Ch.7878. In Front of the Seniors

Anyone can feel nervous.

A moderate amount of tension is actually good for the body.

That’s how my body felt right now. Unlike before, there were many things causing tension—the sensitive job-hunting season for third-years, conflicts between second-years and myself.

There were plenty of reasons to be on edge.

Plus, since I missed yesterday, even the friendly third-years were full of doubts.

Here, ultimately, I needed to prove myself.

Moreover, I had volunteered for the combat team. It was only natural to be criticized if I couldn’t properly support the third-years.

I finished my preparations while wearing my enhancement suit.

Serin Eun and Ji-sung Kim from the intermediate class were supervising us as instructors.

“There’s no time limit. You just need to clear the designated area as quickly as possible. And to prevent information leaks from previous groups, the field is randomized. Got it?”

For me, it didn’t matter what came up, but it was different for the third-years.

Su-hee Kim and Sang-min Jo protested to Serin Eun.

“What? But why change it suddenly?”

“If we keep repeating the same thing, later groups will do better. That puts you at a disadvantage. Don’t want it changed? Fine. But I’ll be stricter with the scoring.”

Well, we were starting the middle group. That’s why the test content was changing.

It made sense, but was it always like this? I don’t think it was this way before my regression.

Serin Eun in the second semester was unusually quiet compared to my memories.

She was just teaching normally. Originally, there should have been an attack incident and internal conflict by now, but that period had already passed.

I don’t know what this quietness means. Serin being so quiet makes me nervous too.

As I was watching her closely, our eyes met.

“The glorious 70th team, huh, Jong-hyun.”

“Yes.”

“Should I increase the difficulty a bit?”

Her smiling attitude was clearly a joke, but the third-years were sensitive and reacted immediately.

“Instructor.”

Su-hee Kim pointed at me.

“Jong-hyun is a first-year and he missed the gate simulation. You shouldn’t say things like that, even as a joke.”

“Gate simulation? Jong-hyun already recorded top scores in the first semester.”

“That was when he was competing against other first-years. It’s different with third-years.”

“Those first-years were Sang-heon Gu, Min-woo Han, Yu-hwa Seol, and Aerial. You know their skills, right? Do you think Do Jong-hyun, who worked with them, can’t handle this?”

Serin Eun quelled the third-years’ complaints.

“In my judgment, your evaluation will depend on how well you utilize Do Jong-hyun. Don’t whine just because the content changed.”

The third-years’ gazes fixed on me.

This is making me feel even more pressured.

Su-hee Kim asked again.

“Can you do well?”

“I don’t think I’ll fail.”

Their eyes widened at my confident answer. Jin-tae Lee, a second-year, cut in.

“So arrogant. Just follow along well. Don’t cause trouble for your seniors.”

“What are Senior Sang-min and Senior Jin-tae’s sidekick abilities?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Jin-tae glared at me with an annoyed look.

But what can I do? Here, third-years are kings and grades come first.

“I’m confident I can do well. I need to know your sidekick abilities to perform properly, don’t I?”

“Wow… completely arrogant.”

Jin-tae looked exasperated, but he quieted down when Su-hee stepped in.

“Alright. I’ll trust you. Don’t make mistakes as part of the combat team. If the instructor knows you, you must be good, right?”

“Of course.”

What could I possibly back down from here? Instead, I nodded with a smile.

Before entering the gate simulation site, I confirmed the abilities of the two sidekicks.

“Curse and Slow? That’s good.”

They have some decent debuffs together.

Having a variety makes it easier to strategize.

Now, as we entered the third gate simulation, a cold, snowy field spread out before us.

The monsters that would appear here…

I recalled the monsters that typically appear in such fields.

Besides, with the randomization, high-grade monsters wouldn’t appear.

At most B-grade? But B-grade might be unpredictable even if we all attacked together, so there would probably be few or none at all.

Understanding this trend, I set C-grade monsters as the average in my mind and pulled out information.

A snowy field with blowing winds. Monsters that appear in places where it’s hard to determine direction?

C-grade snow weasels and snow anglers are typical.

Snow anglers, true to their name, hide in the snow and ambush their prey.

Here, we use the power of the sidekicks.

“Senior Jin-tae! Cast Slow!”

“What? On whom?”

“Just spread it over the area!”

“Are you ordering me around? Or do you want to get hit?”

