52. Field Training (3)
There were many, many words used to describe Flame.
Excellent grades, beautiful appearance.
Proper conduct, outstanding physical ability.
She was, in every sense, good at everything.
And yet even she had one fatal weakness:
collaborative work.
By the nature of group assignments, where team members split up the roles, each handles the work assigned to them, and then it is all compiled together, simply fulfilling one’s own part would normally be enough to count as having done one’s share.
But for Flame, that was impossible by nature.
It was not as if Flame—the social butterfly who had already expanded her connections not only among first-years, but even among second- and third-years—suddenly had any problems with human relationships.
It was just that……
perhaps because she had already experienced college life once back when she lived on Earth, she had a habit of trying to handle everything by herself.
There was a time when people used to say, “She just doesn’t trust her teammates,” but these days, if you ended up in the same group as Flame, that assignment was basically guaranteed to be an A+ even if you did absolutely nothing, so in many ways she was welcomed.
“……Student Flame. You’re saying you want to challenge monster subjugation alone?”
“Yes. Is that not allowed? If it isn’t, then make it allowed.”
“No, that’s not what I……”
An ace student on Flame’s level already stood out even in this place where Class A and Class S students came to apply for missions, so quite a few Class A students had even approached her and asked her to join their groups.
For some reason, she had no idea why every single one of them happened to be male students, but after rejecting them all, Flame ended up submitting a solo mission application.
She could have chosen to cooperate this time too if she really wanted to, but the reason she did not was simple:
points.
Since classes like these “field missions” counted heavily toward one’s grades, rather than doing some half-baked collaborative activity, it was better to earn points by defeating a high-rank monster alone.
“No, it’s not that it isn’t allowed…… but the school has already determined that Student Flame has reached 4-Class, you know? It’s just that you still haven’t been officially granted 4-Class certification yet.”
“That’s right.”
“So the level of monster you’re allowed to challenge is going to drop quite a lot.”
“Hmm, but if the level’s lower, doesn’t that just make it easier? I’ll just beat something up and come back.”
“Well now…… fine, I get it. You want a high-level monster, right? Should I pick the hardest one among the monsters you can challenge alone?”
“I’d appreciate that.”
But as the teaching assistant flipped through the mission sheets with a flutter, he scratched his head as if there was nothing he really liked.
“There aren’t really any monsters worth challenging alone, though. The ones you could call difficult have all already been taken by groups of three or four people. And even those are only 3-Risk at best.”
“Then is there nothing?”
“There is, but……”
The assistant showed Flame the mission orders.
[2-Risk Mini Melebit Extermination]
[1-Risk Kaier Tribe Remnant Sweep]
[2-Risk Monster Bear Subjugation]
[2-Risk Steel Cockroach Extermination]
They were all either missions to hunt 2-Risk monsters or wipe out large numbers of weak monsters.
Those kinds of missions were just annoying without being difficult, so it was hard to earn many points from them.
To get a high score, the only option was to cooperate in defeating a monster of at least 3-Risk.
And that, of course, could not be challenged alone.
“Ah, damn it, this is so annoying……”
Flame was frowning and reading down the mission order when Pung Harang suddenly cut in from the side and placed a finger on the sheet.
“How about doing this one with me?”
“Huh?”
The mission he pointed at was [2-Risk Monster Bear Subjugation].
It was such a ridiculously easy mission that she had not even looked at it from the start.
“No? Why would I do something boring with you when I can do it alone? If it were someone fun, maybe. But you’re not even fun.”
“……I may not be fun, but as a comrade, I can be trusted to cover your back.”
“Eh. My backside isn’t all that special, so I don’t want to entrust it to just anybody.”
“Then how about this?”
Pung Harang shifted only his eyes and looked at the assistant.
The way he did it looked so much like a glare that the assistant flinched without realizing it.
“If some sort of unforeseen situation arises during the mission, what happens then?”
“By unforeseen situation…… what do you mean……?”
“For example, what if the monster is stronger than what is written?”
“W-Well, in that case…… normally you’d be given bonus points, right?”
If a mission was judged to be more dangerous than listed, a magic warrior had the right to forfeit the mission.
Or, if they chose to proceed and complete it anyway, they would receive additional compensation appropriate to the risk level, along with a bonus reward.
In other words, rather than carrying out a mission officially listed as “3-Risk,” carrying out a “3-Risk that was labeled as 2-Risk” would earn more points.
“Eh…… Don’t tell me, you……?”
When Flame looked at him suspiciously, Pung Harang merely nodded in silence.
‘What is this? Is this really a 3-Risk mission?’
On the off chance, she carefully read through the detailed mission order.
[Location: Southern Plains]
“Ah.”
Only then did she realize.
The Pung Empire.
Pung Harang, direct bloodline of the Pung family that ruled the entirety of the Southern Plains.
If he wanted to, Pung Harang could revise the details of a mission in the Southern Plains as much as he pleased.
Of course, he could not go beyond the framework of the mission given, and a teaching assistant’s supervision would follow from behind……
but locating a mutant monster bear around the 3-Risk level would be child’s play.
‘This is a little tempting……’
Still, the idea of going on a mission with Pung Harang felt deeply uncomfortable.
“Well? Do you feel like doing it now?”
“No.”
So she answered with a clean, merciless rejection.
No matter how crazy Flame was about grades, she was not about to fall for such obviously transparent scheming.
He did not seem like the type to have any sense for this sort of thing at all before, but lately, since she kept getting dragged into matters related to romance, she had become unusually sensitive to the actions of male students like this.
Yes, she knew exactly what kind of feelings Pung Harang had in approaching her.
That was precisely why she had to cut it off cleanly.
