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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Skill Reveal (1)
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The scorching sun beat down on the ground.
Heat shimmered above the training ground track.
And on it, I was running.
*Gasp—*
*Huff—*
*Gasp—*
*Huff—*
My breath hitched in my throat, and my heart pounded as if it would burst.
My longer hair was already drenched in sweat, stinging my eyes.
Fifty laps were almost within reach.
My ankles felt as heavy as if iron weights were tied to them.
If I had paced myself from the start, it wouldn't have been this hard.
'Fifty laps at full sprint from the very beginning, seriously…'
I didn't know about others.
I was so exhausted I felt like I was dying right now.
All that mattered was alternating my left and right feet and taking one more step forward.
Still, I was almost done.
Honestly, I'd lost track of how many laps I'd done somewhere in the middle,
but whenever I started getting confused, the instructor would call out the number of laps I'd completed.
"…Fifty. Good work, Cadet Jin Yuha."
"Huff… huff—!"
*Thud.*
I dropped to my knees and collapsed on the spot.
*Drip, drip.*
Saliva dripped from my mouth.
The sweet taste was absolutely disgusting.
"…Cadet Jin Yuha."
"Yes?"
I squinted and just lifted my head.
"Here, at least drink some water."
The instructor handed me a water bottle.
"Ah, thank you."
*Gulp, gulp—*
Drinking the cold water brought me back to my senses a little.
Only then could I take in my surroundings.
Kang Dohui, Shin Sehee, and the two guys were all looking at me.
Kang Dohui had finished her 50 laps ages ago and seemed to be doing the next training, while Shin Sehee was still standing on the track.
And the two guys were also off the track… but what were they doing just sitting there instead of doing the next training?
I remembered them because they'd dropped out after two or three laps at the beginning.
All of them had their mouths agape, looking as if they'd witnessed something unbelievable.
"Remarkable. I honestly didn't think you'd actually manage it… I'm genuinely surprised."
The instructor was no different.
"When you said you wanted to train according to the standards of the special admission cadets… I honestly thought it was just bravado, but it seems you had a reason."
"…Heheheh."
A laugh naturally escaped me.
"Then let's proceed with the next training immediately."
Four hours of basic training followed, from 8 AM to 12 PM.
As the instructor had said the day before, the training was tailored to the special admission cadets' standards.
Training involved repeatedly climbing and descending a rope with weights tied to the feet.
And training to do handstand push-ups.
Still with weights on the feet, of course.
And squats and lunges to build thigh strength.
As hunters' bodies differed from ordinary people's, the units of weight were different, and the brutal training continued, testing the physical limits at every moment.
Of course, not everyone could train at the same pace.
No matter what we did, Kang Dohui was the fastest, then me, and then Shin Sehee, the mage.
And the two stragglers just dabbled a bit at the beginning before dropping out and resting.
Perhaps because I was a point of comparison, the instructor's expression tightened with displeasure each time.
By then, I was treated like a special admission cadet.
"That's all for basic training today. Good work. Gather again after dinner. Individual position training will start with theory."
At that, Kang Dohui vanished quickly, like a dog needing to relieve itself.
'Guess she's off to enjoy a smoke break.'
It made sense, having endured four hours of training.
I, too, tried to get up.
"Are you going to Dohui again?"
It was Shin Sehee who stopped me then.
"Don't do that. Why don't you eat with me instead? I'll treat you. Is there anything you like?"
"No need."
I refused her, making my discomfort abundantly clear.
At that, Shin Sehee's smile only deepened.
"Jin Yuha, you're really interesting."
"I'm not particularly interesting. Can I go now…?"
I tried to respond appropriately and ignore her, but Shin Sehee started talking on her own accord.
"You clearly don't seem like someone who needed to enter through the quota system… Why did you come in that way? It's really bothering me. I want to know…"
"…"
"Strangely, you seem to be avoiding me even though we've just met, don't you think?"
Shin Sehee put a finger to her lips and tilted her head to the side.
True to someone who'd built a fandom purely on her looks, she had a pure and dazzling beauty.
"If you know I'm avoiding you, can't you just avoid me too?"
"Why do you dislike me so much? I haven't done anything to you."
Shin Sehee asked as if she genuinely couldn't understand.
"There are two guys over there who like you, why don't you pay attention to them?"
The quota cadets were sitting on the floor, sighing heavily, as if lamenting among themselves.
Shin Sehee looked at them with cold, sunken eyes.
"…Oh, those pieces of trash?"
Shin Sehee spoke with a voice full of contempt.
This time, it was my turn to be surprised.
She wasn't the type of character to say something like that directly.
"Ah-ha!"
As if she'd seen my expression, Shin Sehee burst into laughter, giggling.
"Oh, look at your face. So funny! What, you didn't think I'd say something like that?"
"To be honest, no."
