Chapter 186: Min-su, Go Back to Your Position.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 186: Min-su, Go Back to Your Position.
'He’s awfully quiet today.'
Inside the Gate on the day of the practical training.
From his first appearance to the moment they entered the Gate, Kim Min-su had been incredibly subdued.
There was none of his usual bluster or lines like, "I will protect you."
'Did he eat something wrong?'
He was even wearing his school uniform properly, something he never wore outside.
I wasn't the only one who noticed the change; everyone stole a glance at Kim Min-su at least once.
"By the way, a B-Class... It finally feels like the balance is right."
"I agree."
B-Class.
It was a difficulty level that required a team of at least 2nd or 3rd-grade Hunters to enter.
In fact, it would have been stranger to give this current lineup a C-Class Gate.
'Even excluding the Saintess, there are three Always-Active Main Skill holders.'
Furthermore, Baelson was practically guaranteed to become a 1st-grade Hunter as soon as he graduated.
'It seems Victory Academy really doesn't know the Saintess is still recovering her strength.'
The Saintess had exhausted most of her power to shrink the range of Min-su Land.
If they had known she was still recovering, they wouldn't have assigned a B-Class Gate.
Even Baelson didn't seem particularly on guard.
'So, very few people actually know she lost her strength.'
I could guess Pope Perkus might know.
Other than him, probably no one else knew besides me.
"Oh, looks like it's starting."
"Hm? Ah, right."
Ding!
Welcome to the B-Class Gate [Gingerbread House]!
Defeat all the monsters coming to gobble up the Gingerbread House!
The monsters emit intense heat, so if you let them get close...
The Gingerbread House will melt! And that would be... a failure, right?
The monsters will attack in five waves!
Defend against all monsters brilliantly and protect the children's favorite Gingerbread House!
The Gingerbread House must be preserved in its original state without any changes.
No tricks allowed!
Clear Condition :: Protect the Gingerbread House (0/1)
Penalty :: Witch's Wrath
As soon as the message finished, a Gingerbread House was constructed behind us in an instant.
'It looks similar to the one from Hansel and Gretel.'
Seeing a real Gingerbread House, which I had only ever imagined, felt quite novel.
Perhaps it was because I had always been clearing Classic Masterpieces, and now I was in a Gate of a similar genre.
[Monsters who smelled the sweet scent of the Gingerbread House will swarm in shortly! Prepare for the raid!]
"This is definitely B-Class difficulty."
"Yeah."
I nodded at Melanie's words.
I thought it might be easy since it was a defense-type mission, but it wasn't at all.
We were told to protect a Gingerbread House sitting smack in the middle of a forest with all sides wide open.
'They didn't even say where they'd come from.'
There was a possibility of monsters coming from the left, right, front, back, and even from the sky or underground.
At least they were kind enough to mention that the monsters emit heat.
[5:00]
[4:59]
A timer appeared along with the message to prepare for the raid.
It seemed like the Gate's consideration to give us five minutes to come up with a strategy.
"Everyone, gather up."
I called over my teammates, who were scattered and investigating on their own.
On paper, this was a dream team, but looking closely, it was more like a hollow shell.
'The defense format is the problem.'
First, Melanie was a type specialized in rear support and offense.
Her main skill, 'Firearm,' was literally pure heat—the worst possible match for a Gingerbread House.
On top of that, she had a penalty where she had to maintain distance from the monsters to use her skills.
"Baelson, do you have any AoE skills you can use?"
"I... do not."
"Kim Min-su, you... well, never mind."
Instead of answering, Kim Min-su just shrugged and pulled out his Brush Sword with a flourish.
I thought he was being quiet because he was discouraged, but he had just adopted a new, nauseating concept.
Does he think he's some kind of romantic ronin swordsman now?
[3:32]
There were only three people, including myself, who could properly deal with monsters popping out from anywhere.
And only Kim Min-su and I were capable of independent action.
[2:12]
'At least I have Coercion.'
If it were an offensive format, I wouldn't even be worrying like this.
I considered summoning Chun-hyang to freeze the Gingerbread House, but such tricks were forbidden.
Still, I decided to summon her if things got desperate.
After all, an extra pair of hands would be better for defending.
"We'll just have to face them head-on."
In the end, that was the only conclusion.
