Sorry for Overstepping

Sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping

Lua sat on a bench and watched the freshmen. She had seen this scene countless times in the game, but witnessing it with her own eyes was an entirely different feeling.

This is the beginning of the game.

Of course, Lua already knew the contents of the exam. The results, too.

In this test, where everyone poured their skills into a sandbag, the protagonist would scrape into the special class with a tenth-place finish.

Which means this is where the protagonist will reveal themselves.

The protagonist of Hunter Hunting Academy had free customization and a freely chosen name. In other words, there was no way of knowing what name or appearance they were currently wearing among those students.

Since she couldn't tell them apart by looks alone, she would have to identify them by their actions in the story.

I'll just have to watch until the exam is over.

Thinking that, Lua folded her arms.

"Time limit is five minutes. Students aiming to be healers, treat the sandbags as patients and use your skills on them. Since everything is measured by computer anyway…"

Midway through Supervisor Park Sihyuk's explanation, one student quietly raised a hand. Sua, working as an assistant, noticed first and called out to him.

"Teacher! I think someone has a question!"

"Hm? What is it?"

Every gaze in the field swung toward a single freshman.

A girl standing in the middle of the formation.

She wore the same gym uniform as everyone else, yet something refined clung to the way she carried herself. Black hair falling to her waist, bangs cut as straight as a blade, and at her hip, a pair of Japanese swords—one long, one short.

She gave off the air of a delicate noble young ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lady, but Lua knew full well that "delicate" was the last word that applied to her.

Hoshikawa Himari.

An exchange student from Japan, where the Gate crisis had struck just as it had in Korea—and a top-tier combatant among dealers.

Born to a prestigious family, she was an elite who had been drilled in her clan's swordsmanship since childhood.

She enrolled at Felix Academy to leave her family behind and seek new experiences… right.

Lua recalled her from the game. The way she cut down monsters without ever losing her composure had stolen the hearts of countless players.

Lua had been no exception. If she had to name her favorite student in Hunter Hunting Academy, Himari came to mind first. And as a party member, her performance was absurdly strong.

She's even prettier in person…

Being able to see Himari at a resolution no computer graphic could touch was a genuine pleasure—except for one problem. She could only look.

Right now, Hoshikawa Himari was not a game character. She was a person.

Which meant she was a perfect trigger for Lua's social anxiety.

No matter how high her internal affection meter ran, if a noble young lady like that so much as spoke to her, Lua was confident she would faint on the spot.

"A question? Student's name is…"

"Hoshikawa Himari."

"Right. What did you want to know?"

Himari gave a slight nod as she answered.

"If the target disappears before five minutes are up, what happens?"

Her Korean still carried a faint awkwardness, but not enough to grate.

"Disappears? What do you mean by that?"

"It may be destroyed. And vanish."

"……"

In short, she was saying the sandbag would not withstand her power. The declaration might as well have been a challenge, and the freshmen around her let out low murmurs of awe.

"Hahaha!"

Supervisor Park Sihyuk, however, burst out laughing as if he had just heard a joke.

"No need to worry! Every year we get plenty of hot-blooded kids, but in the ten years I've supervised this exam, not a single freshman has ever destroyed a sandbag."

"Is that… so?"

No one else noticed it, but Lua saw it clearly.

A flash of light sparked in Himari's eyes.

He just poked her pride.

As the heir of the prestigious Hoshikawa family, she possessed both the pride and the skill to match. Her pride could not have been low even if she tried. That was exactly why her companion recruitment quest had been such a nightmare.

Telling someone like her that something was "impossible"… what came next was obvious.

"All right, raise your mana!"

The students drew up the mana they needed for their skills, each in their own way. Some took deep breaths; others settled into distinctive stances.

Himari simply closed her eyes.

"Ready…"

Tension coiled across the field—

"Begin!"

"Haaah!"

The quiet training ground erupted into noise in an instant. Freshmen roared as they struck the sandbags with swords, axes, or bare fists. A good number of the attacks carried basic D- to C-class skills like Slash, Triple Strike, and Flurry.

"Nngh! Nngh!"

"Yaaah!"

Everyone moved without rest, desperate to deal as much damage as possible within the five-minute limit. Even the healer candidates flushed red as they poured recovery skills into their sandbags.

Hoshikawa Himari, however, simply stood where she was.

"……"

One hand resting on the sword at her hip, she fixed her gaze on the sandbag and slowly lowered her stance.

Perhaps they felt the killing intent rolling off her—before long, the students nearby stopped what they were doing and turned to look.

"Hoo."

The moment her posture seemed to freeze, nearly flush with the ground—

—FWOOM!

"Whoa!"

A shockwave of air, nearly a sonic boom, burst from the mouth of Himari's scabbard. Even Lua's white coat, far across the field, whipped wildly in the blast.

When the wind died down, every head lifted.

Students, supervisor, Sua—every gaze locked on the same point.

—Shhhk.

Himari's sandbag slid apart along a clean diagonal. It had been severed into two perfect halves.

"…Hmph."

Himari straightened as if nothing at all had happened. After a beat of stunned silence, applause broke out all around her.

—Clap clap clap!

"Whoa! She actually cut it!"

"That's insane!"

"Yeah, she's definitely first place…"

An A-class skill: Hoshikawa-ryu Battoujutsu.

Even among freshmen who possessed an A-class skill—rare enough to count on one hand—almost no one could wield one at this level.

It was exactly what one would expect from the heir of a prestigious house that had spent generations refining nothing but the art of the draw.

"…Thank you."

Himari gave her cheering classmates a slight nod of acknowledgment. But she met no one's eyes.

Of course not.

Himari had come all the way to Korea as an exchange student for new experiences. Crowds cheering her on were something she had seen endlessly back home; her lack of interest was hardly strange.

