“Ah, sorry…”
The Japanese cadet, Soujiro, made an awkward smile after giving an apology.
“…”
Kim Ji-in, the Korean cadet, looked away. She was biting her lips, as if she was in a bad mood. Soon, Kim Ji-in slowly opened her mouth.
“You didn’t have to say it like that.”
“What?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“You guys. I’m telling you now. Don’t hold me back. I already have shit enough marks because of all the assessments I fucked up.”
“…”
“Do you have any complaints against that?”
“No. You do whatever…”
After saying that, Kim Ji-in closed her mouth shut. They were already off to a bad start.
Yu Jitae didn’t scold Yeorum. No matter what this ill-tempered dragon thought, and no matter what kinds of relationships she forged with others, he didn’t care.
However, the vice versa was the same. Even if Yeorum was to get disadvantaged due to her attitude, he wouldn’t care about it as long as it didn’t go above a certain degree.
He was merely a guardian protecting the kids, and wasn’t someone that educated or disciplined them to the correct path. He had no such desire.
“…Since we don’t have much time, I’ll go straight to the explanations. Usually three guardians would be taking turns with the operator role, but I will be the operator by myself. For the next three days…”
Yu Jitae explained about the rules he received to the cadets. Yeorum didn’t seem to be listening properly, while the other two nodded sincerely.
“I, I’ll try my best not to cause any trouble… Please take care of me.”
“Yeah.”
“Umm…”
Kim Ji-in cautiously glanced at him and asked.
“…How should we, umm, call you, Mister Guardian?”
“Just call me Mister Guardian for the next three days.”
“Ah, yes.”
The simple preparations were all taken care of. Taking the cadets down, he headed to the lecture room.
*
“Everyone is checked present. Please gather with your pre-decided team members.”
The air surrounding the lecture room felt heavy.
For them, this was the first large-scale practical experience. Guardians gave several advice to their cadets and they all seemed nervous in front of the large practical lesson.
There were 150 cadets and it reached 300 including the guardians, and because of that, the large lecture room felt tiny.
“Now. I’ll provide the equipment for the anti-demon war simulation.”
An armour core, a communication bracelet, blunt weapons, a device exclusively for operators and etc. The required equipment was all given.
Meanwhile, there were several cadets throwing glances at Yeorum. Their name tag had a blue sticker attached and there was a Roman numeral, ‘IV’ written on top.
It was a ‘society badge’.
A society was an organisation formed by cadets with the same purpose and was something that couldn’t be interfered on by professors or guardians. The number written on the sticker was the society’s level given by Lair.
According to the society’s activities, they would be given a level from Lair and Level 4 was second from the top – it was in the top 5% of all societies.
“Hi, Yeorum.”
“Yeah.”
A few cadets of the Level 4 society walked up and spoke up to Yeorum.
“…You seem to be in a team with them?”
One of the female cadets glanced at Soujiro and Kim Ji-in.
“That’s how it ended up.”
“I feel a bit left out though? You rejected us when we asked you.”
“I heard you guys do some freaking logrolling.”
“Hey, don’t say that. Others might misunderstand. We and a few other groups are just helping each other when needed.”
“Do you wipe each other’s butt as well?”
“Oi why do you speak so… anyways, how about we help each other a bit? We need to get good marks, right?”
“I’m good, so fuck off.”
Yeorum’s vulgar tongue was already well-known amongst cadets. At the start, there were some who hated it and it almost led to a fight several times, but quite interestingly, they all appeared to have given up now.
“They all do it. Even the Taijutsu society guys seem to be doing it.”
Taijutsu society was a Level 5 society. Currently there were only three Level 5 societies that were opened up to first grades. Members of that society were all from ‘study groups’ that were well-known inside Lair, and were at the same time from renowned households and organisations worldwide.
“And what? Will you copy them if they kill themselves?”
“You…”
“…Let’s just go.”
Clicking her tongue, the cadet opened her mouth before walking away.
“Do your best with those awesome guys over there.”
“I’m already regretting so just fuck off, unnis.”
When the cadets disappeared, Yeorum spoke to Yu Jitae in a low voice.
“They’re annoying bitches. To get good marks, they form groups, trash talk others and do all sorts of shit.”
