"S-sorry, please let me through! Just a moment…!"

The crowd was too thick. I couldn't get through. I had no choice.

'Ea!'

-Understood, her voice echoed in my mind.

A Leap Boots magic circle formed beneath my feet. Gently pushing the clinging students aside, I stomped my foot.

'Whoosh!'

I vaulted over the bustling crowd in a single leap and took off running without a backward glance.

"Woooah!"

"Hunter Kim Yusin!"

…It had the opposite effect. I looked up to see Yoonjeong sprinting away at full speed. Did I do something wrong? Why was she running as if her life depended on it?

A flicker of stubbornness ignited within me. I gathered my mana as I ran. Catching her would be easy—

"Oh my! Mr. Kim!"

As I rounded a corner, I ran right into Professor Oh Yeonhee.

"P-Professor!"

"You should have called! This is your first time back since becoming an official hunter, isn't it? Oh my, did you come all this way to sit in on my class? Ohoho! How thoughtful."

"Ah, no, Professor, that's not it…"

My eyes darted past her. I was screwed. Yoonjeong was already gone.

"Come, come, let's go in! The class has felt a bit empty without your demonstrations. Since you're here, you can offer some words of encouragement to your juniors."

"Haha…"

And so, I was roped into giving a lecture I never planned on.

* * *

-That way, Tower Master! Ea reported.

"Got it."

The moment Professor Oh's class ended, I locked onto Yoonjeong's mana signature and moved. Activating my Leap Boots, I quickly made my way to her location.

-Here, Tower Master.

Suppressing my presence, I pressed myself against a wall and peeked around the corner. In an empty lot behind a deserted building, Yoonjeong was squatting alone, eating a packed lunch.

I checked my phone. She still hadn't read my message.

'Did she ignore it on purpose?'

I typed a new one.

—Yusin: I asked where you are. We need to talk.

A 'ding' sounded from her phone. I watched as she paused her meal to check it. Then, with a small sigh, she set it back down. Unbelievable.

"Hey."

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Yoonjeong shrieked. The lunchbox on her lap tumbled, spilling food onto her skirt.

"Hey! You scared me!"

"Then why'd you ignore my text?"

I rummaged through her lunch bag, found a wet wipe, and unfolded it. "Here. Where did it spill?"

"Give it to me!"

She snatched the wipe from my hand and furiously scrubbed the sauce from her skirt. I chuckled and plopped down beside her. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"…It's none of your business."

I secretly checked her status window.

Name: Han Yoonjeong

Unique Ability: Coordinate Tracking

Personal Traits: [Precision Calculation Lv.3], [Collector Lv.1], [Persistence Lv.1]

Basic Stats: [Magic Power 18], [Stamina 12], [Agility 7], [Strength 5]

Special Stats: [Endurance 15], [Intelligence 7]

Total Stats: [64]

Before graduating, I'd changed the system to allow non-combatants into hunting grounds. It didn't seem to have made much of a difference for her.

"…Hanyeong and Eunoh were both expelled for poor grades before they could make it to third year."

Park Hanyeong and Choi Eunoh were non-combatants who had started at the Academy with us. They were good guys.

"You became an official hunter, the others got expelled… Now I'm the only one left. Haha."

Her tone wasn't self-pitying; she was smiling brightly. But I could see the shadow lurking behind it.

"How are the grade-1 hunting grounds?"

"Good," she said at first. "…Though it's hard to get a spot."

Korea is small, with few hunting grounds for its population. It wasn't about the Academy's access passes; acquiring hunting rights was the real challenge. More importantly, gaining experience was horribly inefficient through simple grinding. Mechanically killing the same monster over and over yielded diminishing returns. The most effective method was to face a variety of enemies in new environments, which was why everyone was so desperate for new instance dungeons.

Combat Players started with rank-1 monsters and steadily progressed. Non-combatants, however, had it much harder. They had to hunt far more rank-1 monsters to reach a level where they could take on rank-2 monsters because their Unique Abilities didn't scale with them. The situation only worsened with each rank. It could take years just to graduate from grade-3 dungeons and prepare for the rank 4 official exam. That's why they said the limit for even the best non-combatants was rank-5 hunter.

