015. The Worst Team (1)
015. The Worst Team (1)
Kang Do-hee stared down at the crumpled cigarette, then scratched roughly at her head.
"Ah, shit—it was my last one."
She shifted her gaze toward me, irritation written plain across her face.
"Hey, what the hell are you?"
Kang Do-hee, dropping formal speech the moment we met.
Fine, two can play that game.
"Jin Yu-ha."
"What?"
"You asked who I am."
Caught off guard by my answer, Kang Do-hee burst out laughing for a split second before her face snapped serious and she growled at me.
"I don't know what you're hoping to pick up here, but if you're gonna play cute, go wag your tail in front of that Flowerbed-head who's so into that shit. I've got zero interest."
I admired her refreshingly blunt talent for nicknames.
'Ah. Cheonhwa—a thousand flowers—so she calls her Flowerbed. Funny nickname.'
It's rare to find someone who'd talk about Shin Se-hee like that.
Everyone else is busy worshipping her; saying anything different takes real guts.
'Of course, I couldn't care less either.'
My only concern was getting Kang Do-hee into my party.
I nodded.
"I don't like a girl with flowers in her head either. Even less if they're poisonous."
Kang Do-hee's eyes widened a fraction.
But then she let out a scoff.
"Hah. So, what—since you can't stand that Flowerbed, you're gonna try and latch onto me instead?"
"What are you on about. Oversized ego, maybe?"
I frowned at her words.
"......What!?"
"Don't wanna do any of that. I'm just saying let's be friends. Friends. I've got zero interest in latching onto you."
I held out my hand to her.
"......Friends?"
Kang Do-hee's face twisted into bafflement, like she'd never heard the word in her life.
"Hah, this guy's actually hilarious. Friends?"
Smack—!
Kang Do-hee's hand roughly slapped mine away.
"Sorry, but if you wanna play friends with me, shouldn't you at least be worth it? Quota Student?"
Ugh, my palm's stinging even though she barely swatted it.
Sure enough, no matter how much I'd invested growth materials to raise my stats, the gap between a base 5-Star and a base 1-Star was too big to ignore.
My current stats put me at roughly 4-Star level.
I waved the hand she'd smacked back and forth to cool it off.
"Touchy, aren't you. What's the big deal about friends? You some kind of big shot?"
Which, okay, she actually kind of is—but she pathologically hates being worshipped and fawned over.
"You lunatic....... Just be glad you're a guy and you're still in one piece."
Kang Do-hee, who'd been staring at me like I was incomprehensible, shook her head and turned her back on me, walking away.
Of course, she couldn't exactly go far.
After all, we had to assemble in the same place in thirty minutes, right?
"Let's go together. Friend."
"Get lost!"
* * *
Training Ground C, in the building right next to the auditorium.
Unlike the other training grounds, this space was closed off on all four sides. Probably worried we'd draw the other cadets' attention.
The three members besides myself and Kang Do-hee had already arrived.
When I showed up with Kang Do-hee, Shin Se-hee eyed me with a meaningful look.
Averting my gaze, I turned my head toward the instructor in charge of our training.
The instructor assigned to us turned out to be the same stone-faced female supervisor from before.
"Everyone's on time."
She must be the type who doesn't stand on ceremony during training. Her tone was casual.
"Today's the first day, so we'll go over the training schedule and conclude with a skill assessment for the Special Admission Cadets."
Apparently, the Male Quota cadets weren't even getting a skill assessment.
'A little disappointing.'
I clicked my tongue.
"Here, take one each."
The instructor passed out the sheets of paper she'd brought.
The training schedule was packed tight.
Weekdays all followed the same routine.
Wake up at 7 a.m., eat by 8.
Basic Training from 8 to 12.
Meal from 12 to 1.
Role Training from 1 to 6 p.m.
Meal from 6 to 7.
Joint Training from 7 to 10 p.m.
And from the weekends, once the other students' role training finished, group sparring matches against other groups were scheduled.
A brutal schedule of nothing but training and meals, repeating endlessly. Even weekends wouldn't be a real break.
Shin Se-hee looked a bit daunted but nodded anyway. Kang Do-hee, acting like there was nothing to discuss, simply checked the times and shoved the sheet straight into her pocket.
The two male cadets who'd been picked alongside me, however, seemed to have different ideas.
"Instructor! Th-this is insane!"
"How is a person supposed to live like this!"
The instructor's gaze on them sank into coldness.
"You two enrolled through the quota system. Without any effort whatsoever, solely because your gender is male."
"Even so......!"
"St-still, isn't this unreasonable!"
"It seems you regard Velvet Hunter Academy as a joke. Perhaps that's natural, since you didn't even take the entrance exam."
Her voice carried anger from somewhere deep down.
"This kind of schedule is hard? Fine. I'll chalk it up to your never having trained a day in your lives."
The instructor let out a breath and swept her hair back.
