019. Skill Reveal (3)
019. Skill Reveal (3)
Right after my sparring match with Instructor Baek Se-hee.
The two quota students came running up belatedly, panting for breath.
"S-sorry we're late!"
"The, the streets are still confusing!"
"Forget it. Being late is your own fault, so there's no need to apologize."
Baek Se-hee dismissed it with an attitude of total disinterest.
"We'll start the next training schedule: position training. First, I'll cover the theory briefly, so everyone just find a spot and sit."
We sat on the grass and listened to her.
Kang Do-hee sat to my right, and Shin Se-hee sat to my left.
"A position means the role you undertake within a party. You there. Quota student. What are the different positions in a party?"
Baek Se-hee pointed at one of the latecomers and asked.
"......Uh, well. That's, there's Damage Dealer, Tank, Support, Healer, and Special—five in total!"
He stumbled at first, but since it was an easy question, he soon answered in a confident voice.
"That's right. But lumping them into five blocks like that makes the categories far too broad. Cadet Jin Yu-ha. Give a more detailed classification of the Damage Dealer role."
The other male quota students just get called quota students, but she calls me by name.
That alone shows how much my treatment changed in a single day.
"Damage Dealers are divided into melee and ranged based on attack range."
"Go on."
"And depending on the weapon used, they're further broken down into swordsmanship, fist-and-foot technique, spear technique, archery, blunt weapon technique, and so on....... There's no end to the subdivisions."
"Good. You know your material. Positions are classified into those five, but in practice they branch into far more complex categories. That's why, when forming a party, you have to consider many factors: enemy intel, your own weaknesses and strengths, synergy with party members, and so on."
I nodded along as I listened to Baek Se-hee.
'That's the charm of this game. And also what makes it absolute garbage.'
In Velvetsra, even characters in the same position can have drastically different efficiency depending on affinity with the enemy.
So it was common for a character who stomps enemies like their designated bully in the early scenario to suddenly get treated like trash the moment the mid-game hits.
That was also an unavoidable aspect of Velvetsra, since it's a game that makes money by selling characters.
'If they put out a new character but people don't feel the need to pull because the ones they already have are too busted, that's a problem.'
In other words, the dev team's insidious scheme to make a character indispensable so you'll pull for them no matter what!
But even through that relentless targeted sabotage, a few characters survived to the end, earning names like "Right to Breathe," "Human Rights," and "Citizenship."
One of those was, of course.
'Kang Do-hee.'
I turned my head to look at her.
Kang Do-hee was listening intently to the instructor with a serious face.
Ultra-close-range combat type.
A melee Damage Dealer whose limits are actually pretty clear, but her attack speed is so fast that clearing mobs isn't an issue,
and when her HP is nearly depleted she uses a skill called "Berserk"
which boosts her already-fast attack speed by 50% more and sweeps through enemies—that catharsis is absolutely no joke.
On top of that, the unique point that elevated her to "Right to Breathe" status.
When she uses Berserk, "attribute ignore" kicks in as a passive.
Even against enemies where her damage should be weak, if she pummels them in her Frenzy State, their HP bar just melts away in chunks.
'To the point where there was even a saying: "The Velvet Village dog barks twice."......'
That was also why I was trying to pull Kang Do-hee into my party by any means.
But when I recalled the circumstances about her that Shin Se-hee had told me earlier, a frustrated sigh welled up inside.
'Haa. Clearing the game as a Kang-less Loser is going to be insanely brutal.......'
This Jin Yu-ha bastard was seriously no help.
Why did he have to enter under the male quota, of all things!
"......So that is why we form parties, and that is why we compensate for what we lack. No specific position is more or less important than another. That's it for the theory portion. You'll take the full course later, after you enroll."
I'd been lost in thought for a moment, and it seemed the theory class was already over.
"Now we'll begin individual position training. For now, everyone start training the way you normally would. I'll walk around and observe each of you."
"Yes!"
At that, Kang Do-hee stepped onto the track, apparently intending to restart from scratch the training she'd done during basic training,
while Shin Se-hee remained seated, closed her eyes, and seemed to be circulating her Mana.
I couldn't care less what the two quota students were doing.
As for me.......
I went back to the spot where I'd sparred with the instructor earlier and picked up the wooden sword.
'......She said my body isn't accustomed to the sword yet.'
The absence of habit.
It was an angle I hadn't even considered.
Power that was suddenly gained in a single moment; in the end, it meant this power wasn't wholly my own.
So wouldn't it be right to keep swinging until it becomes familiar?
I gripped the wooden sword with both hands, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
Huuup—
Hah—
Not some complicated sword technique. The simplest sword.
Lift it over your head and strike straight down.
Whoosh—!
The sound of the blade splitting the air reached my ears.
'Still, the good news is that swinging a sword doesn't feel unpleasant.'
I brought the sword down over and over.
The more I swung, the more it felt like I was sinking into the blade.
Then suddenly, I tilted my head to the side.
