Chapter 141

Cho-i led the students to Gymnasium 1 without another word. She believed it would be faster for them to learn by doing rather than by explanation. Cho-i fluttered the paper given to her by Yeonggi Cha and asked Suui Kim,

“Their grades are written here. Should I form teams according to their grades and positions?”

Suui Kim thought for a moment before replying,

“I think kids this age have probably already formed their own teams.”

Yeonggi Cha, who had been listening nearby, subtly interjected,

“That’s right. When the children do their performance evaluations or practical training, they form teams among themselves. Since they are excellent students, they also adjust their grades and positions accordingly.”

“Hmm~.”

Cho-i Hyeon looked at Yeonggi Cha with a subtle smile. If you let children do things on their own, a chronic problem usually arises. And that is…

“Are there any kids being left out?”

“Ah… about that.”

Yeonggi Cha subtly avoided eye contact and looked somewhere else. The three of them were standing on the highest platform at the north end of the gym, and among the children forming teams in groups of three or five, a girl was seen standing alone in the distance. The girl tried to say something to the children around her but soon closed her mouth, repeatedly trying to gather courage and then giving up.

“Let’s see, her name was Sujeong Kang, right?”

“You remembered?”

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” ‘I thought you were.’

Suui Kim swallowed the words he couldn’t utter and shook his head. Seeing him shake his head, Cho-i asked Yeonggi Cha,

“According to the printout, she’s a B-Rank tank, isn’t she? She shouldn’t be ignored like that, should she?”

“Well…”

Yeonggi Cha scratched his head, looking troubled, and replied,

“She’s too scared.”

“Scared?”

“Yes. A tank, above all, is supposed to stand at the front and lead the party members, isn’t that right? But Sujeong is too scared…”

“Too scared, you say…”

Cho-i Hyeon recalled her own past. Herself, a scared and shy tank. Cho-i Hyeon pondered for a moment and then asked Yeonggi Cha again,

“Is she also afraid of bugs?”

“Huh? I don’t know about that.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter if she’s afraid.”

After all, there wouldn’t be any reason to see insect-type monsters right now. Cho-i Hyeon leaped down from the high platform and approached Sujeong Kang. Sujeong Kang looked around, and when Cho-i approached her, she looked startled and hastily greeted her.

“Oh, hello.”

“Hello?”

Cho-i Hyeon approached with a bright smile and her hands behind her back, bending slightly to meet her gaze.

“If you don’t have anyone to partner with, want to do it with me?”

“Yes. Yes? C-can I do that?”

“Of course~”

Cho-i Hyeon said, still smiling brightly. Suui Kim, from a distance, looked like she didn’t know whether to be proud or anxious. Of course, it was commendable for her to step up and take care of an ostracized student, but for some reason, she kept feeling uneasy. Suui Kim decided that as an assistant instructor, she would keep her mouth shut for now.

“I-I’m fine, but will you be okay, teacher…?”

“What’s there for me not to be okay with?”

Cho-i looked around. The children’s gazes were focused on them. It seemed like there was some discontent that Sujeong Kang was receiving special treatment. No, then they shouldn’t have ostracized her in the first place. Cho-i Hyeon snorted and said,

“There’s no problem, so what’s the big deal?”

And anyway, there wouldn’t be anything good about doing it with me. No, it’s good! It’s good, but she couldn’t say the method was good. Cho-i Hyeon smiled sweetly and looked around the gym. The gym looked like a typical high school auditorium, but its size varied greatly. In the large, open auditorium, rectangular sections enclosed by blue, transparent screens were arranged in a row. And it seemed that the method was for students to enter them and fight Dummies.

“Alright, you go in too.”

“Yes, yes!”

Cho-i Hyeon led her into one of the rectangular sections, then entered B-Rank into the grade adjustment panel provided in each section. She herself didn’t enter but stood quietly in front of it. As the blue, transparent door closed, Sujeong Kang spoke to her with a flustered expression.

“T-teacher?”

“Try to do as much as you can by yourself.”

“Y-you set the rank to B-rank, didn’t you?!”

“That’s right. You can do it. I do it too.”

Of course, she had the unique ability to revive, but Dummies couldn’t kill people anyway. At most, you’d just get beaten up a bit? Cho-i Hyeon chuckled and waved her hand.

“You can do it!”

“How?!”

“With grit and determination! Endure!”

At that moment, the floor opened, and Dummies began to rise. Sujeong Kang, terrified, clung to the wall.

“I-I can’t do it alone!”

“Really? Then die.”

“Huh?!”

“No, wait. Since they’re Dummies, you won’t die, right?”