"It's only three weeks. You can't endure even that and still claim you want to become cadets of Velvet Hunter Academy?"
She had a point.
Velvet Hunter Academy had always been infamous for its punishing entrance exams.
People who'd gotten in without taking a single test—if they couldn't even pass this level of training, the perception of the quota system would only get worse.
"Haah. Shit. What the hell is that woman thinking......."
The instructor muttered to herself and heaved a deep sigh.
Then, pressing her fingers to her brow, she spoke in a slightly calmer voice.
"......Still, I won't make you follow the same training schedule as the Special Admission Cadets. I know you shouldn't have to—and couldn't manage it anyway. I intend to cut you some reasonable slack. So hold your complaints there."
Still clearly unsatisfied, the two male cadets shut their mouths.
'So that's how this Jin Yu-ha bastard survived the training camp period.'
I'd been wondering how this glass-jawed loser managed the same schedule as the Special Admission Cadets. Guess they'd been going easy on him all along.
'But is that really gonna cut it?'
I raised my hand.
The instructor's eyes shifted to me.
"What is it now. You've got a complaint even after I said I'd cut you some slack. If that's the case, just get ou─."
"No. That's not it."
I cut her off and answered.
"Then what."
"I'd like to train alongside the Special Admission Cadets."
"......What?"
"Didn't you call this Joint Training from the start? If you keep cutting us slack here and there, is there any point in calling it joint training?"
The two guys shot me murderous glares, but honestly, screw 'em.
"Joint training has no point?"
The short-haired instructor's eyes shifted slightly.
"Yes. I took this training assignment as an opportunity to observe and learn from the Special Admission Cadets up close. But how am I supposed to observe and learn anything if I don't even share the experience?"
"......Your courage is admirable. But it's foolhardy. You and they are starting from completely different lines."
"I know. Even so, I'd at least like to try."
A brief silence passed, then the instructor, who'd been watching me with an unreadable expression, nodded as if she didn't mind the idea.
"Hah. Fine. I'll allow it. But if you ever feel you can't do it, give up. ......What did you say your name was?"
"Jin Yu-ha."
"So, do the remaining two share the same view?"
The pair had faces that screamed they'd rather die—but there was no way they could say no here.
"......Y-yes."
"Un-understood. We'll give it our best."
"Good. That concludes the schedule announcement. We'll proceed immediately to the Special Admission Cadets' skill assessment."
The instructor pulled out a pen and notepad.
"Shin Se-hee, step forward."
"Okaaay─."
Her long, straight hair swayed softly as she stepped forward with light, dainty strides.
"Role: Special. Wizard. Correct?"
"Yes! That's right!"
"Manifest and maintain a suitable spell."
At those words, Shin Se-hee extended both hands forward.
"Haaht!"
Hummm─
With a short shout, a gentle, blue-hued Mana flowed from her fingertips, and geometric magic circles began arranging themselves before her hands.
Then, a fireball took shape in midair.
Even from a distance, the heat slammed into me, stifling and hot.
"......Hm. Manifestation speed, Mana purity, form, sustainability. Pass. All that's left is destructive power."
The instructor observed it carefully and jotted notes.
"Fire it toward that empty area over there."
The instructor pointed toward the center of the training ground.
"Okaaay─! Hiyah!"
Shin Se-hee answered in a bright voice and drew a line through the air with her index finger.
The fireball shot forward and struck the open space.
BOOM—!!!
A massive explosion rang in my ears as dirt and dust gusted through the air.
The two male cadets stared wide-eyed at the scene.
Kang Do-hee clicked her tongue.
'Wizards really are a cheat class for clearing trash mobs.'
The instructor stroked her chin and nodded in satisfaction.
"Added an explosive property as well?"
"Yes!"
"Impressive. Exactly what you'd expect from a Special Admission Cadet. You pass."
"Thank you."
Shin Se-hee gave a polite bow and returned to her spot.
"Next....... Kang Do-hee. Step forward."
"Yes."
"Role: Damage Dealer. A martial artist type, using Fist and Foot Technique."
"Yes."
Snap.
The instructor set down her paper and pen and assumed a stance.
"Then I'll handle your assessment myself. Come at me."
PAAANG─!
The moment those words ended, the air exploded.
Without any signal to begin, Kang Do-hee kicked off the floor and hurled herself at the instructor.
And then.
SMACK!
SMAAACK!
BAM!
BAM!
BAAAM!!!
The sounds of the instructor and Kang Do-hee colliding weren't mere scuffles—they were massive detonations.
Whoosh—
Snap.
CRASH!!!
A fierce exchange of blows raged, their bodies wreathed in Mana.
"In-insane."
"Monsters......."
Now the male cadets were standing there slack-jawed, cold sweat running down their faces.
'Can't blame 'em.'
They probably couldn't even see Kang Do-hee's or the instructor's movements.
The swift motion, as if hands and feet had vanished entirely.
