012. What? I Was Supposed to Go to the Academy Three Weeks Ago...?
012. What? I Was Supposed to Go to the Academy Three Weeks Ago...?
"Yaah!!!"
Lee Yu-ri shot up from her seat and activated 'Shout!'
Her brow was deeply furrowed, like a devout believer who'd just heard blasphemy.
Her chest heaved with sharp, rough breaths.
Lips pressed tight, eyebrows slanted into a deep V.
Tears were even welling up in her eyes.
Hiss—
Hiss—
"Gukbap...?"
"Team lead...?"
Go Yoon-seo and Choi So-yeon stared in surprise.
They clearly hadn't expected her to get this furious over a bowl of gukbap.
Of course, I'd known Lee Yu-ri would react exactly like this.
Think about it. You scrimp and save every single day, living off tap water and convenience store triangle gimbap, and then on that one rare occasion you actually eat out, you go for the cheap and hearty gukbap. Now imagine someone suddenly pours kkakdugi brine all over it.
Absolutely unforgivable.
'Ah, I actually get to see this in real life. It's even better than I imagined.'
Lee Yu-ri was seething, but I was actually enjoying myself.
This angry face of Lee Yu-ri's.
Commonly known as 「Kal Kkakdugi Gukbap」, it held a pretty iconic status among Velvet School Life Players.
An almost identical situation plays out in Lee Yu-ri's Personal Story.
It's an episode where she goes out for a team dinner with her academy party members after clearing a dungeon.
At the gukbap restaurant they go to together, one party member suddenly declares, "It's way better if you eat it like this!" and dumps kkakdugi straight into her soup.
At that moment, Lee Yu-ri gets angry with the exact same energy as right now.
The way she asserts with her entire body, as if screaming, 'Look how mad I am!'
Combined with her backstory, this scene prodded the darker, sadistic side of Velvetsra Players and was quickly turned into a reaction image that spread everywhere.
And that reaction image became the go-to whenever Velvetsra's devs shit the bed or spouted nonsense and needed scolding.
— You insane dev bastards! Is this patch for real? Why the hell are you mixing this crap into Velvetsra? Why didn't you ask my opinion first, you sons of bitches!
└(Kal Kkakdugi Gukbap reaction image.)
└(Kal Kkakdugi Gukbap reaction image.)
└(Kal Kkakdugi Gukbap reaction image.)
└(Kal Kkakdugi Gukbap reaction image.)
└(Kal Kkakdugi Gukbap reaction image.)
Also, this scene marked Lee Yu-ri's moment of emotional growth.
Because it was the first time Lee Yu-ri, who always kept walls up and maintained her distance with people, revealed her true self to those around her.
So, to honor this reaction image, Velvetsra Players replaced the tasteless title Lee Yu-ri originally had—'Dirt Spoon'—with the cute nickname 'Gukbap'!
In other words, that's the origin story of Gukbap.
'I didn't suggest eating gukbap for nothing. Even though I'm actually a purist when it comes to gukbap myself.'
I looked at Lee Yu-ri with a satisfied smile.
"W-what is the meaning of this!"
See. She's dropping the formal speech now.
But like someone who's barely ever gotten truly angry before, her voice is awkward as hell.
While I had Lee Yu-ri here, I wanted to lock her in as the Tank for the party I planned to build.
Sure, today might have left her feeling a bit indebted to me, but getting close is a whole different matter.
There's no gacha system here to pull characters from, so in the end, the only way is to push forward through personal connections.
That's why I imported the event from her Personal Story.
'Admittedly, dropping just this moment in with practically zero other build-up is a bit forced, but at least it got us on casual speech terms.'
As I was enjoying her furious expression, Lee Yu-ri spoke in a chillingly flat voice.
"I asked you what the meaning of this is."
"So we've finally decided to drop formal speech, huh. I'm good with that."
"Drop formal speech or whatever, why didn't you even ask my opinion first...!"
"Well, earlier when I mixed in other side dishes for you, you seemed to like it...?"
"That and this are completely different!"
Lee Yu-ri kept fuming for a long while, until Go Yoon-seo finally couldn't stand it and stepped in. "I'll trade mine with you! I actually really like eating it that way!" Only after they swapped bowls did Lee Yu-ri finally calm down.
"...Never, ever touch my gukbap again."
Like a wary puppy clutching its treasure, Lee Yu-ri wrapped both hands protectively around her bowl.
It was the sturdy stance of a Tank, determined to defend her gukbap no matter what.
"Got it, Gukbap."
"Hey."
"Yeah, Gukbap."
"...You're a real lunatic."
Lee Yu-ri glared at me, her anger clearly still not dissipated.
'Time to stop now. Push her any further and she'll actually get hurt and sulk all the way through tomorrow.'
Click—
I popped the cap off a soju bottle and poured her a glass.
Glug-glug-glug—
"By the way, Gukbap, when were you planning to head to the academy?"
