章 27: Chapter 27
Instructor Baek Seol-hee explained the process of the joint training to me, as I hadn't participated in one before.
"The joint training will take place in this virtual space, where we will summon illusions of demons and fight them."
'Oh.'
I widened my eyes in surprise as I took in the facility behind the training ground.
A space the size of a football court was enclosed by semi-transparent square glass.
"Here, even if you get injured, it won't actually hurt you. But the pain is still felt, so it's quite a dangerous training. Non-hunters could go into shock and die."
Indeed, fighting demons was the best way to prepare for sparring with the other group.
"We'll go in as a party of five, and the student with the highest score in the previous training, Kang Do-hee, will be the party leader."
Instructor Baek Seol-hee said, giving me a meaningful look.
'Kang Do-hee… as the party leader?'
I frowned.
'She can't do that, can she?'
Kang Do-hee was supposed to be at the front, taking the brunt of the attacks and clearing the way for the party members. It was a role that required a narrow field of vision as she had to be in close quarters and dish out extreme damage.
'She hates working in a party, to begin with.'
I had no idea how they had been doing joint training until now.
"We'll be facing an A-grade demon and ten B-grade demons, just like yesterday."
Shin Se-hee frowned and spoke to the instructor.
"Instructor, both Do-hee and I are wearing magic-restricting devices."
"So what?"
"If we can't use our magic freely, there's no way we can take on those guys…"
Instructor Baek Seol-hee remained expressionless.
"Starting today, Jin Yuha will be participating."
"There are no changes. Enter."
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.
.
As we stepped into the training ground.
Whoosh─!
A disturbance in the magic flow appeared in the air in front of us.
It took the form of a slime-like solid mass before shaping into a human form without eyes, nose, or mouth.
Eleven of these featureless humans stood before us, each holding a weapon and aiming it at us.
I examined the weapons in their hands.
'Hmm, they brought some tricky ones. Is this intentional?'
Ten of the B-grade demons held ranged and mid-range weapons like whips, spears, and bows. The A-grade demon held a sword.
Instructor Baek Seol-hee must have been aware of my strength, as she had been observing my sword training.
Even with the magic-restricting devices on Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee, she knew that I could hold my own against most opponents.
'So, she made it harder for me to fight them alone.'
I assessed the enemies and drew out Moonlight from my waist.
Sliiiing─!
It felt good to hold a real sword after using the wooden sword for so long.
'...I wonder how Kang Do-hee will command the party.'
I waited for Kang Do-hee's orders, and her voice came through the earpiece clearly.
[Everyone, battle preparation.]
Kang Do-hee clenched and released her fist, lowering her body towards the enemy. Then, she tensed her thighs and prepared to spring forward.
[...Attack!]
Bang!
She lunged forward as she gave the command. But no further instructions followed.
'Huh? Is that it for the battle commands?'
I turned around, confused.
Shin Se-hee was preparing her magic as if it were routine, while the two quota students were biting their lips, readying their skills.
'Hmm, is this…?'
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.
.
Kang Do-hee felt uneasy as she charged towards the demon illusions.
Her body felt heavier than usual, and with the magic-restricting device limiting her magic, she felt like she was in someone else's body.
'I'm nervous.'
She was nervous.
Of course, with the instructor watching, the chances of Jin Yuha revealing his true colors were slim, but she still felt uneasy with her body not at full strength.
As usual, Kang Do-hee threw a punch at the demon in front of her.
It was slow.
Normally, her punch would have taken out one of them by now.
Whoosh─!
But the demon easily dodged her attack and backed away.
It was just a B-grade demon.
Kang Do-hee gritted her teeth. Then, an arrow flew at her from the side.
Pfft─!!
Kang Do-hee rolled to the side to dodge the arrow.
Sssssss─!!
Crack!
This time, it was a whip.
"Damn."
It felt like she was being herded like prey.
Healing and support skills came from the quota students behind her, but she couldn't feel their effects at all.
With her magic restricted, Kang Do-hee could only dodge the enemies' attacks.
Fortunately, after a while, she managed to avoid their attacks, and fire rained down from above, courtesy of Shin Se-hee.
But the sight before her made her bite her lip.
Unlike yesterday, when Shin Se-hee's magic had hurt the demons, these weakened attacks didn't seem to faze them much.
They either took the attacks head-on or deflected them with their hands.
'What am I supposed to do with this…!'
Kang Do-hee was already feeling overwhelmed, and now she had to worry about Jin Yuha as well.
She wanted to rip off the magic-restricting device from her wrist.
Sssssss─!
The whip came at her again.
Crack!
Kang Do-hee grabbed the whip with her hand and pulled the demon towards her.
Crack─!!!
Kang Do-hee punched the demon in the head.
As the demon's head shattered, the illusion disappeared.
'Ah, damn it!'
A spearman hiding behind the whip-wielder shot a spear at her. She didn't have time to dodge.
