The First Task (1)
The chatter around us was relentless.
“Lady Ophelia! There are plenty of students in the lower class who are better than him!”
“That’s right. Taking him along will only hold us back.”
They were all people without any real say in the matter anyway. I turned my gaze to Ophelia, who held the strongest voice in this group. It wasn’t like there weren’t other options, but I wanted to be in the same party as her if possible.
The top freshman would inevitably face the boss monster no matter what during this task. Therefore, teaming up with Ophelia was currently the best option available to me.
“We still have one spot left, and since you offered first, I don’t see any reason to refuse,” Ophelia said in a calm tone after glancing down at the hand she had shaken with me earlier. She addressed the girls directly.
“But if you team up with someone like him, you won’t get a good score. What if he drags you down and you get eliminated halfway?”
She really does talk a lot.
The brown-haired girl kept running her mouth without even caring that I was standing right there. Up until now I had been hoping for a decent boss monster, but after hearing this, I figured even a piece of shit boss would be fine. No matter what happened in the middle, all I had to do was take down the boss.
“……Me?”
Ophelia stared straight at the brown-haired girl. Then she slowly opened her mouth.
“If you’re that worried, feel free to switch groups.”
Her voice remained just as serene and composed as before. But there was a sharp edge hidden in her words. To speak of elimination in front of the top student of the first-year class. Ophelia was not the kind of person who needed to worry about failing no matter who she was grouped with. In other words, if they had a problem with it, they could go join another party.
“Ah… that is……”
The brown-haired girl wasn’t stupid enough to miss the refined implication in Ophelia’s elegant phrasing. Her confidence instantly deflated, and she took a hesitant step back.
“If it’s Lady Ophelia, there won’t be any problems no matter who you team up with.”
“Of course, of course. Teaming up with the dead last and still taking first place would only make your achievement shine brighter.”
Having sensed the shift in atmosphere, the two girls flanking the brown-haired one began fawning over Ophelia with fake smiles and exaggerated flattery. What a bunch of spineless friends. I had thought the three of them were actually close, but they were easy to read.
I caught the faintest sigh escape Ophelia’s lips—so small it was almost invisible. It seemed she wasn’t particularly thrilled with how the group had turned out either.
“I look forward to working with all of you.”
Ophelia’s gaze swept across the girls before settling on me. And just like that, our party for the first task of the day was decided.
The entrance to Moonlight Hill was lit by torches placed throughout the area, illuminating the darkened training grounds. First-year students sat gathered in their assigned parties.
“All you need to do is travel to your designated location, set up camp, spend the night safely, and return here. As this is the first task prepared for our new students, there are no additional objectives. However, we cannot predict what dangers may be lurking on Moonlight Hill tonight. I hope you will cooperate with your party members and protect yourselves well.”
While exceptions always existed, most of the freshmen were about to encounter monsters for the first time during this task. The air was thick with nervous excitement.
Do. Your. Best.
Even Dane, who was waving at me from a little further away and mouthing the words, looked the same. I gave him a small nod and a smile in return.
So. Jealous.
He had been acting like this since lunch too. At first I thought he was jealous that I got to be in the same group as the top student Ophelia, but that wasn’t it at all. Dane was purely envious that I was the only guy stuck in a group full of girls.
Still, the only reason I had chosen this party was because of Ophelia. The other three noisy girls were nothing but a nuisance. I wished he would spend the time he wasted on pointless envy studying or training instead, but expecting that from a protagonist character I hadn’t chosen was asking for too much.
I waved lightly at Dane once more before turning my attention forward again. The three girls were whispering among themselves while Ophelia sat with perfect, unwavering posture, listening attentively to the professor standing in front.
Soon the instructions were finished, and the professors began leading each party away. The map marking our campsite naturally ended up in Ophelia’s hands as the leader, and our first task officially began.
Ophelia took the front while I followed her request to guard the rear. How much time had passed since then?
Kael really is a weakling.
Moonlight Hill was called a hill, but it might as well have been a mountain. The steep forested path quickly left me out of breath. By comparison, Bingryong Mountain where I had stayed before the entrance ceremony now felt like a small hill. Carrying the heavy bag I had packed for emergencies only made me tire faster.
I really should start exercising.
Watching Ophelia walk ahead holding a torch only reinforced that thought. Despite her delicate frame, she showed no signs of fatigue. No matter how weak I was, falling behind girls in stamina was a little humiliating. Of course, Kael’s frail constitution wasn’t my fault, and this world wasn’t one where appearances told the whole story, but it still stung my pride somehow.
“Look at him already huffing and puffing. Can he even make it to the campsite like that?”
“Seriously. We’re basically dragging around a piece of luggage.”
“We should just be grateful if he doesn’t run away the moment a monster appears.”
