Chapter 60
Cooperative training began.
It was a process designed as a rehearsal for the international competition, in which we learned and applied the basic coordination between positions.
"The most important positions are the assassins and tanks."
Since the academy assumes that everyone has sufficient money and equipment, its goal is to clear dungeons with as little damage as possible rather than prioritizing speed.
Unlike the hastily assembled raid groups of commoners, the academy places importance on 'cooperation' in the truest sense of the word.
That is why assassins, who prevent unexpected situations and find suitable routes for clearing, and tanks, who must protect the healers, inevitably play the largest roles in a party.
Instructor Eva, who was in charge of the cooperative test, glanced this way and said,
'It would be best to choose the leader from those two positions.'
'Just as we discussed beforehand!'
'Uh, I can't hear you. Come a little closer.'
'Oh, come on!'
Ever since Kim Chahun got hit by me, he kept trying to make physical contact.
It wasn't creepy like with Wishuan; it just felt like petting a hamster, but I still refused because I was worried his greasy scent might cling to me.
We went straight over to Instructor Eva.
"Instructor. We'd like to take the test today."
"Hmm... I'll say this again, but taking the cooperative test early doesn't earn you any extra points."
I replied that I was aware of that.
Our current goal wasn't a high score, but inducing a reasonable amount of confusion in the other teams.
We had already performed fairly well in the theory and position tests, so achieving great results in the international competition was more important than excelling in cooperative training.
Eva watched us with an expression that seemed to ask what we were plotting.
But the strategy had actually come from Kim Chahun. Asadal was exceptionally skilled at ranking competitions, to the point of dragging Korea's ranking upward by the collar every time, and Kim Chahun hadn't lost that talent or bloodline.
He explained his plan, saying there was hope if only the 'that-whatever' family, which was always sluggish and did nothing but troll everyone, would cooperate.
-Listen carefully. Compared to the top countries, our forces are pitifully weak. If we run into one of the powerful teams in the top ten, we won't stand a chance, so we need to hide as many cards as possible. Or...
We could simply finish it as quickly as possible.
Those were the two methods he proposed.
Either overwhelm them with our full strength from the outset to conserve mana, or drag the fight into a war of attrition, steadily wearing them down while conserving mana.
In the end, the key was how much stamina we had left.
Since Livi and I weren't accustomed to cooperative battles, we decided to follow his lead completely.
"They're coming! Shield squad!"
Baaang-!
The sound of practice weapons colliding.
The Hunters wearing orc masks ambushed us the instant we stepped into the testing ground.
Vincent had warned us about unexpected situations several times, and Kim Chahun had also received information from the Asadal brothers, allowing us to respond quickly.
"Don't let even a finger touch you! Assume this is real combat and block everything!"
Everyone at the site wore skin-tight suits equipped with sensors, and strikes from the issued weapons were used to measure the severity of injuries.
Every bit of data, from bleeding and poisoning to death, was recorded.
The condition for passing this test was to have every member of the opposing team receive a 'dead' status within the time limit.
After we successfully repelled the ambush,
something glinted in the darkness, and Kim Chahun shouted again.
"They're throwing spears! Spread out!"
Whoosh- Kaboom!
Before he had even finished speaking, something embedded itself in Kim Chahun's shield. He looked slightly surprised by the spear's shape, then hurled the shield, spear and all, and I saw it explode in midair.
Fragments pattered down, and several students froze, unable to move. They seemed shocked by how genuine the attack was.
The tanks began barely managing to block the attacks flying toward them.
'This is hard.'
Even if we passed like this, our score would be far too low.
The academy's fundamental goal was to minimize casualties. Some of the students had suddenly frozen up. If we protected them, we'd fail the test, but if we abandoned them, our score would plummet.
Although the monster team was not deviating from the known behavioral patterns of orcs, an unexpected problem had thrown our team into crisis in an instant.
"Mr. Chahun! I'll put up a defensive barrier first!"
"Got it!"
I pulled out a fragment of the Everlasting Tree. It was a tiny form with only the central core left. I had brought several in preparation for a situation like this.
'Headland, grow, grow!'
I injected it with mana while chanting a spell that somehow felt necessary. I had already mastered plant growth through building the garden. The tree grew into the huge dome I had envisioned, enclosing the Korean team.
I could feel the tree being pounded from outside, but I quickly restored it. Livi cast an enhancement spell on the tree to help me, while the other students whispered to one another, 'So this is what they meant when they said there was a magic-type student too?'
It was the most inefficient skill among my known abilities, so I suppose their surprise was understandable.
"Everyone! Snap out of it!"
Meanwhile, Kim Chahun began pulling the frozen members together one by one.
He hugged the girls to his chest one at a time and encouraged them, while giving the boys a couple of sharp slaps.
Since this was an unexpected situation, he looked flustered as well.
......But will that really work?
Scolding them couldn't erase the fear that had already taken hold of them.
"Mr. Chahun."
"Huh?"
"How about forcibly waking them up instead?"
"......How?"
Ding-
[Skill 'Battlefield Surge' activates.]
[A total of 5 targets have been designated.]