"I'm just gonna throw this damn training out the window…"
As she fiddled with the magic-restricting device on her wrist, ready to throw it away.
Clang─!
The spear aimed at her was cut in half.
Ping─!
The head of the spear fell to the ground.
"Hey, I'm sorry for breaking my promise not to talk to you, but what the hell are you doing, Kang Do-hee?"
"...What?"
"You're not giving any commands as the party leader?"
Jin Yuha raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Snap out of it, Kang Do-hee."
"..."
"Tsk, I'll take over the command from now on. I can't stand watching this anymore."
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.
.
What the hell are you doing?
Damn.
This is frustrating.
The joint training was a mess. Kang Do-hee charges in, and the others just join in.
Shin Se-hee casts her magic haphazardly at the enemies, and the quota students focus on healing and buffing Kang Do-hee.
Yeah, now I understand why they hadn't complained about Kang Do-hee being the party leader until yesterday, even though the joint training had been a mess.
Special admission students.
They possess special abilities that set them apart from regular students. Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee had worn the magic-restricting devices for the first time today.
'Until now, there was no need for instructions at all.'
Kang Do-hee would just charge into the midst of the demons and cause chaos. In the meantime, Shin Se-hee would cast area-of-effect magic to take out the B-grade demons. Then, Kang Do-hee would take out the A-grade demon.
The quota students would provide healing and buffs to Kang Do-hee whenever their skill cooldowns were up.
But now, with the special admission students' hands tied, they were reduced to the level of regular students.
The weaknesses of this party became glaringly obvious.
'At this rate, there's no way we can win against any other group.'
I glanced at Instructor Baek Seol-hee, and she nodded. She must have expected this to happen and wanted us to figure out the problem and fix it ourselves.
"I was going to respect Kang Do-hee's command, but there is no command at all."
I narrowed my eyes and assessed the abilities of our party members.
'Kang Do-hee's movements suggest that her ability has dropped by about two stars. So, Kang Do-hee is a three-star, and Shin Se-hee is a two-star.'
I ran simulations in my head and lunged towards the agitated Kang Do-hee.
Clang─!
I cut down the spear aimed at her.
"Tsk, I'll take over the command from now on. I can't stand watching this anymore."
I took command from Kang Do-hee.
I pressed the earpiece and spoke.
[Kang Do-hee, Shin Se-hee, Kim So-hoon, Kim Cheol-hyun. From now on, I will be giving the commands.]
Ah, this cool and heavy feeling.
It's been three weeks.
Yes, it's time to return to being a Velvet School Life! user.
I combined the abilities of our party and the enemies and made a judgment.
[First, Shin Se-hee. Explosion on the swordsman in 12 seconds.]
[Gang Do-hee, back up three steps now. Back up! Are you not backing up!?]
[Tsk, Kim Cheol-hyun. Heal Kang Do-hee.]
[Kim So-hoon, enhance me in 3 seconds.]
Ping─!
I cut down the spear aimed at Kang Do-hee and gave the command.
At first, they were surprised by my sudden commands, but the quota students were the first to follow them, as they had clear tasks to focus on.
Next was Shin Se-hee, and Kang Do-hee was the slowest to listen to my commands.
[First, take out the archer. He's a ranged attacker, so it's better to take him out quickly. Shin Se-hee, in 10 seconds, create a wall of fire on his right to restrict his movement.]
[Kang Dohee, come behind me. I'll clash with the swordsman and spearman, and in 6 seconds, you'll punch the archer.]
[Kim So-hoon, heal me in 9 seconds.]
I was a Velvet School Life! light user.
While Velvet School Life! is an easy game that can be cleared without spending money, it's not a game without competition for rankings.
A light user who barely spends money, only paying the monthly subscription fee.
In order to survive among those big-spenders, I developed my own weapon.
'Strategy.'
Memorizing the types of monsters and demons, the skills and abilities of the few characters, calculating the cooldowns of skills in seconds, and pattern recognition through endless retries.
That was my weapon as a Velvet School Life! user. Of course, even with that, I couldn't break through the wall of the VIP-level spenders, but…
I came pretty close.
To be honest, it's impressive to get that far with just a monthly subscription.
But I couldn't just stand by and watch this pathetic command. It's even worse than auto-play.
[Kang Do-hee, duck your head in 2 seconds. If you don't, your head will be cut off.]
Kang Do-hee quickly ducked her head, and Moonlight slashed above her.
Clang─!!
Another illusion disappeared before our eyes.
Only the A-grade demon, the swordsman, was left.
"Hey, Kang Do-hee."
I looked at Kang Do-hee, who had a blank expression on her face, and opened my mouth.
"Why are you so slow today? Are you tense?"
"Me…?"
"Yeah. You look ugly. Come on, let's just relax. It's just training."
I smiled lightly and ruffled her hair.
"There's only one left, so let's take him out and rest. I'm tired after training all day."
I lunged towards the swordsman.
And Kang Do-hee stared blankly at Jin Yuha's back as he walked ahead.
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