On Thursday, during eighth and ninth period, we had Self-Discipline Mountain March class.
Gang Hanbyeol and I followed the syllabus and went to the Suyang Hall, where the first day’s class was supposed to be held.
‘Knowing Instructor Su Hoguk’s personality, he won’t just end things with an orientation because it’s the first day. Basic Swordsmanship 1 and Villain Response Training both started classes from day one too.’
The Dimension Hall was a facility built with classes held inside artificial Gates in mind.
And if the Teaching Hall was mainly used for morning classes and theory classes,
then the Suyang Hall could be called a facility designed mostly for multipurpose lessons.
Because of that, the classrooms did not have uniform standards or layouts.
In the classroom I entered, a huge pane of glass divided the wide-open space in two.
Tap, tap.
Sitting down on the floor and waiting would stand out, so I lightly rapped the glass with the back of my hand.
From the look of it, this was no ordinary glass. It seemed like specially made tempered glass designed to withstand magic.
Meanwhile, the others must have found it interesting too, because they observed or touched the glass just like me.
It was then that Su Hoguk, who was in charge of this class, entered the classroom.
“Good to meet you. I am Su Hoguk, and I will be teaching this class from now on. Some of you have probably seen me in other classes. I can already see a few familiar faces.”
The Punishment Sword, Su Hoguk, who only a few years ago had become a figure that made villains gnash their teeth as a Hunter.
As a character who appeared in the game, he was a strong and dependable instructor.
‘Of course, he didn’t get many chances to shine.’
In order to make the protagonist, Gang Hanbyeol, and his party members stand out,
the game had a widespread tendency for the people around them to respond dramatically late whenever an incident occurred.
Su Hoguk, who was an instructor rather than a student, was a prime example.
Except during class time, his appearances usually came after Gang Hanbyeol had resolved an incident.
「Su Hoguk」
―…Was I one step too late?
Or when the crisis had reached its peak.
「Su Hoguk」
―I’m sorry. I’m a little late. But don’t worry anymore. I’m here now.
Or during events where he evacuated students from danger.
「Su Hoguk」
―I’ll hold this place! You take the injured and fall back!
He would appear in situations like that, thoroughly supporting the story.
Because of that, he could not avoid being seen as somewhat incompetent for an instructor who was supposed to protect students.
On top of that, in the latter half of the story, he even admitted his own incompetence himself.
「Su Hoguk」
―Even without me, those children will surely do well. So let us trust them and pray that they return safely.
Su Hoguk was, in the end, a supporting character, so he could not play an active role as a main character.
As a result, among players, he was treated as a pitiful figure.
Instead of the Punishment Sword, he was called the Tardy Sword and even became an internet meme.
Because I remembered that,
‘Poor guy.’
the first feeling I had toward the Punishment Sword was sympathy, rather than admiration.
No matter how dignified his lecture was, parody images of Su Hoguk automatically came to mind.
‘…Hang in there, Instructor.’
Still, this world was not a game but unmistakable reality.
Su Hoguk probably would not be teased and mocked in that way here.
Meanwhile, I listened closely to his explanation.
“Self-Discipline Mountain March is a class with the purpose of improving physical strength and defensive ability. Over the semester, you will enter Gates and carry out high-intensity mountain marches.”
“…”
“But making you march recklessly without any preparation would be no different from forcing danger upon you. Therefore, for the time being, I intend to have you undergo various training exercises to build bodies capable of keeping up with the class. Today’s lesson is also part of that training. Look over there.”
Su Hoguk pointed at the glass wall.
We all turned our gazes toward it.
“Beyond that are devices installed to fire rubber balls in rapid succession. You will enter that space and endure for ten minutes.”
“…”
“You may dodge the balls, or you may get hit. However, no part of your body other than the soles of your feet may touch the floor. Manifesting mana within your body is also prohibited. I want you to use only your pure physical abilities.”
According to Su Hoguk’s additional explanation,
he planned to divide the students into four groups for training.
Eighth and ninth period totaled 100 minutes.
Assuming we had used roughly 20 minutes so far, leaving 80 minutes, that meant each group would train twice.
‘Hmm… Training to endure a barrage of rubber balls, huh. That won’t be too hard for me.’
The groups were simply divided by student number.
Since my surname was Do, my student number was placed near the front, so I ended up in Group 1.
Gang Hanbyeol was in the same group as me.
Before long, Su Hoguk, having finished preparing, called us.
“Group 1, go inside.”
The glass wall slid upward.
The students of Group 1 and I stepped into the space that had been blocked off by the wall.
Once all of us had entered, the glass wall lowered back into place.
“Your ten minutes begin now.”
“…!”
At Su Hoguk’s signal, the devices installed throughout the space activated.
Aside from the glass wall, holes suddenly opened in the three walls, the floor, and the ceiling.
From within them, countless rubber balls flew out at high speed.
Whoosh!
There were so many rubber balls that it was hard to follow them with the naked eye.