I was already short of breath, and their constant chattering from up ahead only drained my energy further. These bitches would probably wet themselves the first time they actually saw a monster tonight.
“Exactly. He’s completely useless, so why are they even mixing lower class students into our groups?”
“When monsters show up, we’ll have to fight for him. Shouldn’t he at least do something more?”
They weren’t even trying to lower their voices. It seemed they wanted me to hear every word. At this point, I was starting to think I didn’t need to protect them if monsters appeared.
“Hey, you.”
At that moment, the yellow-haired girl came closer. I think her name was Bridget. Not that her name mattered much.
“What.”
My response came out flat since her attitude from the start had been anything but polite.
“My bag is heavy, so you carry it.”
Bridget thrust her bag toward me without even waiting for an answer, as if my opinion wasn’t worth hearing.
I was speechless.
“Why should I?”
“You’re E-rank, aren’t you? They said you can’t contribute in a fight, right? When monsters appear, we’ll have to fight, so we need to conserve our stamina. If you want to be useful at all, the least you can do is carry the bags.”
The other two girls walking a little ahead turned around and giggled at Bridget’s words. No matter how rank-obsessed Golden Academy was, these girls had absolutely no manners.
“No thanks.”
To be honest, I wasn’t so much angry as I was annoyed and unimpressed. Since this was hell difficulty, monsters could appear at any time. I had been planning to conserve my mana for the boss fight and avoid wasting it on small fry. Having these idiots pick a fight over something so trivial was just bothersome.
“Ha. Then what exactly are you going to do in our party?”
“Camping.”
“This guy is unbelievable. My arms hurt, so take it while I’m still asking nicely.”
Just as Bridget tried to shove the bag into my hands—
“I’ll carry it.”
Everyone stopped walking. The person who had been leading from the front had halted and taken several steps back.
“Lady Ophelia……”
Bridget, who had been trying to force the bag on me, quickly pulled her hand back and turned toward the voice.
“If it’s too heavy, I’ll take it. I still have plenty of energy.”
Ophelia extended her hand toward Bridget as she spoke.
“……No, it’s fine. I’ll carry it myself.”
Bridget couldn’t bring herself to make Ophelia carry her bag, so she hugged it tightly to her chest.
“You said your arms hurt.”
“I’ll… endure it a little longer.”
“If it gets too difficult, tell me again.”
Without waiting for a reply, Ophelia turned and resumed walking at the front.
That’s just like her personality.
Ophelia hadn’t done what she just did specifically to help me. As proof, she hadn’t even glanced at me once while speaking with Bridget. From a young age, the concept of noblesse oblige had been ingrained in her. Since she was the strongest here, if someone had to carry extra weight, she believed it should be her.
Anyway, thanks to her, the annoying argument ended easily. Bridget pouted and returned to her friends. The hike resumed.
At this point we should be hearing something, but it’s too quiet.
Even if our party didn’t encounter monsters directly, enough time had passed that we should have at least heard signs of other groups fighting nearby. This was hell difficulty, after all.
But the surroundings remained silent. There were two possibilities. Either our group and the ones nearby had incredibly good luck, or there was a boss monster so powerful that other monsters were too afraid to approach.
Either way, it was good news for me since it meant I could conserve my mana. I didn’t know if the original Kael had been breastfed as a baby, but I squeezed out every last drop of strength I had and forced my heavy steps forward.
Our destination was marked with a flag. We set up the tents we had been carrying on our backs. The annoying trio had initially planned to make me pitch the tents alone, but when Ophelia came over to help me, they reluctantly joined in and pretended to work.
We set up the women’s and men’s tents separately, then ate dinner. The trio chattered among themselves and occasionally threw compliments at Ophelia, who only pretended to listen with great care.
Even after deciding the night watch order and preparing to take turns sleeping, the surroundings were still quiet.
It has to be a hard boss.
There was no other way to look at it. Given Professor Evelyn’s tendency to push those who were already doing well even harder, the top first-year student was definitely going to face a boss monster tonight. The complete absence of even small fry up until now meant they had prepared something truly impressive.
The best defense is a good offense. Since I was basically a walking artillery cannon, it was better to take out the boss before it could target me. I grabbed some mana potions and scrolls, then used the excuse of going to the bathroom to slip away alone.
Boss monsters were usually obvious at a glance. If I found it first, I might be able to deal with it easily.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Suddenly the ground shook, accompanied by a series of deafening roars that sounded like an earthquake.
No way…
The direction was coming from our campsite—the one I had just left. I broke into a full sprint toward it.
In front of the campfire, I saw Ophelia standing with her bow drawn. Behind her, the three terrified girls had emerged from the tent and were trembling violently. Beyond them, the shadow of a monster the size of a mountain loomed in the distance.
“Everyone cover your ears!”
I roughly clamped my hands over my own ears and shouted at the top of my lungs.