“Let’s begin our practice match then. Everyone, equip yourselves.”

The space where we were having our practice match was the same place where the joint training had taken place. In this space, even if you got injured, you wouldn’t actually get hurt. And if you received a fatal wound, you would be immediately summoned out of the training ground.

The Chairman of Velvet Academy, a world authority on magic, had supposedly designed this space herself, under the setting that she was a “Magic Emperor”.

‘Her powers are really like a cheat code…’

I might only get to see her during the entrance ceremony. After all, the game starts with her entrance speech in Velvets.

I fiddled with Moonlight at my waist and checked on the status of our party members.

“For now, Kang Do-hee seems normal. Shin Se-hee drank yesterday, so she should be sober now. As for the quota students…”

Even though we had all finished equipping ourselves and climbed onto the training ground, our opponents were still slowly preparing and whispering among themselves. I turned on my perception and eavesdropped on their conversation.

Our opponents consisted of four girls and one boy.

A tank, a melee DPS, a ranged DPS, and two healers. It was a fairly ideal combination.

“……Are they really worse than us? Even if they have Mad Dog and Cheonhwa?”

When a dealer who looked timid spoke, the archer who seemed to be the party leader frowned.

“……She said this is our last chance. If we can’t win this time, we’ll never be able to beat Mad Dog and Cheonhwa in our lifetime.”

“Kick. It’s not just a matter of putting on a leash, but of completely pulling out their teeth.”

The tanker with a squinting eye spoke with a mocking voice.

“……Just like that guy.”

Then the four girls glanced at the man standing awkwardly behind them and clicked their tongues. The male student’s face turned pale.

“Uh, uh—”

The male student called out to them in a trembling voice. They turned to him with annoyed expressions.

“What?”

“Uh, uh.”

“Come on, speak clearly. You’re so annoying.”

“Why don’t you just bring that quota student with a pretty face so we can at least have something nice to look at. Why bring this guy？”

The squinting girl glared at him in disgust.

“Hey, watch your mouth.”

“Whatever. Anyway, if you come here, you have to endure it. You didn’t come here without knowing what this place is like.”

“Uh, you have to be careful of that person.”

The male student warned me, pointing at me.

“……I don’t remember, but was he also one of the guys who got beaten up that night?”

I tilted my head. However, the four girls laughed at him.

“Ha.”

“We all know he’s the male quota student.”

“What’s there to be careful about? You’d better watch yourself. Don’t grab our ankles again like during training.”

Those who pointed at the male student. The party leader did not try to stop the atmosphere, but said:

“Anyway, leaving that quota student aside, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful of Mad Dog and Cheonhwa。You attract Mad Dog ‘s attention. I’ll sneak up from behind.”

She hung the arrow on the bowstring and said to the girl with squinting eyes.

“Tsk. Leave it to me.”

The girl with squinting eyes hung the shield on her wrist and climbed onto the training ground. She raised both hands, indicating that she did not intend to fight immediately.

She smiled with her long-slit eyes and walked past me. She headed towards Kang Do-hee.

“Hey~! Fighting dog! I’m a fan! Do you know me? I’m Yoon Se-ra, a B-grade hunter. Last time we were together—”

She bowed to Kang Do-hee and held out her hand.

“I don’t know you.”

Kang Do-hee cut her off with a cold voice. The girl paused for a moment, then continued in a cheerful voice.

“Oh, well, that’s possible! Anyway! Although we met as opponents in today’s practice match, we will be fellow students in the future, so please take care of me! Kang Do-hee, the party leader!”

At her words, Kang Do-hee snorted with a look of disbelief.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not the party leader.”

“What…? How can that be—”

Creak—

The party leader on the other side drew her bowstring towards Kang Do-hee.

[ Kang Do-hee, let’s start with a preemptive strike. They’re aiming for an ambush. ]

Kang Do-hee immediately lowered her body at my command. And magical power gathered in her tightly clenched fist.

Swoosh—!

While the squinting girl was taken by surprise. Kang Do-hee’s fist shot towards her jaw.

Pak—!!!

She flew backwards and crashed into her own party members. Thud!

“Damn it! That’s cheating…”

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and glared at Kang Do-hee.

“Bullshit. The match has already started. Did we come here to chat? Isn’t that right, party leader?”

Kang Do-hee turned to me with a smirk.

“Yeah. Why are they so stupid?”

Swoosh—!

“This is also an ambush.”

Crunch—!

I lightly slashed the arrow flying towards Kang Do-hee with my sword.

“……The quota student is the party leader!? Ha, fuck. Is the Fighting Dog also a bitch in heat?”

The squinting girl spat on the ground with disgust as she got up. Then she turned to her party members and shouted.

