Episode 17. Reserve Forces
“Ah, look at that guy. Coming in last when the senior’s waiting?”
It was finally the day to go to Reserve Forces training.
Thinking of the profits he had earned from three 3-star dungeons and one 4-star dungeon during that time, Sindae let out a snicker.
‘Fifty million won…’
The day before, he hadn’t been able to believe that an F-rank like himself had earned fifty million won in such a short time.
When the Osiris Guild even sent him 100 million won as a consolation payment, it felt like his eyes would pop out of his head.
‘Still, I should return this…’
The Lion King, Choe Cheolmin, the guild master of the Osiris Guild, was well-liked for his generous personality.
Because Sindae had seen the news that the Osiris Guild was teetering due to the funds being poured in to settle this incident, he intended to return the 100 million won, though it pained him.
‘When I think about everything I’ve received so far, it’s not regrettable at all.’
The stats he had gained from following the Osiris Guild into dungeons.
And even Iasol’s Sword that Choe Cheolmin had handed over.
Moreover, thinking that at his current pace he could easily earn around 100 million won soon, Sindae didn’t regret the 100 million he was going to return at all.
“Beomsu, are you close with Sindae?”
“What do you mean, close, Brother? It’s just annoying that some young kid is the last to show up while we’re waiting for the seniors.”
“We still have thirty minutes before departure, so don’t be like that.”
Soon, as they headed to where the people from the same department had gathered, the student club president, I Seonho, looked at Sindae and flashed a sly grin.
‘So these are the Awakened from our department?’
I Seonho of the famous Baekho.
And Byeon Beomsu beside him, who seemed desperate to appeal himself to I Seonho.
And even Bak Sangok, fiddling with his phone as if annoyed.
Sindae was a little surprised that there were four male Awakened in a department with so few people.
‘More than I thought.’
“So, since Sindae’s here too, shall we move out?”
“Wow, are we going in the senior’s car?”
“Uh… Beomsu… it’s a bit much to call me senior…”
When I Seonho pulled out his car keys, Byeon Beomsu exaggerated his surprise, and Sindae caught sight of I Seonho furrowing his brows as if he found him burdensome.
‘He’s trying so hard…’
It was obvious he wanted to catch I Seonho’s eye and get into Baekho through this opportunity.
Sindae could only let out a sigh.
***
After loading their equipment into I Seonho’s car trunk, the party departed and began heading toward the Awakened Reserve Forces training center designated by the government.
“By the way, you seem to be a warrior-class Awakened, Sindae?”
I Seonho asked, his eyes sparkling at the longsword and shield Sindae had brought.
Since he himself used a sword and was a ranker, his eyes lit up seeing Sindae arrive wearing a sword.
“No.”
“Huh? No?”
I Seonho was about to ask why he wore a sword, then.
But Sindae said to him nonchalantly,
“I’m a Butcher, Brother…”
“B… Butcher?”
“Puhahat. Senior, he’s F-rank. I don’t know where he got a nice sword, but he really tries everything.”
I Seonho pondered whether a class called Butcher even existed.
However, rather than the class, he was somewhat surprised by the aura he felt from Sindae.
‘Strange. Last time, it definitely wasn’t this strong.’
An elevated aura, as if he were a different person from when they first met.
Back then he had already thought Sindae was no F-rank, but now I Seonho thought he was at least D-rank.
“By the way, Senior, did you see my spear? It’s actually dwarven-made.”
‘Why is this guy sitting next to me….’
I Seonho sighed as he looked at Byeon Beomsu staring at him so oppressively.
***
The group arrived at the Reserve Forces training ground.
I Seonho looked at the schedule and grinned slyly.
“Looks like no boring theory lectures today, at least.”
The Awakened Reserve Forces training hosted by the Association.
Instead of the theory lectures from last year, this year’s morning training schedule was packed with squad competitions and mock combat between Awakened.
“When do we enter the dungeon?”
Hearing that O Gayeon was coming as an assistant instructor for the final assignment of this Reserve Forces training—the dungeon entry—Sindae asked with anticipation, and I Seonho smiled slyly.
“The final assignment! If we finish quickly here, early discharge might be possible, right?”
Because discharge time was set according to dungeon clear time, I Seonho said with a sly grin.
“Since the Senior is here, early discharge is practically guaranteed, isn’t it?”
I Seonho now simply smiled awkwardly and ignored Byeon Beomsu’s words.
He looked at his squad members and nodded.
‘The squad competition is a flag capture…’
Excluding himself, there was spear-wielding Byeon Beomsu and the priest Bak Sangok.
Excluding Sindae the Butcher, he thought they could win easily.
“Then shall we all go?”
The party headed toward the training ground for the squad competition, I Seonho wearing a relaxed smile.
Sindae looked at him and nodded inwardly.
‘So that’s the smile of a popular guy.’
I Seonho treated people so refreshingly, like a real older brother.
Sindae resolved to practice I Seonho’s smile when he got home.
‘And I’m using it tomorrow!’
The entire Reserve Forces training was nothing but an MT.
Sindae decided to use the smile he learned from I Seonho today there.
***
“Argh! Why is our squad up against I Seonho!”
As I Seonho expected, the Physical Education department Awakened were matched against them in the squad competition.
They despaired at having I Seonho as an opponent, sighing and hanging their heads.
‘There’s nothing to be done here.’
