023. Seeing Through
023. Seeing Through
Despite what had happened the night before, the dormitory was hushed and silent.
They must've been embarrassed as hell.
Fifteen of them banded together to flatten one quota kid and got their asses handed to them instead—you can't exactly go bragging about that.
Still, the mood in the dorm had definitely shifted.
One of our dorm guys had been among the ones who jumped me.
He'd left, swearing up and down he'd straighten me out, but he never came back—and I came back dragging a wooden sword slick with blood.
The guys in my dorm couldn't help but put two and two together.
That something completely insane had happened.
And then, the next morning.
Basic Training began the same as always but with a few subtle differences.
Muscles quivering and trembling.
I was doing squats with a massive barbell resting across my shoulders.
"Nngggh—!"
I could feel my strength slowly bleeding out.
At this rate, I'm gonna get pancaked...
Right then.
"Hiyah! Healing!"
"Haat! Enhancement!"
Without the Instructor even telling them to, the two quota students' skills settled over me.
Unlike before, the effect was clear and definite.
Nothing crazy, sure, but in a desert, we're talking a mouthful of water instead of a single drop.
Enough to wet your throat, at least.
And right now, even that much was more than I could ask for.
"You got this!"
"You can do it!"
"Hrrrghhh!!!!"
I clenched my teeth, dropped my hips deep, then drove through the floor and straightened my legs.
Immediately after, I dropped the barbell.
THUD—!!!
The barbell crashed to the floor behind my back with a deafening roar.
"S-So? How was it? Did my Healing do anything!?"
"Were my support skills okay too?"
The quota kids asked with sparkling eyes. I gave them a flat, unimpressed stare.
'These bastards do this after every single set... And what's with the cheering? Almost made me lose strength and get crushed.'
Their attitude doing a complete 180 overnight was seriously awkward.
Yesterday, I'd apologized to them because they'd gotten stomped as collateral damage thanks to me, and when they asked why I'd helped them, I'd flapped my gums about how, since I'd need their help in training going forward,
'It's only natural to save a party member when they're in danger.'
And it looked like those words had somehow shaken something loose in them.
Though, I guess the fact that they didn't have to hunch their shoulders in the dorm anymore played a part too.
'Eh, whatever. It helps my training.'
Getting worked up over it here is losing the game.
"The quota students have changed."
Instructor Baek Seol-hee had apparently noticed their transformation too and asked, actually paying attention.
"Yes! We intend to participate in training proactively from now on!"
"We'll work hard!"
The quota kids answered her with steady, determined eyes—not their usual dead-fish stare. Instructor Baek Seol-hee nodded, expressionless.
"Give me your names."
"...Kim Cheol-hyeon."
"...Kim So-hun."
"Good. Not bad at all. Cadet Kim Cheol-hyeon, Cadet Kim So-hun."
They were finally being called by their names instead of just "the quota kids."
A simple passing remark, but the two of them bit their lips hard and trembled all over.
"Cadets, from now on, during Basic Training you will use your skills on Cadet Jin Yu-ha in place of Role Training, and during Role Training you will receive Basic Training in turn."
"...Yes!"
"...Yes!"
"Then, morning training ends here. Reconvene after the meal."
And with that, Basic Training concluded.
"Boss! Wanna grab food together...?"
"We scoped out a good spot."
The two quota kids latched onto me, all creepy-clingy.
I lifted a finger and pointed off to one side.
Coming right at us was Shin Se-hee, walking daintily with a bright smile.
"Hik!"
"Urk!"
The two quota kids recoiled in retreat, their faces going pale as if the days they'd worshipped her had never happened.
After the beating they'd taken from her fanboys the day before, the reaction was only natural.
"Jin Yu-ha, you're going again today, right?"
I fixed Shin Se-hee with a long, level stare before giving a nod.
"Yeah."
She and I walked on, leaving the two quota kids behind.
"Fufu, the two of you seem to have gotten rather close already, haven't you?"
"All thanks to you."
"Huh? Thanks to me?"
Shin Se-hee's eyes went round as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
Right, so you're gonna play dumb. I clicked my tongue.
"Tch, never mind. So where are we going today?"
"Today... Gimbap Heaven, I think it's called? Do-hee already headed that way."
I nodded for now.
* * *
And then, nothing out of the ordinary.
Inside the restaurant, we ran into Kang Do-hee again, and again she bared her teeth and directed open hostility at Shin Se-hee.
"My, what a coincidence?"
"Hey, Flowerbed. Why do you keep pestering me wherever I go to eat? Can't we just each mind our own damn business?"
"Hmm, because Jin Yu-ha said he likes this place?"
Shin Se-hee was very obviously needling Kang Do-hee on purpose.
'And dragging me into it to boot.'
I narrowed my eyes at Shin Se-hee.
The thing yesterday with her followers swarming me—
I'd let that slide.
Her fanbase was notoriously rabid, so some quota kid who popped up out of nowhere hanging around her? Totally a thing that could happen.
'But is there any way she didn't know about it?'
Bam—!
