novelraw Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7. The First Plausibility (3)
.
The week that felt like a war was finally over.
Perhaps because it was an academy aimed at Players, mostly practical skill-focused classes had continued.
On top of that, I had trained with Kim Su-hyeok every day without skipping, so there was nothing more to say.
Kim Su-hyeok, who increased the training volume once we got used to it, was truly... yeah.
Should I say he was like a trainer?
Well, I still felt a sense of accomplishment since it seemed like I was growing.
KNOCK, KNOCK.
I left those thoughts behind and knocked on the door of the faculty office.
Because right now, there was something more important than the story of my training volume increasing.
A short moment after knocking, a haggard-looking man opened the door and came out.
"Who are you?"
"I am here to see Instructor Im Seong-cheol."
"Ah, you are a cadet. If you go in, head to the far left, and turn the corner, Instructor Im Seong-cheol is there."
"Yes. Thank you."
I listened to the man and entered the faculty office.
Looking at the clothes he was wearing, he seemed to be an instructor.
Judging by his appearance, an instructor's job was not an easy one either.
Well, I was not going to be an instructor anyway, so it was a story that had nothing to do with me.
Therefore, I immediately turned my attention away from the man and headed toward where Instructor Im Seong-cheol was.
And as I turned the corner, I saw Im Seong-cheol handling some work.
"Instructor."
"Hm? Is it Cadet Choi Yu-seong?"
"I have something to tell you."
"Alright. What is the matter?"
At his words, I held out a piece of paper.
Im Seong-cheol checked the paper he received from me and slightly frowned.
"A Saturday outing application?"
"Yes. I have something to do tomorrow."
"What on earth do you have to do? Cadets are not allowed to go out unless it is a special case."
Im Seong-cheol spoke in a stern voice.
However, I had already prepared an answer for this part.
I spoke the words I had prepared without hesitation.
"The reason is because of money."
"Money? A cadet should have no need to spend money while at the academy?"
"I am ranked 899th."
The 899th rank.
It was short, but it was a statement that implied many meanings.
As a cadet at the very bottom, it was a position where it would not be strange if I failed out of the academy at any time.
Therefore, it was a roundabout way of saying that I needed to earn money in advance to prepare for the situation where I had to leave the academy.
Fortunately, Im Seong-cheol seemed to have properly understood what I was trying to say.
Because his expression was coldly hardening in real time.
"Cadet Choi Yu-seong."
"Yes."
"Are you intending to give up on your own?"
His question was natural.
Because talking about wandering outside at a time when I should be focusing on growth was similar to saying I would give up.
"No. But you never know what will happen to a person."
"......"
At my words, Im Seong-cheol fell into thought for a moment.
He was probably thinking about my financial situation.
Because the 'me' in this world belonged to a very impoverished category financially.
After a long, heavy silence flowed like that, Im Seong-cheol's tightly closed mouth opened.
"As long as you do not give up, that is enough. I will allow the outing."
"Thank you."
What a relief.
Inwardly, I had wondered what I would do if I did not get permission, but I was lucky.
He looked stiff, but he was indeed a flexible person.
I felt a bit guilty about lying to the hero I admired, but it was for Ha Eun-ha.
So I hoped he would overlook it generously.
Thinking that, I bowed my head to Im Seong-cheol and conveyed my gratitude.
Just as I was about to turn around and leave.
I had no choice but to stop for a moment at Im Seong-cheol's words coming from behind.
"You have potential as a cadet. The potential to certainly succeed if you do not give up. So devote yourself."
"...Thank you for thinking highly of me."
His voice felt as cold as a heavy snowfall in the middle of winter.
But there was definitely a warmth like a candle inside it.
I expressed my gratitude for that warmth and left the faculty office.
***
"He really is a good person."
While moving my steps to the training room after coming out of the faculty office, I recalled the conversation I had with Im Seong-cheol earlier.
Hearing such words from him, who cherished his students more than anything, naturally put my mind at ease.
I had been a little exhausted because of the burden regarding the incident that would happen over the weekend, but I felt completely purified.
