Chapter 268
Chapter 268
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 269
Chapter Title: Mentor Selection Rights
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“……Mentor selection rights? Whoa. We absolutely have to take first place for this, right?”
At Kim Moon-tae’s words, murmurs rippled through the students.
Mentor selection rights.
During the career experience program, every student would receive guidance from a mentor. And the mentor selection rights were the privilege of choosing one’s own mentor.
Since a maximum of three people could be with each mentor, getting the mentor selection rights was essential to team up with Lee Seo-jun for the career experience.
“There are a total of three mentor selection rights. Rankings will be determined by training performance, and they’ll go to first through third place. Naturally, these mentor selection rights also include the right to choose a ‘special operations area.’”
As Kim Moon-tae continued his explanation, the students nodded with tense expressions.
“Alright, then let’s move to the location for infiltration and disguise training.”
With that, Kim Moon-tae headed off somewhere. The students glanced around cautiously before following him.
The place Kim Moon-tae arrived at was the ‘Special Operations Training Ground’ inside the multipurpose training hall.
As soon as they entered, various machines came into view.
And there were rooms with modern backgrounds simulating different scenarios, as if they were real sites.
“Before we start the training, what do you think is the most essential thing for infiltration and disguise?”
Kim Moon-tae asked, looking around at everyone. Then one student shot up their hand and spoke.
“Concealment!”
“Correct. The most important thing in infiltration is not being detected by the enemy. In other words, concealment. But even concealment has its limits. Why? Because humans have something called ‘presence.’ And this machine detects surrounding presence.”
As Kim Moon-tae pointed to a boxy machine, the students looked at it with curious eyes.
“Now, do you see the number 19 on this machine?”
Kim Moon-tae pointed to the ‘9’ written on the machine.
“This expresses the detected surrounding presence numerically. If I approach like this——
At that moment, the number on the machine rose to ‘86’. As the distance closed, the presence increased.
“It detects surrounding presence and changes the number like this.”
“Whoa, that’s cool.”
Yoon Ha-young beside me muttered quietly.
“Then, this time——
Kim Moon-tae closed his eyes briefly and opened them.
At the same time, the flow of air around him shifted.
His figure was still clear, but his ‘presence’ had distinctly weakened compared to before.
He had used mana to ‘conceal’ his presence.
“Now, do you see the number here?”
The number that had read 86 changed to 17.
The students let out impressed ‘oohs’.
“One of the things you’ll learn today is exactly this: using mana to hide your presence at will.”
Amused by the students’ reactions, Kim Moon-tae chuckled softly.
“But as you can see, concealment isn’t perfect. I hid my presence as much as possible, but 17 still remains. However, just concealing presence to this level is a huge help for infiltration.”
After that, Kim Moon-tae began lecturing on methods to conceal presence.
I had [Stealthy Footsteps], so it didn’t mean much to me, but the lesson itself was interesting, so I listened attentively.
“The lecture ends here. For the next two hours, practice, then we’ll start the test. The test results will be evaluated with the ‘presence detector.’”
“Lee Seo-jun, 24! Currently in first place.”
“24? Wow…… As expected of Lee Seo-jun.”
After about two hours of individual practice, the test began.
Students took turns demonstrating the presence concealment they’d learned today in front of the ‘presence detector’.
The average score was in the 40s.
Partly because they’d just learned it today and weren’t familiar yet, but more importantly, deliberately suppressing presence artificially was difficult even for pro wizards.
“Lee Seo-jun’s in first. At that level, mentor selection rights are basically guaranteed, right?”
“Yeah. Yoo Ah-ra got 29, so she’s guaranteed too. Sigh. I knew it.”
“Hey, don’t get discouraged. The test isn’t over yet. There’s still disguise.”
While listening to the disappointed voices around me discussing the test results, Lee Seo-jun finished his test and came to sit beside me.
I glanced at Lee Seo-jun and said,
“The selection rights are basically guaranteed, huh?”
“Not confirmed yet.”
Lee Seo-jun said with a smile. Then he glanced at me.
“Are you confident you’ll make top three?”
“Who knows. We’ll see.”
Hiding presence was no problem with [Stealthy Footsteps], but the issue was the ‘disguise acting’.
From my memory, we had to act as a server dealing with terrorists, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull that off well.
“Hmm, really? So, any mentor you want?”
“Wizard Kim Deok-hyun.”
Kim Deok-hyun.
Even in the ‘Seoul Special Task Force’, where the world’s top elites gathered, he was known as a veteran among veterans.
Since he was the mentor Lee Seo-jun chose in the original story, it made sense for me to follow suit.
Surprised by my answer, Lee Seo-jun looked at me with intrigued eyes.
“Really? I was thinking of him too. That’s so weird. How do our choices always overlap like this?”
That’s because I’ve been stalking you like a fanboy.
At that moment, Yoo Ah-ra, who had been sitting with Yoon Ha-young not far away, glanced at us and approached.
“……What? You guys are aiming for Wizard Kim Deok-hyun too?”
“Yeah. No way you are too?”
At Lee Seo-jun’s question, Yoo Ah-ra nodded slightly.
“Well, he’s skilled and experienced in the Special Task Force……”
Lee Seo-jun nodded in agreement with Yoo Ah-ra’s words.
Then Yoo Ah-ra stared at my face with an anxious expression and asked,
“……You’re taking first, right?”
She’s asking like that again.
Wouldn’t normal people say something like, ‘You confident in first for this test?’ or ‘Aiming for first?’