“B-but it hurts!”

“It’s okay. You won’t die from just getting hit and hurting.”

Cho-i Hyeon smiled brightly and waved at her, and the Dummies were getting closer to Sujeong Kang. Sujeong Kang quickly pulled out her weapon, a greatsword. It was a greatsword the size of her torso. Cho-i Hyeon whistled.

“You use a cool weapon?”

“T-teacher, the Dummies!”

“What are you doing? Wipe them all out.”

Sujeong Kang swung her greatsword at the Dummies that had approached her. The movement of turning her waist completely from left to right to swing was lighter than expected, and she didn’t seem to have much difficulty handling the greatsword.

“You have talent.”

I didn’t have that. Cho-i Hyeon chuckled and watched her battle. Sujeong Kang had no problem with her greatsword swinging posture, but the problem was that she was too scared and fumbled. Even now, she swung her greatsword once, sweeping away the Dummies, but then couldn’t follow up with the next move and was surrounded by Dummies again.

“W-what do I do?!”

“Don’t ask me, think for yourself. Now, when you’re surrounded like this, what’s the best thing to do?”

“I-I don’t know!”

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You won’t die anyway.”

At those words, Sujeong Kang tightly gripped her greatsword and thrust it into the area with the fewest dummies. Crunch, thud. The sound of dummies breaking was heard. Sujeong Kang broke through that section and escaped to the other side. Cho-i, who was watching her, clicked her tongue.

“When that happens, you should’ve hit them from behind as soon as you broke through. What do you mean by just running away?”

“Oh, right.”

“Alright, let’s try again.”

“A-again?”

“Anyway, in such a confined space, you’re bound to get surrounded again.”

“Yes, yes!”

With Cho-i’s verbal support by her side, Sujeong Kang seemed to gain a little courage, her eyes wide as she gripped the hilt of her greatsword tightly. But soon, she became flustered.

“W-where are you going!”

“Well, I can’t just watch you, can I?”

“B-but, Teacher!”

“See you later~”

She waved goodbye cheerfully and left to check on other students, pretending not to hear Sujeong Kang’s pitiful voice from behind. Sujeong Kang would probably take the longest, as she was a B-Rank alone in a B-Rank difficulty test. In fact, some children had already passed the test while Cho-i was watching Sujeong Kang. It was clear they had tackled it using their average rank as the difficulty, but still, it was a fact that they were fast enough.

“You’re out already?”

The party, consisting of two boys and two girls, was already outside. They nodded and frowned as they looked at the cubicle Sujeong Kang was in. One of the girls stepped forward and spoke.

“I think that training method is too much.”

“Really, why do you think that?”

“Well, because there’s no way a B-Rank tank can pass a B-Rank test alone.”

The student was right. A typical B-Rank test was designed for party members with an average B-Rank, making it impossible to pass alone. But Cho-i Hyeon smiled and said to the children,

“I did it.”

“Well, Teacher, you’re an S-Rank…”

“Don’t you guys watch the news? I wasn’t S-Rank from the start.”

“…”

“And actually, rank isn’t everything.”

An S-Rank naturally has better output than other ranks. But that was only the Entity. Without combat sense, quick wit, and skill, even an S-Rank couldn’t fight properly.

“Right now, Teacher Suui Kim, an A+ Rank who came with me, would teach you much better than I would. My skills are things only I can use, but Suui Kim’s aren’t.”

“…That, that may be true, but I still don’t think Sujeong Kang can do it.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if she can’t.”

“Doesn’t matter?”

“Because I’ll make her do it until she can.”

Ho ho ho, at Cho-i Hyeon’s gentle laughter, the students felt a chill run down their spines. In the meantime, students were passing the test one by one. Fortunately, Suui Kim was watching the students’ battles and checking various things. She was probably thinking about bad habits to correct or problems with their formations.

‘There was a reason Taehyeok Sa assigned Suui Kim.’

Indeed, she herself had also learned from Suui Kim. There would be no one better suited to teach.

“Sujeong Kang… Is she really okay?”

The children who had finished their tests began to watch the cubicle where Sujeong Kang was fighting. Sujeong Kang was fighting while being hit by the dummies, and her face was already covered in tears.

“Oh my, she really takes after me a lot.”

Cho-i Hyeon smiled and approached the cubicle.

“Are you okay?”

“H-how can I be o-okay!”

Sujeong Kang sobbed and plunged her weapon into a Dummy that approached her. Crunch, thud! As one Dummy shattered, the others nearby lunged at her.

“Agh! Aaaagh!”

Even as the Dummies hit her, she didn’t let go of her sword, determined to finish this test.