'Was he really aiming like that?'
Cho Seo-hyun watched Seong Suho with genuine admiration.
If she were the one providing long-range support like this, could she have fired arrows as precisely as he did?
'Absolutely not…'
Cho Seo-hyun was confident in her skills—confident that she couldn't do it.
It wasn't a matter of archery skill.
Even if she could aim as well as Seong Suho, she was certain she'd never take the shot.
There was no way she'd recklessly show off and risk the cadets getting hurt.
But Seong Suho? He drew his bowstring without so much as a change in expression.
And he didn't just spam arrows mindlessly.
He only fired when absolutely necessary, precisely blocking the cadets' movements.
The momentarily stunned cadets quickly regained their composure and charged at Cho Seo-hyun again.
"I should focus on them first."
The whole point of this sparring session was to train under the assumption that no variables would interfere.
Knowing her own personality, Cho Seo-hyun steadied herself, determined not to show any openings.
Contrary to her initial worries, she handled Team 6 with relative ease.
But that didn't last forever.
"Tch… She's gotten way faster."
While Cho Seo-hyun was focused on the other cadets, Song Ara closed in from the side.
And then—an arrow shot toward Song Ara.
Whoosh!
"Got it. If I can just stall her for a sec—What?!"
Swish! Clang!
Song Ara swung her sword diagonally, deflecting the incoming arrow.
The arrow lost momentum and fell uselessly to the ground, but Song Ara's fighting spirit only burned brighter.
"Haaah!"
"Ugh…"
Cho Seo-hyun stopped moving, forced to focus solely on dodging the relentless slashes.
And then came Team 6's full-on assault.
"This… this isn't good."
Flustered, Cho Seo-hyun untied her hands from behind her back and began evading the barrage of blades.
Unlike her earlier composed demeanor, she was now using everything she had just to avoid getting hit.
Just as she was struggling, another arrow flew toward her—but not from Seong Suho.
"Tch!"
It was from a cadet.
The moment she tensed, preparing to dodge—
Whoosh! Clang!
The cadet's arrow was struck mid-air by another arrow and sent flying off course.
"Nice!"
Cho Seo-hyun inwardly cheered, glancing at Seong Suho in relief.
But just because the long-range threat was gone didn't mean the situation improved.
The biggest problem? She couldn't attack—she wasn't even armed.
Her only option was to rely entirely on evasion.
Four cadets surrounded her, relentlessly attacking, with Song Ara's strikes standing out as particularly threatening.
'Damn… If this keeps up…'
Beads of sweat formed on Cho Seo-hyun's forehead.
She was starting to get nervous.
Seong Suho's arrows, which had been so helpful earlier, now only blocked long-range threats—they didn't directly assist her.
Realizing she wouldn't get any help in this chaotic melee, Cho Seo-hyun's chest tightened.
'No way! I can't look pathetic in front of them…"'
Lost in thought for just a second—
"Haaah!"
Song Ara spotted the opening and swung her sword down at Cho Seo-hyun.
Even if the blade hit, it wouldn't actually hurt her.
No matter how strong Song Ara was, a cadet's strike couldn't break through an active hero's defensive aura in one hit.
But it was more than enough to shatter Cho Seo-hyun's composure.
For a split second, Cho Seo-hyun froze, staring wide-eyed at the incoming blade—
Whooosh! Clang!
"Guh!"
The sword was knocked off course by an arrow, embedding itself harmlessly into the ground.
Cho Seo-hyun blinked in shock, then snapped back to reality and repositioned herself.
'First, I need to break out of this encirclement!'
She dodged past the other cadets and created distance.
Even after that, threatening attacks kept coming, but Seong Suho's arrows intercepted every single one, deflecting the cadets' weapons.
***
"Good work today. I'll personally assign subjective scores, and I'll print out the evaluations after lunch. If you have any complaints, bring them up after class."
"""Yes!"""
Normally, she'd just send the scores to their smartwatches for convenience.
But with the network down, Cho Seo-hyun had to print them out manually.
After stepping down from the lectern, she turned to Seong Suho.
"Come to the faculty office for a moment."
"Yes."
Seong Suho replied curtly, as usual, and followed her.
Listening to his footsteps behind her, Cho Seo-hyun recalled his performance today.
'His destructive power and range are average cadet level… no, slightly below. But his accuracy and firing speed? Top-tier hero material.'
Overall, his skill level was that of a low-tier hero—definitely not someone who should be ranked outside the top 10,000.
Entering the office, Cho Seo-hyun sat at her desk and looked up at him.
"You… really worked hard today."
She almost said thank you but caught herself.
Seong Suho remained expressionless.
"Not at all. You worked hard too, Instructor Seo-hyun."
"We'll be doing the same lesson tomorrow, with some adjustments."
She explained that they'd spar again, but with a slight variation.
The difference?
