shrunken, hollow voice.
"I'm trash... I'm the 'weak' in weak-willed..."
Im Ga-eul spoke in a voice thick with self-reproach.
"It's fine. I'm the one who gave it to you in the first place, sunbae."
"...Still."
"Well, I guess it was my mistake to give you a highest-grade Magic Stone from the start. It's okay even if you used it all up. Now you can just go back to using low-grade Magic Stones."
"...Low-grade Magic Stones?"
"Yes. You grabbed a bit too much power from the very beginning and couldn't control it. I didn't think of that part either. Let's go back to taking it step by step, starting with low-grade Magic Stones and getting used to them in order."
"...N-no!"
Im Ga-eul shot up from her seat and shouted.
"Huh?"
When I tilted my head and asked,
her eyes were still narrowed to slits as always, but her eyebrows were raised in a resolute expression.
"...Yu-ha hoobae. I've thought of something this time."
'What on earth is she trying to say.'
I assumed a posture of serious attentiveness to listen to her words.
"...Hoobae, I'll earn it and pay you back! So just give me one more!"
"..."
"I mean it—I don't think I can live without it anymore... I'll really conserve it this time. So just one more!"
"..."
"I'll be your Doctor Fish!"
I gave her a flat look.
What? Doctor Fish?
Hearing gambling-addict talk from that gentle face was seriously dizzying.
I swallowed the sigh that was rising up.
"...No, how exactly are you going to earn it and pay me back? What, are you planning to go to a gambling den and bet with Magic Stones?"
"Hoobae, that's harsh. Do I look like someone who would do something like that?"
She said it as if offended, but I nodded.
"Yes. Right now, you do."
"No! I would absolutely never do that."
"Then what? How are you going to earn it and pay me back?"
"I'm talking about using the highest-grade Magic Stone to hunt an S-Rank Monster and cover the cost of the highest-grade Magic Stone!"
Im Ga-eul crossed her arms with a confident air, as if to say, "How about that? Good plan, right?"
I let out a hollow laugh.
"What, you think you can actually hunt one?"
"That's where you come in and help, Yu-ha hoobae."
Im Ga-eul shamelessly dragged me into the deal too.
A personality that made me wonder if she even remembered that I was the creditor here.
'Is this karma...?'
A gentle, endlessly mild-mannered noona who should have grown up properly starting with low-grade Magic Stones.
But once she got a taste of the highest-grade Magic Stone, she became utterly corrupted.
"Is there some kind of problem?"
Im Ga-eul spoke brazenly, as if her plan were truly plausible.
"It seems like there's nothing but problems."
"Wh-what!"
I stared blankly at her, then suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
"Mm, I'm pretty sure there was a Magic Stone Charger among the items you could get from gacha pulls..."
In the game, Magic Stones weren't particularly rare currency, so something like that definitely existed.
I had muttered it quietly, but somehow she heard it—Im Ga-eul's eyes flew open wide.
"...Magic Stone Charger!? Then you can copy highest-grade Magic Stones!?"
'Mm, maybe I really should send this noona to a gambling addiction treatment program...?'
I felt dizzy.