The Saeteo Orientation Begins
On the day of Saeteo, I led the freshmen to the auditorium inside the resort. After the department head—well, the dean of the Business Administration Department—delivered his tedious welcoming speech, the vice president stepped forward to greet the freshmen, officially kicking off the orientation.
“Tenth group, gather over here!”
The group I was in charge of was the tenth. Hearing my voice, the members began making their way over one by one. Excluding myself and Lee Yujin, twelve freshmen—six guys and six girls—gathered around me.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Kim Hyunjin, a third-year from the class of ’19, and this is Lee Yujin, a second-year from the class of ’22. It’s only a short three days and two nights, but let’s make the best of it.”
“I’m Lee Yujin. Nice to meet you, freshmen.”
Once our introductions were done, a light round of applause followed. Starting with us, the freshmen began introducing themselves one by one.
“Hello, I’m...”
“My name is...”
The male students went first, going clockwise as they shared their names and brief personal details. Since none of them were particularly handsome or unattractive—just average guys—it took a bit of effort to memorize their names.
After the guys finished, the girls took their turn. As each one stepped up with her own unique charm, the male students clapped with far more enthusiasm than they had shown during their own introductions, pretending to be indifferent while clearly paying close attention.
‘They’re all pretty average.’
That was my impression after hearing the introductions of the four new female freshmen. Calling them both “average” and “pretty” might sound contradictory, but no other phrase fit quite as well. I wasn’t the only one thinking that way—everyone else probably felt the same.
The reason for this contradictory impression was simple. Right there.
“Hello. I’m Yoo Soyeon. Please take care of me.”
Her brief introduction carried a cool, aloof air. Even without the flowery words the others used, she had a presence that drew everyone’s eyes.
Looks could be absolute or relative. All four girls had the kind of faces that would earn them nothing but compliments wherever they went. But just as an average person looks attractive among ugly people, when someone with truly exceptional looks stands among the pretty ones, the others suddenly seem ordinary by comparison.
The only one who could even come close to Yoo Soyeon’s appearance was probably Lee Yujin standing beside me. Yoo Soyeon was like an ice flower blooming atop an unclimbable cliff, radiating a lofty, untouchable beauty.
The moment her introduction ended, applause erupted—not just from our group, but from the others as well. Everyone seemed far more interested in her than in their own group members.
Next up was Park Naeun.
“Hi, I’m Park Naeun. My hobby is exploring good restaurants. Let’s all get along, everyone!”
Perhaps because of Yoo Soyeon’s lingering effect, the reaction was a bit lukewarm, but Park Naeun didn’t seem to care. She immediately started chattering away with Yoo Soyeon. It was mostly Park Naeun talking, but Yoo Soyeon listened attentively without looking bothered.
When our eyes met, she stuck out her tongue playfully, probably remembering the prank she’d pulled on the bus. I chuckled lightly before addressing the group.
“Alright, now that introductions are over, let me go over the schedule. First, we’ll have lunch at the cafeteria, then everyone heads to their rooms to change into comfortable clothes. By 1 p.m., all the guys should gather in the boys’ room for group activities. Any questions?”
No one raised any—they seemed to have understood everything clearly. I took the male freshmen to the cafeteria for lunch while Lee Yujin led the girls. Afterward, we each headed to our assigned rooms.
When I unlocked the door with the key, the male freshmen trailed in one after another.
“Whoa, this room’s pretty nice.”
It was a spacious two-room suite with a large living area, a small bedroom, a bathroom, and even a kitchen. Compared to last year’s cramped chicken-coop-style rooms where ten people were crammed together without private bathrooms or kitchens, this was a massive upgrade.
After taking a quick look around, I spoke to the freshmen.
“Everyone, change into something comfortable.”
““Yes, sir.””
Still new to everything, they followed instructions without complaint. But whether because the place was unfamiliar or they were just shy, they moved awkwardly, glancing around nervously as they changed.
Then one guy boldly stripped off his shirt without hesitation. His body looked like something he’d built in three months at the gym after finishing the college entrance exam. He puffed out his chest confidently, clearly proud of it.
‘Was his name Park Jundong?’
Despite being a brand-new freshman, he met my eyes as if trying to assert dominance. I smirked at him and took off my own shirt.
“Whoa!”
“Wow...!”
Pure admiration from fellow guys. When my well-trained, muscular body was revealed, even Park Jundong and the others watching couldn’t hide their shock. He quickly lost his confident demeanor and quietly changed in the corner.
Once everyone had finished changing, one of the freshmen approached me cautiously.
“Senior, how long have you been working out?”
“About ten years?”
“Whoa! That’s amazing.”
Their eyes were filled with a mix of admiration and surprise.
‘Guess I ended up asserting dominance without meaning to.’
I’d planned to earn their respect before the girls arrived, but it had become unnecessary after that display.
“If you’re all changed, let’s tidy up. The girls will be here soon, so move all the luggage into the bedroom.”
““Yes!””
They were already well-disciplined. Last year’s Saeteo had been a hassle managing the guys, but this time it looked like things would go smoothly.
After we finished cleaning up and 1 p.m. approached, I got a message from Lee Yujin.
-Senior, I’m heading over now.
-Got it.
Since her room was right next door, it wasn’t long before I heard knocking. I hurried over and opened the door. Lee Yujin, now in comfortable training clothes, entered with the six female freshmen.