The class placement test wrapped up quickly.

"That's it! Time's up!"

Park Sihyuk clicked his stopwatch and declared the end, and the freshmen—having poured out every ounce of strength—promptly collapsed where they stood.

"Hah… hahh…"

"With that much… I should make the special class… right?"

The students' work was done. Now it was the teachers' turn.

"Lua-ssaem!"

Lua jerked her head up at the voice calling her name. Supervisor Park Sihyuk was waving her over.

"Could you check the kids for injuries? Looks like a few of them pushed too hard!"

"Y-yes…"

Lua steeled herself and approached the freshmen. The stares still terrified her, but if she just shut her eyes and got it over with, she could hurry back to the nurse's office that much sooner.

"U-um…"

"?"

"Anyone who's hurt, please form a single line. S-sorry for the trouble! I'm sorry!"

Lua bowed at the waist as she made the request. Fortunately, the freshmen complied without fuss.

"She's adorable…"

"Look, she had to roll up the sleeves 'cause the coat doesn't fit."

The freshmen whispered among themselves as they looked at her. They were only smiling because they found her cute, but to Lua it felt as though every one of them was laughing at her.

I want to quit…

"P-please show me where it hurts."

"I sprained my wrist."

One freshman held out a wrist swollen an angry red.

"Ah—just a moment."

Lua closed her eyes first. After a brief wait, letters began to surface across her darkened vision.

It was the familiar skill setup screen from Hunter Hunting Academy.

There was no limit on how many skills a character could learn. Healing skills, attack skills—you could pick up whatever you wanted. But you couldn't use them all at once.

Only the skills pre-equipped in three slots before combat could be activated, so the usual approach was to carefully combine skills that created good synergy.

Well, I'm an NPC character, so this much makes sense.

As the school nurse, both Healing and Perfect Healing were already maxed out. The remaining one, though—Diagnosis—was something even Lua had never seen before.

Lua equipped Healing and Perfect Healing, then opened her eyes.

"I-I'll begin treatment…!"

She rested her hand on the injury.

"Healing."

She mimicked the motion from the game, and mercifully, the skill activated.

"Oooh."

Green light spilled from Lua's palm, and the freshman's swollen wrist returned to normal almost at once.

"Thank you, teacher!"

"Huh?"

The student bowed deeply to her.

"……"

For a moment, Lua went blank.

"Is something wrong, teacher?"

"N-nothing. It's nothing."

She felt a little dazed. It was the first time anyone had ever thanked her.

Helping someone, and receiving gratitude in return. For Lua, who had spent a lifetime shut in her room without ever helping a soul, that single phrase hit hard.

I can be useful, too.

All she was doing was placing a hand on an injury and saying "Healing"—and even that alone was enough to help the students.

Something swelled warm in her chest.

"H-Healing!"

"Wow! Thank you!"

Without quite meaning to, Lua put real energy into it and worked steadily down the line. Cuts from weapons closed over; sprained joints snapped back into place.

"Thank you, teacher!"

"Heh… heheh… th-thank you…!"

Skills consumed mana as their price. By now sweat beaded on Lua's forehead and her legs were trembling.

But her heart was fuller of joy than it had ever been.

"Ssaem, don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

"Mm! I'm fine!"

Even Sua, who had been handing out water bottles to the students, offered a word of encouragement.

The line of injured dwindled fast, and after treating the last student, Lua looked around.

Someone to help. Someone to help.

People who usually kept quiet tended to become unstoppable once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they got going.

That was exactly where Lua was now.

No one had asked her to, but she scanned the freshmen tidying their weapons and clothes, hunting for anyone else who might need treatment.

"…Ah!"

Then, suddenly, one person came to mind.

Lua made her way over to where Hoshikawa Himari stood.

I can do this right now!

With courage this full, she might manage a few words of conversation. When else would she get a chance to meet her favorite game character in the flesh?

"U-um!"

"Hm?"

Himari looked down at the small creature that had appeared before her.

"…And you are?"

Lua felt her body shrink instinctively ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠under that sharp gaze. The low, level voice sounded ready to draw a blade if the business proved trivial.

"Urgh…"

The moment she faced Himari one-on-one, instinctive terror crashed over her. Every fiber of her being wanted to turn and run.

But the Lua of this moment was braver than she had ever been.

"U-um, is your left ring finger… all right…?"

The power of Hoshikawa-ryu Battoujutsu was tremendous, but as a freshman her skill was still incomplete. Until the protagonist helped her, the setting was that she injured her left ring finger every time she used it.

"……!"

A flicker of fluster crossed Himari's otherwise expressionless face.

"Why do you ask that?"

"Eep…"

As that gaze sharpened further and pinned her in place, Lua's courage shrank to a pea. She trembled, on the verge of tears.

"I just thought… you might need treatment…"

"No. I do not require your assistance."

—Thud.

"A-aaagh…"

Strength left Lua's legs and she crumpled to the ground. Himari gave her one last look, then strode away at a brisk pace.

"Ah… hahaha…"

Lua could not bring herself to leave until every last freshman had cleared the field.

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Himari's gaze had been like a predator locking onto prey. Some terror stamped into her genes, maybe. She had been certain she was about to be eaten alive.

"Sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping sorry for overstepping…"

The fullness in her chest collapsed. Her confidence evaporated on the spot. She was back to the usual Lua.

"Unnie… I mean, teacher!"

Having noticed belatedly that Lua was still on the field, Sua hurried over and held out a hand.

"Why are you sitting here? Aren't you going inside?"

"Ah—n-no, you go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on ahead."

"Why?"

"I just… have some things to think about…"

There was absolutely no way she could admit that something other than tears had leaked out a little, too. She was going to need a spare change of underwear back at the nurse's office.