Ch.128128 – Mentoring

<128 – Mentoring>

[You have achieved results by helping Arcadia’s <Charity Work>.]

[Structure Design experience +3]

[Good Child experience +1]

My Good Child skill increased after helping Arcadia create training equipment.

I saw this event for the first time and rushed to participate without knowing what it was. The rewards are just okay, but it was fun nonetheless.

Hidden events are definitely worth doing!

<Linked Event>

For Arcadia’s charity work to succeed, it’s essential that lower-class students train with the training equipment.

Please help your seniors ensure that one lower-class student avoids failing!

Honestly, I had no intention of helping this far.

I only helped those unfamiliar lower-class students for Arcadia’s sake.

I didn’t particularly want to help them.

While this is also for Arcadia’s benefit, the time and effort required are on a completely different level.

The benefits I could gain from personal training and other work in the same amount of time are far superior.

‘The long-term event feels tempting, but the rewards seem underwhelming!’

Stockpiling antidotes vs. Receiving thanks from a lower-class student.

No matter how I look at it, the former is more beneficial.

However, my thoughts changed when I spotted a familiar name on the list.

<Rescue Applicant – Morb>

A male student who attends the Ranged Weapon Mastery lecture with me.

I found Morb on the list, whom I had also encountered with Zhang in the secret training ground.

Considering the friendship and dedication Morb has shown me, ignoring this would be truly garbage behavior.

“Arcadia. I’ll help this one!”

“Morb. Ah. The friend who attends Ranged Weapon Mastery lectures with you?”

“Wow. You remember Morb too, Arcadia?”

“Well, I’m also taking lectures on handling ‘guns’ in Ranged Weapon Mastery.”

I had momentarily forgotten.

Arcadia is a character whose main attributes change randomly each playthrough.

<Aristocratic Lady Arcadia> who focuses entirely on social activities.

<Commander Arcadia> whose tech tree extends from politics to military command.

There’s also <Martial Artist Arcadia> who branches from military command to martial arts.

This playthrough’s Arcadia is <Jack of All Trades Arcadia>, combining all of those.

Normally that would mean mediocrity in everything, but…

Somehow I got <Renaissance Woman Arcadia> who excels in all areas.

It feels like I’ve won not just a 0.1% rare event, but a 0.01% unique event.

‘When things go too well, the backlash tends to be brutal later. Is this really okay?’

Arcadia’s eyes sometimes seem hazy, and occasionally they appear lifeless, as if she’s lost in deep contemplation.

I hope she doesn’t suddenly turn evil or become a yandere who kidnaps and imprisons someone.

“I’ll deliver the training equipment as soon as it’s made. For now, please meet with Morb first and tell him directly that he’s been matched with a tutoring mentor.”

“Okay.”

Whatever happens, Morb’s education comes first.

* *

Morb had been worried lately.

“Isn’t it terrible that we can’t even use the training grounds because the mosquitoes are so bad?”

“Not really? I’m more concerned about the practical exams than assignments.”

“Ah, you blockhead. Who told you to mess up the practical part of the Ranged Weapon Mastery lecture? Showing off takes a moment, but suffering lasts forever.”

“I don’t regret it. Even if I could go back, I’d do the same thing for Oknodie again.”

“Sigh. Do you think the top student of the upper class, who even holds the record for youngest top admission, would care about someone like you? You’re just being nosy.”

His close friend Zaku, who had joined and quit the hunting club with him, wounded his heart with this reality check.

‘Is it true? Does Oknodie really think nothing of someone like me?’

It doesn’t matter if it’s not true.

His grades are quite precarious.

At this rate, it’s hard to be confident about remaining at the academy for the second semester.

His body is already struggling to keep up with academics.

Even if he disappeared without a trace one day, Oknodie would continue climbing higher.

The days of attending lectures with Oknodie at the academy would feel like a distant memory, and as Zaku pointed out, he might come to regret that day.

He didn’t want to admit it.

He knew they weren’t equals.

The gap between the top student and a failing student is vast.

Yet she called him a friend.

Oknodie’s bright smile had been a great comfort to him.

-At this rate, you’ll have a hard time next semester, you know?

A few days ago, Zhang had already warned him.

That at this rate, it would be impossible to even remain by Oknodie’s side.

His own efforts alone weren’t enough.

He needed something more.

He had nothing to lose.

He needed to grasp at any straw he could find.

That’s why he submitted a help request to the “Lower Class Student Rescue Project” advertised by a suspicious organization called the Dark Association. He realized it wasn’t time to be picky.