Because I could not use the mana inside my body, my movements felt sluggish too.
Worse still, the rubber balls were so elastic that whenever they struck a surface, they bounced in every direction without losing speed.
If anything, it seemed like they accelerated.
‘…That one hit the wall and came flying back.’
Force is proportional to mass and speed.
The fact that the rubber balls were getting faster was directly connected to the impact of being hit by them growing stronger.
I clicked my tongue as I dodged a ball that came in from the edge of my vision.
The students, myself included, had no choice but to be flustered by the situation.
At this rate, dodging every single ball was practically impossible.
Crackle!
But not for me.
It seemed impossible, but I could do it.
If it was ten minutes, it was worth trying.
‘I can dodge them.’
I entrusted my body to my evasive instinct.
Falling into a trance, I moved and avoided the attacks of the rubber balls.
* * *
As time passed, the number of rubber balls increased, and their speed grew faster.
There was, in the end, a limit to dodging a barrage of rubber balls without manifesting the mana within one’s body.
At first, one might focus on evasion in order not to get hit by the rubber balls, but eventually, a situation would come where that was no longer possible.
At that point, there was no choice but to change strategies.
Dodge the rubber balls that could be dodged, and take the ones that could not.
‘Dodging isn’t the only correct answer. Sometimes, in order to create an opportunity, you must also know how to take a hit efficiently.’
That was the essence of the class.
That was why he had told them to hold out and endure inside for the time limit.
Su Hoguk, the instructor in charge of the class, expected the students to act according to that intention.
However, he did not expect it from them immediately.
‘So one minute has passed.’
There was no being in the world that willingly sought out pain.
Wanting to avoid harm was a natural instinct possessed by living creatures.
Expecting students who had only just entered the Academy to strategically take hits was asking too much.
So for now, it was enough for them to simply get hit.
After being hit enough to build toughness, they could then seek methods of strategically taking hits.
Su Hoguk observed the students training hard beyond the glass wall.
“Keugh!”
“Huhhh? D-Don’t come… ugh!”
‘Three minutes now. The number of kids who can’t dodge has grown to almost half.’
The students who had seemed to dodge decently enough at first now had no trace of composure left on their faces.
They were struggling, unable to handle the rising difficulty.
In that situation, if they were even struck once by a ball by mistake,
“…!”
their balance would instantly collapse.
And just like that, they would end up opening themselves to attacks from the other rubber balls as well.
There were people who had not been hit by the rubber balls, but one could say there was no one who had been hit only once and stopped there.
As a result, as time passed, more and more students were beaten by rubber balls and ended up touching the floor with their bodies.
Even so, while the training was in progress, they could not leave the glass wall, so they had to continue being exposed.
Students whose movements were slow or clumsy, and students with large body surface areas that made them easy targets for the rubber balls, were already being pummeled early on.
‘…Five minutes.’
By then, no students who had not been hit could be found.
No, there was only one.
Su Hoguk focused on that student.
‘Do I have some kind of fate with that student? I didn’t expect to see him in this class too….’
Do Gyeonu of the Divine Sword Do Family.
Having stood out from the entrance exam and entered as salutatorian, he was the only one among the students who had not allowed a single attack to land.
‘…Impressive.’
As if he knew where the rubber balls would come flying from,
Do Gyeonu moved with flowing steps, letting the rubber balls graze past him by a hair’s breadth.
And that was not all.
‘Just what is that guy?’
Rubber balls that had struck the students so far were rolling across the floor.
The students had to be careful not to step on them by mistake.
But Do Gyeonu watched for the timing, then kicked them and displayed the feat of canceling out incoming rubber balls.
He even took into account the angles at which they would bounce after striking the walls.
In that way, a rubber ball he kicked from the front bounced off the glass wall, struck the ceiling, then fell and collided with a rubber ball that had approached him at just the right moment.
‘He… calculated that?’
Seven minutes into the training.
The number of rubber balls had become countless, and their speed had grown vicious enough to leave severe bruises if they hit.
In that situation, the only thing one could rely on was instinct.
Using one’s head was impossible.
Even so, Do Gyeonu maintained his composure and responded with calculated precision.
Su Hoguk unconsciously clicked his tongue in admiration at his skill.
Even he could not move like that.
Unless he manifested the mana within his body, perhaps.
Even so.
‘Checkmate.’
Do Gyeonu’s skill was astonishing, but
he would not be able to dodge the rubber balls that were simultaneously and consecutively rushing at him from every direction.
There was no escape route for him.
Just as Su Hoguk thought that,
whoosh!
Do Gyeonu suddenly took off his blazer jacket.
Then he flapped the jacket wide and knocked away the rubber balls charging in.
“…”
Su Hoguk doubted his own eyes.
Before he knew it, an escape route had opened for Do Gyeonu, who had been cornered.
He immediately ran through that opening and took a metal plaque from his waist.
“Device on.”
The metal plaque regained its original form.
Holding a sword in a dark blue scabbard, he blocked attacks that were not worth the cost of dodging.
