The Wooden Doll Training Ground
I swear, this guy...
Since I had nothing better to do anyway, I came to feed him some early-game opportunities like in the original story. But what? The kid who got a free pass on the entrance exam? I was already in a foul mood after overhearing the extras badmouthing me, and now I had to hear the same crap from the protagonist?
"Entrance exam... what?"
This time a vein popped out on my forehead in the shape of a cross. Siwoo, who had just blurted out the free-pass comment, seemed to realize his mistake. He slapped a hand over his mouth with a little "Oops."
"Ah, no, I wasn't trying to tease you. Sorry..."
"Then why say something like that?"
When I pressed him, Siwoo rolled his eyes like he had something to hide. Then, as if he'd made up his mind, he answered in a voice as quiet as an ant crawling.
"The other kids were calling you that, so it just slipped out for a second."
"Ah..."
I roughly understood. If the rumors about me had been circulating for about a week already, then Siwoo's slip of the tongue made sense. Still... honestly, it was a little depressing. No matter how steel-plated my mentality was, getting treated like an outcast before I even officially enrolled was enough to make me feel down.
Even so, I kept my expression blank and nodded without showing it. Siwoo cleared his throat with a little cough.
"So, what's the real reason you came? You didn't just follow me for no reason, right?"
"Just thought we could head to the training arena."
At the words training arena, Siwoo's animal instincts immediately sounded the alarm. The moment I saw him flinch and get goosebumps all over, I tilted my head in confusion. Then Plea continued speaking.
"Of course, I'm not talking about sparring with you. I meant the wooden doll training ground."
Just like that, Siwoo's goosebumps vanished as if by magic. Obviously, because Plea had zero intention of sparring with him directly. Well... maybe I'd considered it once at the very beginning, but the current Siwoo was nowhere near my level. If I messed up even slightly with my strength control, I'd end up with perfectly grilled Siwoo on a stick.
That's why I'd chosen the wooden doll training instead. It adjusted difficulty to match the opponent's level and offered pretty decent training efficiency. Plus...
And the wooden doll training ground has a hidden piece tucked away in it.
It was originally an item you could only get in the very late game, but with my current specs at endgame tier, I could definitely obtain it.
"Then let's go."
"Right now?!"
What, was there a problem? Even if there was, I couldn't care less. In the early parts of the story, the protagonist's only activities were wandering around the academy making friends and going on dates with Aria anyway.
"I have plans with Aria..."
Just as I thought. The guy who's supposed to save the world from the threat of evil is out here living his best rom-com life? I couldn't let that slide...
"You like her that much? Are you dating?"
"No, we're not dating or anything..."
"Then it's none of my business."
I grabbed Siwoo's wrist in a death grip and forcibly dragged him toward the wooden doll training ground. He struggled a few times along the way, but a first-year's resistance was nothing special. After I ignored his protests and kept dragging him, he eventually gave up and started walking along with me. How nice it was when he behaved.
After walking for a few minutes like that, I led Siwoo into the inner section of the wooden doll training ground.
"Haa... You want me to fight wooden dolls here?"
When I nodded, Siwoo let out a deep sigh and ruffled his hair.
"Look, I definitely only asked where you were going. I never said I'd participate? I only have one friend so far—Aria—and I need to make more friends."
"Don't you have two friends?"
"What?"
Since Siwoo looked like he didn't understand, I shook my head and pointed at his two friends with my finger.
"Aria over there..."
One was Aria, who was leisurely walking around outside the training ground, and...
"And me right here."
I pointed at my own face as I stood in front of him and gave him a bright smile. Siwoo let out a helpless chuckle. Well, having his friend count suddenly doubled was probably worth celebrating. When I proudly lifted my smile even higher, the apparently moved Siwoo opened his mouth.
"Why are you my friend...?"
This little—?
"Siwoo, come here for a second."
The moment I spoke, Siwoo seemed to sense something. His face turned deathly pale as he tried to put distance between us, but... did he really think a mere first-year could create distance from me? Not a chance.
I instantly activated body reinforcement, dashed right up to him, and delivered a low kick straight to his shin. CRACK!!!
"Aaaagh!... Huh?"
It didn't hurt. When Siwoo stared at his shin in confusion where my foot had landed, I pulled my leg back and said,
"I held back. So what were you saying earlier?"
