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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Hellish Training
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"...What? Master is personally testing the kids?"
It was around evening on the first day of training when I heard the news that Master had begun the evaluation test for the Utopia party members.
Perhaps because the party members were watching, the spar was a bit more intense than usual, and I ended up bedridden.
So, immediately after hearing the news, I tried to head straight to the training ground where the test was being conducted, but.
"You can't."
Shin Se-hee gently pressed down on my shoulder.
When I looked at her as if asking, "What are you doing?", Shin Se-hee spoke.
"It's Instructor Baek Seol-hee's message. Jin Yu-ha is not to approach the training ground while the test is in progress."
"...Why?"
"Your presence would be a hindrance."
"..."
Since Master had said so, there was nothing I could do.
Only fret and wait.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before.
Ichika came to deliver the news of her passing.
"Passed. I'm first."
I couldn't help but be quite surprised that Ichika was the first to pass.
After all, she had come in first in Master's test, surpassing all the formidable Utopia party members.
'As expected, is Ichika a 5-star character?'
Since she was a hidden character that no one had acquired in-game, it wasn't strange for her to have insane performance.
"Did I do well?"
Ichika tilted her head and asked with an expressionless face.
"Yes, truly. You worked hard. Master's test must not have been easy."
"Right, I almost died. So, a reward."
"Huh? A reward?"
"Yeah, because I'm first. Two of them."
I was nervous, wondering what kind of reward the inscrutable Ichika would want,
but it was surprisingly an easy request to grant.
'Well, it is strange to use casual language with all the other party members but polite language only with Ichika-ssi.'
I readily nodded.
"Yes, I will. No, okay, I get it. Let's do that."
"Yay! And next reward. Here."
Next, Ichika suddenly bowed her head towards me.
"..."
"What are you doing? Pat my head."
Ichika said that, bowing her head towards me.
"...My head?"
"Yeah, that's my second reward."
I could only stroke her head with a bewildered expression.
'This person is truly unpredictable. But her hair is incredibly soft!'
Stroke, stroke—
For almost an hour. Only after being stroked did she nod, as if satisfied, with her hair disheveled.
"It's not enough, but for now, this will last me a week."
Then. That night.
Slam! Slam! Slam!
Suddenly, a sound of knocking, as if someone was trying to break down the door.
I was lying in bed and startled awake.
"Mutt..."
The person who opened the door and entered was Kang Do-hee.
"Poppy! Did you pass!?"
"Yes, but that's not what I came to say."
She suddenly pointed a finger at me.
"You."
"...Huh?"
"Promise me."
"Wh-What?"
"If there's ever training like this again, you'll never do it alone without me."
Kang Do-hee spat out those words in a somewhat sulky tone, then turned her back and left.
Slam!
"Poppy! You worked hard—!"
Day 4.
Sophia came to visit.
"Jin Yu-haaaan! I passeddd—!!!"
She looked exhausted, but a bright smile was plastered across her face.
"Sooo, sooo, I shot a healing arrow up *whoosh*! And then, the instructor was like, 'Hmm, it's a shallow trick, but I suppose I can't not pass you.'"
She clung to me, chattering incessantly about how she managed to pass.
And on Day 6.
"Waaahhh—! Juniorrr—!!!"
Im Ga-eul, seemingly quite traumatized by the test, came to me with tear drops clinging to the corners of her squinted eyes.
"I-I-I-I was s-so scareddd— *hic*—!"
While I listened to her whining, I couldn't help but have slightly dead eyes.
'Where on earth did this *nuna*'s original image go...?'
And so, the Utopia party members gradually delivered news of their success.
Now, today was the long-awaited Day 7.
Only one person remained.
'Hmm... Gukbap isn't here yet...?'
Master had stated in a stern voice that if they couldn't pass her test, they weren't qualified to be my comrades.
However, I wasn't too worried.
Actually, since Sophia and Im Ga-eul, who I worried about the most, had passed.
And.
'There's no way Master wouldn't like our Gukbap.'
If I had to choose just one Utopia party member to show Master, it would undoubtedly be Lee Yu-ri.
However, the timing hadn't been right for them until now, so they had only gotten acquainted.
Gukbap is fundamentally diligent,
strict with herself,
responsible,
and her mental fortitude is extraordinary.
And above all, her incredibly firm 'conviction'.
It was hard to imagine Master dismissing Lee Yu-ri, who possessed all the qualities she would like.
