043. Course Registration
043. Course Registration
In the Velvetsra game, students' course registrations were random.
Each character picked classes based on their tendencies.
Of course, the stats gained from classes were more of a bonus, so at first they didn't really stand out.
But later on, after the story had progressed a fair bit,
that's when the true value of random course-taking reveals itself.
Because depending on which classes your character had taken, their late-game stats diverged quite a bit.
Of course, since each character had their own tendencies, their class choices didn't vary too wildly, but...
Among them, there was bound to be a lucky character who cherry-picked only the cream of the crop.
But in my case...
'I'm screwed.'
A complete disaster.
Seriously, if I hadn't suddenly remembered and checked Kang Do-hee's course registration, I would've been in big trouble.
First, Lee Yu-ri.
In the original game, she was the girl who packed her schedule with all sorts of classes because she thought the academy tuition was too precious to waste.
She drew up her timetable without considering rest or meal times, making her condition management a bit tricky.
But because she also gained stats accordingly, she lived up to the name Gukbap.
'But she wasn't originally this bad...'
What Lee Yu-ri sent me was a timetable jam-packed like a mountain of rice, as if she were a magic school girl—filled to the brim from Monday to Friday with no gaps.
She even meticulously crammed in completely useless classes—where on earth did she find such novel subjects?
'...Is this even feasible in reality? At this rate, managing her condition would be impossible.'
And the second.
Kang Do-hee.
She was even worse.
Originally she was a kid who only took exactly what she needed,
but the schedule she sent me was practically empty, with only a few mandatory classes taking up slots.
'At this rate, can she even fulfill her graduation credits?'
Shin Se-hee was better, at least.
She had a curriculum suitable for a Wizard, a special class, and she'd ensured plenty of rest and meal times—it could be considered an ideal timetable.
'But I'm not using her as a Wizard.'
Haaah─
A sigh rose up from deep inside.
First, I need to check what on earth they were thinking when they made these.
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【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Lee Yu-ri, when the hell do you eat?
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ Huh? I can just bring food from the dorm and eat on the go, right? Or sneak it during class or in the bathroom...
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ ...
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ And now that I'm officially the party's Tank, I have to be useful to the party...
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ So you're planning to be useful by taking as many classes as possible?
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ Yeah! That's exactly it! Doesn't it seem like a good idea?
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ First, let's get rid of all the useless classes. 《Superhero Landing Practice》, 《The Path of the Shield Damage Dealer》, 《Ultimate Field Cooking》, 《How to Become a Tough Woman》, 《Drum Performance with Shield》? What the hell is this now.
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ Huh?
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ I'm removing everything I just mentioned. No, scratch that. I'll design your entire schedule for you.
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ Wha!? But! The Tough Woman!!
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Tch.
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ Okaaay... T_T
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Phew. First, I sorted out Gukbap like that. Next, Kang Do-hee.
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【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Kang Do-hee. Why do you have no classes?
【Fire Fist】 ─ Because I'll be doing hunter work from now on. Keeping my schedule open is basic. Does our Tank have no intention of doing hunter work?
【I'm Not Gukbap】 ─ ...
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Kang Do-hee, your schedule is a mess too. Worse than Gukbap's.
【Fire Fist】 ─ What!?
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ With so few classes, when are you ever going to graduate? Are you planning on grad school or something?
【Fire Fist】 ─ Jin Yu-ha, there are things you can say and things you absolutely cannot.
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ So I'll recommend some classes for you too. Add them.
【Fire Fist】 ─ But taking useless classes like those...
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ There's a course adjustment period anyway. Try out a demo class first, then decide.
【Fire Fist】 ─ Got it.
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I sent Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee a string of classes I had in mind through private messages.
Lee Yu-ri grumbled about the tuition being wasted,
Kang Do-hee griped, asking if I was telling her to take all these useless classes,
but I convinced them that earning money as hunters was better than loading up on classes, and told them they could drop the classes if they didn't like them after trying—at which point they both shut up.
Finally, Shin Se-hee.
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【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Shin Se-hee, your schedule is nice and tidy.
【Blossom ✿】 ─ Hehehe, that's right~ I calculated the evaluations and efficiency of each class in advance.
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ But let's drop all the Mana-related classes except your major subjects.
【Blossom ✿】 ─ ...What?
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Because from now on, what you need isn't this stuff—it's analytical thinking ability, classes that boost intelligence. That's what would be good for you.
【Blossom ✿】 ─ Aha. It's for my party role, isn't it?
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ And honestly, isn't it practically impossible for you to raise your Mana any further at this point?
【Blossom ✿】 ─ How do you even know that!?
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ You've already consumed a ton of good stuff. The cap on what you can raise through training has long since been blown past by all that juice.
