“There’s nothing to think about. We should throw it away.”

Poff glared at the bag.

“Trusting Gwangcheon’s words is idiocy. Who knows if they’ll just use us when it matters most.”

“Yeah.”

George nodded firmly.

“We have to avenge Senior Mei.”

“…”

Taeil stayed silent, staring at the bag.

Revenge… right. The reason we came to HAUT was to defeat Gwangcheon and avenge Senior Mei.

But after hearing Yein’s words, his thoughts were tangled like knotted string.

But whose grudge is this really? If we take it out on Gwangcheon’s team now… would that actually satisfy us? And most of all… what about Senior Mei?

Yein’s words echoed in his mind.

“Aren’t you just venting your unresolved resentment, aiming the hatred meant for Hwang Hae-seon at a more convenient target?”

When Taeil heard that, it had felt like his heart dropped.

He clenched his teeth—

“Ah! Here you are.”

A pink-haired girl approached from the dormitory.

Both her hands were full of snacks.

The sight made the three flinch.

“Huh?”

Mayu stopped short, eyes falling on the bag at their feet.

“…Mayu. Where’d you get those snacks?” George asked.

“Uh… well… I, um…” She hesitated, then muttered, “The others in the room were sharing, and I thought of you guys, so… I brought some.”

“Don’t tell me those are from Gwangcheon.”

At Poff’s question, Mayu stiffened.

“You ate what those Gwangcheon bastards gave you?”

George’s voice rose.

Mayu clamped her mouth shut, bowing her head.

And then—

Rip!

All three turned at the loud sound.

Taeil had torn open the bag, scooped up a fistful of snacks, and shoved them into his mouth.

“You—what are you doing?!”

“Jang Taeil!”

George and Poff both shouted, Mayu’s eyes widening in shock.

Taeil chewed for a long time, swallowed, then said, “No poison.”

“Is this a joke to you?!” George roared.

“You were just lecturing us, and now you’re accepting Gwangcheon’s pity?”

“First, we eat. All of us are too hungry to think straight. After that, we can calmly judge what their true intentions are. And don’t blame Mayu. She didn’t betray us by bringing snacks—she thought of her starving teammates. If we start turning on each other, then it’s over.”

“Bullshit!”

George snapped.

“The ones tearing this team apart are you and Mayu!”

Poff’s face twisted with anger. “Pathetic, letting yourself be swayed by a bit of food. You’ve shown your true colors, Taeil.”

With that, Poff stormed back toward the dorm. George followed silently.

Left alone, Mayu murmured, her face downcast.

“…Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought this.”

Taeil shook his head.

“Mayu.”

“Yes?”

“In your room—who from Gwangcheon was there?”

“Seo Yui and Chen Meiling.”

“What do you think of them?”

“….” Mayu hesitated.

“Chen Meiling is… well, anyone can tell she’s just a tsundere. And Seo Yui…”

She trailed off, shaking her head.

“I don’t know. At first, I thought since she was from Gwangcheon, she’d obviously be sly and dirty. But… when I tried to leave the room because I didn’t want to show my hunger, she pressed a snack into my hand. Said she hated seeing people hungry, and told me to eat with them.”

Taeil’s gaze shifted to the bag Yein had left behind.

“Mayu.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s talk to George and Poff again.”

“…Okay.”

Mayu nodded slowly.

Three days later.

Dai Academy’s team atmosphere had sunk to rock bottom.

George and Poff refused to listen to Taeil or Mayu.

At first, Taeil and Mayu tried to keep talking, but they grew tired of the rejection. Eventually, no one spoke at all.

With their teamwork in shambles, it was impossible to perform well against the other academies.

By HAUT’s fifth day, Dai Academy had failed to earn a single point, sitting firmly at the bottom.

For reference:

1st place — Gwangcheon.

2nd — Crystal.

3rd (tie) — Martial God and Magica.

4th — Ucheon.

That afternoon, Abel herded us onto a bus and drove us out of the HAUT training grounds.

The destination: a dungeon.

“Today’s assignment is to clear the dungeon using status effect skills,” Abel announced from the front of the bus, eyes sweeping the candidates.

“The dungeon is an independent type. Clear the third-floor boss as fast as you can. I’ll give you recording drones. You’ll learn your skill gems right before entering. You can use your basic supply skills, but your innate Abilities are banned. The status effect skill gems are limited, so only a few of you will get them. And one more thing.”

Abel’s lips curved into a smile, and the entire bus tensed.

After five days with him, everyone had learned what that smile meant: bad news for them.

“You’ll be entering in pairs of teams. We’ll draw lots now—don’t worry, the system picks randomly.”

He tapped his tablet. Three seconds later, every candidate’s smartwatch buzzed. The screen showed the name of the academy they’d be paired with.

Crystal with Ucheon.

Martial God with Magica.

And—

“…”

Taeil stared at his screen, lips pressed shut. Otherwise, a sigh might escape.

Of all times… we have to be paired with Gwangcheon now.

Beside him, Mayu wore much the same expression.

He glanced toward George and Poff. Even from a distance, he could picture the expressions twisting their faces.

Abel handed out the gems: Bleed, Frostbite, and Silence.

