“……So, that bitch─ no, the girl swung an axe at you, Jin Yuha?”

When I told Shin Se-hee about what had happened the previous day, she asked with a bewildered expression.

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

“Wow, there are all sorts of ways to commit suicide. How dare she…?”

Shin Se-hee murmured to herself in a bleak voice.

“Hmm?”
“It’s nothing. So, the job you’re asking me to do is to spread rumors about her and deal with her, right?”
” Yes I’m asking you to handle it, please”
She paused, at a loss for words.
“Ah, anyway! So, how far should I go with that girl…? Should she be expelled from the Academy? Or should she just walk around quietly from now on?”

At Shin Se-hee’s question, I smirked.

“Do whatever you want.”
“……Huh?”

At that, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“I told you. I don’t care what you do as long as it’s not against our party members or me.”
“But…”
“And because of that, your actions won’t disappoint me or change my feelings.”
“……Is that really true?”

Shin Se-hee asked cautiously. I nodded.

If I hadn’t accepted her in the first place, maybe that would have been better. But once I decided to make her an ally, I had to trust her.

It meant accepting her dark personality as well.

Forcing her to change her personality by restraining her would only backfire.
It was better to let her be and accept her as she was.

‘And I don’t care what she does to people who aren’t in our party.’

It’s a selfish thing to say, but for some reason, I don’t feel any affection for characters that  didn’t belong in my party.

“……”

Shin Se-hee stared at me, biting her lower lip.

‘Why is she acting like this? I didn’t say anything weird, did I?’

I furrowed my brows, looking at her.
Then, a thought occurred to me, and I added,

“Oh, by the way, if I ever want to bring someone into our party later, I’ll let you know first, so exclude them too.”

Haa─

Shin Se-hee closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.
Then, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Yes, I understand. Huhuhu, Jin Yuha, this is the first time you’ve entrusted me with something like this.”
“Isn’t it a bit troublesome?”
“What, this? This is as easy as eating cold porridge lying down.”
“……That might be a bit difficult.”
“Just get a secretary to feed it to you.”

Ah, that middle-aged man who was the epitome of a corporate slave.
He looked terribly tired when I saw him last time.

Shin Se-hee licked her lips in anticipation.
This was her habit when she started planning something.
She was probably simulating how to cook that Gyaru in her head.

‘Well, then, let’s handle that matter like this.’

Squeak─

The back door opened, and Kang Do-hee made a late entrance.
The classroom was almost full of students, and she quickly scanned the room, looking for an empty seat.

She sat down in a vacant spot and waited for the class to begin.

With all the students seated, they waited for the first class to start.

‘Now, the first class is about to begin.’

I felt a fluttering sensation in my heart.

A scene that didn’t appear in the original Velvet game.

Class.

Of course. No matter how big a Bonsai game is, it was impossible to implement hours-long classes one by one in the game.

So, while I knew which classes increased which ability points, and which classes were helpful for which characters,
I had no idea what was actually taught and learned in the Academy. I could only vaguely guess that they would learn combat techniques for fighting monsters.

‘Every time I feel this, I realize it.’

That this world is not just a world inside a phone game, but a real, separate world.

And just as I had learned more than just ability points from Baek Seol-hee’s training,
There would be something else to gain from the classes besides the increase in ability points.

I sat up straight, feeling a mix of excitement and tension.

Soon.

The front door of the classroom opened.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr─ Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr─ Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr─

Along with the sound of something heavy being dragged, a middle-aged woman with a hunched posture and round glasses entered the room.
And on the handcart she was pulling, there was a huge thing.

It was in the shape of a cube, wrapped in black cloth so that its contents were hidden.

The students waiting for the class looked on with curious eyes.

“……Krrrrrrrrrrrr─.”

At that moment, a rough growl, not human, came from inside the cloth.

‘……Monster?’

Everyone in the classroom tensed up at the sound, their faces hardening.

“Hmm?”

Next to me, Shin Se-hee tilted her head.

“Uh, hello… I’m… I’m… I’m Yoorim, the instructor in charge of Understanding Basic Monsters…”

The instructor who came to teach the class spoke in a hesitant, mumbling voice.

“Well, I, let’s just… start the class right now…”

Flap─

She removed the black cloth covering the cart.

And what appeared.

Its size wasn’t that big compared to the iron bars it was caged in.

But its appearance was so horrible that it seemed like something out of a nightmare.
Its muscles were disgustingly swollen, and its skin was melted in places, pulsating like a heart. It looked like someone had dipped a human in a strong acidic solution, then added extra limbs.

Six pairs of eyeballs rolled in different directions, and a long tongue flicked incessantly in and out of its mouth.

‘I don’t remember any monster like this…’

Could it be a new monster that hadn’t been updated in the game?

I stared at it intently, then suddenly widened my eyes.

.

.

.