[1:19]
"For now, let's split up and cover the four cardinal directions. It's a wave format anyway, so the number of monsters will be limited."
Everyone nodded at my words and split into four directions.
Since Baelson was guarding the Saintess, the two of them counted as one unit, making the distribution of people just right.
[0:00]
Ding!
[Monsters are swarming in to gobble up the Gingerbread House! Endure! Protect! Defeat!]
I could sense the monsters.
The raid was beginning.
++++++++++++++
Around the time the presence of the swarming monsters could be felt.
'...Is it working?'
Kim Min-su checked his condition while looking around.
A neat school uniform and a cool Brush Sword at his waist.
And an attitude of treating people with a consistent expressionless face.
He was the very definition of a ronin.
'Seeing as Baek Tae-yang couldn't even say much to me... hmm.'
As expected, the Pure Love Diary Writer's answer was correct.
Before entering combat in earnest, Min-su recalled the memory.
Response to [Nothing I do works. I have practical training tomorrow...] - [Doctor Know-It-All] Pure Love Diary Writer [Tae-yang Rank]
First of all, you must absolutely not summon your summoned beast.
Looking at it, it's at a truly wicked level where it's completely blocking your romantic luck.
It's definitely a very good reward... but honestly, while it might look good for a jealousy-inducing strategy, it's a bit ambiguous.
Well, using a troll to show a kissing scene to the girls who like you...
To gain popularity? There's that kind of thing too.
Anyway, the important thing is that the world has changed, and the old concepts don't work anymore.
To be honest, I felt this long before I started writing this.
It seems Sweet Cadet-nim hasn't reached this level yet. Lol...
You haven't fully realized the truth and reason of the universe. Well, you can adapt gradually, so I don't think it matters.
To talk about the concept again, if you were going for an overt prince vibe before,
Now you have to go with a slightly romantic ronin style.
A ronin with a cold, "cold city man," "cold city hero" vibe, okay? Got it? This will definitely work.
Don't worry anymore. If you're always nice and then suddenly turn cold,
They'll definitely think, "Huh? Why doesn't he like me anymore?"
So now is the time to lay low!
Trust me and work hard to clear the Gate! Fighting!
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ㄴㅇㅇ:: It's not your concept we hate, it's you lol. You still haven't snapped out of it. [Report 2]
'Ugh.'
The bad comment came to mind along with the good.
He told me to only look at good things and think good thoughts.
Kuaaaaaaaak!
In that brief moment of distraction, the monsters swarmed in.
"Huh?"
Kim Min-su, who was planning to show off a cool way of handling the monsters, stopped in his tracks.
The heads of the monsters, who were rampaging mindlessly, were all being slammed into the ground simultaneously.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was a sight as if someone had violently grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and slammed their heads down.
It was Baek Tae-yang's main skill, Coercion.
'He's doing the cool stuff all by himself again.'
He regretted staying quiet for the ronin swordsman concept.
He didn't have a skill like that, but he could have drawn attention if he had used his Brush Sword to flashily draw a dragon or something.
However, he remembered the advice that now was the time to lay low.
Slash— Slash—.
Killing the immobilized monsters was like mowing the lawn.
It was a pathetic level of difficulty that didn't seem like B-Class at all.
At this rate, he started thinking that Baek Tae-yang could have just entered the Gate alone while the rest of them rested.
"Kyaaaaaaaak!"
However, variables always exist.
"Wha... what!"
"Saintess-nim!!!"
A large hand bursting out from the ground suddenly grabbed the Saintess.
Setting aside why the Saintess couldn't react to that, it was a situation where she needed to be rescued immediately.
Kim Min-su first checked Baelson's position.
'He got caught too?'
Melanie couldn't use her main skill, and Baelson and the Saintess were helpless.
Baek Tae-yang was busy controlling his Coercion.
In that case, the only one who could save her was...
'Me!'
Kim Min-su stopped killing monsters and immediately lunged toward the Saintess.
"Saintess-nim, I'm com—!"
Just as Min-su was about to cut off the hand holding the Saintess.
Slash!
In an instant, the large hand was severed, and the Saintess was rescued.
And the one who performed this action was, of course...
"Min-su, go back to your position."
"O-Oh... okay..."
It was Baek Tae-yang.