Kang Do-hee grabbed a single roll of gimbap in one hand—same as she'd done at the burger place—and stormed out, slamming the door shut.
Shin Se-hee, exactly like the day before, drew everyone's eyes and nonchalantly popped a piece of gimbap into her mouth.
"Hmm... This one's a bit of a miss. Not as good as the burger, is it?"
"I think it's about time I figure out what your game is."
I asked her in a lowered voice.
"My game?"
"Yeah. There's no way this is about getting friendly with Kang Do-hee."
"There is nothing that builds inner closeness quite like sharing the same eating habits."
Shin Se-hee answered with a wink and a grin.
"Right now, on the outside it looks like Do-hee utterly despises this, but on the inside, she'll be paying a great deal of attention."
She brought a hand up to cover her mouth as if sharing a secret, then continued in a tiny whisper.
"The girl is terribly bad at being honest, you see."
Well.
As someone who knew Kang Do-hee's personality, that didn't quite land.
The girl's bad at being honest, sure, but she's not the type to say she hates something she actually likes.
When it's like that, she's the kind who'd rather just keep her mouth shut.
"Quit talking out of your ass."
I batted away Shin Se-hee's gaslighting attempt.
"Oh, Jin Yu-ha. We made a deal, didn't we? I will absolutely connect you and Do-hee!"
She clenched both fists as if to say she couldn't care less whether I doubted her.
"If you'd prefer, you don't have to come along starting tomorrow, you know? I can handle it alone."
'Ugh, I seriously can't wait for her karma-payback episode. For real.'
I'd put a leash on her, but apparently it had ended up looser than I'd thought.
I still didn't know what method she was using, but Shin Se-hee would definitely connect me with Kang Do-hee.
Because when it came to a deal, the girl didn't lie.
But based on how things were going now, there was no way the process would be clean and intact.
I couldn't just keep getting dragged around by her and taking hits.
'One more leash. And I'd better get a preventive shot in first.'
I'd take only the outcome of Shin Se-hee connecting us and mitigate her vicious little hobbies that cropped up during the process as much as possible.
"Shin Se-hee."
I looked at her and spoke.
"Yeees?"
"Let's keep having meals together. Tomorrow and the day after too."
"Oh my! Well, I'd welcome that!"
Shin Se-hee clapped her hands, delighted.
'I wonder if she'll still feel that way.'
A smirk tugged at my lips.
Shin Se-hee faced me and beamed right back, all smiles.
* * *
The preventive shot would wait until tomorrow morning. For now, the leash came first.
'Sss, this is around when I need to focus on training, so I really didn't want to create a headache for her like this...'
Once all the training was over, I headed for the women's dormitory.
As I stood briefly in front of it,
one of the girls stepping outside locked eyes with me.
Her eyes went as wide as saucers.
"H-Hey. Th-that, Cheonhwa!"
She shook her friend's shoulder beside her, making a huge fuss.
"Huh? Cheonhwa came here? She doesn't even use the dorm."
"No, over there! Not Cheonhwa—the face genius who's always trailing after her."
"The quota kid!?"
The first girl to spot me jabbed a finger in my direction while her friend's face filled with surprise.
"Excuse me."
"Y-Y-Yes!? M-Me?"
The girl flinched like she'd never expected me to speak to her.
"Is Cadet Lee Yu-ri in there, by any chance?"
"Huh? Who? Cheonhwa is..."
"Not Cheonhwa. Cadet Lee Yu-ri."
"Yu-ri...? Yeah, she's in there, but..."
"Could you call her out for me, then?"
"Oh my god!!!!"
The two of them gaped in utter shock, then bolted into the dormitory like their tails were on fire.
"Lee Yu-riiiiiiiii!!!"
At the same moment, the dormitory erupted into loud, clamorous noise.
And a moment later, the sound of Gukbap hollering punched straight through the dormitory walls and burst out.
"Ah, it's not like that!!!!!!"
Creeak—
The dormitory door opened again.
Lee Yu-ri stepped out alone.
For some reason, she felt like a sight I hadn't seen in a long time.
I'd only ever seen her with her hair tied up.
Now it fell all the way to her waist,
and water dripped from her chin like she'd just washed up.
'She looks the same bare-faced. Maybe because she never really wears makeup.'
The unfamiliar sight made a small laugh slip out of me.
"Gukbap. Long time no see."
"What's up, Jin Yu-ha. At this hour."
Her voice had a cold, sunken edge.
For some reason, a shadow seemed to hang over her face too.
'Why's she in such a foul mood? Was training that rough?'
"Gukbap. Why're you in such a bad mood? Did something happen?"
I asked in a concerned tone.
At that, Lee Yu-ri bit her lip and shot me a glare.
"Because of who—!"
She started shouting in a burst of emotion before clamping her mouth shut.
Haaah—
"...Forget it. What do you want? Just tell me why you're here."
Something had clearly happened, but it didn't feel like I'd get an answer if I pushed.
I'd have to ask her about it gradually.
First, the reason I came.
"Gukbap. I need your help."