Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Artificial Dungeon Practice
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Two days later, on Wednesday, the day of the first main story finally arrived.
"Hoo... I'm nervous. Seyeon-ah, which group are you in?"
"Me? Group 13. You?"
"Too bad. I'm in Group 8."
The students gathered at the training hall for the artificial dungeon raid evaluation were chatting as they checked their assigned raid groups.
I stared at the number of my assigned group for a moment, lost in thought.
"Hmm, Group 4 is a first for me."
The dungeon raid evaluation for freshmen was conducted simultaneously for all first-year students.
Ten students per group, making 100 groups in total, and the group that survived until the end took first place.
And this was a bit off-topic, but...
The game developers said that every time players progressed through this story, the assigned groups were randomly changed from 1 to 100.
But from what I remembered, it seemed fixed.
Well, one could argue that getting Group 4 for the first time proved it wasn't random, but that wasn't the case.
Almost every time the first main story was played,
the protagonist was assigned to one of four groups: 7, 14, 18, or 19.
And sure enough, this time too.
"Do-yoon-ah, we're in Group 18 together? Looking forward to working with you."
"I'm in Group 18 too!! With Do-yoon."
"Everyone, nice to meet you. Let's do our best."
As expected, Kim Do-yoon was assigned to one of those four groups.
'See? It's definitely not completely random.'
Having confirmed it for the umpteenth time, I started looking around for my fellow Group 4 members.
"Let's see~ Where's Group 4, the ones I'll be raiding the dungeon with?"
Dozens of students were milling about noisily, checking each other's names, but fortunately, I quickly spotted Group 4's members.
I hurried over to the cluster of students gathered in front of the sign marked "Group 4."
"This is truly an honor. To be in the same group as freshman rank 3, Yoon Seo-rin, and the once-in-a-generation genius mage Sophia."
"Nice to meet you too! Being grouped with the academy's top beauties makes all my hard work worth it!!"
"I might just be the luckiest guy ever!"
"Ahaha..."
"..."
"Everyone, hi... Huh?"
I slipped into the group amid their lively greetings and initial chatter.
But at the unbelievable sight before me, I rubbed my eyes and double-checked the faces of my group members.
No matter how many times I looked, it was the same.
Sophia Litwell.
Yoon Seo-rin.
Four unfamiliar students, and finally, the three guys making fools of themselves.
'...Hold on. This can't be real...'
At this completely unexpected lineup, I froze on the spot.
Of course, even in the original story, not all the heroines ended up in the protagonist's group.
But unless Kim Do-yoon didn't choose the Spirit User class, at least one or two heroines were guaranteed to be in his group.
That was how the protagonist's first party was supposed to form.
So why were Yoon Seo-rin and Sophia in my group?
'...No, I already knew the future I remembered could change... But could it change this drastically...?'
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't easily accept the current situation.
Up until now, there hadn't been any major issues with the story progression itself, so I could brush off any nonsense as just how it was now that the game world had become reality.
But this was something I couldn't simply gloss over like that.
However.
'Hoo... I'll think about it later.'
With nothing I could do right now, I resolved to investigate properly after safely completing this story arc.
I greeted my group members properly once more.
"Hey everyone. Nice to meet you. Let's do well."
"Oh? Hyun-sol!"
Sophia, who had been watching the guys' antics with a sullen expression, lit up at the sight of me and strode over.
"We're in the same group? Good thing. Nice to meet you!"
"Yeah, nice to meet you."
I nodded with a smile.
At the same time, a curt voice I hadn't heard in a week came from behind.
"Long time no see, Hyun-sol. Have you been well?"
Yoon Seo-rin, with a heavy machine gun slung over her shoulder nearly as tall as she was, stood on Sophia's opposite side and greeted me.
"I've been so-so. You? By the way, you weren't in class yesterday. Something come up?"
"I've been fine too. I had some urgent business and missed class. More importantly, let's do well on this dungeon raid."
Yoon Seo-rin extended her hand with a "nice to meet you," and I naturally took it.
Sophia, who had been quietly watching from the side, tilted her head curiously.
"Hmm... What's this? You two know each other?"
"Well... We took Basic Monster Studies together, so we had a chance to chat a bit. If you call that knowing each other, sure?"
As I explained, Sophia nodded with an "Ah~" of understanding, then muttered very quietly.
"Hyun-sol doesn't seem like the type, but he sure has a lot of girl friends around him... And each one is no ordinary..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Anyway, let's do our best."
Sophia, about to say something, brushed it off vaguely and approached Yoon Seo-rin, who was checking her firearm, extending her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Seo-rin-ah! Let's aim for first place in this evaluation."
"Nice to meet you."
Perhaps noticing the two female students talking, the surrounding students who had been chatting with their own groups began to buzz.
"Whoa... Group 4's lineup is insane. Yoon Seo-rin and Sophia together."
"Kang Hyun-sol's in it too? Wait, is it okay for rank 3, 4, and dead last to be together? The balance is way off."
"The other members are mostly top-rankers too, right? Kang Hyun-sol's just gonna freeload."
"Haa... I need good grades, but I'm totally screwed."
'Those damn bastards?'
Well, I understood the students' reactions, even if they said it out loud.
My skills weren't rock bottom, but having a top-tier student and the dead last in the same group was enviable enough.
But they didn't need to voice their envy so blatantly.