My fists clenched. The truth was, I hadn't overcome that despair on my own. I was just struggling to survive when a new path opened up for me. I was no longer an outcast, no longer a non-combatant. I didn't share her despair anymore, so I couldn't carelessly offer advice about her future. In that case…

"…Want me to lend you some money?" As an outsider, it was the only solution I could offer. "You can buy your own dungeon passes and run them more often. Just take the financial hit until you can handle rank-3 monsters. From there, you know that zombie hunting ground in Paju, right? It's actually mine. You can hit rank-4 there and prepare for the official exam…"

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pretend I didn't hear it." She stood up. "I don't need your pity."

'It's not pity.'

…But I couldn't say that with certainty. What was this feeling? Something surged in my chest.

"Hey. Yoonjeong." My voice grew forceful without me realizing it. "Let me ask you this, then. Is being pitied so bad?"

She fell silent.

"I was a non-combatant, too. I understand your situation better than anyone, and I genuinely want to help. You said you wanted to be a hunter, right? You're barely hanging on as it is. Are you really in a position to be picky?"

She turned her back to me. "Are you done? I'm leaving."

She started to walk away. I stood and grabbed her shoulder. She tried to shake me off, but her slender arm was no match for my strength.

A terrible silence fell between us. We may have once walked the same path, but now, we were worlds apart.

"Would you please let me go, hunter Kim Yusin?" she said, her formal tone laced with contempt. "I can't stop you from pitying me, but forcing your help on me is another matter. I'll handle my own affairs."

What more could I say? I could only watch her walk away. Where did it all go wrong?

* * *

After that, my mind went blank. The next thing I knew, I was back at the Magic Tower. Did I take the bus? A taxi? I couldn't remember. I'd even forgotten why I went to the Academy in the first place. Only after I returned did I remember: 'Ah, the diploma.' But it was too late.

"Hm?" Bora, who was making potions on the first floor, peered at me curiously. She wore an apron, her hair tied up. "Yusin. Why the long face?"

"I was born with it."

She placed a finger on her lips, thinking. "Hmm, I wonder what's got you in Over-immersion mode this time."

"Hey…"

"Ah! Right, you went to the Academy today!"

I flinched.

"Something happened, didn't it?" She slid into the seat next to me, a playful grin on her face. "If something's bothering you, you can tell me! I have quite a bit of influence at school now, you know!"

This was difficult. But honestly, mulling it over alone wasn't getting me anywhere. And when it came to people, she was far more skilled than I was. I decided to take a chance.

"It's about a friend I saw at the Academy."

I started with that premise and told her everything. When I finished, Bora nodded. "So, this is about you and Yoonjeong."

"Pfft!" I choked on my water. "I get why you'd know about me, but how did you know it was her?"

"She's famous, that's why."

"Yoonjeong's famous?"

Bora held up a finger. "Don't you remember? You were the talk of the school. Kim Yusin, the transfer student who took everyone by storm! You think the girls would just leave that alone?" She wiggled her finger. "When they gossip about you, the topic naturally turns to whether you have a girlfriend. That's where rumors start. Who are the candidates? Among the names that come up, Yoonjeong, who was always with you, naturally becomes a top contender. It's a completely logical progression."

…Yoonjeong, a candidate for my girlfriend? Right. I guess it could be seen that way. No wonder she kept avoiding me. Was she afraid of being misunderstood?

"Ah, but of course, the reason she rejected your help is probably something else."

"Something else? What?"

"Do you want it straight, or want me to sugarcoat it?" she asked, a bright smile on her face. A sense of tension crept over me. I felt like I had to answer carefully.

"Straight."

"Hmm, okay. Then…" She snapped her fingers and turned her back to me. "A person's pride is relative. Someone who's servile in front of their boss might still want to be a strong pillar for their family. It's the same for Yoonjeong."

"…Huh?"

"You don't get it? It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. In front of 'you', she wants to protect her pride."

"What are you talking about? Why would she feel that way with me?"

Bora just kept walking away. She glanced back over her shoulder and placed a hand on her forehead in a mock salute. "Jin Bora of the Potion Brewing Bureau, off to work! I've got a lot to do today!"

With that, she fled into the potion lab.

…If you're going to tell me, at least finish the thought.

I sighed and leaned back deep into the sofa.

'…Nah, no way. That can't be it.'

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