Recruiting Allies
“Are you okay? That must hurt a lot....”
When I looked at him with concern, Mun Cheol-woong bit his lip and shouted.
“You... you did that on purpose! Don’t play dumb!”
I replied to Mun Cheol-woong with an innocent expression, as if I couldn’t understand what he meant.
“On purpose? Why would I do that to you?”
Infuriated by my guileless face, Mun Cheol-woong was about to start yelling again when Instructor Son Sae-beom, who had been standing in front of us, stepped in to stop him.
“Let’s not fight too much. Mun Cheol-woong, you should stop there. I saw everything.”
Mun Cheol-woong had tried to trip me first. Son Sae-beom looked at him with a disappointed expression, as if she had witnessed the whole thing.
“How annoying.”
Only after Son Sae-beom spoke did Mun Cheol-woong let go of me and return to his seat. Still, his glare remained fixed on me.
‘What are you going to do, glare at me?’
I responded to his petty attitude with composure. At the same time, I decided to slightly adjust my approach moving forward based on this incident.
‘Openly crushing people is fine, but pretending to be innocent and turning things around like this works pretty well too. It even makes me look more wronged.’
A few more people would pick fights with me like this in the future. There were quite a lot of children of guild leaders in the academy who followed Yoo Heeyeon’s faction or had taken bribes from her parents. Conflict was inevitable. If it couldn’t be avoided, I wouldn’t shy away from it, but responding too aggressively might make even those unrelated to Yoo Heeyeon avoid me. That wasn’t what I wanted.
‘Even if they’re F-class, if I find the raw gems and get close to them, I can nurture them and use them later.’
Even among F-class students, there were a few whose growth potential was extremely high. Some were fated to reach Epic-grade or higher but hadn’t awakened their class yet because their abilities were lacking or the timing wasn’t right, while others had simply fallen behind because they didn’t know how or in which direction to grow.
‘I need to bring the useful ones over to my side.’
Even if I couldn’t build a full following in F-class, I needed to make at least some allies. That way, when the final battle with Artemis and Hilleon eventually came, I would have a slightly better chance of winning.
Yoo Heeyeon, who had relentlessly pushed me despite my innocence and even tried to get me suspended. Artemis, who had blindly believed her words. Hilleon, who had pinned a crime on me, a complete stranger. I had no intention of letting any of them off the hook. They were the ones who ruined my ordinary life, so they would receive the punishment they deserved. Not through the law, but by my own hands.
‘To do that, I need to build my own faction too.’
There were countless people connected to Artemis, the nation’s top guild, and Hilleon, the criminal organization. No matter how strong I became, facing them alone was impossible. So I needed a faction of my own. People like Jeong Eunseo who would trust and follow me. I could even gather them later to form a guild. There was no downside to making allies.
From now on, I needed to act somewhat kind. People naturally preferred to follow a benevolent ruler over a powerful tyrant.
So what I was doing right now wasn’t strange at all.
-Tap
-Tap
-Tap
After hearing Instructor Son Sae-beom tell us to sit wherever we liked, I naturally moved next to a girl and spoke to her.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Hyunseung, the new transfer to F-class. Mind if I ask you about things I don’t know so we can get along?”
The girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes turned her head slightly to look at me and replied.
“Sure. I’m Kim Yuri. Ask me anything you’re curious about.”
The girl sitting next to me was Kim Yuri. She was someone I knew. One of the characters who would play a major role later in Broad Academy Online.
She hadn’t properly awakened her class yet, but according to my memories, she would awaken as a mage. An Epic-grade mage from her very first awakening, at that. Her personality was the type that didn’t belong to any particular faction or care about others’ opinions. Though she came across as a bit cold and chic, she was actually warm-hearted once you got close to her. A classic tsundere, and someone who wouldn’t stab you in the back once you became allies.
To emphasize that tripping my classmate’s leg earlier hadn’t been intentional, I gave her a friendly smile. Then I began listening to the lesson.
Instructor Son Sae-beom was diligently explaining magic studies.
“Every class can use and apply magic. However, depending on how you utilize it, the power of magic....”
I listened to her words with interest. In truth, I already knew everything she was saying, but hearing anything related to magic studies still made my heart race. This was knowledge that had never existed on Earth, yet now it had become reality.
Before I knew it, the bell signaling break time rang.
-Ding-dong-ding-dong
Kim Yuri, who had been sitting next to me, looked at me curiously and spoke.
“You came from A-class, right?”
“Yeah. I was in A-class, but due to circumstances, I ended up in F-class.”
“I remember you got a perfect score on the written exam. I’m surprised you’re listening so attentively to magic studies in F-class. You must be really interested in it?”
Her reaction was perfectly natural. The level of magic studies taught in A-class and F-class differed significantly. A-class covered highly complex and advanced topics, while F-class focused on relatively simple and basic concepts.
So it was only natural for someone who had been taking A-class lessons to find F-class boring. But since I was listening with genuine enthusiasm instead of looking bored, it was understandable that she would think I was simply very interested in magic studies itself.
I nodded and answered.
“I’ve always been pretty interested in magic studies. Honestly, it’s a shame I couldn’t become a mage.”
I looked down at the pistol in my hand.
What I had just said was sincere. Of course, gunners could also use magic. The Agile Steps and Last Bullet I had used in my spar with Seonghyeon-wook were both types of magic.
But true mages could wield real spells like Ice Spear, Hellfire, and Lightning. Naturally, as a gunner, I couldn’t use magic of that caliber.
Honestly, it was disappointing. In Broad Academy Online, mage had been my favorite class. Even now that I had become a gunner, I still had the desire to shoot fire, water, and lightning from my hands and use flashy magic.
Kim Yuri nodded after hearing my sincere words, then apologized.
“Sorry. To be honest, I had some prejudices about you. The rumors were pretty bad. People said you were eccentric, selfish, and arrogant. There were even whispers that you came to F-class just to bully others and satisfy your ego. So I guess I ended up seeing you in a bad light.”
“Haha....”
I looked at Kim Yuri, who was apologizing with a serious expression and being completely honest about everything, and thought to myself.
‘She’s honest to a fault. She didn’t need to say all that. Or maybe it’s a good thing?’
Those ridiculous rumors were probably spread by people who had seen me yelling at Yoo Heeyeon or by members of her faction trying to discredit me. Since I had already expected my reputation to take a hit, it didn’t affect me much.
Kim Yuri extended her hand toward me and spoke.
“Honestly, I don’t know how true the rumors are. But watching you, I can see how sincerely you treat magic studies. To be honest, I’m really passionate about it too. I’d like it if we could talk about it more in the future. I’m also really curious about what magic studies are like in A-class. Of course, if there’s anything I can share or help you with, I’ll do my best.”
I grinned and replied.
“Of course. Sounds good.”
Kim Yuri, the future Epic-grade mage who would eventually reach Unique-grade. I had unearthed the first raw gem in F-class.
The upcoming Class Annihilation Match. In the large-scale event where A-class and F-class would clash, her presence would definitely be a great help.