'...They're young, so I'll let it slide. Besides, the ones I need to focus on now aren't them...'
I'd been distracted by the surrounding students for a moment and hadn't fully grasped the situation, but Group 4's atmosphere was far from normal.
Specifically, Sophia and Yoon Seo-rin were still holding hands, locked in some subtle staring contest.
From afar, it might look like a normal greeting, but up close like this, I could tell right away.
They were exchanging silent words while beaming at each other.
'Haa, that's why those two shouldn't be in the same group... No, I should've kept Yoon Seo-rin and Sophia from even meeting.'
The two heroines had completely opposite personalities even in the original, so players building their harem kingdom had to give up favorability grinding on at least one of them every time.
Otherwise, the two would catfight at every opportunity during main story progression,
causing one side's affection to hit rock bottom or, in the worst case, both leaving the protagonist—a frequent disaster.
And now this absurd nonsense was unfolding one after another. My head started throbbing.
'What the hell? Why do these things keep happening?'
Soon, after a prolonged silent battle, the two women released their grip and kicked things into gear for real.
"Hehe, Seo-rin-ah. I'll count on your support fire?"
Sophia spoke first, lifting the corner of her mouth.
"If you safely support the team from the back with cover fire, ranged firepower won't be an issue. Then I can prepare my magic a bit more comfortably."
'Oh no, Sophia... Did you have to add that unnecessary bit?'
"...Wouldn't that role be plenty covered by you alone as the mage, Sophia? From what I see, I'm better at actually taking down enemies anyway?"
Provoked, Yoon Seo-rin countered with her own provocation.
"If you prepare your magic diligently from the back under team protection, we can cooperate well."
'Oh no, Miss Yoon Seo-rin, go easy...'
"Hmm?"
Whether properly irked by Yoon Seo-rin's remark, Sophia's forehead vein twitched faintly as she suppressed her anger, glancing my way.
"Hyun-sol-ah, who do you think should handle support between us?"
"...Right, Hyun-sol. Who do you think should take the support role?"
Yoon Seo-rin's eyes turned to me as well.
Meeting the two women's intense gazes, I froze, cold sweat trickling down my back, unable to do anything.
'...No, just keep fighting between yourselves. Why drag me into this suddenly?'
"Uh, well..."
'Think of something, Hyun-sol!! Come up with a way to get through this safely!!'
Avoiding the two women's piercing glares, I barely opened my trembling mouth.
"W-Well, yeah! As the dead last, I'll handle support, so both of you can lead and take down the monsters... or something?"
"..."
"..."
The two women stared blankly at my face for a long while after hearing my so-called brilliant idea.
Then Sophia was the first to snap out of it, clapping as if she'd realized something.
"...Ah, now that I think about it, you're melee too, Hyun-sol, right? I'm ranged magic, so to get a proper evaluation, I need to do support. Forgot about that."
Yoon Seo-rin belatedly recalled the evaluation criteria and nodded in agreement.
"True. It was a pointless nerve war. We have to play roles fitting our classes to get good scores—I forgot for a second."
"We'll handle support diligently, so you just focus on your role as best you can, Hyun-sol."
"Hmmm~"
Sophia crossed her arms, muttering slightly dissatisfied.
"What? So in the end, I have to protect you too, Seo-rin-ah? That's kinda annoying."
"I can protect myself. Worry about protecting yourself, mage Sophia."
Yoon Seo-rin shot back firmly, and subtle sparks flew between them again.
"..."
"..."
I shed invisible tears inside.
'Why provoke again when it was almost resolved? Can't you just let it slide quietly?'
The silver lining? It wasn't as confrontational as before.
Instead, they both looked at me simultaneously, then turned away almost in sync.
"Well, the evaluation starts soon, so let's settle the rest inside the dungeon."
"Agreed. We'll wrap it up once we're in."
Their voices were calm, but I could clearly tell.
Embers still lingered, not fully extinguished.
'Haa... It's already tough before the main story even starts...'
"Attention all! Groups will enter the artificial dungeon shortly. Thoroughly check your gear and clearly assign roles among group members!"
At that moment, a professor's voice, like a savior, echoed through the training hall.
"As you know, the group that survives until the end takes first. But individual scores will also evaluate group cooperation. Drones will follow in real-time and record everything, so don't worry about that."
The atmosphere shifted instantly, students busily pulling out gear and checking weapons.
Our group naturally moved toward the dungeon entrance.
Even then, the three clueless guys got unnecessarily hyped and chattered away.
"Haha! Let's snag first place! Our group is perfect, no question?"
"I'll run hard for the two of you!"
"Right~ With this lineup, losing would be weird. Just support well, dead last Hyun-sol, and we're golden?"
"...Yeah, I'll do my best."
'These damn... No, hold it in, Hyun-sol, hoo...'
I almost lost it at the extras' nonsense.
Fledglings who'd never set foot in an artificial dungeon lecturing me, who'd cleared S-Rank dungeons?
Of course, I couldn't proudly declare that, so I just smiled and nodded.
Soon, the gate flashed before us, opening the dungeon entrance.
"The dungeon you'll enter is the F-Rank Goblin Village. You may proceed now."
"Everyone, let's give it our all and get first place!"
Hearing the assistant instructor waiting by the gate, we slowly entered the dungeon, and at the same time, the system notification rang.