Ah, Thrilling. Feels Damn Good.
Today’s lesson, just as I’d promised, was full of tricks. How to ace the exam even better. This was the real curriculum I’d prepared with genuine intent to teach her.
“I-is that so?”
Yoo Ara clearly wasn’t thrilled. She fidgeted, twisting her head this way and that, looking like she wanted something more. I knew exactly what it was.
Hold out until the end-of-month evaluation.
The key was scoring high on the evaluation. And the ultimate goal? Passing the regular exam.
“The end-of-month evaluation score basically counts as your regular exam score. The tests are similar, and…”
I ignored Yoo Ara as she squirmed closer to my side and pressed on with the lesson.
“The golems in the simulation have high defense settings, but there’s a fatal flaw in the system…”
“The regular exam and end-of-month evaluation use the same simulation. Though sometimes they summon real monsters, in which case…”
“Ignore your partners in the end-of-month evaluation. Clear speed matters just as much as teamwork.”
“If you really want full teamwork points…”
I passed on every trick in the book for the end-of-month evaluation and regular exam. As the lesson neared its end:
“That’s all?”
“Yeah. Like I said earlier, you need to take first place in both to pass.”
“I don’t need first place, though…”
Her voice trailed off meekly. Right. She probably didn’t need first for herself. Passing the regular exam was her goal.
She looked dejected for a moment, then suddenly lifted her head.
“Then how about this!”
“What?”
“If I take first in both the end-of-month evaluation and the regular exam, what will you give me?”
“Give you? I’ll congratulate you.”
“Th-that’s it?”
“Are you an idiot? If you get first in both, that’s all for you. What more do you want from me?”
Yoo Ara panicked, her eyes darting away.
“N-no, I mean… At school, if you get first, they give you scholarships for your hard work, and professors praise you…”
I recalled the thick feminine scent that had brushed past my nose every lesson. The seductive aroma still teasing my senses now. Perfume, shampoo, air freshener, the smell of soft skin, and…
The musky scent of her aroused juices.
I couldn’t miss that smell. I’d caught whiffs of it countless times while tutoring—no, training—her. It was the fragrance of a female luring a male.
She wasn’t doing it on purpose. Probably less about seducing me and more…
The results of her training sessions here.
Alone with a man, stripped bare time and again, lashed with a leather belt like a whip while rotating mana. Her body, hypersensitive compared to a normal person’s, must still vividly recall those climaxes. Reflexive reactions, etched in like Pavlov’s dog.
“S-so… um… give me a reward.”
“A reward?”
“Yes! A reward!”
I knew exactly what “reward” she meant without her spelling it out. Hell, I wanted to fuck her right then too.
Yoo Ara’s looks were striking. Our first meeting, her face was haggard from exhaustion, but even then, she’d caught my eye as a beauty. Long hair down to her waist, those especially luminous amber eyes. Gorgeous. The kind that made you want to whip it out and plunge in right away.
But not now.
However…
If she really takes first in both the end-of-month evaluation and the first regular exam, like she said.
It’d be a fine carrot to dangle for taming this bitch in heat.
To crush Daesung, I need you.
Yoo Ara was the starting point for my goals. So.
“Fine.”
I’d lure her with a fitting reward.
“Get first, and I’ll give you whatever reward you want. But brag about it everywhere. Say I taught you.”
“Got it.”
And with that, our final prep lesson for the end-of-month evaluation wrapped up.
“Ugh!”
Yoo Ara’s pride was wounded. Kim Siu hadn’t even glanced at her, staying laser-focused on the lesson to the end.
“He was telling me to strip not long ago!”
What the hell now?
“Is he impotent or something? Ignoring me even when I’m throwing myself at him like this?”
Yoo Ara eyed herself in the mirror. A flimsy skirt fit for a date, heavy makeup, a subtle perfume glow. Undeniably alluring.
Clothes she’d bought to snag a boyfriend once she settled into the academy. Doomed to gather dust in her closet thanks to her hellish grades.
Nothing like her old self, worn down by fatigue and classes…
“No way. Did he already get off to my bare face?”
Nah, couldn’t be.
She bit her lip. That absolutely couldn’t happen…
Suddenly, she remembered her childish plea for a reward if she got first.
It pissed her off. Kim Siu, doing nothing with her all dolled up right in front of him.
“I’ll definitely get first.”
Yoo Ara vowed to her mirror reflection.
The exam began.