Snow anglers have high magic resistance. As slow as they move, they have some resistances. When Slow is cast and there’s a ‘sign’ of resistance, that’s when to attack.

“Senior Su-hee! Attack as soon as you see a snow angler!”

“Snow angler? Are you sure it’s a snow angler?”

“It could be. In fields like this.”

And my words were correct. Right in front of us, something stirred, and a snow angler revealed its bear-sized body.

From here, Su-hee flew in without me having to say anything and struck its side with her Huskaarl axe.

However, perhaps because she lacked the firepower of Aerial or Sang-heon Gu, it didn’t die in one hit, but catching it from behind was enough.

While one was being dealt with, I ran forward. Speed is essential in this test. If I can handle the angler alone, I need to catch other monsters.

“Senior Sang-min, please follow me!”

“Got it.”

There’s no buff, but it’s C-grade or below anyway. Striking weak points is enough.

Moreover, Sang-min’s curse is quite a good debuff that simultaneously reduces defense, health, and attack power.

With this, even I can take down a C-grade.

Weasels are agile and attack with all their might when prey approaches.

To lure them out, it’s better for me to run and draw aggro.

Remember, their initial attack position.

Snow weasels are incredibly fast.

They don’t have many other abilities, but with my D-rank limit, that speed is concerning.

With my abilities, it’s impossible to gauge speed. So I defend while avoiding vital points.

“Senior Sang-min! Cast it as soon as I’m attacked!”

“Will you be okay?”

Soon, sounds of movement in the snow began, and I took a defensive stance.

They use an ambush technique, jumping from below to above.

As I lowered my waist, claws that had suddenly appeared before me brushed past my head.

I could see the hind legs of a human-sized snow weasel.

Unable to dodge, I grabbed its hind legs as it touched my body and fell down.

But the creature couldn’t move.

That’s because I was holding onto its hind legs and biting down.

“Senior!”

“Ah… right!”

Senior Sang-min, befitting a third-year, didn’t just cast a curse but also joined the attack.

While a sidekick’s combat ability is low, it’s enough to buy time.

As I held the hind legs and the senior pressed from the front, I felt the opponent getting lighter.

The curse had activated.

I pulled the weasel’s hind legs with force, forcing it to lie on the ground.

“Senior, let’s beat it up until we’re satisfied?”

“Good idea.”

We both crushed the weasel’s legs and happily began pummeling it.

With this, another stage cleared.

As we finished, Senior Su-hee approached and joined us.

“Already two down?”

“Let’s move quickly!”

We could continue like this. As we broke through the gate, we could see a B-rank monster, a snow leopard.

Wait, B-rank? That’s tough.

Not just Senior Su-hee, but our entire team hesitated.

Normally, we’d take everything down as we go, but a B-rank?

“A snow leopard? That must be B-rank.”

“Why is it here? It’s hard to face head-on.”

Everyone froze. A B-rank monster is questionable whether we could win even with all of us fighting.

We have to decide based on the type.

This is a judgment call. Whether to fight or not.

And the third-years had the same thought as me.

“There are some we shouldn’t fight recklessly, right?”

“Right. In a test, we need to distinguish between monsters to fight and monsters to avoid. I was unnecessarily tense.”

The seniors were viewing it as a monster not to fight.

Let’s see, a snow leopard is B-rank and pushes through with physical power rather than special abilities. In other words, an upgraded version of the snow weasel I faced earlier.

Plus, its front paws, agility, and power are all strong.

This specimen doesn’t have any particular weakness. It can be described as a monster that requires steady damage.

The seniors wanted to avoid this monster.

But in my judgment, that’s not right. We can take it down.

“Let’s catch it.”

“What?”

The seniors all looked at me at once.

*

Jin-tae got angry.

“Are you crazy? That’s B-rank! Its strength and speed are on a completely different level from C-rank.”

“I know.”

“If you know, then why? Isn’t it obvious we should avoid that? Geez, you’re taking unnecessary risks just because you did well at the start.”

“No, it’s too ambiguous to just avoid.”

“It’s B-rank!”

“Third-year seniors can hunt B-rank monsters when they team up, right? This isn’t a 1:1 battle.”

At my words, Senior Su-hee looked troubled.

“True, but that monster has no particular weakness in terms of health or power. It may not have special abilities, but…”

“That’s why its pattern is extremely simple. We can definitely catch it. Especially since it’s most vulnerable to Senior Sang-min’s curse.”