Pretending to go along with his scheming just to take whatever benefits she could get, only to later kick away his feelings, would make her filthier than trash.
If you did not have feelings for someone, then from the very beginning, politely refusing their kindness was the proper courtesy and respect you owed them.
“……Is it a burden for you to carry out a mission with just me?”
“What?”
But when Pung Harang went so far as to say that, even Flame was genuinely thrown off.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I had already thought you would find it burdensome. I knew you would refuse.”
“Uh…… good for you, I guess.”
“Then how about this? We raise the level of the ‘unforeseen situation’ all the way to 4-Risk.”
“4-Risk? That’s possible?”
“Yes. And on top of that, you can choose someone you want and bring them along on the mission. You won’t have to carry all the weight yourself, and you can bring someone perfectly suited for cooperation. For instance…… Baek Yuseol.”
At that, Flame very visibly panicked, and her voice rose slightly.
“Why is his name suddenly coming up?”
“Just…… I thought you might want to bring him along.”
“Forget it. I’m absolutely not bringing Baek Yuseol.”
“There’s no need to be so prideful……”
“I said no.”
Flame snatched the mission sheet from Pung Harang’s hand and began scanning it up and down.
It was obvious to anyone looking that she was doing so to hide her flustered expression, but he did not mention it any further.
“There are still a few guys who haven’t properly signed up for missions yet. So what, I can really bring other people?”
“Yes. I do not mind who it is.”
All the better if that “whoever” was not Baek Yuseol.
Swallowing those true feelings, Pung Harang waited silently.
Then—
“Hey!! Who wants to come rack up a ton of points with me?!”
“……?!!”
Flame suddenly stepped up onto the central platform, waving the paper from side to side and shouting so loudly that he nearly yelped.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s Flame.”
“She’s asking who wants to go earn points?”
“I want to go.”
“Hey, hey, don’t go. That bitch is a total lunatic. Who knows what crazy shit she’ll pull again?”
“Why is she a lunatic? She’s just nice.”
“That’s because you don’t know anything. She’s completely fake.”
Several Class A students looked around and seemed about to approach, yet ultimately could not.
There was still a sizable noble faction within Class A that kept Flame—a commoner who had made it into Class S—in check, and the commoners had no choice but to be cowed by them and thus could not act freely.
The other Class S students did not move either, perhaps because they had already chosen the missions they wanted, so everyone just looked at each other, gauging the room.
The first to step forward toward Flame was Hae Wonryang.
“Oh, you’re doing it?”
“What kind of mission is it?”
“It’s listed as 2-Risk, but there’s going to be an ‘unexpected unforeseen situation.’ So the mission could end up getting really, really difficult. You still interested?”
“The mission gets harder……”
Hae Wonryang instantly understood what Flame was aiming for.
As someone who was always obsessed with points in order to become number one, there was no way he could reject something this appealing.
“It piques my interest. Is this unforeseen situation all included within your calculations?”
“Oh, as if.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Good. Then next! Anyone else?!”
Once Hae Wonryang stepped forward, Ma Yuseong, who clung to him like a leech, immediately walked up to Flame as well.
“Monster subjugation? Is that fun?”
“How should I know? But it’ll probably be more fun than the mission you picked.”
“Then I’ll do it. The one I picked sounds way too boring.”
“Oh, I like that. All right, next then? Anyone else?”
When Ma Yuseong ended up joining too, Hae Wonryang’s expression crumpled at once, but there was nothing to be done about it.
In truth, the moment he had joined, things ending up like this had practically become inevitable.
“Well, no one else then? Fine, let’s submit it like this.”
Hopping back down, Flame ran over to the assistant and wrote Ma Yuseong’s and Hae Wonryang’s names onto the mission application form as well.
“Pung! This lineup’s good enough, right?”
“……Yes.”
Pung Harang glanced briefly at Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang, who were waiting blankly behind her, and let out a sigh.
He had never expected to go on the mission alone with her.
He had merely hoped that he might be able to create an environment in which he could show himself in a favorable light to her.
And yet of all things, the very worst rivals he least wanted had ended up joining.
‘……I have no choice but to do my best in my own way.’
He had already prepared himself for the fact that the road to winning Flame’s heart would not be easy.
Still, within the limits of what he could do, he would move forward as far as he possibly could.
Even if it all ended in failure in the end,
he would accept that quietly.
“Well now, that is one stacked group.”
Clicking his tongue in amazement, the assistant slammed his stamp down onto the mission application.
Every member of the team was an ultra-elite student ranked within the top ten of the year.
Whoever it was, the monster they would be facing almost seemed more worthy of pity.
“Well…… it doesn’t really look necessary, but you still need to attend the mission orientation first, so head over to this classroom.”
“Okaay.”
As Pung Harang set out for the classroom first and Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang started following behind while bickering, Flame glanced after them, then spoke quietly to the assistant.
“Um…… once you submit a mission application, you can’t add anyone else afterward, right? Not many, just maybe one person……”
“Hm? Well. It’s not impossible. Who are you adding?”
At those words, Flame hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned her gaze toward the A and S Class mission application status board.
[Persona Gate]
[Class S Baek Yuseol, Class S Hong Biyeon]
Flame’s pink lips bit down lightly, ruining their shape.
“No. Now that I think about it, I don’t think there’s really anyone else I want to add after all. I’ll get going now.”
“Ah, right…….”
What could it have been?
What could have made the mood of that girl—who had just been happily chattering away so brightly—drop in a single instant?
The assistant carefully read down the mission application status board that Flame had been staring at, but he could not determine the reason.
All he was left with was the thought that that girl’s personality was truly impossible to understand.
— Read only on MugenCodex —