I gave a reluctant nod.
"Hmm, but if I didn't do something like this, I don't think you'd ever pay attention to me. See, now you're looking at me."
Her gaze held a strange light.
'…Damn it, this is why I was wary of getting entangled.'
Shin Sehee was smart.
Sometimes her intelligence would go astray, but the fact that she was smart didn't change.
She basically enjoyed manipulating things from behind the scenes, so much so that she was quick to size people up and instantly figure out how to play them right into her hands.
It hadn't even been a full day,
but it seemed she had already assessed that conventional methods wouldn't work on me.
'But is it worth going this far for me?'
"I can treat you better than Dohui can. Why do you insist on following Dohui so much?"
"Because she's reliable."
At that, Shin Sehee chuckled, letting out a laugh.
"Still, Dohui will be difficult, you know?"
"She thinks I got in easily without effort. If I show her that's not the case…"
"No, it's not like that. No matter how impressive you are, you can't be close with Dohui."
Shin Sehee said with a firmness I hadn't heard from her before.
"Dohui just intensely dislikes the male quota system itself. And it's connected to her losing someone precious."
"What…?"
What the hell was that nonsense?
I recalled Kang Dohui's personal storyline in my head.
— The Guild Master…
Yes, the Guild Master.
If it was someone precious to Kang Dohui, it had to be her.
The Guild Master was the one Kang Dohui sought out, smoking, whenever she was struggling or things were difficult.
I knew she was like an older sister whom Kang Dohui had followed since childhood.
'Definitely, she was betrayed by people… Her guild disbanded, and from then on, Kang Dohui started going solo.'
Since it was Kang Dohui's personal story, the narrative about the Guild Master ended right there.
After that, it was the process of a wounded puppy slowly opening her heart.
Her initial self-centered personality gradually transforming into an outgoing one was what made her an appealing character.
That's why I had somewhat expected to be rejected at first.
'But that Guild Master's betrayal is related to the male quota system…? How in the world?'
I looked at Shin Sehee.
"If I use this as bait… I think you'll bite. What do you say? Shall we have dinner together?"
She said with a mischievous smile on her lips.
"If it's just eating… fine."
I nodded.
* * *
The place she led me to was renowned as one of the most expensive establishments within Velvet Academy.
A place you couldn't even go without a reservation.
Reservations would likely be booked up for months.
"Rohana Restaurant"
In Velvetsra, a sponsoring user could give gifts to characters,
and among those gifts were meal tickets for 'Rohana Restaurant.'
'It's a place where affection points are guaranteed to increase if the character likes food.'
As expected of a rich young lady, she got in without a reservation, a free pass.
"Thank you for visiting, Miss Shin Sehee. I'll take your order."
A smiling staff member approached to take our order.
Then Shin Sehee asked me,
"What would you like?"
"…The Black Cow Steak. Medium rare. The rest, whatever."
When I spoke without even looking at the menu, Shin Sehee looked surprised.
"Wow, that's the best thing on the menu here! Oh, I'll have that too. The rest, my usual."
"Yes, your order is taken."
"Have you been here before, Mr. Jin Yuha?"
"…Not often, but yes."
It would be strange to say I'd been here often in the game, so I answered that way.
"I see. But why didn't I know…?"
"That's not important, let's move on. Why exactly does Kang Dohui dislike the male quota system?"
I didn't want to get further entangled, so I immediately got to the point.
"Hmmmm…"
Then Shin Sehee narrowed her eyes at me, as if testing my patience.
She was probably checking if there was anything more she could extract from me with this.
But surprisingly, Shin Sehee immediately nodded.
"Well, alright. I'll tell you. Actually, it's something you can easily find online. And a meal like this is more than enough in exchange for that information."
"Ah."
"It's always best to use bait with a short shelf life right away, isn't it?"
She said that, smiling faintly.
"Hmm, it's something I looked into personally, so it might not be entirely accurate… It was two years ago."
*
Two years ago.
Kang Dohui was gradually building her reputation as a rising star dealer in the well-known guild, Paradice.
And the guild master there was Kang Dohui's role model.
A perfect idol, both in strength and personality.
S-rank Hunter, Choi Hyeseo.
With a strong sense of responsibility to protect people and a considerate personality that looked out for her guild members.
She was a respectable person in every way.
Kang Dohui followed after her, fostering her dream of becoming a hunter and learning many things.
However, amidst all that, an incident occurred.
"Guild Master!"
"Ah, Dohui."
"What's wrong? You've called for a full guild assembly?"
At Kang Dohui's question, Choi Hyeseo pressed her brows, as if she had a headache.
"Haa, there was a gate explosion just now, and it looks like we need to provide support there."
"Gate explosion?"
"Yeah, Arachne's Den. The gate there exploded."
B-rank gate, Arachne's Den.