“Hey, I just got hit. That bitch is nothing special! Let’s just take them all out together!”

The squinting girl raised her shield, and her party members formed a line behind her.

I narrowed my eyes coldly.

I understand that in this world, men are weak. I also understand that hunters are particularly harsh on men. Monsters and demons are professions that fight for their lives, so there is no place for men who are inherently weak. I understand all that.

I understand, but.

From the start, they only regarded Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee as threats, completely ignoring me.

‘……This is a bit much.’

I infused Moonlight with magical power.

‘I don’t like this.’

Then I spoke in a low voice.

[ Let’s stick to the plan. Shin Se-hee, you don’t need to use full power. Just go for a wide range attack. ]

[ …Yes! ]

The reply came a beat late, but.

A fireball had already appeared above their heads, as if she had prepared it in advance.

Flarlarlar—

A huge fireball burning in the air.

“Ha!”

When Shin Se-hee stretched out her hands, the fireball scattered, and a rain of fire began to fall on their heads.

At the moment, Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee are restricted in their magical power and are in a similar state to the regular students.

In the end, I am the key to winning this practice match.

[Kang Do-hee, draw their attention and turn around now.]

Kang Do-hee quickly jumped and started turning towards the back.

“What, what! It’ weak!”

They were flustered by the wide-range fire rain that started pouring down on their heads.

“Hey! It’s nothing special! It’s fine to just take it!”

The squinting girl quickly realized that Shin Se-hee’s magic was only intimidating in appearance and caused no actual damage, so she shouted,

“Hey! It’s not hot at all!”

“Hey, hey! Fighting dog!”

As they turned their heads towards Kang Do-hee, who had started turning back late, I took the opportunity to pounce forward.

“Ta-at!”

I pushed off with my feet and threw my body forward.

‘As expected, the party leader isn’t bad.’

Only those with high scores among the preliminary applicants could become party leaders. Even in the midst of everyone’s confusion, the archer didn’t lose sight of me. She quickly notched three arrows at once and aimed them at me.

Shwaaack—!

Three arrows imbued with magical power were shot towards me.

– Clang—! Ka-gang! Ka-gang!

I deflected the arrows with the tip of my sword.

Thud-thud—! Thud!

The arrows changed direction and embedded themselves in the ground without losing any force.

She was so shocked that her eyes widened, and even in her surprise, she seemed to be trying to use another skill.

But.

“Single strike.”

I had been preparing for this skill since the moment I pushed off with my feet to rush towards her. A horizontal swing of my sword. Whoosh-!

“If a ranged DPS gets their feet tied up.”

The sword, imbued with magical power, shot towards my opponent.

“Ckut!”

She tried to block my attack by raising her bow in a fluster.

Crunch—!

“Will that be enough?”

The bow of the girl who stood in my way snapped in half, and

Woong—

“……Ma, this can’t be.”

She was sent out of the training ground with a dazed expression on her face.

“Pa, party leader!!!!”

“Party leader!?!”

While they were focused on Kang Do-hee, their party leader was taken down, and the party members widened their eyes in shock.

I immediately spun my body and aimed for their backs.

Whoosh—!

They raised their shields and daggers with a look of dismay, but it was too late.

The sword tip had already brushed past their necks.

Woong—

Woong—

Following the party leader, the dealer and the tanker were instantly summoned out of the training ground. They could only stare at the training ground with dazed expressions.

Kang Do-hee had also subdued the two healers while I was dealing with the others.

The practice match ended in an instant.

“This, this is ridiculous!!! Senior! What the hell is that kid!?”

The opposing instructor pointed at Jin Yuhua with her mouth wide open.

“Male quota.”

Baek Seol-hee crossed her arms and snorted.

“This, this is cheating!!!”

It’s cheating.

Really.

The problem wasn’t the Cheonhwa or the fighting dog.

It didn’t matter that they had leashes on them.

Instead, the one who should have had a leash, or even a muzzle, had neither.

“……Ha, crazy. Is that a boy? No, is that a male quota student?”

She exclaimed in disbelief, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just said herself.

Probably, the children did not fully realize the power of the boy. They thought they had lost because they were distracted by Cheonhwa and the fighting dog.

However, it was clear to the instructor.

“……Isn’t that just a monster!?”

“Watch your mouth when you talk about my student.”

Baek Seol-hee spoke in a cold, calm voice.

“……What, what are you talking about!? Your, your student?”

Baek Seol-hee nodded with a faint smile.

“He’s a child I will teach personally. Don’t covet him.”

“……Crazy.”

She stared at Baek Seol-hee with her mouth wide open. She couldn’t even begin to count how many more surprises she would have today.