He was about to give a casual nod indifferently but Soujiro, who was right next to them, heard Yeorum’s words and gave an awkward smile.
“I, I also feel a bit uncomfortable.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. They don’t do it to my face, but they stealthily talk down behind my back…”
That was when Yeorum opened her mouth in annoyance.
“I didn’t ask.”
“Ah, sorry…”
Soujiro shrunk down in an instant and seeing that, Yu Jitae pondered for a short period of time.
Was this team okay?
“Now, please move to your designated areas.”
In any case, the die had already been cast.
***
– Everyone will be separated into 50 teams, and the simulation will begin at your given spots.
– There is only one opportunity. The activity rate, kills, deaths and damages will all be calculated into numbers and become realtime ranks.
– The name of the virtual dungeon is an ‘ant nest’. Underground…
Their team’s number was Number 50. It was because their team had been decided at the very end. While the professor was continuing with his explanation, Yu Jitae was in the middle of moving to their starting spot along with other teams that had nearby starting points.
The virtual dungeon had an underground cave system and its name was ‘ant nest’. It was made while taking into account an actual underground dungeon of an ant monster, and there were countless rooms with corridors in between.
Although it was an underground cave, there were sources of light in each room and it therefore wasn’t that dark. On the other hand, the dark corridors had less light sources and even those few sources had a weaker light.
“Huu…”
After arriving at the starting point, Soujiro let out a sigh in nervousness.
“Um, Mister Guardian.”
“Yeah.”
“W, will we be able to do a good job.”
“Why.”
“That… this subject is very important for the final marks… my marks are already bad and if I fail here, I might have to repeat the grade…”
“Hey, why are you saying that to him? He’s not our actual guardian.”
Hearing Kim Ji-in’s rebuke, Soujiro dropped his head.
“Aht, I’m sorry…”
“Just don’t worry too much about his words…”
That was when a voice going, “Huhh?” was heard. It was from Yeorum, who had been lying down in the corner of the cave.
“Of course we need to do well, you junks. My marks are on the line.”
“Who doesn’t want to…? I’ll also do my best.”
“What? You gotta be joking me. You’re saying that without even undoing the safety catch of the weapon?”
“Nn? Ah…”
“Come here, you bitch.”
Kim Ji-in’s weapon was a mana-gun. It was a weapon in the form of a musket.
Walking up, Yeorum released the safety catch of the gun and after doing a thorough inspection of the weapon with natural movements, she handed it back over to Kim Ji-in.
Her next target was Soujiro.
“And you, idiot!”
“N, nn?”
“You need to properly tighten the armour’s body straps.”
Due to the loose strap, his plastic armour covering the upper body was moving left and right. Wearing a frown, Yeorum tightened the straps herself and matched the balance.
“This is fucking why no-one was looking for you.”
At that point in time, the two of them were looking at Yeorum with faint surprise.
– Anti-demon war simulation will now begin.
The professor’s voice reached their ears through the communication device in their ears. Facing the children, Yu Jitae opened his mouth.
“You guys. Is there a number you are aiming for?”
“Sorry?”
“Which group do you want to catch the back of.”
When he finished his sentence, Soujiro couldn’t understand it while Kim Ji-in made an awkward smile.
“There’s no way it would go the way we want right…? They all have their guardians as operators as well, and they wouldn’t let others get behind them that easily.”
He replied as if it was trivial.
“So what team?”
“What do you mean, ‘what team’? Just any freaking team we find.”
“Got it.”
Hearing Yeorum’s summation, Yu Jitae turned around.
In this place, guardians couldn’t use mana. As soon as they used mana, it would be detected by the necklace artifact.
They could only locate others through the help of the operating device, or rely on sound, smell, visual hints and experience, and that was the same for Yu Jitae. But his ‘senses’ that had surpassed the norms several times, couldn’t be blocked by a mere artifact.
Even now, he could close his eyes and the things moving on the other side of the complex ant nest would be drawn faintly inside his head. Following his senses, he specified the closest opponent and opened his eyes.
“Let’s go.”
He carried his feet.
*
Walking behind the guardian, the cadets felt strange.
