-Splurt!
'Kehk?!'
"...Hoo."
The hunting grounds after a fierce skirmish with a pack of goblins.
Han Sora let out a quiet sigh of relief as she gazed at the two goblin corpses sprawled around her.
'That makes nine. Just one more, and this exam's over.'
The practical exam called Monster Subjugation, along with the material pouch and knife handed out by the proctor right before entering the gate.
There hadn't been any extra explanations, but as a top scorer on the written exam, Han Sora had figured out the format long ago.
The key materials from a single goblin: heart, brain, and ears—three in total.
In other words, it meant each person had to take down three or four goblins. Damage one during butchering, and you'd have to work that much harder to make up for it.
'Heard last year wasn't like this... It's definitely gotten tougher.'
Was it because of that massive gate that popped up in Sokcho a few months back? Large gates were appearing worldwide for no clear reason these days, so it felt like the academy was ramping up to carefully select and train hunter talent.
They wanted students who could jump into real combat right away and quickly mold them into proper hunters. It was understandable enough. Didn't make the extra grind any more welcome, though.
To score high on the practical, she'd probably need materials from something stronger than goblins.
'Anyone itching to hunt tougher monsters is probably meant to head deeper into those woods...'
Truth be told, she lacked confidence. Confidence in safely taking down monsters stronger than goblins.
...To be precise, confidence in orc hunting with that guy as her partner.
-Thwack!
"Ngh!"
'Kehehek!'
That idiot for real.
A Swordsmanship Department hopeful, and he still couldn't handle a single goblin?
She'd thought his frontline skills might be decent enough despite his shortcomings, but nope. Seo Woo-jin's swordplay barely held off one goblin without flailing desperately.
...If she had the right setup, she could've taken down orcs or even tougher monsters no problem.
'...He'll get better once we're enrolled, right?'
Maybe she was expecting too much from her childhood friend, who was barely exam material.
Han Sora was pretending to calmly loose arrows, but inside, she was anxious. Her arrow accuracy was nothing to brag about, even politely.
Out of ten shots, maybe three hit the monster. Sniping moving targets was tough, sure, but even accounting for that, a 30% hit rate was a fatal flaw for an archer like her.
'Why's my awakening ability the only one that's so half-baked...'
'Piercing Arrow.' Her awakening skill.
Firing arrows was excellent on its own—powerful shots with minimal effort—but that's where the skill's help ended.
Reading the wind, focusing on the target, landing that one shot? All on her own power.
Thanks to steady practice since learning about her ability as a kid, she rarely missed stationary targets. But real combat against monsters? That was the issue.
Aiming at a darting monster, holding your breath, releasing in that split second—it was way too much for a trainee like her.
If only the frontline could draw aggro and buy time, she might land a proper hit...
-Splurt!
'Kkeheek...'
"Haa, I... I won...!!"
"..."
With a frontline guy locked in a desperate duel with one goblin, there wasn't much she could do.
Dodge, attack, loose an arrow on personal skill alone. It felt no different from solo hunting.
'Yeah, the exam's almost done anyway. No point griping—it'll just annoy us both.'
Still, affection for her next-door childhood friend made her let it slide.
...Even if he seemed so green now, maybe he'd grow into a real hunter who'd pull his weight when it counted. She clung to that small hope.
"S-Sora. Help me butcher this goblin..."
"I showed you earlier. Why keep calling me over?"
"Uh, you popped the heart last time, and it scared me. Can't you just do it for me?"
"Hey, Seo Woo-jin. I've been holding back frustration this whole time, okay? Taking ten minutes on one goblin meant I had to handle two at once. Wanna keep pissing me off?"
"Fine, fine... Don't wanna do it? Just say so. No need to snap..."
"..."
Hoo.
How the hell did she end up partnered with this guy?
It wasn't just childhood friend vibes or passing the written exam together. She should've teamed with someone more reliable for the practical.
'...Wonder how those kids are doing.'
Cha Eun-ju and Lee Seon-ho, right? Magic Department and Support.
No frontline made it iffy, but mostly goblins here. Stick to weak ones, and they'd be fine.