"I can do my training in a good mood today."
I thought that and entered the training room with a good-natured smile.
Then, what I saw was, as expected, Kim Su-hyeok and the kids...
"Huh?"
"Yu-seong is here! You can come this way!"
Kim Su-hyeok called out to me from afar.
If it had been usual, I would have run to him without a second thought, but today was not usual.
'Ryu Jin-oh and the kids?'
I could see cadets training all over the training room.
However, there was only one person who caught my eye. It was Ryu Jin-oh.
The rest were probably just bastards trailing after Ryu Jin-oh, who did not even give them the time of day, trying to leech off him somehow.
Kim Su-hyeok followed my gaze, moved his eyes, and started to explain as if he understood something.
"Ah! Is this your first time seeing Jin-oh this close up?"
"Uh... Yeah."
"Haha, we are in the same class, so how about you two become friends as well?"
A remark thrown out by Kim Su-hyeok without a single thought, exactly like a protagonist.
Normally I would have just let it go, but this time, I really wished he would shut up.
Because unlike Ha Eun-ha, Ryu Jin-oh did not have such an easygoing personality.
That was when it happened. When Ryu Jin-oh turned his head toward me.
"...Tsk."
However, he did not show any interest; he just gave me a quick once-over, clicked his tongue, and immediately turned his head away.
That was actually a relief. He was not a person who would bring me any good by getting involved with right now.
But Kim Su-hyeok did not seem to share that thought.
"Jin-oh, even still, he is a friend..."
"Drop it."
"Huh? Yu-seong, even if Jin-oh looks like that..."
"I said drop it."
At my firmness, Kim Su-hyeok stared at me for a moment and then nodded as if he understood.
That was a relief. Because Kim Su-hyeok did not have a completely clueless personality.
'For now, getting involved will only backfire.'
The current Ryu Jin-oh did not have a very good personality.
Because all he had in his mind right now was absolute pride in his family and a drive to improve his skills.
It meant it was not a time when he particularly cared about the human relationships around him.
The reason someone like him even exchanged words with Kim Su-hyeok to some extent was because of Kim Su-hyeok's skills.
Because Ryu Jin-oh considered Kim Su-hyeok a rival.
But a cadet with a blank background and a skill rank of 899th trying to strike up a conversation with Ryu Jin-oh?
I did not want to get on the bad side of the Ryu family and spend my three years of academy life terribly.
Talking with him was something I should do after elevating my presence a bit more.
"Let's just do what we need to do."
"Huh? Ah, alright. Then should we start with stamina today, Yu-seong?"
"Sure."
Fortunately, the incident seemed to pass without any problems.
Now I too needed to prepare for the weekend...
"Let's try running with this attached today!"
"...The weight seems weird?"
"Haha, it's fine! You can totally do it!"
You are actually a demon, not a protagonist, aren't you?
In the end, I could only return to the dorms after seeing a solid five-hour-long hell under the demon's orders.
***
"Wow, so the Seoul here feels like this."
A leisurely weekend... Wait, no. Because it was going to be a busy weekend for me.
Anyway, having received permission to go out and come to Seoul, I was looking around for a moment.
"Look at how sturdy the buildings look. I guess it's in preparation for Gate outbreaks?"
It was vastly different from the scenery of Seoul that I knew.
Because it was a world full of risk factors such as Gates and Dungeons, it seemed they built the buildings that sturdily.
Considering my original world where poor construction was rampant, should I say it was a good thing, or should I say it was a sad thing since it was a part that showed how dangerous this world was?
I didn't really know.
"Let's see, it's 9 o'clock right now, so there are still 3 hours left."
Three hours left until the first Plausibility occurred.
I hurried my steps because I needed to quickly arrive at the scene and look around the area beforehand.
Young couples on dates, peddlers asking if I believed in the Dao, families out for a weekend outing, and so on.
As a result of walking endlessly while leaving various scenes behind, I was able to reach my destination.
After arriving at the target location, I raised my head and checked the signboard.
