"Guilds" - the end goal of almost every cube cadet. After outcall, the event where a magic explosion shook the world causing towers, dungeons, and monsters to appear, guilds rose to power due to their recruiting of the "awakened." These awakened stepped up to the task of protecting the world causing the term "hero" to be coined for them. While countries still set up associations to ensure that guilds didn't use their power for malicious purposes, the influence held by the top guilds like Essense of the Strait is similar to that of a politician.
"Remember the top guilds only accept those within the top 100 of the cube's ranking, so do your best!" Kim Sooyuk announced to the class.
'Guilds are pretty much useless to me. I can do anything by myself'
Today's first-period class was Mana Theory. Usually, all students would be paying attention, but the exception is me and Hajin. "Observation and Reading" is a gift held by the protagonist, Kim Hajin, the gift essentially allows him to take in information at an inhumane level. Though I didn't possess the gift, my laptop, only visible to me, allows me to cheat on any test, so I don't have to worry about trivial things like studying or paying attention. While the teacher was lecturing about some useless shit, I opened my computer and started playing the offline google chrome game with the dinosaur. Not to brag, but my personal best was 101. After 30 minutes, I got bored of the game, so I glanced around the classroom to see what the others were doing.
Kim Hajin, the protagonist, was pretending to pay attention while doodling something in his notebook. Chae Nayun, who was known for being terrible at academics, was looking at the board completely confused. Kim Suho, like the pure person he is, was taking notes diligently and Shin Jonghak was staring at the ceiling. Looking at Yoo Yeanha, I almost laughed, she wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was staring at Jonghak. Her unreciprocated love was funny as hell for the first 100 chapters until she somehow fell for Hajin.
*Ring*
The bell rang after an hour and the theory professor left the class. Yeonha immediately got up and walked towards Jonghak while Jonghak walked towards Nayun. I got up and headed to the next class, Anti-monster combat training. In this class, we would pair in groups of 4 with one sharpshooter, one supporter, and two main attackers to fight against a monster. My goals for this class were to first, not draw attention to myself, two, hopefully not get paired with any of the main cast, and third, not get injured.
"We're meeting on the field in 20 minutes!" Yi Yeonghan, the class president and Kim Suho's #1 glazer, announced to the class.
*
After twenty minutes, over a hundred students, including myself, were gathered on the field. I stood towards the back of the crowd, trying to avoid any social interaction.
'I'm not scared of social interaction, I just want to avoid changing the plot. Yeah, that makes sense'
Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Oh, you're here too. I feel bad for you, being trapped in the class with the top 4 students must be hell" a familiar voice said to me.
'Oh, he's the guy from the graduation ceremony.'
"Dude, you have no fucking idea. Your class must be heaven."
"Yea dude, we're all friends and there's no social hierarchy or anything" he responded
'This lucky bi-'
"Dude are you stupid, I'm also in your class. You must really be a loser"
'This fucker'
"Anyways, I'm Bam, rank 932, and a supporter. How bout you"
'Wait, who am I? Who was the person in this body before I took over? I should prolly look over that later'
"Dude, don't get an ego 'cause you're a bit higher than me, but I'm Ren, rank 933, a main weapon user."
Interrupting our conversation, a holographic screen was displayed in front of everyone.
[Your terrible luck has changed the scenario]
[Team 1]
[Kim Suho / Kim Lang]
[Sung Seung-Un / Paine]
[Team 2]
[Ren / Bam]
[Chun Lee / Chae Nayun]
...
...
[Team 5]
[Olivia / Hazuki]
[Kim Hajin / Yoo Yeonha]
"..."
"Dude, we are so fucked" Bam and I said in unison.
'I just had to get put on a team with one of the main heroines and the worst at that. Screw luck'
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
After finding Chae Nayun and the other girl, Bam and I walked towards them.
"Hey guys, took you long enough," Nayun said.
"Yea, yea our bad" I grumbled in my most anti-social voice
'I have to make a bad impression, but not so bad she tells Jonghak to send his lackeys after me'
"Yeah, ignore him, he's only ranked 933. I'm bam"
"..."
I was at a loss for words at this dude.
'Yep, added to the list'
At that moment, Kim Sooyuk shouted loudly.
"There's no time for chitchat. You should have gotten the coordinates and information of the monster you'll need to kill on your smartwatch. Get Going!"
Including the other classes, there was a total of 100 teams, and knowing Chae Nayun, we were gonna have to get at least the top 3.
[Mountain Tyrant 57 33' 35' N]
"We better get top three, get going now," Chae Nayun said in a voice more annoying than humanly possible.
*
I was running up a mountain at the rear end of the group, trying not to show my speed. At the top of the mountain, the tyrant should be waiting for us.
Although my speed was out of this world, my stamina was below average, so I was struggling to keep up.
'Fastest person in this world struggling to keep up with some normies. Fuck, I'm a failure again'
Unlike other groups, ours didn't take a single break to discuss our plan to fight the tyrant as our team leader was a bit special and no one dared question her actions. While running, I managed to pull up the monster's information on my smartwatch
===
[Mountain Tyrant]
-- low-intermediate rank monster
-- Special Features
*Though the monster is insanely strong and the body is durable, the intellect of the monster is below average. If hit by the monster, you can expect at least five broken bones and a trip to the hospital, however; if you distract the monster, you can easily take it out by finding it's weak point.