When I casually changed the subject, Lee Yu-ri let out an incredulous laugh.
But she's too nice for her own good, so she still answered properly.
"...Next Monday."
"Huh? But that's just a few days away then. Why so early? Aren't you going to do more dungeon clearing?"
I asked, my voice flustered.
"Of course today was the last day. That's why that Damage Dealer bitch who ditched me knew I couldn't chase her down and ran off with my money."
"...Of course? There's still a month left until the entrance ceremony, isn't there?"
There was definitely still a whole month left until the academy entrance ceremony.
I'd been planning to test just how high a dungeon rank we could hunt together during that time...
'She's going this early?'
"What, Jin Yu-ha. You seriously don't know?"
"Know what?"
When I shot the question back, Lee Yu-ri looked even more baffled than I was.
"There's a three-week basic training period before the entrance ceremony."
"...Basic training?"
What Lee Yu-ri explained was this.
Velvet Academy gathers the prospective cadets before the entrance ceremony and puts them through a three-week basic training period.
During that time, they evaluate the prospective cadets' capabilities and test them.
In other words, if I compared it to my original world, it's the same vibe as getting sent to boot camp before receiving your permanent unit assignment in the military.
It's a game where pretty girls laugh and make merry together, but since it's ultimately a school for teaching combat skills, there's a weirdly familiar whiff of military life baked in.
'Shit, how was I supposed to know that? Velvetsra never showed that kind of background lore.'
Still, thanks to Gukbap, I managed to find out ahead of time. Otherwise, I might've ended up in jail before I even enrolled.
'Wait, so that means I need to ship all the random junk in my rented room and Alice's items to the dorms?'
Times like this, it was Gukbap-emon to the rescue.
"Gukbap. So what about personal luggage? The dorms aren't assigned until the entrance ceremony day."
"They hold that stuff in the training center warehouse for now, and everyone picks it up after the training period ends."
"Ah..."
"You really don't know anything, do you?"
Wait, I need a moment to organize my thoughts.
After the training period ends, we get assigned to the dorms.
Which means we're all in shared quarters together during training.
'There are definitely a few top-tier characters in Gukbap's class year... Ah, all in shared quarters! Does that mean I can meet that one who's almost impossible to find at the academy too?'
"Wait, did this kid actually follow me into Velvet Academy...? Without knowing anything?"
While I was racking my brain, Lee Yu-ri muttered something under her breath, but it didn't quite reach my ears.
"So how does the training work?"
"Ahem! The first week is organized by r-role, and from the second week it's joint training. And on weekends, sparring."
For some reason, Lee Yu-ri answered with an oddly boastful expression.
'So that's how it is...?'
Maybe, during the training period, I might even manage to win over one of those base 5-Star, Right-to-Breathe-tier characters.
* * *
After hearing all that information about Velvet Academy from Lee Yu-ri and cross-checking it with what I already knew, we properly started drinking.
Lee Yu-ri must have been new to alcohol; she took one big swig, then immediately stuck out her tongue and complained about the bitterness.
"Ugh. Bitter... Why do people even drink this stuff?"
Go Yoon-seo must have had a hollow leg from the start, because she just shoved the whole bottle in her mouth and gulped it down.
"Ahh, Gukbap, you think it's bitter? I like it better than soda."
As expected, Choi So-yeon sipped hers slowly and nursed her drink.
The drinking session went deep, and soon enough.
"Uheheheh, Gukbap... You can't forget me when you go, okay...?"
"Take care. Team Le— hic. Yu-ri."
"Sis... Stay healthy and come back safe."
Yeah, it felt exactly like a family seeing their kid off to the army.
Go Yoon-seo and Choi So-yeon clung to Lee Yu-ri, crying, got a bit sloppy drunk, and it was the usual ending—Yu-na carrying them out piggyback style once they were completely wasted.
From the next day onward, I was so busy I barely had time to breathe.
This son of a bitch Jin Yu-ha was about to head off to the academy but hadn't taken care of a single loose end.
If there were no training period, I could have handled it at a relaxed pace, but with just a few days before I had to leave, I had no choice but to rush through everything at lightning speed.
First, I shipped all my remaining items to the training center, canceled my rental contract, and completely organized my bank accounts.
I also used the gate settlement money Lee Yu-ri had sent to pick up various supplies for the training center.
And before I knew it.
Monday.
The day to head to Velvet Hunter Academy had arrived.
Honk— Honk—
The loud blare of a horn sounded from outside.
When I stepped out, Lee Yu-ri was waiting in a truck parked in front of my place.
"Jin Yu-ha, did you get everything?"
She rolled down the window and spoke to me casually, like a comfortable friend.
As expected, putting kkakdugi in her gukbap was the right move.
"Yeah, more or less."
"Then let's go."
And so, with my heart pounding, I headed toward Velvet Hunter Academy together with Gukbap.