Just Show Up and We're Good

"Mmyeeh...?"

—Flap, flap.

I squeezed my eyes shut and summoned Suri, and next thing I knew, something like a winged ping-pong ball was hovering in the air with a whirring buzz. Looking closer, it was Suri — tiny as could be, yet somehow equipped with everything: bean-sized eyes, dainty little wings, even teeny feet.

"N-no way…."

"Jeezus, Eve, that's so embarrassing."

"Agreed. Miniaturizing a flight-type golem is its own skill."

Her original form was way too huge, so I was hoping for a full eagle size, but apparently communication with Daengdaengi didn't quite go through, and she got switched into the world's chubbiest little puffball instead.

—Poook.

Suri flapped her wings with tremendous effort and perched herself right on top of my head. Honestly, she's so light I couldn't even tell if she was sitting or not — she's round enough that she looked like she'd roll right off if she walked, so she was clinging to my hair with her teeny little feet.

"S-Suri... you didn't have to come out this small…."

—Cheep, cheep….

"If you're going to give orders, give them properly..? Mwehh."

Grumbling under her breath all the while, Suri changed back into her eagle form.

—Fwap!

"Ugh, so heavy…."

—Kyuit….

Suri suddenly grew to full size while perched on my head, and I nearly toppled straight over backward — but she grabbed the collar of my clothes and hoisted me up, keeping me from hitting the ground.

"Momma mia, she just got big all of a sudden."

"Wait, golemancers can do that?"

"A-ranks really are built different, huh."

"Ehehe... she can get even bigger than this, you know…."

"Bigger than this? You're telling me she two-stage evolves?"

"Just like Pokémon."

Back in her original eagle form, Suri landed smoothly on the ground. Instructor Baek Sang-joon, who'd been watching her closely from the side, stared at her for a long moment, then added one more remark to me.

"Anything else you're not pulling out?"

"Ah... other things, sir..?"

"There's more?"

"I did say there were a few more just now."

"It's a little awkward right now, so... I'll show you later."

"Fine, got it. Go on in, then."

"Yes, sir."

It didn't really feel like I'd properly demonstrated my abilities, but this much should be fine, right? Honestly, if Ophelia and Minium and Grandpa Galahad had all come out too, I'd have been the absolute strongest one here. So they were cutting me a little slack.

"Alright, you two Dragoons, front and center."

"Yes, sir."

"Line it up, Na Byeong-ho."

"Time for Gyeong-won to go meet his parents in the great beyond."

"He's living peacefully at my mom's place."

"Give her my regards."

After exchanging one insult each, taking a smack to the back of the head from Instructor Baek Sang-joon, we got down to team assignments.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

"Dammit."

"Woo-hooo~ Ha Yeon-woo, come here."

"Ugh, I really hate this."

"Told you I'm better than Byeong-ho, didn't I?"

"What was that? I hate you both."

"The hell."

With Byeong-ho sunbae winning the first round of rock-paper-scissors, Yeon-woo unni went to his team. Matching that, Gyeong-won sunbae took Cho-a, and when Byeong-ho sunbae won the next round as well, he picked me.

"S-sunbae. Why did you pick me?"

"Normally you grab the newbies first, you know. But Veu-ya, I picked you because I like you."

"Ah... yes, sir."

"What's with that reaction."

I guess there's some kind of courtesy thing about not making the little kids feel discouraged. I'd figured I'd be separated from Cho-a, but actually being apart from her feels kind of sad.

"Eve, let's do well. Not that I'm planning to lose."

"Y-yeah…."

"You'll be fine, Eve! Unni's here with you!"

On our side, at least, we had Yeon-woo unni. Judging from the overall vibe, Gyeong-won sunbae felt slightly less combat-ready than Byeong-ho sunbae? Probably because of their roles — Byeong-ho sunbae is a tanker, after all.

After that, through rounds and rounds of rock-paper-scissors and endless bickering, the two raid teams more or less took shape.

"Right, no objections, then. This lineup stays for months."

"Eh, really, sir?"

"Yes. In this world, there's no such thing as a redo. Even if you don't get along, once a raid begins you are comrades-in-arms, fighting back to back. Don't think about changing your team — think about adapting to each other."

Out of nowhere, Instructor Baek Sang-joon dropped some actual wisdom on us. The split team roster looked like this:

And then Gyeong-won sunbae's team:

Once the raid teams were finalized, each team got its own strategy session on Instructor Baek Sang-joon's orders.

"Veu-ya, you see that girl over there? She's got familiars or something. You think you can beat her?"

"She's a summoner, Byeong-ho."

"Whatever, same thing."

"I honestly don't know... I've never seen her use her ability…."

"Fair enough. She's new to me too, so I've got no clue how strong she is."

On Gyeong-won sunbae's team there was one summoner who commanded subordinates using her ability, just like me. But she's a transfer student too, so nobody's seen her power in action yet.

"Eve, truth is, this isn't about students fighting each other. There's an instance gate behind the school, and that's where we're headed."

"Oh, really? So we're not fighting each other after all?"

"Nope."

Come to think of it, that makes sense. Hunters hunt monsters in the first place — is there really any need to fight other students? Honestly, this works out even better for me. For some reason, I'd rather ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not watch my golems go all-out against actual people.

While we all sat in a circle and Yeon-woo unni and Byeong-ho sunbae debated strategy with great enthusiasm, the unni sitting next to me gave my shoulder a little tap and leaned in close.

"Eve."

"Ah, uh, umm..! Sa-na sunbae?"

"That's me."

I Sa-na sunbae, the 2nd-year middle schooler and our wide-area healing mainstay. Her name is a little unusual, but she's Korean. She wears an eyepatch over her right eye and has bandages wrapped around her right arm. No idea whether it's fashion or an actual injury.

