Choi Marie. At the entrance ceremony where the original novel kicks off, she's a second-year at Cheonmu Hunter Academy.
She's the second heroine in Surviving at Hunter Academy, the one who naturally gets close to the protagonist by teaching him how to exercise after he starts off with his pathetic stamina.
The first is the protagonist's childhood friend Han Sora, but we'll skip her for now.
Choi Marie's position is shield tank, and her department is, naturally, the Defense Department.
Her flaw is... she tends to abandon defense and switch to an attacking role whenever she feels her teammates aren't up to her level.
In the original story, the protagonist triggers her protective instincts and fixes that reckless charging personality, but I have no intention of using that method.
For starters, I, Lee Seon-ho, don't have the handsome face needed to sway a woman's heart, and pretending to be pathetic on purpose to poke at her protective side just doesn't sit right with me.
I could maybe use it as an initial hook for meeting her, but my main goal is to make her see me as someone she can trust and rely on.
That way, when I plant a Suggestion on her, she'll take it nice and easy without a fuss. No need to show any unreliability that might make her wary.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
Suggestion: Runner's High (Target: Lee Seon-ho)
"Huff... huff... huff..."
And so, my strategy began: every time I worked out, I'd keep bobbing into Choi Marie's line of sight.
Not to block her path or act like I was competitively eyeing her on purpose. As an original heroine, she has a striking appearance, and showing any obvious romantic interest would just ramp up her guard.
Here, I planned to borrow the tactic from when she first met the protagonist in the original.
'It was at the academy gym where the protagonist first crossed paths with Choi Marie.'
He was fumbling with the equipment so badly that she got frustrated and started teaching him—that's what sparked their meeting.
If she wasn't just smitten by his face, then maybe I could lure her in with something similar.
With that in mind, I deliberately ran with sloppy form in the park where she came to exercise. Before long, a woman with a pink ponytail appeared behind me and breezed past.
-Tap, tap-tap.
"..."
Choi Marie charged ahead on the asphalt, not paying me any particular mind.
For some reason, a fresh, tangy scent trailed after her.
I didn't adjust my pace just because she was nearby. A few more laps, and she'd lap me again anyway.
At first, total naturalness. She absolutely couldn't catch on that I was aware of her.
'Man, she really is hot, though...'
With every step she took, her ass jiggled right in front of my eyes.
Staring at those pink leggings matching her hair color, I felt a surging urge to smack that soft-looking rear with my palm.
...Of course, I couldn't actually do it, so I kept it to fantasy. Eyes locked, I maintained my pace and form up to that point.
'Just hold out a bit longer. Once I get a solid hold on her, I can grope her ass and tits to my heart's content later.'
That ponytail I wanted to yank during doggy, that slim waist without an ounce of spare fat—they'd all be mine someday.
Until then, I'd rein in my desires and focus solely on creating some point of contact.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Cheonmu Hunter Academy, Defense Department—Choi Marie.
Lately, she'd started paying a little attention to the suspicious guy who'd shown up on her running route.
"Heave... heave... heave..."
"..."
"Haaa, ha, haa... Just a bit more..."
"..."
Twice a day, morning and evening. Every time she passed through her running route, she kept bumping into this weird guy.
His body was skinny as an anchovy, no muscle to speak of... but after watching him run for a few days, he surprisingly had decent grit.
Unlike his looks, he wore an expression like he genuinely enjoyed running, which struck Choi Marie— who observed all sorts of people during her daily runs—as a bit odd.
She'd occasionally spot folks like him, built like they'd never exercised, but it was a first for one to stay in her sights nearly every day for two whole weeks. How could she not notice?
'He's kinda bugging me. We keep crossing paths almost daily, so it's getting annoying.'
It wasn't displeasure at seeing the anchovy guy; it was his running form that grated on her.
He looked like he loved exercising, but his posture was a total mess—sloppy and unrefined.
Normally, types like him vanished from view in 3-4 days, so she'd tried ignoring him. But with him popping up daily for two weeks straight, it was hard for her to tune out.
'Did he just start exercising and find he likes it enough to keep going? Or does he have some reason forcing him to push through...?'