“Krrrrrrrrrrrr…”

The monster the instructor had brought in rolled its eyes, making a gurgling sound as if it had phlegm in its throat.

Ugh─

The disgusting appearance made students around the classroom gag and retch.

“Ugh…… It’s disgusting…”

Lee Yoo-ri could fully empathize with them.

After all, even though she had a strong stomach and was used to disgusting things, this was beyond even her.
What about the other students?

The monster before their eyes was so repulsive that even she couldn’t help but make a disgusted face.

I knew that this class was called ‘Understanding Basic Monsters’, but
I never expected them to bring in an actual monster for the class.

And it was a rather dangerous-looking monster at that.

‘No matter how much the Velvet Academy emphasizes practical training…’

Wasn’t this a bit too relaxed?

‘But they must have proper safety measures in place, right?’

After all, this was the Velvet Academy.

As they waited for the class to begin,

“Umm… uh, so…”

The students glared at the instructor, urging her to get on with the class.

The instructor scratched her head, looking flustered.

“Well, let’s just…”

She suddenly.

Clank─

Unlocked the lock.

“Huh?”

A surprised exclamation escaped Lee Yoo-ri’s lips.

But the instructor went even further.

Squeak─

She flung open the barred door wide.

“Crazy.”

Lee Yoo-ri widened her eyes and cursed.

“Kkrrrrr─?”

As the door opened, the monster inside the bars lifted its head, looking bewildered that the iron bars blocking its path were gone.

The creature then.

Dragged its body out of the bars.

“Hey, it’s out…”
“What the hell.”

“They let a monster loose during class…”
“Isn’t this a Velvet Academy’s class?”
“Hey, hey. Don’t be scared. Ah, they wouldn’t have let it out without any precautions, right? It’s the Velvet Academy, after all.”

The murmurs in the classroom grew louder, but perhaps it was because of their faith in the world’s top academy.
The students stiffened with tension, but not a single one moved.

Suddenly, the monster stood up straight.

And then it turned its head, looking around at the students staring down at it.
Every time it turned its head,

Screeeech screeeech─
Screeeech screeeech─

A chilling sound echoed.

“Krrrrrrrrrr─?”

Then, the monster fixed its gaze on a girl sitting in the middle.
Six eyeballs stared directly at her.

“Eek─!!!”

The girl shuddered and let out a scream.

Bang─!!!!

It happened in an instant. Sharp claws emerged from its four hands.

As it kicked the ground on the spot,

“Kyyaaaaahhh─!!!!!!”

The monster charged towards the female cadet.

‘Crazy, what kind of class is this!!!’

Yoo-ri urgently pulled the shield from her back and gathered her magic. Then she drew a dagger from the holder on her thigh.

Clang─!

A clear metallic sound echoed across the classroom.

Flinch.

The monster, which was heading toward the female cadet, stopped in its tracks. Yoo-ri infused more magic into the dagger and struck the shield.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Grk─?”

The creature’s head turned towards Yoo-ri. She stepped onto a desk, gripping her shield and lowering her stance.

Hiss─

Hiss─

The monster, provoked by her, panted heavily.

Bang─!!!

“Kyahhh─!!”

The monster smashed through the desk and lunged at Yoo-ri with its claws.

And at the moment when the shield and claws collided.

Kwaaaang━!!!!!

A massive explosion shook the classroom.

Lee Yoo-ri felt a sense of danger as the impact reverberated through her entire body.

“……Kkwik!”

‘A-grade? S-grade?’

This monster was on a whole different level from the other monsters they had encountered so far.

The thought that they could all be massacred if this monster started to rampage crossed her mind.

Lee Yoo-ri clenched her teeth and tried to hold her ground, but her arms trembled uncontrollably from the overwhelming force.

Kii…kiiik─.

The monster’s sharp claws pushed against her shield, inching closer to her.

“……This fucking class is insane!!!!!”

The tip of the monster’s claw was about to touch her face.

“That’s enough, Instructor.”

Jin Yuha’s calm voice rang out from a distance.

Lee Yoo-ri turned her eyes forward and saw Jin Yuha standing in front of the hesitant instructor, a sword pressed against her neck.

The blue steel of the sword reflected the light, glinting against the instructor’s neck.

Jin Yuha, with an expressionless face, opened his mouth.

“If you don’t want me to kill this monster right now.”

Jin Yuha pressed the sword closer to the instructor’s frozen neck.

‘What…!?

Lee Yoo-ri’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the disgusting monster in front of her.

Then,

“……Hmm.”

A lazy exclamation of admiration escaped the monster’s mouth, which had been flicking its tongue in front of her.

“I heard there were a lot of excellent students in this batch…”

The monster let out a cackle.

“Gotcha.”

And then it turned its head towards Jin Yuha and spoke.

“Don’t kill that guy. He’s quite expensive.”