And beyond that,
“…Cunning.”
Do Gyeonu, running around the space, sometimes even used students as shields while evading.
He was cleverly making use of the environment.
‘It wasn’t what I intended… but even so, he’s impressive.’
If this had been a test, it would have been grounds for losing points, but it was not a test anyway.
Su Hoguk was purely impressed.
At the same time, a question occurred to him.
‘If he knows how to use his head like that, he should know that taking a hit appropriately would be better….’
“Could it be that he has never been hit before, so he’s afraid of getting hit?”
Just how preciously had he been raised until now….
Su Hoguk simply could not understand it.
That day, Do Gyeonu did not show a single opening throughout the two rounds of training.
* * *
According to the guidelines issued by the student council,
club promotional activities were held in various ways across the grounds during the designated period.
Among them were information sessions where clubs set up separate spaces and introduced themselves in detail, as well as trial sessions where students could experience their activities.
“Everyone’s here except Haneul, right? Then let’s go.”
Today, the information session for the Mystery Exploration Club was scheduled to be held.
Gang Hanbyeol, Go Eunbi, and Yong Haerang were, of course, there.
I had even persuaded people who originally did not join in the game, and went with them to listen to the information session.
Yeon Haneul was supposed to join us at the venue.
That was because she had agreed to come with Cha Eunsol.
‘Haneul did a good job. I didn’t think she’d actually succeed in coaxing Cha Eunsol.’
In the game, Gang Hanbyeol was able to recruit Cha Eunsol as a party member by sharing food with her on three separate occasions when she was hungry.
It was an event the game community jokingly called the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage.
However, the game never mentioned exactly when or where the two of them met.
‘You could only roughly infer the timing from the flow of the story.’
Because of that, all I could do was quietly wait for Gang Hanbyeol to someday form a connection with her.
That was what I would have had to do if Yeon Haneul hadn’t become friends with her.
I was grateful for Yeon Haneul’s help and looked forward to meeting Cha Eunsol as soon as possible.
And finally.
“Guys, this is Eunsol, the girl I told you I got close to during the entrance exam. Eunsol, these are….”
“Hi? I’m Cha Eunsol. Munch.”
At the information session for the Mystery Exploration Club.
After being introduced by Yeon Haneul, I was able to exchange greetings with Cha Eunsol.
She introduced herself briefly, then took out a sausage and ate it.
Her face, with its striking green eyes, remained so expressionless that it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
‘She’s probably just spacing out.’
Of course, since I knew Cha Eunsol’s personality, I could easily guess.
Then she turned her gaze toward me and suddenly spoke.
“So you’re Haneul’s childhood friend.”
Cha Eunsol’s eyes stared at me.
Those eyes, like nature itself turned into gemstones, seemed to pierce right through me.
In reality, she was probably looking into my soul through her eyes.
That was why I didn’t avoid her gaze, even though it felt almost burdensome.
Because this was her way of judging whether I was someone she could be close to.
‘There’s no way she’d know I reincarnated… probably not. It’s not like I possessed someone else’s body. I’m still me.’
At last, Cha Eunsol opened her mouth.
“I can see why Haneul would like you.”
“E-Eunsol! What are you talking about!?”
“Right? I am a pretty good person.”
As expected, Cha Eunsol hadn’t realized that I had reincarnated.
Meanwhile, Yeon Haneul’s rabbit ears shot up as she showed a strangely flustered expression.
Had Cha Eunsol said something weird?
I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t figure out why.
I decided not to dwell on it and changed the subject.
“By the way, we’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Hm?”
In truth, today wasn’t the first time Cha Eunsol and I had met.
We had come face-to-face during the process of defeating the Doll Demoness, Lee Gahyeon, in the entrance exam.
“Really? I don’t remember.”
“We met on the last day of the entrance exam.”
“I guess we might have….”
We had even exchanged a few words back then.
Apparently, Cha Eunsol didn’t remember meeting me.
It was very much like her, considering how little interest she usually had in other people.
I made a request of her.
“Make sure you remember my face from now on. We’ll be seeing each other often for the next three years.”
“Okay. Munch.”
Cha Eunsol nodded while chewing on her sausage.
That said, I couldn’t tell whether she had answered properly or just brushed me off.
Considering her personality, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to forget me from memory in no time.
I decided I would remind her again and again whenever I saw her.
It was then.
“Ah!”
“Hm?”
A voice suddenly came from the entrance.
It was a voice I felt like I’d heard somewhere before.
I turned around in the direction of the sound.
Immediately after, my thoughts stopped for a moment.
“It’s Gyeonu-Gyeonu! I was just thinking I wanted to see you, Gyeonu-Gyeonu. It’s been so long!”
“….”
A short female student whose youthful features still hadn’t faded.
Her curly gray hair framed her face as her purple eyes sparkled.
It was Nam Yuri of the Yeonseong Nam Family.
‘Why is she here?’
This hadn’t happened in the game.
I could only feel bewildered.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss