A Lost Cause (2)
-Thud!
"Hey, Seo Woojin! What the hell kind of way is that to talk to someone?!"
We'd barely finished exchanging greetings, and already he was picking a fight, running his mouth about my department of all things.
While I stood there dumbfounded, unsure what answer was even expected of me, it was his childhood friend, Han Sora, who reacted first.
"Wh-what did you…."
"How can you say that to someone's face?! Are you out of your mind?"
"N-no, honestly, it's true though. What can someone from the Support Department even do on their own…."
"Seo Woojin!!!"
Objectively speaking, the guy's words weren't exactly wrong.
In reality, Combat Auxiliary Department students were genuinely terrible at fighting monsters compared to their Combat Department counterparts. That was precisely why the department was named what it was — its purpose was to assist others in battle.
Because of that, Support students did tend to get looked down on by other combat-track students… but blurting it out openly to someone's face like this was purely a testament to this guy's total lack of social awareness.
'I get that he's weak himself, so this is some kind of defense mechanism….'
Still, there was no reason to let such rudeness slide.
Just as I was debating whether to provoke him in return by poking at something that would sting, or to play the magnanimous adult and bank some goodwill with Han Sora—
"D-don't listen to him!"
"…Cha Eunju?"
Suddenly, Cha Eunju rose from the seat beside me and started defending me to Seo Woojin.
"S-Seonho is amazing! He's, he's way stronger and kinder than a jerk like you! Wh-what would you even know about Seonho…!!"
"……."
"A-and he's a hundred times cooler than some pathetic-looking loser like you! Y-you, you stupid dumb dog…!!"
…Who knew the timid little Cha Eunju could get this angry on my behalf.
Frankly, I was a little touched. The thought even flickered through my mind that the past week of training hadn't been wasted.
Thanks to her, the situation had turned out far better than if I'd half-heartedly restrained myself while playing the good guy. With Cha Eunju highlighting Seo Woojin's rudeness, I was free to show off how gracefully I could rise above it all.
"A-and Seonho was a top written exam scorer! A-and also…."
"It's okay, Eunju. That's enough."
"B-but he insulted you, Seonho!"
"I don't mind. The Combat Auxiliary Department was always going to look that way to people. I'm genuinely fine with it, so you can stop now."
"Ughhh…."
Wearing an expression that clearly said she still found it unfair, but unable to say anything more once I'd calmed her down, Cha Eunju sank back into her seat.
If things got too ugly, it would create problems for my budding connection with Han Sora, so I slipped a cookie into Cha Eunju's mouth to defuse the mood.
"Here, eat this."
"……Omnom."
Munch, munch, munch….
The moment Cha Eunju quieted down with a cookie between her teeth, Han Sora immediately stepped in to apologize for her childhood friend's rudeness.
"I'm sorry. He's always been bad with strangers, so sometimes things come out of his mouth all wrong."
"It's fine. That's how everyone sees the Support Department anyway."
"I-I certainly don't see it that way. He's the only weird one, so please don't take it to heart…."
"Really, I don't mind. But you might want to be careful elsewhere. If you end up doing group assignments with other Support students, this attitude could sour things for him."
"I'm really sorry. Hey, apologize too, Seo Woojin."
"……Sorry."
His face was practically broadcasting how little he wanted to apologize, but I couldn't have cared less. The more openly the guy acted like a jerk toward me, the easier my own conscience became.
Besides, taking things from him was never off the table in the first place — so the clearer his misbehavior, the better.
"It's fine. Really, I don't care."
"But Seonho, you're actually a top scorer? That's surprising."
"I just got lucky, that's all. And Eunju here is a top scorer too, so."
"Oh, really? You're both top scorers?"
"I mean, aren't you and Seo Woojin top scorers too, if you got in here? Why act like it's some revelation now."
"Ah, well… fair point."
"……."
I'd deliberately brought up something designed to sting, and Seo Woojin clamped his mouth shut and glared at me.
I could only hope that his timid, pathetic personality would persist right up to the very end.
We will now begin the first round of the practical examination.
"Wooo! Finally getting started! I thought I was gonna die waiting! Guys, guys, the practical exam is finally starting!!"
"Ugh, Park Cheonho! It's embarrassing, so please just keep your mouth busy chewing or something!"
The moment the practical examination hour arrived, the announcement began blaring from above the waiting room.
The restless murmuring of exam-takers worn down by the long wait lasted only a moment. As the announcement continued, every single examinee stiffened and strained their ears to listen.
The practical examination of Cheonmu Hunter Academy is… monster subjugation.
"What, it's the same as last year."
"They gave us a separate waiting room, so I figured they were doing something new this time."
It was already common knowledge that Cheonmu Hunter Academy's practical exam was monster subjugation.
The task hadn't changed in years, and no doubt a few repeat test-takers who'd sat the entrance exam last year were mixed in among the examinees here.
And as with most novel clichés, things like this were bound to change exactly when the protagonist enrolled.
However, in light of the fact that holographic monster subjugation — as conducted until now — cannot properly measure the true abilities of incoming students, beginning this year the practical examination will be conducted differently from previous years.
"Huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"They can't seriously expect us to fight real monsters."
