Chapter 87: Little by Little (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87: Little by Little (3)
Team formation would determine my grade for the entire semester.
I couldn't let my personal feelings get in the way.
If Im Na-eun and Shin Yu-jeong had decided to accept Seo-yeon, then I had no choice but to do the same.
After all, looking at her abilities alone, she was clearly an attractive card to have.
In fact, it was strange that she hadn't been picked up by another team yet.
With her level of skill, she must have been flooded with offers the moment the team formation notice went up.
"Well then, I look forward to working with you this semester."
"Yeah, me too."
We exchanged simple greetings.
Even if it was temporary, this was a team formed to conquer a dungeon.
Simply keeping my mouth shut wasn't the best way to foster team harmony, so I spoke first.
Seo-yeon naturally joined us at the table where we were sitting.
The four of us huddled around the circular table, our heads casting shadows over the tablet.
"Who should we get for the last spot?"
"Wouldn't a tanker be best?"
A tanker.
The pros and cons of having two tankers in one party were clear.
The upside was that if the two tankers were in sync, they could create an impenetrable front line.
The downside was the loss of damage output from having an extra tanker instead of a dealer.
So, for our party…
"A tanker would be good."
As soon as I voiced my opinion, all eyes turned to me.
They seemed to want to know my reasoning.
"With Na-eun, Seo-yeon-sunbae, and me, I think we'll have more than enough damage for any dungeon, as long as we choose the right difficulty."
To be honest, we had more than enough damage; it was practically overflowing.
We had a mage who could unleash a barrage of attacks with enough prep time, and a magic swordsman who could handle both ranged and close-quarters combat.
And then there was me.
If a dungeon proved too much for a team with this much firepower, it would mean we’d picked the wrong difficulty in the first place.
"That certainly… makes sense."
Shin Yu-jeong nodded, looking displeased but seemingly convinced.
She was probably unhappy because having two tankers would reduce her own contribution, and she was worried about that.
There was a way to address that to some extent.
"So, we'll have you, Yu-jeong, as the main tanker, and the other person as the sub-tanker."
The contributions of a main and sub are clearly distinct.
It was still a split, but she would surely understand that much.
The corners of Shin Yu-jeong's lips crept upward slightly.
"If that's the case… I'm in favor."
Neither Seo-yeon nor Im Na-eun seemed to have any objections.
With that, we had a consensus.
I immediately operated the tablet, switching to the page listing the students in the tanker position.
There were about thirty tankers.
More than half of them were already grayed out.
Since tankers are one of the most crucial assets when forming a party, the teams that moved fast must have secured one first.
"How about this one?"
"Ah, he's too weak."
"Then this one…?"
"That bastard just can't use a shield."
The conversation was centered around Shin Yu-jeong.
Since she was a tanker herself, she seemed to have a good grasp of the others' strengths and weaknesses.
I stepped back from their huddle and quietly stared at the tablet.
There were about twelve tankers left.
Most of them were tankers with lower-ranking grades.
Among them, a peculiar person caught my eye.
"A foreigner?"
Elena Mikhailova Dobreva…
"Is she Russian?"
Shin Yu-jeong, who overheard the words that had slipped out, answered my question.
"No, she's Bulgarian."
"I see."
The number of foreign students attending Korea University wasn't very high.
The reasons were the fierce competition for admission and the surprisingly high language barrier.
These days, thanks to advancements in magic engineering, high-performance translators were popping up one after another, but the translation accuracy wasn't perfect yet. To communicate smoothly, one had to learn Korean.
It wasn't easy to master Korean to the point of understanding university lectures, and while Korea University was an outstanding Hunter training institution, it wasn't completely irreplaceable.
"Bulgaria is in Europe, isn't it?"
"That's right."
"Then why did she enroll at Korea University?"
Europe has quite a few Hunter training institutions comparable to Korea University.
The institutions in the UK and Germany were on par with ours, and I knew France's was also at a considerable level, though slightly below.
"She said she came to earn money."
"Money…?"
"Yeah. Korea University students get a temporary license, right?"
"Ah."
If it was to earn money, that made a certain amount of sense.
The Hunter Association issues temporary Hunter licenses to Korea University students.
The rank varies slightly depending on their grades, but it's generally between B and D.
Once the temporary license is issued, they can legally conquer dungeons.
In other words, they could earn money while studying as a student.
But I knew that not all Hunter training institutions in every country followed this system.
I'd heard that the ones in Europe, in particular, were very military-like, to the point where students needed permission just to go out.
Nine times out of ten, this Elena's family was likely poor.
And she was probably acting as the head of her household.
That's why she must have come all the way to Korea, where she could earn money while training to become a Hunter.
