Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Harvesting Rewards
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“Huu.... It's finally over.”
My strike landed at the same moment that Panpagia's massive eyes grew dim.
Soon, that enormous silhouette flickered briefly before vanishing like a shadow.
“Wha.... What?”
“What just happened?”
“Did it... die?”
Those guys seemed to be cheering wildly, thinking they'd subjugated Panpagia.
“We did it! We're alive, we're alive!”
“Fuck yeah, we survived!”
'My ears are gonna fall off....'
The reason we succeeded in the subjugation?
The training monster was way weaker than the real Panpagia.
To begin with, if it had been the actual Panpagia, my dagger wouldn't have pierced it, scales or no scales.
'Still, impressive is impressive.'
Newly enrolled students had taken down a weakened version of a B-rank boss monster.
They probably hadn't even planned on subjugating it in the first place.
'This'll go down in [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy] history.'
Kang Hwa-yeon stared at the spot where Panpagia had vanished, looking drained as she muttered to herself.
“Was this really the best we could do...?”
“I don't know, but I didn't want to die. I've still got too much to do.”
Baek A-rin, standing beside her, replied.
'The pinnacle supreme couple of [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy] as expected.'
In [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy], Baek A-rin's mental state breaks after her little sister dies, so it's all one-sided care from Kang Hwa-yeon.
But since I saved her here, we get to see this friendship instead.
“Not bad.”
...Still, them getting along is one thing.
Can't someone help prop me up after all my hard work?
But everyone was too caught up in the victory cheers to notice.
No one was paying me any mind.
That's harsh.
Even standing is at my limit.
'Haa.... I'm starting to lose strength.'
Clang-
My grip loosened, and I dropped the dagger I was holding.
My body began to tilt.
I,
was
fall
ing
....
Oof, the floor here's hard.
Won't my head crack open?
Thud-
Contrary to my expectations, someone caught me just before I hit the ground.
'Baek A-rin?'
You didn't forget about me, huh.
I was about to feel hurt.
I never expected Baek A-rin to show me this much loyalty.
'Unexpected.'
Baek A-rin silently supported me without a word.
'She's pretty.'
Her eyes.
Maybe it was the refreshing color of her irises, like ramune marbles reflecting a summer sky.
They were breathtakingly beautiful.
In that moment, as I spaced out,
Baek A-rin subtly raised her thumb where only I could see.
'Thumbs up.'
“Now I can breathe easy....”
My creaky body was finally starting to obey me.
“Why hasn't there been any follow-up yet?”
“Is it really okay to just wait like this?! We need to know what's going on outside first...”
“Then what do you suggest? The door won't open, and the broken wall has somehow repaired itself...”
“Should we try smashing the door at least?”
The surviving students had cooled down from their excitement and were now confused by the current situation.
'No way it's opening.'
This training room itself was the pinnacle of modern magitech in [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy].
The doors and walls were probably made of special materials treated with magic to prevent destruction during training.
'The wall Panpagia broke never actually broke in the first place.'
Over there...
'Kang Hwa-yeon and Baek A-rin have figured it out.'
They both had dazed looks, like they'd been tricked.
They must have realized when the broken wall reformed.
Only then did the tightly shut door finally open, and one person strolled in leisurely.
“Everyone doing alright?”
Lee Dok-sa appeared with a smile.
“Instructor?! Why are you only showing up now?!”
“What happened outside?”
“What we did just now...”
She ignored the barrage of questions and complaints, continuing on.
“Questions later, everyone. The monster you all just fought was entirely virtual training. It was all fake.”
“What?!”
“Then those students who died...”
One student flushed red and pointed, but there was nothing—just a clean floor.
“Students marked as deceased during training have all been safely evacuated. No need to worry.”
Students entered behind her from outside.
“See? Everyone's alive and well. Those marked deceased, join them.”
“...”
Everyone stared in stunned silence at her words.
No wonder—they'd seen those bodies turned into mincemeat, and now they were standing there fine.
But no one had the mental bandwidth for that right now.
“Alright then. We'll do feedback on your training performance right here, right now.”
The evaluation was about to start.
As soon as the instructor finished speaking, a massive display appeared on the front wall.
The image on the display was Panpagia.
Kyahhh-!
A few students screamed in terror at the sight.
'PTSD-worthy.'
Lee Dok-sa opened her mouth unperturbed.
“What you faced was a hologram recreating the B-rank large armored-type monster Panpagia at 99% fidelity.”