'This, something feels a bit.......'
I'd started with the most basic strike since I didn't know the standard method for internalizing the sword,
but something was starting to feel off in my senses.
'Is this the right Sword Path?'
With an unsettled feeling, I raised my arm overhead once more and brought the sword down.
In the end, a sword is point to point.
It starts from drawing a straight line between those two points.
'It's not a perfect straight line.'
A subtly curved line drifting slightly to the side.
That was what made my senses uncomfortable.
'......Again.'
Whoosh—!
'......Again.'
Whoosh—
'......Again!'
.......
As I focused on the perfect straight line, the speed of the descending sword gradually slowed.
I wanted to reproduce that clean straight line in my mind perfectly, however I could.
Now, the wooden sword was raised overhead and no longer moving.
Distracting thoughts vanished.
In my mind's eye, only a single straight line was visible.
At the pace of a grub inching along.
But my concentration sharpened further, and for the sake of one perfect Sword Path, the blade was slowly drawn downward.
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At last, a perfect vertical line was drawn.
"There. We go......."
And when I opened my eyes.
It was night.
"Whoa. You finally finished?"
As I was looking around with a bewildered face, a clear voice cut in from beside me.
When I turned my head, Shin Se-hee was crouching there with a beaming smile.
"You didn't eat dinner, and you missed the joint training too."
"......What!?"
"The Instructor asked me to pass this on. She said you worked hard today, and not to be late tomorrow."
"......That's it?"
Looks like I was so absorbed in the sword by myself that I completely lost track of time.
I didn't get any individual coaching either—is that okay?
When I looked at Shin Se-hee with that meaning, she smirked and spoke.
"No. It's not over yet."
"Then?"
"Jin Yu-ha."
Shin Se-hee called my name, dusted off her knees with a pat-pat, and got to her feet.
Then she took a step closer.
"You want to get close to Do-hee, right?"
"......."
"I think I could help with that......."
* * *
Today,
Shin Se-hee had been surprised enough to wonder if she'd ever been this astonished in her entire life.
A man who, from the moment she first saw him, had looked at her with chilly, icy-cold eyes.
At first, it had been a bit of curiosity.
Because she'd never received a gaze that directly found her so unpleasant.
Honestly, she'd also been a little jealous that he, another special admission student, only showed interest in Kang Do-hee.
'But, in a man's body, he kept up with the training load of a special admission cadet. On top of that, his execution was better than mine, and I'm a special admission student too.'
A man who entered under the male quota, but whose physical ability rivaled a special admission student's.
And on top of that, his looks were outstanding, so there were endless ways to make use of him.
Jin Yu-ha's stock had already risen from that point.
So she'd sold a little of her true self and Kang Do-hee's story to approach him.
To preemptively claim him while no one else knew his value.
She'd also hoped that eating together might give her some idea of what kind of person he was.......
All she'd learned was that Jin Yu-ha really did dislike her, and that he showed a strange fixation on Kang Do-hee.
'Ah, and he seems wealthy enough to frequent Lohana Restaurant.'
Beyond that, his wariness was too high for her to dig any deeper.
'So I was planning to build a little rapport and slowly get leverage on him.......'
The plan changed because of what happened before the second class:
the sudden sparring match between the instructor and Jin Yu-ha that had come together out of nowhere.
She had truly never seen anything like it.
It'd be one thing if they'd matched their movements and practiced the sequence over and over.
If Kang Do-hee's sparring with the instructor had been combat, then this was a dance.
Even though it was clearly their first ever exchange, the instructor and Jin Yu-ha traded sword strikes as if they were dancing together.
What's more, according to the instructor, hadn't today been his first time holding a sword—his first time using his body at all?
The dismay on his face at that moment had looked genuine.
'......I want him.'
A feeling like her mouth was involuntarily watering.
To think that such a brilliant gem had been hidden away inside a farcical system like the male quota.
But thanks to that, she'd spotted him faster than anyone.
So Shin Se-hee dangled Kang Do-hee as bait once more.
This time, not information, but a connection.
'At this rate...... Kang Do-hee will open her heart to Jin Yu-ha in no time.'
She hadn't been the only one who'd witnessed Jin Yu-ha's swordsmanship earlier.
While watching his swordsmanship, Kang Do-hee's eyes had gone just as wide as her own.
After seeing that, could Kang Do-hee still keep Jin Yu-ha locked inside the "male quota student" category?
As if.
This man was going to throw off those shackles faster than anyone and fly off into the sky as he pleased.
'That's why I have to act now. This is the only timing to use this card and wedge myself in.'
"How about it? Getting close to Do-hee. I'll help you. You'll accept my help, won't you?"
Shin Se-hee spoke in a voice full of certainty.
However.
Jin Yu-ha stared straight at her, then gave an answer she never imagined.
"......I'll accept the help, but let's make a deal instead. You'll need my help too, after all. The necklace you lost. Don't you want to know where it went?"
"......Excuse me?"