The Deep Swamp Bog (1)

The Academy’s infirmary for emergency patient transport.

As it was a place where hunters, whose job was to get hurt, gathered, wails could often be heard from the infirmary.

Among them, in a grand VIP room, an unusual sound of “Young-ah!” echoed.

Should it be considered fortunate?
The special room seemed to live up to its name.
A noise-canceling artifact was also installed within it.

The source of the sound was none other than Ju Na-young.
Immediately after shouting, she took a deep breath, “Hoo…!”

Her head, which had been boiling like a hot pot, cooled down, allowing her to assess the situation calmly.

“…Young-ah…”

First, she checked her physical condition.

Although her whole body ached, fortunately, there were no fatal injuries.

As evidence, aside from the IV drip, there were no other significant treatments administered.

About one minute of zoning out.

Soon, she succeeded in fully grasping the situation.

“…Haah.”

She grabbed her hair.

I see.

“…I lost.”

And I lost to acrophobia…
I fainted disgracefully.

“Young-ah…”

Ju Na-young stomped her feet for a while.
Frustrated.
So frustrated.

She was so frustrated that tears welled up in her eyes without her realizing it.

“Sniff…”

Tears trickled down Ju Na-young’s eyes.

Then she flinched and wiped them with her sleeve.

Being 21 years old and showing such childish behavior, she didn’t want anyone to see that side of her.

And…
Frustration is frustration…
What needed to be acknowledged must be acknowledged.

‘Think calmly, Ju Na-young.’

She closed her eyes and reviewed the match.

She went back to the situation when it was 3–1.

Think.

Let’s assume that Yu Seha did not execute the plan to float the ice.

In that clearly disadvantageous situation, could she have won against three people at the same time?

‘…It’s impossible.’

One person was certain.
She could have taken down two people together.
But three people was impossible.

[Snow Ice] Moon Bora.
It was because she didn’t use a proper attack skill, but if she had focused on attacking desperately, it wouldn’t have been easy.

[Mage] class’s unique long casting time might seem exploitable.
But others wouldn’t just stand by and watch, so it would have been difficult.

Next, Ma Hana.

A woman who looked like a small, cute, and lovely cat-tribe girl.

But Ju Na-young knew well how sturdy her shield was, and how powerful her fangs were, which were hard to believe for a [Guardian].

She heard that she possessed the [Provocation] skill, even though she hadn’t seen it directly.

Even if the duration wasn’t long, if she succeeded in holding her for even 0.5 to 1 second, that was already deadly.

Lastly…

“…Yu Seha.”

I knew it.
I was prepared for it.
An opponent I did my best against.

In reality, he was a formidable opponent, making all the effort worthwhile.

‘Why do they say it’s easy just because he’s a man?’

She wasn’t naive enough to be unaware of the rumors circulating in the Academy.

She had seen community posts, claiming that since Yu Seha was a man, the outcome was obvious.

Of course, well…
Since the incident, such comments have almost disappeared, but still, a few have popped up.

How absurd it was when she first read it…

After this match, such comments would no longer appear.

‘…Sigh, it was really amazing.’

Ju Na-young still remembered it vividly.

Yu Seha, the most handsome guy she had ever seen in her life.

The sword he wielded was as beautiful and powerful as his appearance.

Especially his unique swordsmanship, which he used to counter her punches and buy time.

Like a snake?
Or a flowing stream?

The special movements, which were hard to describe, smoothly redirected her straight attacks, minimizing the damage.

Even Ju Na-young found it undeniably beautiful.

But what she focused on was something more fundamental.

Genius.

Ju Na-young admitted it, though grudgingly.

‘…More than me…’

He was a superior genius.
She had never felt outmatched in talent anywhere.
A natural 5★, of which there were fewer than 500 in the world.
That alone was practically proof of her talent.
She actually showed that much growth.

‘But…’

What Yu Seha showed was something beyond that.

‘It was almost at the level of evolution.’

The more he faced crises, the more he shone.

The sword he wielded drew the optimal trajectory to match the worst situations.

The fact that he somehow endured her blow, creating a chance for a comeback, was proof of that.

“……”

Slap!

Ju Na-young, caught in melancholy, slapped her own cheek hard.

It was wiser to train oneself than to envy others.

It was when she was organizing her thoughts like that.

Knock, knock. The sound of knocking on the hospital room door was answered with ‘Come in!’

What followed were two women Ju Na-young knew.

Her teammates, Ryu Da-rae and Hwang Ki-beum.

“…Na-young?”
“Ju Na-young?”

“…Ah.”

Ju Na-young, who was about to greet the two people, suddenly felt a pang of regret.
Come to think of it…
She had done something terrible to these two.

‘Because of me.’

Because of her, the two couldn’t perform well and ended up retiring in a ridiculous manner.

If only she had followed the plan…

If she had, the outcome might have been different.

“……”

Ju Na-young hung her head low with guilt.
She was worried about what to say.

Warak!

“…Huh?”

But that worry melted away like snow at the sight of the two hugging her.

“…D-Da-rae? Ki-beum?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Oh, uh… well…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”

An unexpected apology.
Ryu Da-rae and Hwang Ki-beum exchanged glances, looking slightly downcast.