【Blossom ✿】 ─ Juice, you say!!!!!
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ I'll send you a schedule too, so just do it.
【Blossom ✿】 ─ Tch, fine.
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Truth be told, raising Shin Se-hee's Mana through training was almost impossible.
It's part of her setting—as the daughter of a prestigious hunter family, she's been fed countless valuable things from a young age.
Of course, Mana classes could also raise her spell mastery, but
as an Operator, the only thing she needed right then was intelligence—more and more intelligence!
After tweaking all three of their schedules, I let out a low chuckle.
'I can't believe I actually pulled this off. Hah, I'm dying to show this off. If I posted it on the community, it'd get a ton of featured posts for sure.'
The classes I recommended to them
IF) What if you could design the characters' classes yourself?
Dream Timetable for Each Character (edited_real edit_final_finalized_ultimate_final).hwp
were the result of Velvetsra veterans—who had realized it was impossible to clear the game without resources—pondering another possibility: what if you could directly design a character's 'classes'?
But the odds were astronomically low, and too many classes were incompatible with each character's tendencies, so it remained nothing more than an unfinished fantasy.
Of course, I memorized it down to the last detail.
Why? As a light spender(?) who only buys the monthly subscription, wouldn't I have to do at least that much to stay in the rankings?
Of course, after countless failed rerolls, I eventually gave up on it.
But now, to actually be able to design their schedules myself...!
I rubbed my arms as goosebumps prickled up.
* * *
The first trial class.
Basic Monster Understanding.
This class was a required theory course that all freshmen entering Velvet Academy had to take.
In other words, a class all party members attended together.
"You're early."
I greeted Gukbap, who was already sitting in her seat, and sat down next to her.
"...Jin Yu-ha, you're here?"
Lee Yu-ri greeted me with a gloomy face.
I knew exactly why she was in such low spirits, so I let out a small chuckle.
"What, still think it's a waste?"
"..."
Lee Yu-ri just stared at me without a word.
But her face looked like it had the words 'The tuition is such a waste' written all over it.
"If you'd taken those classes, it would've been a waste of time instead. And you would've forced yourself to sit through all of them, wouldn't you?"
"...How do you know that?"
Hmm, admittedly I got a bit carried away and pushed her pretty hard this time.
'A party leader shouldn't arbitrarily force things on his members. ...No, but sometimes you do have to be a little authoritarian.'
Anyway, the situation was that a party member was displeased with me.
Solving this was simple.
I'd prepared everything in advance.
"Here, Lee Yu-ri. These are the course evaluations for the classes you wanted to take."
I pulled out my phone and showed her the evaluations for those classes.
"...!"
Lee Yu-ri's eyes went wide.
Since it was a community only accessible to Velvet Academy students, the evaluations were brutally honest and scathing.
Even more, somehow she had picked only trap classes—the evaluations for the classes Lee Yu-ri had chosen were uniformly terrible.
"Even How to Become a Tough Woman!?"
Lee Yu-ri said, sounding startled.
Tough woman.
What the hell was that even?
"...Hello."
Just then, a feeble voice from the side greeted me.
I turned my head and saw Shin Se-hee.
"Hey. Blossom?"
When Lee Yu-ri greeted her, Shin Se-hee whipped her head away.
Facing Lee Yu-ri in real life, she had transformed from a keyboard warrior into a shrinking violet.
"You're here?"
"Yes. Is it okay if I sit next to you...?"
"Sure, sit."
Shin Se-hee sat down with her back pressed firmly against the chair so she couldn't see Lee Yu-ri at all, effectively using me as a shield.
She heaved a deep sigh.
"...Haa. I really can't get used to this."
"You sure talk a lot in the chat room though."
Shin Se-hee glared at me sharply.
While looking at Shin Se-hee, I suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. Shin Se-hee, let's take care of something."
"Huh? Is it party-related?"
"Yeah, because of what happened yesterday."
The incident yesterday where I smashed that NTR thug with Kang Do-hee.
I remembered what that woman had done at the end.
'She even drew her weapon and swung it.'
Among academy cadets, drawing a weapon and aiming it at someone outside the training grounds was taboo.
Of course, the person who did it got beaten to a pulp yesterday, so everyone seemed to have forgotten about that part, but...
As if that bitch would just take it lying down.
And didn't she use incitement to provoke Kang Do-hee?
'She's definitely going to pull something dirty.'
But we already had someone perfectly suited to deal with that kind of person.
Shin Se-hee.
The Black Snake.
Fight fire with fire.
After all, when you're dealing with a dirty bitch like that, there's no one better than a woman even worse than her.
I brought up the incident from the day before.
"Yesterday, when I went to the dormitory..."