Since it was now group activity time, everyone sat in a circle in the living room. With the girls in the room, it suddenly felt brighter. The girls chatted comfortably among themselves, but the guys looked like they’d never been in a room with girls before—they couldn’t even make eye contact properly.
Watching them, Lia spoke to me.
-They remind me of you back when you first became a hero and couldn’t even look at a woman properly.
‘Shut it.’
Right after being summoned as a hero, I’d been so unused to meeting women’s eyes that I couldn’t even look at the saintess properly for a whole week. Maybe that’s when she’d started seeing me as an easy mark.
Shaking off the embarrassing memory, I addressed the freshmen.
“Alright, now that we’re all here, how about we start by making name tags?”
With over 150 participants including both freshmen and returning students, name tags were essential so no one would part ways without even knowing each other’s names. After handing out name tags with safety pins attached, I explained how to fill them out.
“Just write ‘Tenth Group’ here and then your name. Simple, right?”
I showed them an example with my own name written on it, and everyone followed along. Meanwhile, Park Naeun stared intently at my name tag.
“What?”
“Oppa, write mine too.”
“Don’t you know how? Want me to explain again?”
“No, it’s not that. My handwriting is terrible. Your handwriting looks so neat.”
“What are you talking about? My handwriting is awful too—ah!”
I realized I’d unconsciously activated the Delicate Hand Technique skill passively. Though it was only three characters, the writing was clean and eye-catching. It was such a high-grade skill that it was hard to believe it had come from my notoriously bad handwriting.
Since it wasn’t difficult, I wrote Park Naeun’s name for her. Then the other freshmen started handing me their name tags one by one.
“Senior, could you do mine too?”
“Me too.”
Since I was already doing it, I infused a bit of sex power into each stroke this time. The result was even more refined and elegant handwriting. The girls who received their name tags beamed.
“Your handwriting is so pretty.”
“Thanks, senior.”
After accepting their thanks, we moved on. Lee Yujin spread out a large sheet of drawing paper and spoke.
“Next, we need to decide on a group name. Any ideas? Preferably something related to ‘ten.’”
No one answered. I tried thinking of words starting with “ten.”
‘Ten people helping with one, ten years of hardship, ten-year friend, ten... wait, that’s not it. What else was there? Ten, ten...’
“The Ten Symbols of Longevity?”
The guys burst out laughing, clearly thinking of something vulgar, while the girls tilted their heads in confusion.
“The Ten Symbols of Longevity—the ten things that live long. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The professors will like it.”
Lee Yujin, realizing it referred to the actual ten symbols rather than slang, agreed with my suggestion. With no other ideas, we settled on it.
“Now we need to make a group introduction poster on this drawing paper to put on the door. Anyone good at writing?”
Instead of answering, everyone turned to look at me as if the question itself was ridiculous.
“Isn’t this supposed to be made by the freshmen?”
“It should be fine, right? The group leader is part of the group, and there’s no rule against it.”
Lee Yujin smiled slightly, clearly enjoying the chance to watch me work.
The Delicate Hand Technique skill worked even on the large sheet, allowing me to write without hesitation. The letters were perfectly straight, as if done by computer—clean and elegant, filling the paper beautifully.
“It looks a bit empty on the sides.”
“Since it’s the Ten Symbols of Longevity, how about drawing a turtle?”
“Sure.”
At Park Naeun’s request, I picked up the pen again. While creating something from scratch was hard, copying something I could see was easy. Before she even finished speaking, I’d drawn a turtle in the empty space, along with a pine tree on the side for good measure.
“Whoa, that’s insane!”
“You can draw that in one go?”
The freshmen stared at the now-decorated paper in disbelief.
“The professors are gonna give us tons of points for this.”
“What can we do with the points we collect?”
One of the sharp-looking female freshmen asked.
“If we do well in group activities until tomorrow evening, we’ll get points. The group with the most points combined wins a group restaurant tasting ticket, and the rest can be exchanged for snacks or cafeteria meal vouchers.”
It was basically a preview of the group projects they’d be doing to death once university started. Though the rewards were secondary to fostering a sense of group achievement, the prizes this year were substantial enough to make everyone’s eyes light up.
After finishing the poster, we still had plenty of time before the next event. During that time, Lee Yujin and I answered the freshmen’s questions about university life, gradually building rapport—especially when the girls asked.
Knock knock.
“The department head is here~!”
A familiar voice called from outside. Choi Seungah, the vice president, entered along with a male student council member and the department head we’d seen earlier. The department head sat down comfortably and offered some light words of welcome and encouragement to the freshmen. Then his gaze shifted to our poster, as if to evaluate it.
“Hoho, ‘Ten Symbols of Longevity.’ Quite a dignified and stylish group name for kids these days.”
“Um, Department Head, the Ten Symbols of Longevity isn’t what you’re thinking of... *cough*!”
When a male student who looked like a council member tried to explain, Choi Seungah elbowed him in the side to stop him.
“Hm? What was that?”
“Nothing, sir. It’s nothing.”
The elderly professor examined not just the name but the overall handwriting and drawings, smiling with satisfaction.
“To achieve this level of quality in such a short time... I can tell how much effort and cooperation you all put in without even asking.”
At those words, the freshmen—who had already learned the concept of “free-riding”—let out awkward laughs and averted their eyes.
After the department head left, the results were announced shortly after. Our Tenth Group had taken first place by an overwhelming margin.
It was a pretty good start.