Of course, if they tried to make him do something suspicious once he joined, he would back out then.

“Hello, Morb!”

“Oknodie? How did you get here…”

“I’m your tutor!”

But Oknodie was the mentor who came to teach him.

To think the mentor assigned by the Dark Association would be Oknodie.

The emotion he felt now was overwhelming gratitude!!

‘Thank you, Dark Association!’

Zaku, who was standing beside him, gasped.

“Wow. Fate is strange. How did you end up being taught by the very girl you’ve been desperately trying to follow for appearances’ sake?”

“Zaku, you’re being noisy. Go away.”

“Come on. Did I say anything wrong?”

“Quickly.”

Feeling grateful to Oknodie and having it exposed in front of her were two different matters.

Feeling embarrassed, he pushed Zaku away while blushing, and Oknodie asked with a bright smile.

“Are you done talking with your friend?”

“Sorry. He’s a friend I got to know in the hunting club, remember? He just likes to meddle in other people’s business.”

“It’s okay! More importantly, your risk of failing is because of the massive penalty points you received in the Ranged Weapon Mastery practical exam, right?”

“I wish I could deny it… but yes. That was the decisive blow. I was already falling behind, and with those penalty points, there was no way to recover.”

“I know you work hard, Morb. We’ve seen each other late at night in the secret training ground!”

“Thanks, Oknodie. For thinking well of me.”

“It’s nothing. Hehe.”

“So about the mentoring. Where and how do you plan to start teaching?”

Oknodie is the top student of her year.

She’s smart, which is why she’s at the top, but being intelligent and being able to teach are separate issues.

You know those common stories about geniuses?

“Just do it like this!”

“Just follow the textbook!”

Without genius intuition, it’s incomprehensible, and even if you follow their instructions exactly, you get different results.

“Don’t be so nervous! I’ll start with the easy stuff.”

“Phew. That’s a relief.”

“First, could you tell me what lectures you’re taking?”

Morb shared his lecture list without hesitation.

Lower Class Common Required Lecture: Academy Survival Rules

Lower Class Common Required Lecture: About Classes and Career Choices

Knight Department Required Lecture: Challenging for Title Works

Knight Department Required Lecture: Learning Combo Skills

Knight Department Required Lecture: Basics and Understanding of Armor Defense Techniques

Knight Department Elective Lecture: Ranged Weapon Mastery

Adventure Department Elective Lecture: Adventurer Supply Studies

“So Morb is aspiring to be in the Knight Department?”

“That’s right. Though I’m not particularly skilled.”

“What’s your specialty?”

“I’m confident in shield techniques. Even in my hometown, I was best at beating monsters with a shield.”

“??”

Oknodie looked puzzled.

Don’t they beat monsters with shields in the city?

“Let’s do a quick skill test! Let’s have a duel.”

“Are you sure? Close combat could lead to injuries.”

“Heh. You should worry about not getting hurt yourself!”

He charged at the boastful Oknodie to prove his skills, but within 5 seconds, his shield was dented and the impact area of his armor cracked and fell off.

While he stood dumbfounded at what had happened so quickly, Oknodie shouted.

“This time, let’s go slower!”

Fighting more slowly, he could understand what had happened.

The difference in strength and technique was on another level.

When he exerted a power of 10 with the same movement, Oknodie exerted 20.

Before his strength could reach its peak, Oknodie’s movements caught him off guard.

She would close or widen the distance with her feet.

She would move to his blind spot or poke a body part, draining his strength.

Being toyed with like this made him realize the vast gap between upper and lower classes.

“Hmm. Not bad!”

“Really? Even though I was completely outmatched?”

“Well, I am the top student of the year! It’s natural to lose if you’re not as strong as Hestia or Son Ocheon!”

After completing her assessment, Oknodie decided where to start teaching him.

“Morb, you’re lacking in basic stat supplements!”

“But I’ve trained quite diligently.”

“Supplements aren’t just about training!”

Oknodie looked at him with great disapproval.

“What’s your usual diet?”

“Fish, hardtack, dried jerky.”

“And?”

“I eat one of those three.”

“…Don’t you eat the school meals?”

“Oknodie, did you know? School meals cost 5 points, but hardtack is sold at the store for just 1 point.”

“…Sigh. This is why newbies don’t even know about collection missions.”

Following the skill assessment, the real mentoring began.

The first lesson was decided.

“Morb. This week is collection mission week!”