Chapter 52

<Episode 53> Oh, and you’re misunderstanding this again?

“This is delicious.”

“Hehe! Is it? I’m glad Mr. Yu-jin liked it!”

“Yeah! It’s really good, Young-hee.”

“Uh, sure.”

Young-hee’s reactions were at opposite extremes.

To Chul-soo’s dry answer, he gave a wry smile while scraping up the remaining soup.

Even though he knew it was an act, he couldn’t help but be affected by it somewhat.

No… Lately, he’s even started to think it’s not an act…

‘Wait, what am I thinking about?’

Isn’t Young-hee just acting to please Yu-jin?

Yet here he is, thinking such things when he knows that already.

He can’t help but feel petty.

“Ahh, Class President. Have some of this. Mages need concentration, so you should eat something sweet.”

Chul-soo handed over some wild strawberries to the dazed Class President.

The Class President snapped out of it and accepted them.

“Oh, okay. Uh, thanks Chul-soo.”

Lately, the Class President has seemed troubled.

Especially since coming to this island, it’s gotten worse.

‘Hmm… Is this also because of Yu-jin Kim?’

It’s certain that Kim Yu-jin has been up to something with the Class President.

There’s no way she’d help someone like Kim Yu-jin otherwise.

Even if it’s repayment of a favor, it must have been Kim Yu-jin who pulled some strings to make it result in training.

■I wonder what that guy’s after.,

Even though the Class President said she was fine,

it was obvious from her expression and recent attitude that she had something on her mind.

Whatever it is, it seems like it’s something we should be wary of.

‘I’ll have to keep an eye on the Class President for a while.’

Yu-jin doesn’t really care much once someone is under him.

Take Young-hee for example – he’s just eating without giving her much attention, right?

While we’re on this island, we should probably figure out what’s troubling the Class President.

“Ah, I’ll eat this.”

“Huh? Wait, you’re going to eat th-”

When Yu-jin suddenly grabbed the fruit and ate it, Young-hee looked flustered.

She fidgeted as if something had gone wrong.

“Mmm, is it because it’s from the island? It’s pretty strong.”

Young-hee’s face turned deathly pale for a moment.

Looking back and forth between Chul-soo and Yu-jin, she eventually bowed her head low,

as if realizing she made a mistake.

Chul-soo glanced at her strangely before losing interest.

If it’s not affecting Young-hee or the Class President, it’s not a big deal.

The meal ended with everyone still unaware of each other’s true intentions.

…*

Survival Day Two.

“Keeeeeek!”

The last lizardman fell to the Class President’s ice spear.

Chul-soo confirmed there were no more monsters and sheathed his sword.

Unlike the first day, starting from the second day, they’ve been hunting quite seriously.

However, contrary to concerns, no major issues arose.

Wiping the blood off his blade, Chul-soo quietly surveyed the surroundings.

‘I don’t want to admit it, but…’

Over 30 lizardmen lay defeated around him.

Even a decent B-rank hero party would struggle against this many.

But they took them down effortlessly.

Not only that, nobody seems particularly tired.

‘This team is the most perfect one I’ve ever seen.’

Chul-soo took a moment to evaluate each member.

Kim Yu-jin, who could take down upper-level monsters alone.

The Class President, whose magic skills and knowledge rank among the top in the Academy.

Young-hee, with her excellent healing and buffs, and surprisingly strong combat ability when wielding her whip.

!………

！..

……..

And himself, having mastered the Sky Piercing Sword technique.

Their combination was displaying teamwork and skill that would rank highly even in the Academy.

‘With this party, we might even be able to take on the island boss.’

In fact, their hunting method was rather simple.

Once they spotted a monster, close-range fighters Yu-jin and Chul-soo would move forward to engage.

The Class President would provide crowd control and firepower support from behind.

Young-hee would block monsters approaching the Class President with her whip, while aiding allies with healing and buffs.

Excluding Kim Yu-jin’s absurdly overpowered combat ability,

this was actually a pretty standard and textbook party composition.

‘That’s why it’s solid and strong.’

Everyone excels in their roles, so there aren’t really any unexpected variables.

And if there are, everyone has the skills and confidence to handle them immediately.

That’s the key to their overwhelming performance.

[Currently, Team Scorpio’s points are leading with 16,000 points.]

Compared to Team Leader’s group, they have an overwhelming number of points.

Initially, Chul-soo estimated they’d earn around 10,000 points on the second day.

That estimate assumed Kim Yu-jin would cooperate to some degree.

But they’ve surpassed the 10,000 mark.

It’s nothing short of insane.

‘And yet, none of the top performers show any signs of fatigue.’

At this rate, they should easily hit 100,000 points before the mission ends.

With that score, they could secure first place and potentially set a new Academy record.

Maybe they really could defeat the island boss, the ‘Two-Headed Snake’…

“Hey, Chul-soo, you’re injured on your arm.”

At the Class President’s words, Chul-soo looked at his arm.