The ant nest was created with rooms and corridors. A wide room would have three to four narrow corridors connected. Due to that, it was hard to discern the source of a sound or smell even if they sensed it inside a room.
Because of that, the most important thing was planning and stealth. How stealthily they could move, and how strategic their decisions were, were the decisive elements. And yet the guardian in front of their eyes took large strides forward as if he didn’t care about it at all.
‘Can we go randomly like this?’
It was the thought that simultaneously popped up in the heads of the two cadets.
‘Eh, but it feels like I can’t hear the footsteps..’
Closing his eyes, Soujiro discerned the sound.
Step, step.
He could only hear two people’s footsteps – one was his own, and the other was Kim Ji-in’s.
Did that mean that the guardian and Yeorum didn’t even make any footstep noises? He heard that it was possible but…
The cadets were quietly following him as if they were possessed. Soon, Yu Jitae stopped and following that, the cadets stopped their feet as well.
After glancing behind at the cadets, he pointed at the end of the corridor. He then quickly moved his hand and gestured. The numbers he showed were 5 5 5, 4, 2.
This was the sign language of an attack force. It meant that the enemies were fifteen metres away, consisting of four enemies, in a situation weak to ambush.
Four enemies was equal to one team.
‘Hah? Seriously…?’
Soujiro wanted to ask, ‘how did you know that?’, but before he could, they heard faint voices from the other side of the corridor just as Yu Jitae had said.
The opponents had no idea that they were there, and they had the advantage of an ambush.
However, it was impossible to fight alone. This wasn’t a real fight and it put more importance to the HP of the armour core. If Yeorum was to shoot off on her own and have her armour’s HP reduced to 0, she would be deemed dead in that instant.
In other words, the remaining two had to fulfill their tasks properly in order to be victorious in this lesson. And yet, the two remained still doing nothing.
‘You idiots. Why are you standing still?’
Wearing a frown, Yeorum gestured to the two of them with her hands, but frozen stiff from nervousness, they had no idea what to do.
‘You need to go sneak up and prepare to snipe them before I can ambush them. You are both sharpshooters!’
There were tons of things she wanted to say, but they couldn’t do anything now because she had been too lazy to discuss it with them beforehand. When they remained standing no matter what she did, Yeorum heaved out a sigh before raising the middle fingers of her hands.
She then took out the sparring sword, and carried her feet quietly to head to the other side of the corridor.
Only then did the other two follow behind her in nervousness.
The distance between them and the enemy became shorter and shorter until they finally reached the end of the dark pathway. As soon as they arrived at the starting section of the corridor which had light seeping in from the room, Yeorum with her sharpened instincts, dashed in at an instant.
“Huat!”
Until then, the guardian of the other party had no idea that Yeorum was approaching.
“Ah! Ambush!” shouted the guardian, albeit slightly late. In fact, it was too late and the sword fiercely struck forth. The cadet standing in the front with a spear, who had been chewing on a gum, had his back smacked and the defensive barrier of the armour core erupted as the cadet fell.
[HP: 100 -> 17]
Backstep damage, lack of caution, charging attack, critical strike. All those things were added to become a score. After being struck, the cadet quickly turned his body around in fright.
“Aht! Attack!”
“This freaking!”
Startled, the other two cadets took out their bow and sword respectively but Yeorum’s movements were slightly faster. After pushing the cadet holding a bow with sheer strength, she focused on smacking their armour core.
“Huak!”
Soujiro and Kim Ji-in weren’t just watching either. Although they were still trembling after they ran forward, they still moved their fingers precisely as practised, and shot at the head of the swordsman. The armour core released a barrier of mana and blocked it, but that meant a reduction of HP.
[HP: 0]
Unable to properly deal with an ambush, the three opponents had their HP hitting the ground. The opposing guardian heaved out a sigh with a hand on his forehead.
“W, we did it!”
Facing the unexpected first victory, Soujiro shot his fists up into the air with surprise. Kim Ji-in likewise appeared baffled, and rejoiced with her two hands blocking her mouth.
Meanwhile, Yeorum heaved out a sigh and placed the sword back into her sheath.
The HPs of the three were still at 100.
Their first fight was a complete victory.