The Legendary Simultaneous Awakener
At Instructor Son Sae-beom's request, every F-class student at Broad Academy had gathered in one place. She pointed toward a massive circular artifact. The device looked strikingly similar to an enormous gate.
"Everyone, focus right here. The class representative selection battle for the upcoming extermination war will be held inside the virtual space prepared by Broad Academy, just like always."
Virtual space. It conjured images straight out of a novel—step through the gate and you'd find yourself in a vast landscape teeming with monsters, completely unlike Earth. Forests, swamps, oceans, all sorts of environments. Naturally, none of this information was shared with participants beforehand. They couldn't share it even if they wanted to. The artifact that generated the virtual space created completely random stages with different environments every single time.
Son Sae-beom made a subtle gesture toward several people in the distance wearing special artifacts that resembled VR equipment. Those devices were called Virtual Glasses. They let observers watch the virtual environment without physically entering it.
"As you all know, high-ranking officials and even the Magic Tower will be watching this battle, from the selection all the way through the extermination war. Even though you're only F-class right now, outstanding performances could attract scouts from all over. This single event might completely change your lives. So don't slack off. I expect you to give it everything you've got."
The so-called high-ranking officials weren't limited to guilds. The Magic Tower, the Blacksmith Association, the Archer Association—representatives from all kinds of organizations had shown up to watch.
Quite the audience for a mere F-class selection battle.
It was only natural that diamonds in the rough existed even among the F-ranks, but human nature preferred finished products. Attention naturally gravitated toward the higher D, C, B, and A classes rather than F-class fights. In extreme cases, some people skipped watching the F-class selection entirely.
Yet the reason so many had gathered this time was simple.
I glanced sideways and thought to myself.
Jeong Eunseo.
The daughter of the guild master running the powerful Teore Guild. Despite only recently becoming an adult, she had awakened as an Epic-grade mage, and the fact that someone like her was stuck in F-class had clearly drawn people eager to witness her abilities firsthand. While they watched her, they would probably keep an eye out for any other hidden gems. A simple enough motive.
When she noticed me staring openly, Jeong Eunseo flinched and asked, "Wh-what is it? If you have something to say, you can just say it."
"Nothing. Just—let's do well out there."
I kept my reply short and turned my attention back to Son Sae-beom.
"You all know the rules for the representative selection, yes? No artifacts allowed beyond basic weapons. However, if any production-class members like blacksmiths are on your team, they may craft weapons or artifacts inside the stage and use them. That is permitted."
Son Sae-beom raised her hand for emphasis.
"Additionally, every one of you will receive defensive magic from a high-ranking mage. It will only block damage severe enough to threaten your life, in case of death or permanent injury during combat. So don't hold back worrying about hurting your opponents. Fight freely."
I raised my hand toward her. "Instructor, what happens if that defensive magic breaks?"
"Hmm?"
Son Sae-beom looked at me like I'd asked something ridiculous. It wasn't an unreasonable reaction. The defensive magic cast by a high-ranking mage wouldn't shatter even under the full-powered skills of A-class students. Suggesting it could break in an F-class fight was like asking what would happen if you jumped hard enough to trigger an earthquake.
Still, she answered without mockery.
"You don't need to worry about that. Even the instructors here couldn't break that barrier easily."
I pressed again, wanting confirmation. "And even if it does break, there won't be any separate punishment?"
"Haha. It's not going to break in the first place, but no, there would be no punishment even if it did."
I ignored the whispers and shook my head.
Pathetic bastards.
At that moment, Kim Yuri tapped my shoulder from behind.
She looked at me with eyes that suggested she couldn't care less about the icy glares coming from all directions.
"I'll cooperate since you promised to teach me the magic theory you learned in A-class, but I won't be much help in actual combat. I haven't properly awakened yet. I assume you already know this, but I wanted to be clear. Is that still okay?"
I nodded. "Doesn't matter. Just staying beside me or doing reconnaissance is helpful enough. Having even one ally is better than none, right?"
I thought for a moment, then asked her, "Out of curiosity, what will you do if you awaken as a mage?"
"A mage...?!"
She muttered in surprise, completely unlike her usual blunt demeanor.
"A mage..."
Then she continued, "If I could become a mage, I'd be incredibly happy. My lifelong dream has been to actually use the theories I've studied in magicology. I'm so serious about magic that I'd be willing to sell half my life if it meant awakening as a mage."
"Really? Then you'd be pretty disappointed if you awakened as something else."
"...Well, even if it's another class, I could still use magic to some extent. As long as it's not a gunner who lacks mana, any class is fine with me."
She suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening as she looked at me.
Kim Yuri had simply meant that gunners had no mana and therefore couldn't use magic without mana-infused artifacts. But she realized the comment might have sounded offensive to me, since I was a gunner.
Looking genuinely sorry, she said, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean it in a bad way. I was just being honest that it's difficult to use magic..."
I shook my head, unconcerned. "I don't think you meant it badly. If you had, you wouldn't have approached me with all these people glaring at us."
Kim Yuri glanced around. Sure enough, countless hostile stares from the other F-class students were boring into us. Maybe it was because of the strange questions I'd been asking since earlier. Or perhaps the commotion from when I first transferred into the class. Or maybe Yoo Heeyeon's faction had already formed a group to keep me in check.
It didn't matter which. Anyone who wasn't an ally was an enemy.
By the time our conversation ended, Son Sae-beom had nearly finished her explanation.
"I think that's enough preliminary information. Today's large-scale battle will determine the F-class representative, so please stay focused. And don't forget that becoming the representative comes with various benefits."
The circular artifact began radiating tremendous waves of mana.
With a wave of her hand, the gate-shaped artifact started emitting an overwhelming surge of energy.
"Everyone, enter now. Combat begins the moment you step inside, so be careful."
At her signal, students began entering one by one.
Whooooosh—!
The moment we stepped into the swirling blue vortex of mana, the virtual space unfolded before us. Kim Yuri and Jeong Eunseo stood beside me. We'd held hands while entering, taking advantage of the hidden system that transported people to the same location if they entered together.
Well, everyone else probably entered holding hands too.
The stage this time was a forested plain thick with trees.
Not bad at all.
The dense forest provided excellent opportunities for concealment and cover. Aside from the countless bushes and trees, the slope was gentle, offering many advantages for me as a gunner—high ground for sniping and clear lines of fire. Most importantly, medicinal herbs grew everywhere.
Herbs could be processed into potions using crafting skills. Since no items or artifacts were permitted inside, no one had brought any potions. Only those with production skills like blacksmithing could make them on the spot.
I began gathering various herbs from the surroundings.
Jeong Eunseo watched me and asked, "What are you doing? You can't eat those herbs raw. They need to be processed into potions using a crafting skill."
I lightly chanted a spell. A massive furnace materialized in front of me—the blacksmith's furnace. A basic blacksmith skill.
"Wh-what is that?" Jeong Eunseo asked, startled.
I answered with a perfectly calm expression, as if nothing were strange. "Oh, did I forget to mention it? I'm a simultaneous awakener. Blacksmith and gunner."
Jeong Eunseo simply stared at me, completely speechless.