Ch.175175. The Caring Man

Seo Jin-won, as everyone knows, is someone who came up from the intermediate class. Since the intermediate class aims for at least a C-grade, it’s known to have better employment prospects than the lower class.

But being overshadowed by the advanced class is always the same.

The same goes for Seo Jin-won. He was aiming higher and running toward it.

‘Dokgo Jun is coming for inspection?’

He recalled the example of Seol Yu-hwa. She was a girl with good grades but lacked presence compared to Ariel. In terms of appearance, she was also overshadowed by the glamorous Ariel.

But she caught Dokgo Jun’s eye and successfully entered the White Dragon Guild.

The most powerful Jaeger and guild that everyone aspires to. Moreover, he’s recently rumored to be the world’s first to reach the realm of Avatar.

Dokgo Jun has been persistently advocating for the closure of Crevasses to the World Jaeger Association.

‘Since he’s entered the Avatar realm, he must have gained enough power to destroy that place. I envy him. I want to be like that too.’

The motivation itself is simple. Strength—something that seems obvious in a way.

But it was a bit twisted.

His friends from the intermediate class felt the same way. They expressed their complaints during their earlier meeting.

“Why is Do Jong-hyun suddenly defending the third-years?”

“Honestly, the third-years who got kicked out were too cocky. Isn’t that what Do Jong-hyun made them into?”

“Besides, Joo Ara has always been clumsy. Why should we be lectured just because we made a few mistakes?”

“The academy’s reputation has plummeted because of them; they deserve to be scolded.”

They recalled last year. Not long after the second-years had left, the third-years were cold during joint training.

The awkward period that Do Jong-hyun mentioned. That’s when the incident occurred.

They staged a silent protest against Joo Ara, and she became dejected.

Seo Jin-won heaved a deep sigh.

“Enough. Enough. What’s important is catching Dokgo Jun’s eye. Remember Seol Yu-hwa? She properly caught his attention during the attack incident. Such opportunities are extremely rare.”

“Isn’t Geum Do-hyun with the Cheonji Guild? And Ariel with the Magician Guild…”

“According to the unwritten rule, we can enter the White Dragon Guild without any problem. The top ranks are divided, but we’re outside of that.”

Everything would be decided tomorrow. They were planning to make their best effort for social advancement.

But the next day, Seo Jin-won came face to face with Joo Ara.

“…”

“…”

At the very crucial moment when he needed to catch Dokgo Jun’s eye.

*

[Monster Report]

-Under adjustment

The Monster Report hasn’t appeared since the last time.

The invasion of new species has also somewhat slowed down. The frequency of occurrences has drastically decreased worldwide.

Normally, this would be a situation to celebrate, but thinking about the future, they were clearly plotting something.

“We have no choice but to follow what the Monster Report tells us.”

Since the future has changed, predictions are meaningless. We only check in advance when they come in large numbers.

In this atmosphere, even the enemy wouldn’t waste their forces recklessly.

Especially with Dokgo Jun, who might have reached the realm of Avatar today.

If I were on the monster side, I wouldn’t foolishly attack here… but a small commotion arose.

It was Seo Jin-won.

Since the teams had been announced, team members were gathering to discuss.

In my case, I was with Min-seok, Yoo Ji-a, and Seong Ho-chang hyung.

As we were gathering, Seo Jin-won’s team happened to be assigned with Joo Ara noona.

That’s why Seo Jin-won was openly protesting.

Yoo Ji-a suddenly moved closer to me.

“No matter what, if it’s random, shouldn’t you just go with it?”

“That’s right.”

“But if he protests like that, it’ll be a problem.”

But why does this girl keep sticking to me? Her curly bob hair is almost touching my face.

“You must be disappointed you can’t be with Ariel.”

“Haha, it’s random after all.”

“Should I switch with you?”

I turned around, wondering what she was suddenly saying, and she was grinning mischievously, similar to when Ariel plays pranks.

“Suddenly?”

“Why? You two have good synergy together. Ariel is being super sensitive these days. Her boyfriend should be by her side at times like this.”

“…Why don’t you tell that boyfriend to come to her side?”

“Oh my. I didn’t think of that.”

Yoo Ji-a touches her forehead. This girl is so playful that I can’t tell when she’s being serious. She was just joking again.

Ho-chang hyung approached me.

“Wow, so many girls? You’re lucky. Getting to work with you.”

“Ho-chang hyung. She’s just a classmate. More importantly, what should we do about that?”

My finger pointed toward Seo Jin-won and the instructors.

“I can’t do it!”

Seo Jin-won was openly refusing, while Joo Ara was visibly anxious from a distance.

Wait, aren’t you supposed to do it regardless of such considerations? You can’t always get what you want.

Catching Dokgo Jun’s eye is important, but refusing too strongly would also make you fall out of favor.

Eventually, Dokgo Jun himself stepped in.

“Tsk, he’s going to get an earful.”

Well, who in the world could match my uncle’s temper?

I can clearly see what he’s going to do as he sneers.

But this time was a bit different.

Dokgo Jun grabbed Seo Jin-won’s shoulder and pointed at me.

I’m feeling uneasy. That man would never point at me with good intentions, right?

Sure enough, Seo Jin-won comes over.

“Hey, Dokgo Jun says to switch the third-years.”

“…What?”

A sudden change. Switch with me? I looked at Dokgo Jun, puzzled by this unexpected designation.

But why does he look like that? Yawning as if dealing with something bothersome and shaking his head?

Anyway, the switch was made.

Between Ho-chang hyung and Joo Ara noona.

“Hmm… but Ho-chang hyung is in a combat team, so this means there are three sidekicks…”

Yoo Ji-a’s acceleration can be used for attacks, but it’s fundamentally a speed buff.

