Chapter 7

<Chapter 8: A Man Splits a Bear!!>

“What’s he thinking?”

Chul-soo walked at the front, carefully observing Yu-jin’s vibe.

Yu-jin wasn’t just some brute with raw strength.

He actually preferred using schemes to take down opponents.

The guy had brains for that kind of stuff.

‘There’s no way someone like him would suggest teaming up without any plan.’

It was Yu-jin who first proposed forming a team.

Clearly, there had to be some sort of plan behind it.

Chul-soo accepted because of his own competitive nature.

You couldn’t just run away from a challenge like this.

Of course, Chul-soo had prepared accordingly.

Walking in front was part of his strategy.

If Yu-jin tried anything funny, Chul-soo would be ready to counter.

‘But nothing seems off…’

Yu-jin didn’t make any suspicious moves.

He simply followed behind like an innocent teammate.

‘There’s definitely something planned here…’

Chul-soo then glanced at Young-hee, his childhood friend.

She looked slightly uneasy.

Chul-soo knew she had made some kind of deal with Yu-jin.

Ever since then, things between them had been awkward.

‘Pride aside, could I beat that guy even if I teamed up with Young-hee?’

An empty forest stretched before them.

Their opponent only had a single pistol.

This situation seemed too easy to handle.

At this rate, they might literally bury the enemy.

‘…Hah! There’s no way he didn’t calculate this beforehand.’

Yu-jin was the one who suggested the team and chose the pistol.

Would someone like that fail to anticipate their attacks?

This was way too tempting a trap.

At this point, falling for it would make you the fool.

‘Sorry, but things aren’t going your way this time.’

Chances were, Yu-jin wanted Chul-soo to attack.

His calm demeanor was clearly a provocation.

As if urging Chul-soo to seize this opportunity and strike.

But Chul-soo wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

He decided to abandon direct confrontation with Yu-jin.

Now wasn’t the time to act rashly.

Focus on getting good grades in this assignment.

Just then…

“…Let’s take a short break.”

Yu-jin suddenly spoke up.

Chul-soo gave him a puzzled look.

‘A break here? Out of nowhere?’

He couldn’t figure out what Yu-jin was thinking.

But Yu-jin wasn’t the type to suggest something random like this.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s rest for a bit.”

Chul-soo frowned, sharpening his senses.

What was he up to?

Before Chul-soo could dwell on it further…

-KREEK! KREEK!

A sharp sensation alerted them to a nearby monster.

Chul-soo instinctively drew his sword.

“Chul-soo!”

“Yeah, stay close.”

He glanced at Yu-jin in surprise.

The latter casually pulled out his pistol as if this was all just a little fun.

‘Did he detect that while we were walking?’

Chul-soo wasn’t exactly bad at sensing things—quite the opposite.

Detecting monsters was more the thief or mage’s domain.

Even so, Chul-soo’s ability was impressive.

But Yu-jin had surpassed that by leaps and bounds.

‘Surprise attacks won’t work on him…’

Realizing the gap once again, Chul-soo adjusted his stance.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“I’ll cover the front.”

“Alright!”

Despite his detection skills, Yu-jin didn’t seem eager to fight.

He stayed back, merely aiming his pistol.

Not that Chul-soo expected much anyway.

“Buff activated!”

Young-hee’s buff enveloped them.

A powerful enhancement that significantly boosted physical abilities and senses.

Such a potent buff was rare even among upperclassmen.

‘This buff is overkill for goblins.’

The familiar sensation surged through his body.

They’d practiced together many times, and he could feel the power coursing through him.

“Huff!”

“Grrr, Grrr?”

Chul-soo dashed forward, slicing a goblin in one clean stroke.

Gunshots rang out afterward.

But most of the bullets missed.

In fact, they interfered with Chul-soo’s movements.

‘…That idiot bastard.’

Looking back, Yu-jin stood there casually shooting.

Whether he aimed at the goblins or himself wasn’t clear.

‘Meh, I anticipated this level of interference!’

Even though he was young, Chul-soo was an awoken individual.

His skill was at least D-rank hero level.

Unless directly targeted, a few bullets weren’t a problem.

“KREEK! KREEK!”

Chul-soo moved swiftly, evading the goblins’ axes.

With a quick upward swing, he deflected one goblin’s attack.

Another swung its axe, but Chul-soo countered with a wide slash.

CHOMP!

Sky Piercing Sword.

Cloud Crushing Technique.

In one swift motion, both goblins were cut down.

Impressive work despite being injured.

[You have defeated a Normal Goblin (Low-tier Monster).]

[Monster elimination records will be logged on your student ID.]

[Current Points: 90]

Points seemed to be awarded based on who killed the monster.

Though Young-hee provided the buff,

and Yu-jin shot from afar,

their current scores were likely still at zero.

Of course, when combined as a team, it didn’t matter.

‘Still, that guy’s shooting isn’t half bad.’

All the bullets narrowly grazed his arms and legs.

