Ch.35Luck Comes Unexpectedly – 3

She glanced around once, then looked all around.

“Soohyun.”

She paused briefly, then continued looking around.

“Soohyun?”

She’s been like this the whole time. Since the lecture ended, she’s been circling around.

I wonder why she’s acting like this. It seems like she has some reason.

“What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Even when I demand an answer, Soohyun Kim just keeps circling around me several times.

Her gaze looks so serious that it’s awkward to ask anything more.

“Just a moment, just a little more. Just a bit… Yes, I’m done now, Arbiter.”

Finally, the circling stops and Soohyun Kim approaches me.

Then she lets out a long sigh of relief.

Sensing something in that sigh, I asked with a suspicion.

“Were you checking if I was injured somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Then you could have just asked me directly if I was hurt.”

“Well…”

Soohyun Kim hesitates for a moment before carefully speaking.

“Actually, I thought you wouldn’t tell me honestly.”

“Huh?”

“Because you’re a good person. I thought you’d try to hide it somehow so I wouldn’t worry.”

I almost reflexively denied Soohyun Kim’s words.

But thinking about it again, it was a bit difficult to argue with what she said.

If I really had been injured, would I have told Soohyun honestly?

Probably not. It would be quite awkward to see her worried.

I’d be concerned about her focusing elsewhere when she should be concentrating on the promotion test.

“I won’t hide it next time. Is that good enough?”

“Are you promising?”

“Yes. I promise. In return, you trust me and follow along, okay?”

Unlike Hyunwoo Lee who’s growing well on his own, Soohyun Kim requires careful attention.

She might ask to withdraw from the Silver promotion test if her confidence wavers even slightly.

That’s not good. Delaying further won’t benefit either of us.

Above all, to eliminate her sense of inferiority, she needs confidence.

The feeling that she’s improving and gaining more recognition.

The promotion test must begin to give her that feeling.

But forcing her is absolutely not an option.

I need to persuade her, guide her, and make her come forward on her own.

I can’t overlook that Soohyun Kim’s original future was as “The Crimson Witch.”

Even if that’s not the case now. Even if she wasn’t captured and tortured or brainwashed by villains.

I must keep open the possibility that she might somehow follow her original path.

Especially since anger, one of those seeds, is still a concerning factor!

“Is it over now? Can we start?”

Hyunwoo Lee, who had been waiting quietly until now, stands up abruptly.

Soohyun isn’t the only one here. That guy is here too.

I noticed earlier that seeing him coming with Soohyun was strange.

They should be mortal enemies fighting to the death with the Crimson Witch.

But now they’re laughing together like “Bronze buddies!” or something.

For a moment, I wondered if they might be dating.

But I immediately scolded myself for such a ridiculous thought.

Like in many novels, our protagonist Hyunwoo Lee has a screw loose.

Not that he’s crazy like Rina Lee. It’s just his approach to relationships that’s the problem.

In vulgar terms, he’s practically emotionally impaired when it comes to romance.

“Um, do we really have to do the assessment today?”

Even as the timid Soohyun Kim gives him a sharp look,

Hyunwoo Lee just stares at me with a “what’s the problem?” expression.

Other male students might have picked up on the mood, but not Hyunwoo.

He only showed his eagerness to take the assessment as soon as possible.

“You must be tired from yesterday, Arbiter…”

“It’s okay, Soohyun. It won’t take long anyway.”

“Wow, Arbiter. That’s harsh. I’ve been training hard every day.”

I know. I know, but he’s still far from ready.

That pressure I felt from Irina, The Elder, and even Hakjun Ma.

I’ve come to call that sensation the Gatekeeper’s intuition.

I don’t feel even a hint of that from Hyunwoo Lee right now.

If he had grown one more level, I might have felt at least a slight tingle.

But not yet. Which means he’s still Bronze.

“I look forward to working with you today, Arbiter!”

He says “looking forward to it” but his expression looks like he wants to throw a punch!

I chuckled at the absurdity, and Hyunwoo immediately rushed at me.

*

THUD—!

“Ugh!”

The Gatekeeper’s intuition was accurate. Not much had changed since yesterday.

Today again, Hyunwoo lies sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily.

It’s quite a pathetic sight for a protagonist, but it will all pay off later.

◎ Bittersweet Triumph

: Trait activated.

: Target – Hyunwoo Lee

: Stack 3

The assessment just now has given Hyunwoo a total of three stacks.

I don’t know how significantly these stacks will benefit him later.

But when Hyunwoo becomes incomparably stronger than he is now.

In that critical moment when a split-second decision and movement determines victory or defeat, no, life or death.

It will increase the possibility that Hyunwoo, not the monster or villain, will be the final victor.

