While the world seemed to boil with the bomb dropping incident in the Hunter Administration, life at the Velvet Academy continued as usual.

Certainly, there were discussions among students about the major incident that had occurred, but since the Velvet Academy and the Hunter Administration were fundamentally independent institutions, the students’ reactions were relatively subdued.

Some students reconsidered their plans to join the Hunter Administration, thinking it might be better to wait and see, or that it might be easier to enter right after such an event.

It felt like the typical military approach, observing from a distance no matter what happens in the outside world. That’s exactly what it felt like.
Since all food, clothing and shelter are handled here at the Velvet Academy, it doesn’t feel pertinent to them.

Yawning, I rubbed my eyes. Yoo-ri was waiting for me in front of the dorm.

“Jin Yuha! You overslept again!”

Right.

Today was the day we, along with Lim Ga-eul and Yoo-ri, were going to clear the dungeon together. It was another practical gate training day.

The dungeon we were assigned today was a C-class dungeon called the Lizardman’s Field, where fire-breathing lizards roamed.

And there was a new person who joined our group, replacing Choi Ah-ram, who was absent…

“I’m the porter and healer, Kim Cheol-hyun! It’s an honor to be with the Utopia party!”

The remaining quota, whom we hadn’t seen last time, took Choi Ah-ram’s place.

So, our group consisted of Yoo-ri, Lim Ga-eul, me, and the male quotas.

“Hey, is it really okay for the juniors to be in our group? There were quite a few people who wanted to join our group despite being allocated to others…”

Lim Ga-eul furrowed her brow and asked me.

Over the weekend, our Utopia party skyrocketed in popularity due to Shin Se-hee’s propaganda. Many wanted to join our group, abandoning their original groups, just to be with us.

“Well, aren’t they just volunteering to be porters?”

“….Well, that’s not the point.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Honestly, for us who had conquered the B-class dungeon, the Hardcore mode of the Thorn Meadow over the weekend, a C-class dungeon was too easy of a task.

So, unless they were a dealer on the level of Kang Do-hee, bringing them in wouldn’t be much help.

‘These guys are more comfortable than those who just want to try their luck. Plus, they’re willing to be item slots.’

So, with all eyes on us, the two girls and three guys headed to the dungeon.

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“Wow! Unnie! We seem lighter than before for some reason!? Did your skills improve?”

After clashing with the lizardman group and winning a battle, Yoo-ri rushed to Ga-eul with an excited expression.

“Ahaha… R-really? I-if so, then I’m glad…”

“Actually, it felt like there was a big difference compared to last time! Unnie, are you really a genius?”

I, too, looked at Ga-eul with newfound respect.

‘…Really, it seems like the efficiency of her skills has increased significantly. How did she improve so quickly?’

Ga-eul had improved her skill efficiency as if she had been reborn within a week.

‘Even if early proficiency improves quickly, this is definitely… too fast. Did something happen during the B-class dungeon trip? Or did she train a bit like my training with Baek Seol-hee?’

Hmm, I’m not sure of the exact reason. But well, good things are good things.

“I didn’t do anything. It’s all thanks to Yuha, our junior…”

Ga-eul said, gripping a mana stone tightly in her hand, looking cool.

“Well, if we keep going like this, we might finish even faster than last time!”

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However…

Since her first rise in proficiency, Ga-eul’s skill efficiency had dropped drastically. It was almost like a lie. While it wasn’t to the extent of when she wasn’t using mana stones, it felt like her support wasn’t as effective as before.

Ultimately, we completed our allocation quota after nearly twice the time it took us last time.

And Ga-eul’s complexion noticeably worsened.

“Senior, your face looks really bad right now. Did you drink the potion I gave you?”

“Unnie, where does it hurt?”

“Uh, no, I’m fine! I can… I can handle it!”

Ga-eul insisted she was fine, clenching her fists in a fighting pose, but… her trembling hands suggested otherwise.

“Um, it looks like your condition isn’t very good today, unnie. You overexerted yourself at the beginning, right? No wonder your skills were a bit different back then.”

Yoo-ri nodded her head, and I decided there was nothing more to do here.

“Since we’ve achieved today’s quota, let’s head back. Kim Cheol-hyun, Kim So-hun, make sure to collect any loot and mana stones.”

“Yes! Leader!”

“Got it! Leader!”

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“Hmm? You’re late today.”

Chairman Lina asked with a furrowed brow.

“Yes, it seems Senior isn’t feeling well today.”

“Then, are you going to the infirmary for some healing?”

Ga-eul shook her head vigorously at Chairman Lina’s suggestion.