To an untrained eye, it might look like accidental misses.

If Chul-soo had been hit, it would’ve been easy to excuse.

It was a flawless act.

‘He probably planned to claim he accidentally hit me while trying to help.’

Maybe that’s why he chose the pistol.

No hero trains extensively with guns.

Even if he lacked skill, no one could criticize him for it.

Especially since he was the heir of a mafia family.

‘Still such a despicable guy.’

Honestly, it was an obvious ploy.

Chul-soo was more wary of Yu-jin than the goblins in front of him.

Fortunately, he wasn’t naive enough to fall for it.

Still, he knew there was a long way to go.

Complacency was forbidden.

“So let’s take a short break before moving on-”

Just as he said that…

An intense shock came from the side.

By the time Chul-soo regained his senses, he was flying through the air.

‘…Huh? Did Yu-jin attack me?’

But no.

Yu-jin stood next to Young-hee.

Even he couldn’t throw a punch from this distance.

‘What…?’

The sensation of being struck by a heavy hammer.

He flew several meters before crashing into the ground.

-KABOOM!

“Cough!”

Blood spewed from his mouth.

Looks like his internal organs were damaged.

His injured arm reacted too slowly.

“Chul-soo!”

Young-hee’s healing magic activated.

Despite the excruciating pain, Chul-soo forced his eyes open.

To identify whoever attacked him.

‘An Ogre?!’

A high-tier monster that required multiple B-rank hunters to take down.

It loomed over him.

The moment Chul-soo recognized it, he quickly assessed the situation.

Then he firmly told Young-hee:

“Leave me behind and run.”

“W-what are you talking about?!”

Young-hee snapped, refusing to believe his words.

But Chul-soo didn’t have time for her protests.

If they stayed, they’d all die.

And there was no way Young-hee would abandon him.

Knowing this, despite his pride,

this was the only thing Chul-soo could do.

“Yu-jin Kim! Take Young-hee and run! Please!”

Chul-soo shouted at Yu-jin.

“You don’t want Young-hee dying either! If I’m gone, it’s game over! Just let me take the loss!”

Yu-jin stared down at him coldly.

Right now, Chul-soo had no other choice but to rely on him.

‘Man, sorry about this.’

Yu-jin’s shoulders slumped.

His original plan was to support Chul-soo.

More specifically, to replace the injured Chul-soo in battle.

But things didn’t go as expected.

Shooting the gun was harder than anticipated.

He almost hit the moving Chul-soo by mistake.

‘Damn, not helping at all. Not doing anything useful. Not knowing anything.’

At this rate, his reputation would drop instead of rise.

He should’ve practiced shooting earlier.

The adults at home seemed to know how to use guns.

Would they teach him if he asked?

While pondering these thoughts…

Suddenly, Chul-soo’s body went flying with a loud crash.

‘Wha-?!’

His heart nearly stopped from the shock.

But his body remained eerily calm.

Sometimes his mind and body operated separately like this.

Guess that’s just his personality.

‘W-what IS that thing?!’

The monster in front of him was huge—seriously enormous.

Exaggerating a bit, it felt like a small truck standing there.

Definitely not the same as those earlier goblins.

‘Holy crap. This is insane.’

At this point, it was less scary and more surreal.

Come on, this is ridiculous.

Even in a world without student rights, this is excessive.

Trying to kill students during class?!

I’ll report everything to the Ministry of Education if I survive!

“Run!”

Then Chul-soo shouted.

Lying on the ground, he earnestly pleaded.

“Yu-jin Kim! Take Young-hee and run! Please!”

Wow, that’s pretty cool.

Almost made me cry there.

Thinking of his friends first in such a situation…

Chul-soo, you’re truly an awesome guy!

“Hmm…”

With trembling hands, I dropped my pistol to the ground.

It probably wouldn’t affect that thing anyway.

That was something I could instinctively tell.

‘Honestly, I don’t want to fight.’

Yu-jin was just an ordinary high schooler until recently.

Someone who was happy with good mock exam results.

To ask such a person to risk their life in battle was unreasonable.

But he couldn’t run away now.

He couldn’t abandon the first real friends he’d made.

‘Just hold out for 5 minutes…no, 1 minute.’

Then Young-hee would somehow heal Chul-soo.

After that…well, honestly, he didn’t know.

‘Anyway, this is my second life. Maybe it’s not so bad to end it like this.’

Tightly gripping his fists, Yu-jin charged forward.

Thankfully, the target was large.

No need to dodge.

Just swing your fist straight ahead.

-SMASH!!

A heavy boom echoed through the forest.

A sound that didn’t seem possible from a mere punch reverberated.

And the ogre, smashing through trees, flew backward.

“Graaaah…”

A creaking sound filled the air as the massive creature collapsed.

Chul-soo and Young-hee stared blankly at the scene.

“Whoa…”

Yu-jin also gawked dumbly.

So THAT’S what hit our Chul-soo earlier.

---