"Tomorrow, I'll be using my main weapon."
"...Won't the gap between you and the cadets be too big?"
"Ah, same as today—I won't attack at all."
Today's training focused on teaching cadets how to pursue a single strong opponent.
Tomorrow, they'd work on improvisation—using movement and defense in a wide arena.
"They're skilled, but still inexperienced in handling specific situations. This was supposed to be a second-semester lesson, but there's no harm in doing it early."
"Understood. Was there another reason you called me?"
"...Work on your stamina."
"Yes, I will."
Cho Seo-hyun immediately regretted her words.
'Ugh, that's not what I meant! It sounds like I'm scolding him!'
She cursed her lack of verbal finesse.
With her usual bluntness, it probably came off as criticism.
Seong Suho took it in stride.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Sigh…"
Cho Seo-hyun decided further explanation would only make things worse and slumped slightly.
"You can go now. See you tomorrow."
"Understood. Good work today."
Once Seong Suho left, Cho Seo-hyun immediately rummaged through her desk, pulling out a file.
She stared intently at the paper in front of her.
"...There's really nothing here."
It was Seong Suho's profile.
But despite the name, the "Experience" section was completely blank.
Only basic physical records and personal details were listed.
"Sigh… He seems like a good guy."
She didn't mean romantically—just that he was decent as a person.
Every year, assistant instructors came to the academy, and Sho Seo-hyun had worked with many.
She hadn't always been this prickly.
She never expected much from non-academy personnel—just that they took their duties seriously.
But most assistants were irresponsible, always whining about pay and vacations.
She'd assumed Seong Suho would be the same.
Yet from his demeanor to his work ethic, she found herself genuinely liking him.
"If he improves his stamina and hones his archery… I could recommend him to my guild."
Cho Seo-hyun belonged to a guild and planned to return once her instructor duties ended.
A competent, diligent assistant instructor like him?
If he refined his skills further, he'd be a valuable asset.
But her thoughts weren't just about his position or diligence.
There was something about Seong Suho that Cho Seo-hyun envied deeply.
"...How can he fire arrows so calmly? I'm seriously jealous."
She had always admired archers.
Their focused, deliberate shots fascinated her.
But as someone naturally high-strung, she could only admire from afar—she'd never picked up a bow herself.
And Seong Suho, with his top-tier archer qualities, made her envious.
"I wish I could hit targets that precisely."
Leaning back in her chair, Cho Seo-hyun closed her eyes, recalling Seong Suho's protective covering fire.
***
I left the faculty office and headed toward the cafeteria.
"Thankfully, it worked against the cadets' level."
[You currently have 300,000 Enels. How about upgrading your archery?]
"Maybe… Oh! Last time, you said skill costs change after level 10, right?"
[Correct. Here's a quick summary.]
Unlocking a skill costs 10,000 Enels.
From there, each level-up starts at 100 Enels and doubles each time.
This continues until level 10.
After that, each level costs 50,000 Enels.
[And once a skill reaches level 16, each level costs 100,000.]
"So the Enel cost scales every 5 levels?"
- Levels 1-10: Double each time (100 → 200 → 400, etc.)
- Levels 10-15: 50,000 per level
- Levels 16+: 100,000 per level
My archery is currently level 12.
"Let's get it to 15 first. My main strength is accuracy, not raw archery, so it won't skyrocket my skill, but it's better than nothing."
[Understood.]
"Wow… Good thing I upgraded it beforehand."
If I'd waited until after Cho Seo-hyun's comment, the pressure would've been worse.
Thanks to my experience in the tutorial boss fight in Yggdrasil, my archery today was better than expected.
I realized again just how overpowered my aim was.
I'd been nervous about shooting near the cadets and Cho Seo-hyun, but I didn't hesitate—just fired smoothly.
Because of that, Cho Seo-hyun's attitude toward me changed a lot.
Sure, she still grumbled, but that's just her personality.
Arriving at the cafeteria, today's menu caught my eye.
"Whoa… No way. Beef at school?"
As I marveled at the menu posted at the entrance, I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Ahem…"
"...Oh."
I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
Smiling, I greeted her.
"Ah, Instructor Sung Suah. Hello."
"..."
"...?"
But Sung Suah ignored my greeting, puffing out her cheeks and glaring up at me.
She looked very displeased.
From my perspective, 20 days had passed—but for her, only two.
Or had something happened in the meantime?
'Did something happen?'
[This is the sinister behavior of a sinister woman. Be careful.]
"..."
Here we go again…
Ignoring Armonia, I cautiously asked Sung Suah:
"Um… Instructor Suah, is something wrong?"
"Yes, there is."
"What is it…?"
She stepped forward, poking my chest sharply.
"You didn't come for breakfast again today, did you?"
"Ah… Haha… Well, you see…"
Sweating bullets, I endured her scolding while getting my food.
***
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