The scorching sun beat down on the track, causing mirages to shimr in the air.
I ran on that track, breathless, my heart pounding in my chest.
Huff, huff, huff, huff...
The sweat-soaked hair stuck to my face, stinging my eyes.
I was almost done with the 50 laps.
My ankles felt like they had weights attached to them.
If I had paced myself from the start, it wouldn’t have been this hard.
’From the start, 50 laps at full speed... ’
I didn’t care about the others.
Right now, all that mattered was putting one foot in front of the other and taking one more step forward.
But I was almost done.
To be honest, I had lost count of how many laps I’d done sowhere in the middle, but the instructor started calling out the lap count when I got confused.
"... 50. Jin Yuha, good job."
Thud.
I knelt on the ground, exhausted.
Drip, drip.
Saliva was dripping from my mouth, and the stench of sweat was overwhelming.
"Jin Yuha."
"Huh?"
I looked up, my eyes narrowed.
"Here, have so water."
The instructor handed a water bottle.
"Thank you."
Glug, glug.
The cold water refreshed , and I could finally take in my surroundings.
Kang Do-hee had already finished her 50 laps and was doing the next training session. Shin Se-hee was still on the track.
And the two n were sitting outside the track... Why aren’t they training? Oh, right, they dropped out after a few laps at the beginning.
Everyone, including Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee, stared at with their mouths open, as if they couldn’t believe what they had just seen.
"Impressive. I never thought you’d actually do it... To be honest, I’m surprised."
Even the instructor was surprised.
"I thought it was just bravado when you said you wanted to train at the sa level as the special admission students... But I guess you had your reasons."
"Heh heh heh."
I couldn’t help but laugh.
"Let’s move on to the next training session."
From 8 am to 12 pm, we had four hours of basic training.
The instructor, as she had said the day before, conducted training at the level of the special admission students.
We wore weights on our ankles and repeatedly climbed up and down a rope.
We did handstands and push-ups, still with weights on our ankles.
We did squats and lunges to strengthen our thigh muscles.
The training was extrely harsh, testing the limits of our bodies at every mont, as if the weights we carried were ant for soone else.
Of course, not everyone could keep up the sa pace.
Kang Do-hee was always the fastest, followed by , and then Shin Se-hee, the magician.
The two n only tried a few laps at the beginning before dropping out and taking a break.
Every ti I outperford them, the instructor frowned, clearly displeased.
By the end, I was treated the sa as the special admission students.
"That’s it for today’s basic training. Good job. We’ll et again after lunch for position training, starting with theory."
As soon as she said that, Kang Do-hee was off like a shot, probably to enjoy so food and relaxation.
’She’s going to enjoy her hobbies now that she’s endured four hours of training.’
I started to get up, intending to leave as well.
"Are you going to her again?"
Shin Se-hee stopped .
"Don’t do that. Co eat with instead. I’ll treat you. Is there anything you like?"
"No thanks."
I made it clear that I was uncomfortable with her offer. But Shin Se-hee just smiled wider.
"Jin Yuha, you’re really interesting."
"I’m not particularly interesting. I should get going now..."
I tried to brush her off, but she started talking on her own.
"You clearly didn’t need to enter through the quota system... Why did you? It’s bothering , and I want to know..."
"..."
"It’s strange, but you seem to avoid even though we just t..."
Shin Se-hee placed a finger on her lips and tilted her head, her clear and sparkling appearance befitting soone with a fan base based solely on her looks.
"If you know I’m avoiding you, why don’t you just avoid too?"
"Why do you hate so much? I haven’t done anything to you."
Shin Se-hee genuinely seed confused.
"What about those two guys who like you? Why don’t you pay attention to them instead?"
The two male quota students were sitting on the ground, sighing heavily, clearly dejected. Shin Se-hee looked at them with cold, disdainful eyes.
"Hmph, those trash?"
Shin Se-hee’s voice was filled with contempt.
Now it was my turn to be surprised. I didn’t expect her to speak so directly.
"Ah!"
She burst out laughing at my expression, giggling uncontrollably.
"Ah, your expression! Too funny! Why? Did you really not expect to say that?"
"To be honest, yes."
I nodded reluctantly.
"Hmm, but if I didn’t do this, you wouldn’t even look at , right? Look, you’re looking at now."
Her eyes shone with a strange light.
’Damn, this is why I didn’t want to get involved with her.’
Shin Se-hee was smart.
Sotis her intelligence went in the wrong direction, but it didn’t change the fact that she was intelligent.