-- Strategy
*Distract the monster and attempt to take it out while staying as far away as possible
-- Weakness
*It's neck
--Strength
*Durable body besides neck and insane strength as well as stamina
===
This would be my first time seeing this monster as it never made an appearance in the manwha, and the novel did not describe it in detail.
'Would be like a t-rex from jurassic park?'
Reaching the top of the mountain, Chae Nayun immediately took out her bow and began shouting orders.
"MUMBLER, DISTRACT THE MONSTER. BAM, HELP HIM. CHUN LEE, STAND BACK AND HELP ME GET IT'S NECK"
'Mumbler, who the fuck?? How the hell does she know the strategy??? Oh wait she's not that dumb to not look at the information'
After realizing my position in the social hierarchy of the team, I took out my katana and ran toward the monster praying for my goal #3 to be successful. Bam ran towards the monster, a bit behind me, with his whip ready while the two girls ran around us towards the back of the monster.
The Tyrant noticed me and let out an ear-piercing scream.
*SHRIEK*
'Ah fuck, I can't die yet.'
The monster charged towards me with its claws ready, ignoring the two girls behind it. The monster threw its right arm at me, and I dodged by rolling forward. On the floor, I noticed that the monster's legs were about to step on me.
"HELP" I screamed.
Responding to my plea for help, Bam hit it with the whip, temporarily paralyzing the monster. I quickly got up and plunged my sword upwards, making a small hole in the monster's body. Responding, the Tyrant began stomping its legs up and down, trying to hit me. Dodging the legs, I ran out from under the monster and towards Bam, as my katana wouldn't make a dent in its durable body.
The monster, now enraged by my antics, charged towards me headfirst, completely ignoring the two girls behind it.
*WHOOSH*
An arrow flew threw the air towards the monster's weak spot, the neck, and pierced it. In the distance, you could see a happy Chae Nayun throwing her fist into the hair. The tyrant, immobilized by the pain, collapsed onto the ground, but it was not quite dead yet. Taking advantage of the situation, I and the other main attacker ran towards the Tyrant and jumped onto its body. We both plunged our swords into its neck, dealing the fatal blow.
[Team 3 -Total Time: 30 minutes 31 seconds. 3/100]
I let out a sigh of relief realizing that we were in the top 3. I was scared to think what Nayun would do to the group if we got anything below that. I imagined her annoying ass voice destroying my heart with insults.
"YOU'RE ALL FAILURES"
Looking towards Nayun, I could see her partially sad due to losing to Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak, but I ignored it in favor of heading back to the field. Since grades were given based on your individual performance, I wouldn't do as badly as I helped with the fatal blow.
"Drones filmed everything. They'll be sent to your smartwatches, so why you were quick or slow to hunt your monster, your team's compatibility with the monster, and how you could improve for next time. It'll be part of your grades.
After hearing the speech, I could see the rest of the group gathering around me, so I patiently waited to see if the annoying girl had anything to say.
"Hand me your contact numbers. Since we're a group for the next 3 months, we should get along. We better get at least a second next time," Chae Nayun barked at us.
Reluctantly, I handed her my contact information as I thought it would be much worse if I ignored her.
"Who the hell do you think you are? You think you're too good for me?" I could imagine the girl making a fuss out of it.
After the end of classes, I headed to the training room to work on my stamina as I realized during the exam that even if I was fast, my low stamina would drag me down. Getting on the treadmill, I set the speed to a modest 60 km/hr and decided to go for around thirty minutes. I put in my earbuds and zoned out while listening to music
* (POV Change to Olivia)
'I swear that dude only goes to the gym to use the treadmill. What's the point if you're not even weight training? I should probably thank him for the ice. Should I?'
After thinking for a bit, I decided to get it over with and thank him.
"Hey, thanks for the ice the other day. I forgot my legs were sore, so I couldn't run"
"..."
The boy on the treadmill completely ignored me.
"HEY!"
The boy on the treadmill took out his earbuds and paused his run. Then, he looked at me with a confused face.
"Thanks"
The boy shrugged his shoulders, put on his earbuds, and continued his run.
'Huh, so this guy thinks he's too good to accept my thanks. I'll show him'
Olivia, clearly angry, stormed out of the gym and towards the female dorm.
* (POV Change to Ren)
*♫♬ I'M IN A TRANCE, ITS GIVING HER ♫♬ I MOVE SO FAR IN TIME ♫♬ I'VE BEEN ♫♬*
'Maybe, I can increase the speed a bit, I'm feeling it rn*
*HEY!*
Hearing someone screaming at me, I paused the treadmill and looked at the source. There stood the same girl who called me ugly.
'Don't worry, your turn will be soon'
"Thanks"
"Ye-"
'THE BUTTERFLY AFFECT, THE BUTTERFLY AFFECT'
Scared at any chance of the plot changing, I simply shrugged my shoulders and went back to running. After the thirty minutes were over, I washed up and headed back to my dorm room. Before going to sleep, I checked my status on my Laptop
[Stamina: 3]
'great, it went up .5, real fucking useful'
Gift: Speedster
[Low-intermediate rank] [Elemental Attribute] [Evolving Grade 8] [EXP 10%]
'much slower than last time, but still decent'
Authorities:
*Kekei Style:
--- "Quick Flash" 12,000 / 100,000
'Damn does this take a long time. You never know pain until you've repeated the same action for six hours straight.'
Happy with my minor stat increases, I headed to sleep.