Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Training Facility (2)
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After arriving at the dorms and settling in to rest, everyone slowly began to speak up, their minds clearly weighed down with confusion.
"Ha... fuck, what the hell is even going on here? No monster fights right now or anything?"
Kang I-seo voiced her doubts, and Seo Yu-ju seemed eager to share what she knew, opening her mouth slowly to explain.
"...From what they've told us, this place seems to be a training facility for newbies like us. We probably train here for three months, then join clans based on the offers we get."
Cha Hyun-jin frowned, his expression twisted by the complexity of it all.
"Ugh... so does that mean we'll all go our separate ways after three months?"
I watched Seo Yu-ju's reaction, curious about what she was thinking.
"...Some might split up, but others get offers from the same clan and join together."
Everyone wore complicated expressions. Even so, having survived life-or-death crises together, the idea of parting ways didn't sit well with them.
'This reaction... suits me just fine.'
From my perspective, their responses were more than welcome. By status window standards, I was the one at risk of being left behind.
The softer their attachments, the higher the odds we'd end up in the same clan.
'With Seo Yu-ju... I have to stick with her no matter what.'
It'd be insane to separate from the regressor when who-knows-what dangers lay ahead.
I had to cling to Seo Yu-ju's side, who knew the future. Her reactions so far suggested she wouldn't ditch me, but nothing in this world was 100% certain.
Wanting at least a rough idea of her thoughts, I asked her directly.
"Yu-ju, what are your plans? Anything you've been thinking about...?"
Everyone waited on her answer. She was the unspoken leader of the group.
'Right... you won't abandon me, will you? We've got that bond from the first round... right?'
I trusted our regressor. No, I had no choice but to.
"For me... no matter the clan, I'd like it if we all stayed together."
Her response was the best possible answer for me. The anxiety in my chest began to ease.
'Me from the first round... thanks a ton.'
The others visibly brightened, satisfied with her words.
"More importantly... those tutorial slackers who just hid the whole time? They're getting treated like shit here..."
We'd cleared the dungeon while they'd done nothing, so our treatment was worlds apart.
That guy Kang Sung-jun from earlier was likely one of the top powerhouses on this continent. The mere fact that he'd personally guided us showed how much attention we were getting from the higher-ups.
Meanwhile, those others clearly saw no value in being nice to people who'd ditched the fights to hide.
At Kang I-seo's comment, Kim Ho-won spoke up.
"Don't worry about it. They're just paying the price for slacking off all that time."
No one could argue with that. While they'd gorged on rations and slept soundly without a care, we'd staked our lives in brutal fights.
"...I get it, old man. Just... yeah. So we're getting the good treatment then?"
This time, Seo Yu-ju replied.
"They'll probably treat us fairly. They want to recruit us however they can."
"Uh... we cleared the dungeon, sure, but isn't the VIP treatment a bit much?"
To address Kang I-seo's doubt, I chimed in.
"It's because we cleared it way faster than the average time."
She looked at me with a puzzled expression, like it didn't add up.
"How do you know that?"
I explained calmly.
"I-seo, think back to when they first saw us. They looked at us like they couldn't believe it, right? Wondering how we'd cleared in under a month."
"Yun-seong's right. We probably cleared the tutorial much faster than average. That's why we're getting this treatment—they're eyeing us."
One question lingered about Seo Yu-ju. Why had she pushed to clear the tutorial so quickly?
'Does she want to stand out? Doesn't seem like her.'
She could've led us slowly to hit the average clear time. Yet she'd rushed it—what was her reason?
'Something behind it? Who knows. Maybe she needs the rep for fastest clear.'
A bit later, Kang Sung-jun—the one who'd guided us earlier—returned alone.
"How are you all holding up?"
Seo Yu-ju answered politely.
"Yes, the fatigue's eased up thanks to you. Appreciate it."
"Haha! No need. Glad you got some good rest."
'...What the?'
Way too friendly.
I'd figured he wouldn't come personally again—send someone else. Up until recently, he hadn't seemed keen on doing it twice.
"Follow me. There's a big auditorium where I'll explain the training overview. Oh! The other newbies are already there—not you all."
'...They've heard, huh?'
Meaning the other tutorial survivors were gathered, so they'd gotten a rundown of what we'd done.
'Makes sense why he came back himself.'
Us... well, starting with Seo Yu-ju alone at first, but anyway... they'd heard how our group turned the starting building into a camp, gathered people, and cleared the tutorial.
'Totally get why he's acting this way.'
To them, it'd be absurd. Tutorials usually keep people scrambling just to survive, yet we'd cleared in record time.
And not only that—we'd looked after the others too.
How must we look to them?
Sure enough, Kang Sung-jun started probing.
"I heard a bit from the others... You gathered tutorial survivors, scavenged food to share, even protected them from monsters? Was that...?"
Seo Yu-ju confirmed.
"Ah... yes. That's right."
He looked genuinely shocked by her answer.
Earlier, while guiding us, he'd eyed us like precious gems. Now, he stared like we were monsters ourselves.
'...A powerhouse like this looking at us like we're the monsters...'
Felt pretty damn weird.
Suddenly, An Tae-woo spoke up to Kang Sung-jun, like he had something to add.
"...To be precise, Yu-ju did it all alone at first. Right when the tutorial started and monsters attacked, she grabbed a spear, directed everyone, and held them off from the building."
"...You held off monsters from that initial starting building?"
He'd only gotten the vague version from others, not the details.
Now he finally seemed to grasp Seo Yu-ju's value, glancing at her intently from the corner of his eye.
'Bet he's jacking up her evaluation big time.'
"That's not all. She basically took the leader role, and against the boss monster, we'd have lost people without her."
Seo Yu-ju looked seriously burdened by An Tae-woo's praise. Clearly hadn't expected him to hype her this much—she was flustered.
"T-Tae-woo! Th-that's... a bit...!"
Kang Sung-jun, with a question forming, asked us.
"What...? Sorry, but does that mean no one died in the dungeon...?"
An Tae-woo seemed thrown by Kang Sung-jun's confusion. After all, no one had died on our side.
"Ah...? Yeah. Everyone made it out safe, luckily."
Kang Sung-jun glanced at Seo Yu-ju as he replied.
"That's... incredible."
He seemed at a loss for words, still struggling to believe what he'd heard.
'...Guess deaths are standard in dungeons.'
Made sense. What we'd felt progressing through ours was that the difficulty was brutally unfair.
My take from clearing it: the balance was set so at least half the participants would die.
"...We're almost at the auditorium, so I'll give you a heads-up. After the speech tomorrow, there'll be a session to log your jobs. You can all open your status windows, but don't share the details with anyone here."
Lee Yu-rim asked Kang Sung-jun.
"Any special reason?"
"Hm... not special, just common sense. Revealing your job or traits exposes your weaknesses."
What he said nailed exactly why I couldn't share my unique trait.
'Who'd let some asshole peek at their status window freely? Straight-up weakness exposure.'
That was the core reason I worried about the group ditching me here. Without my unique trait, I was worthless trash.
Unable to reveal my ability, I'd just look like a useless deadweight in their eyes over time.
"Anyway, you'll fill out job info, but no need for everything. Just the role is fine—like Swordsman, Priest, Archer. Oh! One tip."
"What is it?"
"Log your job grade—it helps with clan offers. Grades reflect performance. But don't lie. Clans verify on joining."
Makes sense... Clan execs aren't idiots; they'd check for fakes.
"Or log job name and grade exactly, hide unique traits. Job names alone don't reveal full abilities. Hides weaknesses while attracting good clans."
Explaining in such detail, Kang Sung-jun didn't seem like a bad guy at all.
Nah, honestly, he struck me as pretty straightforward.
'...I wouldn't have spilled this much.'
No guarantee we'd join his clan, so no need to arm us for others.
'Or maybe he's just selling himself as the good guy. Probably more likely.'
"We've arrived while chatting. Take those empty seats up front. I'll head out—gotta give the speech as chief instructor."