Fundantally, she enjoyed manipulating people from behind the scenes, and she was quick to assess people and figure out how to control them.
In just one day, she had already figured out that the usual thods wouldn’t work on .
’But am I really worth all this effort?’
"I can do better than Do-hee. Why are you so obsessed with her?"
"Because I trust her."
Shin Se-hee chuckled.
"But Do-hee will be difficult, won’t she?"
"Because she knows I didn’t have to work hard to get in. If I can show her that’s not the case..."
"No, that’s not it. No matter how well you perform, you can’t be close to Do-hee."
Shin Se-hee spoke with unusual firmness.
"Do-hee really hates the male quota system. It has sothing to do with her losing soone important."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
What the hell is she talking about?
I tried to recall Kang Do-hee’s personal story.
Guild Master...
Yeah, the Guild Master.
The important person in Kang Do-hee’s life was definitely her.
Whenever Kang Do-hee faced difficulties or challenges, she would smoke a cigarette and seek out the Guild Master. She was like an older sister that Kang Do-hee had followed since she was young.
’She was betrayed by her guild mbers... That’s why her guild disbanded, and from then on, Kang Do-hee started wandering alone.’
That was as far as Kang Do-hee’s personal story went in the ga. Beyond that, it was a process of a wounded puppy slowly opening up and gaining trust.
It was a charming character arc where her initially dictatorial personality gradually beca more outgoing. So, I expected so level of rejection at first.
’But how does the Guild Master’s betrayal have anything to do with the male quota system?’
I looked at Shin Se-hee.
"If I use this as bait... You’ll bite, won’t you? How about we have lunch together?"
She smiled mischievously.
"If it’s just for lunch... Sure."
I nodded.
.
.
–
The place she led to was one of the most expensive restaurants in the Velvet Academy.
It was a place where you couldn’t get in without a reservation, and there were probably months of reservations already.
[Rohana Restaurant]
In Velvet Sera, sponsors could give gifts to the characters, and one of those gifts was a dining voucher for ’Rohana Restaurant’.
’It’s a place that definitely increases favorability for food-loving characters.’
As expected of a rich young lady, she had free access without a reservation.
"Thank you for visiting us, Shin Se-hee. May I take your order?"
A smiling staff mber approached us to take our orders. Shin Se-hee turned to .
"What would you like?"
"Black Cow Steak, dium-rare. The rest is up to you."
I answered without even looking at the nu, and Shin Se-hee looked surprised.
"Wow, that’s the best dish here! Ah, I’ll have the sa. The rest, the usual."
"Yes, your order is taken."
"Have you been here before, Jin Yuha?"
"Not often..."
I didn’t want to say I had been here often in the ga, so I answered vaguely.
"Hmm, but why didn’t I know..."
"That’s not important. Anyway, why does Kang Do-hee hate the male quota system?"
I didn’t want to get too involved, so I went straight to the point.
"Hmm..."
Shin Se-hee looked at , trying to gauge my reaction.
She seed to be assessing how much more she could get out of , but surprisingly, she nodded.
"Yeah, I’ll tell you. It’s sothing you can easily find on the internet anyway. This information isn’t worth more than a al."
"Ah."
"It’s best to use bait with a short expiration date, right?"
She smiled faintly.
"Hmm, this is just my personal investigation, so it might not be entirely accurate... It was two years ago."
2 years ago.
Kang Do-hee was a rising dealer in the Paradis Guild, slowly building a reputation for herself.
And the Guild Master was Kang Do-hee’s role model.
She was perfect in every way, both physically and in terms of personality.
S-grade Hunter, Choi Hye-seo.
She had a strong sense of responsibility to protect people and was considerate of her guild mbers. She was admirable in every way. Kang Do-hee followed her around, learning about the life of a hunter and gaining valuable experience.
But then, an incident occurred.
"Guild Master!"
"Ah, Do-hee."
"Why are you summoning all the guild mbers?"
Kang Do-hee asked, and Choi Hye-seo rubbed her temples, looking troubled.
"Haa, there was a gate explosion, and we need to send a support team."
"Gate explosion?"
"Yeah, Arachne’s Nest. The gate there exploded."
The Arachne’s Nest was a B-grade gate, not very popular because there wasn’t much to gain, and the sticky spider webs were hard to get rid of, causing hunters to discard their clothes. As a result, monsters had expanded their territory, and the gate had exploded.
"But this one’s a tricky type. The boss monster isn’t coming out of the gate."
