“Hey, what’s your healing specialization grade for today?”

“It’s the same as what’s on the status window. C.”

“Crazy, that puts you in the top tier among men! Then you can choose who you want to train with!”

“Why would I decide that? They’ll make offers, and I’ll consider them then. And there are female healers above me, even if the number is small.”

“Hey, they’d want to train with a guy! With a C-grade man, everyone will want to recruit you…”

“Hmm, that’s true! Well, I’d consider it if the party leader is at least a B-grade.”

“You’re so humble. If it were me, I’d only accept an A-grade party leader.”

As we approached the assigned dorm, we could hear the students chatting.

‘Nine people… Three spots left. Ah, those must be for the male quota students.’

It seemed that twelve students lived together in one dorm. They had already gotten to know each other and were sharing casual conversations.

Squeak!

As I opened the door, the room fell silent.

Eighteen pairs of eyes turned towards me.

Whispers filled the room.

“Isn’t he a quota student?”

“Yeah, he was with Cheonhwa earlier on the stage.”

“Crazy, he’s sucking up to her even though he got in by sucking up to the system.”

“What about the other two?”

As soon as the two remaining male quota students entered behind me, the atmosphere became even colder.

The two men seemed to sense the hostility and huddled together, trying to make themselves small.

‘Ah, so this is how it is.’

In terms of atmosphere, quota students were unwelcome everywhere. So, quota students had to stick together. But I had just cursed at those guys, so even the quota students avoided me, and the regular students openly showed their hostility.

‘Whatever, I don’t care.’

The reason I didn’t want people to know I was a male quota student wasn’t because I feared the judgment of these insignificant people.

It was only because of the Named Characters.

I was worried that even the ones I needed in the future would look at me with colored glasses.

I took the corner spot right next to the entrance and lay down to rest.

‘I’ll just sleep until dinner time. This is the last time I can rest comfortably. Starting tomorrow, we have a hellish schedule for three weeks. What I need now is desperate rest.’

The students continued to whisper, but I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

After some time…

 

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone was knocking on the door.

“Excuse me.”

The voice of a woman came through the door clearly.

The room erupted in whispers.

“Isn’t that a girl?”

“I think she’s here to contact a party member. It’s the first day, and they don’t have the authority to do that yet…”

“Who is it?”

The person at the door didn’t open it but immediately stated their business.

“Is Jin Yuha here?”

“Jin Yuha? Who’s that?”

“He’s not one of us.”

Ah, I recognized the voice now. It was Yoo-ri.

Before anyone else could respond, I got up from my spot near the door and opened it.

Standing outside was Yoo-ri, her face flushed red. I smiled at her.

“What were you doing standing there? Just come in next time.”

“Idiot. How can I just walk into the guys’ dorm?”

“Oh, is that how it works in this world?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Did you come to talk about something? It’s almost dinnertime… Want to get something to eat?”

“Eat? Yeah, sure.”

We left the dorm.

While the Velvet Hunter Academy was like a military institution that taught us how to fight monsters, the overall atmosphere and system felt more like a university.

‘In other words, we don’t get meals provided for us; we have to buy our food at the cafeteria or somewhere else.’

I gave Yoo-ri an awkward smile as we walked, then spoke up.

“Yoo-ri, do you want to get some cup ramen today?”

“Cup ramen?”

“Yeah, being here feels like being in the army. How about some cup ramen and triangle kimbap from the convenience store? Or do you want something else?”

“Cup ramen and triangle kimbap sounds good.”

Yoo-ri hesitated for a moment, then smiled.

We entered the convenience store on the academy grounds.

I chose the Yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) cup ramen and tuna mayo triangle kimbap, while Yoo-ri picked the Wangdduk (noodle soup) cup ramen and beef triangle kimbap.

We each paid for our food and got hot water from the dispenser, then sat at the outdoor tables provided by the convenience store.

“I like the cup ramen and triangle kimbap combo. It’s just the right amount of food, and it tastes good.”

“Me too.”

As we waited for our ramen to cook, we heard whispers from a nearby table.

-Hey, isn’t that the guy?

-Wow, he got a girl already even though he got in through the quota? He’s really taking advantage of the system.

‘Cut it out.’

Every time I showed up, people started talking about the quota system.

It wouldn’t have bothered me if I were alone, but Yoo-ri was with me, and she didn’t need to hear that.

As I mentioned earlier, my biggest worry was that characters like Yoo-ri, who were important to the story, would dislike me because of the quota system.

“I’m sorry you’re getting dragged into this because of me.”