Thinking about it that way, the trait name really fits well.

“Wow, this is… unbelievable.”

Trembling as he barely manages to sit up, Hyunwoo blinks his eyes.

“Arbiter, aren’t you in the Support Class?”

“Yes, Support Class.”

“But your martial arts and weapon handling… that’s not Support Class level.”

I flinched momentarily at Hyunwoo’s question.

Honestly, I think it’s a bit risky too.

Fortunately, I had already worked out this concept in my conversation with Hakjun Ma.

A Support Class civil servant who never gave up and secretly trained hard.

I don’t have any ultimate skills using abilities like the real Weaponry or Martial Arts Classes.

And with effort, anyone can learn weapons or martial arts.

It’s just that specializing in one area makes you much stronger and easier to recognize.

“I worked hard like you, Hyunwoo. You’re the same, right? You’re in the Weaponry Class, but you also use martial arts. Like someone from the Martial Arts Class.”

“But I’m not as skilled as you, Arbiter.”

“You’ll be like me soon. Effort is the greatest talent, after all.”

At least for Hyunwoo, that’s true. He’s someone who grows as long as he puts in the effort.

He’s the quintessential recipient of the protagonist’s buff.

At my words, Hyunwoo grinned and stood up.

“You know what you’re talking about, Arbiter! That’s right. Effort is the real talent.”

That’s just you. Only you can keep rising as long as you put in the effort.

“I’ll challenge you again tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure!”

“You think you’ll get promoted? Are you confident?”

“…Well, maybe not tomorrow, but next time.”

After saying that, Hyunwoo turned and started running.

He’ll probably head straight to the training ground and start swinging his sword.

Outside of lecture hours, he swings his sword, trains his body, and builds his endurance every day.

With that level of effort, it would be strange if he didn’t grow.

‘But is this really all for today’s assessment? This is a problem.’

It’s a serious issue that no one is challenging me, the Silver Gatekeeper.

I’m even hoping Yuhyun Jung would come.

If I don’t find a solution, my growth will be completely blocked…

“A-Arbiter?”

“Yes?”

“I think someone’s coming.”

Students? I immediately turned my head toward the entrance at Soohyun Kim’s words.

Indeed, several students were approaching my assessment area.

I hope they haven’t taken a wrong turn like last time.

Or they might run away after seeing me.

“Excuse me, are you Arbiter Seojin Baek?”

“Yes, that’s me. If you’ve come to the wrong place, please go back…”

“No. We’re in the right place. We… came for an assessment.”

I’m not hearing things, right? They said they came for an assessment?

I looked back at Soohyun Kim, who was clapping her hands softly.

She seems to be congratulating me, so I guess I didn’t mishear.

“Just a moment.”

I examined all the visiting students with The Third Eye.

And I could tell why these students were requesting an assessment.

First, one male-female pair had similar reasons to the reporters.

Perhaps they thought I had some connection with that famous S-rank ability user from yesterday’s article.

It was quite evident they came to make an impression.

‘I expected this. Well, people can’t always gather with good intentions.’

Fortunately, the other student was different from those two.

More accurately, they were more like Hyunwoo.

Rather than focusing on me shaking hands with Rina, taking photos, and being in the same space,

they clearly came because I had performed well during the sudden gate incident and fulfilled my duty as an ability user.

They clearly came thinking there was something to learn from that.

“So, all three of you are Bronze, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then we’ll proceed with the assessments in order.”

I decided to quickly filter out the two and properly check the one.

If they’re a good talent, I can pair them with Hyunwoo to encourage more effort.

If they can’t keep up, that’s unfortunate, but if they can, they’ll become Hyunwoo’s companion, which isn’t bad.

“Now then…”

“Oh, Arbiter!”

Soohyun Kim, who was sitting quietly behind me, points to the entrance again.

I wondered why, and saw more students approaching the assessment area.

“Is this the place?”

“Oh, yes. There he is. Arbiter Seojin Baek.”

“That’s him? He looks less impressive than in the photos.”

Just from hearing that, I can tell that guy came with different intentions.

Is it because of yesterday? Students are unexpectedly coming to find me.

Naturally, most came with purely calculated thoughts of riding on my suddenly elevated recognition.

“Hello, Arbiter. I saw the article yesterday. You’re more impressive than I thought.”

Not everyone is like that. Like the student standing before me, some clearly have the will to rise,

to break through their current limitations.

“I look forward to working with you.”

So I decided to help these students. That is, I will stand in their way.

Although the process won’t be easy, and might be frustrating and painful.

I hope the sweat of effort shed here will substitute for the blood they might shed later.

And incidentally, I’ll make a decent living too.