"Hmm…"
Poverty often makes people pessimistic about their lives, but sometimes, it can also become a driving force for growth.
If she came all the way to Korea to earn money… I had a feeling this Elena was the latter.
"You're not thinking of putting Elena on the team, are you?"
While I was lost in thought, Shin Yu-jeong asked me, her face full of anxiety.
"If her tanking ability is good, I might. Why?"
When I asked back, Shin Yu-jeong opened her mouth, her expression firm.
"She's a no-go."
Her voice was as firm as her expression.
She wouldn't object without a reason. Did Elena have some kind of fatal flaw?
"Why?"
"First of all, communication is difficult."
Well, that certainly counted as a disadvantage.
In a dungeon, it's crucial for each party member to communicate smoothly and move as a cohesive unit.
If this Elena wasn't fluent in Korean, we'd be starting with one handicap already.
"She can't speak any Korean at all?"
"Not exactly, but she's only at a level for simple conversation."
"Really…?"
With that, plus body language and a translator, it seemed like communication would be possible somehow.
Honestly, I was puzzled.
Tapping on the profile picture on the tablet brought up a brief profile.
Height, weight, weapon used, strengths and weaknesses, trait, etc.
She was tall, standing at 180cm, and weighed 72kg.
Her weapon was a massive Tower Shield that could cover her entire body.
Seeing as she used a shield that would be difficult for most to even carry, her strength stat must be quite high.
Her trait was Deep-Rooted Tree.
The details weren't listed, but just from the name, it sounded like a trait that was a perfect fit for a tanker.
"You're probably wondering too. Why a kid who looks so outstanding on paper is still available."
Was she reading my mind now?
Somehow, she had laid my inner thoughts bare.
"You're right. Honestly, she seems better than some of the tankers who've already been recruited, not just the ones left."
She was too good a prospect to give up just because communication was a bit difficult.
If the students at Korea University weren't all fools, there seemed to be no reason to pass her up. Why was she still available?
Shin Yu-jeong gave me the answer.
"She has a flaw that's more fatal than the language barrier."
"What is it?"
"Her trait."
"Her trait… Deep-Rooted Tree?"
"Yeah, that one."
Just from the name, I couldn't get a feel for it.
"Deep-Rooted Tree is a trait that channels a portion of the impact she receives into the ground beneath her, creating an area-of-effect slow zone around her."
…Am I the only one whose mouth is watering hearing that?
Crowd Control.
Commonly known as CC.
It's a term often used in games, referring to skills that apply restrictions to enemies.
It wouldn't be strange to consider Deep-Rooted Tree one of the best traits for a tanker.
She negates a portion of the impact she takes and uses it to create a slow zone?
With something like that, it wouldn't be surprising if she was a recruitment target for a major guild.
"But there's a huge drawback hidden in it."
"What is it?"
Honestly, my mind was almost made up.
If I were to put a number on it, I was about 90% sure.
I was going to recruit her.
The drawback was obvious.
The duration was probably very short, the range was small, or the effect was minimal.
It might be a critical flaw now, but it could be improved through training, so I could think of it as an investment in the future…
"That slow zone has no friend-or-foe distinction."
"Huh?"
"Meaning, it slows down allies too."
Ah, and that's where the other 10% comes in.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
For a moment, I had a dream.
A perfect harmony where Shin Yu-jeong, as the main tanker, held back the monsters, while the sub-tanker, Elena, set up a slow zone to render the enemies useless.
"Sigh."
It would have been perfect if things had gone as planned.
I never imagined the drawback would be that it slowed down everyone, friend or foe.
"Still disappointed?"
"…A little."
I answered Shin Yu-jeong's question honestly as she walked beside me.
"Give it up. During the first semester, a lot of people took her in, thinking they could overcome that flaw somehow."
"…They all must have failed."
And that's why she was left all alone now.
"You catch on quick."
She let out a small laugh and patted my shoulder.
A sense of regret lingered.
Should I just close my eyes and recruit her?
Maybe I, unlike the other students, could find a solution.
…The challengers who came after the first failure probably all thought the same thing I did.
"Hey, stop thinking about that for a second."
As I was trudging along, her hand grabbed my arm, stopping me.
"Um… it's getting late, so it's a bit much to ask my mom to make dinner, don't you think?"
It was 8 PM now…
It was past the usual dinner time.
"Then I'll just whip something up at home."
"No, that's not what I mean!"
She startled me.
Why was she suddenly shouting?
"What I'm saying is, since we're already out, let's have dinner before we go home. You know… maybe have a few drinks too."
Shin Yu-jeong rambled, her face slightly flushed.
I had noticed it a while ago.
Seeing how she kept glancing at my face, I figured she had something to say.
"Sure, why not."
I became very curious about what she wanted to talk about.