"Huh?"
The incident was certainly unusual. Typically, when a gate exploded, both boss monsters and regular monsters would spill out together.
"The boss monster is sending its minions outside the gate to kidnap people and bring them into the gate."
"What do we do then?"
"We have to rescue them. So, this operation is a rescue mission."
"Got it, I’ll prepare!"
"No, only the guild elites will go this ti. Sorry, Do-hee, but you can’t co."
"Why not!"
"The gate is B-grade, but this rescue operation requires A-grade hunters."
At the ti, Kang Do-hee was still a B-grade hunter.
Of course, in terms of potential, rumors circulated that she was better than S-grade Choi Hye-seo, but she was still a rookie, so it couldn’t be helped.
Once the order had been given, there was nothing Choi Hye-seo could do.
"Chet! Fine... Be careful."
"Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon."
Swish, swish—
Choi Hye-seo left with the guild elites, leaving Kang Do-hee behind.
And...
To cut to the chase, the Paradis Guild successfully rescued the captives.
The boss monster, Arachne, had a clear weakness to fire, and with S-grade hunter Choi Hye-seo leading the charge, it was only natural.
They sent magicians specializing in fire magic at the front lines, and the monsters had no choice but to succumb.
They were able to rescue the kidnapped people in ti.
However, the problem ca after that.
Boom!
"What the hell is this nonsense! Hye-seo did sexual harassnt?!"
"That’s what they’re claiming, and there’s nothing we can do about it."
"And, to be honest, isn’t that possible? You know as well as I do that inside the gate, machines don’t work, and these kinds of things happen easily. That’s why drug deals and stuff happen there."
"Bullshit! Hye-seo wouldn’t do sothing like that!!!"
Despite Kang Do-hee’s protests, no one listened to her.
The general public, other guilds she was close with, and even mbers of the Paradis Guild turned their backs on her.
Day after day, the news was filled with articles about the sexual harassnt incident, and online portals were flooded with comnts condemning Choi Hye-seo.
How many tis had she risked her life on hunts? How many people had she saved?
Yet, the world treated her great achievents as ’trivial’ and rushed to bury her.
"Hye-seo..."
"Do-hee—! Are you worried about ? I’m fine. The truth will co out eventually."
Choi Hye-seo tried to reassure Kang Do-hee, but she couldn’t completely hide the wavering in her heart.
From then on, a tedious legal battle ensued.
Kang Do-hee and Choi Hye-seo of the Paradis Guild gathered evidence and testimonies to fight their case, but as other hunters’ stories took center stage, the sexual harassnt incident was soon forgotten.
When almost all interest had faded...
"I sentence you not guilty."
Finally, the Guild Master was able to clear her na.
While her acquittal was a big deal among hunters, the general public still saw Choi Hye-seo as a trashy person who took advantage of the dungeon’s closed nature to satisfy her desires.
In the end, the Paradis Guild Master retired a few months later.
.
.
.
"So, Do-hee ended up not being able to trust anyone and started wandering alone."
Shin Se-hee pierced her steak with a fork and brought it to her mouth as she spoke.
"So, because of the male quota system..."
"Yes, after the Paradis Guild Master went through that, the Hunter Managent Bureau ca up with the male quota system as a counterasure. The rationale was that male rescues should be done by males. So, Do-hee can’t feel good about it."
"Haa..."
"Hmm, it’s about ti. Let’s head back to the training ground."
Slurp.
Shin Se-hee finished her drink and stood up.
’So, that’s what happened...’
I followed Shin Se-hee, deep in thought.
If Shin Se-hee was right, it would indeed be difficult to get close to Kang Do-hee.
’And Kang Do-hee doesn’t really participate in the academy much. She only attends the necessary classes and spends the rest of her ti either hunting outside or holed up in her room.’
It was an unusual academy life, more like a hunter life.
She gained fa as a hunter outside the academy while being sponsored by a player, and her personality gradually brightened as she was exposed to the Guild Master.
’Of course, she does participate in major events within the academy, but she only makes brief appearances and then disappears again.’
It seed like I needed to work quickly to erase my male quota label from her mind.
’Let’s start by showing my skills.’
.
.
.
.
You can always support author by joining—
PATREON:
patreon/Immortal_author
KO-FI:
sko-fi/immortalauthor
DISCORD:
sdiscord.gg/KscfBegBPT
Enjoy Early Access To Future Projects and 20 Advance Chapters of each novel exclusively on PATREON!!
Reviews
All reviews (0)