080. Party Launch Ceremony (1)
080. Party Launch Ceremony (1)
"Wow, that class was seriously insane...."
The aftereffects of the previous day's major class had me collapsing like the dead the moment I got back to my room.
I'd boosted my Spirit by 10% and inflated my experience gain by 30%, and I still had no clue what kind of batshit difficulty level this was supposed to be.
But when I woke up in the morning and checked my status window, I had no choice but to acknowledge Baek Seol-hee's class once again.
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Name ─ Jin Yu-ha (☆)
Gender ─ Male (20)
Stats
Strength ─ 56(+3) Spirit ─ 64(+10%)
Mana ─ 59(+3) Endurance ─ 58(+1)
Speed ─ 60(+1) Charm ─ 72
Specialization ─ Swordsmanship S
Title ─ Flower on the Cliff
─ Sword Genius [Sword Demon (劍鬼)]
Skills ─ [ One Slash, Two Halves ], [ Quick Draw ], [ Sword Dance ], [ New Moon (Moonlight Earring equipped) ]
Traits ─ [ Detection ], [ Eye Opening ], [ Intuition ]
Exclusive Weapon ─ Moonlight (月光)
Items ─ Bracelet of Experience (Bound), Ability Boost Ring (Bound), Moonlight Earring.
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'Is it for real that my stats go up every single time I take a class?'
Strength and Mana each rose by 3, and Endurance and Speed each rose by 1.
No matter how much the Bracelet of Experience helped, it was only a 30% boost at best, not a 3x multiplier.
Even so, my stats had jumped by a whole 8 points.
'Yeah, no wonder it was so disgustingly brutal even with bound items equipped....'
It was a good thing the Ring of Ability had given my Spirit a massive boost.
Otherwise, it would've been completely normal for me to break down crying on the spot, saying I couldn't do it anymore.
Every moment was a relentless sequence of drills that squeezed you dry, testing your limits.
You could say the class felt like the result of deep deliberation on "how to inflict maximum torment on a human in the shortest possible time."
─ Drink this before you sleep tonight... And you've been through a lot because of Seol-hee, haven't you....
If not for the Stamina Potion that the chairwoman, who'd come to observe the day before, had handed me with a look of inexplicable pity, I probably wouldn't have been able to get up by now.
'...Thankfully, I won't be late for the party launch ceremony today.'
Truthfully, I'd had my doubts at first about whether something like that was really necessary, but Shin Se-hee had been adamant on this point.
─ We are now a party officially authorized and active within the academy. And in order to give the party members a sense of belonging, we absolutely need to take care of formalities like a launch ceremony.
'Well, and we need to decide on the party name and hand out equipment to the party members.'
Shin Se-hee had taken all the equipment we'd bought at the luxury shop, saying she'd set everything up in advance for the launch ceremony.
Hiring Shin Se-hee as our Operator was definitely, even in hindsight, a brilliant move.
Having someone this quick on the uptake managing the party meant she automatically filled in the gaps I missed or couldn't pay attention to.
'Hmm, should I just wash up and head out soon? Then I'll contact Kang Do-hee....'
She lived in the same dorm as me, so I was planning to go together and was just about to contact her.
─♬
'Huh?'
Along with the ringtone, the word 'Gukbap' appeared on my phone screen.
A call from Lee Yu-ri.
I pressed the call button and brought the phone to my ear.
"Hello."
─ Ahem! H-hello...?
Lee Yu-ri cleared her throat awkwardly as she answered.
"What's up? We still have some time before we're supposed to meet."
─ Umm, I-I was thinking we could go together, since we're going anyway.
"Ah, should we? Then Kang Do-hee too...."
─ Uh, would it be okay if just the two of us met up and went?
'Just the two of us?'
Apparently, Lee Yu-ri had something she wanted to say to me.
"Hmm, yeah, alright. Then... shall we meet in about ten minutes?"
I nodded and answered.
─ Uh, yeah. I'll come to the front of your dorm in ten minutes.
"Okay, see you soon."
Click.
Finishing the call with Lee Yu-ri like that, I went straight into the bathroom, washed up quickly, and got ready.
When I came outside,
Lee Yu-ri was waiting in front of the dorm with her hands clasped behind her back.
"Gukbap."
"Oh-oh, you, you came out? Y-you're not late today? S-splendid!"
All I did was call her name, but Lee Yu-ri stuttered and looked flustered for some reason.
'What's this, is something going on?'
"We were going to meet up a bit later anyway... You suddenly wanted to see me alone. Is something up?"
I asked her directly.
"It's, um... It's not so much that something's up...."
Lee Yu-ri pursed her lips as if hesitating over something.
"I-I just wanted us to go together! B-because it's lonely going alone!"
She cranked up her fake enthusiasm and blurted out some clumsy excuse to fudge her way through.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
'Hmm, she's definitely hiding something....'
Then I noticed something: from the moment we'd met, Lee Yu-ri had kept her hands clasped behind her back and hadn't brought them forward once.