This time I swung a mana-infused low kick through the empty air. With a loud BOOM, the shockwave made Siwoo's collar flap like it had been hit by a typhoon. I smiled sweetly and urged him for an answer. Siwoo broke out in a cold sweat but gave me exactly what I wanted.
"Th-then... we're friends, haha."
It was the moment his survival instinct completely overpowered his pride.
...That girl is a dangerous girl.
Siwoo gritted his teeth and desperately continued his spar with the wooden doll. He'd made plans to hang out—no, to go on a date with Aria today, but that devilish wench had kidnapped him and was now working him to the bone from his very first day at the academy. Damn it... He'd wanted to take it easy at least on the first day. Still, he didn't half-ass the fight or let himself lose on purpose. If he did, that girl would definitely plant a full-power low kick right into his shin. Besides, he couldn't tolerate slacking off during training. Even if it was forced, as long as he was training, he would give it his all. That was probably why he'd managed to place second in the entrance evaluation.
-CLANG!
My sword and the wooden doll's wooden blade tangled together, forcing both of us to take a step back. I caught my breath and calmly observed the doll's stance. The wooden doll had two arms and two legs just like me. The only thing awkward about its textbook kendo ready stance was its right arm. Instead of a hand, a blade was attached to it. That bladed hand was probably the doll's weak point.
Siwoo quickly closed the distance toward the wooden doll. He thrust his sword held horizontally. The doll shifted its center of gravity to the right and tried to deflect his blade with the sword attached to its arm. But instead of stepping back from the impact of blade against blade and resetting my stance, I kept the blades locked and maintained my balance. Sparks flew from where the blades met, but Siwoo paid it no mind and continued the contest of strength.
When the power struggle between Siwoo and the wooden doll reached a perfect stalemate, Siwoo suddenly—whoosh—relaxed the strength in his arm. The doll's blade naturally slid down along Siwoo's shoulder line. The doll quickly tried to dodge and retract the lowered blade, but Siwoo had been waiting for exactly that opening.
The wooden doll's bladed hand was made of ball joints. That meant it was impossible for the doll to resist inertia by snapping its joints. Therefore, there was a slight delay before the mana-powered doll could fully retract its blade. And since Siwoo had been aiming for that exact gap, his blade swiftly struck the wooden doll's neck.
-THWACK!
The moment the sound rang out, a blue light filled the training ground, and the wooden doll that had been trying to beat Siwoo half to death went limp like a puppet with its strings cut.
Siwoo — Stage 3 Cleared
Siwoo wiped the sweat that had dripped all the way down to his chin with his collar as he listened to the announcement.
"Whew... This is actually pretty helpful."
He'd heard that the academy had a wooden doll training ground, but this was his first time actually trying it. And the facility was more than satisfactory. The doll was perfectly matched to his current level, making it excellent for gaining experience.
I hated it at first, but this is more useful than I thought. I should come here often.
Feeling satisfied, Siwoo walked out of the training ground. That's when he saw Plea waiting outside.
"Plea, I'm done... What are you looking at?"
"Oh, this?"
When Siwoo noticed that Plea's gaze was fixed on the upper part of the training ground, he grew suspicious. The next second, he nearly had a heart attack.
"Wait, why are you watching that?!"
"Is there a problem?"
This damn girl...!
Siwoo's face flushed red as he approached Plea. What she was watching was none other than a recording of his own training session. It was one thing to show himself sweating and fighting, but wasn't it basic courtesy to at least ask the person involved for permission? Yet this girl had the audacity to openly peep on someone else's training and then act completely shameless about it.
Of course, to Plea—who had lived her entire previous life under constant 24-hour surveillance and wiretapping—such common sense and etiquette were completely unimaginable. There was no way Siwoo could have known about that.
When Siwoo approached her with the clear intention of saying something, she suddenly sprang up from her seat as if she'd been waiting for him.
"It's my turn now. I'll listen to your commentary after I'm done."
"What?"
Commentary? Did I hear that right?
Siwoo was so dumbfounded that he lost the ability to speak and could only watch as she walked into the training ground. And a short while later, he finally understood where her confidence came from.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Plea has entered the final challenge of Stage 30.
The opponent that appeared for Plea's match was... a bizarre creature with three heads and 108 arms, each one holding a different weapon.
Isn't that thing dangerous...?
The moment Siwoo's intuition screamed danger at the sight of the monster—
"Yah!"
A tiny, adorable battle cry came from Plea.