In South Korea, safety regulations strictly prohibited ordinary civilians — anyone who wasn't a licensed hunter or an academy student — from fighting monsters.
Fighting back in self-defense when your life was on the line was one thing, but deliberately entering a gate without hunter status was effectively illegal.
That was why the examinees here were all lounging around with the assumption that it would be something like "more realistic hologram monsters."
This year's practical examination is… live combat.
"What?"
"Live… combat?"
All examinees must enter a real 'Dungeon' alongside their partner and prove their abilities by subjugating actual monsters.
"Wh-what did they just say?"
"No way…. Even for Cheonmu Academy, that's going too far…."
The waiting room buzzed — roughly half the crowd shocked out of their minds, the other half in open disbelief.
Then the entire wall opposite the entrance lifted upward, revealing a 'gate' — and every student's attention snapped toward it.
Vvvzzzt-krrrk….
"Uh, uhhh…?"
"That's not a gate, is it…?"
"No way… we really have to fight monsters?"
Some of the examinees here had probably never seen a real dungeon gate in their lives.
In this world, where the concept of hunters was already firmly established, dungeon gates were usually swarmed by dispatched hunters the instant they appeared.
In other words, even among a group packed with top scorers, the vast majority of examinees couldn't help but feel a sliver of fear at the sight of a real gate.
"S-Seo-Seonho…. Th-that's, is that seriously a real dungeon gate…."
"…Yeah. Looks like it."
Just like Cha Eunju, who was trembling openly right beside me.
I pulled her into my arms to reassure her, quietly stroking her hair as I waited for the announcement over the speakers to finish.
If there is any examinee who does not feel confident attempting this practical examination…
"……."
"……."
You are free to exit the waiting room right now.
-Clang.
"……."
"……."
The announcement played out the instant the waiting room door that had been holding the examinees captive swung open.
The message was clear: if you didn't have the confidence to face real monsters, give up now. And sure enough, a few students actually stood up and bolted, terrified by the prospect of fighting real monsters.
"N-no way! How am I supposed to fight an actual monster?!"
"Isn't this illegal…? We haven't even enrolled yet, and they're making us enter a dungeon gate…."
"……."
Some fled from sheer fear of the monsters. Some walked out muttering that since something this illegal was going on, the results would be thrown out anyway. And still others left without a word, quietly slipping through the door.
Just in case, I made a point of memorizing the face of every examinee who walked out — but none of them were characters I recognized.
Well, that was only natural; anyone leaving now wouldn't be appearing in the main stage of Surviving the Hunter Academy to begin with.
…Of course, for every person who feared or doubted the idea of fighting monsters, there were bound to be others practically itching for the chance to battle the real thing.
"Students who wish to enter, please form an orderly line and enter the dungeon gate. This dungeon is a teleportation-type that will relocate you to random coordinates within upon entry. A maximum of two people may transfer together at a time, so hold on tight to your partner and…"
"YESSS! So the moment I go in, I get to fight monsters!! Me! Me! I'll be the first one in!!"
"Goddammit, shut up already, Park Cheonho! Now everyone's staring at ME because of you!"
"Let's go in fast! This is my first time fighting real monsters! Hurry!! Park Hana, hurry!!"
"F-fine, so just shut up already! …W-we'll be going in first, then?"
"By all means, enter whenever you wish. Please hold hands firmly as you enter, so that the dungeon's teleportation doesn't separate you from your partner."
"See? We can go in! Let's move!! Park Hana, move!!"
"I can hear you fine without all that bellowing, you know…."
-Whoosh!
After one round of thoroughly rambunctious comedy, the Park siblings were sucked through the gate.
Watching them was like seeing Park Cheonho and Park Hana lifted straight off the pages of the novel, and a smile crept across my face unbidden. Their uncanny fidelity to the original made me feel, all over again, that I really had stepped into a novel's world.
"Ah, whatever! It'll work out somehow!"
-Whoosh!
"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, don't be nervous…."
-Whoosh!
"Excuse me, proctor. My, uh, partner just ran away."
"Ah, in that case, you may find a different partner and take the second-round examination instead."
"Hmm… I'd actually rather go in alone and take it as is. Is that not allowed?"
"…If that is the examinee's wish, there is no issue."
"Thank you."
-Whoosh!
After the Park siblings went in, some kind of momentum seemed to build, and from then on examinees began stepping through the gate one by one.
Seeing that Kim Isabel's group and Han Sora's group still hadn't entered, I judged it about the right moment and rose from my seat together with Cha Eunju.
-Screeech.
"Let's go in too, Eunju."
"…Y-you're really going to do this?"
"Why, getting scared at this late stage?"
"……No."
"……."
"I-if it's with you, Seonho… I feel like I can manage anything."
"Good girl."
The same girl who'd once shaken like a leaf at the sight of a hologram monster was now, of her own will, summoning her courage to face real ones.
'She's grown a lot.'
The thought that the past week of training hadn't been for nothing brought a warm, easy smile to my face. …Granted, that week had been more about conditioning than training, strictly speaking.
Holding Cha Eunju's hand tight so I wouldn't lose her inside the dungeon, I stepped through the gate and into the practical examination.