There were guys like that sometimes—pretending to like working out to catch her eye and spark a chat.
But she didn't need to worry about that with him. If I were his target, he'd have approached her at least once in two weeks. Instead, he seemed oblivious to her, even as she took notice.
With her wariness toward him naturally fading, the "suspicious guy" now just looked like a newbie learning to exercise.
'Still, if he's gonna do it, he should learn proper form. I wonder if he pairs cardio with strength training.
Might be good to tell him about diet tweaks too. Does he drink protein? I ordered the wrong supplement last time—great for bulking, but if I suddenly tell him to chug it, he'll get suspicious...
Running alone gets boring anyway, and since he exercises daily, it'd be nice to get friendly. Maybe close my eyes and say hi? Yeah, could be fine.'
On non-academy days, Choi Marie spent nearly half her time exercising.
The moment she thought about teaching him once, every little move he made started catching her eye.
She didn't want to weird him out by approaching first, so she figured breaking the ice gently would be best. Cautiously, she resolved in her mind.
'If he's out exercising at this time tomorrow, I'll at least say hello. Can't watch that sloppy form another day.'
A running buddy to chat with wouldn't hurt.
Lee Seon-ho, preparing for Cheonmu Academy's entrance exam. Unwittingly, he'd etched himself into her mind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Suggestion End: Runner's High
"Heave... heave... heeeeeave... hack..."
It had been two weeks since I'd started deliberately making myself visible on Choi Marie's exercise route.
The moment I got home after my evening run, I finally filtered out the breath burning up to my chin.
I felt this sensation morning and evening every day, but it never really got familiar. It's like jumping from the euphoric high of running straight into the lingering bodily fatigue.
Like a workout-hating ghost had possessed my body for two hours and just handed it back. With that sense of wrapping up today's grind, I headed to the bathroom.
"Gained a bit of weight...? Compared to day one, at least some muscle's showing."
If two weeks could yield results like this, everyone and their dog would be exercising—but anyway, right now I'm boosted by Suggestion magic aiding my willpower.
The fastest way to build the body is pushing it to its limits, and in that regard, Suggestion was undeniably an efficient buff.
...Of course, only when cast on others.
'Casting Suggestion on myself is definitely a plus. The issue is it drives you endlessly without proper limits...'
I'd limited the 'Cleaning Addiction' Suggestion to 'inside my house.' If I went out under its effect, I'd end up peeling labels off every street trash or sorting recycling bins. That's what happened in the original when Lee Seon-ho hit Cha Eun-ju with it, so it'd probably be the same for me.
The 'Runner's High' I used for workouts activated for 50 minutes, then off for 10. That break naturally became rest time, letting me gauge my limits and stop the Suggestion appropriately.
Getting a decent physique fast mattered, but screwing up my health would ruin everything.
'That said, Choi Marie... she's not biting as easy as I thought.'
I figured my half-assed running form in her view would prompt a word or two by now. But almost two weeks in with zero approaches—maybe my approach is off.
'Is she more guarded outside the academy?'
Or in the original, she taught him gym equipment because it was hers to use, but running has no such hook, so she leaves it be.
Or maybe because I'm not the protagonist. Choi Marie isn't the type to fall for looks, but objectively, Lee Seon-ho loses to Seo Woo-jin in appearance.
'Wanted to build some rapport before academy entry. Not as easy as planned.'
To prepare for her possibly approaching, I'd matched my diet to hers as closely as possible. Any chat opener would speed things up.
Of course, if the plan flopped, I wasn't ditching the workouts or diet.
Choi Marie was just a bonus—nice if she bit, whatever if not. She wasn't my top priority now.
Before academy, correcting this skeleton look to normal weight and building baseline stamina so I didn't drag others down—that was the real goal.
First impressions matter; better to look human than undead when approaching heroines.
...Cha Eun-ju, my prime target, should be fine anyway—original Lee Seon-ho reeled her in easy.
'Focus on what's truly important over chumming bait.'
Getting friendly with Choi Marie was just gravy.
The absolute priority: don't forget the academy entrance exam.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
And then, the next morning.
"I see you around here a lot lately. Have you just started exercising?"
...Choi Marie had taken the bait.