'On the surface, it looked like the Magic kid Cha Eun-ju was leaning on Support Lee Seon-ho.'
Normally, non-combat Support relies on combat types, no?
That Cha Eun-ju... mana leaking to her hair tips, seemed strong, but maybe her skills were meh?
[9/10]
'Sigh, why am I worrying about them? I've got my own problems.'
They seemed nice, though. If they all enrolled, she'd like to get friendly.
As Han Sora finished with her two goblins and reluctantly moved to help the still-grunting Seo Woo-jin—
'Grrooooarrr!'
"...?"
Her gaze snapped toward the ominous roar echoing from deep in the woods.
"Hey, Sora... Mine's done, so help me a bit, please...?"
"Hold on, Seo Woo-jin. Be quiet and listen."
"What now, another lecture..."
"Not a lecture. Hear that from the woods?"
"What sound? You're just dodging helping me—"
'GRRRROOOOARRR!!'
"..."
"...Wh-what?"
...No mistake.
The moment a presumed monster roar came from the creepy woods she'd avoided—
A bad feeling hit Han Sora. She snatched the material pouch from the ground and stood.
"Hey, Seo Woo-jin! Get up! No time to lounge!"
"I-I haven't finished butchering!"
"Something weird's coming this way! We don't know what—run first, figure out later!"
"You've got almost all your materials, so you're good! I need five more after this—"
"Argh, seriously!"
She couldn't ditch her partner, so she grudgingly helped with the goblin's head.
...Shortly after, three people burst from the woods in a panic.
"S-Seon-ho! Outside, we're outside!"
"Heok, heok, heok..."
"Keep running! We gotta lose that thing completely!"
Lee Seon-ho sprinting out with someone cradled in his arms—Cha Eun-ju clinging tight.
And... a mysterious veiled woman.
Before Han Sora could process, Lee Seon-ho spotted her and called out.
"Whoa?! Han Sora?!"
"What're you guys doing? Why so frantic..."
"You can't stay here—run! We all die if you do!"
"D-die?! What're you—"
"Owl Bear, heok... An Owl Bear showed up, heuuk..."
The veiled woman gasped it out breathlessly.
Han Sora doubted if that dangerous monster was really coming, but soon knew it was true.
-Crack, crunch!
'GRRRROOOOARRR!!'
"Wh-what the hell is that?!"
The beast snapped massive trees like twigs and charged into view.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Found them.
Managed to find them somehow.
She'd prepared for the worst—running till academy staff came if no Han Sora—but fate smiled, dropping her and Seo Woo-jin right in their path.
Now they had the bare minimum force to face the Owl Bear.
'GRRRROOOOARRR!!'
"Wh-what the hell is that?! Why's something like that in the academy practical dungeon?!"
"No idea! Just don't get caught—bones won't be left! Run faster!"
"Aaaaah! What is it, seriouslyyy!"
Han Sora ran alongside me, clutching Cha Eun-ju, yelling irritably all of a sudden.
Behind: winded Kim Isabel from running, and weak-stamina Seo Woo-jin.
'Conditions met. Now just shift to combat phase.'
Fighting a near-three-meter bear sounded insane normally, but only if everyone could escape safely.
If escape failed and battle was inevitable, even scared Han Sora would fight.
-Thud!
"Aaaak!"
Kim Isabel tripped, exhausted from the forest run.
The official combat start signal, just like in the original.
"Isabel!"
"I-Isabel!"
Cha Eun-ju and I halted first, turning back. Han Sora soon wore a worried look at the fallen girl.
She couldn't ignore someone in trouble—she'd help. Dragging deadweight Seo Woo-jin from the start proved her character.
...Unlike her, whose childhood friend was purely selfish.
"Hey, Seo Woo-jin! Help that fallen person and—"
"N-no way!"
"What?!"
"I'm dying just running solo! Survive on your own!!"
"Hey! Seo Woo-jin!! You bastard!!!"
Even Han Sora couldn't stomach his cowardice—she spat curses.
'Yeah, keep being a spineless punk. Thanks from the heart.'
Scared? Run solo all you want.
By the time regret hits and you return, I'll have it wrapped up.