Originally, there wasn't much to gain from it, and clothes would often get ruined by stubborn spiderwebs after one trip. For this reason, it was an unpopular dungeon.
Because hunters stopped frequenting it, monsters expanded their territory there, causing the gate to explode!
"But this one's a bit of a headache. The boss monster won't come out of the gate."
"…What?"
That incident was certainly a bit unusual.
Usually, when other gates exploded, both the boss monster and regular monsters would pour out together.
"It sent its subordinates outside the gate to kidnap people and drag them back into the gate."
"…Then what do we do?"
"We have to rescue them. So this operation is a rescue mission."
"Alright, I'll prepare!"
"No, this time only the guild elites will go. I'm sorry, Dohui, but you can't come."
"…Why!"
"Although it's a B-rank gate, this rescue operation requires A-rank hunters."
At that time, Kang Dohui was still a B-rank hunter.
Of course, rumors secretly circulated that her potential exceeded even S-rank Choi Hyeseo, but it was an unavoidable situation as she was still a novice.
If the orders had already been issued like that, there was nothing she could do.
"Tch! Fine… Be careful."
"Don't worry. I'll be back soon."
*Whoosh—*
Choi Hyeseo left Kang Dohui behind and departed for the rescue mission with the guild's elites.
And then,
To put it simply, Paradice succeeded in the rescue operation.
No matter how formidable the boss monster, its weakness, 'fire,' was clear,
and it was only natural given that the seasoned S-rank hunter Choi Hyeseo was leading the charge.
With mages specializing in fire magic leading the deliberate advance, the monster had no choice but to fall helplessly.
They were able to rescue the kidnapped people before it was too late.
However, the problem came next.
*CRASH—!*
"…What the hell is that nonsense! Hyeseo unnie committed sexual harassment?!"
"That's what they're claiming, so what can we do?"
"…And honestly, couldn't it happen? As you know, machines don't work inside gates, and all sorts of things tend to happen there. That's why drug deals happen there too."
"Bullshit! There's no way Hyeseo unnie would do something like that!!!"
At that, Kang Dohui raised her voice, insisting Choi Hyeseo couldn't have done such a thing, but no one listened to her.
The general public, other guilds they were friendly with, and even Paradice's own guild members.
Everyone turned their backs on their Guild Master.
Day after day, news articles about the sexual harassment poured out, and on various portal sites, only posts cursing Choi Hyeseo appeared.
How many times had she risked her life for subjugations, and how many people had she saved?
Yet, this world treated such great achievements as 'nothing' and was busy burying her.
"Hyeseo unnie…"
"Dohui—! Were you worried about me? I'm fine. The truth will come out eventually."
Choi Hyeseo reassured Kang Dohui that she was fine despite her worries, but she couldn't completely hide the precarious wavering in her own heart.
From then on, a tedious legal battle ensued.
While the Paradice Guild Master and Kang Dohui gathered various evidence and testimonies and fought, the incident was gradually overshadowed by other hunters' stories.
The sexual harassment case, which had once been a heated topic, was already a thing of the past.
And only when almost all interest had faded away.
"I find you not guilty."
Finally, the Guild Master was cleared of her false charges.
While her innocence became quite a topic among hunters,
the general public still viewed Choi Hyeseo as trash who had used the dungeon's isolation to fulfill her desires.
In the end, Paradice's Guild Master couldn't last even a few months and retired.
*
"Well, after that… Dohui couldn't trust anyone anymore and started going completely solo."
Shin Sehee poked the steak on her plate with a fork, brought it to her mouth, and spoke.
"…So, the male quota system."
"Yes, after Paradice's Guild Master went through that, the Hunter Management Bureau's 'solution' was the male quota system. Under the premise that 'men should rescue men.' So, of course, Dohui wouldn't feel good about it, right?"
"Haa…"
"Hmm, looks like time's about up. Shall we go back to the training ground?"
*Slurp.*
Shin Sehee sucked up the remaining drink and then spoke.
'…So that's what happened.'
I followed behind Shin Sehee, who walked ahead, lost in thought.
If Shin Sehee's words were true, then getting close to Kang Dohui might indeed be a distant prospect.
'And Kang Dohui barely does any activities at the academy after training camp ends.'
She only attends essential classes,
and once classes are over, she either immediately goes out for hunter activities or secludes herself in her room.
Because of this, Kang Dohui's personal storyline progresses somewhat uniquely.
A sponsoring user supports her, and she builds her reputation through hunter activities outside.
It's a school-life game, but with a hunter-genre approach.
Her personality gradually brightens as she sees the Guild Master reflected in the sponsor.
'Of course, she participates in major academy events, but only makes a brief appearance then immediately vanishes again.'
It seemed I needed to quickly erase the 'male quota system' label from her mind.
'Then, perhaps I should start by showing her my skills.'