Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Training and Classes (5)
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"What should we do?"
I took advantage of the surrounding commotion to ask Lee Seojun.
Lee Seojun immediately understood what I meant and told me what needed to be done.
"We need to recruit team members as quickly as possible. If we drag our feet, someone else will snag them. But since you're in first place, Lee Seongmin, it's hard to say for sure."
Being in first place right now actually made me a liability that could drag down bonus points.
Lee Seojun seemed worried whether we'd even be able to recruit teammates because of it.
"For now, your position, Lee Seongmin, is rear-line firepower and support. Keeping that in mind, we should start by finding someone for the front line."
"Someone like Cheon Seo-yun or Seo Ji-ho?"
"Yeah. To be honest, Cheon Seo-yun right now would be perfect. She's skilled, and her current rank is 300th."
Unfortunately, I'd asked Cheon Seo-yun for a one-minute kiss in exchange for helping her train.
So both Lee Seojun and I figured it would be tough to bring her onto the team, and we looked for someone else.
"Lee Seongmin, take her for one spot."
I looked where Lee Seojun was pointing.
There stood a short-haired girl who looked a bit timid.
"Jeong Yu-mi. She's ranked 177th, but she's specialized in defense. If she joins, the front line will hold without issue."
"What about offense?"
"...Her offensive capabilities are a bit lacking."
Just as he said—she was great at defense, but that was it.
Of course, I could handle offense myself, so it wasn't a problem at all.
"Alright, let's go with her first."
I wasn't in a position to be picky anyway, so I approached the girl named Jeong Yu-mi.
"She's got a timid personality, so be a bit forceful and she'll join. She probably doesn't have another team lined up anyway."
Following Lee Seojun's advice, I went straight up to Jeong Yu-mi.
"Jeong Yu-mi. Team up with me."
"Huh? You... know my name?"
Jeong Yu-mi jumped in surprise that I'd called her by name out of the blue.
It was hard to explain, so I just nodded vaguely and repeated myself.
"I need to find more people, so decide quick."
"Oh? Uh... sure, okay."
"Good. Now let's find the other three."
With Jeong Yu-mi on board, the combined rank of me and her was 178 total.
That meant we'd already secured 89 bonus points, but suddenly I wondered if those points even mattered that much.
"Are bonus points really that important?"
I asked Lee Seojun outright.
"If you're thinking about grades, yeah. Practical combat is out of 1,000 points total. If multiple teams get perfect scores, bonus points decide the ranking. Or even if you're slightly behind, they can turn it around."
I paused to consider what he'd said about multiple teams getting perfect scores.
With 300 cadets forming teams of five, that made 60 teams in total.
'Yeah, with 60 teams, perfect scores are bound to happen.'
As I mulled it over, Jeong Yu-mi's voice chimed in.
"Probably, right? I think they're important."
"If they are, we need to pick good teammates for the rest."
Saying that, I glanced back at Lee Seojun.
He was scanning around, searching for our third member.
"Lee Seongmin!"
That's when someone familiar called my name.
Lee Seojun and I both recognized her as Oh Ye-rin.
"Haven't formed a team yet? Wanna join up with me?"
"I've got one already. But teaming with me would tank the bonus points. You cool with that?"
"Doesn't matter. Better to focus on solid scores than bonuses."
She seemed to trust my skills after I beat Cheon Seo-yun.
Or maybe she came here because Cheon Seo-yun was out of reach.
"Looks like she settled for chicken when the pheasant got away."
Lee Seojun thought the same as me.
'Anyway, that's three now.'
Two spots left.
With that, Lee Seojun recommended another one.
"Lee Seongmin, grab that girl over there too. Park So-yul. She's ranked 265th."
...265th?
The rank was great for bonus points, but 265th stuck out.
I remembered why: before sparring with Cheon Seo-yun yesterday to swap ranks, Lee Seojun had recommended her.
'He said if I pointed her out and charged, she'd faint?'
Thinking that far, I decided to follow his advice and approached the girl named Park So-yul anyway.
She was staring blankly at the other cadets, big headphones clamped over her ears.
"Park So-yul."
I tapped her shoulder to get her attention over the headphones. She slowly turned her head.
"...Why?"
"Join my team."
At the invitation, she stared at me blankly for a moment, then nodded as if it made sense.
That brought us to four members, but Oh Ye-rin immediately complained when she saw me add Park So-yul without asking.
"Hey, what gives? You can't just add people without discussing it."
"It'll be fine. If you don't like it, you can leave now."
"That's not it. We don't even know what her ability is."