I clicked my tongue and apologized to Yoo-ri.

“Earlier, it was because I was handsome, and now it’s because I got in through the quota system?”

I tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but Yoo-ri let out a dry laugh.

“That’s ridiculous. I think you didn’t even have time to take the exam, and you didn’t choose to enter through the quota system. It must have been something unavoidable. Am I wrong?”

She stared intently at her ramen as she spoke.

‘How does she know all this?’

When I first arrived in this world, Jin Yuha had already applied for the male quota and been accepted. So, I was dragged along with him.

“How do you know all this?”

Yoo-ri looked up from her ramen, meeting my gaze.

“Well, because of me… Ah, no! Anyone can tell just by looking at your skills! You didn’t even take the exam, and yet you sliced through those goblins like they were nothing. Anyone who doesn’t see that is an idiot.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, Jin Yuha.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t care what other people say. I only believe what I see and hear with my own eyes and ears.”

Yoo-ri looked at me with sincere eyes as she spoke.

Her words instantly eased my worries.

Yeah, this is my Yoo-ri. I’m so glad I got to know her before coming here. Is it okay for a person to be this reliable?

“So, stop apologizing for no reason. Just act like you normally would.”

“Okay, Yoo-ri.”

“Our ramen’s ready. Let’s eat.”

Slurp, slurp.

Slurp, slurp.

“Well, to be honest, I’m also kind of looking forward to it.”

Yoo-ri said this casually as she ate her ramen.

“What?”

“I’m curious, you know? I want to see the look on everyone’s faces when they realize that someone they ignored and despised is actually an amazing person.”

Yoo-ri flashed a mischievous smile.

Slurp!

A strand of ramen was sucked into her lips.

Yoo-ri finished her ramen and soup in one go, then coughed lightly, perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed about her enthusiasm.

She lowered her voice and whispered.

“So, about that… Jin Yuha. You haven’t been contacted by any parties yet, right?”

“Parties? Can anyone apply?”

“No, only students with top scores in their respective position trainings get to be party leaders. And they choose party members in order of their scores.”

Ah, I got a general idea of how things worked.

The top-scoring students in each position became party leaders, and they chose party members in a sequential order. This way, extremely talented individuals wouldn’t be concentrated in one party, ensuring a certain level of fairness.

I smirked.

“So, you’re confident that you’ll be at the top of the class on the first day, and you want to choose me as your party member, right?”

“Hmmph! Well, what if I am?! It’s not like I can’t bring you from the bottom! And we work well together! I can protect you!”

Yoo-ri was shy but assertive.

‘She’s repeating what I said earlier. She was so disgusted by it then.’

I couldn’t help but smile.

Ah.

I really wanted to be in a party with Yoo-ri.

But it seemed that wasn’t going to happen this time…

“Sorry.”

I scratched my head.

“Huh?! Are you telling me someone already contacted you?!”

“No, it’s just that male quota students and special admission students are forced to form a party together.”

“Huh?!”

Yoo-ri was clearly surprised by this information.

“I know, I wanted to be in a party with you too… But there will probably be a big penalty. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.”

“But you’ll avoid that penalty because you’re a quota student.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“That’s unfair.”

Yoo-ri narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I smiled wryly.

“Then, I’ll give you a few names to keep an eye on.”

“Huh? Do you know someone?”

“Well, they’re not super amazing, but they’re decent enough…”

As I said that, Yoo-ri’s eyes lit up.

“Yes! Since we choose party members in order, it’s more important to know the slightly above-average ones than the really outstanding ones!”

“Hmm, then…”

I mentioned a few names from Velvets who weren’t major characters but performed well in the early game.

Yoo-ri repeated the names a few times, committing them to memory, then nodded.

“Okay, I got it. Thanks.”

After exchanging some useful information, we headed back to the dorm.

.

.

.

The next morning.

Training was scheduled to start at 8 am, but I got up half an hour early and went outside.

‘I need to warm up my body first. The training regime will be no joke.’

As I stepped out, I saw Kang Do-hee already there. She had been training for a while, judging by the beads of sweat on her forehead.

I approached her.

“You’re up early.”

“Hmph.”

Kang Do-hee glanced at me sideways, then turned away.

Thud!

She immediately started running and quickly reached the other end of the field. Her red hair flew in the wind, and I watched her for a moment before beginning my own warm-up routine.

After about 30 minutes of stretching, the instructor and the other students arrived.

“Let’s start with a morning run. We’ll do 50 laps around the training ground. Begin!”