The destructive force of each individual strike rivaled that fireball Shin Se-hee had thrown earlier.
'You'd need to be at least this level to make that insane claim about taking down monsters several times bigger than a human with your bare fists.'
Of course, I could see it clearly.
The fists and elbows flying, that flexible, spring-loaded motion of sweeping kicks through the air.
Kang Do-hee seemed nearly on par with the instructor.
'Hm, she should still be in her pure state right now though...... And she hasn't even used Berserk. Yet she's already matching the instructor? Ah, maybe the instructor isn't a martial arts type.'
Even so, the sheer fact that a newly admitted prospective cadet possessed skills rivaling an academy instructor—someone professionally trained and currently active in the field—was a horrifying spectacle.
BAAAM!
BAM!
CRUNCH!
CRAAASH!!!
Fist locked against fist.
A low tremor rippled through the ground, and the two of them came to a stop in that state.
The instructor was first to relax her stance, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"......Hoo. There's nothing more to say. Outstanding."
She spoke with a more satisfied expression than I'd seen yet.
"Hahh. Hahh. Yes! Thank you!"
Kang Do-hee looked a little winded at that, but she quickly straightened up and bowed her head.
A small smile crossed my face at the sight.
'Was she acknowledging the Instructor because the Instructor was about as skilled as she was?'
Kang Do-hee probably realized it too. That the instructor wasn't the same martial arts type as her.
And yet the instructor still possessed comparable skill. That must have genuinely surprised her.
"We'll conclude today's schedule here. Everyone, return to your assigned lodgings and rest. Don't be late tomorrow."
* * *
On the way back to the lodgings, that's what happened.
The two male quota cadets ran up and got in my face.
"You! What the hell were you thinking!"
"Why would you say something like that! You want us to train mixed in with those monsters!? I can't do it!!!"
'Idiots.'
I fixed an icy stare on the two blocking my path.
Watching a couple of guys throw a fit behind my back just because things looked a little tough made me sigh.
'She even said we could give up if it turned out we couldn't handle it.'
Maybe men really should go to the military. They'd learn to just do as they're told.
"What? You guys also said 'yes,' didn't you?"
"How the hell could we say no in there!"
"Fuck, if you just hadn't run your mouth—!"
'Am I seriously stuck in a group with these bastards.'
In this moment, I understood with absolute clarity why Kang Do-hee had looked at me like I was a bug earlier.
Oh, Great Sage. You were wrong this time.
Out of five people, three of them are garbage.
Granted, one of them is a slightly different flavor of garbage, but anyway.
"So what? What do you want me to do about it, you fucks."
My voice was thick with irritation.
"Aren't you two ashamed at all?"
"......What!?"
"......You, right now—!"
"I'm already fucking embarrassed just for getting in through the quota system. Act like this, and we're really gonna look great, huh?"
I stepped one pace forward.
The bastards retreated by just as much.
Guys who got in through the quota system—this was all they amounted to.
"Honestly, whether you two want to do it or not has nothing to do with me. She even said we could give up if we couldn't cut it, so I honestly don't get what you're bitching about."
"That's......!"
"......."
They clammed up, apparently at a loss for words.
Yeah, of course you're embarrassed. No way in hell you can admit you're doing this because you're scared of a single day's taste of what's coming.
'But still, I'm gonna have to team up with these morons every weekend and fight other groups.......'
We'd probably get slapped with a pretty hefty penalty on our side.
Honestly, with just Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee, no other group could beat us anyway.
At most, the Gukbap group might hold out a little—but only a little.
In an exam that evaluates teamwork, that would make the assessment unfair, so they'd definitely nerf the Special Admission Cadets.
I clicked my tongue.
"Hey. You two. Getting carried is fine and all. But do you know what the average mortality rate is for enrolled students here?"
That was the thing that shocked me most after falling into this world.
Velvetsra is a game about showing the cute, happy daily lives of strong, beautiful girls—so it never shows students dying.
Even when you lose in the game, everyone just gets hauled off to the infirmary. Nobody dies.
And the second you hit Retry, they pop back out looking fresh like nothing ever happened.
So the thought never even crossed my mind.
Velvet Academy's mortality rate.
"Every year, ten percent of a class ends up in a coffin. Sure, you get treated accordingly once you graduate, but if you can't endure it, one out of every ten dies. So who do you think that ten percent is gonna be? I, for one, have no intention of ending up in it."
I pointed a finger, alternating between the two men.
"Think hard. Whether you can even survive the academy acting like this. If you're just planning to waltz in easy and waltz out with a diploma, you're better off quitting right now."
"......."
"......."
I left the two of them standing there with dumb looks on their faces and headed toward the lodgings.
Meanwhile, a short distance away.
"He really is entertaining. That man."
Shin Se-hee let out a soft, nasal hum as she watched Jin Yu-ha's retreating figure.
"I'd wondered from the start why he looked at me with those eyes....... He turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected, didn't he?"