The students buzzed at her words.
“B-rank boss...? We took down a B-rank boss monster?!”
“For real?”
“Dude.... Aren't the big clans gonna scoop us all up now?!”
Lee Dok-sa cut through the murmurs with a smile.
“Of course, its power was implemented at about 60% of the real thing.”
Everyone fell silent at the 60% figure.
'Shocking, right? The monster they risked their lives—and sacrifices—for was at 40% off.'
“Of course! No need for our class to feel down about it. Honestly, I was shocked. Including A-2 class, you're the only class—A-1—that subjugated Panpagia. Everyone, give yourselves a round of applause~.”
The students exchanged glances hesitantly before erupting in cheers.
Yeah, cheer louder.
Wonder whose thanks to that is.
“Yes, impressive. Honestly, I didn't expect you all to pull it off this well. Truly didn't.”
Lee Dok-sa, smiling, narrowed her eyes slightly toward me.
I reflexively avoided her gaze.
'Don't stare so blatantly, it makes me wanna dodge...'
She flipped a page on the clipboard in her hand.
“Everyone did great today, but I've prepared feedback for improvement. And it wasn't just me—a specialist PhD proficient in combat analysis helped out.”
She said with a bright smile.
Bullshit.
She probably watched and checked everything alone from the control room.
No way she needs help when she's a master of combat theory.
It was the analysis system that assisted her.
“Scores are out of 10. They'll be reflected in your student evaluations later.”
With that, she began calling scores one by one.
“...2 points. Quick to act, but failed to survey surroundings properly, leading to death. Given your skill traits, you should scout better.... Be more careful next time. Next, 5 points...”
As the evaluation proceeded, each student's strengths and weaknesses came to light.
'Up to here, it's not much different from [Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy]. Average scores are up by 1 point, though.'
Lee Seong-hyeon gets 7 points in this exam.
7 points for him might seem low, but this test is poison for Lee Seong-hyeon.
Even if he's strong, at this stage, he couldn't solo Panpagia.
'And that antisocial guy isn't gonna show leadership out of nowhere.'
Kang Hwa-yeon was fated to get 8 points originally, but...
“Kang Hwa-yeon, 9 points.”
High evaluation.
'Original score plus 1 for subjugation...'
Everyone applauded in agreement with her score.
Kang Hwa-yeon looked a bit awkward but forced a smile to manage her expression.
“Student Kang Hwa-yeon showed remarkable leadership skills. Very professional. Quickly identifying it as an armored-type and assigning roles accordingly was excellent.”
“Thank you.”
Kang Hwa-yeon bowed her head.
'Feedback without criticism.'
In truth, Kang Hwa-yeon had handled things as competently as possible.
The deducted point was likely because the system judged subjugation impossible under her original command.
“Next... Baek A-rin, 7 points.”
Students murmured in surprise at her score.
“Baek A-rin got 7...? Without her, we wouldn't have subjugated it, right?”
“Maybe because of her family intel? Stuff like info-gathering doesn't count in scores.”
Lee Dok-sa glanced at me briefly before speaking.
“Student Baek A-rin, great initiative. But you could have utilized your skills more.”
She then looked at Baek A-rin and asked,
“No objections to the evaluation, I assume. Right?”
“Yes, that's correct.”
Kang Hwa-yeon looked puzzled at her agreement.
But Baek A-rin wore a smile.
“Finally, Kim Si-woo student.”
My turn.
Lee Dok-sa had watched everything from the control room.
I knew roughly how this training evaluation system worked.
Composure,
Planning,
Subjugation feasibility,
Execution.
And dozens of other criteria.
In the end, the decisive contributions were from Kang Hwa-yeon and Baek A-rin.
With score caps per category, mine should land between 7 and 8.
“For Si-woo student's evaluation...”
I'd aimed for the highest possible score.
But whatever it was, it didn't matter.
I'd already caught Lee Dok-sa's eye anyway.
Convincing her shouldn't be an issue...
“It's a bit hard to announce here, so shall we discuss it separately later?”
...?
What situation is this?
“A score too awkward to say aloud? Pfft.... Classic E3.”
“Instructor Lee Dok-sa must be nice, calling him aside.”
“Yeah, what'd that guy even do? Just sacrificed himself on Baek A-rin's orders.”
The students' mockery followed.
But the looks from Baek A-rin and Kang Hwa-yeon were markedly different.
“That's it for now. Kim Si-woo student, follow me.”