'Hmm, I didn't expect Gukbap to take this long, though. Is Master perhaps giving her special instruction?'
As I pondered the dynamic between the two, I suddenly heard a fleeting thought in my mind.
'...Should I go see?'
Master had sternly warned me never to come to the training ground, but,
I wanted to see.
How those two would evaluate each other.
And what kind of chemistry they would show.
The scene of them training together, nodding seriously to each other!
Honestly, how could I resist this?
Stealthily—
Once my mind was made up, I suppressed my presence and headed for the training ground.
It was still broad daylight, the sun high in the sky.
Instructor Baek Seol-hee stood like a sword, her expression chilling.
And in front of her, Lee Yu-ri, covered in wounds.
Yes, that much was understandable.
But the scene that followed was completely different from what I expected.
CRASH!
"Aargh!"
BANG!
"Agh—!"
THUD!
"Urgh—!!"
Lee Yu-ri, with her injured body, charged at Master again and again.
In front of her, the instructor mechanically swung her sword without any change in expression.
Since it had been a one-on-one situation from the start,
even Lee Yu-ri's renowned taunts had no effect.
How many times had that scene repeated itself?
Until the sun slowly set and night fell.
'...What is this?'
Lee Yu-ri stumbled and fell dozens, hundreds of times, yet she would bite her lip and charge again.
Desperate, frantic.
Like someone challenging the impossible, even knowing it couldn't be done.
Watching her, I truly wanted to stop her.
To tell her she didn't have to go to such lengths.
That she was our proud tank even without doing something like this.
I wanted to tell her that.
But there was no way I could.
That would be like throwing Lee Yu-ri's will into the gutter.
So, there was nothing I could do but watch her desperate struggle until the very end.
It was now not long until midnight.
Lee Yu-ri had her head buried in the ground, trembling with frustration. Gukbap was crying.
'...Alright, let's stop. Even if you don't go to such lengths. I'll never abandon you.'
Now, it was time for the test to end.
It was then, just as I was about to step forward towards her.
Suddenly, Lee Yu-ri lifted her head.
She re-gripped her shield.
"I AM—!!!"
Then, a brilliant blue light emanated from her wet eyes.
"JIN YU-HA'S SHIELD!!!!!!!!"
She roared and charged forward.
"...!?"
And I could clearly see it.
A brilliant halo of light forming above her head.
That halo soon enveloped Lee Yu-ri's body, settling into her.
'...Insane.'
I had been holding my breath in a corner of the training ground, and for a moment, I was so startled I almost screamed.
Because I knew very well what this sight meant.
Not only had I experienced it once myself, but it was also a scene I had seen countless times in the game.
Grade Ascension.
In other words, it was a Star Grade Ascension event.
Brilliant light enveloped her body.
And Lee Yu-ri blocked Master's sword, raising her shield.
'...How?'
I could only stare at the scene with a dumbfounded expression.
Lee Yu-ri, whose innate grade was 3-star.
She had become 4-star.
Even though she hadn't hunted demons like I had.
'To achieve something that usually requires seizing an opportunity in the later story or grinding resources, she did it on her own...?'
It was as I was staring with wide eyes.
"Disciple. Are you just going to keep watching from there?"
Suddenly, Master turned her head towards me.
"..."
"You've disobeyed your Master's words."
"Ah, th-that is..."
"Enough. I will give you your punishment in a later lesson. Now, quickly help this one up and go inside."
"Ah, ah, yes, ah, understood—!!"
As I hastily rushed out and helped the battered Lee Yu-ri, her broken shield caught my eye.
'This broke? Hmm, well, she went through a Star Grade Ascension event anyway. Yes, it's time to get a new shield. Oh, and come to think of it, I need to get Ichika an subspace tattoo too, don't I?'
Just as I was about to turn back, recalling the academy's most famous kid in my mind,
"Disciple."
Master called out to me again, stopping me.
"...Yes?"
"You have an excellent comrade."
There was no way I wouldn't know those words were directed at Lee Yu-ri.
I curled the corners of my lips into a grin.
"Yes, that's right. Gukbap is my pride."
However, perhaps that answer displeased her somehow.
Master scowled and glared at me.
"...She went through all that, but my stats are still the same... Did I just do a good deed for nothing?"
She muttered something, but her voice didn't reach my ears.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Enough. Get lost quickly."
"Wh-Why are you..."
"I said get lost."
"Y-Yes, understood—!!"