The attack team includes me, who doesn’t have (or is treated as not having) a summoned spirit. This balance is…

“Hey, get out. You’re in the way.”

That’s when it happened.

A familiar Dol Hareubang doll appeared, swaying from somewhere.

“…Ariel?”

“What? You called for me.”

Yoo Ji-a is giving a thumbs up behind me. It wasn’t a joke but real?

Wait a minute… since we also have three sidekicks, we could switch one person?

Ariel would be perfect for that.

But for someone with Ariel’s presence to switch teams would obviously be out of bounds.

Lee Chae-rin stepped forward to mediate.

“Do you really need to be together?”

“Your guild master changed things arbitrarily. This much should be allowed.”

“…”

I thought I saw a hint of annoyance in Chae-rin’s expression… but Chae-rin has a better temperament than Dokgo Jun.

Since he changed things arbitrarily, she eventually gave in to Ariel’s persistence.

Of course, there were complaints from other teams.

But what kind of personality does our Ariel have?

“If you want to complain, complain to Dokgo Jun. He listened to that Seo Jin-won guy who wanted to switch teams on his own. The problem is with the person who selfishly tried to pick their team and messed everything up.”

Her personality is fiery, that’s for sure.

Yoo Ji-a naturally touched my shoulder.

“I brought her well, didn’t I?”

“…I thought you were joking, but you actually brought her.”

Ariel immediately came over and caressed my chin.

“Any complaints?”

“No, it’s perfect. Senior Joo Ara, let’s do this properly.”

I looked at Joo Ara noona, who still had an anxious expression. She’s probably worried due to her trauma.

“I think I have nothing to worry about with you and Ji-a… huh?”

Yoo Ji-a suddenly nudges me.

“Ariel. Ariel.”

In the direction she’s pointing, Ariel is making a sulky face.

“…And with Ariel joining us, this is perfection itself. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of everything.”

Ariel finally softens her sharp glare. Anyway, there are landmines everywhere if you touch the wrong spots.

I have no reason to impress Dokgo Jun here. I need to focus solely on taking care of Joo Ara.

Unless Dokgo Jun artificially sets something up like last year, this is just a simulation.

So let’s examine the team members’ abilities.

Yoo Ji-a has acceleration, and Joo Ara noona has “control.” Here, control mainly refers to physical means.

As seen before, the most straightforward applications are enhancing strength and reducing enemy power.

Combined with Yoo Ji-a’s acceleration…

“Ji-a supports me, and Do Jong-hyun follows from behind. With Senior Joo Ara, we can move even faster. Speed itself is better with more physical strength.”

Ariel looks at me.

“What do you think, Do Jong-hyun? You should be the one saying this.”

“You already know?”

“Of course I’m different from when I was a first-year. Move!”

Yes, everyone grows. It’s different from when we were first-years.

I need to adapt to that. With the sense I developed in real combat.

I looked at Joo Ara noona.

“Noona, can you lend me your ear for a moment?”

“Huh? Why?”

I decided to give courage to the anxious Joo Ara noona.

I feel a piercing gaze from behind, but whatever.

*

Joo Ara was currently surprised. Her distress came from being ignored by her juniors and falling into fear.

Those who could laugh and work together despite mistakes were gone. As the current second-years emerged as a golden generation, showing their prowess, she became even more intimidated.

On top of that, she was deeply shocked by Seo Jin-won’s actions.

Naturally, she thought she would fail this evaluation too. They were running in the wasteland field, facing the wind.

‘What should I do? In a wasteland, there would be sand worms or sand ants?’

She needed to advise and work together, but she was afraid. A team needs communication, but that wasn’t happening.

Worry and hesitation create obstacles to judgment. That’s why she was wavering.

At this moment, Do Jong-hyun gave a signal.

“Noona, I’ll do as you said! We need an area-of-effect debuff to catch sand worms or creatures hiding in the sand!”

“Huh?”

Joo Ara was slightly surprised. Wasn’t Do Jong-hyun saying exactly what she had been thinking deep down?

Next would be a B-grade monster. A situation where they had to decide whether to catch it or not.

Joo Ara looked at Ariel and judged they could catch it.

“Noona! Please!”

But once again, Do Jong-hyun had anticipated her thoughts.

‘My goodness…’

After being intimidated by Seo Jin-won’s pressure, she was now witnessing such smooth teamwork for the first time in her life.

Do Jong-hyun was preemptively cutting through her sluggish judgment and hesitation.

‘Noona, just apply the buff when Ariel jumps out. She’ll go without saying anything.’

And at some point, as soon as Ariel dashed out, Joo Ara immediately applied the buff.

Combined with acceleration, the speed became a rapid advance.

A corner of Joo Ara’s heart was becoming at ease.

“Thanks to you, noona, this is going well. Yoo Ji-a’s acceleration is more effective when strength is amplified.”

“That’s right! Aren’t we in first place right now?”

Yoo Ji-a added with good sense, making her feel comfortable.

Soon, she turned her buff into a debuff and signaled to Ariel.

This was probably the first time she had proactively given a signal in this test.

“…”

She was worried because Ariel had a prickly personality, but this genius immediately understood and exploded her magic power on the ground.

In that instant, as the debuff tightened strongly, the monsters were swept up in the aftermath.

“It worked…”

Joo Ara’s heart was becoming more at ease. Above all, there was someone who guided her well.

‘Jong-hyun has already…’

As if foreseeing, he gave her hints and communicated about everything she needed to do.

Naturally, her confidence grew.

As Joo Ara naturally offered opinions and they worked in harmony, their test came to an end.

With the impressive record of first place overall.