Sang-min’s curse was most effective against such types.

Ignoring allies, avoiding might be a good choice, but our team’s abilities are optimized for catching that monster. In other words, it’s worth a try.

Moreover, when curse and slow combine, their effect increases.

Our party is actually well-suited to catch that snow leopard.

With me, who has relatively lower attack power, acting as bait, and the rest attacking, we can do it.

“I’ll go.”

“What? You’ll be out before you can even react!”

Sang-min looked incredulous, but at this moment, Do Jong-hyun made a dangerous statement.

“Then let’s just give up. If we don’t catch something we can catch, isn’t that already a minus in the score? The evaluation criteria is how we handle the opposing monsters, right? The faster we catch them, the better.”

“What do you know?”

“I think I know better than the seniors.”

Even I thought this was a bit disrespectful.

The atmosphere immediately darkened, but Senior Su-hee stepped in.

“Forget the bait, I’ll block it, then you jump in.”

“Su-hee? Are you doing it?”

In Sang-min’s voice, Su-hee patted my head.

“You sure have a way with words. Just don’t mess up, or you’ll really get it.”

“If we succeed, buy me a meal!”

“Alright, alright. Good confidence.”

As I intended, we decided to fight the snow leopard. Senior Su-hee would be the bait to lure it in, and we would ambush.

Unlike other monsters, this snow leopard circles to the side when facing an opponent, like a beast.

That’s what we’re aiming for.

“Let’s exploit the snow leopard’s habits. It’s not the type to just charge in stupidly like a weasel.”

“Should we set a trap?”

I noted that snow leopards usually circle to the left while growling when facing a target.

“Su-hee, please lure it and guide it a bit backward.”

This is the role I’ll play.

I just need to startle it. Using its instincts.

I built a kind of screen in the snow and waited while Su-hee initiated the plan.

Growling sounds echoed across the snowy mountain. Even though it was a simulation, everyone was frozen at the B-rank monster.

But why am I so calm?

Strangely, I wasn’t trembling. Because of the monsters I’ve faced before? With this weak human body, I wasn’t afraid of it.

The snow leopard showed its beautiful form as it faced Su-hee and moved toward me.

As a precaution, Senior Sang-min was on the opposite side, but fortunately, it came this way.

Have confidence. Compared to S-grade monsters and strong humanoids, this one is nothing.

As it was watching Su-hee and slowly looking for an opportunity to prey, I broke through the snow and shouted.

“Hey!”

The voice echoing across the snowy mountain made the creature cower. That completes the preliminary role. Next is Su-hee’s part.

Then, like magic, an axe landed on the snow leopard’s head.

With a dull impact sound, the snow leopard staggered, and debuffs poured in.

At this moment, I imagined the snow leopard bouncing back and getting up.

Due to its physical robustness, it would rise again and again. We needed to knock it down again as safely as possible.

My body moved instinctively.

I moved behind the creature as it shook its body and growled roughly.

And with all my might, I shook its hind legs.

As its body wobbled, once again, that sound was heard.

Su-hee had struck again.

I rolled my body, and the snow leopard staggered even more than before.

Its movements were slower. With Slow applied and weakened by the curse, this snow leopard didn’t take long to fall silent.

After withstanding five hits, the snow leopard collapsed, and we all cheered.

“We got it.”

“Could we really catch it?”

We savored the victory.

And one more piece of good news was that my judgment was correct.

Going a bit further, an A-rank snow spirit appeared. That’s what we really needed to avoid. We successfully arrived without engaging in combat.

After finishing the test and coming out, the instructors praised us.

“Impressive! It was a double trap with the snow spirit and snow leopard.”

“You handled the snow leopard perfectly! You utilized your party well. Your judgment is the best. Perfect strategy.”

The seniors were delighted with the instructors’ praise.

Senior Su-hee nudged me with her elbow.

“You were arrogant… but you did so well!”

“I’m not a child…”

“Oh my, well done. The snow leopard was the bait, and the snow spirit was the real deal.”

She’s patting my head like I’m a child. Hmm, not bad though?

“Well done. Hey, what do you want to eat? I’ll treat you. It’s the first time the instructors have praised us like this!”

Senior Sang-min was the same.

We succeeded in getting good grades in this simulation evaluation.

As we moved with the seniors, we saw other second-years.

They all had surprised faces.

Feeling a strange sense of victory, we left the gate simulation site.