'Is she hiding something behind her back?'
My stats had gone up thanks to Baek Seol-hee's class anyway.
If it was Lee Yu-ri, she was more than qualified to be a test dummy.
Thud─!
I kicked off the ground fast and charged straight at Lee Yu-ri.
Swish!
"Ah!?"
Lee Yu-ri, flustered, immediately ducked her head and dodged my hand.
"What are you doing all of a sudden?!"
I didn't bother answering and circled behind her.
But that move made Lee Yu-ri realize what I was after.
"You can't have this!"
Lee Yu-ri clenched her hand tightly and pulled it completely out of reach behind her back.
'As expected of an Evasion Tank, she's not easy. In times like this... as always.'
I met her eyes for a moment, then shifted my gaze to the ground beside us and spoke.
"Oh! Look, there's a 10,000-won bill on the ground!"
"...Who falls for a cheap trick like that. You idiot."
Lee Yu-ri answered in a deadpan voice.
She scoffed like that, but her eyes were honest.
Lee Yu-ri unconsciously turned her head toward the ground.
'Now!'
I didn't miss that instant and immediately reached out to snatch what Lee Yu-ri was holding in her hand.
Grab!
"Aah!"
When the thing in her hand was stolen in that careless moment,
Lee Yu-ri stretched both hands out like a hamster that had its almond taken away.
'Huh? A card?'
What she'd been holding was a single laminated piece of paper. She had been gripping it so tightly it was crumpled and crinkled.
'Did she cut up A4 paper and laminate it?'
I looked at the back for a second, thinking, then flipped the card over and read what was written there.
「☆ Once-a-Month Lee Yu-ri Free Pass ☆」
'...Huh? A free pass?'
I lifted my head with a slightly bewildered look.
Lee Yu-ri was standing in front of me with her head turned away.
And her earlobe, which had turned bright red, caught my eye.
"......Y-your... b-birthday, I thought...."
Lee Yu-ri stammered, still looking away.
"......Birthday?"
'Was Jin Yu-ha's birthday today?'
Considering his Tok profile didn't show a birthday, it probably wasn't.
For a moment I couldn't quite process the situation, so I looked at her with a gaze that asked for an explanation.
"W-well, the day before yesterday... Shin Se-hee told me to pick out a present to give you...."
Lee Yu-ri lowered her head all the way and answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito.
Only then could I grasp what was going on.
'Ah, so she told the girls to prepare gifts because I was outfitting them with equipment...?'
The equipment was a substitute for a contract deposit, so I didn't really need to get presents in return.
Normally it would be right to return this too, but....
I looked at the Gukbap Free Pass in my hand and let out a small laugh.
'It's even once a month, and the usage period isn't specified. What, are you planning to let me boss you around for the rest of your life or something?'
I put on a mischievous smile and spoke to her.
"This doesn't seem to have an expiration date. Is it once a month, for life?"
"......Huh?"
At that, Lee Yu-ri's mouth fell open as if that part hadn't occurred to her.
"I was going to do it until your next birthday...!?"
"But looking here, there's no expiration date written anywhere."
"!"
Heh.
'Still, that's twelve uses. Isn't this way too good a deal? Gukbap?'
"I really like this."
I spoke to her, unable to keep the laughter out of my voice.
"G-good, I'm glad you like it! Let's go!!!"
Lee Yu-ri, clearly embarrassed, spun around abruptly and walked on ahead.
"Hmm, I'm really agonizing over what to make you do first... Can I really use this for absolutely anything?"
I asked as I followed her.
"Do whatever you want!"
Lee Yu-ri shouted back as if she didn't want to hear it and walked faster.
* * *
Without bothering to clear up the 'birthday' misunderstanding, Lee Yu-ri and I headed to the meeting place together.
The venue for the launch ceremony was a café Shin Se-hee had reserved.
It was on the outskirts of the academy, right on the borderline—not quite outside the academy.
A place that was neither too far nor too close.
It seemed like she had rented out an entire café just for today's party launch ceremony.
Creak.
I carefully opened the door and stepped inside, revealing a fantastical space.
The fresh woody scent from the old trees brushed the tip of my nose.
As if someone had transported an entire forest indoors, huge trees, plants, and beautiful flowers were spread across the floor.
"Wow... What is this?"
Lee Yu-ri was looking around with her mouth agape.
I was just as surprised.
We had definitely walked inside a building, but there was a forest here.
"You've arrived?"
Shin Se-hee, who had been waiting inside, appeared and greeted us.
"Hehe, I really liked how uniquely conceptual this place is. So I just went ahead and bought it outright."
"......What?"
I asked back, my face full of shock.
"We'll need our own hideout from now on when the party operates, right? It's not too conspicuous, and I really liked the space, so I thought we could use this place as our hideout from here on."
"......."
"What do you think, Jin Yu-ha? Does my gift meet your approval?"
Shin Se-hee said, wearing a clear smile.