Sure enough, there was a small scratch.

It wasn’t from the monster’s attack.

Rather, it came from Young-hee’s whip accidentally grazing his arm.

Well, it’s not like Young-hee did it on purpose.

It was his own fault for missing the retreating monster.

“It’s fine. This will heal on its own.”

“We should still treat it just in case, Young-hee.”

The Class President called out to Young-hee.

With Young-hee’s healing magic, a wound like that would disappear in a second.

However, Young-hee’s reaction was strange.

“Chul-soo… wound… must complete mission…”

“Hey, Young-hee!”

“Kyaa!”

When the Class President suddenly called out, Young-hee jumped up in surprise.

Seeing her cute reaction, the Class President tried to hide her smile as she looked at Young-hee.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, no, I just thought I need to do better… I keep making mistakes.”

“Come on, you’re doing great already. How many healers can contribute this much to combat?”

Yu-jin nodded too.

“That’s right, Class President… I mean, Young-hee contributes a lot to the team.”

At those words, everyone except Yu-jin simultaneously flinched.

Their overly sensitive reactions left Yu-jin feeling confused.

‘…Did I say something wrong? Seriously, calling Young-hee “Class President” almost slipped out – was it that shocking?!’

It was just a normal slip of the tongue!

Typical awkward loner problems…

Yu-jin’s self-consciousness crumpled further.

“Ah, anyway, let’s talk about treatment later. Shouldn’t we move to a safer location first?”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me. Other monsters might come if they smell the blood.”

The four agreed and started walking.

Still, all four had complicated feelings.

‘Is Kim Yu-jin targeting both Young-hee and the Class President?’

‘Why did he start to call her and then switch to mentioning Young-hee? Does he think Young-hee is more… useful than me?’

‘Chul-soo… wound… Ugh! My head’s been hurting since earlier… and my memory feels hazy…’

‘Whoa, this is awkward. Was calling the wrong name really such a big deal? I guess I should have just kept quiet…’

Each carrying their own worries, the four successfully completed their first hunt.

When night fell, Team Scorpio took turns keeping watch.

They decided Yu-jin would go first, considering the Class President’s point about how tiring front-line duty could be.

Honestly, Yu-jin felt a bit uncomfortable about it.

‘Hmm… Even though we’ve become friends, we’re still not at the same level as real close buddies, huh?’ As far as he knew, Chul-soo, Young-hee, and the Class President had been friends for a long time. Sure, he’d gotten closer to the three of them, but…

Time is an unscalable wall, it seems.

The three of them appeared to be discussing something they had in common, while he had nothing on his mind.

‘Ah~ The stars are beautiful, the air is nice, and somehow only I feel so relaxed…’

Maybe we didn’t hunt hard enough and fell short of our point goal?

Still, we did our best…

We need to hunt more diligently.

“I should cook a hearty breakfast with the fish we caught tomorrow morning.”

Just as Yu-jin was muttering that,

– Someone who doesn’t understand the situation at all sure is lucky, isn’t he?

Rime suddenly popped out saying that.

Yu-jin’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What brings you out here?”

“…What? Am I not allowed to come out?”

The materialized Rime puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

Her cute appearance made Yu-jin crack a small smile.

Yu-jin reached out with his finger to poke her cheek.

“Puup! What are you doing?!”

“Just because. Your cheeks look so puffy, I wanted to see how they feel.”

“…Do you realize I’m trying to get mad right now?”

This tiny girl, dressed only in her underwear, yelling in anger doesn’t evoke any fear.

Rather, I’m more worried if she’s cold or not.

‘So, why did you come out, Rime? If you bothered to appear, there must be a reason.’

While saying that, Yu-jin took off his coat and offered it to her.

Then he patted the spot next to him.

“Still, it’s nice seeing your face. It’s a long night, so do you want to sit together and chat?”

Then, while maintaining a dignified expression,

Rime sat down anyway.

Right on Yu-jin’s knees.

“…Rime-san? I said to sit next to me.”

“Here is the warmest spot. Surely you’re not suggesting I sit on cold wood instead?”

Saying that with a victorious grin.

Well, technically she’s right, so there’s not much to argue about.

Since Rime is light, it’s not much of an issue either.

“You should appreciate me letting you sit here.”

“What are you letting me do?”

“While you’ve been stuck taking this test for days, we haven’t had a chance to talk, right? I may look innocent, but I’m actually a possessive slime.”

“That sadistic expression alone makes that obvious… Please stop pulling my cheeks.”

After angrily pulling his cheeks for a while, Rime suddenly sighed.

She opened her mouth with an extremely annoyed expression.

“I came out here to warn you.”

“Warn?”

We haven’t encountered any dangerous situations recently, so what kind of warning could this be?

Rime opened her mouth carefully with a very serious expression.

“Apparently, that Young-hee girl seems to be after you.”

Yu-jin’s face became even more perplexed.

Huh? Who’s after who now?

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