[4 mana is consumed per second.]
...Current mana, 13240/15500
"Woooaaah!!! I'm fine now!"
"Me too! I'm really sorry for being scared! Open the entrance—I want to fight until I die!"
The skill's effect was immediate.
The legs that had been trembling as though they might give out straightened, and fighting spirit returned fully to their faces.
One of the boys even pounded his own chest like a gorilla.
Seeing that, Kim Chahun looked rapidly from side to side and said,
"Damn, hey, what is this... If you've got something like this...!"
I know.
You should've told me sooner.
But revealing the true effect of this buff would be troublesome in many ways.
Along with extreme stamina recovery, it also strengthened the body. Even someone as guileless as Kim Chahun would find an ability like that tempting enough to covet.
I shook my head from side to side to show that I had no intention of explaining, and he muttered, 'Again?' before reorganizing the team.
"We're ready! Open it!"
"Yes!"
Grrr...! Round openings appeared on the dome's east, west, north, and south sides.
The monster team, which had been pounding on the tree outside, staggered inside, and we surrounded and beat them in an instant.
The monster team's clothes turned red, indicating that they had received a death judgment.
Afterward, we fully retracted the dome. We began acting on the assumption that the opposing team would imitate orcs.
"I've handled all the melee fighters! Spread out and take them down!"
The Korean team scattered in every direction. Only the ranged throwers and chieftains remained, and once we used the terrain to close in and engage them at close range, the tide turned in an instant.
There were about two A-rank chieftains, based on our magic rank. I quietly approached one and ambushed him with Blade Claws. Distracted by Livi's magical attack, he belatedly turned toward me, but it was already too late. When I struck his head with a club, his clothes turned red.
'......They use the same weapons in the international competition too, right?'
An idea suddenly occurred to me.
I nicked the blade with my claws, damaging it, and then poked it into my own body.
Nothing happened.
[The monster team has been annihilated. Annihilated. The Republic of Korea team has passed. Congratulations!]
The test ended with the announcement ringing loudly throughout the testing ground.
Our overall score was 69 points. That was about 10 points higher than in previous years.
*
"Everyone, good work!"
"Raebi..."
'Yikes, what a pitiful expression.'
"Ah, I urgently need to use the restroom! Let's talk later!"
Whenever Kim Chahun approached with his normal tone and that expression, I always had to be wary.
He knew I was softhearted and was openly trying to exploit it.
He probably wanted to ask about my mental abilities.
I hurriedly fled.
And the following evening.
"Mr. Chahun really has no conscience... None of this would've happened if he hadn't brought such a bizarre mission."
Livi stuck out her lips in a pout. The reason I had attracted so much attention in the first place was the 'Rank Increase' mission from Asadal, but she seemed dissatisfied that he kept demanding information anyway.
"Ahaha... We all have to make a living."
But I avoided Livi's eyes.
Judging only by the circumstances, she was right, but if I seriously asked myself whether I would really have stayed quiet even if things hadn't been like that, I wasn't confident about the answer.
If Richin's provocations had continued, I probably would have shown my full abilities without holding back.
Livi's expression changed.
"Raebi."
"Yes?"
"Raebi is on my side, and Mr. Chahun is the evil Butter Demon King. But why are you protecting him?"
"Sis, you're becoming more and more like April lately..."
"......This won't do. From now on, it's 'A Pleasant Tea Time with Livi.' Don't even think about getting up until bedtime."
She picked me up, sat me on her lap, and hugged my waist tightly.
That's right.
If he didn't have a crazy side, he wouldn't be Douglas Kim.
Even the quiet-looking Matthew attacked me with a flowerpot, so that says it all.
Livi, who had begun revealing her true self rapidly after the inventory incident, would sometimes hold me like this and refuse to let go. Then she'd launch into long explanations about noble trade, which I wasn't interested in at all... It was extremely boring.
"Don't fall asleep."
"Ah, sis..."
She was no longer the kind fairy I had known, but Douglas Kim's number-one psycho.
Fortunately, the pain ended somewhat quickly that day. She chuckled softly, saying she had something to tell me about cooperative training.
"......China's team failed?"
"Apparently. Seeing us succeed in one go, several teams seem to have followed suit. Of course, that was China's second team."
Because China has such a large population, it was split into five teams.
The team that failed was Richin Haiyan's. They were ambushed after entering recklessly, just as we had been. After floundering around, they got into a chaotic melee without a plan, and when their healer was caught, they were immediately disqualified.
Richin even berated and blamed the students who had been on her team, ruining the atmosphere. Apparently, one student who resented her later complained about what had happened to one of our students.
I grimaced, thoroughly fed up with her blunder.
"That's hilarious. China being strong doesn't mean Richin is strong herself. They say a crow-tit tears its legs trying to follow a stork; that's exactly what happened to her."
"What's a crow-tit?"
'Is she for real?'
"It's a bird that looks like a chubby sparrow. How can you not know that, sis?"
"Of course, there aren't things like that underground..."
"......?"
Livi shut her mouth with a look like she'd just realized she'd made a mistake.