“Oh, no! I-I’m fine! Just a little rest, and I’ll be okay!”

“I see… Well, since you’ve met the quota. You’ve all worked hard. And Jin Yuha, you…”

Director Rina seemed to have something to say to me.

“No, I’ll talk to you separately later. For now, everyone go rest.”

“Yes!”

With that promise of a later conversation, Chairman Lina disbanded our party.

‘Well, it’s probably about the Hunter Administration.’

Since she said she’d talk separately later, I could just wait and discuss it then.

‘For now…’

I was concerned about Ga-eul.

‘She’s really pushing herself.’

After spending all day in the dungeon, sweating and wanting to change clothes, I headed back to the dormitory.

After showering and coming out…

Rrrrr─

The phone on the bed rang.

“Hello?”

─ Junior…

“Senior? What’s wrong?”

─ Umm, I have something important to discuss… Can you come out for a moment?

I was planning to go see her anyway, but Ga-eul called me first.

“Sure, where are you?”

─ I’m at the central park of the academy right now.

“I’ll be there in a moment.”

I changed into comfortable clothes and went to the park, where Ga-eul was sitting on a bench with a serious expression.

“Senior.”

“Oh, Yuha junior… You came…”

“What’s wrong?”

I sat next to her on the bench and asked straightforwardly. She tends to deflect if I didn’t.

“Um, well…”

Ga-eul hesitated to speak despite asking for counseling.

“You need to be honest with me so I can help you. I’m the party leader for Ga-eul senior. I’m responsible for the party members.”

I met her eyes and spoke seriously.

Ga-eul seemed to swallow hard, then finally spoke.

“…I have a question about my skills.”

Huh? Skills all of a sudden?

I raised an eyebrow.

‘Did her output drop suddenly today?’

“Um, with just one low-grade mana stone, how many times can I use my skills…?”

With her question, something dawned on me.

“Senior, did you happen to… use a low-grade mana stone today?”

Ga-eul slowly nodded.

“Yeah. Right. I used a low-grade mana stone today.”

“Oh, so that’s why?”

Ah, it was a simpler issue than I thought.

It seemed she felt a considerable burden using the top-grade mana stone I gave her. Well, it wasn’t unreasonable given the value of such a high-grade mana stone.

“Um, with a low-grade mana stone at your level, you could use it up in half a day. Just use the top-grade mana stone… I can give you another one after you’ve used it up. Don’t feel burdened.”

Ga-eul’s complexion momentarily brightened.

“…Really?”

I could sense something had happened to the top-grade mana stone.

“Did you lose the top-grade mana stone? Or was it stolen?”

Ga-eul shook her head nervously.

“…Or, did you sell it? Because you needed money?”

Once again, Ga-eul shook her head vigorously.

“…Then?”

Ga-eul lowered her head deeply.

Then, in a voice barely louder than a whisper, she said.

“I… used it.”

“What?”

“I used it all…”

I widened my eyes as I caught her words with detection on, understanding her statement.

“You used it all? All of the top-grade mana stone!?”

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“How long has it been… since you completely used… the top-grade mana stone?”

“…Well, I just used it whenever I could…”

I stared at Ga-eul intently.

Ga-eul bowed her head deeply, looking like a wife who spent a month’s worth of allowance from her husband in a week.

‘But how did she manage to use it all?’

Even for Ga-eul’s level, using up an entire top-grade mana stone in a week was a challenging task. Using it for training and going to dungeons should not have exhausted it all.

‘Well, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be…’

Regardless, Ga-eul’s improvement was something beneficial for our party, however it happened.

Moreover, while the top-grade mana stone was precious now, it would become more readily available after a bit of time.

As the enemies’ levels rise, the quality of the mana stones dropped by monsters also increases proportionally, so it wasn’t a big problem.

“Still, it’s too much spending to use a top-grade mana stone every week when mana stone inflation hasn’t even started yet.”

I sighed deeply.

“For now, carry around some lower-grade mana stones and use them for skills. I’ll slowly figure out how this happened…”

“No, I refuse.”

Lim Ga-eul abruptly cut off my words. Her voice was so firm that it was hard to believe it came from her.

“What?”

“…Take responsibility.”

Lim Ga-eul made a sudden remark. She lifted her head with a tearful expression.

“It’s the juniors who made me like this, so the juniors should take responsibility!”

“Uh, senior? Please calm down.”

“Now I’ve become dissatisfied unless it’s big…” (HA HA HA HA it’s always a riot when Ga-eul talks)

Grabbing onto my clothes, Lim Ga-eul shouted out ambiguous words in the open field.

Whisper Whisper…

“… “