The end-of-month evaluation. Students gathered before the massive simulation arena—big enough for three soccer fields. This pinnacle of technology packed every bit of the Korean Hunter Academy’s know-how. A hyper-realistic simulator delivering real combat, introduced just four years ago.
The 23rd class cadets, all tense, checked their gear.
The first end-of-month test drew the lowest scorers: Class 23-D. Maybe because it was a week before the regular exam.
“Hoo, hoo. I’m nervous.”
“Your team ready?”
“Obviously. We mapped the win route all the way to the regular exam.”
“Lucky.”
“Oh, right… You’ve got a repeater, huh?”
“Screwed. Gotta avoid failing…”
“We’ve got an open DPS spot. Join us?”
“Think it’ll fly?”
Everyone but one had locked in teams for the regular exam.
Yoo Ara. Last year’s legend: the lowest score ever, repeating. The sole 22nd class in 23-D. The one everyone avoided.
She’d aced recent weekly evals, sure—but those were easy. Anyone with basic skill could pass.
The end-of-month eval was different. It tested individual skill and teamwork.
Could she, shunned and rejected, pull off real teamwork?
Doubtful, the students thought.
“Fucking bastards.”
Yoo Ara ground her teeth at the whispering crowd.
Dogshit pricks. Acting like their slight luck made them kings of the world.
It’s fine. Today, I’m invincible.
Exam day. Kim Siu had shown up out of nowhere that morning.
What’s up?
Just in case. If it’s not the simulation I prepped you for, here’s something for you.
Sounds like you want me to take first.
Damn right. I want my student to be the best.
Isn’t this cheating?
Cheating? That’s for normies. Hunters survive by any means on the battlefield. Stick to rules, and you die.
His face had darkened then.
Get first, no matter what.
She glanced at the small ring he’d given her. If a dangerous foe beyond her power appeared, clench your fist and shout “Arpen.”
What was his angle? He knew what he’d make her do…
Does he like me?
Her virgin imagination—product of all-girls schools—ran wild.
“Heh heh heh. Too shy to say it outright.”
Yoo Ara did a final team check. Her squad: DPS Jang Won-ho, chatting with friends behind her; stoic all-rounder tank Lee Hye-ri, sharpening her blade alone; and rear-support Yoo Ara.
But not today.
“No rear support today. We go full front.”
“What? You sane?”
Jang Won-ho scowled.
“Repeater bitch messing with my life? Fail solo if you wanna tank. The hell…”
“Shut it. Useless DPS trash. I’ve got a plan.”
“What?”
Even the infamous repeater Yoo Ara made him frown.
“I repeated, yeah, but I’ve got a year more academy time than you punks. So zip it and…”
“This bitch really…”
“What, gonna hit me? Try it. Take the team assault penalty.”
“Ugh, fuck…”
Lee Hye-ri watched them coolly, shaking her head.
“Team’s off to a great start.”
They were Team 33. The worst random draw in problem-child 23-D—even they couldn’t form proper teams.
As the misfits bickered, eval time arrived.
“All prepared?”
Professor Park Ji-yoon, in charge of Urban Combat, drew every eye.
“Yes!”
“Simple rules. Complete your assigned mission inside the simulation zone. 23-D has 99 students total. Bottom 20 get zero!”
Teams of three, but bottom 20 individuals failed—not whole teams.
Yoo Ara knew this unfair rule. Teamwork mattered, but not everyone passed together.
That’s how I failed last time.
Not this time. She clenched her fist. Kim Siu’s ring felt sharper.
Professor Park Ji-yoon raised her hand after the rundown.
“Ready? Begin!”
Beep!
23-D poured into the sim arena. Team 33—Yoo Ara, Jang Won-ho, Lee Hye-ri—too.
Yoo Ara thought:
It’s… easier than I thought?
The gap between end-of-month and regular exams was difficulty. Same rules in the sim.
And Yoo Ara dismantled foes effortlessly.
Golems in the sim have a fatal flaw: the neck-head joint. Real golems have it too, but it’s exaggerated here.
Boom!
She crushed the notorious golem in one hit.
Citizens begging rescue sometimes? Their eyes glow red. Creepers—monsters in human disguise.
Screeech!
She wiped out the disguised creepers.
Goblins always hide one stealth ambusher. Never let your guard down. Hesitation is death.
Keruk! Kek!
Just like Kim Siu said, she slaughtered the rear sneak too.
Leading with her memorized strategies, her team advanced unstoppably.
“What the hell with that repeater…”
Jang Won-ho’s stunned voice trailed from behind.
Ah, thrilling. Feels damn good.