Moving ahead, I Seonho knocked aside the P.E. department Awakened with one hand and sprinted toward the flag.
Sindae simply positioned himself in front of the flag and yawned.
“I just want to go home quickly…”
Not knowing at all why they were doing this, Sindae just blankly stared at the sky.
***
Next came mock combat between the Awakened.
At the training method requiring squad members to fight each other in mock battles, I Seonho stroked his chin.
‘Shall I check?’
I Seonho wanted to check on Sindae, who was supposedly F-rank.
He looked at Byeon Beomsu, who was whining beside him, and at Sindae, and let out a smirk.
“How about Sindae and Beomsu try the mock battle?”
“Me?”
“Senior, me?”
The two held different meanings in their responses.
Sindae’s reaction was ‘Why me?’, but Byeon Beomsu couldn’t help but think that I Seonho was taking an interest in him.
‘This is my chance!’
Thinking that if he showed a good performance here, he would surely be scouted by Baekho.
Moreover, since his opponent was F-rank, he felt little burden.
“Hey! The senior told us to, so why aren’t you getting up already?”
Byeon Beomsu finished his thoughts, rose from his seat, and gripped his spear tightly, while Sindae sighed.
‘Why on earth is he like this?’
Sindae had considered ending things quickly by simply falling to a moderate attack from the guy.
But when mana began gathering at the tip of Byeon Beomsu’s spear, his expression hardened.
‘Huh, this is just mock training?’
The sight of mana coating the spear.
Several other Awakened watching nearby looked at Byeon Beomsu’s spear with surprised eyes.
“Wow… he must be C-rank or higher?”
“Yeah, he seems somewhat skilled at using mana.”
“But is there a need to use mana even in a mock battle?”
I Seonho, watching right beside them, also looked a little surprised.
But knowing full well that he had the skill to stop Byeon Beomsu before the spear threatened Sindae, he silently watched the two fight.
“Good grief, we’re not kids…”
“What?”
For a moment, Byeon Beomsu tilted his head, wondering if he had misheard.
Looking at him, Sindae simply smirked and drew his dwarven longsword.
‘He’s smiling?’
Byeon Beomsu twitched his eyebrows at the situation—a guy younger and lower-ranked than him smiling.
Soon, he began thrusting his spear quickly at Sindae.
‘This seems slower than a 3-star monster?’
Byeon Beomsu’s spear looked slower than the strike of the 3-star monster he had caught a few days ago.
It was a phenomenon showing that although he was C-rank, his level wasn’t that high yet.
‘If it’s like this, there’s no need to clash directly.’
Sindae lightly dodged the spear flying slowly toward him.
At the sight of that, I Seonho’s eyes went wide.
‘As expected, that guy wasn’t F-rank!’
I Seonho had seen Sindae’s eyes clearly tracking the trajectory of the spear even when it was infused with mana.
He then saw Byeon Beomsu’s spear being pushed far back by Sindae’s subsequent sword strike.
‘Fast and strong…..’
I Seonho wondered if he had invested stats mainly in agility and strength.
But no matter how much an F-rank invested only in strength and agility, Sindae’s actions were impossible.
“You bastard!”
His attack had come to nothing before I Seonho’s eyes, and having been pushed back instead, Byeon Beomsu’s face reddened as he prepared his spear again, but in that brief moment—
Before he knew it, Sindae’s sword, which he had retracted, was aimed at Byeon Beomsu’s neck.
“This is over, right?”
“Y… you won’t put this away?!”
Byeon Beomsu thought he had lost because he had let his guard down.
Seeing him throw a tantrum like a child, Sindae clicked his tongue inwardly.
“Just one more time, please, Senior! Just one more time!”
‘T… this can’t go on like this….’
The appearance of himself, a C-rank, losing to an F-rank Awakened.
Everyone else knew well that Byeon Beomsu had lost, but he only thought that he had lost because he let his guard down.
‘At this rate, B… Baekho…’
Far from Baekho, if this fact got out, it would be difficult to join even other guilds.
“Forget it, it was just a mock battle anyway.”
‘N… no…’
When I Seonho simply said let’s go to the next training ground, despair bloomed on Byeon Beomsu’s face.
‘T… this is all because of t… that bastard!’
As things flowed this way, Byeon Beomsu groundlessly thought everything was Sindae’s fault.
He reddened his face and muttered quietly, just loud enough for Sindae to hear while moving.
“You… stay behind after this ends…”
‘This guy is really weird…’
Sindae let out a sigh at the sight of him venting his anger groundlessly at him.
Of course, he had no intention of following Byeon Beomsu’s words, but seeing him keep acting like this, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
“If I stay behind, can you win?”
“Wh… what?”
Byeon Beomsu was surprised because he hadn’t known Sindae would even talk back, and Sindae simply smirked at him.
“I’m asking if you can win if I stay behind…”
“If only I hadn’t let my guard down!”
“Is there a problem?”
As it seemed Sindae and Byeon Beomsu were raising their voices, I Seonho hardened his expression and turned around.
“Ah… it’s nothing, Senior…”
At I Seonho’s words, Byeon Beomsu quickly cast his eyes down.
Sindae looked at him and could tell he was the type who was weak to the strong and strong to the weak.
‘He’s really just a child…’
Sindae walked on, sighing.
I Seonho looked at such Sindae with strange eyes.