Come to think of it, our class is all Korean, isn't it? I'm pretty sure they said there were a few foreigners too.

In the G-class that studies next door, there are exactly two people who look foreign even from far away — a black-haired girl unni who looks middle-school age, and a dark-skinned boy sunbae.

Sa-na sunbae scooted over until her hip was pressed right against mine, and quietly spoke up.

"Eve. I think you and I are the same kind."

"Yes..? The same kind...?"

"Yes."

What on earth is she talking about..? The same kind? Don't tell me this unni is also secretly a man who—

"I am in truth concealing my power. It is sealed for now, but my wide-area healing hides a tremendous secret."

"Uh, oh... like what..? What secret...?"

"My ability is not healing. It is a powerful reality-alteration spell that deletes the very concept of a 'wound.'"

"Ah.... umm…."

Did she say she's a 2nd-year middle schooler? Yeah. Yeah, this tracks.

"If I undo the bandages on this right hand, the seal will break. And my ability transforms into pure lethality. But it's far too dangerous, so I keep it sealed for now."

"I see.... You should keep it sealed forever…."

Somehow I get the feeling I'm the one who encouraged this conversation by looking young. Please, I beg you, don't kick your blankets around in your bed tonight thinking about this. Even listening to it is making me cringe….

"Then what about that eyepatch..? Is that sealing something too?"

"Correct. This eye holds an immense power dwelling within it. I don't show it because it might frighten people... care to see it once?"

"N-no thank you. I don't like scary things either. Fighting."

"I see."

Sa-na unni had gone completely, wholeheartedly absorbed in her own personal whatever-you-call-it. But honestly, I might have done the same. If non-awakened people can catch a case of chunibyo, then awakening an actual superpower at this age might just tip you over the edge a little.

"Suri, your golem. She's truly magnificent. It almost makes me want to raise a familiar of my own."

"Th-that's nice..? Suri says thank you…."

—Kyuit..?

"I am a solitary being. I wish there existed someone with whom I could openly share my secrets."

"Have you ever actually used that ability, though?"

"Not yet. If I had, my rank might well have become S."

"Aha…."

Okay, confirmed. I want this to stop before my hands and feet start curling up into little raisins.

Listening to the passionate debate between Yeon-woo unni, Byeong-ho sunbae, and company like background music, I lost track of time — and before I knew it, lunch hour had arrived. Third period had apparently run straight through into fourth without any of us noticing.

At some point the dome's ceiling must have opened — I think it was right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the start of fourth period, when it opened up to let the sunlight in and warm the place. Maybe time just flies when you're around other people, or maybe it's just that today's been A Lot.

"You brats over there, go eat and come back. Don't be late."

"Where are you going, sir?"

"Why do you care? I'm going to go bury some punk who gets on my nerves behind the hill."

"Wow, what a bad person. Eve, we must never become like that, right?"

"R-right…."

"Shoo, off you go. This is the teachers' break room now."

With that, the teacher whooshed off. Looked like he was heading over to chat with the G-class teacher way over there — and judging by how the G-class teacher bowed his head, Instructor Baek Sang-joon must be the higher-ranked one.

"Anyone wanna eat lunch with this incredibly handsome sunbae?"

"Hyung, cut the nonsense and let's go."

"Thanks, Geon-woo…."

The boys whooshed off to eat with the other boys. Gyeong-won sunbae's raid team seemed to be heading off to lunch together as a team too.

"Girls, shall we go too?"

"Yes, unni. Let's eat fast and take a walk."

"Yeah, let's."

Naturally, I got lumped in with the girls.

"Caloric intake is required to maintain the seal."

"Ah…."

This sunbae is 100% committed to the bit.

Top floor of Nova Guild Headquarters on Teheran-ro, Gangnam.

"Haah, this is awfully sudden."

"Then again, it does seem like a good opportunity. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠problem is we're short on people who can deploy right now."

A single message had come up from the Korean Dungeon Management Association to Nova headquarters.

"At least twelve people... so they want us to field a full raid team, basically."

"Looks like it. And honestly, that works out better when it comes time to calculate the dungeon investigation contribution percentages later."

They were assembling a raid team for the long-postponed re-measurement of the Silence Laboratory's dungeon grade. The standard procedure was to scout hunters with stealth capabilities or high mobility, carry scouting equipment, and rapidly measure mana concentration up to the fifth floor.

But that method is heavily discouraged in the world dungeon investigation manual. Call it a bit of a corner-cutting survey. The previous investigation of the Silence Laboratory had been conducted the same way.

With all eyes currently on the Silence Laboratory, adopting a shortcut method a second time could drag the Korean Dungeon Management Association's reputation straight into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dirt. They'd already taken a major image hit before, thanks to the sudden antics of a certain ten-year-old girl.

Nova was working its own hunters to the bone to raise funds for the upcoming public auction of the Silence Laboratory, leaving them with no quick way to shore up headcount from elsewhere.

"Team Leader Yu — that girl from before? Can't we bring her in this time?"

"Eve..? Eve is... well, she just started school. And the Association did specifically ask for Nova personnel…."

On top of that, while it might not technically be a big deal, there was that whole incident of Eve unintentionally demolishing the Dungeon Management Association — so bringing her along on an Association request left them feeling a little hesitant.

"Ha, but what if we did bring Eve in..?"

Filling twelve slots would be infinitely easier than dragging in a handful of hard-running Nova hunters from every corner.

"Ms. Ophelia, Minium, and that new bird golem we saw — if we finagle the headcount just right…."

"Team Leader Yu?"

"...No helping it, then."