{Artifact Exhibition Hall}
A signboard that looked modest yet clearly showed off its presence.
It was exactly as described in the novel.
I immediately headed inside the exhibition hall.
"Please wait a moment."
No, I tried to go inside.
"What is the matter?"
"Do you have an access pass?"
An access pass? Wait, I needed something like that to enter the exhibition hall?
There was no description in the novel saying something like that was needed.
When I made an expression saying I didn't really understand, the guard wearing a suit spoke in a firm voice.
"Because valuable artifacts are exhibited here, you cannot enter unless you apply in advance and get an access pass issued."
"How long does it take if I apply?"
"It will take about 3 days."
My face crumpled heavily at the guard's words.
Three days? Things were going to happen right today, so that wouldn't do.
I pondered over a way to enter without an access pass.
'Should I try contacting the Instructor? No. If I did that, it's obvious I would get cursed out to hell and dragged back to Glory immediately.'
I also thought about Ha Eun-ha or Kim Su-hyeok besides that, but that wasn't a good method either.
Because Ha Eun-ha or Kim Su-hyeok wouldn't have that kind of influence at this point in time anyway.
My network of connections was truly pathetic.
'Damn it, what do I do about this.'
I had to get in no matter what.
Keeping only that in mind, I racked my brain like crazy.
In order to recall even a tiny setting that might have been recorded in the novel.
Just then, one setting that hadn't been very important brushed past my mind.
Enrolling in Glory was already enough to be considered a precious talent of the nation. Because of that, Glory's cadets could receive preferential treatment in most matters.
A setting that was completely useless since the protagonist and his party in the novel were special individuals even among those precious talents.
However, it was a setting that might be incredibly useful for the current me.
I took out the insignia proving I was a cadet, which I had kept in my pocket for fear of things getting unnecessarily tiring if I was found out.
And then I held it out toward the guard.
"What is this?"
"Would this possibly work somehow?"
The guard took the insignia I handed over while making an expression that said some little kid was annoying him.
What a relief. I wouldn't have had anything to say even if he just told me to get lost.
"What on earth is this... Huh?! Were you a Glory cadet?"
"Yes."
"Haha! You should have said so sooner. There is no problem for a Glory cadet to use it anytime!"
A bright smile spread across the guard's face, whose expression had been clearly filled with annoyance just a moment ago.
I couldn't help but express my surprise at his expression that changed from moment to moment.
Could a person change 180 degrees like that?
I silently applauded the guard's professionalism.
I suppose a guard has a guard's job to do. Then I should do my job too.
It was when I was thinking that and about to move my steps into the exhibition hall.
"Ah, I would ask that you wear the insignia inside the exhibition hall."
"Yes."
I didn't really want to walk around wearing it, but what could I do? This was the only way to get in.
I pinned the insignia to my chest and headed inside the exhibition hall.
"Oho, so it's laid out like this."
Numerous artifacts were exhibited inside.
It seemed to be decorated better than I expected.
'It said they were categorized by floor, from F-Rank to C-Rank artifacts.'
Anyway, what was important to me were the C-Rank artifacts.
Therefore, I headed straight up to the 4th floor.
While doing so, various sounds could be heard from the surroundings.
"With a general access pass, you can only go up to the 2nd floor."
"Pardon? Could you not let it slide somehow? Our son..."
"Even if you say that, it is not allowed."
It seems there are various types of access passes too.
Only now did I understand why that guard had told me to wear the insignia.
'So everything is open to a Glory cadet.'
As expected of the future talents who will lead the country!
Hooray for Glory cadets.
The 4th floor that I arrived at without being stopped by the guards like that.
Four visitors and artifacts were situated there.
I cut across between them and meticulously checked the items.
"Let's see..."
I saw a few artifacts I coveted, but I wasn't here to sightsee.
Because there was something more important right now.
While checking the 4th floor for a brief time like that, I stopped in front of one artifact.
The reason was obvious.
"Found it."
The death of the hero I admired, the 'Saintess', Ha Eun-ha.
I had found the artifact that was related to her.