Two melee Bleed gems, one ranged Frostbite gem, and one Silence magic gem.

After discussing with Taeil, I assigned them—

Bleed to Lumina and Dai’s melee dealer George.

Frostbite to Taeil, who wielded a crossbow.

Silence to Dai’s debuffer, Mayu.

George accepted the gem Taeil passed him, but his glare toward us burned with hostility.

This won’t work.

After days of observation, I knew George and Poff weren’t going to change their stance.

At least with the drones recording us, they wouldn’t attack outright.

It’s not ideal, but if Taeil and Mayu are willing to cooperate, that’s half the battle.

I looked at Taeil.

“Let’s go. Since it’s a speed run, we should skip unnecessary monsters and push ahead.”

“Alright.”

We left the portal room and entered the corridors.

Today’s dungeon was the Underground Temple, an independent type filled with tall chambers and stone pillars, crawling with beast-type and shaman-type monsters.

And the reason for the three types of skill gems we’d been given was obvious.

For high-HP monsters, we were supposed to use Bleed to drain them quickly.

For fast ones, Frostbite to pin them down.

And for shamans, Silence to cut off their casting.

“Lumina!”

“Yes, Senior!”

At Seo Yui’s call, Lumina darted forward.

She slashed the giant cyclopean beast Yui was holding back. Her dagger, imbued with the Bleed gem, ripped into its flank. Blood sprayed out, dark and heavy.

Thwack!

A blue-tinged bolt struck a leaping spider monster midair, freezing it solid before it crashed to the floor.

Taeil’s shot.

Meanwhile, the masked shamans stood there with staves raised, unable to do anything. Mayu’s Silence had locked them down.

The four worked hard—efficient and coordinated.

“Ahahaha!”

And in the middle of it, Meiling laughed madly, firing mana bullets into the monsters without pause.

The first time she had shattered a monster while laughing like that, the looks on Dai’s faces had been priceless.

And as for…

My eyes flicked to George and Poff.

They were fighting—George as melee DPS, Poff as tank—but holding back. They weren’t giving their all.

Even when I called instructions from the rear, they ignored me. When Taeil directed them, they only half-listened.

Even so, our pace through the dungeon was fast.

Taeil and Mayu were pulling their weight, but above all, Seo Yui, Lumina, and Meiling were shining.

Well, a 25-level gap will do that.

That gap was also why George and Poff’s expressions were souring more with each passing moment.

Then, just as we were making steady progress toward the boss room—

“Above us!”

Mayu’s voice rang out, eyes snapping to the ceiling.

A dozen spiders descended at once, silk trailing from their abdomens.

Fast, venomous types. Taeil froze them whenever one lunged, but this many? Impossible for him alone.

“Lumina! Mayu! Mana shields—block the poison!”

I threw one up myself, and Lumina and Mayu flanked mine with their own barriers. Taeil added his too, widening the defense.

“Meiling—bomb!”

“Already on it!”

She had a Mana Bomb spell ready, one of the HAUT-issued supplies.

The spiders spat venom, but it splattered harmlessly across the overlapping shields.

Then Meiling’s bomb streaked into their midst.

BOOM!!

The explosion rocked the entire chamber.

Every one of the descending spiders shattered to pieces.

“Wow…”

Mayu’s breathless voice trembled.

“Amazing… the sheer power is on another level.”

From behind, I caught sight of George and Poff’s faces sinking darker still.

Of course it was different. Meiling’s Stamina Aptitude was S-rank, and the level gap made the difference overwhelming.

But then—the mishap came.

The Mana Bomb’s blast had been too strong. The ceiling groaned—then collapsed.

“Move!”

“Kyaaah!”

We scattered, dodging falling stone.

Lumina and Taeil cleared the danger zone quickly. I retreated as well.

Seo Yui raised her shield high, covering Meiling beside her.

George and Poff were already far back—safe without effort.

But Mayu—

She was dead center under the collapse. Too slow to react, frozen in shock.

Damn it.

There wasn’t time for me to intervene.

Then—

A glowing blue shield bloomed above her.

Meiling had thrust her wand forward.

Crash!

Tons of stone slammed down, exploding against the barrier with deafening roars.

“Mayu!”

“Mayu!!”

Her teammates shouted her name.

“A-ah…”

Crouched beneath the shield, Mayu shivered and groaned—but she was alive.

“Idiot! Why didn’t you dodge?!” Meiling stormed toward her.

“S-sorry…”

“It’s okay. Here.”

Seo Yui only smiled warmly, offering her a hand.

George and Poff stood behind, unable to approach, their faces clouded with complicated emotions.

“Thank you…”

Mayu reached out and clasped Yui’s hand—

And then came an ominous crack.

“Senior! Get out of there!” I shouted, realization striking.

But it was too late.

The floor beneath them caved in, crumbling in an instant.

Seo Yui, Meiling, and Mayu all lost their footing.

“Mayu!!”

Taeil lunged forward, George and Poff sprinting past me.

At the last second, Yui twisted her body, hurling Mayu forward out of the collapse.

Then she and Meiling vanished into the void below.

“Meiling! Yui-senior!”

Lumina’s cry echoed through the ruined chamber, ringing around the hole in the floor.

(End of Chapter)

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