“For making you fight alone…”
“Sorry for holding you back. If only we had endured a bit more…”
“Ah, no!”

In fact, it was my fault.
It was me who got distracted by Yu Seha, and ran without properly checking the surroundings.
Why are these two apologizing?

“Actually, I should be the one apologizing…”
“It’s okay. The match isn’t over yet.”
“Huh?”
“You haven’t forgotten, right? What’s more important than the sparring is the 4th-week dungeon strategy.”

Oh, right.
I had forgotten.
Winning or being runner-up was just part of the game.

The truly important thing was to conquer and close the designated <Gate> given by the government in the 4th week.

“This time, let’s definitely win!”
“Yeah! The final victory is ours!”

Ju Na-young, who had been looking on in surprise at their words, closed her mouth.

With a smile on her lips, she nodded, saying, “Yes!”

By the way…

“Hey, Ryu Da-rae? Why do you keep laughing since a while ago?”
“Hehe…”

Ryu Da-rae, who had been smiling subtly since the first time they met.

At that sight, Hwang Ki-beum looked at her as if to say, ‘What a jerk…’

What? What is it?

“Our Na-young… are you happy?”
“…Huh?”

Ryu Da-rae, who had said something suspicious, grinned and showed the phone screen she was holding.

Ju Na-young looked at it.
Soon, her face turned red in an instant.

There was a picture of herself, who had fainted and was being carried like a princess by Yu Seha.

In a scene she couldn’t have imagined, Ju Na-young’s mouth gaped open.

A voice that had nowhere to go lingered in her mouth and came out as a small scream, ‘Young-aaah…’

“The forum is going wild! <Flame Dragon> calculated all of this and fainted on purpose in Yu Seha’s arms–”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I wouldn’t do something that stupid!”
“Really~? So you actually didn’t faint on purpose…?”
“No!!!”

Ju Na-yuong shouted loudly at the teasing Ryu Da-rae.

While Hwang Ki-beum was smiling awkwardly and tried to stop the two.

The chattering voices of the three women filled the infirmary.

And a little distance away at the entrance, there were three people watching this scene.

“Fortunately, it seems there’s no serious harm to her body.”
“Meeeeooow… Seha. It looks like Na-young is okay.”
“Yeah, it seems so.”

Yu Seha’s group, who had come to visit after completing their treatment.

Among them, Yu Seha, who was holding a bouquet, looked at Ju Na-young, whose face was turning red, and chuckled.

Luckily, it seemed there was no need to step in and comfort her.

Two days later.

Me and Ju Na-young.

Here, each of our team members quickly recovered from their injuries and gathered.

‘…In my heart, I wanted to have an after-party without any reservations.’

Actually, this whole training process was now entering its fourth week.

In other words, it was the warm-up phase leading up to the [Gate Cleansing] and [Closure], so I couldn’t relax and play around.

If we don’t complete the tasks by the government-designated date, it would be troublesome.

So, on the day when all the training was over, and we officially enrolled.

I promised myself to have a small gathering with the girls to unwind.

Of course, it wasn’t like there was no healing at all.

―M-Meeow.
―Soft, squishy!
―M-Meeeooww. Hmph.
―Hehehe.

Our Meowi.

Since her injuries were minor, she recovered the fastest.

And during the remaining time, I took care of her by her side.

During that time, I endlessly pulled and fiddled with her chubby cheeks.

She no longer hissed as much as before, but she was still shy at my actions.

Just savoring this was enough to be a truly happy healing.

‘Healing time by sitting my favorite character on my lap and pulling her cheeks?’

Ah, I couldn’t resist.

Well, Moon Bora looked at me with such a pitiful gaze…

If I cared about such looks, I wouldn’t have become a supervisor in the first place.

Anyway, the place where we all gathered after finishing all the preparations was the ‘Gate Cleansing’ field.

Originally, it would have been an unimaginable distance.
However, limited to within the barrier, the activation of the <Warp Gate> allowed us to arrive in less than 30 minutes.
The gate usage fee being covered by the Academy was a bonus.

‘As expected of a fantasy world.’

Screw the laws of physics; teleportation was a basic option.

“Ahem, everyone, attention.”

At that moment, when I was lost in various idle thoughts.
A voice cut through the train of thought.

Peng Jin-ah.

In addition to the cloak symbolizing her position as an Academy professor, she captured attention by wearing proper hunter equipment.

“Both the winning and runner-up teams worked hard. Now, the final training and the reason for this process… The <Mandatory Subjugation> ordered by the government is just around the corner.”

Peng Jin-ah pointed behind her. At her fingertips, a fairly large gate was swirling in green.

It was a dungeon that needed to be closed today.

“In this place, the two teams will determine the final winner. The result of the sparring match is just additional points. The runner-up team must aim for a comeback, and the winning team must do their best to maintain their rank. But more important than that is everyone’s safety; don’t forget that.”

In addition, Peng Jin-ah left a message saying, ‘I will be waiting outside just in case, so don’t worry.’

“Good. Then, let’s enter one by one.”

The grand place that would mark the end of all training.

“We will now begin the subjugation and closure of the [Deep Swamp Bog].”