“How do you always ask it like I can take first anytime?”
“Because you’ve never not gotten first in non-combat tests like this.”
……Did I? Thinking about it, maybe I have.
Then Yoo Ah-ra muttered to herself with a serious face.
“This is bad. If Kim Sun-woo takes first, I’ll get pushed to third…… There are three selection rights…… Ugh……”
Yoo Ah-ra muttered anxiously. Watching her, I chuckled.
She seemed worried about not getting the selection rights from this test.
Well, Yoo Ah-ra had always been very interested in special operations.
“Class A, Kim Sun-woo.”
Then I heard Kim Moon-tae calling me.
At the same time, all the students turned expectant eyes toward me. Having been active a lot lately, the expectations for me weren’t any less than for Lee Seo-jun.
“Go on.”
“Yeah.”
I approached the machine.
The number ‘84’ appeared on it.
“Now, hide your presence right away.”
“Yes.”
I immediately activated [Stealthy Footsteps].
I’d considered not using the trait, but if I half-assed it and lost the mentor selection rights, the loss would be too big, so I had no choice but to use it.
And then.
As soon as I activated the trait, everyone showed surprise.
Kim Moon-tae also stared at me with wide eyes. Then he turned to the machine.
“……What is this.”
Kim Moon-tae muttered blankly. Then he collected himself and said to me,
“……Ahem. Kim Sun-woo. You have incredible talent for hiding presence. You’re in first place.”
I nodded and looked at the machine.
The number [6] was displayed. I thought maybe I overdid it a bit, but better than not making top three.
After the ‘presence concealment’ test ended, the next announced lesson, ‘disguise agent’ practice, began.
The training method was as follows.
They set up a situation similar to an actual terrorist incident and assigned us to infiltrate disguised as staff or ordinary citizens.
Many students felt embarrassed about having to act and read lines.
But with ‘mentor selection rights’ on the line, the students endured the embarrassment and performed.
“……Uh. What’ll it be for ya?”
Laughter exploded around a student’s acting. The serious test atmosphere had long vanished amid the continuous flubs.
Not pleased with the sight, Kim Moon-tae sighed deeply.
“……Are you acting like a medieval shop clerk or something?”
“......No.”
“Get out.”
“……Yes, sir.”
“Sigh. How is there not a single decent one?”
Muttering to himself like that, Kim Moon-tae looked around at everyone and said,
“Don’t think of it as acting—do it naturally. I’m not asking you to act like an actor. Is it really that hard to just say casually, ‘Hello, customer’?”
At those words, even Lee Seo-jun gave an awkward smile out of embarrassment. Five minutes ago, Lee Seo-jun had flubbed his lines spectacularly and gotten roasted.
“……Next, Kim Sun-woo.”
As my name was called, chuckles rose around me.
“Kim Sun-woo’s good at everything else, but he’ll suck at acting, right?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you see last year’s documentary? He got so nervous his speech got weird.”
“Oh shit, I remember. His speech slowed way down. Heh heh.”
I furrowed my brow.
……What’s wrong with my speech?
“Sun-woo, no matter what, I won’t laugh!”
Perhaps hearing the chatter around, Yoon Ha-young said it like encouragement.
“Yeah, don’t get nervous—just relax.”
Lee Seo-jun next to her chimed in. Probably worried I’d embarrass myself because of last year’s documentary.
It wasn’t much comfort.
I nodded and stepped forward to the server desk.
“Alright, Kim Sun-woo. Same server role as before. Right now, I’m the terrorist in front of you. As I said earlier, this kind of disguised infiltration to deal with terrorists is absolutely necessary to minimize civilian casualties. Don’t think of it as pointless—take it seriously.”
“……Yes.”
I checked the script.
It listed responses for a typical store server.
To be precise, it wasn’t just a standard server manual—it included ways to naturally guide conversations with terrorists to buy time, gain trust, and methods for subduing them.
“Everyone memorized the script?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Good. Put the script down and start when ready.”
I nodded, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
“ Hoo......
Yeah, just don’t embarrass myself.
Normally. Without tension, naturally.
Pretend I’m really a server……
That was when.
[Latent trait, ‘Overimmersion’, activates.]
Suddenly, Overimmersion activated.
At the same time, the thought that I was a server sank in, allowing me to immerse in the server role even under everyone’s attention.
I opened my eyes and smiled kindly.
“O. What’s that? His expression?”
“Just the expression looks super friendly?”
Surprised voices came from around, but I ignored them and opened my mouth.
“Hello. Do you have a reservation?”
From my mouth came a soft, kind tone that didn’t even sound like me.
Even I could tell the first line was pure friendly server.
And right now, this place wasn’t the ‘training ground’ but a ‘restaurant’.
The laughing and chatting students had, at some point, turned serious eyes toward me.
Even Kim Moon-tae, forgetting his terrorist role, looked at me with flustered eyes.
Probably thrown off by the godly method acting created by my Overimmersion trait.
[Achieved ‘Godly Acting that Overwhelms the Audience’.]
[Reward: Obtained 5,000 points.]
I even got points. A whopping 5,000. But right now, immersed in my role, I had no time to rejoice over points.
Then Kim Moon-tae, staring at me intently, spoke.
“……Kim Sun-woo.”
What? Normally, the terrorist’s next line should come. Is he thrown off by my acting?
“Overimmersing is good, but hold back on ad-libs. The next line is ‘Hello. I’ll show you to your seat.’”
Ah.