"She's got a good one, I'm sure."
Oh Ye-rin shot me an incredulous look, apparently at a loss for words at my nonchalance.
Ignoring her, I calculated our current average rank with four members.
'1st, 121st, 177th, 265th.'
Total 564.
That gave us 141 bonus points.
'Why am I even bothering to calculate this?'
It was ridiculous that I cared about grades at all.
Still, boosting the scores for my teammates didn't sound bad.
"Just one left now. For the last one... Huh?"
Lee Seojun stopped mid-recommendation and looked off to the side.
I followed his gaze and saw Cheon Seo-yun walking toward us.
'Why's she coming over here?'
Cheon Seo-yun approached me with a calm expression and tone.
"Got a team?"
"Three so far. Four including me."
I answered honestly, and for some reason, she furrowed her brow like something was off.
While Lee Seojun and I stared blankly, wondering why, Cheon Seo-yun spoke up.
"Let me join."
"You too?"
Oh Ye-rin jumped in enthusiastically right behind me.
"Really? Come on in! Oh, right, you don't know my name. I'm Oh Ye-rin. We're teammates now, so let's get along."
"..."
From a third-party view, it was night and day compared to how she'd treated Ma Dong-woo at the cafeteria yesterday.
"Sure."
Cheon Seo-yun nodded, acknowledging we were teammates, and accepted Oh Ye-rin's welcome.
With that, our team of five was complete—but the cadets who'd been following Cheon Seo-yun grumbled and scowled.
"This is insane. Does that even make sense?"
"The entrance exam top scorer and the guy who beat her are on the same team."
"That basically locks in first place for practical combat."
"But who's the other three?"
Ignoring their complaints, Lee Seojun remarked in surprise.
"Unexpected. I didn't think Cheon Seo-yun would come. Probably because she doesn't have anyone else close but you, Lee Seongmin."
"You don't know everything, huh."
I muttered like it was to myself, and Lee Seojun looked aggrieved.
"Hey! When it was me, Cheon Seo-yun was 300th, not first. I didn't sexually harass her or anything. This is way too different from back then."
I nodded a few times to show I got it.
The situations Lee Seojun had faced were definitely quite different from now.
'So, what about our bonus points then?'
Total ranks: 864.
Average of five: exactly 172.8.
As I finished calculating, Oh Ye-rin started crunching numbers too.
"Hang on. What's our bonus score like this? You two—what are your ranks?"
The moment Oh Ye-rin finished and checked the bonus, she let out a cheer.
'Huh?'
That's when I noticed Hong Ju-a beyond her, lips pressed tight in frustration.
I turned to Lee Seojun, wondering if he'd seen it too, but no.
'What is he looking at?'
Lee Seojun stared seriously somewhere else.
Following his gaze, I spotted Ma Dong-woo, one of the Doomsday Cultists.
And next to him was a girl looking slightly relieved, probably about team stuff.
'He's looking at her, I think.'
I decided to ask about that later and turned back to Oh Ye-rin, who was still cheering.
After that, Oh Ye-rin created a group chat and invited all the team members.
Cheon Seo-yun, Jeong Yu-mi, Park So-yul, and I joined it to wrap things up.
'Oh, right. I never heard what Park So-yul's ability is.'
With that in mind, I headed to the dorms, where no one was around.
Classes started tomorrow, so going straight there was no issue.
Thud, thud—
"..."
"..."
If not for Cheon Seo-yun tagging along behind me.
'Speaking of which, Cheon Seo-yun's got me curious too.'
Her joining the team, and now following me like this—it was all puzzling.
So I stopped on the way to the dorms and talked to her.
"Got something to say?"
Cheon Seo-yun stared at me steadily before cutting straight to it.
"Do you like me?"
It was probably because I'd demanded a kiss in exchange for training help.
But separately from that, it was true, so I nodded.
"I do. Though the 'like' you mean and the 'like' I mean might differ a bit."
If she was asking about romantic love, it fell a little short.
I also wanted to possess her body, talent, heart—her entire being, soul and all.
"How so?"
I considered brushing off Cheon Seo-yun's follow-up vaguely, but her 99 potential came to mind.
She'd see right through any evasion in an instant, so better not.
'No choice.'
I'd have to be honest.
Step—
I took a slow step toward Cheon Seo-yun.
Locking eyes to hold her gaze, I opened my mouth.
"I want all of you. Your body, your talent, your heart—even your soul. Everything."
"..."
Cheon Seo-yun froze, realizing I meant every word, unable to respond.